Fragmenta in Psalmos

And it is a great but true yoke, since a double weight is an abomination to the Lord. But one must say whether these things are to be desired also in reference to what is spoken to those who have dealings and fellowship; for in every matter righteousness is desirable. For those who run together into vanity are made vain for the same thing, always having their concern about vain agreement and zeal. But here it must be noted: the phrase "sons of men" signifies periphrastically those who die as men, in that they are no longer gods and sons of the Most High, according to which meaning it is written: "For where there is strife and jealousy among you, are you not carnal and walking according to man?" For it is not possible to serve God and mammon, nor indeed to hope for injustice and God. If the wealth of one who does not plunder and does not do injustice seems to flow away and diminish, one must not add to the heart, lest he seem to be grieved when his money diminishes. Since the name of injustice signifies sometimes the inequality in dealings and fellowship, as in "But you do injustice and defraud, and that to brothers," and sometimes all practical evil, according to which it is said, "I hated and abhorred injustice," one must consider according to which meaning of the word it is now presented. And one will say that the former is indicated because of its being joined with plunder and flowing wealth, while another will say the latter, according as it is said, "But he who loves injustice." For since this is a species in general, the plundering of money is also a part of it. God, being incorporeal, or rather existing beyond all created and intelligible substance, has nothing intertwined with himself.

He who speaks "once," that is, in a single form and without composition, speaks no longer with me hearing in that way. For what was spoken once, being two in respect of demonstration, I heard; for the voice of these things is demonstrative. What he says is therefore of this sort: when he speaks with pure thought and uncompounded voice, I hear as though the things spoken were two, the so-called "sayable" (lekton) standing alongside my imagination, which is ineffable to thought, while he speaks with uncompounded voice. And consider whether the apostle wishes to convey this when he writes that he heard "unspeakable words," these being unspeakable because what he heard does not consist of syllables and sounds, but are also words because they have a meaning that possesses the truth. For where the truth is, there is a proposition. And a proposition must be composed of a noun and a verb. But one must also speak in another way: we use vocal organs, and we are unable to say many things at once. When God therefore speaks once and at once, we hear in a twofold manner. Consider whether it is also possible to speak of a third. When God gives a command once concerning sacrifice—come, let us hear the commandment both sensibly and spiritually, just as we understand circumcision, spoken once by God, in a twofold sense: the one bodily, the other spiritual. Whether the word presents God the Father and the Lord the Son also in these things, or calls the same one both God and Lord—examine now; for in either way what is contemplated is both pious and true. But one must inquire how he renders to each according to his works. For if the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed, then he who has done blameworthy things is not punished worthily of what he has done.

For if you should mark iniquities, Lord, Lord, who shall stand? How must this be understood in respect of equality? It must be considered whether it is not according to quantity but according to quality, and quantity is made clear from the word—that the greater things beyond the worth of what has been done are given praiseworthily to the righteous, and that punishment is diminished. For equality is not according to corrective justice, but according to distributive justice, the equal and the unequal. This is set right in the one who has come to be outside ignorance and vice, so as to say, "The night has advanced, and the day has drawn near." With this agrees, "From the night my spirit rises early toward you, O God." But if someone should still be doing the works of night and darkness, how could he say, "I rise early," when the dawn has not come upon him? And "Toward you I rise early" must not be heard in a local sense. For God is not in a place but in disposition, the relation to God belonging to the one who has leaped over things perceptible; for to this one belongs coming toward God. And it is well also to say, "O God, my God." For the God of the saints who serve him is God absolutely, not of all who have being, since some are also released from being. At any rate, the belly of those given to luxury, being a god, is not called God simply, nor are the demons, called gods of the nations, properly gods; whence only the one who is truly wise—and every such one—will say to the God who is by nature and truly God, "O God, my God." You will remove from me the desire for all things present; I thirst in my soul to be toward God, who will show me a spring of water leaping up to eternal life.

And since, when the soul is benefited and enlightened, the flesh also partakes, and in these things, as far as it is able, it too thirsts in many ways for God and *** His power and His glory. And if indeed the Father is what it thirsts for, His power and glory is the Only-Begotten. For Christ is the power of God, being Himself also the glory about which it is said, "The glory of the Lord shall appear." But if the Son is His glory and power, the theology concerning Him and the energy effective of wonders exists according to what is written in the Gospel: "Power went out from Him and healed all," and again, "And He was the power of God to heal him." In correspondence with this power, you will also receive the things concerning His glory, both from "We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-Begotten," and from "Glorify Me, Father, with the glory which I had before the world was." Consequently, to each you will render the interpretation: "In the holy one I appeared to you, because my soul thirsted for you, my flesh in many ways in a land desert and impassable and waterless." And see whether the place concerning the earth is signified by the expression, being desert of perfection and waterless through not having abundantly the gifts of the Spirit—"rivers of living water" said to flow out of the belly of the one who has believed. Therefore it is also impassable, since no one of those who are in every way, as far as is possible, made like to God dwells upon it. For how is not the place desert, being in part of the knowledge that is in it, and waterless, the earnest of the Spirit coming to be in it? For it is not said to be desert and waterless according to a complete deprivation of those who dwell and tread and of water, but because these things come to be in it rarely and briefly.

But the present passage must also be understood in another way: he who is outside of evil and ignorance is destitute of these things, and being outside the moistness of the passions he is waterless, so as to be a place untrodden by the worse powers, because no place is found in him for the devil or any other worse spirit. And if ever the unclean spirit should dare to approach such waterless places, it passes through them finding no rest among them; for they are filled with all good things that drive away and subdue every evil power. Whoever is found in the desert and untrodden and waterless land, interpreted in either way, thirsts with his soul for God in holy longing, the flesh also following as far as it is able. But another reading is also transmitted: And my flesh was melted, concerning which one must say the following: when my soul thirsts for God, the flesh is melted, having received the coarseness that is constituted from shameful desires and the other passions. For this you will take the Gospel saying that has this force: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. For when one has willingness, his soul thirsting for God, the flesh, being melted, is weak. The apostle has written that godliness, being profitable for all things, has the promise of life both of the present and of the future. And when he says "of the present," he does not mean the common life of living creatures, but that which can be attained in this life, concerning which the Savior says, He who believes in me has eternal life, and This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Of this present

Of life and of the life to come, which in perfection becomes for those who assail the truth face to face, the mercy of God is better, because through it and for its own sake the one who is brought up into the lives is in the lives. For not according to the worth of action and contemplation, but by the goodness and mercy of God, does one come to live according to both lives. And mercy has been called better than them as the cause is better than the thing caused. See to it that the mercy spoken of here is not something other than the Word of God, about whom it is written, "God sent forth his mercy and his truth." See whether the fat that fills the soul is the sacrifices slain by Wisdom, and the true food is the flesh of the Word, and the richness that gladdens the inner man is the wine trodden out from the true vine, and the true drink of Wisdom is the blood. For he who says these things, having been called to partake of the table prepared by Wisdom, who slew her own sacrifices and mixed her own wine—having been filled already with the divine banquet and expecting still to be filled, he spoke thus: "As with fat and richness let my soul be filled." And since he who partakes of this feast always hungers because of the insatiable desire of the mind, he said "Let it be filled," and not "My soul was filled," although he had already abundantly partaken of the food and the drink. Let those who dream of perceptible food and drunkenness after the resurrection be put to shame even by this phrase.

For it is not the flesh or the body but the soul that will be filled with fatness and richness, God filling the soul's desire with good things, as it was said in another psalm. And having been filled with gladness, he exults in thanksgiving to the one who provided the nourishment, saying, And lips of exultation will praise your name, concerning which he was saying, My lips will praise you. And lips of exultation prove to be virtue. For just as members of folly are spoken of, as in the passage, For the feet of folly lead down those who use it, so perhaps there are also lips of exultation, unless indeed in these very words someone might say that those who possess the dispositions are indicated through the dispositions, as it was said concerning the foolish man, that he has feet that lead down to Hades those who use them, and concerning the one who exults, that with lips of exultation he praises the name of God. But these things can be said by the one who devotes himself to celibacy, so that being free from cares for the things of the Lord he may please him, and by the one who keeps his bed undefiled, living honorably with his wife according to the holy men. And just as it belongs to the one running toward virtue and piety to reach the goal, according to what was said, I have finished the course, and, Without lawlessness I ran and directed my steps (for I ran is the word of one who has finished), so the one who follows God, according to Jeremiah, But I did not grow weary in following after you, and according to Hosea, I will go after the Lord, and as Moses says, You shall go after the Lord your God—may he at some point complete the journey after God, having arrived at the very goal of blessedness, where he will hear from God, But you, stand here with me. For there is no longer a voice of one who journeys.

Having reached this state after going in pursuit, so as to cleave behind him—as he says, "My soul has cleaved behind you," the word "has cleaved" meaning "has been united." For thus one must also hear "Hating the evil, cleaving to the good," the union with God being indicated, and also "He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit." One must inquire whether this is the same as "My soul has cleaved behind you," so as not to destroy the meaning of "cleaving to the Lord" and of a person's soul cleaving behind another; for it is not the same, since the end intended is to cleave to the Lord himself. For the end of going behind the Lord is that the soul of the one who goes behind him should cleave; yet even if the end of the journey is that, having arrived, one be united behind him, still nothing is more perfect than this: to cleave to the Lord so as to become one spirit with him. But however you receive the matters of contemplation, he confesses that his soul has cleaved behind God, the right hand of God taking hold of it. And this is the only-begotten power of God; when it takes hold and holds securely, in vain did the visible and invisible enemies who press upon him seek the soul of the one who says these things, being unable to snatch away the one guarded under the mighty hand of God. In agreement with "the wicked shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth" is "Let the sinners be turned back to Hades, all the nations that forget God." And having entered, they will be handed over to punishment signified by the name of the sword.

The hands of this sword are either its active workings and its bitterness, or those who serve it, called in other places vessels of wrath. And he calls the wicked powers portions of foxes, because of the cunning and deceitful and malignant character of those called foxes. But the present words must also be interpreted in another way: since it is possible for such a person to become excessively material and fleshly, you would say that he has sunk deep into the earth, so as to enter willingly into its very lowest parts. And those who are handed over to passions of dishonor, which they chose to have, and to the desires of their hearts for uncleanness, suffer this. In this way both Pharaoh and those around him were swallowed up beneath the earth, and Moses, as in a victory hymn, said to God, "You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them." And yet, as far as the history is concerned, they were swallowed not by earth but by the deep; those who were thus swallowed by the earth and descended to the lowest parts of the earth were handed over into the hands of the devil, allegorically called a sword. And his hands are either his angels or his most wicked deeds. Those handed over in this way will become portions of foxes. And the one who swears by God, who makes the king glad, is also praised.

God puts them outside of fear, not altogether overthrowing or casting down the adversary, but extending courage to the one who prays. Since the harm that comes from evil is twofold, injuring sometimes the understanding and sometimes the action, there are two companies that war against the righteous, from which the singer, praying for the things set before him, asks to be delivered unharmed, saying to God: Cover me from the conspiracy of those who do evil (these are those who wish to falsify the truth of the doctrines), but also from those who carry out practical injustice and wish to draw me into it. For both of these armies have sharpened their tongues like a sword, as having a word—the one party advocating for the wicked and with falsely named knowledge, the other by practical evil. Nevertheless, even if these are wickedly equipped, the beneficent God gives to those who fear him a sign to flee from the face of the bow. This is said to be a bitter thing (and such is every form of evil and every impious doctrine); having bent this bow, they shoot from it, having arrows analogous to the fiery arrows of the enemy. And those of heterodox opinion say that no one is able to grasp their refined and sophistical teaching.

When they cease to search, you will search out thoroughly, because they have searched out lawlessness exceedingly, so as even to establish a wicked word for themselves and to hide snares in their own narratives, in which, pursued with great cleverness, they take pride, as though they possessed arguments that cannot be loosed, so that no one might detect the deceit. A true man will come to them, one who saves what is according to the image and is well-articulated, a man of letters, and who has a deep heart—that is, a deep understanding—so that God may be exalted, catching the wise in their own craftiness. In this way, then, also through Paul the apostle, having exposed the deceit and the craftiness of Elymas the magician. For how is God not exalted through holy men, when the error of the deceivers is dissolved? Greatly did the sorcerers and enchanters of Egypt pride themselves on their magic and sophistry, but Moses, the hierophant of God, having in himself a deep heart, came forward and overturned the deceit on which they prided themselves. And thus God was exalted, hymned by all. But the one who has this deep understanding receives it from the Spirit who searches all things. Just as the arrows sent by infants do not strike so as to wound anything, not even to a scratch, so also when the sophists had prepared and bent the bow, the bitter thing has recoiled against them—their injury; and their tongues, that is, their arguments, were weakened, so as not even in the least to be able to strike the one who takes up the shield of faith.

Seeing the things previously spoken of, those men who long ago bore witness to their own cleverness were disturbed, no longer remaining in the opinions in which they had been deceived by the sophists, having come to fear because they had agreed with such impious doctrines. For they had learned from them that there was no providence; that all things are borne along by chance, and others among them, snatched away by other deceivers, accepted that men are by nature good and evil, and moreover that fate presides over all. When these false opinions were shaken as they were disturbed, they received a true revelation that God is the maker and provider of all things. At any rate, they announced the works of providence and understood his creations and came to know the one who provides, beholding the creator from the greatness and beauty of them by analogy. When error is refuted, the righteous man will rejoice in God, seeing that men who once were deceived are announcing the works of God and have understanding of his works. And besides this he will hope even more in the Lord in whom he rejoiced, so that from then on only those who have a straight heart in the practical and contemplative life are praised.

For it was said earlier that the psalm indicates action, while the ode indicates contemplation. The practical man, being brought to success by the contemplative life, proves himself a perfect man. One must pass from the literal sense to the ecclesiastical understanding. Since Zion is named for its looking toward the truth, in it a hymn and a prayer are fittingly rendered to the cause of all things. The hymn signifies the contemplation of God and of the truth, while the prayer signifies thanksgiving. Therefore let the one who gives thanks in all things do this in Zion, beginning from hymning the one to whom he renders the prayer. Hear, then, O Lord, the prayer which we have brought before you with mind and spirit; and it concerns that for which we asked you to be merciful, on account of the things in which we seemed to act impiously through ignorance. All flesh comes to God, since "To you all nations shall come from the ends of the earth" is fulfilled, and "All the nations whom you have made shall come before you." But one must also take it in another way: that all flesh comes to God means the soul that is well-disposed toward being most easily molded by the divine laws and the characters of the truth; in which sense it is said that the spiritual law is written on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart, and not on tablets of stone. This same thing is also established from the prophecy of Ezekiel, where God says concerning those called hard-hearted in their folly: "I will tear out from them the hearts of stone and put in hearts of flesh, so that they may walk in my commandments.

The one chosen because of holiness, if he remains in the election, is received by God, so that, having been removed from the region around the earth, he may dwell in the courts of the one who chose him. Concerning these courts it is said: Enter into his courts with hymns. Having a desire for them from here, one said: My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. And since the end of blessedness is not in the courts, the one received there dwells in them, so that, having advanced and come to the house itself, he may dwell there being blessed. For he says: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; for ever and ever they will praise you. And that being received by the one who chose is more perfect than being chosen is clear from: In your counsel you guided me, and with glory you received me. For when the one chosen does everything according to the will of God, then he receives the promises with glory. And these words are uttered by those who glorify those who have departed from this life. Paul, when writing to Timothy, calls the church the house of God: If I delay, so that you may see how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. The good things of this house are the gifts of the Spirit, both those concerning the Trinity and the remaining doctrines, and the ordinances and canons handed down by the apostles. Those who have said: Atone for our impieties, which we seemed to hold, expect to be filled with these good things, when the words of the lawless have been overpowered against us. Virtue, signified by the name of righteousness, is wondrously accomplished in him.

The one who believes and is filled with good works has the Lord within himself; for it has been said that through faith Christ dwells in the inner man. Thus the Lord, coming with the Father to the one who keeps his word, makes his abode, so that the man is a holy temple; for it is written, Do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? And elsewhere: For the temple of God is holy, which you are. This man is wonderful and sets himself right in the righteousness that is established through faith in Jesus Christ, being full of good things, of the divine gifts of the Spirit, of which those who hope to partake will say, We shall be filled. For how would those who dwell at the ends of the earth not be afraid, and the nations not be thrown into confusion, when the oracles had been overthrown, so that the prophetic demons no longer boast and promise healing, and in addition magic and sorcery are overthrown and Satan himself, who held the power of death, is abolished? For the signs that were accomplished were sufficient, showing that the one who worked them is God. Indeed, having recognized his divinity from what was done, they know henceforth that he also provides for the things in heaven, so that at his laws the stars rise and set. For the risings are the goings forth of morning, and the settings are the delights of evening, since the nations that believed, having beheld that the one who makes the sun and the moon and the other stars rise and set is himself the one who became man and freed them from deceit and death, now rejoice and are glad.

You visited the earth and made it drunk; you multiplied to enrich it, giving spiritual rain—the early rain through the old covenant, and the late rain through the new covenant—by which the allegorically understood earth (which is the human soul) was made drunk and was enriched in every word and all knowledge and good works, as God multiplies it. God's river is his Word, and he himself is life and a spring. And perhaps he who is toward God is a spring; for it has been said, "With you is a spring of life," being found a river when he waters the rational creation. Its streams—that is, the teachings in detail—make glad the city of God, that is, the church. And since the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him, he is filled with waters, inasmuch as it is said of him, "We beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Not only, therefore, is every rational creation watered from these waters with which the river is full, but it also has food prepared from God, as Jesus sows a seed bearing fruit a hundredfold. From this river the rocks of the earth on which the spiritual

Drinking, they are made drunk by the plough—so that the fruits of righteousness, growing in it, are also multiplied, concerning which it has been said, "Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap for the fruit of life"; and again, "Seek the Lord until he comes to you, fruits of righteousness." And since not only from the river are the furrows of the earth made drunk, but also from the spiritual rain with which the clouds sprinkle, according to what has been said, "And let the clouds sprinkle righteousness," the earth rejoices as it springs up in the drops that come upon it. And these are the words and the meanings of the divinely inspired Scriptures. It is possible to say that the rams have put on exultation, in accordance with what was said in common, "The hills shall be girded with exultation"; "the rams of the flocks have put on," so that exultation is a garment for the one and a belt for the other. Since all the things previously mentioned bear fruit, the souls that have been hollowed out—called valleys because they have no swelling of pride—have multiplied that grain which a man, having baked it into bread, can eat, according to "Open your eyes and be filled with bread"—which means, open the eyes of your heart so that they may receive the light of knowledge. For when this happens, the loaves are multiplied—the practical virtues—feeding the inner man. The bridegroom in the Song of Songs (and this is the Savior) says, "I am the flower of the field, a lily of the valleys." And what he says is as follows:

I have become a flower of the place around the earth, called a plain because of its lowness, so that men might receive the beginning of fruit-bearing; and I have become a lily to the valleys (to the souls in Hades), having taken up death. The one who has become a lily of the valleys will also be a grain of wheat, as he himself said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone; but if it falls and dies, it bears more fruit." Since the grain, having fallen through the cross into the earth, reached even to its heart, it produced more fruit, and in those places it became the cause of abundance of wheat also for the valleys. Throughout the whole psalm the wonderful works of God are made clear, and fittingly it ended in a hymn; for it has been added to those earnestly accomplished: "They shall cry out, for they shall also sing hymns," all who are in good estate glorifying with loud voice and intensified understanding the cause of good things. 661 The shout of triumph is the voice of those who have conquered over the captives, sent up indistinctly so that the sound of the voice may be spread to the greatest distance. Since, then, by the grace of God, Jesus having tasted death for every man, the dead are raised, the devil who held the power of death having been destroyed, not a part of the earth but the whole of it is commanded to shout aloud to God, as the dead everywhere, righteous and unrighteous, are raised. And to the kind of awakening that is the resurrection through repentance it is fitting that the whole earth shout aloud, since for men everywhere on earth the place is called a place of repentance.

For it is said to each one, "Does not the one who has fallen not rise?" and to the whole church from the Gentiles the Lord says, "Rise, come, my neighbor," that she may rise through repentance and come to him. When, therefore, the shout of the voice has arisen against those who were defeated, those set free from the enemies are commanded to confess to God the cause of the victory, to praise him and to sing psalms to his name—not, however, as it happens, but gloriously; for he says, "Give glory to praise." And this happens when the one who sings has a deed fitting for the praise; for "praise is fitting for the upright." Therefore the one who is still base is prevented from doing this, since "praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner." Nor must falsehood always be taken in the sense of speech and glory; for sometimes this expression is also used of missing the mark. By this meaning the enemies of God "lied," not being able even in the least to withstand him. For when divine works were being done by Jesus and an abundance of divine power was being displayed in what was happening, the Jews who wished to be hostile, thinking Jesus a mere man, were lying when they said, "By Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, he casts out the demons," although the works were showing that these things were greater than every created thing. Therefore, to bring them to understanding of good things, the Savior said, "Even if you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know that I am in the Father and the Father in me." When the Savior came, the shadow of the law received its end.

Therefore God's worship is not eagerly performed in the temple in Jerusalem, since it is now accomplished in spirit and truth, so that the worshiper of God is not hindered from doing this in every place. For they will worship him, each from his own place, doing what is fitting for worshiping God; therefore it has been said, "Let them worship you and sing psalms to you." And they do this blamelessly, when your name has been invoked upon them; therefore necessarily there has been added, "Let them sing psalms to your name, O Most High." Come, O lovers of learning, and see the works of God accomplished in faithful people, brought to completion not by human will but by God's will. For how could one rightly accomplish celibacy and poverty, unless God's will made them easy? And that it is God who provides the power for these things to be accomplished. The life of humans, tossed and troubled like the sea, he turned into dry land, casting upon the earth the word of fire that dries up all moisture, so that for each of those coming from vice to virtue and from unbelief to faith, the sea has been turned around so as to be walked upon with feet. A symbol of this is depicted in the apostle Peter, who by faith in the Savior walked upon the sea. And the river is the word fortified by Greek wisdom and skill, blocking the road that leads to the holy land. But even this one, who catches the wise in their craftiness, turned around and made passable for those journeying to holiness. And the things said in this way are a refutation against those who cut off the deity.

For it was not another god who divided the Red Sea and performed the wondrous powers in the Gospels. For Jesus saved the people in Egypt, as he says in an apostolic letter. Having become in deed and disposition where the sea and the river were turned into dry land, so as to walk on foot thenceforth without hindrance, journeying from evil and impiety to virtue and piety, we rejoice in the one who made difficult things easy, God reigning royally over the age and the things in it, so as to rescue from the evil in it those who have believed, according to what was said: That he might deliver us from the present evil age. But it is possible to understand the age as without end from the word set before us, in agreement with "The Lord reigning for the age and for the age and still"; for thus reigning for the age he rules it without end by the dominion of his consubstantial kingdom. And if you were to call all the power of the adversaries those who provoke, you would not err; for they threatened the nations that revolted. Therefore, instilling courage and good cheer in those who believe from the nations, but fear in those who threaten them, he says, His eyes are upon the nations, watching over them unharmed; whence, Let those who provoke not exalt themselves in themselves, as though able to destroy those who come to the gospel. The soul of the one who obtains the end of faith—salvation—is appointed to life, so as to say with faithful purpose, My soul lives to him (and it is clear that it is to God). And the soul that has virtue and wisdom lives, as the soul that sins shall die, so as to say to God, In your righteousness give me life.

The feet of the man who belongs to God are not given over to tossing, whenever one has been firmly set upon the unbreakable and most mighty word of God, so as to say in thanksgiving, You set my feet upon a rock. A man is tried by fire like silver when he falls into blazing circumstances; if one endures them nobly, he is shown to be approved, having nothing blameworthy in himself. For this you shall receive: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has become approved he shall receive the crown of life. Through many afflictions it is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. But even if You brought men up upon our heads, yet we take courage through endurance to lift them up, since the hostile men who lie upon them are dragged down from them. Here the name of the head signifies the ruling faculty, as also in other scriptures: as in The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the righteous, and The eyes of the wise man are in his head. But when my enemies wished to afflict me, You cast them behind me, having prepared me to run swiftly. Therefore, though they hasten to overtake me, they remain always behind, while I run swiftly with your cooperation; hence I have afflictions upon my back, not wishing to look at them at all; for I do not turn toward them, since pains or negligence have drawn them on. We passed through fire and water. That he may say that circumstances are sufficient to set a soul on fire and stir it hotly, let it be called fire; and by another conception also water, so called because it sinks and chokes those who do not bear them nobly. He who has passed through these things comes out into refreshment by the cooperation of God, hoping for the recompenses that follow them.

And since the beginnings and the advancements in practical matters are ours, but the completions belong to God's gift, they grant to themselves the passing through fire and water, but they ascribe the cause of the completion to God. That fire and water are circumstances is established from the prophet Isaiah, who says in the person of God: Do not fear, I am with you; and if you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you; and if you pass through water, rivers will not shut you in. I will enter into your house with whole burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows—either the sacrifices according to the law before the coming of the Savior, or spiritual sacrifices, entering into the house of God (and this is the church) with whole burnt offerings, performing perfectly and wholly virtues out of whole offerings, rendering to this whole burnt offering also the vows which his lips have distinguished. The spiritual whole burnt offerings previously interpreted are well-fed and full of marrow, and are offered not for the sake of anything else but for God. These things, then, in whatever manner they ought to be accomplished, are offered with supplication; and this is signified by the very name of the incense. For let my prayer be directed as incense before you. And the offering is made not with incense alone but also with rams. The rams are motions and impulses, having their beginning from the spirited part of the soul. Together with the whole burnt offerings full of marrow, he promises to offer up both the incense and the rams, and oxen with goats—perhaps the one who brings a living sacrifice to God, his own body, performing the ox as priest; for the animal is a tiller of the soil, whence it has an analogy to the body, which has its formation from the earth.

The goats are the works and words of repentance; for the goat is offered concerning sin. Without tongue and its offering, in silence, I lifted up in my mind. But it is possible to interpret the verse with this understanding: if I beheld iniquity in my heart, let not the Lord hear. To this you will apply what is said by Paul: I know nothing against myself, but I am not thereby justified, in that it is possible for God to see iniquity in me and my heart not to perceive it. To this you will also apply: Who shall understand his transgressions? From my secret sins cleanse me. And this has begun for me, not so much because of my sinlessness as because of his mercy, which he has not withdrawn from me, since divine mercy withdraws from the one who is not heard because he asks not for good things but for what is dear and pleasant to men. This psalm has a clear meaning and does not need many words for its interpretation. For it proclaims beforehand the incarnation of the word of God and the saving manifestation and the salvation of all the nations; hence it is inscribed "For the end." And since the things accomplished are not human works, it is inscribed not with encomia or praises but with hymns; for it belongs to God to be hymned, but to men to be extolled through praises. At any rate, the divine hymn, being a psalm of ode, because it reveals both the deeds of the Savior and the greatest contemplation of them, has been set in no ordinary number but in one that contains beauties; for the number sixty-eight has the property of being perfect both in units and in tens. Men are filled with mercies and blessings when he makes his face shine upon those who pray to obtain this.

The face of the Creator of all appears when the impress of his substance comes to dwell among us, having become man, and reveals himself to those who are worthy. For he says concerning the one who keeps his commandments: "I will manifest myself to him." When this has come to pass—since the one who says these things is the image of the invisible God—the one who approaches him with a pure mind sees the Father; for he says, "The one who has seen me has seen the Father." When the divine face has appeared in this way, those who are benefited are shown mercy and are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. When you have made your face to shine, the way that leads to you, the Father, is known. And who is this but the one who said, "I am the way, and no one comes to the Father except through me"? And in agreement with the way of God being known on earth and his salvation, being nothing other than the way, he will be known among all the nations, when "all flesh shall see the salvation of God" is fulfilled. It is possible to take the way of God, which is made known on earth, as his commandments, according to "I ran the way of your commandments." The salvation known in harmony with this way among all the nations is the salvation that he came to provide. Formerly, when one people, that of the Hebrews, was confessing to the God who says, "I am the one who blots out your sins; therefore speak your sins first" (confessing them in the manner of repentance), "so that you may be justified"—bearing the person of this people, the saint says to God: "I made my transgression known, and I did not hide my sin.

But from the time of the Savior's coming, all the peoples made up of the believing nations are called to repentance, so that by confessing God they may obtain forgiveness of sins. And how is it not fitting that all the peoples give thanks with confession, since the face of God has appeared to them? When the way has been made known in the earth and the salvation of God among all the nations, the nations, set free from all evil and from the deceit of many gods, rejoice as they establish moral virtue and exult having received the knowledge of God, having learned also that the Lord will judge peoples in uprightness and guide nations in the earth. And "peoples" and "nations" are either the same by parallelism, or "peoples" are those of the circumcision and "nations" those from the Gentiles. For how was not all the earth, that is, the men upon it, about to be filled with praise and bear the fruit of piety, since in every place incense is offered and a pure sacrifice among the nations, the name of the Lord having been magnified according to what is cited in one of the twelve prophets? It is a prayer sent up, expressed in imperative words; for instead of "let him arise" it is written "let them arise," and instead of "let them flee" "let them flee." For this form is found very frequently in the Scriptures—I mean, things said imperatively instead of optatively. And it is possible to say that the enemies to be scattered are those who are impious concerning the knowledge of the truth, while those who hate God and flee from his face are those who are occupied with practical evil. For if the one who loves him keeps

His commandments, the one who does not keep them does not love God. But let these things be spoken in the manner of a prayer to the Father: at the time when Christ suffered and, while his body still lay in the tomb, he was despoiling Hades, the Jews were gathering together with the accursed demons who filled them and with the other evil powers. Let God arise—he who descended to death and became man—so that those who gathered against him may be scattered. For then even those who hate him, unable to look him in the face, will flee from his presence when he has risen from the dead. 682 Not as wickedness perishes, so does the virtue of the righteous; for it is written, His righteousness endures forever and ever. And a proof that wickedness is smoke is the saying, As smoke is harmful to the eyes and a moth to the teeth, so is lawlessness to those who practice it, harming in the same way the powers of the soul—called "teeth" figuratively, with which it cuts and smooths away spiritual foods—but also its thoughts, called "eyes." It should be noted that wax melting from his presence does not pass away into non-being, but is resolved into the substance of fire. Hence even if the quality by which someone is a sinner has been changed, his substance remains incorruptible. And it is well said that sinners are not destroyed once for all nor fail utterly, but [are removed] from the presence of God, since, having become such as to hate him, they flee from his presence by not remaining lawless before his eyes.

Exultation, in the sense in which the righteous exult before God, can be joy, which is a fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace—while gladness is that which diffuses the thinking faculty of the soul, rightly called good feeling. But no one would do the good without having departed from evil (for they cannot coexist), nor would he be illumined by the sun of righteousness while still partaking of the light that is transformed into an angel of light and counterfeits the sun of righteousness, being called the light of the ungodly; for the light of the ungodly shall be extinguished. For when this light sets, that one rises in our hearts, treading upon its settings. Make a way for the one who comes with the title of Lord, according to Moses and the prophets, so that he may set foot upon the settings, where Adam was cast out of the paradise planted toward the east, in order to bring him back again into the east, which he also did when he said to the repentant thief: Today you will be with me in paradise. The Word, cheering those who are worn down by Satan, urges them to exultation by showing that their protector and helper will be the one who is father of orphans and judge of widows. Therefore let it be your earnest endeavor to exult before him, especially when, having abandoned the former father who begot you in wickedness and the first husband who lived with you unlawfully, you become orphans from him; for you will have God as your father. But also the souls that have renounced unlawful union, having been widowed from their dwelling with God, will make trial of it.

His holy place is either the Church, sanctified by Christ, or each one of those who have believed; for both are true. And his holy place is also the ensouled and rational body which he assumed. But he also brings the dead out from their tombs, according to “The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised”; for the dew from you is healing to them—such as also that in the Gospel: “The hour comes when all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice” (clearly the Son's) “and shall come forth, those who have done good to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil to a resurrection of judgment.” That is, when God goes forth before his people or from their midst, when he said, “Behold, your house is left to you,” according to what is in Jeremiah: “They abandoned my house, I abandoned my inheritance,” when he passes through the wilderness, the Church from the nations, the earth was shaken—that is, the letter and the shadow of the law, so called because of its coarseness. And its shaking came about when the heavens dropped the divine meaning, according to the life-giving spirit of the divine Scriptures. And “heavens” in these passages will mean either Moses and the prophets or the mystical contemplations; and “heaven” and “clouds” are the same for this purpose. Where indeed the heavens dropped, elsewhere it says, “Let the clouds rain down righteousness.” But also, when the nations of idolatry were transferred, the earth was shaken, since the gospel order now prevailed, with apostles and evangelists and the rest of the teachers dropping their spiritual seeds.

The said rain was prepared for the life-giving flesh of the Lord, which of weakness took up the cross—a thing to be chosen and desired—having lived by the power of God. For the divine Word gave life to his own body, which was crucified of weakness. And the poor, in the singular, can be the people who believed from the nations, because they were without God and had no hope at all. Concerning him the prophecy of Isaiah says: Therefore the poor people shall bless you, and cities of unjustly treated men shall bless you; and those were being treated unjustly who were being oppressed by Satan. Another meaning, he said, indicates the lots and the channels of waters. For it is said in Genesis concerning Issachar that, called a man and a farmer, he rested among the lots; which must now be applied to the old and the new covenant. For these bring the noetic watering to souls for spiritual fruit-bearing. Among these two lots one sleeps, assenting that they are between one God, so as to distinguish the spirit from the letter. Thus one who has slept between the lots is winged, understanding according to the Holy Spirit. And since the wings of this dove—being understandings that lift up the winged soul—are also testified to from the divine oracles, it has been said that silver is fire-refined, they are silvered over, with the greenness of gold fitted to the back of the dove. In many places of the divine Scriptures gold is taken for the purest mind. And the gold has a greenness signifying its life; for this color is a symbol of living plants. And one might say also to the phrase "among the lots" as follows:

In Leviticus, on the day of atonement, two goats were brought into the tabernacle of witness; and when the lot was cast, the one was brought to the altar to be sacrificed to the Lord, while the other was sent away to the scapegoat into the wilderness. These things are symbols of good and evil; and it is necessary for one who is in their midst to distinguish between them, and to offer the good as a sacred service to the Lord, but to send away the evil to the one who is pleased with it, since from him it also took its beginning. For thus one will possess the wings overlaid with silver and the greenness of gold in his back. And the knowledge of the divine Scripture shines forth like gold. To the kings who have been distinguished will follow: They shall be snowed upon in Selmon, that is, they shall be filled with snows. And these are the virtues, watering the mind with a stream and cooling the flame of the passions. For neither in Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow is the word about perceptible snow. For it is incomparable to the brightness of a purified soul. Such also is the saying, If your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow, and the saying, The Nazareans of it were purified beyond snow. And Salomon is interpreted as a shadow of a portion. Perhaps, then, since the kings (these are the apostles) once Judaized, observing the law according to the shadow, they are of a portion of shadow, having indeed a spiritual portion, but having also experienced the shadow. Such is the one who says, A Hebrew of Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee. Or since the

The portion of Christ's disciples is in the heavens, according to "who has made us fit for the portion of the saints in light," but they have not yet arrived at it; and even though they have their citizenship in the heavens, while still walking on earth, knowing in part and prophesying in part and having the earnest of the Spirit, they are in the shadow of their own portion. Therefore it is also a great thing for one who is in this life to be made white as snow, keeping it spotless. Properly, the mountain of God is the Savior; for it has been said concerning him, "In the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest"; and again, "Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion." And the ascent is through progress. Therefore the divine Word, being wisdom and life and sanctification, is fat, not receiving fatness from outside but providing it to those who partake of him. This mountain, besides being fat, is also curdled: giving milk to some, and imparting solid food to others—this solid food not being different from the milk; for the very same, when it has congealed, has become food for the perfect. And it will be said of "curdled" also in this way: the fat mountain, being God, became man, taking flesh from a virgin, on account of which he has been called "curdled," human birth being indicated by this word, as is clear from Job, who says to God, "Remember that you fashioned me as clay," and following: "Have you not milked me like milk, and curdled me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh," and the rest. And then, since having become curdled he keeps his divinity unharmed, and even after being curdled he is fat, as the very text presents, saying, "A curdled mountain, a fat mountain.

For before it has been curdled and after this it is fat. And then he adds, "Why do you suppose the mountains are curdled, the mountain which God desired?" But the argument will fit better those from Valentinus. For since the Savior is called by many appellations in Scripture, they supposed that a different substance was indicated by each one, so that they say the Lord is one thing besides Jesus, and Wisdom another, and so on. Therefore the mountain in which the Lord dwells is according to "God was in Christ," and "the Father who remains in me." He demands, then, the reason on account of which they supposed that many mountains were curdled; but also there is one curdled mountain: the one made flesh from the God-bearing virgin, in whom the Lord dwelling makes his dwelling to the end, not passing from one to another as in the case of holy men; but also teachers have arisen from among men—Moses and the prophets and the apostles—but also angels. For if the word spoken through angels became firm, each one was fat as being fattened by God, from whom also it was curdled. To suppose such things to be many by nature is therefore [a mark] of polytheism. The chariot of God is not of one form but ten thousandfold, with patriarchs yoked beneath him, Moses and the prophets, apostles, evangelists, angels, archangels, principalities, thrones, dominions, and, simply put, those inspired by God and having the Holy Spirit, concerning whom he says in the song, "Mount upon your horses, and your riding is salvation." For through them he extended the saving gospel to the inhabited world. For it is evident that there are several orders of rational beings yoked beneath the yoke of Christ.

For this reason there has been added, "As it were the thousands of the fruitful"; for no one among them is a fruit. Just as a chariot and a vehicle make one in which God rides, so also those who have become a mountain in Sinai have the Lord within themselves giving the law. And this is high, in which God, having descended, commands Moses to go up. For it is impossible for a created being to go up to the divine height unless God has first descended in it. And Sinai is interpreted as "temptation," not as synonymous with circumstance but with trial, by which one who is tempted through much experience will be high, so as to be shown forth as one going up upon it as a lawgiver and as a hierophant by the oracle of God. The words set before us have been spoken by the choir of the saints to the one who has gone up through the cross to the height and from there has led captive those oppressed by Satan and frees them from his tyrannical cruelty, having given his soul as a ransom in exchange for many. In this way he redeemed all. For since not all come to him willingly and of their own choice, he still takes even the disobedient so as to dwell with him. For many, disobedient to the call of the gospel, were drawn by sickness and another circumstance. And sometimes also through visions they came to dwell beside Jesus. Since so many benefits have been done by the Lord, how were they not going to bless the cause of such great and so many good things, and bless not at one time but at another? But every day, having mingled prayer with blessing, they ask to be prospered by God, who offers salvation.

He is blessed, not by receiving blessings but by giving them. For just as he is good, not becoming good but making others good, and holy, sanctifying rather than being sanctified, so too he is blessed, being the source of every blessing. If the present words are spoken about common death, there are countless ways known to all that lead to the common death; but if what is signified here concerns living according to God and the death that is opposed to this, then "our God is the God of saving" — for he becomes the cause of eternal salvation. Indeed he says of himself, "There is no savior besides me." Therefore, just as God is of saving, so also the passages out of death belong to him, since he is Lord, always providing ways out through which one escapes the death that follows upon sin, by means of repentance. For the devil too has been so named in the passage "Death has swallowed up, having prevailed." And he provides the passages out of death to the one who has been lifted up from the gates of death. And the heads of enemies are either the rulers or the ruling faculties, as in "From the head of the rulers of the nations"; and the ruling faculty in "I have given their ways upon their heads," and in "Your hands are upon your head." And perhaps both are indicated by "You cast death upon the heads of the lawless," God doing good, so that they may no longer live wickedly, the life according to sin having been cut off. And these, being enemies because of their transgression, walk in their own transgressions. And it should be noted that divine Scripture also applies the term of contemplation to Moses. For the paths of God are not grasped by sight but by pious and right understanding.

Those who play the psalms must be understood as those who set straight the practical life, and the young women playing the tambourines must correspondingly be understood as the souls who have put to death the members that are upon the earth and carry about in their own body the dying of Jesus. These who play the psalms were preceded by those who lead in teaching, in that they too began from practical virtue. But they are also in the midst of young women—of those who, because they have the beginning of playing the tambourine, that is, of putting to death the members that are upon the earth, are called young women. The leaders who precede those who play the psalms are the apostles. The springs of Israel are the legal and prophetic scriptures. For from these springs the Lord is blessed by those able to draw from them, since they are springs of salvation, water with gladness. And this is what Jesus spoke about: Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will have in himself a spring of water leaping up to eternal life. And by this one must refute those who cut the old scripture off from the new, as being unable to bless God in the churches, since they do not have the springs of Israel, nor do they dare to divide their Lord and the Godhead itself. Command your power over all, O Creator, so that, coming to dwell among us, it may loose the weakness of men. And it will loose it for us, coming from your temple, when our temple has been strengthened, having been wrought for our sake. And this is the begetting of Emmanuel, by your Word becoming flesh. By this power, which is God the Word

If God spoke, it was so that all things might come to be, and he gave command so that various things might be created. When weakness was dissolved by the presence of God's power, the kings bring gifts to God at the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the church. And if those kings whom the heavenly one set apart in his own inheritance are the ones bringing gifts to Jerusalem, those who are benefited by them are those who are led forward. In this way the apostle Peter offered his brother Andrew as a gift, and Philip offered Nathanael, and the other apostles offered others besides; and others brought gifts—earnest thoughts and words and praiseworthy deeds. Nathanael and all their own disciples; or rather the faithful, according to the words "And would that you had reigned, so that we too might reign with you," whose gifts are thoughts and words and praiseworthy deeds. You will understand the beasts of the reed as those who promote the falsely named knowledge. The prophecy that runs thus can be spoken concerning them: "Woe to those who write wickedness"; for in writing wickedness they write it. Through Egypt he indicated the whole earth over which the spiritual Pharaoh ruled, and through Ethiopia the dark and foul nature of souls in sins; as he says also in one of the psalms: "And behold, foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians—these were born there" (clearly in the spiritual Zion). And Zephaniah also says: "Then I will change the tongue of the peoples, so that all may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him under one yoke; from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring sacrifices to me." This is in harmony with the...

Ethiopia is to be filled from the kingdoms, and in what is called. She herself, the one near and Ethiopia, having become spiritual and having contributed genuine repentance, says concerning herself: I am black and beautiful—black because of idolatry and practical wickedness, but beautiful because of the departure from those things through which I was reckoned black. But what will there be for her when she has confessed and stretched out her hand to God, or what will there be for being purified so as to cast away every heart and come to be in light? The Song of Songs makes this clear when she is seen together with the one who benefits her. That Ethiopia signifies all the nations, the bride who speaks through repentance shows: I am black and beautiful—black and ugly because of idolatry and practical wickedness, but beautiful because of the departure from them. And it was granted to her to become radiant when she stretched out her hand to God, so that those who see her together with the one who benefited her say: Who is this who comes up, made white? His voice is the divine Scripture. To her he will give a voice of power, to receive spiritual power. But if in these things one must take his voice as John, who said, I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, it must be said that the Savior, having stepped upon the heaven of heaven, having fulfilled the prophecies that foretold his becoming man, his death and resurrection and ascension, has given them a voice. For the things that speak about the future seem to be weak because of the uncertainty of the outcome, but then they receive a voice of power when it is fulfilled. And it is well said that God has stepped upon the heaven of heaven.

The one who alone is consecrated to the Lord, according to “The heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord,” and “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heaven belong to the Lord your God,” into which no one of the intelligible beings has by nature ascended. For no creature or place has God ascended into as heaven, but the transcendent contemplation befitting God, an ineffable state, not made clear by a proper expression. Becoming thankful in deed and word, glorify him with hymns and theologies, so that you may be able to contain his magnificence, having become a true Israel, seeing God through purity of heart. For the surpassing knowledge of God, having its fitness in great things, is present only with the one who has sanctification and peace. Since from beginning to end it keeps the same person speaking, it is fitting to interpret the whole in the same sequence of thought. Since, therefore, the psalm signifies the Lord who came among us, who changed men by his life and teaching so that they became faithful and righteous from being unbelievers and sinners, most fittingly the inscription is set as “For those who shall be changed.” But also those who believed from the circumcision were changed, living according to the spirit of the law. But if the change also happens in reverse, from the better to the worse quality, I say also thus: none the less “for those who shall be changed” will apply to the Jews who did not believe in him. But if you also consider those changed at the resurrection from the dead, according to “And we shall be changed,” take this into account as well.

For if the psalm is spoken in the person of Christ, and his passion is signified in it, and it follows that when he died and rose again, all are also raised, it is not discordant to understand that the superscription is also for those who will be so changed. 707 It should be known that most of what is said in the psalm is spoken by Jesus in our person, as he bears our infirmities and grieves on our behalf. He, then, confesses concerning sins that he has not committed at all. If, therefore, he does not confess on his own behalf, it is clear that he does this on our behalf. For even those who, in the case of sinners who have undergone flight, entreat the king because of what he has done, transferring the sins of those on whose behalf they petition to their own person, ask for beneficence and forgiveness of the evils done to them. The saints, then, have the custom in their confessions concerning others to say, "We have sinned, we have acted lawfully, we have acted impiously." If, then, the bodyguards of a king and friends of God intercede on behalf of others, asking favor as if for their own person, nothing is paradoxical in his confessing on our behalf through excessive solicitude, asking favor and forgiveness on behalf of others—he who is the advocate with the Father for the sins of the whole world. Concerning our sins, then, he explains those which he has not committed at all. For it is unfitting for the Savior, who is the provider of all good things, to ask for anything. He takes away the sin of the world, and grants forgiveness of sins to those who come to him.

Since, therefore, the Lord did not arrive at that place through sin, but through death, which he undertook for our sake, it says, "A storm has sunk me into the depths of the sea." And "storm" signifies temptations, just as "a storm shall pass through the desert," and "I was awaiting God who saves me from faint-heartedness and from the storm." Do not suppose that the saying, "No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself," means that he undertook death by his own choice. Since it is not said that he gave his soul by disease nor simply by the customary end, but having endured the cross, in this way he is said to be sunk by the storm, even if he did not endure this unwillingly, having become obedient to the Father unto death. And this is illustrative of the deafness of the Jews. If, then, he also prays that one ought not to grow weary but to cry out day and night to God—if he had grown weary in crying out, consider it in agreement with "With a strong cry and tears." And he who has stretched out all his hope toward God will say, "My eyes have failed," clearly those of the heart. In vain is the benefactor of those who do these things persecuted and hated, as the Savior, healing every kind of sickness among the Jews and raising the dead, whereby their city became conspicuous. That the haters of the one hated are multiplied beyond the hairs of his head is said hyperbolically. For the manner of hyperbole is also continually preserved in the Scriptures: "I did not plunder, then I would pay back.

Even if he repaid what he did not seize, yet he did not ransom us—that is, by paying off and blotting out the handwriting against us which we were compelled to pay, brought against us. But this has been blotted out and taken out of the way, since forgiveness of sins has been given. Certainly no sinner has folly known by God, nor transgressions remaining before him, nor do the lawless abide before his eyes. Why is anyone troubled at hearing of folly? For that word is not far from confessing that he has ignorance, in his saying to certain people, "I never knew you"; and he declares that he does not know anything about the day and hour of judgment. As, then, these things are piously understood, so too the things concerning his folly will obtain clarity when piously understood. For a teacher who has complete knowledge, through condescension to those being initiated, appears to know these things of which those people are capable, being in a certain way made like them; such condescension everyone accepts as being somehow ignorance and folly. For since, being rich in wisdom, he became poor for our sake, so as to be supposed by some not to be wisdom, he had folly through which we shall become rich "in every word and all knowledge." In a manner corresponding to the folly thus understood, it is fitting also to receive the transgressions that are not hidden from God. But what can those who are superstitious about these words say, when such things are said about God, in which there is rather incongruity? For how is it not worse than folly and transgressions—forgetfulness, repentance, wrath, anger—all of which, and many more besides these, are said about God?

Or let them say that these words too were not spoken about God, or let them agree with the passages set before us. The apostle who speaks in Christ has taken up this saying spoken by the Savior, writing thus: "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good; for even Christ did not please himself, as it is written: The reproaches of those who reproach you fell on me." Someone will object, saying this much: that Jesus kept away from fasting, so as to acquire the reputation of a glutton and a drinker of wine among the more malicious. It might be said to him, then, that Jesus and his disciples were certainly not always eating and drinking, even if they did so when invited to banquets, for the sake of benefiting others and performing signs. Looking, then, to the banquets, they called him a glutton and a drinker of wine. For he also fasted forty days. Since, then, fasting is a restraint upon the soul's exaltation from irrational passions, "I humbled," he says, "my soul with fasting." It is customary for the wicked to reproach the good for the virtues they possess; for "godliness is an abomination to a sinner." Since the Savior makes confession on our behalf and is maltreated, he hints through the sackcloth at the harsh and afflictive manner of life. For it was not said anywhere in a perceptible sense that Jesus put on sackcloth. But some say that by this garment is indicated the body which Christ took up. Therefore hear me in the abundance of your mercy, granting the salvation that is in truth to those for whom I plead. And this will come to pass when you save him who died, through resurrection. For thus there will be life and salvation for them, which I undertake.

Salvation in truth is the salvation that is according to God, not in truth but in type and image—the salvation that comes from doctors and generals to those who are sick. If, then, at some time you said in showing me to them, "Father, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," raise up the one being crucified on their behalf. For this is the time, that is, the end of the good pleasure of your will, which is for salvation. Therefore also hear me, so that, as I am made alive, those who are dead through sin may be made alive together with me. The apostle, initiating us into this mystery, said: "God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, being dead through trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ." And he offers this petition on our behalf, that we may not be fixed into the body through passions—into the clay, as it is called. But if even these very sins which he took up into his own body, in order to take them away by ascending the cross, are the clay, consider it as well. The waters are the temptations which he undertook on our behalf, so that his salvation alone might exist for us; for "in that he himself suffered, having been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." And the depth of the waters that have been interpreted is that into which those who do not bear the trials nobly come, from which, being unable to say, "Out of the depths I cried to you, O Lord," they are unable to be rescued by God alone; and the things that follow he asks to exist for him for our sake. For none of the things that harm others astonishes or frightens him.

And so, if at death itself he begins to be astonished and dismayed, he accepts these sufferings primarily for our sake, and not least so that he may be shown to have truly become man. One must understand that the demons hate him, and also the men who hate him, such as those who said, "Away, away, crucify him." Let not my calamities hold me like a pit, so that they become for me altogether impassable. For he sets these things down figuratively, persisting in the hypothesis he laid down from the beginning. For there too he said, "Because waters entered even to my soul," and having said, "And a tempest drowned me," now he says, "Let not." Since it is possible, after being sunk, to swim up again, he prays that what he has experienced he may not experience a second time. Since from great goodness your mercy will be good, which I beseech may come upon those for whom I pray (for it will loose their sins), hear me; as if you will look upon me as an ambassador on behalf of all, not one by one or a second, but according to the multitude of your compassions they will be saved and will receive great benefit. For desiring to arrange these things, you sent me; for I was not sent to judge but to save the world, by your compassions toward those who are benefited and by your good mercy. And the addition "good" shows that not every mercy is of this sort; for God says concerning the bosoms to those who judge, "Your eye shall not spare him, nor shall you have mercy on him." But it is not credible that these things are said in the person of the Only-begotten while he is stripped of his incarnation, even if the title "child" sometimes signifies someone's son.

But these things he clearly said after emptying himself and taking the form of a slave and being made like us in all things apart from sin, and after appropriating our sufferings (I mean the natural and blameless ones). Give heed to my soul and redeem it. And to be redeemed is for it not to be held fast, once it has come among the dead, in Hades, but also to redeem those there. No one who has understanding would say these things about an irrational soul, which does not have life and subsistence in itself. But how would it be redeemed? Let those who think so say—for it belongs to a human soul, that is, a rational one, to be redeemed. It is possible also to say persuasively that the soul of the one who intercedes for all is that which has been appropriated to him, so that, just as a certain man of God is spoken of—such as Moses and Elijah—so too his soul might be called that which has been joined to him and has become one spirit with him. For he redeems all this by giving on its behalf what he has assumed; for just as the body of Jesus has been given on behalf of human bodies, so his soul has been given on behalf of their souls, so that the whole man might be given on behalf of all by the one who assumed him. Therefore, because of my enemies who leap upon the destruction of men, rescue me by raising me from the dead, so that they themselves and the devil who holds the power of death may be destroyed, and men may rise up, having salvation as they sleep. And I pray to be delivered from enemies who oppress me, who are not unknown—for they are before you. And my affliction is that men are worn down, on whose behalf you sent me, so that I might redeem them from the devil who tyrannizes over them.

He says these things to the Father so that we humans might be instructed, showing what care God has for us, in that he did not spare his own Son, so that he might spare us. My soul has become deeply grieved even to death, my heart expecting reproach and misery. (The cross is what is signified by the reproach and the misery.) Since this expectation was in my heart, I waited to find one among the unbelieving Jews who would grieve with me, and there was none, and one who would comfort, and I did not find him. For how would they grieve with him and comfort him, saying to Pilate the governor, Crucify, crucify him; his blood be on us and on our children? How would those who gave him vinegar mixed with gall comfort or grieve with him? Allegorically, Jesus, expecting reproach and misery, so that by suffering for the world he might take away its sin—none of the Israelites according to the flesh was willing to die with him, so as to grieve with him who had a soul deeply grieved even to death, nor did anyone comfort him by agreeing with the prophecies concerning his death. Therefore, in addition to not doing these things, having passed over into greater impiety, they fed him gall and gave him vinegar to drink. For how would their fruit not have become gall and vinegar, since they did not keep the planting from the beginning? For when God planted the whole true fruit-bearing vine, the Jewish multitude, it turned by its own impulse into bitterness and became a foreign vine.

If then it is said concerning them, that they had become enemies and foolish: For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their branch is of Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is one of bitterness; their wine is the wrath of dragons and the incurable wrath of asps. This gall of the grape and this cluster of bitterness they brought to him as a drink, though he thirsted for their salvation. For transgression is the wine, but vinegar is the drink. Yet even if he is not found among the betraying Jews grieving with them and exhorting them, he is found in the calling of the Gentiles. For those who hold this opinion say: If we died with him, we shall also live with him; and: If we have become united with his death, we shall also be of his resurrection. The verse Let their habitation be made desolate, and the following line, Peter the foremost of the apostles took as prophesied concerning Judas. And since it has been uttered in the plural, it must be understood concerning all the betrayers of Jesus, their city having been made desolate and their habitation having become so because of their brutish manner. For in habitations the cattle have their resting place; and in another way, because it does not have God in itself, nor even the angels who formerly watched over it. Jesus, taking up our sins into his own body, on account of which we were wounded, struck by robbers as we went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, made them his own in order to heal them, and said that they were his wounds; but they have pain, in so far as we persist in sinning.

But if in addition to this we also stir up persecution against him, we are adding to his pain, since he grieves for us no longer merely for sinners but also for those who persecute him. Delivered over to their own desires and passions, they are themselves the cause of their enduring these things, God having no blame, since they were delivered over to the things they desired. At any rate, he sent them out according to the practices of their hearts: they will walk in their own practices, lawlessness being added to their lawlessness. Since, then, they did not choose the truth when it came, but wished to live lawlessly in the shadow of the law, they were driven out even from the place of the typical worship, so that they might add to their former lawlessness yet another, by wishing to observe it outside Judea. Therefore they do not enter into the righteousness that is through faith in Jesus Christ, concerning which it is written: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. For how could those who are always occupied with outward things and the shadow enter into the righteousness which they did not know to be God's, so as to set up their own? For, he says, not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to set up their own, to the righteousness of God

They were not subjected; being subjected to righteousness is the same as entering into it. For that those who have virtue and faith and knowledge of God live, one must hear: "This is your life and the length of your days," and "to love you the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul"; but also from "The one who believes in me has eternal life." The book in which those who live in this way are written is the knowledge of God, who knows those who are his own, which is followed by the blotting out of those who do not fall under being remembered by God. Being rich and without wounds, I became poor, so that the poor might become rich by my poverty, and I grieved, being wounded on behalf of those who had been wounded by the fiery arrows of the evil one. And while I was in this state, some of those who were insensitive to me—I became poor and grieving, so as to add grief to my wounds and to think that I was poor by nature—but nevertheless salvation from the person of God took hold of me. For having risen from the dead and been taken up, he cast off the wounds and the poverty which he bore on behalf of men. And when the enemies had been destroyed, and especially the devil, it was fitting that a song of victory be struck up by him who had conquered in the name about which he said, "I have come in the name of my Father," and further, surpassing in understanding, that he magnify the one whose name it is in praise, saying great things in praising and glorifying him, but also contemplating highly the things concerning him; for it is not possible for God to be magnified in any other way than this—by the fact that every perceptible magnitude is far from him, since he is incorporeal.

And since praising God is a sacrifice, according to "A sacrifice of praise will glorify you," having praised the name of God with a song and magnified him in praise, he is confident that "he will please God more than a young calf bearing horns and hooves," being brought forward as a sacrifice. Therefore also to those who sacrifice in this way he says, being pleased: "I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Let those who are poor in spirit see these things, which Jesus accomplished against every evil phalanx; for there will follow upon their seeing such great valor the rejoicing eternally, according to "Eternal gladness will overtake them." For this is he who looses the bound and leads out from chains those who are bound and from the house of prison. Both those formerly called prophets and God-beloved men, and those after these, ministers and servants of the gospel. Rightly is the psalm sung for remembrance concerning salvation, since all who repent remember and recognize the good and the truth and come to them; for "they will remember," he says, "and turn to the Lord, all the ends of the earth." And since the end of remembrance is to recall those things which one previously forgot, so as to have exact and perfect knowledge, consequently he said, "For the end, for remembrance, for the saving of me, O Lord," every one being saved who has cast off forgetfulness of good things so as to have use and knowledge of them. For all, having been made according to the image and likeness of God and upright, have implanted within them the thoughts concerning God.

For whenever sin gains entrance through negligence, if it happens that one repents after the deed, he remembers the good of which he had the notion by nature, being rational and made in the image of God. Since ignorance and insensibility to good things precede sin, so that for this reason people do them with pleasure and boldness, it has indeed been said of certain persons that they have glory in things of which they ought to be ashamed: "For their glory," he says, "is in their shame"; and to these the prophecy also says, "Be ashamed of your boasting," for it brings blame and destruction. Those who rush so insensibly into evil, if they should receive perception and understanding of it, would wish to cease from doing it; and it follows that, turning away from evil, they should do good. Praying that this very thing be brought about for those who are set against him, he says concerning them: "Let them be ashamed when they know of what evils they are guilty; let them be put to shame when they reflect on what they have done." For they sought to bring my soul into the same wickedness as themselves, or to kill me, since I do not run together with them into the apostasy by which they are outside God. This very thing, as being advantageous to them, he earnestly asks, saying, "Let them be turned back," no longer eager in desiring evil, "and let them be put to shame" for the evil things they did, wishing the things that harm me to be brought upon me. He who repents is turned back, running again toward the good which he had abandoned, together with the wish to be ashamed—although before his repentance he was arrogantly saying against the persecuted man, "Well done, well done," that is, "We shall get the better of you as you flee from us." Attention must be given to the words "Those who wish me evils.

...they have power up to the point of wishing to do evil and to harm; but they are not able to bring about the evils they wish, unless God delivers [them] over. He does not pray against those who plot against his money, but against those who plot against his soul. And the plot against the soul is alienation from God—whether it comes from passions and demons and a passionate disposition, and from malignant men who cooperate with these. Having believed that he will certainly find the one who will help him in all things, [and that] for all who are similarly disposed, whatever different circumstances arise, he says in praise: They will rejoice and be glad who seek you, O Lord. For even if seeking the Lord comes with toil and sweat, nevertheless, when he appears in his great goodness to those who long to see him, divine rejoicing and gladness succeed the toil involved in seeking. And having obtained this grace, always in deed and word and also in faithful disposition they will say: Let the Lord be magnified, always praying to receive the greatness of his understanding. And those who have had experience of the salvation that comes from him sing in this way—so as to love it, which is called saving, or they love the salvation; and this is Christ, who is for them the cause of eternal salvation. This salvation every flesh will see. And those things that have been said, those men will experience; but those of my portion—that is, those who hope in the salvation that comes from you and do not trust in multitude and power—may they be filled with the gladness that comes from you, so that they may magnify you. Looking to the greatness of the wealth of God's goodness, he calls himself poor and needy through the words that follow.

And at the beginning of the discourse, as though nothing else could contribute to him—neither wealth nor kingship nor the help of the whole nation nor the righteousness gained for him from ascetic practice—he seeks the help that comes from God alone. Do not, he says, leave me to be warred against for long times, lest I carry away great harm; but grant help, so that, sheltered by it as by a favorable wind, I may not be struck down by them. He who has hope in God has an end that is not put to shame, speaking boldly until the whole age on the basis of the expectation he had, while everyone who has his confidence in anything else is put to shame, whenever he misses his hope. For he who trusts in wealth, he says, this one will fall; and Trust not, he says, in rulers, in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation; and Cursed is the one who has his hope in man. Therefore one must be eager to have the Lord as hope; for Blessed is the man who has trusted in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his hope. For this hope is living; therefore it is written, Having been born again into a living hope. Therefore it has been said by the one who has it: Let me not be put to shame forever; and in your righteousness rescue me and deliver me. God rescues in righteousness those who hasten to be outside of wrongdoings, as in wisdom he takes up those who long to receive it. But if

And the one who speaks the words set before us prays to be rescued and delivered from unjust men; consider this. For the act of subjoining this to what was said in the superscription—"Concerning those who were taken captive for the sake of others"—seems to have a sequence. For these justly demand to be rescued and delivered. For they were doing injustice, but the Israelites did no injustice. It will also be said thus: since practical virtue is called righteousness, and, by contrast, injustice is all sin in actions, the one who loves and hates his own soul deems it right to be rescued in righteousness from the injustice in which he was. And a testimony that universal virtue is thus spoken of is "He who walks blamelessly and works righteousness"; and a testimony that universal sin is called injustice is "I hated and abhorred injustice," and "The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all injustice." The one who wishes to pass beyond the shadow according to the law will also utter this voice, so that, having believed in Jesus Christ, he may have the righteousness of God, so that he may be found not having in himself his own righteousness that is from the law, but the righteousness of God that is reckoned unto righteousness. Since there is great superiority of you, O Master, over the creatures, and especially over us men, we are not strong enough to cry out so much as to reach your ears with the prayer we send up; therefore I beseech you, in your great goodness, to incline your ear to me by way of condescension, that you may save me, having received my petition concerning salvation. Since many wish to war against me, become my protector, sheltering me with your shield, concerning which it is said, "His truth will encircle you as a weapon.

And since I wish you to be all things to me, become for me also an invincible fortress and an indestructible rampart, so that, having you as a most secure place, I may remain outside every fear that comes from enemies, since you are my refuge and my stronghold. The hand of the sinner is the sinful action, from which he deems it worthy to be rescued, so that he may not act in accordance with it even to a small degree by doing it; likewise, the productive activities of the lawless and unjust man's deeds—he longs to be outside these as well, with God as his rescuer. But whether the sinner is the same as, or different in subject from, the lawless and unjust man—consider this. For it seems to incline toward both, since every lawless and unjust man is a sinner. But if the devil is the one signified by these names, his hand must be understood as also his military-like power, marshaled from every evil and unclean spirit. The one, then, who has been rescued from the hand of those set forth, having come under the mighty hand of God, is snatched by no one out of it. Just as God is the wisdom and power of the saint, so also he is the endurance and hope of the one who endures unto salvation and hopes in him. For it has been said concerning these things in Psalm 38, where it is set before us: "And now, what is my endurance? Is it not the Lord?" And in Psalm 70: "the hope of all the ends of the earth." One must note the verse "my hope from my youth," which can indicate that the one who was reared from infancy according to God never had any other hope of God.

In addition to these things, you will say that from your youth God was a certain hope, from the time when, having put off the old man, you put on the new and young man, created according to God in holiness and knowledge of the truth. The phrase "From the womb, from my mother's belly" must be understood intelligently, since it does not signify the hour of birth, when the one being born was not yet moved rationally and piously; for it is written, "And Samuel, before he knew God," although he was raised piously by pious parents from his earliest days. For human children have a time from which they are able to be moved rationally. Great Moses says in the wilderness, "And all the children with us today, who do not know good or evil, shall enter into the land of promise." If, then, children do not know good or evil before the completion of the inner word, how could one in this age know God, so as also to be established upon him by choice? What is signified, then, is this: from the time I began to understand and to act, I dedicated the beginning of my understanding and acting to you, being established upon you and sheltered by you—by you who, after vice had begun, repents, since one who through piety has taken up the practice of being established upon God and sheltered by him cannot speak the verses before us, except only the one who has given himself over to God without interruption. This is shown also from the words of Job, who said, "But if I also ate my morsel alone and did not share it with orphans—if from my mother's womb I did not guide them and turn them as a father.

For no one who has a mind will suppose that from the very hour of his birth it is possible for what is said to be accomplished, since it then begins to come to be when the account is fulfilled according to which rational beings are such as those who say, "If we had forgotten the name of your God, if we had spread out our hands to a foreign god." If it is also possible to understand these verses of a spiritual birth, consider this: the one who is born through divine teaching and of water and the Spirit—in a manner corresponding to this birth, "womb" and "belly" are understood as that from which the one born spiritually has come forth. Every good and pious thing is accomplished with God. Therefore the one who confesses Jesus before men does this in him, so that he too may correspondingly be confessed by the Savior, who is in the one who confesses him. For since the Savior is righteousness and wisdom, sanctification and life and truth, the one who truly confesses him follows him, and through the voice of confession, being in the one who is confessed, he is shown to be righteous and wise in righteousness and wisdom, but also holy and living and true in sanctification and life and truth. As, then, he himself is in the one who participates, so also the one participated in is in the participant, inasmuch as we say that virtue is in the earnest man and the earnest man is in it. According to this meaning, the apostolic man was in Christ and had Christ in himself, where he says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation," and "Christ lives in me." Since this contemplation is universal, the one who hymns God is also in him, since the one who is hymned is also in the one who hymns.

While others hymn rulers as teachers of human learning and the learning itself, and still further extol little glories and wealth, our hymn is in you and in no other. A scripture is cited that reads thus: In you is my remembrance continually. According to both scriptures, then, "continually" must be understood as meaning that we have our hymn and our remembrance in God continuously and without interruption. Those who despise virtue and regard godliness as an abomination—sinners who loathe the earnest and lowly man—call him a monster. For they say among themselves, Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us. And since those who think and say such things are base in our eyes, reasonably he did not say simply "a monster" but that he has become a monster to the many, that is, to the more vulgar sort who shun virtue. But even if those men bring charges against me in the manner stated, yet you, being mighty, as a helper guard me unharmed by them. In this sense the apostle also says that we have become the offscouring of the world and the refuse of all men. In agreement with these is also the saying, We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise. From the same disposition is written also, For I think that God has exhibited us apostles last, as men doomed to death, and, We have become a spectacle to the world.

Such too is what was said by God to the sinners: And Ezekiel shall be a sign, as the prophet himself says, because of the things that happened through him in a symbolic manner above all—for instance, that he lay on his right side for so many days and again for so many on his left, and the shaving of the hair of his body. But if these things are also referred to the Savior, who seemed to the many to have become as it were a sign because of the cross, consider this as well. And well does he say As it were a sign; for none of those previously mentioned was such as he was supposed by the many. He deems worthy of praise that his word be fulfilled, a mouth being named. And the glory of God is either the opinion concerning him or his only-begotten Son; for it has been said concerning Christ that the glory of God would be seen at his coming. For the glory of God will be seen, his magnificence being understood as the order that is in providence and creation, since it displays much that is fitting, coming to be by a single command. For such also is the providential order to one who is able to say, I considered your works and was astonished; and consonant with the present passage is He put into my mouth a new song, a hymn to our God. In you is my hope from my youth. I exhort you to remain in this state until old age, not being cast away from you, since everyone who practices worthless things and acts lawlessly is cast away. Let this also be considered with respect to the meaning: since old age is honorable, not the long duration of time—the gray hair of the inner man being divine understanding, and old age being that of a life unstained through the highest virtue—

Since I am still in the state of progressing, I pray that I not be cast away but be cooperated with by your goodness, until I arrive at the time of the spotless life. For if Christ is the one who says, it follows upon "When an enemy reproached me, I endured it." For this is what he also says concerning Judas in the matters that follow. Since my enemies are put to shame by their having labored against me in vain, I add even now, praising you in a triumphal manner, to the preceding praise, concerning which I said, "In you is my remembrance continually." But those who said, "God has forsaken him," were slandering his soul. For the greatest slander against the one who is forsaken is shown in relation to "But I shall hope continually," he says, showing that he provided no place for any forsaking. In response to "God has forsaken him," he said, "But I shall hope continually." And when his enemies were unjustly murdering, wishing to surround him with destruction, having remained unharmed by them, he proclaims throughout his whole life (which is called a day) the righteousness and salvation of the Lord. And since, he says, I did not know some letter-learning of the law, for this reason I will not remain outside at the letter and the shadow, but I will enter in, according to the life-giving Spirit and the divine mind of the things written, reigning royally, since God has given it. Therefore I say, "I will remember your righteousness" alone, no longer concerning myself with the righteousness of the law according to the shadow, concerning which Paul, having become blameless according to the righteousness in the law, writes that all his former shadowy gains were loss and he considered them refuse because of the surpassing worth of knowledge.

These things and the wonders along with them have been brought about as the great deeds of the Most High, since the Savior became man. For when he was born of the virgin, a multitude of the heavenly host said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." For when good will had come to be among men, great peace prevailed, all the enemies on earth having been destroyed; but also glory in the highest has come to be, since saved men have their ascent as far as the highest. For how would those who have become perfect, as their Father in heaven is perfect, having come to be in unsurpassable holiness, not have God in themselves, who becomes all in all? And the Lord himself also says in the Gospels to his own Father, "I desire, Father, that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory." Since God in his goodness has allowed them to be tried by afflictions and evils for some benefit, turning again to himself he gives life, imparting life to those who have seen afflictions and evils through experience, so that even from the very abysses—that is, from the depth of circumstances—he may draw up the one who has been brought down. And since we have taken evils as corresponding to afflictions—the painful and injurious things—accordingly the

The giving of life will be understood according to the common life, and also the ascent from the abyss; for since the things that cause affliction, when stretched out, seem to put to death and to bring down into Hades, when the causes have reached their end, a person is given life by God and is brought up from the abysses of the earth. But the saint says these things not in his own person but in that of the human race, which had experienced however many evils and affliction before the coming of the Savior; after that experience the Lord turned toward us and came and gave life, giving his own soul as a ransom in our stead, so that everyone who believes in him and receives his teaching has eternal life; and he brought them up from the abysses of the earth—that is, from Hades—having been there after the laying aside of the body he had, for no other reason than to bring up those who had been led down there by their own sins. Since "From the abysses of the earth you brought me up" is added with the word "again"—if "abyss" means being sunk in adverse circumstances (as it is interpreted), it follows to understand that it is often the case that one is brought up from there by God, who always benefits (the testimony for this is what is cited thus: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver them from all of them"); but if "abyss" is taken in place of Hades, it is a task to say how one is brought up from there again; for as there is one entrance into life and one exit from it, it is necessary that those separated from the body, which they had, come to be in Hades once for all. Either, then, "again" is superfluous, or it will obtain consolation—but nothing superfluous or redundant belongs to divine things. So the understanding of it will be as follows:

Having given me life by your beneficence, but also having multiplied your righteousness upon me, again by your beneficence you brought me up from the abysses of the earth, not only by having given me life and having multiplied your righteousness upon me, but also by bringing me up from the lower regions. The instrument of psalmody is the psaltery, through which he says, I will give thanks to you, bringing forth the truth in thanksgiving, and according to which no one is like God, who gives life after evils and accomplishes every ensuing beneficence. To give thanks for the truth with an instrument of psalmody and to sing with a lyre, he promises to God, who is the Holy One of Israel. And he is called the Holy One of Israel as sanctifying him; for just as, if we say that there are holy ones of God, we present those who are sanctified by him, so when we call him holy, we signify whose is the thing being sanctified. And that this is so, consider what is said concerning Christ: Who was born for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption; for he has become wisdom to the wise, righteousness to those being justified, sanctification and redemption to those being sanctified and redeemed. Not here only is God called the Holy One of Israel, but also in the passage, You provoked the Holy One of Israel, clearly meaning those who sin. The rational soul is redeemed, Jesus having given as a ransom for it his own soul, and it is evidently rational. For just as, redeeming the bodies of men, he himself gave a body of the same substance on their behalf, so, redeeming rational souls, he set a rational soul on their behalf.

This psalm would not differ from Solomon, the father of Rehoboam, but from the spiritual one, called thus through the exchange of the name; for it is translated in the Greek tongue as "peaceful." And who is this but the one who says, "Jesus: My peace I give to you"? Concerning him the theologian writes, "For he himself is our peace," and "He proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near," having dissolved the enmity that divided Greeks from Hebrews, so that one flock and one people might be constituted from Gentiles and Jews. Thus, being shown to be peaceful through his works, he accomplished what was written: he is the one born according to the flesh from David, born of a virgin. At any rate it is written concerning him: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David." "He judges your people in righteousness" (clearly those of the circumcision) "and your poor in judgment"; and these are those from the Gentiles who come to the gospel, named poor because of their poverty from unbelief and wickedness. But consider also whether those moderate in disposition can be God's poor, according to "Blessed are the poor in spirit." He commands those more nobly endowed, who through virtue are called heights of mountains and hills, to take up peace toward the people. And if the mountains and hills are archangels and angels, the whole race of humans is the people to whom they are called to bring peace, since Jesus through the blood of the cross made peace for the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, when those on the earth were formerly at variance with those in the heavens because of wickedness.

Since, therefore, the Lamb of God who was crucified has been sacrificed, that he might take away the sin of the world, and the sin of those on earth has been loosed, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth are made peaceful, joy arising in the heavens before the angels over those who repent from sin. But if Moses and the prophets are signified by the mountains and hills, let them take up peace toward the people from the nations who disbelieved, knowing that they themselves foretold this calling. And further, since of those who possess virtue some have it more and some less, the ones who have it more, as being more thoroughly ordered in practice and knowledge of the truth, must be called mountains, while those who are inferior are reckoned hills. And it is the work of God, who has taken judgment and righteousness, to judge the poor of the people. And these are those who cling to the letter and the shadow of the law, always called poor because they have not possessed the sharp-sighted wealth according to the spiritual law, which those of the Jews who believed possess, among whom are also the apostles. In addition to this, he brings salvation upon the sons of the poor; and these are those who have come from idolatry to faith in Jesus, while those who begot them according to superstition are poor. Therefore he will save not them who remained in the polytheistic error, but their sons who have repented. When these have been rescued and saved by the judge who came also to save, the one who tyrannizes over all by false accusation is brought low, so as to be crushed under the feet of the saints.

For it has been said to the righteous man, "You shall trample the lion and the dragon," and to a man—but every slanderer—if it be said, "He will turn away slanders." The same as "He shall endure with the sun" is what was said to him, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek," and the same as "Before the moon, generation of generations" is "Before the age he founded me." "He shall endure with the sun" is said also concerning the flesh that he united to himself, animated by a rational and intelligent soul; for it endures with the sun of righteousness because of the indivisible union. But also before the moon, which has an analogy to the intelligible sun, there is a generation of generations for him, because through him and in him the church is established, composed of all men who have a generation. For these have existence from generation to generation by succession. It is presented from the Song of Songs that the church is like the moon; it is called thus: "Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, chosen?" Just as the rain coming upon the earth is the cause of good fruit, so the visitation of the Savior to men has come about for the sake of the fruits of righteousness. But it must be said that the fleece signifies Israel, and the earth indicates the Gentiles. Since first he came down upon the fleece, and then from there upon the earth. For when Israel disobeyed, so as not to receive the one who had come, there was a transition of the rain to the earth, so that all the men upon it might be moistened, or rather watered from the drops, in order to bring forth spiritual fruits. In the days of the

When the Savior had come, there shall arise light—practical virtue, which is righteousness—and with it the life that is constituted evangelically through faith in Jesus among the living, and the fitting peace possessing a great multitude, so as to extend even to the consummation of the world. For this is what the waning of the moon signifies. We were saying that the moon signifies the church. For the moon receives a spurious light from the sun and does not have it of itself, just as the church, as far as it is on earth, knows in part and is not wholly illuminated genuinely, being destined at some time to cease [to be] according to the sun, when the perfect... ceasing, is not wholly genuinely illuminated, then having become this according to the sun, when the perfect comes and face to face. For by the same reason that knowing in part is abolished, the state of surpassing knowledge will be established. Thus the lunar condition of the church will be abolished when it becomes according to the sun of righteousness, when the righteous who complete the church shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. According to the Song of Songs, the perfection of the bride: and the church itself, after much progress, shall be according to the sun. For who is this, it says, that looks forth like the dawn, having the beginning of illumination, after which she shall be as a full moon? For this is the... after which she shall be a wonder as the sun. You will understand it thus: when those from the Gentiles called Ethiopians, because of the blackness they had from impiety, fall down before the king in the manner of repentance, the enemies of the king—the Jews, at any rate—shall lick [the dust]. And it is well said that the Ethiopians fall down before him.

The genuine submission is shown by falling down before the King who sees hidden things. It is also possible that a sense of repentance appear in God's enemies through licking the dust; for this is the activity of those kneeling. And Tharsis is taken to mean "to look out for joy," while the friends of virtue and piety look out for joy, so that each of them might at some time be able to hear "Enter into the joy of your Lord." Since those who are contemplative in this way keep their gaze toward joy, the ruling kings will present the governed as gifts. And islands are also brought near. And these are souls, which hold fast firmly and immovably, even if the sea foams and stirs up tempests. To these the Savior says, "Be renewed, islands, to me," being made new by the newness of the Spirit, bearing the new man who was created according to God. In addition to these kings, those of the Arabians and of Saba will also bring as gifts those who come toward the west of the evil life, so that the light of the impious be darkened by them. And one could say that he who is falsely transformed into an angel of light is also included, even to the point of deceiving the sun. For Arabians is interpreted as "west" and "evening." Along with these Arabians, repentance is also offered by more others—Saba; and the name is taken to mean "conversion." It is possible to understand that the teachers of all the nations, the apostles and disciples and their successors, worship him and offer gifts; for they offer to God as gifts the people who are won by them.

But if each of the faithful also brings gifts—praiseworthy deeds and a true mind—as kings present their own gifts to the one and only King of all. And his name is written as honored before them, since he delivered them from so many evils. The holy men, having learned that none of created things will redeem men from the evil condition that holds them—since all had turned aside and together become worthless—kept sending up prayer continually and without ceasing to the Father concerning the one able to rescue from the hand of the mighty and who would be the cause of eternal salvation, sometimes saying, Show us, Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation, and sometimes, Send forth your light and your truth. And concerning his sending they also prayed at the beginning of the present psalm, saying, O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king's son. And they glorify him through the whole day—that is, either of the present age or of the illumined life of those who bless him. The outgoings of these mountains are the issues of the earlier declarations, upon which the one foretold has become a support in the earth. For the faithful men whom Jesus made fruitful through his visitation have both a multitude and a greatness of deeds and contemplations; and the testimony of this is, The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall be multiplied like the cedar that is in Lebanon.

For when the fruit of the foundation of all things has been multiplied and lifted up, those Jews who disbelieved the Savior will blossom out of the city of Jerusalem like grass from the earth, so called because of being easily withered and quickly dried up, and quite rightly so. Since they have become flesh in their mindset by disbelieving the Savior and by receiving glory from one another and not seeking the glory that is given by God alone, they will blossom out of the city like grass from the earth; for all flesh is grass and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass. For he did not say they will blossom but will blossom out. And it is well said that they blossom out of the city and not in the city, like grass, those of whom the word speaks. For having hastened to be outside the spiritual city Jerusalem in life and mindset, they have been dried up like the grass that easily withers and quickly dries, while the one remaining within the city will suffer nothing of the sort; for the one who dwells in Jerusalem will not be shaken forever. The tribes that have been blessed in him, being the nations, call blessed the one who blessed them, saying: Blessed is the Lord, the God of the discerning race, who alone has done marvelous things, having freed us from idolatry and from the service of accursed demons; for truly each of the things that happened for the calling of the nations is marvelous. And let the added word "alone" not disturb you; for it does not contradict "The Son cannot do anything unless he sees the Father doing it; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does likewise." For the word "alone" and such expressions, when taken in reference to the Godhead, make clear the Father and the Son, as is established from the prophet.

where it is said to the Father, "And the Sabaean men, lofty ones, shall pass over to you and shall worship you and shall pray in you, because God is in you and there is no God besides you; for you are God, and we did not know, the God of Israel, the Savior." But what is the glory whose name is blessed, which he accomplished when he came, making the repentant among men glorious and honored out of dishonored and inglorious? It is possible to call his glory also the celebrated death which he undertook for the salvation of all things; for "Jesus" was not yet glorified, and "We see Jesus, who was made lower, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death." *** But if that is also his glory whose name is blessed forever, concerning which Paul writes, "The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us," consider this. For we find this especially, and the proclamation concerning it, hymned forever, when Peter said: "Thus says the witness of his sufferings, and the partaker of the glory that is to be revealed." And "Israel" is interpreted as "seeing God." Therefore, understanding what they see, they know that he is good. And even if he presents something gloomy and unpleasant to men, they know that he does this profitably and for salvation, and their steps are not shaken, inasmuch as they have passed over and advanced. 764 Since those about whom the discourse is concern are involved not only in practical vice but also in impiety, they are accordingly clothed with injustice and with moral vice in general, and together with this with impiety, impiously thinking about all the doctrines.

And the statement that their injustice shall come forth as from fat means that when it comes forth, it is then practically accomplished, no longer remaining in thoughts alone. They passed over into a disposition of heart: having first disposed themselves toward wickedness, they did not establish the evil for themselves alone, but desired also to be harmful to others; whence, after passing over into a disposition of wickedness, devising in malice, they spoke deceitfully as though of good things. They were lifted up, he says, so as even to speak unjust things against God and to slander his creation and his providence—such as are those who attribute to the course of the stars the things that come about by choice, who also deify the stars and, setting the creation beside the Creator, set their mouth against heaven. They were brought down, or rather they were dashed down, since they sharpened their tongue against the Most High so that it passed over the earth, so that all who hear may know that they philosophize vainly and impiously against God and his providence. When the impious had spoken proud things, the people of God found an occasion of turning back, desiring to enjoy the luminous contemplations which the Word calls days. And the phrase "Here, where the one who says this is God" is like what was said to Moses: "But as for you, stand here with me." Those who wish to cast out providence and who have spoken injustice to the height bring forward such arguments as these: how can God know human affairs? For does he not have a perceptive, organ-based power? For does his understanding not receive impressions of things seen and heard, so that, having known them, he may also dispose of them providentially and at the same time royally, as he wills? But having first said, "How shall God know?

They confess to know God, but they are ignorant of the manner of that knowledge. After this, they even say that they do not know him, when they say, "Is there knowledge in the Most High?" But they have gone astray in thinking that he has a disposition according to quality. For he is the father of wisdom and truth and divine knowledge. At any rate it is said, "God is the Lord of knowledges," and "He who teaches man knowledge," and "The Lord knows the thoughts of men." And how he who exists both teaches and gives is left aside, but it belongs to an envious passion to wish each person to obtain things according to worth, while the truly wise man places good fortune and misfortune not in pleasant or painful things, but the one in the possession of virtue and piety, the other in the deprivation of these. Since, then, unpleasant and painful things happen to both, they no longer happen to the one as to the pious and to the other as to sinners. This is what is established by the present passage, so that after the disturbing things have been stated, a pious solution may be brought in. God says such a thing in Malachi: "You have weighed down my words against me, and you said, 'In what have we spoken against you?' And you said, 'Vain is he who serves God; and behold, we call strangers blessed, and all who do lawlessness are built up; they have opposed God and been saved,' since we who serve him have nothing more than they, although suppliants go before his face." And to those who say these things he adds afterward: "You said, 'Everyone who does evil is good before him, and in them he himself was well pleased.'" ...concerning the coming age, that lawless and impious men will be punished, while the righteous will receive divine promises.

It is possible to understand "And I was scourged all day long" in this sense: having said "Surely in vain I justified my heart," and the rest, and recognizing that he ought not to have said this when disturbed, he was scourged by the reasoning of piety all day long, being reproved and rebuked by it. In agreement with what is set before us is also "I saw the wicked exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found." For God has brought to nothing the image of the earthly man, not allowing him to enter the heavenly city; for this belongs to those who have the image of the heavenly man. And it is written also that "My heart was glad," clearly when it had ceased from the disturbance caused by thinking that there is no providence, and changing to the other side. Rightly is it said, "I became like a beast before you." For in comparison with the Father of wisdom and the God of knowledge, all created beings are ignorant, according to what was said by Moses, who saw God the Word: "I am not eloquent." For how would not even the most eloquent man be found speechless in comparison with the Word? In this way it was said again by the same Moses: "I am not sufficient, before yesterday and the third day, since you began to speak to your servant; I am weak of voice and slow of tongue.

For he did not say simply "slow of speech and slow of tongue" and that he was not sufficient for himself before ** for he was eloquent ** but with ** "from the time I began to speak to your servant" *** In this way also Abraham said to the Creator, "Since I began to speak to the Lord, I am earth and ashes," which he did not know before speaking to God. And it is presented through "I became," as though he were not even disturbed by sin among men, but rather that he does not view these things in such a way as one who brings them upon his own wisdom and providence. It is not the part of just anyone to say "I am always with you," but only of one who possesses virtue and piety in an ordered and even manner, of one who succeeds by stages. 771 Since God is not in a place, no one is separated from him in a local sense, but by relation and disposition: the unjust and wicked is conceived as far from the righteous and good and cause of all things; and since drawing near to him saves the one who approaches by the acquisition of virtue, departing from him through having vice and impiety brings destruction. Being far from God is the same as sinning. Therefore it has been reasonably said: "Behold, those who distance themselves will perish"—not those who have distanced themselves, since those who have sinned are not destroyed by sinning if they set a limit through repentance. In this way also "the one who does" but not "the one who did" sin is a slave of it. Though many have stirred up long and more numerous arguments about the essence of the good, the wise man set forth its existence through brevity, saying that it is properly good to cleave to God and to place one's hope in him.

If indeed the gates of Zion are virtues and introductions to perfection, then the daughter of Zion is every soul that has come to be according to her and is named in relation to her. It is asked what is the reason for her falling under those who surround her, so that by hindering her they may have her accompanying them and the things that are present because of her. God rejects the one who sins, since that one first cut himself off; for "the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out," said the Lord. Do not suppose that the anger and wrath of God are like ours—far be the absurdity! For in God there is no human passion, but through the words spoken he hints at the excessive turning away which he says his sheep of his pasture endure. And the pasture of God is the oracles of the Spirit, the law and the prophets, in which, like a shepherd, he pastures the righteous as sheep. Every way of life of human beings is taken as a sea, viewed in a higher sense. This God strengthened in his own power, so as to bring it from greater storm and most violent surge into calm and stillness, so that those who tread it may walk as through dry land, according to what was said: "He turns the sea into dry land." Therefore the Savior shattered many dragons with many heads, and also one with many heads, upon the water—water being understood as evil, or as the unstable and troubled affairs of life. For in such water the dragons work harmfully, and the one who surpasses them, about whom it is written that he is king over all those in the waters and that he dwells in the sea. For this is the great and spacious sea.

Showing the disturbance of affairs and the wickedness, he says: In this place small creatures with great ones swim and ships pass through, to mock the dragon in it, which was formed for this purpose. There are more dragons, whose heads are crushed; these are the rulers of this age who promise wisdom, and with them principalities and authorities, the world-rulers of this world, and besides these the spiritual forces of wickedness and the whole crowd of demons and opposing powers. And the heads of these dragons are divinations, sorceries, auguries, and whatever contributes to idolatry—but also false opinions and abominable deeds. It is the work of the Savior alone to crush the heads of the dragons mentioned, not from elsewhere but where they seemed to have strength. Then, since he shattered not only the heads of the dragon but also put the whole of him to death, he gave him as food to the peoples, the Ethiopians. For it was fitting that no others be filled with his flesh and parts than the peoples of the Ethiopians, who through ignorance are sons of darkness and night. For just as all the sons of light are nourished by the flesh of Jesus, which is true food, so that from the very use of the food they are enlightened and made whiter than snow, so the children of darkness, the Ethiopians in the inner man, will be fed on the dragon's flesh (the forms of wickedness and false opinion), when they are handed over to the desires of their hearts for uncleanness and further to passions of dishonor and a reprobate mind.

He began from the fifth spring of the enumeration to show that the year begins from the fifth spring, the month of the new things beginning from the spring equinox, which Moses announced as the beginning of months and the first among the months of the year. The enemy reproaching the Lord is the devil, and the foolish people is the crowd of the other invisible and wicked powers. The enemy Caiaphas the high priest reproached Christ the Savior, and the foolish people of the Jews provoked his name, crying out, "Crucify, crucify him." What is set before us is not true when taken of perceptible beasts. For many perfect men, witnesses of the truth, were devoured by beasts. One must say, then, that a soul that confesses will not be delivered to those beasts about which it is written, "Israel is a wandering sheep; lions drove him out." The Lord shattered the jaws of these lions. One of these is Satan, as Peter the apostle writes: "Your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." And the poor of God can be those who for his sake have abstained from wealth, according to those who said, "Behold, we have left all things and followed you," while in another sense his poor are those who in false doctrine have cast away the wealth of vice. But whether those now called the poor of God are themselves the poor in spirit, consider. After these things he entreats God to look upon the covenant which he made with the fathers around Abraham, so as not entirely to abandon those of his seed; and one must say that those darkened in the land have been filled with dwellings of lawlessness; for these draw near in the land.

Therefore they have a life in an earthly tent, their much-considering mind darkened through ignorance. 778 If to corrupt and to destroy means in many places in the divine Scripture to sin, then incorruptibility and the possessing of it signifies virtue; for, it says, Grace be with those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility. And since the one who began a good work must also complete it, that is, bring it to its end, it is said, Unto the end do not destroy, fleeing corruption until the end, so that no one may remain in it but may remain in incorruptibility. And this is a great achievement, whence a Psalm of Ode is sent up at its completion. Having reached the end of not destroying, with incorruptibility achieved, we will give thanks to you, O God, as the cause of the good things that have existed and been achieved; for with you and from you these things are confirmed. And in addition to the good things already achieved, we wish to receive others as well; for not yet are we perfect; we will give thanks for the things that have existed, and we will call upon your name in order to receive others besides. But if those who give thanks and call upon him are perfect, they give thanks for what they have received in full, calling upon him for their own protection, so that the things given by the heavenly Father to those who asked him may remain with them until the end. And Didymus also explained these things in like manner. To dwell in the land is for the most part taken as a reproach, just as to sojourn is taken as praise; for, it says, Woe upon all who dwell in the land, and From the face of the north evils shall be kindled against those who dwell in the land.

Since, therefore, dwelling on the earth is a base thing, it happens that they grow fat from setting their minds on earthly things and doing the works of the flesh that have been enumerated, and from being subject to the mind of the flesh, which is hostile to God because of dwelling on the earth. This fatness that comes from wickedness, by which the heart of the accused people grew fat, the fiery teaching of the Savior melts away, concerning which he said, "I came to cast fire upon the earth." And since wickedness must be consumed not only by what melts it but also by the free choice of those held fast by it, it is commanded to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit and to walk by the Spirit, "so that you do not fulfill the desire of the flesh." And the pillars of that earth which has been melted he calls those who have a well-strung and true mind, or the heralds of the truth, whom the Savior, establishing them in the house of God, makes firm, being himself in this order. Having made firm the pillars of the church, he exhorted the rest not to transgress the law. And this might be said against the order that set itself up and exalted itself against Christ, on account of whom their earth was melted and all who dwell in it. Moreover, to the nations throughout the whole inhabited world he testified through the apostles not to transgress the law nor to speak injustice against God by attending to the polytheistic error. And from the outset, "dwelling on the earth" is generally taken as a reproach, just as "sojourning" is taken as praise. For he says, "Woe to all who dwell on the earth," and, "From the face of the north evils shall be kindled against those who dwell on the earth.

For the one who sets his mind on the things of the earth and does the works of the flesh is made fat, since his mind is enmity against God because of his dwelling on the earth, according to the words "He was made fat, he was broadened, he grew sleek"; such were those who shut up their fat in the earth, and of whom it is said, "Their injustice shall go forth as from fat." But such fatness that comes from evil the fiery teaching of the Savior melts away, when he said, "I came to cast fire upon the earth." But since evil must be consumed also by our own choice and not by the melting agent alone, we are commanded to put to death the deeds of the body and to walk in the Spirit, so that we may not fulfill the desire of the flesh. But he strengthens the pillars of the earth that has been melted—those who have a well-toned life and a true mind, or rather the heralds of the truth, of whom it is said, "The pillars of heaven were spread abroad," having been winged with heavenly wings, so that it is said of them, "As is the heavenly one, such also are the heavenly ones." And it is written also concerning the whole glorious church which Christ presented to himself: "a pillar and ground of the truth." All these pillars, then, the Savior strengthens, establishing them in this order in the house of God, saying, "I will lay the foundation of my holy house." And he calls it desolate of virtue and piety. And the sign of their wickedness is that they try to avert him by sacrifices, as though he were harmed unless he received a libation and smoke and the fat of burnt offerings; but the pious, who know God, are free from the belief in fate and from sorcery. 783 Didymus says likewise.

The faithful, being pious, know that the works of providence are not led from the rising and setting of stars, nor by wicked overseers, but from God: He himself establishes kings and deposes them, he raises the poor from the earth and lifts the needy from the dung heap. Consider whether it is also possible to take the verse concerning the people from the Gentiles and from the circumcision, when the one from the circumcision has been humbled and the one from the Gentiles exalted. An opposition seems to be signified by the cup being full of mixed drink, since it contains unmixed wine. But the unmixed does not conflict with the mixed drink; for the word "unmixed" is homonymous, sometimes indicating wine itself, so that it makes no difference to say wine or unmixed, and at other times it represents wine that has no admixture with water. It also represents a third meaning, when a mixture has been made of wine and water and the wine prevails, we call the mixture unmixed. The third meaning, then, is what the present passage indicates, since God mingles with the mixture his mercy and kind disposition toward those being judged, so that the one being punished is not punished as he deserves for what he did, since nothing would stand if God, observing the sins that were committed, brought on the judgment according as the lawless one is punished. This cup in the hand of God is tilted from one side to the other, because the one who is to be punished is often justified by repentance for the evils he did, and the one who seemed for a little while to be good falls away.

Nevertheless, even if he inclines from this to that, the dregs are not poured out upon men, but upon the sinners of the earth, and upon the devil and the abominable demons. When those who speak unjustly against God have been convicted and the consequences of those who follow them have been fulfilled, I give thanks that I was not found liable for any of the charges. Therefore I will also exult and sing forever to the God of the patriarch Jacob, who has given me strength as he gave to him, for the crushing of all the horns of the sinners, which they used against the weaker, being bulls that gore with horns. Who these are was made clear in the verse, The congregation of bulls among the heifers of the peoples. Having said this, he did not add, And my horns shall be exalted, but, The horns of the righteous man. This is customary for the saints because of their inherent humility; and they teach that it belongs to every man who is righteous in Christ, having crushed the horns of the sinners, that his horn be exalted. It is well said, moreover, that in the plural the sinners are those whose horns are crushed, but in the singular the righteous man whose horns are exalted. For every sinner is a multitude, since evils do not coexist with one another as virtues are found following one another, because there are mean states. And so, even if many men possess righteousness (and this is the universal virtue), they are called righteous in the singular.

To know and the object of knowledge are not the same thing, since the object of knowledge exists even when it is unknown, whenever it can be known in a way that is possible. Since, therefore, in the manner stated, God is known in Judea, consequently in Israel, who inhabits Judea, his name is great—I mean the name of the one who is known. In every way we must drive off the disturbance of the passions and the war of the vices, so that, having the peace that surpasses all understanding, we may become a place of God. For in this way we will also be his dwelling place, having set before ourselves to be observant of the truth and of virtue; for his dwelling place is in Zion that has been assigned. What has been said will be applied to the holy church, which is a place of God, established in peace and his dwelling place. For it says, "Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion." And since these things have been accomplished not by our own power but by the grace of God, the word, referring the cause of peace to him, says, "There he broke the powers of the bows, weapon and sword and war." For in this way peace has come to exist, in which is the place of God, when the powers of the bows have been broken, from which the evil one, sending his fiery arrows, produced passions and disordered movements, of which he was also the cause. Together with the bows mentioned, the kindred weapons and the sword are broken, and together with

Those who use them are called war; for the Lord is the one who crushes wars. And the holy men, looking to the eternal mountains—that is, thenceforth the things not seen and eternal—are enlightened by God in various ways with the light of the knowledge of Christ: before his coming, through the prophets and Moses; after it, through apostles and evangelists, so that those who are enlightened become light, as Paul says: "God, who said, 'Out of darkness light shall shine,' has shone in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God." And he added "wonderfully" to "enlightening," because, while others promise knowledge and enlightenment by this means, God enlightens more paradoxically unto knowledge and wisdom, leading them through revelations and visions, wonderfully from the mountains that have been mentioned. And if, as has been said, the Scripture is also Judea, its lofty contemplations and the doctrines of piety are the mountains of it, and from these too God wonderfully enlightens those who come to the knowledge of the truth. And in many places of Scripture the intelligible mountains are also the angels, from which again God enlightens, sending them for ministry for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation. And to each of the editions will fit "Draw near to the eternal mountains," commanded by God to those who desire piety, while the understanding are benefited by the virtue present to them. For good understanding is to all who do it. The unintelligent are disturbed by passions and vice, and sometimes also by deceivers, both perceptible and imperceptible, according to "Their unintelligent heart was darkened." For to be darkened and to be disturbed are the same thing.

For each of these indicates ignorance, since in both cases the mind is darkened. But God is said to be the God of Jacob—of the ascetic, the manly, and the righteous—for the conviction of the one who, through his own slackness, falls away from these things and is made liable to reproofs. It has been said by some that bodies are, as it were, chariots and horses of souls. Mounted on these horses in a pleasure-loving way, they receive the beginning of sleep, being dragged down into reprehensible sleep—while those who subdue the body and enslave it with knowledge sit upon the horses. One may indeed see in Scripture that the rider is for the most part named in a reprehensible sense, as also in the prophet Zechariah there is a threat of God: And I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness; and in Moses: Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea—and the horseman is also received in a praiseworthy sense; for Elisha said to Elijah: Father, the chariot of Israel and its horseman; and it is announced to the Savior: Mount upon your horses, and your horsemanship is salvation. No one of the poor is able to withstand God when he is angry, since he instills fear in those who are judged by overlooking nothing, insofar as he is the knower of hearts. At any rate, those who hold their account to him as to a judge say: If you should mark iniquities, Lord, Lord, who will stand? Nevertheless, even if no one will be able to withstand his anger, since he is fearsome, yet he himself, through his inherent goodness, judges with mercy: For mercy and judgment I will sing to you, Lord. From heaven he makes judgment heard, judging by the principle of providence so that each thing may come to be for its own proper benefit.

This agrees with the preceding text, which in the prophecy of Amos reads thus: "The Lord who makes judgment on high and has set righteousness on the earth." For insofar as he is in heaven, he makes every judgment on high; but insofar as he gives hearing from heaven, sending forth judgment to those on the earth, he has set righteousness on the earth, being the end of judgments. The hidden thought of man is a matter of concern. The one who keeps this pure will give thanks to God with gratitude. Then he will celebrate by doing what is beneficial, and he will be able to think what is true. But if "he will give thanks" also signifies the confession of sins, the understanding of the preceding text will be as follows: since the one who wishes to be perfectly holy must be pure not only in deeds and words, but must also confess even the slightest thought, condemning himself. This can be made clear from "Cleanse me from my hidden things." If, then, confession is also made concerning such a thought as this, so as not to be suspected that perhaps it does not exist, then the remnant of man's thought, having been found free from all evil, will henceforth celebrate—either because the doubt concerning it has been removed, its purity having been demonstrated, the saint celebrates, not at one time yes and at another no, but continuously and always, knowing the truth and acting according to righteousness. For this is truly a festival, according to the apostle who said: "Therefore let us celebrate, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Being fearful among the kings of the earth, he drowned Pharaoh, he pursued Nebuchadnezzar among men, changing his mind so that he had his dwelling with beasts; he took away the spirit from Saul, who, having despised Samuel, transgressed the covenant of God. For it is written, "The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord choked him," sent upon him by judgment and decree. But if these things are also to be understood concerning leaders of the church, consider the divinely inspired Scripture. For Paul, having called the elders of Miletus, said to them, "Take heed to yourselves and to the flock in which the Holy Spirit of God set you as bishops," and after other things, "And from among you some will arise speaking perverse things"—clearly, the divine Spirit of this fearful judge removing them. But when the one who speaks is far distant from the one to whom the word is addressed, a raised voice is needed. Since, therefore, the created essence is separated from the one who made it, there is need of a cry according to the mind. He calls him God because he made all things, and Lord because he rules over the things that came to be from him. But one might also say that the Father is God and the Son is Lord. And the day of affliction for the one who speaks is either his whole life or the present age, in which he seeks God in order to be rescued, calling upon him as one might call a physician in the case of a troublesome disease. He seeks him by action and disposition, not being deceived like those who are ignorant of the outcome of circumstances, as Saul was deceived when he went to the medium. But the saint, insofar as he is troubled, seeks God in the ignorance of circumstances called night, according to what is in Isaiah...

My soul refused to be comforted by any mortal, since the remembrance of God is sufficient for every consolation. To this end you will also take the saying in Isaiah: In affliction I remembered the Lord. According to the custom of the many, the word I have spoken much (ēdoleschēsa) indicates something blameworthy, but according to Scripture it is also used of one who is praiseworthy; for instance, Anna, who prayed genuinely to God and was called by the priest's servant to remain at her prayer, answers: Out of the abundance of my much speaking I have continued until now. And concerning Isaac also: that he went out to meditate in the field. But you will take as blameworthy: The lawless have told me of their much speaking. So whenever this word occurs in the divine oracles, attending to the sequence and to the person speaking, we will understand the word either in a better sense or in a bad one. Now, then, both the person and the word are praiseworthy, the spirit indicating that the soul has become faint-hearted; for thus also Stephen said: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit; but having been brought low because of the enemies pressing upon him, he gave himself over to God. My eyes anticipated the watches. Another reading is transmitted thus: All my enemies anticipated the watches. Since many watches were around me, I kept the commandment that says: With all watchfulness keep your heart. All my enemies anticipated them, as far as it depended on my having become faint-hearted; for not one but many, or rather all at once, were filled against me. Therefore, having seen them become too strong, I came in some fore-feeling to endure as it were a disturbance, but I did not utter anything disturbing, nor in any disposition

I have become disturbed, for the matters of judgment belonging to my former affection were not at all present in the fear that arose from passion. At any rate, I uttered none of the things that those who have been made cowardly are accustomed to say. But if the guards are spoken of in the masculine, he will say that all the reasonings which I ought to have stationed around myself for my protection—all my enemies anticipated them, suggesting destructive and harmful reasonings in place of those who guard. But let these things be said concerning invisible enemies. And if the watches are also called the divisions of the night (if it should happen, he says, that one is filled with sleep the whole night, according to Ephraim), all the enemies will seize these watches beforehand; for they will not sleep unless they do evil. When these things happened to me, he says, I roused myself to remember the former things and the many circumstances that had seized me beforehand (not only me but also my fathers in virtue), from all of which the Lord delivered both me and them; for which reason I have also become more cheerful to endure to the end, so that I may obtain salvation as a prize for such contests. For the one who endures to the end, this one will be saved. For having reasoned through the ancient days and remembered and meditated on the eternal years, I often found both myself and the rest of mankind falling into such perplexity as to despair of salvation and abandon every hope; but when confidence in God has arisen, every resource has appeared in the midst of perplexities that have overtaken us. You will remember the things set before you when the Hebrew multitude came to the shores of the sea.

For when no good hope remained there, God suddenly provided breadth in narrow places and abundance in difficulties. Since this whole life is called night because of the ignorance of matters that prevails, I did not, like other people, give myself over to sleep and torpor, but roused myself to soberness and watchfulness. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. With my heart, that is, with my mind, I conversed with myself about what must be done and about the natures of matters (for having understood that present things are temporary), I learned that the evils that beset me will have an end. And I was digging at my spirit with the skill of a farmer, wishing to sow in it, so that from it I might reap eternal life. For the one who sows into the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. But it must not be supposed that the word "spirit" is used synonymously, but homonymously in the present passage and in the one set down earlier. For there the soul was called spirit, but here it is the spirit of the man that is in him. For if here too the spirit is spoken of in place of the soul, who is the one digging at his spirit and conversing with his heart? For it is not possible for the body to do these things. The soul, then, is that which is also properly the human being, both conversing with the mind and digging at the spirit that is yoked together with the mind. For I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will sing praise with the mind also. For it would be destruction always to depart from the goodness that is according to nature, since the essence no longer remains, if any of the things that exist according to nature were taken away from it.

For formerly I saw him well-pleased to help and consenting to those who asked, and I meditated on ancient days. Surely, then, his goodness did not stop at those generations, nor did he cease to be well-pleased thereafter? Far be it. For his mercy is not cut off from the former generation, nor does it fail to reach the one to come. For this is the opinion of those who think that his mercy will have an end, if he benefits and shows mercy in one generation but not in another. For he will not forget to have compassion, just as fire and light will not forget to illuminate and warm. For even if through a temporary anger caused by sin he seems to restrain his mercies, yet they will not be restrained forever. Even though many distressing things that happened around me cast me into confusion, and the things described in all the preceding words followed, yet when I attended to the matters I observed that God is not thrust away forever, nor does he do the other things that have been recounted, so that I in some way began another beginning of life. For in addition to all that I have gone through, I said, "Now I have begun," since all the things that troubled and frightened me had changed, so that I became bold for the rest. This change, then, being in quality (for I have passed from one disposition to another), is an alteration, and it was not another that effected it, but the right hand of the Most High. For this also provided these thoughts and cooperated in my being altered. This meditation is like the good one from above; for it is good for a person often to speak of the wonderful works of God.

Since God dwells and walks about in the saints, in each of the saints he has his own path, traveling through the mind of each one. And since his Word is called a path (for he says, I am the way), and his Word is in no base thing insofar as he is a path, but only in the saints, the voice set before us is reasonably spoken. "Great" is said of an intelligible essence by excellence of power, not by quantity. Therefore no God is found great as our God. And it calls gods not the statues nor the demons (for both of these are called gods), but those whom the word of God, having come to them, made gods. For these are not sources of divinity but partakers. And the present passage is spoken to the Savior, as what follows will show, since he is the Son of the great God and Father, because he is the Son of the great God. With the article the Savior is called God, so that he may be shown to be other than those to whom it was said, I said, You are gods; hence none of them, as though excelling his fellows, is called God with the article. Such also is the saying, The only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, because he alone is God by essence; for none of the others is only-begotten, but is God together with fellows. According to the same divinity as the only-begotten God, the Father also is God. At any rate it was said to the Savior (his divinity and the Father's being one), God is in you, and there is no God besides you; for you are God, and we did not know.

For how, if God is in him, is there no God besides him, and he himself is God, unless we understand the same divinity of Father and Son, so that Father and Son are one God, and Son and Father are not one? For the Father is Father of the Son, and the Son is Son of the Father; hence also the saying, I and the Father are one, since I and the Father is said consequently in the "we are one," the Son no longer saying "I and God"; for the Father is other than the Son, but God is not other, because the same divinity belongs to the begotten and the begetter. The Savior made known his power in both peoples, the one from the Gentiles and the one from the circumcision, doing many marvelous things and wonders among them; for power went out from him and he healed all. But also by his arm (I mean by his energy and action) he redeemed his own people, the one united from the two, having tasted death by the grace of God for every man, giving his soul as a ransom in exchange for many; for by his precious blood we were redeemed from our futile conduct inherited from our fathers. And the peoples in whom he made known his power are those whom he also united into one people which he redeemed, the sons of Jacob and Joseph—those from the circumcision who believe being called sons of Jacob, and those from the Gentiles sons of Joseph. For Joseph is interpreted as "addition of the Lord"; for God truly added to those being saved from the circumcision the believers from the Gentiles. And "you made known" does not signify the beginning of being known but what is recognized and acknowledged; for having said, "He who does marvelous things," he acknowledges these things through these words.

When the Savior appeared on earth, the earth—that is, the affairs upon the earth—underwent shaking and trembling, since the laws held among all peoples and the gods revered by the superstitious were being overturned together with the oracles through which the demons deceived them; but also since men who through passion were united to earthly things were being transferred to the Word, Christ, the earth underwent convulsion and trembling. And the sea, this present life, Jesus alone, being God, traversed, so as to leave footprints and tokens of the way, that those who wish to follow him may follow after; for he says, Your paths are in many waters, and your footprints shall not be known, because the account of his journey is incomprehensible. And the sheep of Christ were led by God in action (symbolically called the hand) of the spiritual law and of the priestly word. And Christ has become both for us, himself being the spiritual law, the mystagogue and great high priest of the spiritual initiation of God, who has passed through the heavens. He signifies to Moses the law, and Aaron the high priest; therefore they are also brothers, being sons of divine providence, which gave birth to this law and to the priestly word suited to it; for by its will these good things have existed for men.

For the present, he can call the whole of the old Scripture "law." But if the word "law" is taken to mean the commanding and forbidding word in the verse before us, he enjoins them to attend to the law, so that those who have received the command may have their affairs set right, choosing the good and fleeing the base. Those who have the mind of Christ heard these things and understood them spiritually; for they were not hidden from them, since the fathers explained them to them with knowledge. And these men in turn made known to their own children, begotten by them through instruction, the things set forth from the beginning, so that they might be known and not hidden even to their succeeding generation. For the one who becomes with God in spirit is made trustworthy and confirmed in spirit from the very fact of understanding God. And "spirit" here must be thought to mean the understanding, according to what was said concerning the virgin, that she was holy in spirit and body; for in these words he calls "spirit" the very mind and disposition, from which, when it has been sanctified, it follows that the body too is sanctified, being served by sanctifying energies. But consider also whether the soul itself is here called "spirit." The manna had been given before the disputing; the psalm says that both the manna and the flesh were given after the disputing. But this would not be a question. For the psalm joins together things that happened at different times, gathering one disputing that occurred at different times under a single cause. For if someone supposed the first disputing to be the one before the making of the tabernacle, in the second month of the exodus, he does not set that account alongside the psalm at the right time.

For at that time the water from the rock had not yet been given, nor indeed had the punishment of fire followed—things which also happened to those who were being tested for the first time and who disbelieved, not unreasonably, somewhat regarding the paradoxical gift of food, and who were fainthearted because they did not immediately obtain abundance. Therefore not even Moses grew weary at the faintheartedness of the people. But in the second dispute concerning the meat, Moses too now bears it with difficulty; and reasonably the punishment from God came upon them at that time, and they were consumed by fire. They ought to have believed from what had been done before—they who did not believe in the divine power—and they ought to have hoped for salvation from him—they who were not hoping. But one must also speak in the way of spiritual interpretation thus: in the wilderness of the Son, where great ignorance of matters prevails. Having divided and separated his most solid word, which is called a rock, he became a great watering for those who are benefited, so that the flowing water is compared to an abyss because of its boundlessness in depth and breadth. For the water brought forth from this rock, as

Rivers were brought down. And the rivers are those about which the Savior said, "He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, out of his spiritual belly"—that is, the belly according to the inner man—"shall flow rivers of living water." And the writer says, "He spoke this concerning the Spirit which those who believe were about to receive." For the water of these rivers is brought forth from the rock about which Paul says, "They drank from the spiritual rock that followed; and the rock was Christ." Therefore Christ himself, insofar as he is the rock, said concerning the water of the rivers, "Because he shall receive from mine and shall declare all things to you." And they added still more to sin against him—not that all who sin sin against God, but only those who have known his will and do not do it. Indeed David also, not being ignorant of God's will, said, "Against you only have I sinned." Or perhaps the sin of those who sin in matters of ethics is committed against men, while the sin of those who speak evil of God and his providence, being a kind of impiety, runs up against God. For if someone sins against a man, he will also pray for him; but if someone sins against the Lord God, who will pray for him? Indeed, then, it is added that they provoked the Most High in a waterless place, being deprived of the spiritual waters; for they turned away from the water of the aforementioned rock. And being in a waterless place, they did nothing of the things that sweeten the goodness of God. But the things accomplished and contemplated according to virtue and wisdom sweeten it.

They tested him in their hearts, not superficially but from the depth of their own governing faculty, thinking against God and doubting about his power—doubting, that is, to ask for food for their souls, not for those souls that have come to be according to the image and likeness of God (for these are fed with the bread of life and the fruit of the tree of life), but for those that change over into flesh because they are attached to material things, longing not for beneficial and healthy foods but for pleasant and disease-producing ones. Or perhaps the soul that longs for foods is the desiring and appetitive power in us, namely reason. For it has been said concerning this: "And you shall eat meat, as much as your soul desires." This power is shared also by the irrational animals, since they too long for and desire food. And they spoke against God and said, "Will God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness," and the rest? But he also gave bread from heaven that came down, and he prepared a table before his people. Wisdom said, "She has set out her own victims; she has prepared her own house, having mixed her wine in a bowl"; and none of the unbelievers shall taste of them. You will apply this to the saying: "For I tell you, none of those men shall taste of my dinner." Therefore the Lord heard and deferred, even to the point of still paying attention to them. And to this followed the kindling of the fire of desires upon Jacob—either the fire that has been approved for the practice and toil for virtue, or a fire kindled from God that is able, for their benefit, to consume their material choice and disposition. And in consequence of this fire, wrath went up against Israel.