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St Irenaeus of Lyons, ANF 1

XXIII

“And he mounted upon his ass.”1 The ass was the type of the body of Christ, upon whom all men, resting from their labours, are borne as in a chariot. For the Saviour has taken up the burden of our sins.2 Now the angel who appeared to Balaam was the Word Himself; and in His hand He held a sword, to indicate the power which He had from above.

Notes

  1. Num. xxii. 22, 23.
  2. From one of the mss.MSS;. Stieren would insert εν τω ιδιω σωματι, in His own body; see 1 Pet. ii. 24.

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