Some Exegetical Fragments of Hippolytus

Genesis 1:5

And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.

HIPPOLYTUS: He did not say “night and day,” but “one day,” with reference to the name of the light. He did not say the “first day;”for if he had said the “first” day, he would also have had to say that the “second” day was made. But it was right to speak not of the “first day,” but of “one day,” in order that by saying “one,” he might show that it returns on its orbit and, while it remains one, makes up the week.

Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.

HIPPOLYTUS: On the first day God made what He made out of nothing. But on the other days He did not make out of nothing, but out of what He had made on the first day, by moulding it according to His pleasure.

Genesis 1:6-7

And let it divide between water and water: and it was so. And God made the firmament; and God divided between the water which was under the firmament, and the water above the firmament: and it was so.

HIPPOLYTUS: As the excessive volume of water bore along over the face of the earth, the earth was by reason thereof “invisible” and “formless.” When the Lord of all designed to make the invisible visible, He fixed then a third part of the waters in the midst; and another third part He set by itself on high, raising it together with the firmament by His own power; and the remaining third He left beneath, for the use and benefit of men. Now at this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint.

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at even.

HIPPOLYTUS: Rather they discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon, therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance.

Genesis 49:3

Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength, and the first of my children; hard to bear with, and hard and self-willed: you have grown wanton as water; boil not over.

AQUILA: Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength, and the sum of my sorrow: excelling in dignity and excelling in might: you have been insensate as water; excel not.

SYMMACHUS: Reuben, my first-born, and beginning of my pain: above measure grasping, and above measure hot as water, you shall not more excel.

HIPPOLYTUS: For there was a great display of strength made by God in behalf of His first-born people from Egypt. For in very many ways was the land of the Egyptians chastised. That first people of the circumcision is meant by “my strength, and the first of my children:”even as God gave the promise to Abraham and to his seed. But “hard to bear with,” because the people hardened itself against the obedience of God. And “hard, self-willed,” because it was not only hard against the obedience of God, but also self-willed so as to set upon the Lord. “You have grown wanton,” because in the instance of our Lord Jesus Christ the people grew wanton against the Father. But “boil not over,” says the Spirit, by way of comfort, that it might not, by boiling utterly over, be spilt abroad—giving it hope of salvation. For what has boiled over and been spilt is lost.

Genesis 49:4

For you went up to your father's bed.

HIPPOLYTUS: First he mentions the event—that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride, the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.

Genesis 49:5

Simeon and Levi, brethren.

HIPPOLYTUS: Since from Simeon sprang the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity of their own choice, and with one mind they slew the Lord.

Genesis 49:5

Simeon and Levi, brethren, fulfilled iniquity of their own choice. Into their counsel let not my soul enter, and in their assembly let not my heart contend; for in their anger they slew men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.

HIPPOLYTUS: This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us. For the blessed David sings, “Rulers have taken counsel together against the Lord,” and so forth. And of this conspiracy the Spirit prophesied, saying, “Let not my soul contend,” desiring to draw them off, if possible, so that that future crime might not happen through them. “They slew men, and houghed the bull;”by the “strong bull” he means Christ. And “they houghed,” since, when He was suspended on the tree, they pierced through His sinews. Again, “in their anger they houghed a bull.” And mark the nicety of the expression: for “they slew men, and houghed a bull.” For they killed the saints, and they remain dead, awaiting the time of the resurrection. But as a young bull, so to speak, when houghed, sinks down to the ground, such was Christ in submitting voluntarily to the death of the flesh; but He was not overcome of death. But though as man He became one of the dead, He remained alive in the nature of divinity. For Christ is the bull,— an animal, above all, strong and neat and devoted to sacred use. And the Son is Lord of all power, who did no sin, but rather offered Himself for us, a savour of a sweet smell to His God and Father. Therefore let those hear who houghed this august bull: “Cursed be their anger, for it was stubborn; and their wrath, for it was hardened.” But this people of the Jews dared to boast of houghing the bull: “Our hands shed this.” For this is nothing different, I think, from the word of folly: “His blood” (be upon us), and so forth. Moses recalls the curse against Levi, or, rather converts it into a blessing, on account of the subsequent zeal of the tribe, and of Phinehas in particular, in behalf of God. But that against Simeon he did not recall. Wherefore it also was fulfilled in deed. For Simeon did not obtain an inheritance like the other tribes, for he dwelt in the midst of Judah. Yet his tribe was preserved, although it was small in numbers.

Genesis 49:11

Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine—the tendril of the vine—he will wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape.

HIPPOLYTUS: By the “foal” he means the calling of the Gentiles; by the other, that of the circumcision: “one ass,” moreover, that is to signify that the two colts are of one faith; in other words, the two callings. And one colt is bound to the “vine,” and the other to the “vine tendril,” which means that the Church of the Gentiles is bound to the Lord, but he who is of the circumcision to the oldness of the law. “He will wash his garment in wine;”that is, by the Holy Spirit and the word of truth, he will cleanse the flesh, which is meant by the garment. And “in the blood of the grape,” trodden and giving forth blood, which means the flesh of the Lord, he cleanses the whole calling of the Gentiles.

Genesis 49:12-15

His eyes are gladsome with wine, and his teeth white as milk. Zabulun shall dwell by the sea, and he shall be by a haven of ships, and he shall extend to Sidon. Issachar desired the good part, resting in the midst of the lots. And seeing that rest was good, and that the land was fat, he set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman.

HIPPOLYTUS: That is, his eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk—that denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the flesh and the soul. And Zabulun is, by interpretation, “fragrance” and “blessing.”

Then, after something from Cyril:

HIPPOLYTUS: Again, I think, it mystically signifies the sacraments of the New Testament of our Saviour; and the words, “his teeth are white as milk,” denote the excellency and purity of the sacramental food. And again, these words, “his teeth are white as milk,” we take in the sense that His words give light to those who believe in Him.