Fragments Preserved in Syriac and Arabic 3.1–3.21
Authorship disputed: Fragments of Hippolytus known only through Syriac and Arabic: the 'Heads against Gaius' (Bar-Salibi's commentary on the Apocalypse), fragments of the work 'On the Resurrection' addressed to the Empress Mammaea, and passages of an Arabic commentary on the Apocalypse that report Hippolytus's exegesis. The Syriac pieces are generally accepted; the Arabic commentator's own remarks are mixed with Hippolytus's views.
Source: Achelis 1897 (German translation by H. Achelis (1897); OCR from the Internet Archive).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Route 3: the Greek original is lost and survives only in Syriac and Arabic; neither is a site language, so the source in hand is Achelis's German translation (1897), translated by Claude with a note; the German is never shown.
Chapter 3
3.1Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
And that they are of Hebrew descent is shown by the tribes among them that have been distinguished; let it not be overlooked that most of this number, the first of all who believed the preaching of Christ, belonged to the tribes of Israel. The Acts of the Apostles says that the presbyters in Jerusalem said to Paul, when he had returned there from his missionary journeys: "You see, brother, how many myriads of the Jews have already believed?" And if this was so in the one city of Jerusalem, how many more, then, in the whole world, in which the tribes have been scattered, as the word of Judas in his first letter to the twelve tribes shows: "who are scattered in the world." But we admire the agreement in the number of these firstfruits from each tribe, that the number of no tribe is greater than that of another. Praised be God, who understands these unsearchable things from eternity! Now Hippolytus, the Roman bishop, holds this view in his interpretation of this point of the vision, and it is the correct one.
Rev 7:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 21:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: An Arabic commentator on Rev 7:4–8 reads the sealed of the twelve tribes as Jewish believers, the firstfruits, and says Hippolytus held the same view.
- Route 3: these pieces come from an Arabic commentary on the Revelation (13th century) that reports Hippolytus's interpretations, translated from the German of H. Achelis (GCS 1.2, 1897); the German is not shown. The commentator mixes Hippolytus's views with his own words; only the views he ascribes to "Hippolytus, the Roman bishop" are Hippolytus's.
- "The word of Judas in his first letter to the twelve tribes" is the commentator's (or his source's) slip for Jas 1:1. Quotation: Acts 21:20.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.1 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.2Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus, the Roman bishop, agrees with the view that the prophecy mentioned refers to those dead who rise, and not to the Maccabees.
Dan 12:2 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator reports that Hippolytus applied the prophecy to the dead who rise, not to the Maccabees.
- Which prophecy is meant is not stated in the excerpt (perhaps Dan 12:2, cited in the commentary on Rev 11 or 20); uncertain.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.2 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.3Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus is of the opinion that these two angels whom Daniel and John saw are the Word of God, who be praised!
Rev 10:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Dan 12:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator reports that Hippolytus identified the angel seen by Daniel and by John with the Word of God.
- The angel of Rev 10:1–6 swearing by him who lives for ever, compared with the man clothed in linen of Dan 12:7.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.3 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.4Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus, the Roman bishop, in his explanation of this verse, is of the opinion that the "woman" signifies the church, and the "sun" with which she was clothed signifies our Lord Christ, because he is called "the sun of godliness"; and the "moon under her feet" signifies John the Baptist; and the "crown" on her head "of twelve stars" signifies the twelve apostles.
Rev 12:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX) (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus reads the woman of Rev 12:1 as the church, the sun as Christ, the moon as John the Baptist, and the twelve stars as the apostles.
- Rev 12:1; "sun of godliness" recalls Mal 4:2.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.4 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.5Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
The "crown on her head of twelve stars" signifies the twelve apostles, as Hippolytus says, because these were the first to carry out the preaching of Christ, just as the crown is the first thing on the head.
Rev 12:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The twelve stars are the apostles, because they first preached Christ, as a crown is first on the head.
- Rev 12:1.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.5 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.6Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus, having recognized that the heads and horns of this dragon are kings, and that these belong to the followers and servants of Satan, explains: "The seven heads are seven kings, namely these: Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, Cyrus the Mede, Darius the Persian, Alexander the Greek, and the four servants of Alexander, who count as one kingdom, the Roman empire, and the kingdom of the Antichrist." And he explains the ten horns as ten kings who will perish together with the Antichrist. He has given no explanation of the crowns.
Rev 12:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 7:24 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus explains the seven heads of the dragon as seven kingdoms ending with Rome and the Antichrist, and the ten horns as ten kings.
- The list as reported has an obvious confusion (Alexander's four successors "count as one kingdom", followed by Rome and the Antichrist); translated as the German has it. Rev 12:3; Dan 7:7, 24.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.6 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.7Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
This which has been heard is a product of my own mind, as with similar things before. But Hippolytus explains where "the sound" comes from by supposing that it comes from the angels.
Rev 12:10 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator reports that Hippolytus took the heavenly voice to come from the angels.
- The first sentence is the commentator's own. The "sound" is probably the loud voice in heaven of Rev 12:10; uncertain.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.7 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.8Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus explains "the two wings" as hope and love.
Rev 12:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus explains the two wings given to the woman as hope and love.
- Rev 12:14.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.8 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.9Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
When it says, "And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon cast out after the woman," the statement that the earth swallowed the armies that were sent out admits of two interpretations. One is the literal one, that it happened to them as it once did to the followers of Korah, when the earth opened and they fell into its depths, and it covered them. The other explains "it swallowed them" as meaning that they, the armies, wandered about on it and strayed from the goal of their march. The latter is Hippolytus's. But the former may perhaps deserve preference, because one must not depart arbitrarily from the plain sense without an argument.
Rev 12:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 16:32 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Rev 12:16 the commentator gives a literal reading and Hippolytus's figurative one, that the dragon's armies went astray on the earth, and prefers the literal.
- The judgment between the two readings is the commentator's own. Rev 12:16; Num 16:31–33.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.9 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.10Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
When it says that they "kept the commandments of God," it does not mean that they kept them by studying them, but by doing them. And their "holding to the testimony of Jesus" consisted in becoming like him in patience and in the struggle for the truth, and in accepting the testimony. This speaks for the truth and for the acceptance of the testimony. And this is a proof that this company is more powerful in numbers than the first company, and greater in courage and endurance, and stronger in faith and obedience. But if they had given way because of their wealth and their concern for their possessions, as Hippolytus says, why then did they remain steadfast in these tribulations?
Rev 12:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Rev 12:17 the commentator praises those who kept God's commandments in deed, and questions Hippolytus's view that some gave way out of concern for their possessions.
- The argument is the commentator's; Hippolytus's view is reported only in the last sentence. Rev 12:17.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.10 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.11Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
When it says, "And on its heads was a wound as of a mortal wound, and its deadly blow was healed," the Coptic translation has that this wound was "on its heads," and the Greek translation that it was "on one of its heads." But the sense remains the same, because what is on a part of the whole is also on the whole. And so it remains to interpret this wound and the head on which it is. These two, in Hippolytus's opinion, are ruler and subject. He explains the wound to mean that many despise and revile the Antichrist at the beginning of his coming; and he explains the head as his kingdom. And this contempt shown to him and the refusal of obedience are weakness and slackness in it, and that is like a wound. And he explains its healing thus: that they turn to obedience to him when signs occur that lead them astray from their confidence, such that the state of the dead and the speaking of the idols will turn into their opposites.
Rev 13:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 13:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 13:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Rev 13:3 Hippolytus explains the healed wound of the beast as the contempt shown to the Antichrist at first, overcome when false signs win obedience to him.
- The textual remark on the Coptic and Greek versions is the commentator's. The last clause is obscure in the German and is translated as it stands. Rev 13:3, 13–15.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.11 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.12Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
On the one occasion when the apostle "stood on the sand of the sea," he saw two beasts there. The first was "the beast that came up out of the sea"; and the second was this beast mentioned in our verse, and it is this one that concerns us here. He says: "And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth"; and this passage shows that it comes after the Antichrist, contrary to the opinion of Hippolytus, according to which it comes before the Antichrist.
Rev 13:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 13:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator, against Hippolytus, holds that the beast from the earth comes after the Antichrist rather than before him.
- The argument is the commentator's; it reports Hippolytus's view only to reject it. Rev 13:1, 11.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.12 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.13Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
When it says, "And it had two horns like those of a lamb," the image of two horns has already occurred in the vision of Daniel, where he saw a ram with two horns, and where the two horns are interpreted as two kingdoms, that of the Medes and that of the Persians. But Hippolytus interprets the two as the law and the prophets, and says that they point to the gentle appearance of this beast, which inwardly is nevertheless a ravening wolf.
Rev 13:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 8:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 7:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus interprets the beast's two lamb-like horns as the law and the prophets, a gentle appearance hiding a ravening wolf.
- Rev 13:11; Dan 8:3, 20; Matt 7:15. Hippolytus's On Christ and Antichrist 49 explains these horns differently; the view here is as the Arabic commentator reports it.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.13 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.14Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
Hippolytus explains it thus: that "the mark on the hand" signifies prostration, and the mark "on the forehead" signifies that each one lifts it up on his forehead like a crown.
Rev 13:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus explains the mark on the hand as prostration and the mark on the forehead as wearing it like a crown.
- Rev 13:16.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.14 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.15Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
And as for the name of the beast in question, to be reckoned from the number, there are different opinions among the interpreters. Hippolytus, the Roman bishop, has puzzled out four names whose letters make up the number mentioned (but this is doubtful): Teitan, Euanthas, Lateinos, and a fourth … .
Rev 13:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator reports that Hippolytus proposed four names whose letters add up to the number of the beast, including Teitan, Euanthas, and Lateinos.
- The Greek names are garbled in the OCR of the German ("TEITAN, EIAHOAC, ENATINHOC, AXNTIAANOC"); the first three are read as the names Hippolytus gives in On Christ and Antichrist 50 (Τειτάν, Εὐάνθας, Λατεῖνος); the fourth cannot be read. "But this is doubtful" is the commentator's comment. Rev 13:18.
Extrabiblical texts: Hippolytus, Antichr. 50 (Treatise on Christ and Antichrist; echo)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.15 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.16Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
If that one is the Lord who "sits on the clouds," as Hippolytus supposes in his explanation, then it is not necessary to suppose that this angel points to the Lord of all.
Rev 14:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 14:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The commentator notes that if, with Hippolytus, the one seated on the cloud is the Lord, the following angel need not be taken as the Lord of all.
- Rev 14:14–15.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.16 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.17Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
In the words "so that the way may be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun," four questions arise about these kings of the east, their coming, and their purpose. 1. Do they belong to the following and the agents of the Antichrist, who are subject to his decision and obey him, not as one obeys a king, but as one obeys a god and reveres him, and worships his form and his image and burns incense to it, and swears by his name and scratches it on hand and forehead, so that, because the inhabitants of the earth obeyed him, he would have gone away, divided the kingdoms, and left the head and the horns as his successors? Or are these kings from the east another nation that did not submit to him? 2. Leaving open whether they belonged to those who believed and obeyed him or not: did they come to obey and help him, or did they come to fight him and overthrow his dynasty at God's command? 3. From which of its regions are they? For the territory of the east is a wide one and consists of a multitude of regions and lands. 4. Of what race are they? For many of the nations are represented in the east. Now Hippolytus, so far as he gives information about this, holds regarding the first question that they belong to the following and agents of the Antichrist; regarding the second question he says that God did not bar their way until they came to the Antichrist to help him and be subject to him. But about questions 3 and 4 the interpreters say nothing.
Rev 16:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 13:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Rev 16:12 the commentator poses four questions about the kings of the east and reports Hippolytus's view that they are followers of the Antichrist who come to help him.
- The questions are the commentator's; Hippolytus's answers to the first two are reported at the end. Rev 16:12; Rev 13:14–17.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.17 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.18Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
"The place called in the Hebrew dialect Harmagedon" means "the soft (or: trodden) place"; and as to its particular meaning, Hippolytus says it is the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Rev 16:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Joel 3:2 (4:2 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus identifies Armageddon with the valley of Jehoshaphat.
- Rev 16:16; Joel 3:2, 12 (4:2, 12 LXX).
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.18 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.19Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
"I saw a woman covered all over with gold, riding on a scarlet beast that was full of words of blasphemy; it had seven heads and ten horns; and she had a cup in her hand, full of the abominations and impurities of her fornication, and on her forehead was written the mystery: Babylon the great, the mother of the abominations and of the fornication of the earth. And I saw that woman drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." This kingdom, that is, the beast she rides, a serpent bites, leading it astray and casting it into the pit of destruction. This kingdom, the Spirit dwelling in the saints has explained, is the dominion of those who are called Latins; and so too it was interpreted by the Spirit who spoke through the holy bishop and witness Hippolytus, when he interpreted that revelation which was given to John the Theologian.
Rev 17:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Rev 17:3–6 the commentator identifies the beast ridden by the woman with the power of the Latins, claiming Hippolytus's authority for this reading.
- The OCR of the German interleaves part of the editor's notes (on "Harmagedon" in Arabic and Syriac) in the middle of this piece; they are not translated. The identification of the kingdom with the Latins is the 13th-century commentator's; translated as written. Rev 17:3–6.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.19 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.20Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
In his interpretation Hippolytus says that this beast is the same as the one which the apostle first saw coming up from the deep "on the sand of the sea."
Rev 17:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus identifies the scarlet beast of Rev 17 with the beast from the sea of Rev 13.
- Rev 17:8; Rev 13:1.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.20 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.
3.21Achelis 1897 1.2
Translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation (1897) of the Syriac and Arabic; neither is shown
As for Hippolytus, he thinks that this beast signifies idolatry, and that its "five heads that have fallen" are five kings: the first, Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean; the second, Cyrus the Mede; the third, Darius the Persian; the fourth, Alexander the Greek; the fifth, his four servants, who after him are the four quarters of the earth. These kingdoms, then, have perished. And the one "that exists" is the Roman empire. But it does not stand so in the Coptic translation, but "in which, and the other is not found"; and possibly this means that the Roman empire is not yet completely found and concluded. And as for "the other" that "has not yet come," this is by common consent the Antichrist. This passage is among the darkest of the vision.
Rev 17:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:9 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus interprets the five fallen heads of Rev 17:10 as the kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar to Alexander's successors, the one that is as Rome, and the one to come as the Antichrist.
- The remarks on the Coptic version and the closing comment are the commentator's. Rev 17:9–10.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Frag. orient. 3.21 (Achelis 1897 1.2; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of H. Achelis, 1897, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-fragmenta-orientalia/3-1/#p-3-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Route 3: translated by Claude from H. Achelis's German translation of the Syriac and Arabic fragments (GCS 1, 1897); the German is not shown. Re-read against the German.