Chapter XXXII

., III.

[100] Gautier, _o.c._ p. 46 (Migne 196, col. 1437).

[101] The Hebrews in bondage to the Egyptians are the symbol of all men in the bonds of sin.

[102] As Christ expires the cherubim at the gate of Eden lower the flaming sword, so that the men bathed with His blood may pass in.

[103] Isaac was always a type of Christ; his name was interpreted laughter (_risus_) from Gen. xxi. 6: “And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.”

[104] Joseph another type of Christ.

[105] This serpent, _i.e._ Christ the rod of Aaron, safe from the devil’s spite, consumes the false idols.

[106] The Brazen Serpent, a type of Christ. Cf. John iii. 14.

[107] Cf. Job xli. 1. The hook (_hamus_) is Christ’s divinity, whereby He pierces the devil’s jaw.

[108] Cf. Isa. xi. 8. The guiltless child is Christ, and the cockatrice is the devil.

[109] The children who mocked Elisha represent the Jews mocking Christ as He ascended Calvary; the bear is Vespasian and Titus who destroy Jerusalem.

[110] These again are types of Christ: David feigning madness among the Philistines, 1 Sam. xxi. 12-15; the goat cast forth for the people’s sins, Lev. xvi. 21, 22; and the sparrow in the rite of cleansing from leprosy, Lev. xiv. 2-7.

[111] Samson a type of Christ, will not wed a woman of his tribe (Judges xiv. 1-3) as Christ chooses the Gentiles; Samson bursts open Gaza’s gates as Christ the gates of death and hell.

[112] The allusion here is to the statement of mediaeval Bestiaries that the lion cub, when born, lies lifeless for three days, till awakened by his father’s roar. The supernal mother is the Church triumphant.

[113] The body of Christ, _i.e._ the Church.

[114] A topic everywhere represented in church windows and cathedral sculpture.

[115] Printed at the end of his _Paedagogus_; see Taylor, _Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages_, pp. 253-255, where it is translated.

[116] Although the dogmas of Christianity were formulated by reason, they were cradled in love and hate. Nowadays, in a time when dogmas are apt to be thought useless clogs to the spirit, it is well for the historically-minded to remember the power of emotional devotion which they have inspired in other times.

[117] Gautier, _Œuvres d’Adam_ (1st ed., vol. i. p. 11); Gautier (3rd ed., p. 269) doubts whether this hymn is Adam’s. But for the purpose of illustrating the symbolism of the twelfth-century hymn, the question of authorship is not important.

[118] _Ante_,