86 Great who had shown the blessed Paul [75] their great number. But accordingly it is said, this will definitely happen during the time of Antichrist, the seal of the life-giving Cross separating the faithful374 from the unfaithful, (the faithful) without shame and having been emboldened bearing the sign of Christ before the impious. Wherefore the angel says, Rev. 7:3b "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we hâve sealed the servants ofour God upon their for eheads. " Création, having corne into being for us,375 when we are chastised partakes with us in the afflictions, likewise therefore it will rejoice with the saints who are glorified. Through those we learn also that before the bringing of trials the virtuous need to be strengthened t through angehc assistance, 3/3 ■3*77 ^78 through the seal ofthe Spirif given to us and manifesting our Acts 21:18-20. 374 In the early Church, and continuing today in the Eastern Christian tradition, immediately following the sacrament of baptism, the new Christian is "sealed" through the sacrament of Chrismation (i.e., confirmation). The sign ofthe cross is made by the priest with the oil of chrism on the forehead ofthe newly baptized while the priest proclaims, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit." It signifies the bestowal of the Holy Spirit and marks the individual as belonging to Christ. Ail members of the Church, therefore, are sealed on the forehead with the cross spiritually and literally "separating the faithful from the unfaithful," as Andrew remarks hère. See below, fn 378. 375 Création not only exists for the physical needs of human beings but since it displays the glory and wisdom of the Creator, the wise individual can learn moral lessons from it. For a good example of this concept, see Basil the Great's Homily 7 On the Six Days of Création in which he extensively surveyed various types of sea créatures and pointed out moral lessons which can be learned from their behavior, some positive and some négative. "I hâve seen thèse wonders myself and I hâve admired the wisdom of God in ail things. If the unreasoning animais are able to contrive and look out for their own préservation, if a fish knows what it should choose and what to avoid, what shall we say who hâve been honored with reason, taught by the law, encouraged by the promises, made wise by the Spirit, and who hâve handled our own affairs more unreasonably than the fish?" Hom. 7.5, FC 46:113. 376 See Rom. 8:19-23. The concept that création itself was adversely affected by the Fall of Adam and that it too will be renewed in the end times was very popular in the patristic tradition. 377 It is obvious that Andrew, and the book of Révélation itself, do not expect that anyone will escape the trials of the end times, even the virtuous or righteous. The idea of a "rapture," as it is modernly advanced in some Christian circles as a deliverance from the sufferings of the end-times, was foreign to the early Christians. Instead, the emphasis was on patient endurance through tribulations. 378 "[God] has anointed us by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit." (2 Cor. 1:21-22) "[Y]ou were marked with the seal ofthe promised Holy Spirit." (Eph. 1:13) "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal." (Eph. 4:30) Ambrose compared the seal to a military insignia: "Each individual commander désignâtes such ensigns and gives orders that they be followed... But one who is a loyal soldier follows his own ensigns and does not recognize those of a stranger. Let us consider with some care and attention what thèse strange ensigns are. Christ has set His sign on the forehead of each one; the Antichrist sets his sign there also, that he may recognize his own...The devil and his servants set up their ensigns, but I did not 87 own power and according to the amount of work we hâve put to it. The rest will remain without help, for by their own will they will not be helped.379 Rev. 7:4 And I heard the number ofthe sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israël. Twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, [76] Judah, (means) "confession," through which are shown the ones being saved through confession to Christ,380 who is descended from the root of Judah.381 know them because I was not a party to their deceits and I did not agrée to their dominion." The Prayer o/Job and David 7.26-7.27. Ambrose: Seven Exegetical Works, trans. Michael P. McHugh, Fathers of the Church séries, vol. 65 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1975), 409-410. 379 Clearly, Andrew rejects any notion of prédestination. In fact, his words reveal the classic Eastern Christian belief in "synergy" as fundamental for personal salvation: every human being must "co-operate" for his/her salvation. Christ saved everyone ail once and for ail by his death and résurrection, but it is the responsibility of each individual to respond to that gift by the exercise of his/her free will, which is manifested by one's relationship to God and in one's manner of life. God neither forces himself on human beings nor does he favor some and reject others arbitrarily, but rather he initiâtes and aids the salvation of each individual. Andrew is about to elaborate on how one responds to God and manifests a désire to be "helped" by God by allegorically interpreting the names of the patriarchs to provide examples of the spiritual qualities found in those who are saved. 380 Andrew means both martyrs and confessors. A "confessor" is one who is tortured for refusing to deny Christ. He/she proclaims (or "confesses") faith in Christ, but survives the torture. A martyr is one who "confessed" Christ unto death. 381 This same interprétation ofthe meaning of "Judah" is found earlier in Andrew {Chp. 5, Text 28, Comm. 34, fh 146) and cornes from Gen. 29:35. The naming ofthe twelve tribes hère commences a séries of interprétations by Andrew based on the perceived etymology ofthe name of each patriarch. In some instances, the meaning of the name relates to the occasion ofthe individual's birth, as found in Gen. 29-30 (the sons of Jacob), or Gen 41:51-52 (the sons of Joseph). Another source of inspiration was Gen. 49 which gives Jacob's final words to each of his sons. Analyzing the names of notable people and places was a favorite pursuit of pagan, Jewish and Christian writers. Although they were frequently incorrect about the etymology, they believed that the names contained hidden allegorical meanings and that élaboration on the name might encourage spiritual progress. The importance ofthe spiritual lesson to be learned by the name is shown by the fact that our author expends several pages interpreting the meanings of thèse names. Since many Church Fathers had an extensive classical éducation, this also inspired their use of etymology for words and names since this was also practiced by pagan writers. Oikoumenios is silent about the meaning of the names, and even omits verses 5-8 in his text of Révélation itself, the verses which contain the actual names of the tribes. In keeping with his interprétation of Révélation as a metaphor for past historical events, Oikoumenios believes that the 144,000 are those Jews who either believed in Christ or who had no part in his death and because of this they were spared from death during the Roman-Jewish War (4.1). Perhaps Oikoumenios' failure to discuss the symbolic meaning ofthe names, information which almost any contemporaneous reader would hâve expected to be included, is one of those glaring omissions which led Andrew to compose his commentary. Interpreting the names would not hâve required Oikoumenios to abandon his methodology. He could easily hâve maintained his opinion that the tribes represented actual Jews from the first century and still articulated desired spiritual qualities implied by the names. Andrew was very much in fine with patristic tradition in his interprétation hère, following not only an established pagan and patristic tradition, but also a Jewish and rabbinic one, illustrated by Philo Judaeus, a first 88 Rev. 7:5 Twelve thousand sealedfrom the tribe ofReuben Reuben, "son of vision," through which are shown the ones who through cleanliness of heart possessed spiritual vision. Rev. 7:5b Twelve thousand from the tribe ofGad Gad, "trial,"384 through which are meant those who are crowned through patience in TOC trials, according to Job. Rev. 7:6a Twelve thousandfrom the tribe ofAsher Asher (means) "blessed," through which are shown those who are worthy of the blessings of the master through the way of life, those being judged worthy to stand at the right hand of Christ and famous as sons oflight and ofday. century Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria. Philo commented frequently on the allegorical meaning of biblical names, especially in his work about name changes in the Bible, On the Change ofNames. Andrew repeats some of Philo's interprétations, although it is impossible to know whether Andrew was reading Philo directly or whether Philo's interprétations had simply been absorbed into the patristic tradition through other writers who preceded Andrew, which is more likely. (A list of Origen's interprétations of names was prepared by Franz Wutz who compared them to Jerome's interprétations. Onomastica sacra: Utersuchungen zum Liber interpretationis nominum hebraicorum des hl. Hieronymus [1914] See also R.P.C. Hanson "Interprétation of Hebrew Names in Origen" Vigiliae Christianae 10 [1956] 103-123.) Eusebius of Caesarea and Jérôme both produced "Onomastica," compilations of the meanings of place names in the bible. The operative presumption underlying this practice was that the Holy Spirit inspired every détail in the Bible, therefore every détail had a hidden spiritual or mystical meaning to be discovered. Origen remarked, "[I]t is for this reason that divine wisdom arranged certain names of locations to be written in the Scriptures to contain a certain mystic meaning. Through thèse it may be disclosed to us that thèse things are arranged by very particular reasons and do not happen by chance or accidentally." (Hom. on Joshua 23.4, FC 105:200-201.) 382 Gen. 29:32. 383 An allusion to Matt. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." 384 The meaning given for the name "Gad" differs greatly even in the Bible. Gen 30:11 explains that Gad means "good fortune" whereas in Gen. 49:19 it means "raid." Philo interprets it as "invasion," such as by pirates. (Philo, On Dreams 2.35. The Works of Philo Complète and Unabridged, trans. CD. Yonge, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1993), 390. 385 Job 42. At the end of the book, the hero, Job, a righteous man who suffered countless tribulations, is rewarded by God for his patience and faithfulness. 386 Or "happy." Gen. 30:13 (LXX reads: uaicapia). 387 Matt. 25:33. 1 Thess. 5:5. 89 Rev. 7:6b Twelve thousandfrom the tribe ofNaphtali Naphtali, "prayer,"389 through which are designated those who are attached to God through unceasing prayer. Rev. 7:6c - Twelve thousandfrom the tribe ofManasseh [77] Manasseh, "forgetfulness,"391 that is, the ones who forget the (things) behind m and their fathers' houses on account of divine love.393 Rev. 7:7a Twelve thousandfrom the tribe ofSimeon Simeon, "obédience,"394 clearly (signifies), the ones who are justified through obédience to divine commandments. Rev. 7:7b Twelve thousandfrom the tribe ofLevi Levi, "the one received in addition,"395 through which are meant the ones who hâve been received in addition by Christ through their révèrent way life. Levi is placed eighth because true priesthood became famous on the eighth day, the day of the Résurrection. Rev. 7:7c Twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar Issachar, "wages,"396 that is the ones living virtuously for the sake of the wages from God. 389 In Gen. 30:8, it is said to mean "prevail." 390 Constant communication with God by observing Paul's admonition to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) is considered the Christian idéal and an essential pursuit in the monastic life of the Eastern tradition. 391 Gen. 41:51. ','>> Phil. 3:13. 393 An allusion to Gen. 12:1, (Abraham's initial call from God to leave his kindred and his father's house to go to the promised land), and to Ps. 45(44): 10, "Hear, O daughter, and consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house, and the king will désire your beauty." This verse, popular in the Eastern tradition and used in certain liturgical services, was interpreted by the Fathers as an allegorical call to the soûl, (a féminine noun in Greek), to make herself attractive to her king, God. 394 In Gen. 29:33, it is said to mean "heard." Philo interprets it as "listening" (On the Change ofNames 99 and On Dreams 2.34), hence, "obédience." (Works of Philo, 349 and 390, respectively.) Gen. 29:34, "joined." 90 Rev. 7:8a Twelve thousand from the tribe ofZebulun Zebulun, "habitation of strength," or "sweet fragrance,"397 through which are meant the ones who are strengthened against the passions by the in-dwelling of Christ398 and hâve become his sweet fragrance,7199 as Paul says. Rev. 7:8b Twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph [78] Joseph, "addition,"400 that is, the ones who receive in addition to a portion of the kingdom of heaven the things necessary for life, as the Lord said.401 Rev. 7:8c Twelve thousand sealed from the tribe of Benjamin Benjamin, "son of grief or "son of day" or "son of the right (hand),"402 in other words, those who hâve grief of heart,403 either the faithful from among the Hebrews who hâve escaped the captivity of the Romans404 who complète this number, or more correctly, those saved from among the Jews in the end of time when, as the Apostle says, after the complète number of Gentiles enters ail Israël will be saved. Neither of thèse is unacceptable. The précise equality of each tribe, seems to me to show the multiplication of 396 Gen. 30:16. 397 In Gen. 30:20 it is said to mean "honor." Philo states that it means "departure of night" (On Dreams 2.34, The Works of Philo, 390.) See Hippolytus commenting on Gen. 49, "And Zabulun is, by interprétation, "fragrance" and "blessing." On the Six Days of Création, Gen. 49.12-15. Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus: Exegetical, trans. S.D.F. Salmond, Fathers ofthe Third Century, Ante-Nicene Fathers séries, vol. V, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, reprinted 1990), 165. 398 An allusion to 1 Cor. 3:16 and 2 Cor. 6:16. 399 2 Cor. 2:15. 400 Gen. 30:24. Also Philo, Change ofNames 92. 401 Matt. 6:33, Luke 12:31. 402 Gen. 35:18. Rachel named him Son ofmy sorrow (Ben-oni) because she realized she was dying due to a difficult childbirth. But the same verse in Genesis explains that Jacob named him Benjamin, Son ofthe right hand. Yet Philo interprets the name to mean Son ofday. {Change ofNames 92, Works of Philo, 349.) 403 Ps. 94(93): 19. 404 Oik. 4.17.7-8. Rom. 11:25-26.