Maximus Confessor elaborating on Hebrews 10:1

Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries	Church Fathers topics

Source: Comments by Saint Maximus the Confessor on the work

“Regarding Ecclesiastic Hierarchy” by Saint Dionysios the Areopagite

Chapter 3, part 3, para.2 (PG 4, 137D).

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The Hebrews 10:1 verse

Original text

Translation

Σκιάν γαρ έχων ο νόμος των μελλόντων αγαθών, ουκ αυτήν την εικόνα των πραγμάτων, κατ’ ενιαυτόν ταις αυταίς θυσίαις ας προσφέρουσιν εις το διηνεκές, ουδέποτε δύναται τους προσερχομένους τελειώσαι.

Because the Law pertaining to the future good things is but the shadow - not even the image per se of things - thus, even if they continue to offer their annual sacrifices, it can never perfect those who approach.

In his commentary on the work “Regarding Ecclesiastic Hierarchy” by Saint Dionysios the Areopagite, Saint Maximos has Orthodoxically interpreted this verse, as he has done with texts by many other Fathers, as follows:

Original text

Rendition

Από τών αιτιατών: Τουτέστι το από τών ορατών τελουμένων, επί τα αόρατα και μυστικά, άπερ τών εν αισθήσει αίτιά εισι και αρχέτυπα.

Αίτια δε λέγονται τα ετέρωθεν το οπωσούν είναι την αιτίαν έχοντα, ή από τών αιτιατών εις τα αίτια, τουτέστιν από τών αισθητών συμβόλων επί τα νοητά και νοερά·

ήγουν, από τών ατελεστέρων εις τα τελειότερα· οίον, από τών τύπων επί την εικόνα, και από ταύτης επί την αλήθειαν.

Σκιά γαρ τα τής Παλαιάς, εικών δε τα τής Νέας Διαθήκης, αλήθεια δε η τών μελλόντων κατάστασις.

From the causal things: that is, from the visible things that are accomplished, we ascend to the invisible and mystical things, which are the causes of the things that are archetypal and perceptible by our senses,

while “causes” are the things whose existence comes from somewhere else; that is, from the perceptible symbols to the intelligible and the noetic things.

In other words, we progress from the less perfect to the more perfect; that is, from the imprints on an image, and from them, to the Truth.

For the Old Testament is the “shadow” and the New Testament is the “image”; whereas the “Truth” is the state of the things to come.

The nature of Saint Maximus’ “Commentaries”

Saint Maximus the Confessor had written the “Commentaries” on the works of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite. Their structure resembles today’s “memoranda” or “marginal notes.” Maximus would read Dionysius’ text and, wherever he found a difficult or enigmatic term, he would write a short, concise elucidation.

It is for this reason that this text is not an organic part of Saint Dionysios’ main text, nor does it comprise an original, continuous analysis by Maximus. It is a “fragmentary” Commentary; it is an independent, interpretative insertion, whose purpose is to shed light on a specific term by Dionysios.

This particular passage functions as an interpretative key. Dionysios often speaks in an exceptionally abstract way about the movement of the mind, from the “perceptible” to the “intelligible.” With this commentary, Maximos comes to provide a practical theological “mapping” of this heavenward movement:

Dionysius uses the term “causal” (things that arise from a cause).

Maximos intervenes and “unlocks” the term, by referencing the biblical form (From the Old Testament, to the New Testament, to the Future Era), in order to make the Dionysian “hierarchical ascent” better comprehended.

It is a synthesis. Maximos combines Dionysios’ terminology (causal, archetypes, tangible-intellectual), and the Patristic tradition on Hebrews 10:1 (shadow-image-truth), which was widely known during his time (Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Chrysostom had already used it).

By noting in Dionysios’ margins, Maximus sought to ensure that the reader would not be lost in abstract philosophical concepts, but would understand that the ascent to God is not simply an intellectual exercise, but a movement within the Church, which begins from the “shadow” of the Law and ends in the “truth” of the Future Realm.

Ν. Μ.