(From the 1765 Venice edition of André Galland's "Library
of the Ancient Fathers", Tome 1, folio-size,
p. 9)
Author: André Galland
Googlebooks PDF: PG001
Chapter 20
The heavens, by his governance being shaken[[33]], in peace are subordinated to him[[2b]]. Day and night accom{p}lish the course or{d}ained by him, <the course> impe{d}ing[[34]] each other <in> nothing. Sun and moon, and choirs of stars, in agreement according to {h}is ordinance, without all {t}ransgression, encircle {t}he borders ordained to them. Land, being pregnant, according to his will in its <proper times> brings forth abundant food for men and beasts and all lives <which are> upon it[[35]], not disagreeing, nor changing any of the <things> ordained by him. The inscrutable <things> of the abysses, and the ineffable decisions[[36]] of the lower <regions> are encompassed by the same ordinances. The hollow[[37]] of the boundless sea, composed into <coherent arrangements> according to his creating, does not transgress the bars[[38]] <placed around> it, but just as he commanded for it, so it does. For he said, "Up to thus you will come, and your waves will <crash together> upon you"[[3b]]. Ocean boundless for men[[39]], and the <world-orders> after it, by the same ordinances[[41]] of the Lord made straight. Vernal, and summer, and autumnal, and winter seasons in peace communicate with each other. Balances[[42]] of winds unobstructively accomplish their <public service> according to <their> own <appointed time>. Ever-flowing streams created for enjoyment and hygiene, provide to men <their> breasts towards life[[43]]. And the least of beings make their communities in concord and peace. All these the great creator and Lord of all in peace and concord prescribed to be, benefiting all, but superabundantly us having fled to his pities, through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom <be> the glory[[44]] and the majesty[[45]] in the ages of the ages. Amen.
Biblical Citations
2b. Genesis 1:9
3b. Job 38:10,11
3b. Job 38:10,11
Notes
33. "By his governance being shaken": <This should be> "being not shaken", thus Chrysostom at the verse in Psalm 148: "Heaven was not <thoroughly shaken>". The whole passage most elegantly depicts divine governance of the universe. "And this indeed <is. wondrous, not only that he sustains, nor that the laws of nature have stood unmoved, but also that <it is> thus <for> boundless time. At least then, consider how long an age <it has been>, and none of the existing <things> <became confused>; sea did not overflow the land, sun did not burn down <what is seen>, heaven was not <thoroughly shaken>, [boundaries] not of night nor of day <became confused>, nor the [turning] of hours, not anything else <of these sorts of things>; but each both of the <things> below and of the <things> above, has stood with all precision, maintaining the boundaries once <<placed>>[[A]] for it from the beginning." Now, the word, "to be shaken", as we in passing advise, not always means local motion only of the body, but also the motions and states of the soul sometimes metaphorically, as notes Gregory of Nazianzus at that <place in> Psalm 32, "Let be shaken all the <ones> inhabiting the universe," as is in our Catena: He says, "Hearing him, the men inhabiting the universe, because of the earlier dissent which they had, that is, being idolaters, let <them> be shaken, to <their> own creator indeed hearkening. For the <being shaken> here indicates not a bodily movement or a sort of agitation. But that is rather the custom both to inspired Scripture and to us ourselves regarding <things> done remarkably, to say that <it> was shaken; such as when Christ riding upon the donkey, <with> youths singing hymns <to> him, ascended to Jerusalem; then, interpreting the remarkable <aspect> of the entrance, the evangelist has written that, <upon his entering> into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken, in place of that, he understood, <it>both <escaped the notice of> no one, and was wondered at by all. Thus also here you will consider the <statement that> all the <ones> inhabiting the universe were shaken, being astounded and wondering, such that no one completely <was ignorant of> the glory of God, and the excellent dignity of power and eminence <immanent> <in> him."--Young
--Not easily would anyone concede to himself that <dictatorial authority>, that he would wish of his own <will> to place <it as> contradictory to the author's words, whose mind he pretends to interpret; especially if words of this sort up to any <point> admit a suitable meaning; which indeed here seem to affect the passage. For anyone <who> might have observed the perpetual turning of the heavens, the wanderings of the planets, apogees and perigees, progressions, stations, and retrogradations, and various phenomena which subsequently occur, will not deny <being snatched up> by a certain fervor and <being shaken> <after the fashion> of a marine wave; especially after rejected through the most firm arguments <has been the notion that> firm <are> the circles <sc. of the heavens> and <after> introduced thereupon <have been> hypotheses about the fluid running of systems in aether as in a most vast sea, and <almost> by perennial tossing in Cartensian vortices.--Fell
34. "<the course> impeding each other": I read, "<the sun and moon> impeding each other"[[B]]. Regarding the mutual and perpetual succession of light and shadows, day and night, regarding the constant and unabated course of each from first creation, without any whatsoever confusion or impediment, is read Chrysostom's homily 3 on Genesis: "A certain personal land to each <created object> he distributed, certain boundaries from the beginning, fixing <them> to each even from the introduction, so as in continuity to closely guard these <created objects> <as> unobstructed. And to comprehend this is possible for each of the <ones who> well consider how from that <time> until the present neither the light overstepped <its> own boundaries, nor the darkness transgressed <its> own array, achieving a certain confusion and disarray," and a little later: "As if to imitate even the arrangement of the elements, <which> guard <as> unobstructed the course, and not to overstep <their> own measures." And Justin Martyr[[C]] to Diognetus: "By whom he founded the heavens, by whom he enclosed the sea with <its> own boundaries, whose mysteries faithfully all the elements keep; from whom <sc. the sun> has received the measures of the courses of the day to keep; by whom the moon <obeys authority of> night commanding to appear; by whom the stars <obey authority>, following the course of the moon," etc. And Eucherius <in> "On Contempt of the World": "You discern how also day and the years, and all these ornaments of the sky, by untiring observation keep the word and command of God, and [custody of his precepts, servitude to unremitting law][[D]]."--Young
35. "upon it": Thus in the manuscript read Mill and Wotton. The editions <unanimously print>, "in it".--Gallandi
36. "decisions": Alternately, "waves". Alternately, "inclinations". Alternately, "[sounds]"[[E]]. <Antonius Birrius> thinks the holy Father wrote "hidden things", a word indeed unused by the Greeks, however analogously formed from "I have hidden", as "decision" from "I have decided". And so the learned man conjectures that "hidden things" here are hidden chasms, that is [[Lat. Trans. Om.]], or gaps, or deeply concealed recesses. Thus, therefore, he renders the whole sentence: "Of the abysses and of the lower <regions> also the inscrutable and ineffable recesses by the same commands are confined," by which God evidently governs all. See, if you wish, Du Cange in the "Glossary", see <under the headword> "to hide".--The same <sc. Gallandi>
37. "The hollow, etc.": Here the holy Father far from doubt looked back to the story of creation <in> Genesis 1:9, following the Septuagint translation. Pearson illuminates this passage in <his> "Preface to the Septuagint edition of the Bible", where he advises that the less correctly established Youngian translation thus rather should be formed: "The mass of the immeasurable sea in its own creation collected into its own <coherent arrangements>, does not transgress the barriers placed around it." In which translation indeed Birr not at all approves that these words, "according to his creating", thus be rendered, "in its own creation"; since the pronoun "<his/its>" should be referred to the creator himself, to whom also the following word "commanded" necessarily is referred. Therefore, he translates, "according to his creating".--The same <sc. Gallandi>
38. "does not transgress the bar placed around it": Regarding the enclosures and limits put to the sea by God, within which the waves' ferocious roarings, encompassing themselves, do not dare to transgress the appointed boundaries, see Jeremiah 5:22, and Proverbs 8:29, where the 70 Elders <sc. Septuagint> use the word, "commandment"[[F]], which signifies the exact limitation of borders and the accurate measuring of boundaries. See also Tertullian <in> the first chapter <of> "On the Trinity", and Chrysostom at verse 7 of Psalm 148; and Theodoret at the same <passage>, [<as> Sirmond published in the year 1642. However, these words are not read in the cited passage. Consult sermon 4, ["of the therapeutics"], and compare with the words here praised by Young.--[Collins?]][[G]] whose words, since <they> still are not available in Greek, and are by far very elegant, <it> pleases to add here. "Look at the hollow of the <sc. whole> sea, the magnitude, the division into <sc. smaller> seas, the shores, the anchorages, the islands in the middle, the species of the fish, the images, the shapes, the <variation of color>, the friendship towards dry land, the leapings of the waves, the bridle of <sc. providential> foresight laid upon them, through which <they> are not able to overflow the dry land, but rushing down upon the sand, they <are fearfully put to flight from> the boundaries, and seeing the divine law there written, as an exultant horse stifled by a horse-breaker bends back <its> neck, and goes <backwards> as <though> regretting that <they> even touched the sand." With these compare what wrote Cyril of Jerusalem <in> catechism 9: "Who can describe the sea's depth and breadth, or the rush of waves beyond measure? But <it> stands up to its borders, through the <one who says: 'Until this you will go, and you will not overstep, but upon themselves <will crash together> your waves', who <sc. the sea> also demonstrating the command's word hanging upon it, <and> <sallying out against> though <its> waves, <it> lets fall into the shores a certain clear line; demonstrating to <those who see> as <though> that <it> has not overstepped the ordained borders."--Young
39. "Ocean boundless for men, and the world-orders after it": The ocean is called "boundless" for men: both because, as Jerome says at Ephesians 4:7, "the sea is immense, and its capacity known to God alone"; and because, <as> Theodoret <witnesses> at Psalm 71:8 : "Across the land are the great and innavigable seas, which some call the Atlantic, or evening and morning ocean." The <sc. following> words are of Augustine <in> book 16 <of> "On the city of God", chapter 9, "It is too absurd how <it> is said that some men from <this> part to that part, the immensity of the Ocean having been crossed over, were able to navigate and arrive." In <the writings of> Gildas the Wise, "On the destruction of Britain", <at> the beginning: "By the diffusion of the ocean and, as thus I might say, by the everywhere impassable circle." Pliny <in> book 2, chapter 67 <of the "Natural History">: "Thus the seas everywhere poured around the divided globe remove part of the world from us." Consult Macrobius in the "Dream of Scipio", book 2, chapter 5. Likewise, Josephus <in> "On the Jewish wars", book 2, chapter 12. Now, Dionysius the Alexandrian imitates this epistle given to the seditious Corinthians, writing about the sedition incited at Alexandria, <as appears> in <the writings of> Eusebius, book 7, chapter 21 of "<Ecclesiastical> History": "The great and boundless[[H]] for men ocean." To this also Irenaeus seems to look back <in> book 2, chapter 47. He says, "What, then, can we expound about the coming and going of the ocean, although <it stands> that <there is> a certain cause? Or what regarding these <things> which are beyond it <can we> express <of what sort> they are?" to which words should be placed those of Hilary at the end of psalm 68: "The sea, which with its deep and boundless barrier exceeds the intellect of human opinion, such that with pursuing perception we grasp neither anything <that> is beyond it nor within." But also the passage of Clement the Roman is cited by <his> Alexandrian namesake <in> "Miscellanies", <book> 5, page 586, where <he writes> about many heavens or worlds; and by Jerome on Ephesians 2:2, who, I think, transcribes Origen's Commentaries, <and also> by Origen himself book 2 <of> "On Beginnings", chapter 3, in which passage he says explaining Our <sc. Clement>: "Evidently, Clement the disciple of the apostles mentions also those which the Greeks call "antipodes", and [parts of that world of land], to which neither anyone of us can approach, nor anyone from those who are there <can> cross over to us, which also themselves he named 'worlds', when he says: 'Ocean is uncrossable for men, and these worlds which are across it, which are governed by the same ordinances of the lord God.'" And later: "From these <things>, however, which Clement seemed to indicate, when he says: 'Ocean is uncrossable for men, and these worlds which are after it;' naming in the plural 'worlds' <those> which are after it, which he signifies are led and ruled also by the same providence of the highest God; he seems to sprinkle for us certain seeds of this sort of understanding , so that indeed the whole universe of those <things> which are and subsist, celestial and supercelestial, terrestrial and underground, is thought generally to be called one and complete world; within which, or by which others (if any <exist>) are to be thought to be contained. Whence indeed he wished <<perhaps: 'someone wished', or 'some wish'>>[[I]] the globe of the moon or sun and of other stars, which they call planets, <individually> to be called 'worlds'. But also the very <thing which rises over> which they call the [pure][[J]] globe, nonetheless they wish to call 'world'. Finally, they call into testimony of this assertion even the book of the prophet Baruch, because there <it> is more clearly indicated regarding the seven worlds or heavens," etc. Pliny, "Natural History", book 6, chapter 22, favors the first explanation of Adamantius with these words: "That Taprobana is another world of land has long been thought, by the name of the Antipodals." And later: "But not even Taprobana, although removed outside the world, lacks our vices." Mela, book 1, chapter 9: "Since if <there> is another world, and <there> are the Antichones <placed opposite> to us <to the south>;" <and> book 3, chapter 7: "Taprobana is said by Hipparchus <to be> either a very large island or the first part of another world." I omit the by all speech celebrated epistle of pope Zachary to archbishop Boniface, in which he condemns the priest Virgilius because he affirmed that another world and other men were under the earth. In fact, even parts of the world <that were> unknown, remote, and placed beyond the ocean used to be called 'worlds'. Thus, "Caesar, when <he> had entered Britain, wrote that he had found another <world>", as is reported by Eumenius <in his> Panegyric on Constantius. Most well-known <is> Virgil's verse:
"And the British, deeply divided from the whole world;"
at which Servius notes that Britain is called another <world> by poets. Also known is that <verse> of Manilius <in> book 1:
"And unknown Sea had drawn up new worlds."
To which add these <verses> of Seneca in "Medea":
In late years will come
Ages, in which the ocean
Relaxes the chains of things, and the huge
Earth lies open, and Tiphys
Uncovers new worlds, nor is <there> for the lands
<an> Ultima Thule.
And so the opinion of Clement is far away from the error of certain philosophers and heretics, who dreamed that <there were> many or innumerable worlds plainly different from this our <world>. Let <it> be read below <at> chapter 21.--Cotelier
--"Ocean boundless for men": Read "uncrossable", and thus Rufinus the translator of Origen renders "uncrossable" and "impassible", although by the same error in <the writings of> Clement of Alexandria is written, "boundless"[[K]]. Now, by 'ocean' here, unless conjecture deceives me, he understands the outer sea, nor <all of it>, but our British and the Irish sea, which was impassible equally to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and unknown Britain itself, whose maritime coasts which are opposite Gaul, before the time of Julius Caesar (who is said to have demonstrated rather than transmitted to posterity acquaintance <with> the island) which had become known barely to the neighboring Gauls and their merchants. What <of> what Basil <says> long after our Clement <in> homily 4 in the "Hexaemeron": "The sea enfolding the British island and the western Iberians," he calls, "great and undared by sailors," which passage Ambrose thus expresses: "Who, then, might know into how much <sc. space> that great and undared to navigators, and untried by sailors, sea pours itself, which encloses the British <sc. isles> with roaring <watery expanse>," etc. And Libanius, the contemporary of Basil, [on Basiliscus], describing the emperor Constantius's "voyage to the British isle", and the extreme difficulty of the crossing, on account of antagonistic undulations and the violence of the winds, says the British sea is "boundless"; where that perhaps "uncrossable" should be read, one not unsuitably can conjecture, but I do not <set in motion> contention about the word. His words <are> thus: "<There> is indeed an account, providing <acts of sight> <as> witnesses, that indeed greater into danger <<perhaps, "is <the> danger">>[[L]] to send off a round ship beyond that sea, than elsewhere to organize a naval battle, <since on the one hand> so vigorous <descending squalls> [swell][[M]] the waves towards <the> sky, <and on the other hand> the driving-out winds <taking from underneath> bear out towards the boundless sea; but this <is> most terrible, for whenever the captain matches <his> skill [against all else], the sea, on the one hand, suddenly settles down, and on the other hand, the vessel until then high above the waves is seen lying upon the bare sand; and if on the one hand [<it> sends in response the backflow <as> swift], he again takes up the hull, and <it> is necessary furthermore that the passengers toil; <but on the other hand> if he intends towards an inland road, the ship sinks <little by little>, the sand yielding to the burden."--Young
--More correctly the most diffuse Atlantic sea will these <words> suit, especially since from the Suda we learn that "all the unsailable seas", [[Lat. Trans. Om.]] are called "Atlantic"; and also we have abundantly recognized that almost all the ancients were of the same opinion that the ends of nature and of things, the Cimmerian shadows, foul mist, swamps <unable to be crossed by swimming>, and finally the empty Void dwell therein.--Fell
40. "and the world-orders after it": "World-orders" in place of "world-order" with plural number, which is Hebraic, and familiar to the Scriptures, as Chrysostom notes at verse 1 <of> psalm 18, as in in our Catena: "But the psalm, naming 'heavens of heavens', put in us the notion of even several <sc. heavens>, <unless perchance> someone should mention that the dialect of the Hebrews was accustomed to name singular things plurally. At least, then, in place of <saying>, 'the heaven of the heaven', <it> said, 'the heavens of the heavens'." Thus Theodoret <in> question 11 "On Genesis": "But plurally the holy Writ names the heavens, saying, 'the heavens of the heavens', since the Hebrews' tongue knows <how> to name <in the singular> neither heaven nor water; but one might find many such things even in Greek speech. For no one calls the city 'Athen' <in the singular>, but 'Athens' plurally, and the city Delphos no one calls 'Delphos', but 'Delphi'." Thus Philoponus, "On Genesis", book 4, chapter 5: "Many of the names are read <in the singular> and plurally at the same time, the meaning being the same in each phrasing," nor does this wish to obtain only in proper names, but also in <common names>, and [<it> occasions examples of each type]. Now, by the name of 'the world-orders', if preceding conjecture is true, the British people come to be understood, and the people who inhabited the island; or the island itself, which on account of its magnitude merits the name of 'another world', and from the remaining world, just as another world, is separated by the Ocean. Nevertheless, we leave these things to be more carefully weighed out by the geographers' children, nor do we affirm for certain and indubitable anything a matter so obscure; and for us <it> will be sufficient if to learned men <the things> which we have brought forth <in public> appear neither immediately unpersuasive nor deeply absurd.--Young
--Young thinks that these 'worlds' are the British Isles, and indeed most correctly, if the poets' reasoning is <to be accepted> in a serious matter. For Seneca addresses the "world beyond the Ocean", <and> Manilius the "new worlds, which the sea had drawn up", <and> Virgil the "British, deeply divided from the whole world", <and> Claudian "<with> another world having been sought" and "sundered from our world". But neither are lacking historians who are <received as recruits under> those. Josephus addresses "another <inhabited region>". <Lucius> Florus, making words regarding these <sc. matters>, says that Caesar "had looked back upon the Ocean and, as if this Roman world did not suffice, had contemplated another;" which meaning with almost the same words Velleius Paterculus expressed. In fact, not otherwise seemed to have thought the Roman Pope Urban, who acknowledged Anselm the Archbishop of Canterbury <as> "Pope of another world". But no less with all the former centuries did a great anticipation of that American world, which now <is being uncovered>, hold the souls of men; and Plato, Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, Seneca, <and> Tertullian seem not obscurely to have foreshadowed it. I rather accede to the opinion of Origen, who <in> book 2 <of> "On Beginnings", interpreting these words, referred to the "antipodes" across the sea, this is, the American regions. Indeed <it> should be said that he miserably <was dreaming unreasonably>, when the things which are had <in> 2 Peter 3:13 he drew astray into this meaning also; [but if sometimes he should be drowsy, let no one lawfully prohibit to him <that> he be awakened anew]; nor are we accustomed from <those saying> ascertained <things> to abrogate trust <by the fact> that they were were understood elsewhere to have deluded the same <sc. trust> through error.--Fell
41. "by ordinances": Others prefer "by impositions", others "by commands"[[N]]. Wotton sticks to the manuscript, thinking that Origin read "by ordinances", because Rufinus translated "by dispositions". However, Origin <in the cited passage> on "Ezekiel" exhibits, "by impositions".--Gallandi
--"by ordinances": <Others> wrongly conjecture "'by impositions' or 'by commands'". Hesychius <lists as synonyms>: "by ordinances, by sovereignties, by authorities".--Colomiès
42. "Balances of winds": Even the winds, howsoever inconstant, are subject to the law. The acknowledge annual blowings and in fixed seasons return as if from agreement; not so completely "where it wills blows the wind"[[O]].--Fell
43. "towards life": Thus <reads> the manuscript, whose reading appears <that it should be retained>. For thus also Acts 27:34, the same preposition "towards" joined to the second case <sc. genitive> uses this very meaning: "For this exists towards your salvation": [[Lat. Trans. Om.]]. But Young with the editions <prints> "Towards life"[[P]]. <--No attribution: Migne?>>
44. "To whom be the glory, etc.": Not only in the end, but in the beginning and the middle of his Epistles the divine Paul uses the doxology, whom the disciple Clement, as in other things, thus in this also imitates. In <the writings of> Chrysostom, homily 55 "On Matthew", is had the "thank-offering" hymn, which monks of his time in the desert would use <after> dinner (whom on account of <their> sanctity of life and celestial <mode of living> on earth, he calls "angels"), in which, why after the doxology they again began and continued the hymn, he gives the reason with these words: "And so no, neither against these angels let us <bring an accusation> that they act disorderly because breaking off speech in a doxology, they again begin the holy hymns, for they follow apostolic practice, beginning from a doxology and ending in this, and after this end, starting again." Thus Jerome in the preface to Psalms to Sophronius proves that <there> is only one volume of Psalms, although five times occurs that "let it be", "let it be", that is, amen, amen; whence some are accustomed to divide <them> into five books, and they make "another pentateuch", as says Nicetas in the preface to his Catena. He says, "For if Amen in place of what Aquila faithfully transmitted, were placed only at the end of books, and not sometimes either in the beginning or in the end of discourses or sentiments, never would the Savior in the Gospel say: 'Amen, amen I say to you'; nor would the Epistles of Paul contain it in the middle <of the> work. Moses also and Jeremiah and others in this manner would have many books, <they> who frequently insert, Amen, in the middle <of> their volumes."--Young
45. "and the majesty": The article "the", which exists in the manuscript, is absent in the [imperial codices].--Gallandi
--Not easily would anyone concede to himself that <dictatorial authority>, that he would wish of his own <will> to place <it as> contradictory to the author's words, whose mind he pretends to interpret; especially if words of this sort up to any <point> admit a suitable meaning; which indeed here seem to affect the passage. For anyone <who> might have observed the perpetual turning of the heavens, the wanderings of the planets, apogees and perigees, progressions, stations, and retrogradations, and various phenomena which subsequently occur, will not deny <being snatched up> by a certain fervor and <being shaken> <after the fashion> of a marine wave; especially after rejected through the most firm arguments <has been the notion that> firm <are> the circles <sc. of the heavens> and <after> introduced thereupon <have been> hypotheses about the fluid running of systems in aether as in a most vast sea, and <almost> by perennial tossing in Cartensian vortices.--Fell
34. "<the course> impeding each other": I read, "<the sun and moon> impeding each other"[[B]]. Regarding the mutual and perpetual succession of light and shadows, day and night, regarding the constant and unabated course of each from first creation, without any whatsoever confusion or impediment, is read Chrysostom's homily 3 on Genesis: "A certain personal land to each <created object> he distributed, certain boundaries from the beginning, fixing <them> to each even from the introduction, so as in continuity to closely guard these <created objects> <as> unobstructed. And to comprehend this is possible for each of the <ones who> well consider how from that <time> until the present neither the light overstepped <its> own boundaries, nor the darkness transgressed <its> own array, achieving a certain confusion and disarray," and a little later: "As if to imitate even the arrangement of the elements, <which> guard <as> unobstructed the course, and not to overstep <their> own measures." And Justin Martyr[[C]] to Diognetus: "By whom he founded the heavens, by whom he enclosed the sea with <its> own boundaries, whose mysteries faithfully all the elements keep; from whom <sc. the sun> has received the measures of the courses of the day to keep; by whom the moon <obeys authority of> night commanding to appear; by whom the stars <obey authority>, following the course of the moon," etc. And Eucherius <in> "On Contempt of the World": "You discern how also day and the years, and all these ornaments of the sky, by untiring observation keep the word and command of God, and [custody of his precepts, servitude to unremitting law][[D]]."--Young
35. "upon it": Thus in the manuscript read Mill and Wotton. The editions <unanimously print>, "in it".--Gallandi
36. "decisions": Alternately, "waves". Alternately, "inclinations". Alternately, "[sounds]"[[E]]. <Antonius Birrius> thinks the holy Father wrote "hidden things", a word indeed unused by the Greeks, however analogously formed from "I have hidden", as "decision" from "I have decided". And so the learned man conjectures that "hidden things" here are hidden chasms, that is [[Lat. Trans. Om.]], or gaps, or deeply concealed recesses. Thus, therefore, he renders the whole sentence: "Of the abysses and of the lower <regions> also the inscrutable and ineffable recesses by the same commands are confined," by which God evidently governs all. See, if you wish, Du Cange in the "Glossary", see <under the headword> "to hide".--The same <sc. Gallandi>
37. "The hollow, etc.": Here the holy Father far from doubt looked back to the story of creation <in> Genesis 1:9, following the Septuagint translation. Pearson illuminates this passage in <his> "Preface to the Septuagint edition of the Bible", where he advises that the less correctly established Youngian translation thus rather should be formed: "The mass of the immeasurable sea in its own creation collected into its own <coherent arrangements>, does not transgress the barriers placed around it." In which translation indeed Birr not at all approves that these words, "according to his creating", thus be rendered, "in its own creation"; since the pronoun "<his/its>" should be referred to the creator himself, to whom also the following word "commanded" necessarily is referred. Therefore, he translates, "according to his creating".--The same <sc. Gallandi>
38. "does not transgress the bar placed around it": Regarding the enclosures and limits put to the sea by God, within which the waves' ferocious roarings, encompassing themselves, do not dare to transgress the appointed boundaries, see Jeremiah 5:22, and Proverbs 8:29, where the 70 Elders <sc. Septuagint> use the word, "commandment"[[F]], which signifies the exact limitation of borders and the accurate measuring of boundaries. See also Tertullian <in> the first chapter <of> "On the Trinity", and Chrysostom at verse 7 of Psalm 148; and Theodoret at the same <passage>, [<as> Sirmond published in the year 1642. However, these words are not read in the cited passage. Consult sermon 4, ["of the therapeutics"], and compare with the words here praised by Young.--[Collins?]][[G]] whose words, since <they> still are not available in Greek, and are by far very elegant, <it> pleases to add here. "Look at the hollow of the <sc. whole> sea, the magnitude, the division into <sc. smaller> seas, the shores, the anchorages, the islands in the middle, the species of the fish, the images, the shapes, the <variation of color>, the friendship towards dry land, the leapings of the waves, the bridle of <sc. providential> foresight laid upon them, through which <they> are not able to overflow the dry land, but rushing down upon the sand, they <are fearfully put to flight from> the boundaries, and seeing the divine law there written, as an exultant horse stifled by a horse-breaker bends back <its> neck, and goes <backwards> as <though> regretting that <they> even touched the sand." With these compare what wrote Cyril of Jerusalem <in> catechism 9: "Who can describe the sea's depth and breadth, or the rush of waves beyond measure? But <it> stands up to its borders, through the <one who says: 'Until this you will go, and you will not overstep, but upon themselves <will crash together> your waves', who <sc. the sea> also demonstrating the command's word hanging upon it, <and> <sallying out against> though <its> waves, <it> lets fall into the shores a certain clear line; demonstrating to <those who see> as <though> that <it> has not overstepped the ordained borders."--Young
39. "Ocean boundless for men, and the world-orders after it": The ocean is called "boundless" for men: both because, as Jerome says at Ephesians 4:7, "the sea is immense, and its capacity known to God alone"; and because, <as> Theodoret <witnesses> at Psalm 71:8 : "Across the land are the great and innavigable seas, which some call the Atlantic, or evening and morning ocean." The <sc. following> words are of Augustine <in> book 16 <of> "On the city of God", chapter 9, "It is too absurd how <it> is said that some men from <this> part to that part, the immensity of the Ocean having been crossed over, were able to navigate and arrive." In <the writings of> Gildas the Wise, "On the destruction of Britain", <at> the beginning: "By the diffusion of the ocean and, as thus I might say, by the everywhere impassable circle." Pliny <in> book 2, chapter 67 <of the "Natural History">: "Thus the seas everywhere poured around the divided globe remove part of the world from us." Consult Macrobius in the "Dream of Scipio", book 2, chapter 5. Likewise, Josephus <in> "On the Jewish wars", book 2, chapter 12. Now, Dionysius the Alexandrian imitates this epistle given to the seditious Corinthians, writing about the sedition incited at Alexandria, <as appears> in <the writings of> Eusebius, book 7, chapter 21 of "<Ecclesiastical> History": "The great and boundless[[H]] for men ocean." To this also Irenaeus seems to look back <in> book 2, chapter 47. He says, "What, then, can we expound about the coming and going of the ocean, although <it stands> that <there is> a certain cause? Or what regarding these <things> which are beyond it <can we> express <of what sort> they are?" to which words should be placed those of Hilary at the end of psalm 68: "The sea, which with its deep and boundless barrier exceeds the intellect of human opinion, such that with pursuing perception we grasp neither anything <that> is beyond it nor within." But also the passage of Clement the Roman is cited by <his> Alexandrian namesake <in> "Miscellanies", <book> 5, page 586, where <he writes> about many heavens or worlds; and by Jerome on Ephesians 2:2, who, I think, transcribes Origen's Commentaries, <and also> by Origen himself book 2 <of> "On Beginnings", chapter 3, in which passage he says explaining Our <sc. Clement>: "Evidently, Clement the disciple of the apostles mentions also those which the Greeks call "antipodes", and [parts of that world of land], to which neither anyone of us can approach, nor anyone from those who are there <can> cross over to us, which also themselves he named 'worlds', when he says: 'Ocean is uncrossable for men, and these worlds which are across it, which are governed by the same ordinances of the lord God.'" And later: "From these <things>, however, which Clement seemed to indicate, when he says: 'Ocean is uncrossable for men, and these worlds which are after it;' naming in the plural 'worlds' <those> which are after it, which he signifies are led and ruled also by the same providence of the highest God; he seems to sprinkle for us certain seeds of this sort of understanding , so that indeed the whole universe of those <things> which are and subsist, celestial and supercelestial, terrestrial and underground, is thought generally to be called one and complete world; within which, or by which others (if any <exist>) are to be thought to be contained. Whence indeed he wished <<perhaps: 'someone wished', or 'some wish'>>[[I]] the globe of the moon or sun and of other stars, which they call planets, <individually> to be called 'worlds'. But also the very <thing which rises over> which they call the [pure][[J]] globe, nonetheless they wish to call 'world'. Finally, they call into testimony of this assertion even the book of the prophet Baruch, because there <it> is more clearly indicated regarding the seven worlds or heavens," etc. Pliny, "Natural History", book 6, chapter 22, favors the first explanation of Adamantius with these words: "That Taprobana is another world of land has long been thought, by the name of the Antipodals." And later: "But not even Taprobana, although removed outside the world, lacks our vices." Mela, book 1, chapter 9: "Since if <there> is another world, and <there> are the Antichones <placed opposite> to us <to the south>;" <and> book 3, chapter 7: "Taprobana is said by Hipparchus <to be> either a very large island or the first part of another world." I omit the by all speech celebrated epistle of pope Zachary to archbishop Boniface, in which he condemns the priest Virgilius because he affirmed that another world and other men were under the earth. In fact, even parts of the world <that were> unknown, remote, and placed beyond the ocean used to be called 'worlds'. Thus, "Caesar, when <he> had entered Britain, wrote that he had found another <world>", as is reported by Eumenius <in his> Panegyric on Constantius. Most well-known <is> Virgil's verse:
"And the British, deeply divided from the whole world;"
at which Servius notes that Britain is called another <world> by poets. Also known is that <verse> of Manilius <in> book 1:
"And unknown Sea had drawn up new worlds."
To which add these <verses> of Seneca in "Medea":
In late years will come
Ages, in which the ocean
Relaxes the chains of things, and the huge
Earth lies open, and Tiphys
Uncovers new worlds, nor is <there> for the lands
<an> Ultima Thule.
And so the opinion of Clement is far away from the error of certain philosophers and heretics, who dreamed that <there were> many or innumerable worlds plainly different from this our <world>. Let <it> be read below <at> chapter 21.--Cotelier
--"Ocean boundless for men": Read "uncrossable", and thus Rufinus the translator of Origen renders "uncrossable" and "impassible", although by the same error in <the writings of> Clement of Alexandria is written, "boundless"[[K]]. Now, by 'ocean' here, unless conjecture deceives me, he understands the outer sea, nor <all of it>, but our British and the Irish sea, which was impassible equally to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and unknown Britain itself, whose maritime coasts which are opposite Gaul, before the time of Julius Caesar (who is said to have demonstrated rather than transmitted to posterity acquaintance <with> the island) which had become known barely to the neighboring Gauls and their merchants. What <of> what Basil <says> long after our Clement <in> homily 4 in the "Hexaemeron": "The sea enfolding the British island and the western Iberians," he calls, "great and undared by sailors," which passage Ambrose thus expresses: "Who, then, might know into how much <sc. space> that great and undared to navigators, and untried by sailors, sea pours itself, which encloses the British <sc. isles> with roaring <watery expanse>," etc. And Libanius, the contemporary of Basil, [on Basiliscus], describing the emperor Constantius's "voyage to the British isle", and the extreme difficulty of the crossing, on account of antagonistic undulations and the violence of the winds, says the British sea is "boundless"; where that perhaps "uncrossable" should be read, one not unsuitably can conjecture, but I do not <set in motion> contention about the word. His words <are> thus: "<There> is indeed an account, providing <acts of sight> <as> witnesses, that indeed greater into danger <<perhaps, "is <the> danger">>[[L]] to send off a round ship beyond that sea, than elsewhere to organize a naval battle, <since on the one hand> so vigorous <descending squalls> [swell][[M]] the waves towards <the> sky, <and on the other hand> the driving-out winds <taking from underneath> bear out towards the boundless sea; but this <is> most terrible, for whenever the captain matches <his> skill [against all else], the sea, on the one hand, suddenly settles down, and on the other hand, the vessel until then high above the waves is seen lying upon the bare sand; and if on the one hand [<it> sends in response the backflow <as> swift], he again takes up the hull, and <it> is necessary furthermore that the passengers toil; <but on the other hand> if he intends towards an inland road, the ship sinks <little by little>, the sand yielding to the burden."--Young
--More correctly the most diffuse Atlantic sea will these <words> suit, especially since from the Suda we learn that "all the unsailable seas", [[Lat. Trans. Om.]] are called "Atlantic"; and also we have abundantly recognized that almost all the ancients were of the same opinion that the ends of nature and of things, the Cimmerian shadows, foul mist, swamps <unable to be crossed by swimming>, and finally the empty Void dwell therein.--Fell
40. "and the world-orders after it": "World-orders" in place of "world-order" with plural number, which is Hebraic, and familiar to the Scriptures, as Chrysostom notes at verse 1 <of> psalm 18, as in in our Catena: "But the psalm, naming 'heavens of heavens', put in us the notion of even several <sc. heavens>, <unless perchance> someone should mention that the dialect of the Hebrews was accustomed to name singular things plurally. At least, then, in place of <saying>, 'the heaven of the heaven', <it> said, 'the heavens of the heavens'." Thus Theodoret <in> question 11 "On Genesis": "But plurally the holy Writ names the heavens, saying, 'the heavens of the heavens', since the Hebrews' tongue knows <how> to name <in the singular> neither heaven nor water; but one might find many such things even in Greek speech. For no one calls the city 'Athen' <in the singular>, but 'Athens' plurally, and the city Delphos no one calls 'Delphos', but 'Delphi'." Thus Philoponus, "On Genesis", book 4, chapter 5: "Many of the names are read <in the singular> and plurally at the same time, the meaning being the same in each phrasing," nor does this wish to obtain only in proper names, but also in <common names>, and [<it> occasions examples of each type]. Now, by the name of 'the world-orders', if preceding conjecture is true, the British people come to be understood, and the people who inhabited the island; or the island itself, which on account of its magnitude merits the name of 'another world', and from the remaining world, just as another world, is separated by the Ocean. Nevertheless, we leave these things to be more carefully weighed out by the geographers' children, nor do we affirm for certain and indubitable anything a matter so obscure; and for us <it> will be sufficient if to learned men <the things> which we have brought forth <in public> appear neither immediately unpersuasive nor deeply absurd.--Young
--Young thinks that these 'worlds' are the British Isles, and indeed most correctly, if the poets' reasoning is <to be accepted> in a serious matter. For Seneca addresses the "world beyond the Ocean", <and> Manilius the "new worlds, which the sea had drawn up", <and> Virgil the "British, deeply divided from the whole world", <and> Claudian "<with> another world having been sought" and "sundered from our world". But neither are lacking historians who are <received as recruits under> those. Josephus addresses "another <inhabited region>". <Lucius> Florus, making words regarding these <sc. matters>, says that Caesar "had looked back upon the Ocean and, as if this Roman world did not suffice, had contemplated another;" which meaning with almost the same words Velleius Paterculus expressed. In fact, not otherwise seemed to have thought the Roman Pope Urban, who acknowledged Anselm the Archbishop of Canterbury <as> "Pope of another world". But no less with all the former centuries did a great anticipation of that American world, which now <is being uncovered>, hold the souls of men; and Plato, Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, Seneca, <and> Tertullian seem not obscurely to have foreshadowed it. I rather accede to the opinion of Origen, who <in> book 2 <of> "On Beginnings", interpreting these words, referred to the "antipodes" across the sea, this is, the American regions. Indeed <it> should be said that he miserably <was dreaming unreasonably>, when the things which are had <in> 2 Peter 3:13 he drew astray into this meaning also; [but if sometimes he should be drowsy, let no one lawfully prohibit to him <that> he be awakened anew]; nor are we accustomed from <those saying> ascertained <things> to abrogate trust <by the fact> that they were were understood elsewhere to have deluded the same <sc. trust> through error.--Fell
41. "by ordinances": Others prefer "by impositions", others "by commands"[[N]]. Wotton sticks to the manuscript, thinking that Origin read "by ordinances", because Rufinus translated "by dispositions". However, Origin <in the cited passage> on "Ezekiel" exhibits, "by impositions".--Gallandi
--"by ordinances": <Others> wrongly conjecture "'by impositions' or 'by commands'". Hesychius <lists as synonyms>: "by ordinances, by sovereignties, by authorities".--Colomiès
42. "Balances of winds": Even the winds, howsoever inconstant, are subject to the law. The acknowledge annual blowings and in fixed seasons return as if from agreement; not so completely "where it wills blows the wind"[[O]].--Fell
43. "towards life": Thus <reads> the manuscript, whose reading appears <that it should be retained>. For thus also Acts 27:34, the same preposition "towards" joined to the second case <sc. genitive> uses this very meaning: "For this exists towards your salvation": [[Lat. Trans. Om.]]. But Young with the editions <prints> "Towards life"[[P]]. <--No attribution: Migne?>>
44. "To whom be the glory, etc.": Not only in the end, but in the beginning and the middle of his Epistles the divine Paul uses the doxology, whom the disciple Clement, as in other things, thus in this also imitates. In <the writings of> Chrysostom, homily 55 "On Matthew", is had the "thank-offering" hymn, which monks of his time in the desert would use <after> dinner (whom on account of <their> sanctity of life and celestial <mode of living> on earth, he calls "angels"), in which, why after the doxology they again began and continued the hymn, he gives the reason with these words: "And so no, neither against these angels let us <bring an accusation> that they act disorderly because breaking off speech in a doxology, they again begin the holy hymns, for they follow apostolic practice, beginning from a doxology and ending in this, and after this end, starting again." Thus Jerome in the preface to Psalms to Sophronius proves that <there> is only one volume of Psalms, although five times occurs that "let it be", "let it be", that is, amen, amen; whence some are accustomed to divide <them> into five books, and they make "another pentateuch", as says Nicetas in the preface to his Catena. He says, "For if Amen in place of what Aquila faithfully transmitted, were placed only at the end of books, and not sometimes either in the beginning or in the end of discourses or sentiments, never would the Savior in the Gospel say: 'Amen, amen I say to you'; nor would the Epistles of Paul contain it in the middle <of the> work. Moses also and Jeremiah and others in this manner would have many books, <they> who frequently insert, Amen, in the middle <of> their volumes."--Young
45. "and the majesty": The article "the", which exists in the manuscript, is absent in the [imperial codices].--Gallandi
My Notes
A. Minge's text of Young's note has the present active participle instead of the aorist passive (which is printed in this passage in Migne's volume of Chrysostom on the Psalms, PG055), which makes much more sense. Since the difference is merely a change from an iota to an epsilon, the error is plausible.
B. The problem is in grammatical terminations of the participle and pronoun. The text has accusative masculine singular, which would have "course" as its antecedent. But this doesn't seem to make sense, and moreover it conflicts with the reciprocal pronoun, "each other", which is masculine, whereas day and night are feminine. Young emends the participle to be feminine nominative singular, and the pronoun to be feminine.
C. At the time of Young, the Epistle to Diognetus was thought to be by Justin Martyr.
D. The text here should apparently be emended. According to another printing, the accusative singular "custodiam" should probably read "custodiant", a subjunctive verb. So this should probably read: "and keep the servitude to the unremitting law of his precepts."
E. I can't find this word. But it seems to be formed from "koaw", "I hear".
F. The point here is to dwell on the specific sense of a rare word.
G. This bracketed note appears to be a later note on Young's note. The note's author is abbreviated, "COLL.", which I presume is something like "Collins". But I can't find who this might be. I also don't know which homilies of Chrysostom are referred to here.
H. Migne's text has "perantos" instead of "aperantos". This seems to be a printing mistake, since there's a wider gap before it, and since "perantos" isn't a word and there's no further comment on it.
B. The problem is in grammatical terminations of the participle and pronoun. The text has accusative masculine singular, which would have "course" as its antecedent. But this doesn't seem to make sense, and moreover it conflicts with the reciprocal pronoun, "each other", which is masculine, whereas day and night are feminine. Young emends the participle to be feminine nominative singular, and the pronoun to be feminine.
C. At the time of Young, the Epistle to Diognetus was thought to be by Justin Martyr.
D. The text here should apparently be emended. According to another printing, the accusative singular "custodiam" should probably read "custodiant", a subjunctive verb. So this should probably read: "and keep the servitude to the unremitting law of his precepts."
E. I can't find this word. But it seems to be formed from "koaw", "I hear".
F. The point here is to dwell on the specific sense of a rare word.
G. This bracketed note appears to be a later note on Young's note. The note's author is abbreviated, "COLL.", which I presume is something like "Collins". But I can't find who this might be. I also don't know which homilies of Chrysostom are referred to here.
H. Migne's text has "perantos" instead of "aperantos". This seems to be a printing mistake, since there's a wider gap before it, and since "perantos" isn't a word and there's no further comment on it.
I. These seem to be emendatory suggestions. Given the rest of the passage, "some wish", seems the best option.
J. This word is bracketed and left in Greek. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it's not in the Latin, but has been added either from an extant Greek version, or it has been added to clarify what Origen is referring to in this cosmology.
K. The Greek words for "boundless" and "uncrossable" differ by one letter.
L. The emendation makes more sense, since it's not otherwise clear what the masculine nominative adjective "meizwn" would modify. Also, while "ws" + infinitive does exist, it denotes a result clause, which would be out of place here.
M. Migne's text appears incomplete. All that can be read is "urtousi", with the first letter doubtful. I believe the word "kurtousi" fits and makes sense. I'm not trolling through Libanius's extensive epistolary corpus to verify.
N. These all have the same root, but are formed with different prepositional prefixes. There doesn't seem to be an appreciable difference in basic meaning.
O. An apparently tongue-in-cheek reference to John 3:8
P. Young has emended the object of the preposition into the accusative case, which is apparently the more regular construction for this meaning.
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