English Translations
I. Jewish Unbelief and Blindness
Passage 1: The Blindness of the Jews
Latin: “Judaeorum enim caecitas nihil obtinuit, nisi ut sua impietate se perderet: Christi vero patientia hoc egit, ut omnes sua passione salvaret.”
English Translation: “For the blindness of the Jews obtained nothing except that they would destroy themselves by their own impiety: but the patience of Christ achieved this, that he would save all by his passion.”
Context: This passage contrasts Jewish blindness with Christ’s saving work, presenting Jewish unbelief as self-destructive while Christ’s suffering brings salvation.
Passage 2: Jews Who Remained in Unbelief
Latin: “Alii vero manducaverunt et permanserunt in infidelitate. Sicut Judaei audierunt loquentem Christum, sed non spiritaliter verba ejus intellexerunt. Ideo dixit eis: Patres vestri manducaverunt manna in deserto et mortui sunt. Qua morte, nisi infidelitatis?”
English Translation: “But others ate and remained in unbelief. Just as the Jews heard Christ speaking, but did not understand his words spiritually. Therefore he said to them: Your fathers ate manna in the desert and died. By what death, if not [the death] of unbelief?”
Context: Drawing on Augustine’s commentary on John 6:49, this passage uses the manna in the desert as a typological example to demonstrate Jewish spiritual blindness and their failure to understand Christ spiritually.
Passage 3: Jews Seeing but Not Believing
Latin: “Judaei viderunt mortuos suscitatos, et post virtutes adnumeraus, latro, inquit, nihil horum videns, sed considerabat sputis repletum, crucifixum, aceto potum et felle. Et cum haec omnia videret, non est scandalizatus, sed regem caelorum confessus est.”
English Translation: “The Jews saw the dead raised, and [saw] countless miracles, but the thief, seeing none of these things, yet considered [Christ] covered with spittle, crucified, given vinegar and gall to drink. And when he saw all these things, he was not scandalized, but confessed [him as] the king of heaven.”
Context: This passage contrasts the Jews‘ unbelief despite witnessing miracles with the good thief’s faith despite seeing only Christ’s suffering, using Jews as negative exempla.
II. Loss of Divine Favor After Rejection of Christ
Passage 4: The Impiety of the Jews
Latin: “Impietatem Judaeorum, vel omnium reproborum ad Christum converti nolentium, significat in die judicii puniendam.”
English Translation: “It signifies that the impiety of the Jews, or of all the reprobate unwilling to convert to Christ, will be punished on the day of judgment.”
Context: This passage explicitly connects Jewish rejection of Christ with divine punishment, indicating loss of divine favor.
Passage 5: The Devil Working Through the Jews
Latin: “Saevienti diabolo per ministeria Judaeorum formam servi nihil peccati habentis objecit, ut per eam ageretur omnium causa, in quo solo erat omnium natura sine culpa. Irruerunt ergo in lumen venientem filii tenebrarum, et utentes faculis atque laternis, non evaserunt infidelitatis suae noctem, quia non intellexerunt lucis auctorem.”
English Translation: “When the devil was raging through the agency of the Jews, [Christ] presented the form of a servant having no sin, so that through it the cause of all might be accomplished, in whom alone was the nature of all without fault. Therefore the sons of darkness rushed upon the light coming [into the world], and using torches and lanterns, they did not escape the night of their unbelief, because they did not understand the author of light.”
Context: This passage presents the Jews as instruments of the devil in crucifying Christ, depicting them as “sons of darkness” who failed to recognize the “light” (Christ).
Passage 6: The Veil Over Jewish Hearts
Latin: “ut Judaeis, ablato cordis velamine, lux veritatis appareat”
English Translation: “that for the Jews, with the veil of the heart removed, the light of truth may appear”
Context: Drawing on 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, this prayer for conversion suggests Jews currently have a veil over their hearts preventing them from seeing Christian truth, indicating their loss of divine favor until conversion.
III. Jews as Negative Exempla in Salvation History
Passage 7: Jewish Perfidy and the Antichrist
Latin: “ut exteriorem ritum legis revocet, et sibi Judaeorum perfidiam subdat”
English Translation: “so that [the Antichrist] may recall the external rite of the law, and subject to himself the perfidy of the Jews“
Context: In discussing the Antichrist, Hincmar uses “Jewish perfidy” (perfidiam Judaeorum) as a characteristic that the Antichrist will exploit, employing Jews as negative exempla associated with the end times.
Passage 8: Changing Their Glory (Against Idolatry)
Latin: “Deum quippe Scriptura gloriam appellavit, quae dicit de Judaeis: Mutaverunt gloriam suam in similitudinem vituli comedentis fenum”
English Translation: “For Scripture called God ‘glory,’ which says concerning the Jews: They changed their glory into the likeness of a calf eating hay” (Psalm 106:20)
Context: Hincmar uses the golden calf incident to illustrate idolatry and apostasy, with the Jews serving as the paradigmatic negative example of those who exchange God’s glory for false worship.
Passage 9: Jews Killing the Lamb
Latin: “Judaei ovem occiderunt, et ego fructum de sacramento cognovi, de latere sanguis et aqua exivit.”
English Translation: “The Jews killed the lamb, and I have known the fruit of the sacrament: from [his] side blood and water came forth.”
Context: This typological reading presents the Jews as those who physically killed the sacrificial lamb (Christ), but through this act the sacraments of the Church (baptism and Eucharist, symbolized by water and blood) were established. Jews function as negative agents whose actions paradoxically accomplish God’s salvific plan.
Passage 10: Judas and Sinful Jews as Exempla
Latin: “in exemplum Judae filium hominis tradit, non quidem Judaeis peccatoribus, sed tamen peccatoribus, membris videlicet suis, qui illud inestimabile Domini corpus violare praesumsit.”
English Translation: “in the example of Judas [one] betrays the Son of Man, not indeed to sinful Jews, but nevertheless to sinners, namely to his own members, who presume to violate that inestimable body of the Lord.”
Context: Hincmar uses both Judas and “sinful Jews” as archetypal negative examples of those who betray or profane Christ, applying this to Christians who receive communion unworthily.
Passage 11: Like Judas
Latin: “Qui fratrem, id est Christianum hominem, injuste per potentiam opprimit; aut pro acceptione munerum justitiam facit, diabolum imitatur, et justitiam vendit, quae Christus est, sicque similis Judae est.”
English Translation: “Whoever unjustly oppresses a brother, that is a Christian man, through [his] power; or administers justice in exchange for receiving bribes, imitates the devil, and sells justice, which is Christ, and thus is similar to Judas.”
Context: Hincmar uses Judas (and by extension the Jews associated with him) as the paradigmatic example of betraying Christ for money, applying this moral lesson to corrupt Christians.
Summary
These passages from Hincmar of Reims demonstrate the typical characteristics of ninth-century Adversus Judaeos literature:
- Reiterates Patristic Teaching on Jewish Unbelief: Hincmar draws heavily on earlier Church Fathers (Augustine, Gregory, Leo) to emphasize Jewish spiritual blindness, their failure to recognize Christ despite miracles, and their persistence in unbelief.
- Loss of Divine Favor After Rejection of Christ: The texts present Jews as having lost God’s favor through rejecting Christ, being subject to divine punishment, having a veil over their hearts, and serving as instruments of the devil in the crucifixion.
- Jews as Negative Exempla: Throughout salvation history, Jews function as paradigmatic negative examples—from the golden calf to Judas’s betrayal—used to warn Christians against similar sins of unbelief, apostasy, and betrayal.
These passages reflect the theological anti-Judaism characteristic of Carolingian exegetical and homiletic literature, presenting Jews primarily as theological types rather than as contemporary communities.
Source. Patrologia Latina – Translated by Claude.AI. Hincmar of Reims, Letters & sermons. Migne, PL 125–126. 1879.