Commentaria in Exodum
IN THE FIRST ROW (that is, order) SHALL BE A SARDIUS, AND A TOPAZ, AND AN EMERALD.—Let us here describe the names inscribed on the several stones, and fit each stone both to its Patriarch and to its Apostle. I shall follow in this matter others, and especially Francis Ribera, book 3 On the Temple, chap. 11, and on Apocal. chap. 21, who beyond the rest admirably fits each. Moreover, the order of birth and age is here preserved among the Patriarchs, so that he who is first in age comes first, and obtains the first gem; Juda, Joseph and Benjamin, therefore, who excelled the others in virtue and dignity, are here put after. Rightly Agesilaus, when placed after others his inferiors, said: “I shall show that it is not the place that honours the man, but the man the place”; Plutarch is witness. Moreover, Abulensis and Alcazar on Apoc. 21:20, note 35, contend that Levi is to be counted here, and therefore that, so that the tribes may be twelve, not thirteen, Ephraim and Manasses are to be contracted into one, namely Joseph, who was the father of both. The Chaldee also agrees, which on Cant. 5 puts the name of Levi on one gem. But it is truer that Levi is to be omitted, and consequently the tribe of Joseph divided into two, namely Ephraim and Manasses. The reason is first, because the high priest himself represented in himself the tribe of Levi; for he was himself of Levi and a Levite; secondly, because the twelve tribes placed here in the rational were the people, namely the laity, for whom the priest was to pray; for he carries them on his breast that he may continually remember them in prayers. But the tribe of Levi was not lay, but consecrated to God, and therefore together with the high priest, as the head of his tribe, supplicated God for the other lay tribes. It is reckoned, therefore, as one with its head, namely its high priest: for it attended him, and helped him in the sacrifices and sacred rites to be performed for the people. It did not become the high priest, then, to bear the tribe of Levi on his breast, since he was its head and prince; for he represented it in himself, as a prince represents the commonwealth, a king the kingdom, a firstborn the whole family and stock.
To the Chaldee I answer, that the authority of that paraphrast is small: for he has in the same place false and fictitious things, and is repugnant to Onkelos, that is, the Chaldee paraphrast whom we have on Exodus, as Alcazar himself confesses.
In the first row of gems, then, the first is the sardius, which shines through with the appearance of fire, and signifies Ruben, Jacob’s firstborn, whose lust shamed itself, both toward his father and others, when he went in to Bala, his father’s wife, Genes. 35:22. But because the sardius is dulled by suffused moisture, it fits the constancy and love of the same Ruben, with which he so earnestly tried to deliver Joseph out of the hands of his brothers, Genes. 36:24.
Tropologically, the sardius signifies fervent doctrine and martyrdom for it; for it is of a blood-red and fiery colour, with which it strikes terror into wild beasts. Hence in Apoc. chap. 21 it is assigned to St. Bartholomew, who, flayed for Christ, was all blood-red, and therefore terrible to demons; nor is it strange that the same gem should signify now a vice, now a virtue; for so in Scripture both the devil and Christ are called a lion, but Christ for fortitude, the devil for cruelty and fury. “As soldiers, showing to the king the wounds which were inflicted on them in battles, speak with confidence, so also the Martyrs, bearing their severed heads in their hands and bringing them into the midst, can obtain from the King of heaven whatever they wish,” says St. Chrysostom, sermon on Juventinus and Maximus.
Second, the topaz, which is partly of a golden colour, nay shines with every colour, says Isidore, book 16, chap. 7. Some think the topaz is so called from the island Topazus in the Red Sea, which, since it is misty, and was often sought by sailors, took its name hence; for in the language of the Troglodytes, to seek is topazin. The topaz suits Simeon, bold and undaunted, as appeared in the avenging of the rape inflicted on his sister Dina, Genes. 34:25. For the bold and crafty are not seldom pale and wan. Whence Julius Caesar, when some had ill suspicions of Antony and Dolabella, and warned him to beware of them: “I do not fear these ruddy, idle, fat men,” he said, “but those lean and pale ones,” pointing to Brutus and Cassius, and rightly; for by them afterwards he was treacherously slain in the senate-house.
Tropologically, the topaz signifies a heavenly spirit, unbroken in all things, and superior to all adversities; for the topaz is blue and tawny, and flames the more when struck by the rays of the sun. Hence in Apoc. chap. 21 it is assigned to James the brother of the Lord, who, irradiated with heavenly charity, by it supplanted the Jews and all earthly things. “The mind,” says Seneca, epist. 66, “beholding the truth, skilled in what is to be shunned and what sought; not setting prices on things by opinion but by nature; invincible alike amid harsh and flattering things, yielding to neither fortune, rising above all that befalls and happens, stands unperturbed and fearless, which no force can break, which chance events neither lift up nor cast down. Such a mind is virtue; this is its face.” And again: “Nothing,” he says, “is great in human affairs but a mind that despises great things. Cyrus,” says Xenophon, book 1, “was most beautiful in form, most gentle in spirit, and most eager to learn and to obtain honours; and so he bore every labour, and underwent every danger for the sake of praise.” What then will the Christian do for eternal praise and glory?
Third is the emerald, which is most green, so that it tinges other things, and even the air, with its greenness; whence in Hebrew it is called bareket, that is, lightning; hence also it is called Ceraunius by Symmachus, as St. Jerome testifies. The emerald suits Levi, says Abulensis, but he is mistaken: for Levi is not reckoned among the twelve tribes, as I showed above. Therefore the emerald is Juda, who, if you exclude Levi, was the third son of Jacob; for the emerald signifies the fortitude of Juda, and his perennial sceptre, always green until Christ, Genesis chap. 49, verse 10.
Tropologically, the emerald signifies virginity; hence Apoc. 21 it is assigned to St. John, who, always a virgin, wonderfully flourished in his virginity. Whence Pierius, Hierogl. 44: “There are those,” he says, “who will have the perpetual and bright greenness of the emerald be a sign of virginity: and they add this as an argument, that in the commission of venereal acts, if one touches the stone, it breaks of itself.” That this latter is false, married women assert from experience; for many have rings with an emerald, which they put off neither by day nor by night, and which nevertheless always endure whole and unharmed even after intercourse. So Catullus compares a virgin to a flower in spring:
As a flower is born secret in fenced gardens, unknown to the flock, bruised by no plough: so a maiden, while she remains untouched, etc.
18. IN THE SECOND ROW A CARBUNCLE, A SAPPHIRE, AND A JASPER.—In the second row the first is the carbuncle, in Greek anthrax, that is, a burning coal: for it bears its appearance; whence also it does not feel fire, for which reason it is called apyrotus by Pliny, book 37. This suits Dan and the Danites, who by their fortitude burned Lais, Judic. 18:27; and Samson the Danite, who, tying burning firebrands to the tails of foxes, set fire with them to the corn of the Philistines, Judic. 15:5.
Tropologically, the carbuncle signifies burning charity; to the carbuncle in the Apocalypse answers the chalcedony, which is like the carbuncle in colour, and is assigned to James the brother of St. John, who, burning with the charity of Christ, was the first of the Apostles to die a martyr for Christ.
“Martyrdom,” says St. Cyprian, “is the end of sins, the term of danger, the leader to salvation, the road of patience, the master of the home of life. It is a great sublimity, before the face of the Lord, and in the sight of Christ, to despise the torments of human power.” Again, Laurence Justinian, On the Tree of Life, chap. 4: “Charity,” he says, “is an impenetrable breastplate, it rejects the sword, shakes off the javelins, mocks at danger, laughs at death, and in the end conquers all things.” Excellently St. Augustine, On the Praise of Charity: “She,” he says, “endures in adversities, tempers prosperities, is strong in hard sufferings, cheerful in good works, rich in temporal things, most generous in hospitality, most joyful among good brethren, most wise among the false. In Abel she is glad through sacrifice; in Noe secure through the flood; in the pilgrimage of Abraham most faithful; in Moses most gentle amid injuries; in David most mild amid tribulations; in the three children she bravely endures the soothing flames: chaste in Susanna above a husband, in Anna after a husband, in Mary beyond a husband: free in Paul for rebuking, humble in Peter for obeying: human in Christians for confessing, divine in Christ for forgiving. She is the fruit of faith, the riches of the poor, the life of the dying.”
Second is the sapphire, which is blue, that is, of a heavenly colour, and shines with golden points, and which, struck by the rays of the sun, sends forth a burning splendour. This suits Nephtali, from whom most of the Apostles were descended, for their heavenly fortitude, who gave to the world the golden words of the heavenly Gospel, and (as Jacob prophesied, Genes. chap. 49, verse 21) words of beauty.
Tropologically, the sapphire signifies those who dwell in body on earth, but in mind and life in heaven; whence in Apoc. it is assigned to St. Paul, as Aretas will have it; or rather to St. Andrew, who, struck by the love of heaven and the rays of Christ, remaining with Him two days, burned with love for Him, and trampled upon all earthly things, prosperous and adverse alike. Andrew therefore was manly, according to his name, which in Greek is aner, that is, man. “A man,” says Cassiodorus on Psalm 1, “so called from strength, is one who does not know how to fail in bearing adversities, nor in prosperity to boast himself with any elation; but, fixed in a stable mind, and strengthened by the contemplation of heavenly things, remains ever undismayed.” And St. Gregory, book 7 of the Morals: “The fortitude of the just,” he says, “is to conquer the flesh, to oppose their own pleasures, to extinguish delight in the present life, to love the hardships of this world for eternal rewards, to despise the allurements of prosperity, to overcome in the heart the fear of adversity.”