On the Inscription of the Titles · §1 · Eustathius of Antioch

Jacob's pillar versus the pillars of his opponents

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The author is opening his treatise by distinguishing Jacob's pillar at Bethel from the pillars of Jacob's opponents, arguing that Jacob's was a prophecy of Christ and the cross.

It is clear, then, that he assumes two kinds of pillars. For he would not have accepted Jacob's pillar with approval while rebuking those of his opponents as impiously erected. Those pillars imprint demonic phantoms of idolatry with impious belief, but the pillar of the forefather Jacob does not display the same activity as those. For the righteous man, having been inspired by the Holy Spirit, first sees the very bodily form of Christ being vividly pre-painted beforehand, which is visible and subject to local circumscription. Second, he also depicts the victory-bearing trophy of the cross, likened in a manner resembling a ladder. For by this it was also firmly set on high, drawing all people to himself.

Greek

In inscriptione titulorum (fragmenta) ΕΙΣ ΤΑΣ ΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΑΣ ΤΗΣ ΣΤΗΛΟΓΡΑΦΙΑΣ 7 Φαίνεται τοίνυν ὅτι διττὰς ὑποτίθεται στηλῶν ἰδέας· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἀποδεχόμενος εὐφήμως, ἐπετίμα τὰς τῶν ἐναντίων ὡς ἀσεβῶς ἱδρυμένας· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖναι μὲν εἰδωλολατρείας ἐκτυποῦσι φάσματα δαιμονιώδη κακοδόξως· ἡ δὲ τοῦ προπάτορος Ἰακὼβ, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείναις ἐμφαίνει πραγματείαν· ὁ γάρ τοι δίκαιος ἀνὴρ, ἐνηχηθεὶς ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, πρῶτον μὲν αὐτὸ τὸ σωματικὸν εἶδος ὁρᾷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προαναζωγραφούμενον ἐναργῶς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁρατὸν καὶ τοπικῆς ἐχόμενον περιγραφῆς· δεύτερον δὲ καὶ τὸ νικηφόρον τοῦ σταυροῦ τρόπαιον, κλίμακι προσεμφερῶς ἀπεικαζόμενον, ἱστορεῖ. Τούτῳ γὰρ καὶ ἐπεστηρίχθη μετεώρως ἑλκύσας ἅπαντας πρὸς ἑαυτόν.

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Eustathius on the psalm titles / inscriptions.

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337) wrote this treatise for a Christian audience. He was bishop of Beroea before becoming patriarch of Antioch, and he was a prominent opponent of Arianism at the Council of Nicaea. The surviving fragments explain the meaning of the stone pillar that Jacob set up at Bethel, interpreting it as a prophecy of Christ, the cross, and the two peoples.

The work is a theological exposition of the biblical narrative. Eustathius argues that Jacob's pillar at Bethel was not an idolatrous stele but a divinely inspired prophecy. The stone and the ladder vision prefigure Christ's body, the cross, and the church as the house of God and gate of heaven. The oil poured on the stone points to the anointing of Christ's feet and to his burial, while the stone itself signifies Christ as the rejected cornerstone.

A reader will meet Jacob, whose vision and pillar at Bethel are the subject of the treatise, and Christ, whose body, cross, and burial are prefigured in Jacob's vision and pillar. Mary is mentioned as the woman who anointed Christ's feet with ointment. Moses is cited for the story of Rebecca and the two nations, and Rebecca is the mother of Jacob and Esau to whom the Lord announced the two nations in her womb. The two nations are interpreted as Jews and Christians, with the older people serving the younger.

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Translated from PG 18 (Greek)

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