Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol VIII:
Remains of the Second and Third Centuries.: Fragment IX

IX. 3641

Head of the Lord—His simple Divinity; because He is the Beginning and Creator of all things:  in Daniel. 3642

The white hair of the Lord, because He is “the Ancient of Days:”  as above.

The eyes of the Lord—the Divine inspection:  because He sees all things.  Like that in the apostle:  For all things are naked and open in His eyes.” 3643

The eyelids of the Lord—hidden spiritual mysteries in the Divine precepts.  In the Psalm:  “His eyelids question, that is prove, the children of men.” 3644

The smelling of the Lord—His delight in the prayers or works of the saints.  In Genesis:  “And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness.” 3645

The mouth of the Lord—His Son, or word addressed to men.  In the prophet, “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken;” 3646 and elsewhere, “They provoked His mouth to anger.” 3647

The tongue of the Lord—His Holy Spirit.  In the Psalm:  “My tongue is a pen.” 3648

The face of the Lord—His manifestation.  In Exodus, “My face shall go before thee;” 3649 and in the prophet, “The face of the Lord divided them.” 3650

The word of the Lord—His Son.  In the Psalm:  “My heart hath uttered a good word.” 3651

The arm of the Lord—His Son, by whom He hath wrought all His works.  In the prophet Isaiah:  “And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” 3652

The right hand of the Lord—that is, His Son; as also above in the Psalm:  “The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly.” 3653

The right hand of the Lord—electio omnis.  As in Deuteronomy:  “In His right hand is a fiery law.” 3654

The wings of the Lord—Divine protection.  In the Psalm:  “In the shadow of Thy wings will I hope.” 3655

The shoulder of the Lord—the Divine power, by which He condescends to carry the feeble.  In Deuteronomy:  “He took them up, and put them on His shoulders.” 3656

The hand of the Lord—Divine operation.  p. 761 In the prophet:  “Have not my hands made all these things?” 3657

The finger of the Lord—the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written; 3658 and in the Gospel:  “If I by the finger of God cast out demons” 3659

The fingers of the Lord—The lawgiver Moses, or the prophets.  In the Psalm:  “I will regard the heavens,” that is, the books of the Law and the Prophets, “the works of Thy fingers.” 3660

The wisdom of the Lord—His Son.  In the apostle:  “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God;” 3661 and in Solomon:  “The wisdom of the Lord reacheth from one end to the other mightily.” 3662

The womb of the Lord—the hidden recess of Deity out of which He brought forth His Son.  In the Psalm:  “Out of the womb, before Lucifer, have I borne Thee.” 3663

The feet of the Lord—His immoveableness and eternity.  In the Psalm:  “And thick darkness was under His feet.” 3664

The throne of the Lord—angels, or saints, or simply sovereign dominion. 3665   In the Psalm:  “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” 3666

Seat—the same as above, angels or saints, because the Lord sits upon these.  In the Psalm:  “The Lord sat upon His holy seat.” 3667

The descent of the Lord—His visitation of men.  As in Micah:  “Behold, the Lord shall come forth from His place; He shall come down trampling under foot the ends of the earth.” 3668   Likewise in a bad sense.  In Genesis:  “The Lord came down to see the tower.” 3669

The ascent of the Lord—the raising up of man, who is taken from earth to heaven.  In the Psalm:  “Who ascendeth above the heaven of heavens to the east.” 3670

The standing of the Lord—the patience of the Deity, by which He bears with sinners that they may come to repentance.  As in Habakkuk:  “He stood and measured the earth; 3671 and in the Gospel:  “Jesus stood, and bade him be called,” 3672 that is, the blind man.

The transition of the Lord—His assumption of our flesh, through which by His birth, His death, His resurrection, His ascent into heaven, He made transitions, so to say.  In the Song of Songs:  “Behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” 3673

The going 3674 of the Lord—His coming or visitation.  In the Psalm.

The way of the Lord—the operation of the Deity.  As in Job, in speaking of the devil:  “He is the beginning of the ways of the Lord.” 3675

Again:  The ways of the Lord—His precepts.  In Hosea:  “For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just shall walk in them.” 3676

The footsteps of the Lord—the signs of His secret operations.  As in the Psalm:  “And Thy footsteps shall not be known.” 3677

The knowledge of the Lord—that which makes men to know Him.  To Abraham He says:  “Now I know that thou fearest the Lord;” 3678 that is, I have made thee to know.

The ignorance of God 3679 is His disapproval.  In the Gospel:  “I know you not.” 3680

The remembrance of God—His mercy, by which He rejects and has mercy on whom He will.  So in Genesis:  “The Lord remembered Noah;” 3681 and in another passage:  “The Lord hath remembered His people.” 3682

The repentance of the Lord—His change of procedure. 3683   As in the book of Kings:  “It repented me that I have made Saul king.” 3684

The anger and wrath of the Lord—the vengeance of the Deity upon sinners, when He bears with them with a view to punishment, does not at once judge them according to strict equity.  As in the Psalm:  “In His anger and in His wrath will He trouble them.” 3685

The sleeping of the Lord—when, in the thoughts of some, His faithfulness is not sufficiently wakeful.  In the Psalm:  “Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” 3686

The watches of the Lord—in the guardianship of His elect He is always at hand by the presence of His Deity.  In the Psalm:  “Lo! He will not slumber nor sleep.” 3687

The sitting of the Lord—His ruling.  In the Psalm:  “The Lord sitteth upon His holy seat.” 3688

The footstool of the Lord—man assumed by the Word; or His saints, as some think.  In the Psalm:  “Worship ye His footstool, for it is holy.”

The walking of the Lord—the delight of p. 762 the Deity in the walks of His elect.  In the prophet:  “I will walk in them, and will be their Lord.” 3689

The trumpet of the Lord—His mighty voice.  In the apostle:  “At the command, and at the voice of the archangel, and at the trumpet of God, shall He descend from heaven.” 3690

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Footnotes

From The Key.

Dan. 7:9, 13, 22.

Heb. iv. 13.

Ps. xi. 4.

Gen. viii. 21.

Isa. i. 20.

Lam. i. 18.

Ps. xlv. 1.

Ex. xxxiii. 14.

Lam. iv. 16.

Ps. xlv. 1.

Isa. liii. 1.

Ps. cxviii. 16.

Deut. xxxiii. 2.

Ps. lvii. 1.

Deut. xxxiii. 12.

Isa. lxvi. 2.

Ex. xxxiv. 1.

Luke xi. 20.

Ps. viii. 3.

1 Cor. i. 24.

Sap. viii. 1.

Ps. cx. 3.

Ps. xviii. 9.

Ipsa regnandi potestas.

Ps. 45:6, Ps. 5:0, Ps. 29:0.

Ps. xlvii. 8.

Mic. i. 3.

Gen. xi. 3.

Ps. lxviii. 33.

Hab. iii. 6.

Mark x. 49.

Song of Sol. 2.8.

Gressus.

Job xl. 19.

Hos. xiv. 10.

Ps. lxxvii. 19.

Gen. xxii. 12.

Nescire Dei.

Luke xiii. 25.

Gen. viii. 1.

Esther x. 12.

Rerum mutatio.

1 Sam. xv. 11.

Ps. ii. 5.

Ps. xliv. 23.

Ps. cxxi. 4.

Ps. xlvii. 8.

Ezek. xxxvii. 27.

1 Thess. iv. 15.  [The above has been shown to have no claim to be the work of Melito.  It is a compilation of the sixth century, in all probability.]