Book 2
Plead with your mother, plead, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Having said before that Israel will be justly cast off, and in addition will be called Not a people; and indeed that the Lord-slaying multitude will surely be in every way Not having obtained mercy, and very reasonably so; then, having added to these things, and not at great length, the return through faith in Christ that will take place in the last times of the age, by saying, "And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one ruler," and having narrated the entire economy from beginning to end, he proceeds in these things to lay bare the accusations of those justly cast off, and clearly brings to light the things for which it happened that they suffered those things. Therefore he says to those who have obtained mercy and have been received and have become the people of God, but who have sprung from the Synagogue as from some harlot, Plead with your mother, plead. For if you wish, he says, to learn the reasons for which you became and were called Not my people, and Not having obtained mercy, in the times before your return, you will not find me to have been harsh toward you or neglectful in affection; but plead with your own mother, because she did not preserve the genuineness of love for me, but denied our relationship; and she considered the purity of spiritual communion with me to be of very little account; and she was not willing to bring forth the fruits of my desires. She has become not my wife, and I therefore am no longer her husband; she did not bear you for me, but for others; for otherwise I would have recognized my own; the one who is by nature a father is not slow to mercy, but he hesitates to be good to an illegitimate offspring. And these things, one might perhaps say, are as from the person of God; but one will consider again, and reflect well, that since the Synagogue had turned to apostasy from God, and had chosen the worship of demons, and, just like a harlot, was spreading her legs for them, those born of her became neither purely and steadfastly God-loving, nor indeed gentle in their ways; but rather, having been reared in the customs of those who bore them, they heedlessly went on to things that grieve God; on the one hand sacrificing to Baal, and to the heifers golden ones; and this they do, rushing heedlessly into every kind of impurity. They will therefore blame, and very rightly so, their own mother, and not rather the truly virtue-loving and all-holy Master, who does not deign to have as a consort the one who has committed fornication. But the manner of the fornication is in every way spiritual, even if it is spoken of physically. And I will take away her fornication from my presence, and her adultery from between her breasts, so that I may strip her naked, and restore her as in the days of her birth. For those who do not turn to God of their own will, nor endure to fulfill what is pleasing to him, but cling fast to a depravity that is honored by them I know not how, a certain penalty and punishment is devised, which then transfers them by necessity and fear to that very thing to which it was better to be brought of their own will. For just as difficult and hard-to-treat wounds on the body, even if they do not yield to the power of medicines and accept some change for the better, are either cut with a knife, since the experience of physicians calls for this manner of remedy, or else are overcome by fire; so also the soul of man, having inclined much toward apostasy from good things, even if it does not yield to the voices of those who admonish, nor chooses to migrate from baser things to the better, is overcome by judgments, and being caught in the snares of punishment, makes its return a matter of necessity. Such is that which is said through the voice of Jeremiah, "By pain and by scourge you will be disciplined, O Jerusalem." And the divine David also sings something of this sort concerning those who have loved to be exceedingly led to sin, "With bit and bridle you shall restrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you." For those who are accustomed to breaking colts turn the hard and unruly irrational animals with bridles toward what seems to be good; so also does God usefully deal with those who are very fond of sin. Therefore, prophets and righteous men advised the Synagogue to depart from the worship of idols, and to abstain from the error devised I know not whence. And not only this; but God himself also threatened to inflict upon them the most shameful of all evils, if they did not choose to return to thinking and doing the things that are pleasing and dear to him. But they were still terrible and unyielding, and inflexible in their mind. For this reason, having become captives to the Assyrians and Medes, they spent long periods of time. Being there, and burdened by the yoke of slavery, they no longer sacrificed to the heifers; for how, or from where could they? But they were already in inescapable evils; nor did they call upon Baal himself, but rather they continued, bewailing their own misfortunes. For this reason the Master of all says, And I will take away her fornication from my presence, and her adultery from between her breasts. For she will go away captive, he says, and I will no longer see her sacrificing to Baal, nor offering whole burnt offerings to the golden heifers, almost baring her breasts to her own lovers out of excessive arrogance. But I will rather take pleasure in her being distressed and wretched, and having an incurable misfortune, in a land not her own, and having come under terrible and bitter masters. And I will do these things, having stripped her of my help, and leaving her disgraced, just as she was seen to be in the beginning, when, bearing the yoke of the Egyptians' oppression, she was continually bare of my grace and love, and of legal wisdom. Therefore the Synagogue came to a turning back, and as it were going backwards again into the state she was in, forfeiting through ignorance the honor and glory that was in between. This the Savior himself also taught us, saying, "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finds none. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it "seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and "dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes "worse than the first. So shall it be also to this "wicked generation." For while the children of Israel were still sojourning in Egypt, the wicked spirit dwelt in them as idolaters, but it was cast out in the meantime; for they were called to the knowledge of God through Moses. But since they became killers of the Lord, and guilty of countless crimes, their last state has become worse than the first, a herd of demons, not just one any longer, dwelling in them. For a soul that has cast off the protection of heavenly grace will be in every way and altogether vulnerable to Satan. And I will make her as a desert, and set her as a waterless land, and I will kill her with thirst, and I will have no mercy on her children, because they are children of fornication. Because their mother has committed fornication, she that bore them has brought shame. He says that the one who has committed fornication will be fruitless, dry and thorn-bearing, thirsty and waterless, deprived perhaps not of earthly waters, but of the richness from above and from heaven, that is, of the provision through the Spirit, which he distributes to every wise and good soul. For somewhere the blessed David sings to God, and says "But the sons of "men will hope in the shelter of your wings. They will be "inebriated with the richness of your house, and you will give them to drink of the torrent "of your delight. For with you is the fountain of "life." Worthy of such a venerable and abundant provision would be those who are genuine and have lived rightly, and have put nothing before the love for God; but he says that the one who has committed fornication will become both waterless and will indeed die of thirst. And this, I think, is what was said about her through the voice of other prophets; for one said, "Behold, the days "are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the land; "not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing "the word of the Lord; and they will run to and fro from east to west, "seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it;" and Jeremiah again, as from the person of God, "With pain and "scourge you shall be disciplined, O Jerusalem; lest my soul depart "from you, lest I make you a trackless land, which will not be inhabited." For to each of us, as I said, God sends into the mind words through the Spirit, which have the power to turn us to eternal life, or he often makes them drink through the voice of saints. He said, then, that the children must perish along with the mother who has committed fornication, and without pity. For what reason? Because they are children of fornication. And we do not say, surely, that a child is subject to the transgressions of the mother, for that which is through the voice of Ezekiel will apply to us wherever it may be: "Fathers shall not die "for children, nor shall children die for fathers; each "shall die for his own sin." But it should rather be understood that even if the person of a fornicating mother is conceived as a type of the Synagogue, nonetheless they themselves would again be those from her. But by saying that they are children of fornication, he showed clearly that they have become guilty of the crimes of spiritual fornication; and this, having been impious from their very swaddling clothes and womb, as it were, and having never at any time touched the works of piety, and having virtue completely unpracticed, and not having honored the path pleasing to God. So also the psalmist says, "Sinners were estranged "from the womb, they went astray from the belly, they spoke lies;" although every pious person, and one nourished in the works of righteousness, is able to cry out clearly to God, "On you I was cast from the womb; from my mother's belly "you are my God." And just as sons of light and sons of day would rightly be understood as those who live their lives splendidly and becomingly as in light and day; so also if some are called children of fornication, you will again understand those who live as in fornication and a most exceedingly strange life, whom he does not deem worthy to pity, Because their mother has committed fornication, she that bore them has brought shame. And she brought shame, clearly, on herself and on the children that sprang from her. For just as it is among boasts the righteous one for those tending to virtue; so every impious person is in shame and disgrace. For she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water and my garments and my linens and my oil and all things that are due to me. He says her lovers are the unclean demons, concerning whom the manner of fornication might also be said to be practiced. For to follow their opinions, and to fulfill what seems good to them, this, I think, is to be licentious in sins, and to live shamefully, and to be filled with the utmost worthlessness; and all but to be in labor with every form of uncleanness. For just as those who are in labor with the divine fear have cried out to God, "Through fear of you, O Lord, we have conceived in the womb and have been in travail and have brought forth, we have brought forth the spirit of your salvation upon the earth;" so also those who have given their mind to the desires of demons immediately have it full of all impiety, those who depart from the divine laws and are practitioners of all worthlessness. Therefore, wicked and sinful lovers of those who have inclined to impiety are the apostate demons, to whom if anyone should choose to pay attention as to gods, he will be terribly impious. For he ascribes to them the grace even of what he might have, and often honors them with praises, and offers thank-offerings, having abandoned the one God by nature, the one who supplies the means of life, who clothes us with grace as with garments, and overshadows both mind and heart with help from above, who fattens as with oil, and nourishes with the spiritual bread for a glorious and unending life, who nourishes us with the life-giving water for spiritual well-being. But he who has inclined to impiety, just as, of course, also the Synagogue that has committed fornication, said that one must follow her own lovers, and to them attribute the gifts, and to consider that from them he has received what is for food and clothing. For this, I think, is the meaning of For she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water and my garments and my linens and my oil, and all things that are due to me. But the wise and good, and those known to God and most intimate with him, would surely ascribe to him both the provision of heavenly goods, and the supply of earthly ones. For they will say, and very wisely, "Is there among the idols of the nations one who gives rain? And if the heaven will give its abundance, are you not the one? And we will wait for you, because you have made all these things." And they will cry out together with the divine David, "You visited the earth and watered it, you enriched it abundantly." Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build up her paths, and she shall not find her path; and she shall pursue her lovers and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them and shall not find them. For since she has planned, he says, evil things against herself, and has left out none of the things that are by nature unjust; for she said one must choose to follow her own lovers, that is, to give the inclination of the mind to the unholy opinions of those who have deceived her, so as to fulfill only their things; and since, in addition to this, of the things gifted to her by me, she attributes the thank-offerings to the demons who have helped in nothing, for this reason I will show her thought to be vain, and I will oppose her completely. For I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will wall her path, so that she might neither follow her own lovers, nor indeed find useful those who deceived her, even if she should perchance choose to pursue them, that is, to press on zealously in the honors and worship toward them. And he says the thorns are the difficult things that have happened to Israel, I mean the wars, the captivities, the famine, the dangers, the wearing away in slavery. For once they were under the Medes and Persians, they did not approach Baal at their leisure, nor the golden calves; but there was in a way a necessity, that, being deprived of their most cherished freedom from above, and seeking the things at home, but being poor, and by the pressed by the greeds of those in power, they are no longer able to fulfill their usual obligations; but rather to lament, and to be intoxicated with incurable misfortunes, now condemning those who led them astray, as they had no part in enjoying any of the things in their vain hopes. For they were not helped at all, either by Baal defending them; for what could the voiceless wood have done? or by the heifers contriving some kind of help for them; for it was gold, "the works of men's hands," according to what is written. Therefore the roads are blocked up; God not smoothing for the lovers of sin the path to wickedness, but usefully making it rough, and not permitting them to rush with ease towards what seems trivial; so that they might be unwillingly thwarted, and might turn to what is better, having learned from experience itself that for everyone to transgress is not without penalty. And she will say, I will go and return to my former husband, for it was better for me then than now. The discourse still preserves the manner appropriate to it; for it has been composed from beginning to end as about a harlot woman. For this reason, he says, that she will repent and will say, I will go to my former husband, for it was better for me then than now. Yet observe in this also the God of all chastising even in wrath, and helping in various ways, and by the inflictions of terrible things drawing back those who have gone astray, and transforming them for their benefit. For when, he says, she sees her own ways blocked up with thorns, then indeed she will change her mind, and what it was better to choose to do before the grievous things had invaded, she will seize, even if late, and after the experience; for then she will love the things from God, and having disregarded the intervening transgressions as from a sober mind, she will at last turn to willing what was in the beginning, and will marvel at the things from God, and she will perceive, as if having sobered up from drunkenness, that they differ by incomparable differences. Therefore, to be chastised is not without benefit, even if it happens to be grievous for the moment. And knowing this the prophets say, "Chasten us, O Lord." And the divine Paul also writes, "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?" And he shows what is sweet and beneficial from chastening, saying thus, "Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." And she did not know that I gave her the grain and the wine and the oil, and multiplied silver for her; but she made silver and gold things for Baal. That she would not choose, he says, to still follow her own lovers, no one would doubt. For she will achieve this, and very easily, since her road is being blocked up, and her paths are being walled up, and she is prospering in absolutely no way. But since, in addition to supposing that Baal is a god, she has also dedicated to him the thank-offerings for the things supplied to her by me, for this too I will devise what is fitting, so that she may learn who is the giver, and has authority over all things. For I have given the things that sustain life: grain and wine and oil and I have multiplied silver for her. But when it was necessary to give thanks for my bounties, these things have been made for the glory of Baal. which indeed is a clear proof of the utmost insensibility and ingratitude alike; and the matter is not unable to justly and strongly provoke God, even if he were thought to be the source and origin of all gentleness. It is therefore altogether terrible and not without punishment, to seek to attribute the bounty of God's gifts to those who destroy his glory, that is, to the unclean demons, which indeed some in the world do; and these are Greeks, and heretics. For the ones, though God gives wisdom and reason to man, grant the power of eloquence to the opinions of the demons; while the God-hated and unholy hordes of heretics by the discoveries of complex notions harm some, and subvert that of the more simple mind, "and they set snares to corrupt men," according to what is written. Therefore both have honored Baal; and they almost offer things concerning God as a splendid dedication to his glory, as if from intelligible wealth. And this, I think, is what is very well understood spiritually, I gave her the grain and the wine and the oil, and I multiplied silver for her; but she made silver and gold things for Baal. Therefore, one must dedicate to God the things that are his; for it is fitting to adorn with gold the giver and provider of every good to us through the things we have from him, whether it be a splendid word, or a mind well-suited to be able to understand true mysteries. Therefore I will return and take away my grain in its season and my wine in its time, and I will take away my garments and my linen cloths so as not to cover her shame; and now I will uncover her uncleanness before her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand. Do you see how he threatened the removal of the things that are known to bring gladness, and this usefully. For just as the roughening of her way with thorns led her to choose to think better things, and prepared her, as it were, though unwillingly, to say, I will return to my former husband, for "it was better for me then than now;" for she knew through experience what leads to benefit, and in what things it was better to be engaged; so if I take what is mine, he says, then she will certainly seek the provider, she will cease from having to offer thank-offerings to demons, and from thinking that they are truly gods, able to save those who have come under them. And he says that he will take the grain and the wine and the linen cloths in their season, perhaps when the fruits fail at times, and the ripe produce is late for them; so that even the labors of farming are endured in vain. But if someone should choose to understand that the Jews will be deprived of grain and wine at times, having fallen from the mystical blessing, he will understand well. And he says linen cloths, meaning as it were the clothing and the help from above, under which one will be decent. But if he is carried outside it, he will no longer be beautiful, but will continue to be very unseemly and, as it were, naked in the world. Thus then you will understand the removal of the linen cloths, so that her shame might not be covered. And he promises to reveal her uncleanness, and before her lovers, in what sort of manner? We were just saying that having fallen into thorns, that is, into the evils of war, and calamities most capable of terrifying, she will neglect even the supposed gods, not being at leisure to offer them sacrifices, nor indeed being able to perform the customary rites for their glory; but rather mocking them, as having no benefit from them, and somehow reproaching their utter powerlessness, "I will return," she says, "to my former husband, because it was better "for me then than now." When, therefore, he says, I strip her of my help, and she, having fallen into terrible things, neglects the honor and love for them, then she will appear unseemly even to them, having spurned them with a corrupt and faltering mind. For as far as it concerned what was pleasant and dear to them, she ought to be seen as more enduring, and not even in the most extreme calamities forgetting what seemed right to them. Therefore, as far as their will is concerned, Israel is unseemly even in their eyes, having chosen not to love to the end those whom he considered to be gods. And the blessed Elijah seems to me to say something like this: "How long will you limp "on both your hams? If the Lord is God, "go after him; but if Baal himself, go "after him;" which he says elsewhere, "Either Baal, Baal, or to God, God." And that no one would deliver those who have once fallen under divine wrath, nor could anyone set upright one cast down by God, he has shown by saying, no one shall deliver her out of my hand. And I will turn away all her gladness, her feasts and her new moons and the her sabbaths and all her feasts. For those who are altogether caught up in such harsh and inescapable evils, as to fall under a barbarian hand, and to serve enemies in the lot of the spear-won, how could they celebrate a feast? or what season of gladness could they have, who are weighed down by such bitter cares, and steeped in unbearable griefs? And yet, how is it not better to think this, that it would be more fitting for those brought into this state of misery, to cry out what is so well recited to the psalmist's lyre, "By the river of Babylon, there we sat down, and we wept when we remembered Zion." And having the celebration of feasts as something completely unsuitable, they nonetheless say, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" since the Babylonians, I suppose, did not permit them to perform their customary acts of worship, and the things dear to them at home and as was their custom. But perhaps someone will say this: If Israel had inclined to the worship of idols, how could they not also fall away from the feasts according to the law, both sabbaths and new moons? To this then we say, that they had indeed slipped from the love of God, and had worshipped Baal and the golden calves, but they did not entirely cast off the things given through Moses; but rather they continued going on both feet and limping, according to the prophet's voice, so as to choose to worship neither Baal completely, nor yet the God of all purely. Therefore, he has fallen away from feasts and festive gatherings and seasons of gladness and sabbaths, being permitted neither to fulfill for God the things in the law, nor yet to celebrate for Baal the customary festivals. And in another way it would be true and very likely, that it is necessary for those who depart from God, and who have despised the love for him, to be gloomy, and to continue outside of all that knows how to rejoice; "For there is no joy for the wicked," says the Lord;" for whom the worm has been kept for eternity; but for the gentle, and those having a pious and God-loving purpose, it would be fitting that they should rejoice over all good things; "For everlasting joy shall be upon their head," as it is written, "sorrow and pain and groaning have fled away;" to whom also the divine Paul writes, saying, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, "rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men." For just as it follows that sinners must be punished, so also for those to be enriched with good things from above, whose purpose it would be to live splendidly. And I will destroy her vine and her fig trees, of which she said, 'These are my wages which my lovers have given me'; and I will make them a testimony, and the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the earth shall devour them. This, again, is another way of saying, "I will take away my "grain in its season, and my wine in its time." For since Israel, assigning the fruitful seasons to the powers and ambitions of demons, and acting most foolishly, offered thank-offerings to them, and not rather to God, for this reason he says that I will destroy and ruin the things by which she has been more wickedly deceived, saying that she has received them as wages from her own lovers. And the saying is cleverly crafted as if about a wanton woman, whereas in truth for Israel, the reward and payment for the honor and worship of idols was the abundance of ripe fruits and encountering a fruitful land. And that they thought that the participation in all other gladness was available to them for this reason alone, one might know very easily by encountering the words of Jeremiah. For Jerusalem was captured, and some who had escaped the height of the war went down to the land of the Egyptians, and with them the prophet, according to a divine oracle. There, at any rate, he advised them, saying that they should cease from the pollutions of idolatry, and choose to return to God. Then a wretched and most foolish multitude of women again contradicted the prophet's words, and indeed said shamelessly, "The word which you spoke to us in the "name of the Lord, we will not listen to you, because we will surely "do every word that proceeds from our "mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out "libations to her, just as we and our fathers and "our kings and our rulers did in the cities of Judah "and outside Jerusalem; and we were filled with bread and became "prosperous, and we saw no evil. And when we stopped "burning incense to the queen of heaven, we all "were diminished, and perished by the sword and by anger." Do you understand then how he says he has obtained the necessities of life, and in addition to this prosperity, almost as a reward for having gone astray? Therefore, he says, "I will destroy what she said, 'These are my wages, which my lovers have given me,' and I will make them into a witness." For these things, having been taken away, will bear witness, as it were, against the wickedness of Israel, and will make their punishment more conspicuous, and will make the wrath manifest. And the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the earth will eat them. But this might be understood not just in one way; rather, what is signified will be taken in three ways. For either he means that the things in the fields will be food for beasts, since there is no longer an inhabitant of the land, because very many people have been driven from their homes and cities and fled unwillingly to Babylon and Media, and as many others have been consumed by the war, so that the land is now inhabited only by the beasts and creeping things of the Samaritans, or again, that the Babylonians, like certain beasts, will feast upon the fruitfulness of the land, while the inhabitants of the land are held within the walled cities, not daring to go beyond the gates, so to speak, even though famine is destroying them. But if it seems good to someone to understand spiritually, one might also go by another path. For the instruction through the law that brings one to Christ should indeed be compared to a vineyard and a fig tree. For it acts as a tutor to this end, according to the saying of the blessed Paul. And the vine might be understood as a symbol of gladness, and the fig tree of sweetness. And how could anyone doubt that for a God-loving soul the law of God is truly sweet and knows how to give great joy? Therefore Israel has of necessity remained without a share in the good things from above and spiritual things; but they have been given for participation to those who are like beasts and creeping things, I mean, those from the Gentiles, who before the advent of the Savior might have been supposed to differ little from beasts and venomous serpents, on account of the brutishness of their ways. However, they have not remained in these things, having chosen to follow Christ who says, "Learn from me, 'for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find 'rest for your souls.'" And I myself would add this to what has been said: that it is necessary for those who lead an accursed and God-hated life both to be deprived of every good thing and to be in the uttermost miseries. And I will punish her for the days of the Baals, in which she burned incense to them, and she put on her earrings and her necklaces and went after her lovers, but forgot me, says the Lord. He immediately brings forward again the cause of such a terrible, or rather, and exceedingly fitting, indignation against them. For since they have spent long periods of time in going astray, in equal extensions of time, he says, they will suffer the wrath. This, I think, is the meaning of 'I will punish her for the days of the Baals,' that is, of the idols. For, he says, the things from punishment and justice will by all means be equal in measure to the days of wandering in which she burned incense to Baal. For she has not ceased beautifying herself and pleasing her own lovers in many ways. And the adornment for souls that have chosen to worship idols is to fulfill those things which seem good to the unclean demons. For just as we say that a human soul is admirable, in which is seen the quality of excelling in virtues; so also the sin-loving soul must be supposed to be exceedingly beautiful to the hordes of demons, having chosen to think and to do everything that is both pleasant and dear to them. It might be compared such a soul would be like a woman of no good character, or even is fadedly gilded; and she almost bewitches the heart of her lovers with ornaments for the ears and neck. Therefore, every form of impurity makes the wicked respectable. That it is both customary and necessary for those whose aim is to look to those things to slip away from the very memory of God, he has shown by saying, *but she has forgotten me, says the Lord.* For since she became sick with clinging, he says, to demons, or rather with completely departing from the desire and zeal for the good, she also slipped from the very memory of God; and this is a clear proof of complete impiety. Therefore, behold, I will cause her to wander and I will set her in a desert. For since, he says, she has gone astray in many ways, I have sought the penalties of her apostasy quite rightly; "for I have taken vengeance on her for the days of the Baals," and I have inflicted a wrath equal to her transgressions; for this reason, I will hereafter turn to mercy, and I will transport her to what is better, and to being able to fulfill the things by which she might become beloved of God. What then, he says, will be the manner of healing? Behold, I will cause her to wander, not from what is necessary and useful for life to what is not so, but from the more shameful things and those by nature harmful to that which results in benefit. For just as a soul wanders from virtue to depravity, in the same way, I think, going backward as it were from the ways of depravity, it would seem almost to have wandered, having been turned aside from its own purpose, and no longer traversing the path set before it. And just as her ways were usefully blocked with thorns, that she might not overtake her lovers, so also now, running as it were headlong into ruin and destruction, by the mercy of God she seems to be made to wander, being changed towards the desire of virtue, and receiving the light of the true knowledge of God into her mind and heart, and no longer finding, as I said, her former path. But it must be known that the phrase "I will cause her to wander" is spoken differently by the other interpreters; however, it ends up with one and the same meaning. For some have rendered it, "That behold, I will lead her away;" others, "That I will deceive her," signifying, as I said, in another way this very thing, I mean "I will cause her to wander," understood beneficially. And being an accessible and, as it were, a well-watered land for the hordes of demons, he promises to set her as a desert, teaching that he will render her hard and untrodden and waterless to their wills, so that they, finding no longer any place of rest, both refuse and depart. So also our Lord Jesus Christ says that the unclean spirit that has gone out of a man passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. For just as a waterless place is not habitable for men, so also to unclean spirits, the soul beloved of God and holy might reasonably be thought a wicked and hateful and, as it were, an impassable and waterless land, not tolerating to think or do the things that are pleasing to them. Therefore, the wandering spoken of here is a manner of assistance, and indeed also the being set as a desert land, according to the arguments just stated by us. And I will speak to her heart, and I will give her her possessions from there. In these words, the Word clearly promises us salvation through Christ, and mentions the times of His sojourn, in which we say was fulfilled, "In those days, and in that time, I will put my laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will write them." For so also the most wise Paul writes to those who had been enriched with such a truly brilliant and noteworthy grace, saying, "You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all men, showing that you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God." For we who have believed have been taught by God; and indeed the divine John has addressed, saying "And you have an anointing "from the Holy One, and you have no need that anyone "should teach you; but as his Spirit teaches you about "all things." Therefore, having received the Spirit, and henceforth having Christ himself dwelling within our hearts, the guide of things necessary, we are at once enriched with the form of every virtue, and the abundant and inalienable possession of spiritual gifts. And indeed, Paul confirms us in this, writing: "That which eye has not seen, "and ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man, "what God has prepared for those who love him." Therefore he promises to speak to her heart; for the Synagogue of the Jews will be called to knowledge, receiving the divine laws engraved on her mind through the Spirit, just as the church from the Gentiles did; and her possessions will be from there, instead of from here, that is, of this thing. For indeed from God speaking in us and sounding through the Spirit whatsoever things are necessary for life and the knowledge of God conceived in Christ, through whom and in whom we have seen the Father, we have been enriched, as I said, with the unfading hope, the glory, the boasts of adoption, the grace, and reigning together with Christ himself; these are the possessions of the saints; this is the heavenly wealth. For they endure thinking nothing of earthly things; but they have hated the world and the things in it. And the valley of Achor to open her understanding. "I will give" follows the word again. For "I will give," he says, "her possessions from there; and likewise I will give the valley of Achor to open her understanding." And what it wishes to signify is this: we who have believed, being eager to make what happened to the ancients a certain pattern of things to be done, we on the one hand avoid offending God as a cause of destruction; and on the other hand we rather seek and have made it our care to accomplish what is pleasing to him. For the most wise Paul also urges us to this, saying thus: "Now these things "happened to them as a type; and they were written for our instruction, "upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Therefore, it is a way of instruction into virtue, to think it necessary to observe the things that happened to the ancients. That, therefore, the disobedient and unruly, and those who despise the divine commandments, will fall into a terrible and inescapable judgment, when Christ judges, could be shown, and very easily, as in the types, the things done concerning Achar at that time, who, having disregarded the divine command and stolen from the devoted thing, was punished with his whole household, Joshua the son of Nun having inflicted the ultimate penalty on him, who fulfills the image of Christ. For he was general after Moses, and he himself brought the sons of Israel across the Jordan, and he himself gave them the land of promise as an inheritance. The things written about Achar are as follows. For when he was caught having stolen, and confessed the sin, "And Joshua," it says, "took "Achar the son of Zarah and brought him to the valley "of Achor, and his sons and his daughters and "his calves and his donkeys and his sheep "and his tent and all his belongings, "and all the people with him, and they brought them up "to Emekachor. And Joshua said to Achar, ‘Why have you "destroyed us? May the Lord destroy you, even as today.’ "And all Israel stoned him with stones, and they raised "over him a great heap of stones." Achor, then, is interpreted as troubling; and with the addition of "Emek," it is again understood as valley of troubling; there the sons of Israel killed Achar as one hated by God and a lover of wealth, adding to him also all his things; for it is written that "The wicked "shall be utterly destroyed from the earth." Thus it will also be in the last times of the age, when Christ comes down to us from above and from heaven, to render to each according to his works. For those who have chosen to disobey the divine commandments, and have loved the things in the world more, having brought Hades down as into a deep ravine, he will miserably destroy the wicked. Therefore, "I will give," he says, "the valley Achor or Emekachor, to open her understanding. For it will be, he says, one of the most useful things for her to become sober and to finally open the eye of her mind from its ancient hardening, the things done from time to time in the valley of Emekachor; he called the place the valley of perversion, for there not a few of those from Israel fell, when those from Gai pursued them, and a great perversion happened to occur, when Jesus thought that Israel had slipped away from God’s care and help. The things done, therefore, he says, in the ravine of perversion against the one who dared to transgress the divine commandment will open her understanding so that she may know clearly what sort of end will result for those who wish to despise the undertaking. But observe how the valley, Achor, is not given to open her understanding until he has spoken to her heart. For the peoples of the Jews would not understand the divine commandments, nor would they perceive in types the mystery of Christ, unless indeed, like us who have already believed, they should be enriched with the participation of the Holy Spirit, and be shown to have partaken of the illumination from above. And the blessed Paul writing about those of the blood of Israel will convince us of this: "For to this very day the same veil remains at the "reading of the old covenant, not being unveiled, "because it is taken away in Christ. But to this day, "whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their "heart. But whenever one turns to the Lord, "the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." First, therefore, he promises to speak to her heart, inscribing on them the divine laws and the instruction from above of the Holy Spirit; then thus she will understand also the things done typically and historically in the valley of Emekachor, which are not unable to open her understanding and finally deliver her from her ancient hardening. "For a hardening "in part has happened to Israel," as the wise Paul also writes. And she will be humbled there according to the days of her infancy and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt. When I speak to her mind and heart, he says, and give the valley of Achor to open her understanding, there, that is, at that time, she will be humbled, not being subjected to or sinking under any of the things that are accustomed to cause pain, but rather finally abandoning her disobedient and stubborn manner, which is liable to the charges of arrogance; for the disobedient one is arrogant, and as it were steep and unbridled, and has practiced holding in no account the reverence for fulfilling the law; but the one who is inclined toward obedience is very humble, and as it were approachable, and greatly beloved by God. And indeed, he said somewhere through one of the holy prophets, "And upon whom shall I look but upon "the humble and quiet one, who trembles at my words?" When, therefore, I speak, he says, to her heart, then indeed, then she herself will be humbled, just as in the beginning, when Moses was calling, and the merciful God had commanded them to depart from the land of the Egyptians, they were very eager to do this, and fled from the land of their oppressors. And when he was establishing the laws in Horeb, having gathered with Moses on Mount Sinai, they promised, saying, "All that the Lord our God has said to us, we will do "and we will hear." Therefore she will be humble and obedient, just as in the beginning, when having received her birth into the knowledge of God through the law, she gladly accepted what was pleasing to God. The days of infancy, therefore, he says, is the rebirth into the knowledge of God through the law; wherefore he also said, "Israel is my firstborn son." And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, she shall call me, My husband, and she shall no longer call me Baalim. And I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, and their names shall no longer be remembered. Day, therefore, in these things, the one of the he calls the time of the visitation of our Savior. For the time of the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten will be called a day, properly and truly, during which the mist in the world is dispelled, and the darkness has vanished; and brilliant rays, as it were, rise up in the mind for those who have believed, and the sun of righteousness has shone, sending the light of true knowledge of God to those who know how to open the eye of their understanding. At that time, therefore, he says, having been called to the knowledge of the God who truly is, she will cease from that ancient and hateful levity; and she will no longer be easily carried away to apostasy. From what source? Rather, having stepped correctly and soundly, she will have a mind unshakable in piety, so as not even, so to speak, to bring the names of the idols into use in speech. For she will call me, he says, My husband, and will no longer call me Baalim, that is, she will cease from being wanton, and she will refuse to fornicate any longer, but will greatly value being legitimate, and will confess the relationship, that is, clearly, the spiritual one. And she will in no way call upon the Baalim, thinking that things made of stone are gods, and things skillfully forged by certain people into a human form. Therefore, he says, she will call me My husband. For like a prudent and most gentle woman she will make her turning to me, and she will henceforth love no other, and will no longer call upon the Baalim. And in another way, if it seems so to anyone, what was said may be understood. For Baalim is admittedly signified by the idols. But it was a custom for Hebrew women to call their own husbands by the names of the falsely-named gods, and this was an extraordinary way of honoring them. And they say that Ninus the Babylonian began such a practice, who renamed his own father Belus, after the idol among them, I mean Bel. That she will cease, therefore, even from such a shameful custom, he has indicated by saying, She will call me My husband, and will no longer call me Baalim. For if she should choose, he says, to name me as husband, she will by all means say, My husband, and will no longer call me with the names of idols, honoring me. For this reason, he says, I will also take away the names of the Baalim from her mouth, and their names shall be remembered no more. And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the air and with the creeping things of the earth; and I will break the bow and the sword and the war from the earth. In the passages already read before, he said, "And I will destroy "her vine and her fig trees, of which she said, These are my wages "that my lovers have given me;" and he added to these that "the beasts of the field and the "birds of the air and the creeping things of the earth will devour them." And interpreting the saying, we said that beasts and birds and creeping things were obliquely indicated as the enemies, who were plundering the land of the Jews, Persians and Medes and Babylonians, and the motley crowd of other enemies, who would be thought to differ little from wild beasts, on account of their bloodthirsty manner, and indeed birds on account of the swiftness of their running; and creeping things, because they are terrible and exceedingly wicked and sharp in evil. These men, when Israel was shut up in the cities of Samaria, devoured everything in the fields, leaving nothing of the outlying places unworked. But when, he says, I cast out the names of their idols from the land, then I will also make a covenant of peace for them with every cruel and barbarian race. For the things from enemies will then be inactive, and they will remain inexperienced of war and terrors. For I will break the bow and the sword, which indeed we will find has been brought to a conclusion historically. For when the most illustrious generals of the Romans obtained rule over all, and made the world under heaven subject to their hand, with God providentially assigning glory to them, the Persians were concerned only for their own rule, and the incursions of the other barbarians against lands and cities ceased. and he remembers clearly of such a matter the blessed Isaiah says "And they shall beat their swords "into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and nation shall not "lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn "war any more." For as though already under one yoke, they turned rather to beneficial industry and refashioned the instruments of war into things useful for agriculture. There will be peace, therefore, he says, and the terrible fears of old will cease, as God calms them, and gladdens those who love him with the good things that come from peace. But I think it will be necessary to add that as well. For formerly when we continued in error, and were called children of wrath, just as certain evil beasts and flesh-eating birds and indeed the most grievous dragons, the evil and opposing powers, were destroying us. But when in Christ we came to know God by nature, and through faith washed away the accusations of the ancient deceit, then we were saved, and received authority "to tread on serpents "and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy," then we also stepped upon the asp and the basilisk, and we have trodden upon the lion and the dragon, with Christ defending us, and with unconquerable power fortifying his own, and sending his own peace into our mind. "For my peace," he says, "I give to you; my peace I leave with you." And Paul also writes, "And the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, "will guard your hearts and your minds." And I will make you dwell in hope, and I will betroth you to myself forever. Not only, he says, will I deliver from the terrors of the enemy, but I will add to this also that the remainder of hope for good things be in a good state, so as to have a secure and established and unshakable cheerfulness. For I will betroth you to myself, and this forever. And what is this? For in a way he was betrothed to ancient Israel, that is, the Synagogue of the Jews, and called it to a relationship, I mean through the law, with Moses ministering and angels mediating. But the manner of the betrothal was not perpetual, nor indeed forever, far from it; for the types were not going to prevail forever, nor the things "imposed until the time of reformation;" but at the time of reformation, that is, of the coming of our Savior, another manner of betrothal has been revealed, perpetual and unshakable, and much more splendid than the first, and of the shadow in better things. For the God of all bestowed as a bridal gift to the bride the putting away of carnal slavery, and through shadow and types called her to spiritual cleansing. However, he set a time for the betrothal; for the first was not blameless, according to the voice of Paul, nor was it ageless and far from abolition. For this reason also a place was sought for a second, that is, for the new, I mean the gift and grace through Christ, bringing us not a temporary, nor a carnal freedom. For it enrolls among the children of God, and lavishes "the pledge of the Spirit," and establishes perpetual laws. And indeed the divine David somewhere said to him, "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your word is truth;" openly, I think, declaring that neither do the things in the law remain forever, since the shadow will be transformed into truth, nor indeed can one behold the beauty of the truth in the letters of the law; for, as I said, the law was a shadow and a type. Therefore he betroths her, having set aside the first and original marriage. For the law is not able to unite to God perfectly and purely; but we approach him through the Son, and through his ordinances, that is, those of the gospel, which also have a spiritual union or connection; for we are united to God in the Spirit, and we are enriched with the participation of his divine nature. But it is likely that the phrase "I will betroth you to myself" elegantly suggests something else to us; for you will understand it thus again. For either he says "to myself" instead of "through myself," not, as in the past, with angels mediating, nor indeed with any minister being employed for this, according to the of the in the manner of Moses. "For not an "ambassador, not an angel, according to what is written, but the Lord himself," the Word from God the Father who became man according to us, presented the church to himself, and "created the two "peoples into one new man, making peace, and "reconciling them both in one spirit to "the Father," according to the voice of the blessed Paul. Or, if you wish, you may understand what was said in another way. For, as I said, he once betrothed the Synagogue of the Jews in Egypt; but in a certain way to another rather than to himself, I mean to the divine Moses, to whom he said somewhere, "Go, go down quickly from here; for your people, "whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have transgressed." Do you hear how he has assigned to Moses the betrothed, that is, the people, not yet deeming them worthy of intimacy with himself; for the law, that is, Moses, as I said, was not sufficient to join them purely and completely to God; for it was truly reserved as the best and most God-fitting of achievements for the mediator between God and men, that is, Christ, through whom and in whom we are united to God. For "he is our peace," according to the scriptures, who removed the sin lying in between, and joined us, clean and washed and sanctified in the spirit, to himself, and through himself to God the Father. And I will betroth you to myself in righteousness and in judgment and in mercy and in compassion, and I will betroth you to myself in faith, and you shall know the Lord. He explains clearly what the manner of the union would be, and through what things the mystery of the economy would proceed. For it will be, he says, in righteousness and in judgment, and moreover also in mercy and in compassion. What, then, is righteousness, and what is judgment, and indeed also mercy, it is necessary, as it seems, to say. Therefore we wretches were taken advantage of, with satan snatching us like a wild beast, and carrying us off into error, and casting us, as he pleased, into the pits of sin, as we were unable to defend ourselves at all. For the beast is truly most difficult and very violent and a murderer of men. And since human affairs were brought down to this misery, the blessed prophets made frequent prayers to him who is able to help, and fashioning for themselves, as it were, the common mask of humanity, they called upon the Son to come from heaven as a helper and an assistant. For example, the divine David said, "Arise, "O God, judge the earth;" and again, "O God, in your "name save me, and in your power you will judge "me." God therefore judged in righteousness, and saved the wronged, but drove away the blood-guilty and wicked satan, and repelled his advantage over us, and brought down the arrogant and hard to encounter rule of demons. And he himself clarified this mystery for us through himself, saying, when he was about to endure the cross for the life of all, "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." And we certainly do not say that he said that the judgment of this world would happen by him at the time of his sojourn. For as he himself said again, "God did not send the Son into the world to judge "the world, but that the world might be saved through him." But he says that judgment is, as it were, the right and blameless proceeding. For, as I said, he has judged rightly and in a God-fitting manner for both us and him. And he has saved us, by drawing us to himself; but he has cast out from his tyranny over us the one who took advantage of us and destroyed us in various ways. We have been saved, then, by God having mercy on us and pitying us. For we have been justified, "not by works of "righteousness which we have done, but according to his great "mercy," as it is written; and we have been called to spiritual intimacy through faith; and being so called, we have known the God who is God by nature. For this reason, he says, and I will betroth you to myself in faith, and you shall know the Lord. Therefore faith has entered beforehand, And thus we have been enriched also in the knowing of Christ. And this, I think, is what was said to some: "For if you do not believe, you will not understand." And that brilliantly understanding the mystery of Christ provides participation in eternal life for those worthy to choose it, the Son Himself will confirm, saying to the Father and God in heaven, "And this is "eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, "and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." And it will be in that day, says the Lord, I will answer the heaven, and the heaven will answer the earth, and the earth will answer the grain and the wine and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel. So then, in these things he again calls "day" the time fitting for the calling; for this is the custom of the divinely inspired scripture. Therefore, that Israel itself, at the proper times, will be in participation and abundance of every good thing, and of the gifts from above and from God, made glorious by faith in Christ, he indicates enigmatically. For he says there will be an abundance of rains, by His assent; for this, I think, is "I will answer the heaven"; and indeed also on the earth below, that the most useful and necessary fruits will be given forth for us. For without God and the will from above, neither would the heaven itself ever rain upon those on the earth, nor would the earth bring forth its own fruit at the proper times. And knowing this, the prophet Jeremiah entreated, saying, "Is there among the idols "of the nations one who brings rain? And will the heaven give its "abundance? Are you not the God? And we will wait for you, for you "have made all these things." For with the Creator assenting, as I said, and stretching out His hand to those on the earth, the heaven will be the giver of rain, and the earth the mother and nurse of necessary fruits. Therefore, he says, "I will answer the heaven," instead of, I will assent to send down rains upon those on the earth; and when this has happened, it too will answer the grain and the wine and the oil, that is, it will give forth abundant fruit to its inhabitants, with nothing lacking of what is necessary and life-giving. But these things historically; but from the corporeal things, it is necessary to pass over to the spiritual, as from a most clear image. For as long as Israel was still unruly and disobedient and fighting against God, the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, "the "beloved new plant," God commanded the clouds not to rain upon it. And by clouds we must understand the holy and rational powers, those from above and from the heavens, through which the word of comfort would come to us, clearly from God. For they are ministering spirits, according to the voice of the blessed Paul, running up and down, and "sent forth for service, for the sake of those "who are to inherit salvation." But since the time of judgment has passed, the one who was formerly a lord-killer has been saved through faith, was then received in righteousness and in judgment and in mercy and compassions, God, who richly distributes all things to all, sent down to him the blessings from above. For He commanded the clouds to send down the rain, I mean the comfort for the mind and heart. Except that the very nature of angels has nothing of its own, but is rich in all things from God, He taught by saying, "I will answer the heaven," that is, I will make the heaven full of things from me, that is, those who are in heaven, clearly the rational and holy powers, so that they too may be able to comfort those who have received mercy, and then certainly the earth will answer the grain and the wine and the oil; instead of, those on the earth will bear the fruit of hope for life and gladness and cheerfulness. And grain is a type of life, wine of gladness, and oil of cheerfulness and well-being; for indeed there is in those who have believed a good hope, both firm and established. And one departs from wickedness, and longs for every good thing, and bears his neck under the yokes of the Savior, being nourished by a good and indubitable and truly certain hope of the life to come, and that he may rejoice mixed with the other saints, and have a most cheerful heart. he said For somewhere concerning the saints the prophet Isaiah says that "And "everlasting joy shall be upon their head; for upon their head "shall be praise and exultation, and joy shall overtake "them, pain and grief and groaning have fled away." Therefore, in hope of life and cheerfulness, and indeed of joy, the earth will certainly obey the consolations from above, that is, the spiritual rains; that is, the people who inhabit the earth. But that the fruit of the life of the saints will also be for the glory of Christ; "For one died for all, that those who live "might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died "and was raised;" he has made clear by saying, and these things will hearken to Jezreel; for to him, as I said, we shall bear fruit, owing our own life to him. And it has been said many times, that Jezreel is interpreted as "seed of God," and this is the Son, as begotten of God the Father by nature and ineffably, even if the matter is spoken of in a bodily way. And I will sow her for myself on the earth, and I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy, and I will say to that which was not my people, 'You are my people,' and he shall say, 'You are the Lord my God.' The "for myself" you will again understand in two ways. For I will make, he says, as it were, both flourishing and fruitful; clearly the Synagogue of the Jews, no longer fulfilling the law against my will, nor indeed choosing to cling tightly to the types; but choosing to accomplish that which is especially dear and pleasing to God, and is considered to be right. Therefore, I will sow for myself; for she will receive my seed "that we might understand the evangelical decrees, and no longer that through Moses, as also in the beginning; for of old she was cultivated by the types. Or rather, the "for myself" you may also understand in another way. For I myself will be the worker, he says, for her care, and as a certain rich and well-ploughed land, not through another but by myself will I sow. For God the Father has spoken to us in the Son; although in former times He spoke through the holy prophets "in many portions and in many ways." And to the crops in a field the Savior himself also likens the countless multitude of those who have believed. And so He said to the holy apostles, "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then "comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your "eyes, and see the fields, that they are white "for harvest already; and he who reaps is receiving wages, and "gathering fruit for eternal life;" and again in other places; "The "harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the "Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his "harvest." Therefore, when our Savior Jesus Christ sent down for us the spiritual rain, we became a "delightful land," according to the voice of the prophet. For he sowed us for himself, and Israel has been called "God's field." For he will have mercy on her who had not received mercy, and he will call him who was once Not-a-people, a people. And he himself, ceasing from the ancient error, will recognize the true God, and will say, 'You are my God,' although formerly crying out from immeasurable madness, "We know that God has spoken to Moses; "but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." Therefore, not knowing the Son, they did not know the Father either; and the Savior himself will testify, saying, "If you knew me, you would "have known my Father also." But since they have been called to knowledge, and have confessed the Son, they have therefore seen the Father through him and in him. For it is true, that as the wise John says, "He who denies the Son, does not have the Father "either; but he who confesses the Son, confesses the Father "also." And the Lord said to me, Go yet and love a woman who loves evil things and is an adulteress, just as God loves the sons of Israel, and they look to other gods and love raisin-cakes. Fitting. For I think it necessary to investigate such things and to examine them in detail. For after the first one, the lewd and driven one, another woman is introduced to the prophet, being liable to the charges of adultery. And what is the reason? For the multitude of the Jews, the one before the coming of our Savior, since indeed also more unguardedly and very readily going towards error, and worshipping the golden heifers, and bowing down and sacrificing to Baal, that is, to Baal-peor, might be compared to a harlot, and very fittingly, as if exposed to every wicked and unclean spirit, wanting to fulfill its own pleasures; for they also accepted the objects of worship of the neighboring and surrounding nations, according to what seemed good to each, impiously and without examination. But she, for readily going towards apostasy, was justly punished, being sent into captivity and falling under the feet of her enemies; yet God made it clear to the prophet, that in the time of the day of Jezreel, which is truly great, they will come up out of the land, that is, they will flee from the country of the foreigners. And this was to suggest again in a riddling way, that they will cease to be strangers and sojourners, or rather, captives of the spear, and dwelling in a foreign land not freely. For the Savior proclaimed "release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind," according to the prophet's voice. And that they will also be received through faith in mercy and compassion, and will be called the people of God, and indeed also 'having obtained mercy,' he has clearly signified. For after the advent of the Savior, and the passion on the cross, and the resurrection from the dead, the remnant has been saved; for no small number of those from Israel have believed; but again the disobedient multitude has remained, which must be compared to an adulteress, because of not choosing the bridegroom from heaven, and rejecting the one who courted her in faith, but giving up her mind as to certain adulterers, to the scribes and Pharisees. "For they were teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Just as, therefore, the prophet was with the harlot, as a type of God enduring the fornication of Israel, and punishing moderately for their conversion, and bringing them back to knowledge; in the same way, I think, through the preceding things the mystery is elegantly fashioned for us again. For as a type of God the prophet takes the adulteress who loves wicked things; and he cherishes her, as it were, fattening her well with promises and good hopes, not allowing her to fall into despair. For that the whole mystery is in these things, God showed by speaking thus to the prophet: Love the adulteress who loves wicked things, just as God loves the sons of Israel; and they look to other gods, and love cakes with raisins. For although, he says, they choose to disobey, and assign their love to falsely-named gods, and wish to fulfill for them things that are pleasing, from his innate goodness God loves them, "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." And somehow the Word of God gives us to understand, that even at the time of his advent there were perhaps many among the Jews still wavering, and neither adhering purely to the commandments through Moses, nor indeed being entirely free from the filth of error, but rather also looking to other gods, to whom they also brought cakes with raisins, perhaps sacrificial cakes, and honey-cakes. For they offered such cakes as a sacrifice to demons, and experience is a witness. So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a skin of wine. And I said to her, "You will stay with me for many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you be for another man, so I will also be for you." The prophet therefore hires the woman, and makes her sit at home, and commands her to abstain from her customary baseness, and to cease from the pollutions of adultery; and he promises, if she chooses to be chaste and is chosen to look to him alone, that he himself also will be for her, that is, he will make her his own in marriage, and will be one with her, "For the two," he says, "shall become one flesh." And what is the riddle? The multitude of the Jews, the disobedient and deicidal, the adulterous and profane, after Christ ascended into the heavens, God makes to sit, without a husband, indeed; unless she should still commit fornication, that is, unless would walk again towards the necessity of choosing to honor foreign gods, he promises to join to himself in due time, the multitude of the Gentiles having evidently been judged beforehand. For those from Israel have been placed at the back, that is, as a following and behind and in the last things. But observe how no marital union at all took place for the prophet with the adulterous and wicked woman, but a promise of the matter after many days, if she would not again belong to another man, that is, if she would abstain from the crimes and defilements of spiritual fornication. For, as I said, in due time the bridegroom from heaven will receive the adulterous multitude, not having worshipped idols. For indeed after the Savior's cross, Israel is attached only to the laws through Moses, very unsoundly, however, and negligently, yet it has not turned aside to choose to honor the false worship of demons. But what is the way of life for the one who has committed adultery and is awaiting in due time the fellowship of the prophet? or what were her wages? fifteen [shekels] of silver, he says, and a homer of barley and a nebel of wine. For Israel has continued through the time between its last calling, being fed with a worthless word, and paying attention to mythical and truly old-womanish teachings of their own teachers; and its life has become beast-like, and its mind in drunkenness and darkness. And the silver would be a very clear type of a teaching word, according to what was said to them through the voice of Isaiah, "Your silver is worthless," and according to the voice of the Savior justly rebuking the wicked and lazy servant and saying, "You ought to have deposited my silver with the bankers." Therefore you will take the silver to mean the word of the teachers. But if someone should choose to refer it also to the law itself through Moses, he will say it is fifteen, either because the law is at once both perfect and imperfect; and perfect, if it is understood spiritually; for it speaks to us the mystery of Christ; but imperfect, on the other hand, if the mind of those being instructed goes only as far as the letter. for in a way the denseness of the history is in a half-knowledge. But the number ten is a symbol of perfection, being all-perfect, according to, " Be over ten cities," and, "To whom he gave ten talents;" but of that which is not so, five would be understood; for, as I said, it is half of ten. Or also in another way you will approach the things that have been said. The number fifteen is comprehensive of the seven, and indeed also of the eight. and in a way it is always signified in the God-inspired scripture, through the seven, the whole time of the law up to the holy prophets, because of the sabbath-rest on the seventh day, and through the eight, again, that of the new covenant, according to which is the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, which happened on the eighth day. And I think this is what is shown by the enigmatic saying, "Give a portion to the seven, and also to the eight," that is, let them have a place with you, both the law and the prophets after it, honoring the sabbath-rest on the seventh day; and let the eight also have a place, that is, the Apostles and Evangelists after the resurrection day of the Savior. and with this agrees what is indirectly indicated through the voice of a prophet, "And there will be raised up against him seven shepherds, and eight bites of men." For when our Savior Christ shone upon us, both the legal and prophetic proclamations and the apostolic instruction rose up in a way against Satan who had paralyzed us. For indeed through these things he was in a way bitten down and has been plundered. and according to the voice of the Savior his goods were plundered, as those who were once deceived have departed from slavery under him, and have come to know the one who is by nature and truly God and Lord of all. Therefore "seven shepherds and eight bites of men" rose up against him, that is, those before the advent, and those after the eighth day, through legal and new writings calling the deceived to salvation. So Israel has continued, as I said, with the worthless voices of its own teachers, that is with the bare being nourished by the letter of the law, although it also contains the things of the eighth day, that is, the mysteries of Christ. But that his life is also like a beast's, and has inclined only to fleshly things, the barley being given to the adulteress for food would indicate very well. For the food is fit for beasts, and the wine would be a sign of drunkenness. And it was said to them, "Hearing you will hear, and you will not understand; and seeing you will see, and you will not perceive." These are the afflictions of the drunk, and the crimes of the debauched, to neither see while seeing, nor be able to understand anything while hearing; but to have a mind that is, as it were, thickened, and filled with hardness. For the sons of Israel shall sit for many days, with no king and no ruler, with no sacrifice and no altar, nor priesthood nor manifestations. And after these things the sons of Israel will return and will seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will be amazed at the Lord and at his good things in the last of days. Clear then and having it without dispute, as at least in these things, is the declaration that the adulteress was taken, and to remain at home for many days, until the prophet should be with her; for it is written thus. And what was done was a prefiguration of what was to happen in due time to the adulterous Synagogue of the Jews. For since our Lord Jesus Christ willingly endured the cross for the salvation of all, when those from Israel had acted insolently toward him, then indeed, when their land was ravaged, they were scattered as if to every wind; and to this day they are inactive regarding the law, since the temple in Jerusalem was burned, and the altar taken away, and sacrifice abolished, and the priesthood idle, and the manifestations not seen. For with no high priest sacredly attired according to the law, how was it still possible to see the manifestations? And what might the manifestations be considered? Perhaps the eager learner knows, but it is not unprofitable to recall it briefly. When the God of all commanded the things for the adornment of the high priest to be made, then he said to the sacred Moses: "And you shall make a breastplate of judgment, a work of a weaver, a span in "length, and a span in width; it shall be a square." Then he commanded twelve stones, named for the tribes, to be skillfully and artfully woven into the work; and indeed two others among the rest, whose names were the manifestation and the truth. Then this breastplate of judgment hung from the ephod by golden chains; and it was laid upon the breast of the high priest, and the manifestation and the truth were a type of Emmanuel. For all the things that he heard from the Father, he announced to us. and he has manifested the will of the one who begot him; and he has made clear the way of salvation. That he is also the truth, how could anyone doubt, when he himself says clearly, "I am the truth?" For this reason it also hung upon the very heart of the high priest, the type all but shouting and openly crying out that the priestly race will have the Savior and Redeemer of all, the truth and the manifestation, in mind and heart. that is, that there is every necessity for the ministers to always be mindful of Christ, and to bear him dwelling within through the Spirit; and his house is a pure mind, and a cleansed heart. So then, he says, the sons of Israel will sit for many days with no king and no ruler, that is, without a king and without a governor. For neither will those from the tribe of Judah reign as kings, nor indeed will the rulers who preside according to the law, that is, the priests. But neither, he says, will there be an altar or a sacrifice, a priesthood and manifestations. Yet not in these things forever, nor will Israel be utterly sent away; for it will be called in due time, and it will return through faith, and it will know the God of all, and with him David, that is, Christ according to the flesh from the seed of David, the king and Lord of all. Then indeed they will be astonished at the greatness of the honor, and the immeasurable grace of his gentleness. they will partake for of the hope prepared for the saints, and mixed with the flocks of the faithful, they will be pastured in a good pasture and in a rich place. For the time of this so brilliant and admirable grace is for them the last and in the last times, and in Christ, through whom and with whom to God the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever, Amen.