Apocalipse 10
Oecumenius
Apocalipse 10:1
Moreover, John, the divine narrator in the present discourse, recounts the events that occurred when the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, which I have not yet fully explained all at once, since the fifth discourse is so long, I therefore did not reveal it in full. But what else does he write that has happened? Therefore, those who, while still alive, having heard or even seen the punishments inflicted upon the wrongdoers, did not repent, but remained wicked as previously stated, John says that I saw an angel descending from heaven, bringing images of punishments. He says that his vision and form were as follows: he was clothed with a cloud. The cloud symbolizes the eternal and invisible nature of the holy angels; for the cloud is a symbol of the unseen. The prophet, indicating the invisible nature of God, describes "clouds and thick darkness are round about him." (Ps. 97:2) And a rainbow was upon his head; as if the head and the foremost among the good angels were saying, it is brightness; for angels are beings of light. (2 Cor. 11:14) And his face is said to be like the sun; and this too is an appearance of pure brightness. But the rainbow is the brightness of a created nature, signifying virtue; therefore, the brightness of the rainbow is not uniform, but varied, indicating all the virtues of the angels. The sun, indeed, signifies their natural brilliance by a gleaming light. Therefore, it was surrounded by a rainbow, for virtues are around us; but its face resembled the sun, for in us all natural excellence is present in abundance. And his feet were like pillars of fire. The fire signifies the punishment that he came to bring upon the impious. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:2
And he is said to have held in his hand a tiny open scroll [βιβλιδάριον]. Daniel, recalling such small scrolls [βιβλίων], says: "before him sat a judge, and scrolls [βίβλοι] were opened." (Dan. 7:10) The tiny scroll [βιβλιδάριον] was one in which were recorded the names and the multitude of the very impious who were to be punished. Therefore, it was also diminutively called a "tiny scroll" [βιβλιδάριον], since it is a kind of scroll [βίβλου]. Both terms have been used in the Holy Scripture, in which the names of all men are written, according to what was previously stated by me. The term "tiny scroll" [βιβλιδάριον] refers to the record containing the names of the exceedingly impious. For the worshippers of idols were not so numerous, nor marked by murders and poisonings and other afflictions that would serve to fill an entire scroll small [βιβλίον] with the diseases they caused. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the land. This was a sign both of the greatness of the saints and a sign that those who have sinned on the earth as well as those in the sea, such as shipwrecked individuals or others who have committed evil deeds, would bear the consequences of punishment. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:3
And he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. And it is said that the holy angel of wrath was symbolically represented as having roared like a lion, signifying the judgment against the impious. And when he said, "he cried out," the seven thunders uttered their voices. The seven thunders refer to the seven ministering spirits whose memory has been mentioned earlier; therefore, it is placed after the article. He says, "the seven thunders," referring to those seven spirits to which the reference pertains. What then is the meaning of the seven spirits crying out? It is that they also fully correspond with the punishments inflicted upon sinners, offering a grateful hymn of praise to God, acknowledging that all things have been done justly. At the same time, the one who cried out clarified the various forms of punishments. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:4
He says that he was about to write what was spoken to the seven spirits. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, and do not write it down." The act of sealing, in one sense, involved impressing the memory firmly upon your mind; but the prohibition against writing it down was a matter of divine economy, for which God knows the reason. Perhaps the punishments that are glorified are actually lighter, and worthy of the goodness of the one who punishes, making them shameful to humans. What do Gregory the Divine and Evagrius, the great authority on Gnostic matters, say about these things? Gregory asserts that "the punishment surrounding Adam is an act of generosity, for therefore I believe God punishes." And in another context, "neither mercy is indiscriminate nor is judgment merciless." Evagrius, however, declares that "the more recent and worldly thinkers should be forgotten regarding the superior discourse on judgment; for they do not understand the suffering of the rational soul condemned to ignorance." — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:7
According to the form of omission, it is stated: for it says that when the seventh angel is about to sound the trumpet, all the punishment against the impious will be fulfilled, being both various and many. However, it does not say that this will happen when he sounds the trumpet in the vision, since the other events have not yet occurred at that time, but rather when he sounds the trumpet at the appropriate time. When this occurs, he says that the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he declared to his servants the prophets. For the prophets foretold up until the judgment and the recompense of the good and the wicked, but not after that. Therefore, when the seventh angel sounds, the mystery will be completed, and every prophetic announcement will come to an end. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:8
And I heard a voice from heaven again, speaking. What did it say? Go, take the little scroll [βιβλίον] that is open in the hand of the angel. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:9
When I took it, he said, I ate it, and it was sweet in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. Since the divine evangelist both saw and heard the punishments inflicted upon the impious, so that they might be disciplined through deeds and not by hearing alone, and so that the lawlessness of men, which is both bitter and detestable before God, might be recognized as repulsive, he teaches this through vision. For he did not know this from experience, being a holy man and a virgin, and through this he came to understand that the wrath of God against the impious is just. The little scroll [βιβλίον] contained both the names and the sins of those who had greatly erred, as previously stated. It was therefore commanded to eat this, so that, through a certain taste and intellectual experience, the bitterness of the sins might be realized through a vision. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:10
And having eaten, he found them sweet to the mouth, but bitter to the stomach after consumption; for such is every sin. It is sweet in its operation, but bitter in its outcome. For it becomes the cause of punishment, and also, through repentance, it embitters those who have committed it. Such was also the tree forbidden by God in Paradise, which all interpret as leading to sin, producing knowledge of both good and evil (Gen. 2-3); sweet indeed in taste, but evil after experience. — Commentary on Revelation
Apocalipse 10:11
And he says to me, "You must prophesy again concerning peoples, nations, languages, and many kings," as if he said: because you have already seen in a vision both the end of the present age and the wrath against the ungodly, do not consider the day of the end to be present in deed; there is a long time in between, during which you must also prophesy to many nations and kings. Therefore, until now, the divine John prophesies through the Gospel, through his Catholic Epistles, and through the present Revelation; for everything has been spoken and foretold to him in the Spirit. — Commentary on Revelation