Book 2
Having thoroughly completed the discourse on Babylon, and that they will pay bitter penalties who ravaged the holy city, and having very clearly proclaimed beforehand that they would carry off Israel captive, he aptly comes to the mystery of Christ, and as from the redemption which happened for one nation and partially, he brings the discourse to the one that is for all and most general, by which the remnant of Israel was saved, and no less was the whole earth saved. For Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, released Israel from captivity, having overthrown the arrogant and God-hated kingdom, I mean that of the Chaldeans. But what was done was therefore an image and a type of the things accomplished through Christ; who found all humanity as if taken by the spear, and laboring under the tyrannical hand; for Satan had reigned over us as it were through sin; He made them free from bonds and labors, and having released them from that monstrous servitude, he brought them back as if to the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. For we have become, according to what is written, "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of "God," and we have henceforth claimed heaven as our homeland. Therefore, the Prophet, astonished at the power of the mystery, and exceedingly admiring the ineffable and God-befitting economy of the Only-begotten's coming in the flesh, makes his prayer in the manner of a song, according to that which is spoken through the voice of David, "My tongue shall meditate on your "righteousness, all the day long your praise." O Lord, I have heard your report, and I was afraid, O Lord, I considered your works, and I was amazed. The saying might be understood as addressed to him, if one should choose, who is the Father and God of all, as revealing the Son, and making clear the report concerning him through the Spirit; or also, reasonably, to the incarnate Word himself. And if one should say it was directed to the Father, we shall understand it as something like this: O Lord of all, he says, the given revelation, that is, the report concerning your offspring, has astonished me; for the accounts are dreadful and beyond speech, and the manner of the economy would henceforth be beyond all mind; but if, sending forth the slender eye of my heart, I should perceive the power of your works, the result will be ecstasy, and nothing else. But with the discourse looking to the Son, we shall no less approach it in some such way as this: O Lord and ruler of all, even though you have become flesh, having received the report concerning you, that is, the hearing and revelation, I have fallen into fear. And I am astounded, and very reasonably so, at the extraordinariness of the matter. For I learn that, existing in the form and equality in every respect with the one who begot you, you will bring yourself down to a voluntary emptying, and will become a man like us from a woman, and will endure the form of a slave, and with us will call your own Father God, and you will become obedient, even "unto death, and the death of the cross." Therefore, I have heard your report and was afraid, I considered your works and was amazed. For you preached recovery of sight to the blind, you proclaimed release to the captives, you healed those broken in heart, you turned back the one who was wandering, you bound up that which was broken, you became a light to those in darkness, a door and a way to life and sanctification, you have become peace, uniting through faith into one people those from the circumcision, and also those from the nations, you have become "a cornerstone, chosen, precious;" you have acquired the world for God the Father, you have freed from sins those who were captured by weakness, you rescued from the hand of the devil, by the grace of adoption the servile was made glorious, the man from earth has become a citizen of heaven; and besides these, that is also worthy of hearing, I think; for you, who give life to all things, have endured with us the death of the flesh. But you have become "the firstborn from the dead," and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and the first offering of humanity brought back to incorruption. For you rose again as God, having trampled the harsh and irresistible beast, that is, death, you have undone the power of that ancient curse. And in you and through you has ceased "You are earth and to earth you shall return," spoken against us. You will be known between two living creatures. This has been interpreted by some in different ways. And one said that the Spirit and the Son are called two living creatures, and that God the Father is known between them. But I think it is ignorant to understand it this way, and has much foolishness in it. For who would dare to say that life is a living creature, that is, the Son or the Holy Spirit? For life is rather that which makes alive, while a living creature is that which partakes of life from another. It is also absurd in another way for the Father to be understood as being between both, who is indeed named first according to the arrangement of the confession of the holy and consubstantial Trinity. And surely we do not say that, being placed before the Son and the Spirit in naming, he has precedence over them; for this is nonsense and false speech; but rather we hold and have believed that he also has the co-eternal Word who appeared from him, and he was, what he is, not without his own Spirit, but as soon as God the Father is conceived, the existence of him through whom he is Father, and his own divine and holy Spirit, immediately enters with him. But since he is, as it were, a source of his own offspring, he has been named first economically. How then he will be between the Son and the Spirit, I cannot conceive. But perhaps they will say, as is likely, that the "between" should be understood in terms of place. But this too is absurd. For the divine is not in a place, because it is neither in quantity, nor indeed according to a body. Others again have said that the two living creatures are the new and the old testament, between which Christ is known. But in such speculations let anyone take whatever path he wishes for himself; but we, turning the discourse once for all to the person of Christ, will make our exposition of the concepts according to the Law. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ has become a propitiation through faith; for so the divine Paul seemed to think and to say; for through him we have been freed from every accusation, and have found the Father merciful and approachable. And the wise John will testify, saying, "My little children, I write these things to you, so that you may not sin. "And if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the "Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation "for our sins; not for ours only, "but also for the whole world." And since the things represented of old through riddles were types of things that were to be in truth, let us say something showing the Son to be the propitiatory made in the holy tabernacle by the Father. Therefore the God of all commanded an ark to be made, and a lampstand, and also a table in the holy tabernacle; then in addition to these, a propitiatory of gold and purple and fine twisted linen and scarlet finely woven, and this, raised on four pillars, was hung over the holy ark; then two Cherubim on the right and on the left, made of gold, surrounded the propitiatory, their faces stretching towards it. And the thing was again a riddle of the mystery concerning Christ. For the Word became flesh, although he was God and Lord of all, as from God the Father having been revealed according to nature. But even if he became flesh, and was set forth by the Father as a propitiation, he has not cast off what he was, that is, being God; but even so he is in power and glory befitting God, and again the powers above stand around him, completing the liturgies assigned to them. For this reason the Cherubim stand around the mercy-seat, and look towards it continually. For it is the custom of the powers above, being holy and all-pure, to always contemplate the things of God, and to look to him, and to be turned continually to the things that seem good and are dear to him. You will be known, then, O Master, he says, who you will be, having become like us; for that you are a propitiation, as from the example of the one in the holy tabernacle, you will be clearly known. For you stand in the midst of two living creatures, that is, the Cherubim, and your name is the mercy-seat. And the saying is true; for as Christ himself says, "The Father did not send "the Son into the world to judge the world, but that "the world might be saved through him." When the years draw near, you will be recognized; when the time comes, you will be revealed. The law has indeed prophesied the mystery of Christ; and indeed also the choir of the holy prophets proclaimed it beforehand; and the mystagogues in various ways establish us more firmly in the faith in him, by usefully connecting the things that happened and were accomplished at the time of his sojourning with the things written about him long ago, and we will often find them strengthening their own understanding from this; such as that which is through the voice of the evangelists. For our Lord Jesus Christ cast out of the temple those who sold the sheep and the oxen, and overturned the tables of the money-changers, "And making a whip "of cords he drove them all out, saying, 'Do not make my Father's "house a house of trade';" and what of it? "His disciples remembered," it says, "that it was written, "'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" And when Joseph once thought that the virgin betrothed to him had been defiled, and was wanting to dismiss her secretly, "An angel of the Lord appeared," it says, "to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not "be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which "is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear "a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he "will save his people from their sins.'" Then he brought forward a sacred oracle for assurance; for he spoke again thus: "All this took place to fulfill what was spoken through "the prophet, saying, 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child "and bear a son, and they shall call his name Em- "manuel.'" And we will find Emmanuel himself strengthening faith in himself from the things foretold by the prophets, and deeming it right to be recognized already through these deeds, and by bringing together the outcome of the results with what had already been said, that one should in no way doubt that he himself was, therefore, the one who was preached through the law and the prophets. For some of John's disciples came to him, inquiring and saying, "John the Baptist has sent "us saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?'" But he, although it was possible for him to say, "I am, and not another," persuades them to return to the ancient proclamation, saying, "Go "and tell John what you hear and see: the blind "receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and "the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached "to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by "me." It is certain, therefore, that, as the Prophet says, when the years draw near, you will be recognized, and that at the times long ago foreordained, according to the will and counsel of God the Father, Christ was revealed. For in the last times of the age he appeared to us, and was recognized and confessed, just as, indeed, even before the others, Nathanael cried out, saying, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of "Israel." He was recognized, then, when the years drew near, that is, at the time of the economy in the flesh. And he was recognized both by of the saints and of all, now henceforth, that is under heaven. For we have known the one in the midst of two living creatures, prefigured as a propitiation in legal enigmas, that is, Christ. In the troubling of my soul in anger, you will remember mercy. Human nature has offended the Creator through the transgression in Adam, who gave almost no regard to the commandment that was given. Therefore we have been troubled and have been destroyed, we wretches having fallen into a curse and a judgment, and we have been held by death, God having been angered; for our forefather Adam, as the root of the race, heard, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return." Yet the Creator did not overlook us forever, but had mercy as God. For even if "death having grown strong has swallowed up" according to the voice of the Prophet, yet "again God has taken away every tear from every face; the reproach of the people He has taken away from all the earth." For in Christ the power of death has been abolished, sin having been destroyed, on account of which we were also reproached; "For the Lord has remembered us, and has had mercy on us," just as the divine David also sings. For he has brought us back to incorruption and life, although we were troubled, as I just said, by the divine anger, so as to be in a departure of the spirit, that is, in the laying aside and casting off of the soul; for thus is death accomplished in us. But that we were condemned to death for having offended God, and have been saved again through mercy, the blessed David will confirm, saying to the Creator of all, "When you turn your face away, they shall be troubled, and they will return to their dust. You will send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth." For having suffered the turning away on account of the transgression in Adam, we have returned to the dust from which we also came. But since again in Christ and through Christ we have been enriched with the divine Spirit, having become partakers of his nature, according to the scriptures, we are reconstituted to what was in the beginning, and have been made new and have been saved. For it is true, what the divine Paul himself also wrote to us, that all things "in Christ are a new creation, and the old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new." Therefore we were troubled from the beginning, having endured the things from the divine anger. But since, when the years drew near, Christ was known, and was revealed according to the times foreordained of old, he then remembered mercy. For we have been justified not "by the works of the law," according to the scriptures, nor "by the works in righteousness which we have done, but according to his great mercy." God will come from Teman, and the holy one from Mount Paran, a thick-shaded forest. The mind has a twofold contemplation of the things set forth, and indeed we shall speak on them as is possible; for Teman is interpreted as the south. And the desert of Paran is very southerly, where Mount Horeb is also said to be, where Moses presented to God the people of Israel as he was defining the laws that determine what must be done. Therefore, applying one understanding to what is set forth, we say this: God will come, he says, from Teman, from Mount Paran or Horeb, that is, he who of old appeared in the most southerly desert on Mount Horeb to the fathers in the form of fire, he who of old spoke the law, will come, and will be seen with flesh like us, in the role of a prophet and mediator, just as, of course, the divine Moses, to whom it was said by God, "I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers like you, and I will put my words into his mouth, and he will speak to them according to all that I shall command him." But if one should wish to approach what is written in another way, it is also thus. Teman, as I said, they called the most southerly desert. Therefore they say that Bethlehem, in which Christ was born, is situated in the most southerly parts of Judea; for it has been said somewhere to her through the voice of a prophet, "And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, you are too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall come forth to me a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel." Therefore God from Teman shall come, that is, from Bethlehem which is to the south. For the Word, the Only-begotten of the Father, who is by nature and truly God, having become as we are, was born of a woman in Bethlehem. And since it is the custom of the divine Scripture to sometimes liken the Synagogue of the Jews to the more conspicuous of the mountains, because it is seen to be luxuriant with very many and most glorious men, for this reason it now likens it to Mount Paran, saying that he will come from a thick, shady mountain; and it says the mountain is shady and thick because of the fathers from whom Christ is genealogically descended. For it is possible to hear clearly the blessed Luke tracing the reckoning of the genealogy from Joseph up to Adam, and Matthew in turn bringing it down in order from David and Abraham, as I said, to Joseph. The Synagogue, therefore, is a thick and shady mountain, having brought forth in due season many from whom Christ sprang. For that he is from the Jews, how is it possible to doubt? For he was born of the blood of Abraham and David, I mean according to the flesh, and he himself somewhere says of himself, "For salvation is from the Jews." His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. For the Only-begotten Word of God became a propitiation through faith for those on earth, when he appeared as we are and in the form of a servant, that is, a man. And for this reason he seemed in a way to be made inferior to the holy angels themselves, and to come after their glory; but he was again supreme as God. And the most wise Paul will confirm this, saying, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor." For since he became "obedient unto death, even death on a cross," for this reason; as the same one wrote again, "God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Therefore the Prophet will indeed speak truth in saying, His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. For those who inhabit the holy city, and dwell in the mansions above, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" But he is seated on the thrones of divinity; and to none of them was it said by God the Father, "You are my Son," but him he both confesses as Son and names beloved, and has as his associate, co-hymned and co-worshipped. For again the divine Paul said of him, "And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, 'And let all the angels of God worship him.'" Therefore, even if he became a propitiation, having descended into humanity for us and on our behalf, he is no less God, and above all creation, I mean both visible and invisible. For thus his virtue covers the heavens; and the earth will be full of his praise. This the holy Seraphim also have cried out clearly, standing around his divine throne, and with praises greatly honoring him as Lord Sabaoth and God of all; for they say that heaven and earth are full of his glory. But if someone should wish to say this, that the virtue of Christ is great and surpassing, so as to cover the heavens themselves, if it were conceived in measurable size, he will accept a plausible thought; for somewhere the blessed David also said, "O Lord, your mercy is in heaven, and your truth reaches to the clouds," signifying the loftiness of his goodness and the excellence of his truth as in a quantity according to body and according to places. And his brightness will be as the light. That the propitiation through faith, that is, Christ, has come to enlighten those in darkness, would become clear also through the voice of the holy prophets. For one said, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and the rest who dwell by the sea, Galilee of the Gentiles, the the people who sat in darkness, have seen a great light;" and "Shine, shine O Jerusalem, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you," and God the Father himself has also testified, saying thus "For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until my righteousness goes forth as light, and my salvation as a burning torch." For Christ is righteousness and salvation, "who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption," according to the scriptures. Therefore, Christ was revealed to us as a torch for those walking as it were in darkness, through evangelical instruction delivering from that ancient mist, which the enemy of all, casting into our minds, did not permit us to behold the God who is by nature and truly is, nor indeed to contemplate the path of piety and life. The brightness, therefore, which Christ showed us, will be as light, that is, not dim nor as if weak, just as, of course, that which was through Moses; for the law was in riddles and shadows; but as a light pure and unmixed with mist, and entering into mind and heart, and flashing on us the intelligible radiance, and implanting the ray of unadulterated knowledge. Horns are in his hands. The horn is always taken in the divinely-inspired scriptures either for kingdom and power, or for arrogance. And the blessed David teaches this, saying "I said to the transgressors, "Do not transgress," and to the sinners, "Do not lift up the horn; do not lift up your horn on high, and do not speak injustice against God." "For "uttering" arrogant "words of vanity," some, according to what is written, speak injustice against God, falsifying the orthodoxy of the dogmas concerning him, or even insulting in any other way. But the horn is significant of power, when it is said concerning God the Father who revealed the Son to us; "he has raised up a horn of salvation for us," and again, "His horn shall be exalted in glory." And in good repute are all things wondrously accomplished in the power of Christ. So then, the Only-begotten has come in a form like ours, and insofar as he came into flesh and humanity, enduring the appearance of the weakness in us; except, as God, holding in his hands all the horns, that is, all the kingdoms, according to all the power of opposing energies. And when we say "in his hands," we mean "in his authority." And indeed we have been taught to say to God in our prayers, "In your hands are my lots." That every diabolical power is subject to Christ, and the so-called horns, that is, the tyrannies of the unclean spirits throughout cities and countries; for they divided among themselves the entire earth; how could anyone doubt? For he cast some out with authority from men, and others came "and begged him not to command them to go away into the abyss." For it is written thus by the holy Evangelists. And that he scared away from his tyranny over us even the overseer of the unclean spirits himself, that is, Satan, we will easily perceive, from Christ himself saying, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." Therefore, even if he became man, nevertheless in his hands, that is, in his authority, he has the tyrannies or kingdoms or even powers of the opposing forces. But if someone should wish to understand that more simply, that Christ has horns in his hands, that is, an invincible and unconquerable strength, and one which easily gores and readily destroys whichever of his enemies it should choose, and like a calf leaps upon them unbearably, he will again understand correctly. And he established a strong love of his strength. Christ came to accomplish these two things, to cast down those who are in opposition, who led astray all under heaven; for they carried away from God the creator, stealing the glory most fitting for him and him alone, and for their own kindling on their heads; and that he would save those who had been deceived and had endured a truly inescapable greed. But that their things are gone and have completely vanished, he taught by saying "Horns are in his hands," that is, those that overthrow their powers, and as it were de-horn their arrogance. But that he was about to save us, he further demonstrates by saying He set a mighty love of his strength. For we have been saved "not by works of righteousness which we have done" ourselves, not by legal boasts; for the law has perfected no one; but by the gentleness of God the Father, who set the love of the Son on our behalf as mighty, that is, strong and great. "For God the Father so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." We have been saved therefore by the love of God the Father, and indeed also of the Son himself, who endured death for us; even though he rose again, having abolished the power of corruption, and having removed sin from us. Therefore he also said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Mighty therefore, truly, is the love of the strength of God the Father, through which we have been delivered from death and sin and the greed of the devil. A word shall go before his face. A proclamation will go before him, he says, and a rumor will fly ahead, and there will be much talk about him. For as soon as Christ was born of the holy virgin, the Magi came immediately from the east, with the star that miraculously appeared in the sky all but announcing his birth to them according to the divine plan. But when, as time went on, he began signs and to be a worker of miracles, then "the report of him went out," as the evangelist says, "into all Syria." And in other ways he became famous in all truth under heaven. For who has not known the glory of Christ? What nation or country has remained unheard or unexperienced of the strength that is in him? For as he himself said again, the gospel has been preached to all the nations, and the splendor of the things done by him has traversed the whole earth like the sun. And his feet shall go out into the plains. It is as if he should say again, Nothing is steep for him or impracticable; but he will walk as if on each matter by a bare and smooth road. For the bare parts of the plains are passable and easy to travel; but those rising into hills are difficult and not fit for horses. All things therefore are easy for Christ, and whatever path he should wish to traverse, I mean in respect to each of the things being done, this is surely completely free of all difficulty. For what could he not accomplish, and very effortlessly, being God by nature and Lord of hosts? Therefore he makes the declaration from the likeness of those going in the plains to the consideration of things. But if someone should wish to understand "plains" as the humble in heart, who are also called a "delightful land" and "God's tillage," since they receive the seed from above and from heaven, and produce fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty, he will again understand correctly. For the Son will go out as if to farm such plains, according to that which was certainly said by him in the form of a parable, "A sower went out to sow his seed." And David also sings somewhere, "And your fields shall be filled with fatness;" and he added that "And the valleys will abound with grain." But that the valleys are again to be understood spiritually he allowed us to understand by adding immediately, "They will cry out, and indeed they will sing hymns." For it is not for the unfeeling valleys to sing hymns, or to have cried out, but for the spiritual ones; and on these the divine and heavenly word would settle like dew. He stood, and the earth was shaken. The word "he stood" may often be understood in the divinely-inspired scripture as concerning some matter that has come to its completion. For example, as if someone should say perhaps, "This matter stood," that is, the word concerning this, which is to say, it has been determined and done. So also the Zipporah the wife of Moses, circumcising her child with a stone, said to the destroying angel, "The blood of the circumcision of my child is staunched." For she did not mean to signify that the flow of blood had ceased, but that the deed of circumcision had been done, and what was sought had been accomplished; for he who is circumcised with the spiritual stone averts death; and this is the Spirit of Christ, just as indeed Joshua, who after Moses led the sons of Israel across the Jordan, commanded them to be circumcised with stone knives, fulfilling the type of the circumcision in the spirit. For just as Christ is called a rock, so also a stone, that is, a stone knife, is His Spirit. Therefore "it stood" often signifies also the fulfillment of a matter. Therefore Christ "stood"; that is, the things concerning him have come to fulfillment, and he appeared to those upon the earth; and the earth was shaken. And by "earth" he means the inhabitants of the earth, who were also shaken. And in what manner, then, let us say as far as we can. For those who formerly had their minds, as it were, unshaken in the will to do evil things, those who were firm in impieties, fixed in love of the flesh, established in error, have been shaken and moved, having been transferred to the knowledge of God and to the desire for virtue. And likewise those of the blood of Israel have been moved from the worship according to the law, having accepted faith in him; for they have passed over to choosing to live according to the Gospel, and to be governed by the Savior's laws. And that "to be shaken" sometimes signifies a transfer from one thing to another would be clear from the blessed David, who psalmed and said, "You who are seated upon the Cherubim, let the earth be shaken." For we do not say that he was entreating him for the earth to be shaken violently—I mean this perceptible one under the feet of men—but rather he was seeking the transition to occur from the worse to the better. And this is one meaning of the proposed text, but one might also accept another for it in some such way. He says, "It stood and the earth was shaken." The earth has experienced these two things, for it both stood and has been shaken. And what again might be the explanation for both, it is necessary to make clear. It stood, therefore; for being drunk, as it were, and easily shaken toward anything whatsoever that is amiss, and, as it were, carried about by every wind, it now has a firm and established position, with Christ making it firm, according to that which was in some way said through the voice of Isaiah to the Synagogue of the Jews, "Establish yourself, Zion." And it has been shaken again, as I have already said, having departed from the ancient deceit, and honoring the transfer to anything whatsoever that is pleasing to God. It is truly paradoxical, therefore, that at one and the same time the earth both stood and was shaken. For Christ is the one who both makes it established for every good work, and persuades it to practice the movement from the worse to the better. He looked, and the nations melted; the mountains were shattered by force. For God to look upon sometimes signifies a consideration as in meekness and love, but at other times one in anger and threat. "And indeed, upon whom," he says, "will I look, but "upon the one who is meek and quiet and who trembles at my "words?" And somewhere the divine David also besought, saying thus, "Look upon me and have mercy on me;" but through the voice of Ezekiel he said concerning someone, "And I will set my "face against that man, and I will make "him a desolation and a ruin, and I will cut him off from the "midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord." and this was of one threatening anger and destruction and the fitting justice for those who provoke. Therefore as soon as Christ looked, that is, he brought his eye in anger upon some, and immediately they melted like wax, and as if by a consuming fire the mountains were shattered by force. And by "nations" and "mountains" he means the unclean spirits, and those among them who are lofty and exalted and standing like mountains above the others; but the preeminence is entirely in worthlessness, and the advantage in arrogance. or perhaps also according to the strength, the measure of the ferocity inherent in them. For the demons are arrogant, and indeed he sets in opposition to God, and they hasten to claim for themselves the glory that is fitting for Him. But they were violently shattered. For they are crushed by the power of Christ, and have come to nothing, and have been placed under the feet of those who have believed. And elsewhere again satan has been called a mountain, to whom God spoke somewhere through the voice of the prophet, as from the person of Nebuchadnezzar, "Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth." The eternal hills melted. Having mentioned enigmatically the evil and opposing powers, which also work against the glory of Christ, casting down to sin those on the earth, he has necessarily introduced also the leaders of the Jewish Synagogue, whom he also calls hills, because they seem to be raised up high and to be above the others, at least according to the order of the priestly ministry and the honor from it. And he calls them eternal, because of the perpetual nature of the matter; for the liturgy of God is unceasing; for he is glorified in every season and time. For even if the power of the worship in shadows and types has perhaps ceased, yet the nature of the matter has passed over to something better. For the leaders of the holy churches minister to God no less, and perform for him the bloodless sacrifice. Therefore the hills are eternal because of the perpetual and unceasing nature of the liturgy. But they were crushed together with the spiritual mountains, and melted together with the nations. For since they have thought what is pleasing to demons, and have fulfilled what seemed good to the devil, by delivering the author of life to the cross, and having behaved insolently toward him in many ways, for this reason, justly enduring the same punishment as they, they have been deposed and have fallen, and as the prophet says, "The house of Israel has fallen, there is no one who will raise it up." They saw his eternal ways as toils. Sometimes the sacred writings are accustomed to call the divine commandments 'ways' and 'roads' and 'paths', such as what is said through the voice of Jeremiah, "Stand by the roads and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, and see which is the good way, and walk in it and you will find purification for your souls;" and indeed also through the voice of the blessed David, "I ran the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart." The hills melted, he says, that is, those among the Jews who had received the glory of leadership, and the boasts attached to the priestly ministry according to the law. For they saw the ways, that is the commandments of Emmanuel—clearly, the evangelical decrees, and the incomparably better and more manifest instruction of the ancient oracles—as toils, that is, they considered it burdensome and full of sweat, although Christ the Savior of us all says clearly, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." And in another way some made his ways unbearable, through which it was possible to pass easily into eternal life. For our Lord Jesus Christ was clarifying what the power of the mystical blessing is, saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." But those who heard such sacred words spoke deliriously, saying, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" And the Evangelist testified, saying that "After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." when Christ added this to the disciples themselves, if they also chose to depart from him, saying, "Do you also want to go away?" But the divine Peter answered, crying out, "Lord, to whom shall we depart? You have the "words of eternal life." For they did not see the journeys as labors, but the word was truly sweet and worthy of being heard by them. And he says that the journeys are eternal. For it will in no way cease, but will rather extend into the present age, and the evangelical and saving proclamation will stand forever, even though the older and legal commandment has grown old and does not have blamelessness, as the most wise Paul says, and for this reason the second has been introduced, "which is said to have been enacted on better promises." And so the divine David cried out beforehand in the spirit, saying to our Lord Jesus Christ, "Your righteousness is a righteousness for "the age, and your law is truth." For, as I said, the things in shadows have not remained, but the types have ceased, while the things of Christ have been firmly established, and have their unshakeable nature forever. The dwellings of the Ethiopians will be terrified, and the tents of the land of Midian. The better of the narratives somehow always has what is worthy of being heard, and an unobjectionable promise, even if one should go through the same words. Therefore, having previously narrated the rush to cowardice of the opposing powers, and having shown them as melting in the likeness of nations, and indeed also as being crushed like mountains, he again compares them to the foreigners who campaigned against the land of the Jews. These were the Ethiopians to the east and south inhabiting the Indian sea, and indeed also the Midianites, themselves inhabiting the neighboring desert. Therefore, he says, those who fight against the holy city will be terrified, that we might understand the spiritual Zion, which is the Church of Christ, which the saints inhabit, and the chosen race, as in a type of old, Israel, just as Israel is also interpreted as Mind seeing God. And Nathanael was also admired, as "truly being an Israelite, in whom there is no "deceit." Therefore, as in an image and in types in the Ethiopians and Midianites, who always wished to harm the chosen race, that is, Israel, we will understand the hordes of demons that stand against the saints. And one might say in another way that the idolaters are called Ethiopians, whose life is carnal, earthly and in impurities; and such are the Ethiopians; for they do not have the divine light in their mind, but are, so to speak, black in heart and darkened in their minds, to whom the dragon is also said to have been given for consumption. For David somewhere sings and says to the God of all, "You crushed the head of the dra-"gon, you gave him as food to the Ethiopian peoples." For just as we have made the life-giving Word of God our spiritual and holy food, so also the lovers of sin and those who have not known the God by nature, so to speak, feed on Satan, having him in mind, and thinking and saying his things. And the Midianites again would be, as I said, those hostile to the saints. But if someone should choose also to investigate the power of the name, Midianite is interpreted as judged, or rather condemned; and such a name would be fitting for Satan himself and for the wicked powers with him, "For whom the gloom of darkness has been kept for "eternity." Are you angry with the rivers, Lord? or is your wrath in the rivers? or your assault in the sea? For you will mount your horses, and your riding is salvation. Bending you will bend your bow against the scepters, says the Lord. The Prophet's purpose is to show that the second economy is better and more manifest than the ancient one and has come about with incomparably greater goods. For long ago through Moses he led Israel out of carnal slavery, having changed the rivers of the Egyptians into blood, and having performed signs and wonders; then parting the Red Sea, and bringing across the redeemed, but drowning in the waters the most warlike of the Egyptians. But when the Only-begotten Word of God became man, he delivered the whole world under heaven, which was yoked to the greediness of the devil, not rivers having changed [it] into blood, not pouring out His own wrath upon waters, not dividing the waves of the sea, not bringing destruction upon men; but rather killing the blood-guilty serpent himself, and casting down the sin found by him and through him, and destroying the irresistible power of death, and calling everyone to the knowledge of God, through the holy Apostles, who, running all over the world under heaven, and carrying the name of Christ, and very justly, were admired. O then Master, he says, very worthy to be heard are the things of which You Yourself have become the author, and the things accomplished again by You are much better than those through Moses. For You will not bring wrath upon rivers; You will not rush against the sea; not in those things; from where? The wonder of Your God-befitting authority will shine forth; but You will rather mount upon Your horses, and Your riding is salvation. And who might the horses be, again? The blessed disciples, both Apostles and Evangelists, who were wholly yoked to His divine will, who were gentle and easy to rein and ready for anything whatsoever that seemed good to Him, who had Christ as both rider and charioteer, of whom the blessed Paul is one, concerning whom He Himself says, "For this one is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles." And very swift indeed are the horses, traveling all over the world under heaven. Thus also "The chariot of God is said to be ten thousandfold, having thousands of prospering ones." For very many who from time to time, and after them, have become leaders of peoples and have submitted the neck of their mind to the yokes of the Savior, and carrying His glory everywhere, and rightly dividing the word of truth, and, as it were, making the whole earth resound with the clatter of hooves. And the riding of the horses is salvation. For they ran not in vain, but so that they might save cities, and countries and nations alike, as Christ was overthrowing the principalities of demons, who had divided the whole earth, so to speak, subjecting its inhabitants to their own wills. But since the ancient principalities of the demons were about to fall, for this reason he says fittingly, Bending you will bend your bow against the scepters. For he will rush, as I just said, not in rivers or seas, but will rather overthrow the scepters of the demons. The land of rivers will be rent, peoples will see you and be in travail; scattering the waters of his course. He remembers again the achievements of the Savior, and to the other nations, against which the bow is bent, or rather, will be bent, he says that the land of rivers will also be added, perhaps indicating that of the Babylonians; for under it at that time was also the land between the rivers; so that through this, again as by an image of perceptible enemies, the multitude of the intelligible and invisible ones might also be signified, against which is the struggle for the saints. But in some way the word of the prophets is always hidden. Therefore, as from a part of the land between the rivers, the land of the Babylonians is signified, and through it, enigmatically, the herd of demons. Or perhaps the prophetic word hints at something else for us. For he seems to call Judea the land of rivers, because of the many prophets who arose in it, watering the nation like rivers, and, as it were, flooding it with divine streams. concerning whom, I think, the blessed David also says, "The rivers will clap their hands together;" and indeed also through the voice of Isaiah, God [says]: "The beasts of the field will bless me, the sirens and the daughters of ostriches, because I gave water in the desert, and rivers in a waterless land to give drink to my chosen race, my people whom I have acquired to declare my virtues." For our Lord Jesus Christ has perhaps been named a torrent of delight, and He truly is, and indeed also a river; for He said somewhere concerning Him through the voice of the saints, "Behold, I am turning upon them like a river of peace, and like a torrent flooding the glory of the nations." And it was also said through the voice of David, "The streams of the river make glad the city of God." And it in no way harms, in likeness to Him, the saints themselves to be called rivers, since indeed they have become conformed to him spiritually. For just as he is the true light, he said somewhere to the holy apostles "You "are the light of the world;" so also, being himself a river and indeed living water, he grants to the saints to be glorified by the same titles. The land of the spiritual rivers, therefore, that is, Judea, not having endured to drink the living water, and not having received the word of the holy prophets, nor indeed that through Moses; for if they had believed Moses, they would have believed Christ, for he wrote about him; it will be broken, that is, it will thirst. For thirsty land breaks apart. The Prophet therefore marvels, and as if in character says: The land that formerly had many rivers, and a most abundant supply of the divine streams, will be thirsty and unwatered land. But since, he says, O Master, the peoples have seen you appear spiritually, that is, those from the nations who understood the mystery concerning you, they immediately received the good in birth-pangs, and have become fruitful. And it would be fitting for them to say "Through "fear of you, O Lord, we have conceived in the womb and have been in travail "and have brought forth. We have wrought the spirit of your salvation upon the "earth." For those who have inscribed Emmanuel as Savior and Redeemer travail with the divine fear, and every conception of their mind will be a fruit of virtue, and their endeavor will result in a spirit of salvation; therefore peoples will see you and will travail, drinking your stream, and having become drunk with the streams of the gospel. For they eagerly approached him as he said "If anyone "thirsts, let him come to me and drink," for you were, he says, so bountiful and good, as to scatter waters even in your journeys, that is, the life-giving word of evangelical instruction. For as Matthew says "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, "teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the "gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease "and every infirmity among the people." This, I think, is the meaning of scattering the waters of his journey. But that the word of divinely inspired teaching is called water everywhere in the sacred writings, how can it be doubted? The abyss gave its voice, the height of its appearance. The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order for a light. He calls the peoples who have been in travail and have now become fruitful an abyss, showing that they are many and innumerable; for such is the abyss. And by such a name the multitude of the holy angels is also called through the voice of Ezekiel. And so God said somewhere, as from the person of the prince of Tyre concerning Satan, When I cast him down into Hades, the abyss mourned for him. For with him who was beyond all and preeminent in glory, who was also placed with the Cherubim, according to the voice of the prophet himself, having been cast down and having fallen, it is not at all unlikely that the spiritual abyss, that is, the hosts of the spirits above, was greatly grieved, and as it were, became sad for him who had suffered and had offended the God of all. Therefore the abyss, he says, that is, the immeasurable and incomprehensible multitude of those who have believed, and indeed also the height of the appearance in it, that is, again, all that is splendid and exalted in it, and adorned with the appearances in this world, or rather with vain glories, gave its voice. For Christ is glorified by every nation of men, and one may see small and great, illustrious and obscure, and those more distinguished than others, having pre-eminence either perhaps in glory, or in wealth and splendor in life, doing this eagerly; which he very rightly called appearances or the height of appearance. For to them it is nothing other than an opinion, because "All flesh is grass "and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." And that the abyss gave its voice, and that small and great honor our Lord Jesus Christ with praises, the blessed David will also make clear when he says "Praise the Lord "from the earth, you dragons and all deeps." And having added to these mountains and hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and cattle, creeping things and winged birds, he adds again "Rulers and all judges of the earth, young men and maidens, old men with younger men, let them praise the name of the Lord." And somewhere our great Isaiah also said concerning him "Kings shall see him and be afraid; rulers and they shall worship him." And he gives as it were the reason for the deep, and indeed the height of its appearance, to give its voice, adding immediately: The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order for light. And just as we have understood the deep, not according to the sensible account, for it is too crude, but rather spiritually and intellectually, so also now we will not fix the eye of the mind on the elements, I mean the sun and the moon; but by the likeness from them, darting toward better things, we shall perceive the power of the concepts. Therefore, we say the sun is the luminous and brilliant initiation into the evangelical ordinances, and the moon, in turn, the lesser and dimmer light of the Law, shining, as in night and darkness, in the time before the advent. For it is called day in which Christ shone forth, the sun of righteousness, the spiritual morning star, rising in the hearts of those who have believed. And indeed the divine David says, "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." And just as the physical sun, while still low and barely rising from the earth, does not yet have a broad and brilliant light, but has its own light as if contracted within itself, but leaping up on high, it makes the emission of its ray most brilliant to all everywhere; so also the instruction through Christ, that is, the evangelical, was contracted in the beginning, and was unknown to many; but like the sun, all but rising, and going on high little by little, and sending forth the gleam of the knowledge of God everywhere, it stuns the deep, that is, the whole race of men; for this reason it also gave its voice. For it gives glory, as I said, and names God, and confesses Emmanuel as Lord and redeemer of all. Therefore, the sun was lifted up, and no less the moon, that is, the Law, stood in its order for light. For the instruction through Moses comes after the evangelical instruction, and this is its order, because it is both a shadow and a type. But since Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the Law also shone forth. For by comparing the things that have come to pass with those formerly announced through it, we have already marveled also at the light of the Law itself prefiguring to us elegantly in many ways the mystery of Christ. It stood, therefore, for light. And Christ himself also blesses those who have brought together in themselves both the legal and the evangelical instruction. For he spoke thus: "Therefore I say to you, that every scribe," that is, one who knows the law, "who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like a rich man, who brings out of his treasure new and old things." But we will also accept another meaning for this, not an implausible one, as it seems to me, but rather one that approaches what is likely. For we say, and very rightly, that Emmanuel is the sun. For so he has been named, and so he truly is. And it must be supposed that the Church of God is called the moon, by likeness to the element, shining for those in darkness, and gleaming as if in the night. When, therefore, the sun was lifted up, according to the voice of the Prophet—for Christ ascended the precious cross for us—then also the church from the gentiles shone forth and stood in its order for light, that is, like a full moon, and preserving the order of its own cycle, it became a light for those in darkness, just as I said a moment ago. And that when Christ was lifted up and endured the cross for the life of all, the Church was then established, he himself will teach again: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, fruit bears more fruit.” And again, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to my- self.” Therefore, the sun being lifted up, surely signifies either the passion on the cross, or the ascent to the heavens; for indeed we also say that he is lifted up in this way. Your missiles will go forth into the light of the lightning of your weapons. Here he calls missiles those who went throughout the whole earth, and as if sent from a bow, that is, from a strong hand, the holy apostles and evangelists, about whom the blessed David also said somewhere, “Like arrows in the hand of a mighty one, “so are the sons of those who have been cast out.” For the nation of the Jews was cast out and expelled, for insulting Christ who was calling them to life; but their sons, who are also of the blood of Israel, the chosen disciples, became missiles and arrows, as if running from a most mighty hand, and easily piercing everything struck for death. Such missiles are sent, as from the hand of Christ, and are fixed in the entrails of the devil, and destroy the dragon. And so the blessed David also sings somewhere, saying to our Lord Jesus Christ, “Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty “one, peoples will fall under you, in the heart of the king’s enemies.” Therefore, by such arrows the hordes of demons are destroyed, and they become a means of destruction to the enemies; but for those who have recognized his epiphany and honored him through faith, they fulfill another need. for they make them wounded with love, according to the bride who says in the Song of Songs, “For I am wounded “with love.” And they are found in another way to be the light of the lightning of his weapons; and his weapons could be understood as those with which the blessed Paul commands that we ourselves must be armed, saying, “Put on the whole armor of God.” And this is the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, having shod your feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, the sword of the Spirit. Therefore, such are the weapons of Christ, not clothing himself, but rather being given by him to the worthy. And the weapons are bright, and as if full of lightning; for virtue is most manifest; therefore, the missiles will be a light of the lightning of your weapons. For because the weapons flash, they themselves will give light, teaching those who were ignorant. For among lovers of sin, virtue is a kind of unadorned thing, and not yet bright; but among those who know it, it is nothing less than lightning, making a person bright and transparent, and most well-known everywhere. Therefore, the divine disciples, having the lightning of your weapons first, will also be a light of it for others. For just as experts in the medical art, when they free those who have fallen into diseases of the eyes and who flee the light of the sun’s ray from their suffering, they then persuade them to endure the assault of the light, and having become a kind of light for them, they would be taken, and very reasonably so; so also the divine disciples, admiring and praising the virtues, which have also been appointed as weapons of Christ, are found to be a kind of light of the lightning in them, that is, of their radiance, for others. In threat you will make the earth small, and in wrath you will bring down nations. Through these things, the Prophet subtly indicates to us the devastation of the land of the Jews, and the destruction of the nations dwelling in it. For since they did not accept faith in Christ, but rose up against him, and killed the author of life, for this reason they have been given over to desolation, and Isaiah foretold this to them, saying, “Woe to the lawless one; evil according to his works will “befall him.” You went out for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed ones; you cast death upon the heads of the lawless, you raised up bonds to the neck forever. Again he explains to us, as it were, the whole economy of the incarnation of the Only-begotten. For he has saved those through faith justified, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, and shown to be partakers of his divine nature; but he has permitted those who have chosen to disobey to be consumed in their sins, to whom he also said clearly, "Amen, amen, I say "to you, that if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your "sins." You went out, therefore, it says, as a king coming against the hordes of the enemy, and armed with the law of war. And the purpose of the departure was to save your anointed ones; clearly meaning those anointed with the Holy Spirit, concerning whom he also long ago commanded through prophets, saying "Do not touch my anointed ones, "and do no evil to my prophets;" but to prepare death for the lawless, which they, having drawn it down upon their own heads, would be caught in, by not accepting the justifying faith. For this reason they are also bound with unbreakable bonds, and are tightened by the chains of their own transgressions; and not partially, but as it were through the whole body, and up to the neck. But if indeed the bonds are said to be of Christ, let no one be disturbed. For always somehow the things that happen to some by the permission of God are said to be his; such as the saying, "There is no evil in a city, "which the Lord has not done." For he himself does not do the evil, but rather he often permits it to happen to the sinning cities. But if indeed the bonds spoken of here might be understood as things to be praised, again we say this, that death is indeed cast upon the heads of the lawless, but the God of all binds, as with bonds of love, those who approach him, and have been justified by faith and sanctified in the Spirit, in accordance with that which was certainly spoken through the voice of the prophet concerning those of the blood of Israel, "And I bound the feet of "Ephraim, I took him up on my arm, I drew "them with the bonds of my love." But the bond upon the necks is here understood also as the easy rein of those who have submitted to him the neck of their mind, and have taken upon themselves the truly good yoke of our Savior. You have cut off in ecstasy the heads of rulers, they will be shaken in it. The name of ecstasy is understood in different ways in the divinely-inspired scripture. For sometimes it means astonishment, as if it might be said, for example, concerning the sins of those of Israel, "Heaven was astonished at this;" and again, "Astonishment and horrible things have happened in the land;" and then again at other times the removal from an earthly way of thinking to a certain divine and spiritual state of character and of life. And so the divine Paul writes to some, and says, "For if "we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you." And just as we say that the turning from worse things to better things is an ecstasy beloved by God; so also we maintain that the change from useful things to shameful things is an ecstasy that is wicked and reproached. In such an ecstasy, therefore, he says, you have cut off the heads of the rulers. and he indicates those of the leaders of Israel, certainly scribes and Pharisees, and of the priests according to the law. for they were truly driven out of their senses and out of right thinking and a good mind and of the love for God, not receiving the Son, but rather even killing him, although they both knew and said, that "this is the heir." And what, then, might the manner of the cutting off be understood to be? The divine David will fittingly clarify, saying to the Savior God of all, "Divide them in their life;" for "Israel" was both the "portion" of God, and "the line of his inheritance." But since they have wickedly provoked the Son, the beloved has become sent away, and has been divided, and has been separated from the hope of those who have believed, disinherited and cast off, and has been put out of his presence, and in a second portion, and after the nations, who indeed also say of themselves that, "Blessed "are we by the Lord who made heaven and "earth;" "God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us." Therefore Israel was cut off, and having fallen from the blessing, a portion... no longer of God, but rather diabolical and most dishonorable and profane. Then concerning the ecstasy he says that they will be shaken in it, that is, they will fall. For what is in vibration and agitation is near to falling. And the prophet laments for them, as if they were destroyed in many ways, saying, "The house of Israel has fallen, there is no one who will raise it." They will open their bridles, like a poor man eating secretly. The difficulty of both its syntax and its wording is very great indeed; nevertheless we will speak as we are able, distinguishing very well the meaning of the thoughts. Having narrated, then, the situation in which the heads of the rulers absolutely had to be, that is, those who had been chosen to lead the Synagogue of the Jews, he moves on immediately to the holy apostles, who in the beginning had great fear of their persecutors. For they were scourged in the councils and commanded to speak to no one in the name of Christ; and coming together secretly they made their supplications to God, saying, "For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together in this city against your holy child Jesus, whom you anointed. And now, Lord, look upon their threats;" clearly, those of the Jews; "and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness." Therefore, those who were, so to speak, constrained by fear as by a bridle and forced to be silent, those who were scourged and afflicted, who spoke to some secretly and with difficulty, and who resembled a poor man eating, will open their bridles. It is as if he were to say, they will by all means be broadened into the boldness that is most dear and fitting for them. For they will in no way care about the Synagogue of the Jews; but spitting on the threats, and, so to speak, breaking the bridle cast upon them, like some noble and proud horses, they will henceforth neigh, with no one rebuking them, and will fill the whole world with their voice. The divine Isaiah says something similar to those who minister the evangelical proclamation: "Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid; behold our God, behold the Lord comes with strength, and his arm with dominion." Therefore, he says, those who were formerly like a poor man eating secretly, that is, those who had no boldness, those who were secretly and with difficulty nourished by the faith of the believers, will open their bridles to cheerfulness, in the manner already stated. And that the faith of those who are saved is a kind of food for both God and the saints, Christ himself confirms when he says concerning the conversion of the Samaritans, "I have food to eat that you do not know." And again, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work." And you mounted your horses into the sea, troubling many waters. The discourse has again maintained the figure of a trope. For having named bridles, he called the holy Apostles horses, on whom Christ himself also rides, having settled as it were into their mind and heart. Therefore, he tries to teach that they were destined to lead to faith not only those of Israel, but also the very great and countless multitude of the other nations. For he compares the world to the sea, according to what is sung in the Psalms, "This is the sea, great and wide; there are creeping things without number;" and to many waters the herds of the nations, throughout all the earth; and indeed, as I said, the holy Apostles to horses, who, travelling about the whole world, usefully troubled the idolaters who were, so to speak, snoring and resting in error; for they have caused a disturbance, summoning to fear those who were proceeding to punishment, and who would undergo the judgment by fire, if they did not choose to repent and to know the God who is by nature and truly God. And indeed the divine Paul, speaking to the Athenians, and then to all the others having called them more supersti- tious, he has disturbed them not a little, adding this, "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but "now he commands all people everywhere to re- "pent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the "world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, having offered assurance "to all by raising him from the dead." Therefore the trou- bled water is the multitude throughout the world; for at times it is compared to waters, and very fittingly; since the life of men is like the sea; because great is the turmoil of the affairs in it, and the pouring forth and movement upwards and downwards and towards everything whatsoever; and the troubled water is much, at least in comparison with Israel; for they were one nation; but these are greater than any number. I watched, and my heart was startled at the voice of the prayer of my lips, and trembling entered into my bones, and under- neath me my frame was troubled. I will rest in my day of affliction, that I may go up to the people of my sojourning. It is a custom for the holy prophets to call the watchfulness in heart and mind, which they might happen to make, when the Holy Spirit proclaimed to them beforehand the knowledge of things to come, a "watch" or a "hearing." Therefore the same Habakkuk says, "I will stand on my watch, and mount upon "the rock, and watch to see what he will say in me, "and what I shall answer to my reproof;" and another again, "I have heard a report from the Lord, and he sent a message to the "nations," and indeed in addition to this the divine David also says, "I will hear," he says, "what the Lord "God will speak in me." The Prophet now implies something of this sort, saying, "I watched and my heart was startled." "I have observed," he says, "the power of the things that were said; then I have been terribly startled at the voice of the prayer of my lips." For he made his supplication to God with an ode, and the manner of his prophecy was a song; but his aim and mind were not on the rhythmic utterance, but he was rather embittered into grief, and was exceedingly fearful, as the Spirit articulated in him the things that would happen to those of Israel in the last times. And that which especially disturbed him and persuaded him to fear was, in all likelihood, perhaps this alone, lest he somehow be left behind in the evils, and witness the crushing of the people, and see death cast upon the heads of the lawless, and them being cut off in ecstasy, and shaken in it, according to the sense already explained. Then, learn- ing that the vision would be for appointed times, and the things foretold for a long postponement, almost recovering from his ut- ter despondency from then on, he says, "I will rest in my day of affliction, that I may go up to the people of my sojourning." "For I will not be held fast," he says, "in such evils, nor will I be found in this life, when the time is at hand in which such evils will surely befall those of Israel." "For I will go from here, and I will depart to the people that has become such a sojourner in this life, just as, indeed, I myself am." For all the saints are sojourners and strangers in this world. Therefore they say, "Here we have no lasting "city, but we seek the city that is to come." And David also sings somewhere to the God of all, "Spare me, for "I am a sojourner in the land and a stranger, as all "my fathers were." Therefore the aim of the saints is worthy of admiration, not even bearing, so to speak, to see those things on account of which God might happen to be provoked; and having practiced making their depar- ture from this world more pleasant than life itself, if the things for the glory of God were not saved by us. And indeed the divine Paul said that to depart is better, and to be with Christ for those who have come to this mind, so as to consider life in the body a sojourning. Because the fig tree will not bear fruit, and there will be no produce on the vines; the work of the olive will fail, and the fields will produce no food; the sheep have failed from the food, and there will be no oxen at the stalls from their healing. Just as to one who was asking and wishing to learn, for what reason he made it of great account to die, or rather to ascend to the people of his sojourning, he overshadows with much obscurity the abolition of the Synagogue of the Jews, and all but seems to lament the barrenness that would befall it. And he indicates it to us in many ways, saying that it would be like a fig tree, from which no fruit would come. For the Savior Himself also named it thus, speaking as in a parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his "vineyard." And since it was barren, He said that it must finally be cut down, lest it render the ground useless. And somewhere He also cursed the fig tree before Jerusalem; for not finding fruit on it, "May no fruit," he says, "come from you "forever." He also compares it to a vine devoid of grape clusters. For it is again, as the prophet Isaiah says: "The "vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is a man of Judah, a new plant, "beloved." But "he trenched it, and put a hedge "about it, and built a tower in it, and dug a "winepress, and waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced "thorns." For this reason, then, it was laid waste, as David says, "A boar from the wood, and a wild solitary beast has "devoured it;" and he took down "its hedge, and all "who pass by the way have plucked its fruit." And the produce of the olive also failed, that is, again, of the Synagogue of the Jews. For the prophet Jeremiah also indicates it thus, saying, "A beautiful olive tree, shady in appearance, "the Lord called your name. At the sound of its pruning "a fire was kindled upon it, great is the tribulation upon you, its "branches were made useless, and the Lord of hosts who "planted you has spoken evil against you." But since, as the Prophet says, its produce failed; for though they were tutored for Christ through the law and the prophets, they did not accept the faith; for this reason it was also cut off, and its branches have fallen, and those from the wild olive tree, that is, those from the Gentiles, were then grafted in, "and have become partakers of the root "and of the richness of the cultivated olive tree." Then he says that the fields will not produce food. He again compares Israel to ruined crops, I think, from which the farmer could not even gather enough for food. And this would be a clear proof of the utmost barrenness. And he clarified that they were about to suffer a famine of divine teachings and fall into the last of all evils, adding that the sheep have failed from food, that is, from having no food; and that there are no oxen at the manger. By this is signified the complete failure among them of the sacred and chosen race, that is, those from the tribe of Levi, who, like oxen, thresh the spiritual threshing-floor and strip the word given through the all-wise Moses of the veils of obscurity, and set forth a kind of grain of wheat to others for understanding and as a sort of spiritual food. But they themselves were feeding at mangers on the offerings from the people, tithes, first-fruits, thanksgiving offerings. Therefore, the sheep have failed from food; and there were no longer oxen at the manger, that is, the guides and teachers of the peoples. For this reason also the divine Paul applies the saying, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," to the heads of the teachers, clearly interpreting for us the things in the law. Moreover, he says the oxen have failed from their healing. And the saying is obscure; yet it signifies this, as I think again. For since they foolishly spurned being healed by Christ, although He strengthens the weak and justifies the ungodly, for this reason they have also failed, that is, they have been completely weakened and have come to nothing. It is a terrible thing, then, to stumble against God, and it will be the cause of the utmost barrenness. And we shall lack spiritual food, and as a result we shall be in a state beyond all evil. But I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be glad in God my Savior; the Lord God my strength, and He will set my feet for a consummation; He will make me walk upon high places, that I may be victorious in His song. Here then either the very person of the Prophet is clearly introduced, saying such things; or one might say the words belong to those justified in faith, who make Christ their delight, and rejoice in Him, and they record him as the provider of their inherent strength, and say that they can do all things in Him, just as, of course, the divine Paul also says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And somewhere the blessed David also sings, "For you are the boast of their strength;" and they expect to be well and truly enriched by Him alone with a firm standing in piety. For "He will set my feet for a consummation" surely indicates to us nothing other than this. And indeed the Hebrew edition has put "security" instead of "consummation". But feet being set for security, what else would it signify to us, than a firm standing, as I said, in piety, and the unshakable in virtue, and being fixed in faith and love for Christ? And that the life of those justified in Christ is not lowly and groveling, but is both lofty and removed from every earthly and carnal matter, he makes clear by saying "He will make me walk upon high places". For the boasts of the evangelical way of life are truly lofty before God. And that we shall overcome those who oppose us, and shall be superior to our enemies, glorifying Him, he will persuade by saying, "That I may be victorious in His song".