We believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that is true, and that they are a Trinity; nevertheless the kingship is one. I saw a single throne set up, and I saw a single Lamb standing in the presence of the throne.^[1] This refers to the incarnation of the Savior. Scripture says, Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.^[2] And there was a fountain of water coming forth from beneath the middle of the throne. Notice that it is from the midst of the throne that there issues forth a river of graces. That river does not issue forth from the throne unless the Lamb is standing before it, for unless we believe in the incarnation of Christ, we do not receive those graces.

The living water is the Lord Jesus Christ. Of this water he spoke to the Samaritan woman: If you knew the gift of God and who it was who says to you, ‘give me to drink,’ you would rather ask from him, and he would give to you the living water.^[1] [He was speaking of] the knowledge of his deity and the fullness of a holy faith. For concerning him it is said, For with you is the fountain of life.^[2] For they are buried [with him] through baptism, as the apostle says: For we have been buried with him by baptism into death.^[3] Therefore, the living water which is like crystal and is perfectly clear is the washing of the holy font and the resulting brightness of most blessed faith. It is said to flow from the throne of God and the Lamb because the cleansing is from him, life is from him, and all righteousness and holiness of baptism flows from and proceeds from him.

The river of life is the abundant and plenteous gifts of the grace of Christ that are everlastingly poured out upon the saints. These sweep and flow upon them much like a river.

The river of life that flows in the midst of the city no longer signifies the administration of baptism. Rather, the fruit of that sacrament is here revealed. For we sow now in tears what we shall then reap in joy, and so now the church sows to the Spirit so that it might reap eternal life.^[1]

This passage shows the fountain of baptism flowing from God and from Christ in the midst of the church. For what kind of honor would there be for this city were the river to flow through the streets to the hindrance of the inhabitants?

The river that flows from the church in the present life indicates the baptism of regeneration that is made effective through the Spirit and makes those who are washed more clean than snow and crystal. But the river of God, filled up with waters, namely, the Holy Spirit, flows through the Jerusalem above, flowing from God the Father through the Son. And [this river flows] in the midst of the most excellent powers, which are named here the throne of God, making full the streets of the holy city, that is, the multitude of its inhabitants who are, according to the psalmist, more in number than the sand.^[1]

This tree bears twofold: it produces fruit and it produces foliage. The fruit that it bears contains the meaning of Scripture; the leaves, only the words. The fruit is in the meaning; the leaves are in the words. For that reason, whoever reads sacred Scripture, if he reads merely as the Jews read, grasps only the words. If he reads with true spiritual insight, he gathers the fruit. And whose leaves never fade.^[1] The leaves of this tree are by no means useless. Even if one understands holy Scripture only as history, he has something useful for his soul. . . . A tree, he says, one lofty tree had been set up. He did not say trees, but only one tree. If there is but one tree, how can it be on both sides of the river? If he had said, I saw trees, it would have been possible for some trees to be on one side of the river and other trees on the other side. Actually, one tree is said to be on both sides of the river. One river comes forth from the throne of God—the grace of the Holy Spirit—and this grace of the Holy Spirit is found in the river of the sacred Scriptures. This river, moreover, has two banks, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the tree planted on both sides is Christ. During the year, this tree yields twelve fruits, one for each month, but we are unable to receive the fruits except through the apostles. If one approaches the tree through the apostles, he must receive the fruit; he gathers the fruit from the sacred Scriptures; he grasps the divine meaning abiding within the words. If, therefore, one comes to this tree through the apostles, he gathers its fruit.

Concerning wisdom it is said, She proclaims outside; she raises her voice in the streets, and she cries out on the top of the walls.^[1] And should anyone refuse to come to the marriage of the king, she commands her servants and says, Go to the streets and byways and invite whomever you meet to the wedding, that my house might be filled.^[2] This water of salvation and the cleansing of grace is described as flowing in the streets. . . . The two banks of the river are the two Testaments in which the fullness of our salvation is written down. There is the tree of life. There is told [the story] of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the tree of life: Through him we live, move, and have our being.^[3] The leaves are his words; they are of use for the health of all nations. The twelve months are the apostles of the Lord, because the Lord himself is the favorable year of forgiveness.^[4] These are the twelve months, each bringing to the many the fruit of unending preaching out of an abundance of knowledge.

The Lord is the tree of life according to what the author of the Proverbs writes concerning wisdom. He says, She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.^[1] And the wise Paul has taught us that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.^[2] He says that the saints are not only rich in the gracious gifts of Christ but also that they have him as one who lives in them and among them,^[3] and this is the pinnacle of the highest blessedness. Continuously and without cessation the tree of life, namely, Christ, produces ripe fruit and gifts for the saints, as though he were heaping generosity on generosity, and so they never become bereft of God’s benefits.

By the twelve months he signifies all of time, and to be sure all of eternity. Therefore, where there is an eternal paradise, no aridity will ever be permitted to intrude. Where there is a perfect and certain well-being, absolutely no infirmity enters in. This is what the prophet promised when he said, They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.^[1] This is the tree, as we read, which is planted by streams of water,^[2] and of which Jeremiah says that it sends out its roots by the stream.^[3] This is to say that it places its hope and trust in the Lord. We may also interpret this passage concerning the river of the water of life to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself the fountain of life. For we read of him, With you is the fountain of life; in your light we shall see light.^[4] He is himself, as we read, the image of God’s majesty, who is powerful in all things, and remaining in himself renews all things and in every generation rests in holy souls.^[5] And so he is the Fountain who is also the River. He is the Fountain, for he remains in himself inexhaustible, and he is the River because he offers himself generously and perpetually so that the saints might receive of [his] abundance. Where he is called fountain, he is also called a rushing stream. When the psalm says, You shall give them drink from the river of your delights, it then continues, for with you is the fountain of life, and in your light shall we see light.^[6] Moreover, [it says that it flows] through the middle of the street for it is a good that is common to all the saints and that is not denied to any who are worthy, nor is it granted to any who are unworthy. . . . Indeed, it is in their midst as an undivided patrimony to all who see God. For that reason we read, Jerusalem, a city whose fellowship is complete within itself.^[7] If the fruit is understood to be the reward of a blissful immortality, then we rightly understand the leaves to be the song of perpetual praise, because for those who sing they fall in the wellbeing of a happy fate. For there exists the true healing of the nations, there is full redemption, there is eternal happiness.

It is speaking of the cross of the Lord. There is no tree that bears fruit in every season except the cross that the faithful, who are made wet by the water of the church’s river, eat.^[1] And these [faithful] in turn produce eternal fruit in every season.

This river waters the saints who are planted alongside it. They are here figuratively called the tree of life by virtue of their participation and imitation of him who is the Tree of Life. Moreover, they give forth twelve fruits, that is, they unceasingly yield the production of fruit. For there will be there no winter of sin that causes the trees of life to shed their leaves, such as we see now. Rather, the time of the production of fruit by the saints will be complete and uninterrupted, and [this time] is here said to be twelve months. It speaks in these terms equally because of the customary year among us, as well as because of the proclamation of the twelve apostles. This present passage may also be interpreted in another way. The river might signify the gifts of the life-giving Spirit, which flow down from the throne of the Father and of the Son, that is, from the ranks of the cherubim, among whom God is enthroned. [This river flows] into the streets of the city, that is, to the full citizenry of the saints, as coming from the first ranks into the second that are made to share in the well-ordered arrangement of the heavenly hierarchy. The tree of life signifies Christ, whom we know by the Holy Spirit and through the Spirit. For in him is the Spirit, and he is worshiped in Spirit, and he is the supplier of the Spirit, and through him the twelve fruits of the apostolic chorus give to us the inexhaustible fruit of the knowledge of God, through whom the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense foretold by the prophet^[1] is proclaimed to us.

If one cannot pluck the fruit [of the tree of the sacred Scriptures], it is because he is still too weak; he is not yet a disciple but belongs to the throng; he is an outsider, a stranger from the nations. Because he cannot pluck the fruit, he plucks only words, the leaves for the healing of the nations. . . . One who belongs to the nations, who is not a disciple, who is as yet only one of the crowd, gathers only leaves from the tree; he receives from Scripture plain words for a healing remedy; . . . in other words, the leaves are medicine.

The leaves of life are those who hang from Christ and cling to him: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs and also confessors, those who perform the rites of the gospel at the proper time, the shepherds of the church and every righteous person, those who even now heal souls and will be for the saints the source of additional blessings.

The leaves of the tree, namely, of Christ, are the more exalted understandings of the divine judgments, even as its fruits are the more perfect knowledge that is to be revealed in the age to come. The leaves will be for healing, that is, for the cleansing of the ignorance of those who have been deficient in the exercise of the virtues, for there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.^[1] Moreover, in my Father’s house there are many rooms,^[2] so that one is accounted worthy of less and another of more brightness according to the measure of the works of each. This present passage may also be interpreted otherwise. The tree of life produces twelve fruits, namely, the apostolic chorus that shares in him who is truly the Tree of Life, who through his participation in the flesh has given us to share in his deity. Their fruits are those who yield fruit a hundredfold. The leaves are those who yield sixtyfold. These carry to those who come later the illumination of the divine light that they had received from those who had yielded a hundredfold, and they bring healing to those from the nations who yield thirtyfold. For at that time there will be a difference between those who are saved as great as there is a difference between fruit and leaves. Some will be glorified to a lesser extent, some to a greater extent, as it is written. It writes of a tree in the singular rather than trees in the plural to indicate the unity and harmony of the life which the saints have together.

There will be [in that city] nothing accursed, that is, no temptation will approach, no profane sin shall be recorded through the rashness of the envious one. Rather, in its midst will be the rule of the divine power and of the Lamb. All will serve him with the exaltation of that city’s happiness. They shall rejoice in the vision of his face and in the sweetness of his presence, and they shall bear his name engraved in the sign of his cross on their foreheads.

Even were now curses especially put to flight, we are nonetheless tossed about by them, with thousands of allegations brought up against us with our knowledge and even without our knowledge. But then the saints will be clean and untainted of any stain of the soul as well as of the body. And the rule of God will exist in the city, for this is the meaning of the throne. The saints shall worship him, it says, not with a worship that is laborious but that done with joy and spiritual gladness. [Such worship] comes from the vision of his face.

He does not speak here of thrones. For where there is a natural and undifferentiated unity, there the glory of the Godhead may be especially esteemed. There is one throne of an indivisible rule that cannot be divided by the cunning of Arian depravity or confounded by the doubts of Sabellian vanity.^[1] Rather, it is able to be contemplated only by the reception of catholic truth and is proven to be rightly held by the confession of her faith.

Anathema can be interpreted in a twofold manner. It either refers to that which is holy for many but is dedicated to God alone, or it refers to that which is sacred to the whole of creation and to the holy powers but is attributed to the devil because of his utter alienation and separation from that which is good. We think that here katathema^[1] is used in an emphatic sense. For such a thing is not dedicated to anyone, but it is put aside for the devil, being subordinated to him and condemned along with him. Such a thing will not exist within that city.

They will behold [the face of God] to the extent possible by human nature. And his name, it says, shall be on their foreheads. These words symbolize the abiding memory they have of God and their union with him. For just as God rests upon them and is imprinted on them, so he is always present with the saints. This is evident also from what Paul said: And we shall always be with the Lord.^[1]

This^[1] implies that there is in store for us a reward for our faith, that vision that John had in mind when he said, When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him just as he is.^[2] For, of course, face is to be understood not as the kind of face we now have as part of our body but as a manifestation of what God is. . . . God will be made known to and be perceived by us, in many ways. He will be seen in the spirit (whereby each of us will see him within ourselves and in one another); he will be seen in himself; he will be seen in the new heavens and the new earth and in every creature then existing.^[3]

Those who become the throne of God because of the rest of the Lord among them will be the inhabitants of that city. They will see him no longer in shadows but face to face, even as the holy apostles saw him on the holy mount, as the great Dionysius says.^[1] And instead of the golden breastplate worn in ancient times by the high priest, they will have the divine name imprinted not only on their foreheads but also within their hearts, and this shows their firm, bold and immoveable love toward him. For the writing upon the forehead symbolizes the ornamentation of boldness.

The vision of God is preserved for us as the reward of faith. This is the highest good as Philip understood when he said, Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.^[1]

Neither the night of sin nor the darkness of unrighteousness will ever appear again. Nor in that bliss will they [the saints] live by the words of any teacher; nor established in such a fullness will they require the light of another’s understanding. The Lord himself will give them great understanding and wisdom, for all knowledge that is desired is revealed in the brightness of his countenance. And they shall reign in all wisdom and truth.

The saints shall never have need of the light of the sun or that from a lamp, since the light of God will provide never-ending illumination. And they shall reign, clearly the saints, forever. The all-wise Daniel testified of these things, saying, And the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess it for ever and ever.^[1]

If, as the Lord says, the righteous will shine as the sun,^[1] how will there be any necessity for the light of a lamp or of the sun for those who have the Lord of glory as their illumination and king? And they will be ruled by him forever, or rather they will reign with him, as the holy apostle says.^[2]

[In the city above] the weakness of our bodies will require neither the quiet of night nor the light of a fire. For then God will be all in all, namely, he who is the true light and the eternal rest of the saints. One might also interpret these words figuratively. The exhortation of the prophets and the preaching of the divine Law will not be necessary there, for these are now said to be lights in a dark place. But then, when all things have been fulfilled, the promise will be perfected in the vision and contemplation of God.

What is so faithful and true as the promise of Christ and the future hope of the saints? He who spoke through his servants, the prophets, did so that he might be recognized as the Lord of the living and be called the Spirit of the Lord. For the Spirit is life, and all flesh is made alive by the Spirit.

By spirits of the prophets he means the prophetic gifts, as we learn from the all-wise Paul, who said, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to prophets,^[1] and from the holy prophet Isaiah: We have conceived, O Lord, because of fear of you, and we have been in birth pangs and have brought forth the breath of your salvation that you have wrought upon the earth.^[2] To show his servants what must soon take place, it says. By means of John and his writings, all have learned what he saw. And appropriately he says soon, for as we have noted earlier, in comparison with the everlasting ages that are coming, all time is short, even if someone might think it a very long while.

He is not expressing any doubts about the trustworthiness of John. Rather, he is commending this vision to the whole church as true, for he knew that in the future there would also be those who are to learn from it. [By speaking of his angel], he teaches that he has always looked after the welfare of all. He is the Spirit of the prophets who is also the Holy Spirit and indeed is the Lord. For this reason the prophet said, I will hear what the Lord God speaks to me,^[1] and The beginning of the speaking of God to Hosea.^[2] Because of the essence of the one, divine Trinity, he also fittingly mentions here the Holy Spirit, since above he had mentioned the Father and the Son.^[3] For when we read that God is spirit,^[4] it refers to the entire Trinity.

These words are trustworthy and true because they come from the Truth. . . . Since Christ is the God of the prophets, who sent his angel by means of the blessed John who saw this vision, to show his servants what is to take place, it is clear that he gave the Revelation for the sake of the flesh according to the condescension of the economy of the Son, as it said at the beginning.^[1] For he who is the God of the prophets and who sent his angels as ministering spirits for the revelation of coming things would not be ignorant of the hour or the day of the consummation, so that he who has all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge^[2] would learn [these things] only now from the Father.

By the messenger of truth the Lord himself reveals directly to his servants what must soon take place. And unless anyone be in doubt about the expectation of the end, he indicates that what is to happen will happen quickly and that he is blessed who keeps the words of the prophets.

Those who keep these words are [blessed, because they are] eager by a God-pleasing life not to fall into the punishments mentioned in it.

To keep means to believe in a reverent manner and to maintain one’s resolve and intention to live a more pure life.

It is often customary for the prophets to speak divine words as though it were from their own person. The words I am coming soon indicate either the shortness of the present time in comparison with the future age or the sudden swiftness of the death of each person. For the departure from here is the end of every person. Therefore, since we do not know at what hour the thief will come,^[1] we are commanded to watch and to gird ourselves and to keep our lamps burning,^[2] letting our godly behavior shine even for our neighbor.^[3] Therefore, let us not cease to beseech God with a contrite heart to save us from all our pursuers, lest our souls, having been defeated by them, be snatched away unprepared with no one to rescue or to save.^[4] [Let us also pray God] lest any soul, bound by the chains of earthly affairs and not able to free itself from them, should vainly turn again to them and then, when constrained to leave them by the authority of the angels and the command of God, will lament in vain for the lost opportunities of a life now passed. Rather, singing without ceasing the song of David, I prepared myself and was not fearful to keep your commandments,^[5] let us receive as a reward for keeping [his commandments] the praise of God, who will say, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.^[6] Together with him glory, honor and power are fittingly given to the Father and also to the Holy Spirit now and always and forever and ever. Amen.

John, the most blessed of the apostles, says that when he heard [these words] he was overcome with fright by the power of the words and the magnitude of the vision and fell to the ground because of this. And he says that he was prostrate that he might adore the angel of truth who showed these things to me.

[To witness by eye and ear] is characteristic of one who is an apostle. Just as he said in the Gospel, He who has seen bears witness, and his testimony is true,^[1] so also in this passage [John] confesses that he is an eyewitness and earwitness of what has been foretold and so makes himself to be a guarantee of what has been seen.

This is the Judge and the Avenger, beloved brothers, that we are to await who, when he revenges himself, is destined to revenge us, the people of his church, and the number of all the just from the beginning of the world. Let him who hastens and hurries too much to his own revenge consider that he alone who avenges has not yet avenged himself. . . . In the Apocalypse, when John wishes to adore him, the angel resists him and says, You must not do this because I am a fellow servant of you and of your brothers. Adore Jesus the Lord. How wonderful then is Jesus our Lord, and what great patience this is that he who is adored in heaven is not yet avenged on earth! Let us think of his patience, beloved brothers, in our persecutions and sufferings. Let us show the full obedience that is inspired by our expectation of his coming, and let us not hasten with the impious and shameless haste of a servant to defend ourselves before the Lord. Let us rather persevere and let us labor, and [let us] be watchful with all our heart and steadfast even to total resignation; let us guard the precepts of the Lord, so that when the day of wrath and vengeance comes, we may not be punished with the impious and sinners but may be honored with the just and those who fear God.

The Father shows [the Son] to be his own proper and only Son, saying, You are my Son,^[1] and This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.^[2] Accordingly the angels ministered to him, as being one beyond themselves; and they worship him, not as being greater in glory but as being some one beyond all the creatures, and beyond themselves, and alone the Father’s proper Son according to essence. For if he was worshiped as excelling them in glory, each of the things subservient ought to worship what excels itself. But this is not the case; for creature does not worship creature, but servant [worships the] Lord, and creature God. Thus Peter the apostle hinders Cornelius, who would worship him, saying, I myself also am a man.^[3] And an angel, when John would worship him in the Apocalypse, hinders him, saying, See that you do not do it; . . . worship God. Therefore, to God alone appertains worship, and this the very angels know, that though they excel other beings in glory, yet they are all creatures and not to be worshiped but worship the Lord.

Since there is no pride in the servant nor any vanity in the saints, [the angel] immediately exhorts him [not to worship him]. . . . The angel proclaims that nothing is equal to the Creator, and he declares that nothing can be offered to another that is owed to the Lord God only.

He shows the piety of the angel who has described and interpreted the vision, indicating that [the angel] would not allow himself to be worshiped by a fellow servant. Rather, with a good conscience we are to give homage to [our] common Lord.