Fragmenta in Psalmos

The commandments set before us are fulfilled by the disciples of Jesus who hear, "Go, make disciples of all the nations." For the Holy Spirit wills that they accomplish the work of the gospel with intense and unceasing zeal. For the phrase "day after day" shows this: that they proclaim continually the salvation of God, about which it is said, "This is truly the savior of the world," and again, "Today a savior has been born for you, who is Christ the Lord." For when the apostles proclaim his salvation day after day, the prophecy will be fulfilled which says, "All flesh shall see the salvation of our God." It is possible to take "day after day" as the two covenants, since the savior is the sun of righteousness. Therefore, since those commanded to proclaim the good news, being learned in the law and having the illumination of the first day, in consequence from that day, being illuminated by another day—the day according to the new covenant—will proclaim the salvation of God. And proclaiming the good news that the savior Christ is the salvation of God, they announce to all

To the nations belongs the glory of God, which is Christ, being the radiance of the glory of God; concerning which it is written in Isaiah: "The glory of God shall be seen," and after other things: "And the glory of God has risen upon you." For just as Christ is the wisdom and power and truth and righteousness of God, so also he is his glory. In addition to these things, they are commanded to proclaim his marvelous works among all the peoples, concerning which it is said to God in the thirty-ninth psalm: "Many things you have done, O Lord my God, your marvelous works." Hymning the cause of these wonders, Isaiah the prophet says: "O Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will hymn your name, because you have done marvelous things, an ancient counsel, true." For Christ the Savior has done marvelous things, having freed every soul oppressed by the devil, establishing the ancient counsel of God according to which man was upright, having been made in the image and likeness of the Creator. But if he also wishes the marvelous works announced to the peoples to be miraculous powers, according to which Jesus raised the dead and restores the blind to sight, and whatever else of this sort has been recorded, you do not err. And it is possible also in this way: Make manifest through theology the purest knowledge concerning God, so that the nations may have a right understanding concerning God, having abandoned the superstition of many gods. These things will in no way fit those who returned from Babylon in the times of Cyrus or in the times of Darius, when the house in Judea was being built perceptibly, Zerubbabel presiding over the building, and Jesus the priest, after the captivity.

For these things have been fulfilled through deeds after the coming of our Savior, when his disciples ran through the whole earth and proclaimed his salvation and announced his glory among all the nations and his wonders among all the peoples. And he calls "salvation" the resurrection from the dead and the salvation after death, or even Christ himself. The Lord is called "great" not in respect of increase of magnitude and bulk (for he is incorporeal; for it belongs to bodies to have been made and to have bulk), but in respect of the incomparable preeminence of his creative power; for he is the maker of the exceedingly great heavens. And if he is far more [great] than these, [being greater] than the lesser parts of the world, in this way the Lord, being great, is both hymned and praised and fearful over all gods, the word "exceedingly" being placed in common [to both]. And if we should take the statement "over all gods" in a universal and proper sense, we would also include the gods who are praised, of whom God is God, according to "The God of gods shall be seen in Zion," and "God of gods, the Lord, has spoken" — over all these, then, both the praised and the slandered gods, the Lord is fearful by being great and exceedingly praised, being judge and examiner of all; but if the statement is not simply universal but concerns only the gods of the nations, being spoken thus, since all the gods of the nations are demons, over all these gods the great and exceedingly praised Lord is fearful, judging them and subjecting them to punishment.

You will understand the saying in Isaiah in this sense as well: "Wail, you carved images of Jerusalem, and in Samaria and in her handiworks; so will I do to Jerusalem and to her carved images." For the carved images that wail are not souls (for wailing belongs to that which has a soul), but the demons made manifest through perceptible statues are to be understood. Therefore, according to "the gods of the nations" (and these are demons), the Lord who judges them will be fearsome; and not simply gods, but gods of the nations. Wherefore also, since the demons are not truly gods, but cower and hold the Lord as fearsome, he entreats him not to command them to depart into the abyss, uttering the most pitiable cry: "We beseech you, do not torment us before the time." He who through the beauty of virtue has acquired comeliness, and the confession of thanksgiving that is innate to it, stands in the presence of God, according to the one who says, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I have stood"—while everyone who sins flees from standing in the presence of God; for "the lawless shall not continue before his eyes." Indeed, Adam too, immediately after sinning with his wife, fled from the face of the Lord God, ashamed, or rather afraid, to be seen by him. For this reason Cain, the accursed, also went out from the face of the Lord God—not that it is possible to escape God and be far from his face, but because the wicked, holding false opinions, have been deceived so as to think that they escape God's notice in the impious things they do.

For even if they knew that it is not possible to escape God's notice, at any rate they had such a disposition that, if it were possible, they would wish to be far from God, ashamed before the beams of his eyes. But the earnest, by reason of much boldness and the freedom of their gaze, stand before God like genuine servants, saying, "Look upon me and have mercy on me," and "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears toward their supplication." Let it not trouble you that, since confession and beauty are before the Lord, we have said that the one who confesses and has beauty is before the Lord—since often, according to Scripture, those who have states are signified by the names of the states. For writing to men about himself and them, the apostle says, "that we might become" (clearly in Christ himself) "the righteousness of God." But since confession and beauty are before the Lord, holiness and magnificence will belong to his sanctuary. And by ancestral custom those of the circumcision are accustomed to call the temple of God a sanctuary. Since, then, the one who confesses and has beauty, having received God in himself, becomes his temple and sanctuary, it is reasonably said of such a one that he has holiness and magnificence—partaking of holiness from the holiness of the present God and of Christ, who is God's consecration, but also of the Holy Spirit, and seeking magnificence, that is, what is fitting and seemly in great and higher things. For magnificence is what is fitting in great things, while pettiness is what is in small things.

You, then, who wish to be esteemed among human glories and dignities and in perceptible things by strength and wealth, are petty in comparison with the holiness of God that has been brought about, according to what has been rendered in intelligible and spiritual virtues and piety—all of which are great, seeking to shine forth, and in this way it has magnificence as a companion, being what it possesses in holiness. Since, being slaves of Christ, we have his name called upon us through doing all things wisely and rationally, justly and holily, let us bring glory to the name of Christ that is upon us. And it is well said, "Lift up sacrifices," that is, raise on high the thought concerning sacrifices, not sacrificing oxen in a lowly manner and slaughtering the remaining animals, but thinking on high the things signified through these—the spiritual and heavenly sacrifices, of which the sacrifices offered perceptibly are types and shadows. And every thought that has acquired an earthy quality, being shaken by its sympathy toward matter, casts off its former and earthy disposition in order to take up a spiritual and heavenly state. For truly this is what it means for the earth to be shaken—to be changed into heaven and to bear the image of the heavenly one. In accordance with these things are also the words that follow: "Say among the nations, 'The Lord has reigned.'" For having suffered and risen from the dead, he reigned among the nations, having said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Since the will of God has now come to be as in heaven and on earth, and the Lord reigns among all the nations, all the earth is shaken in the manner spoken of from before him, so that it may take up the disposition of virtue, set right by the Lord so as no longer to be shaken, having become the inhabited world instead of earth. For when the Lord reigns, it no longer remains simply earth but inhabited world, since the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the divine gifts dwell in it. This one who has reigned among all the nations will judge peoples in uprightness, judging each one in his own rank, since his wonderful works have been proclaimed among all of them, not in Israel alone. He will judge them in uprightness, examining not only their works but also their disposition. These things will take place at his second coming, when the heavens also will be glad and the earth will rejoice. By way of anagogical interpretation, those who bear the image of the heavenly one and have their citizenship in the heavens are heavens, rejoicing that they are filled with the unmixed wine that comes from the true vine, which Wisdom mixed and poured into a bowl. Some who are inferior to these heavens will inherit through meekness the lofty earth that lies above, and being called earth by a synonymous transference of name, they rejoice with joy, bearing the fruit of joy produced by the Holy Spirit. But let there be some mind made savage by passions, which by reason of its saltiness and the bitterness of its character and the rough swell of its disordered impulses is called a sea.

It is fitting that this be shaken for a benefit, so that from tossing and surge it may change into stability and calm, together with its fullness, from bitter and troubled things. For the first benefit for those who repent is to put to death the disorderly and confused impulses. And the souls that have received the seed of Jesus, as fruitful plains, rejoice with joy unutterable and glorious, because they reap in exultation what they sowed in tears. The "then" has reference to the inhabited world having been set right by the Lord. But the "then" must also be referred to "Let the heavens be glad." For when the heavens shall be glad and the earth shall exult, then the trees of the forest exult. And the trees of the forest are those that bear no fruit; but these, having long borne fruits, shall exult, running ahead of the Lord as he comes down here. For when the Lord comes to judge the earth, then the trees of the forest exult, while the trees of the paradise of delight are always glad. But these are not always glad (for they are trees of the forest), but when the Lord shines upon them so that they bear edible fruit and become as the apple of which he says in the Song of Songs: "As an apple among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons." For he alone from the beginning bore the fruit of virtue, not knowing nor doing sin; therefore he also imparts of his own fruitful quality to the trees of the forest that are with him, in the midst of which he is found as an apple. The inhabited world which he set right, so that it is no longer shaken in righteousness—in righteousness shall the coming Lord judge.

He will judge the peoples in truth, and in those places where his wonders have occurred, so that to the inhabited world he may apportion the reward of holiness, judged according to worth, and to the peoples he may extend perfect knowledge, so that they may no longer know in part but may encounter him face to face, perfectly receiving and beholding the truth. By the hand of the capable one (and this is the spiritual David, who was born of his seed according to the flesh) the earth is established, all warlike tumult and disturbance having been brought to an end by him; the earth is established, receiving a settled state inasmuch as it has received seed to bear fruit at R and X and L, of those who sowed for themselves in righteousness, so that the fruits of righteousness may be multiplied among those sown by Jesus. Therefore the Lord also reigns, not having come from not reigning at all to reigning, but from not ruling over those who sin—once they have repented—to his kingdom. Therefore all the earth rejoices, being commanded to do this because the Lord has reigned over all of it. And in addition to the earth that has been restored rejoicing, the islands also will be glad, that is, those who dwell in them.

men—or rather also the churches. And you can call the souls of those firm in virtue islands, surrounded by the triple wave and storm of the passions, yet suffering nothing at all from them. In all the minds set before us you will take what is said by God: Be renewed toward me, you islands. For the islands set before us, having been renewed by the instruction of the new covenant, will receive the account of the wondrous powers of God from those able to proclaim it adequately, as the Spirit says: They shall proclaim his virtues (that is, God's) in the islands. And when all these things have come to be for the islands, it follows that they rejoice perfectly. Cloud and darkness are round about him—not bodily; for if the things encircling were bodies, then the one encircled would also be a body or at least use a body; but God is incorporeal, or rather beyond bodies, and so is his only-begotten Son insofar as he is God the Word. And he says now, to set forth his incomprehensibility, that cloud and darkness are around him; and perhaps the cloud signifies the sweet words flowing from him, while the darkness signifies the obscurity of his incomprehensibility. For it has been said also earlier: And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet; for the hard-to-behold, or rather incomprehensible to the mind of created beings, character of his course, in which he proceeds creatively and providentially, is set forth by Darkness under his feet.

If it is right to understand these things of the Savior in his incarnation, consider whether the human nature that was assumed in an indivisible union can be called a cloud around him, fulfilling the prophecy that says, "Behold, the Lord sits upon a swift cloud and will come into Egypt." For he came into the inhabited world that is allegorically called Egypt, having set foot upon it and, so to speak, reigning as a king upon a swift cloud that has no weight of sin at all; for he committed no sin, so as to give drink to the whole world through this cloud. But since the Lord's setting foot upon the aforementioned cloud has much that is hard to contemplate, fittingly darkness also accompanies the cloud around him. Righteousness and judgment are the uprightness of his throne; fire shall go before him and shall set his enemies ablaze all around. The uprightness of the throne of his kingdom is righteousness and judgment, since as king he is a righteous judge. In agreement with these things is what is found in Proverbs, as follows: "For with righteousness a throne of rule is prepared." Therefore, since he is a righteous judge, fire going before him sets all his enemies ablaze. And the enemies of the word of righteousness are those who act irrationally and unjustly, just as those who hold false opinions and lie are enemies of the truth; and friendship with the world is said to make one an enemy of God. If, then, one wishes to be a friend of the world, he is established as an enemy of God, since those who embrace a material and more worldly manner of life are shown to be enemies of God.

This fire that goes before the Lord does not set these enemies ablaze, nor does it consume and destroy their substance (for the subsistence of their soul is immortal), but it makes away with the works of the flesh that have grown up around them and their material ways of thinking. Hence the Savior prays that the fire be kindled, which he came to cast upon the earth, so that all earthly things may be consumed. But this fire must not be considered to be of the same kind as the one that consumes combustible matter, but of a different substance, far surpassing the flame we know. The luminous words of his divine teaching shone like lightning over the whole inhabited world, illuminating and enlightening it so that it might have the light of knowledge; but the earth, seeing these lightnings, was shaken and changed, casting off its earthly quality in order to take up the image of the heavenly. And in another sense: the earth was shaken when it saw the laws of God that resemble lightning, so that human laws and the customs corresponding to them were displaced. Therefore all people, leaving behind their ancestral traditions, have come to the gospel instruction; but the inhabited world, seeing his lightnings, is illumined by the Lord himself, while the earth is shaken, receiving through the shaking a beginning toward itself also being called an inhabited world, so that when it has become such, the divine lightnings of the Lord may appear to it. And the rest likewise. The heavens that proclaimed beforehand the Savior's coming here—he being the righteousness of God—are those who bear the image of the heavenly and have their citizenship in heaven, having announced the righteousness of God that was to come from heaven.

When these things had been brought to their fulfillment in this way, it followed that all the peoples beheld the glory of the Lord, which is none other than his righteousness. But since practical virtue is also in many places called righteousness, only the heavens—being righteous men—know how to proclaim this in a practical way; for the righteous man proclaims faith when it is displayed, since their faith is reckoned as righteousness. And all the peoples, having become imitators of them, see the glory of God that follows upon this righteousness. And in another sense, Zion will be understood as every discerning and contemplative disposition toward the truth, and the daughters of Judea as the souls that give thanks, praising God in thanksgiving for the wonders they have seen; for Judea is interpreted as thanksgiving. And it is possible to call all those who assent to the divine Scripture "daughters" of her who is called Judea. Further, regarding "Zion heard and was glad," such things must be said: the one who hears divine words with understanding is altogether gladdened, seeing the beauties of the contemplations made clear by teaching. When Zion, then, was gladdened at having heard in this way, her daughters, called daughters of Judea because they are inferior to her, obtained divine exultation on account of the judgments of God, according as he will judge, their mind being reasonably lifted up by the presence of the Holy Spirit. If ever one of the holy ones plotted against someone to the point of bodily harm or death, and the force of the attack prevailed, while the soul remained unharmed and undiminished, who then would not confess that the witnesses of the truth are guarded in their souls by the Lord whom they confess?

But if it ever happens, through inattention or slight oversight, that the soul of a holy man comes under the hand of the sinner—that is, of the devil or one of his—the Lord will rescue even this soul as one set free from sins; the hands of the sinner are said to be escaped, so as to come under the hand of God. And concerning his disciples, who had become holy, he says to the Father: Holy Father, keep them; and the keeping is the same as the guarding. To the one who has accomplished practical virtue, called righteousness, the light of knowledge has risen, being nothing other than the light of the true light, about which the Father said: But to those who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise. And when this light has shone upon the righteous man, uprightness of heart has come to be in him; whence also gladness has risen for him who has an upright heart, since those who partake of the knowledge of the truth are upright in heart, and the one who practices practical discipline is righteous. Therefore with good reason gladness and divine delight rise for those who are disposed toward contemplation, and light for the one who has set his character aright. The things that fall under this have been spoken in the twenty-ninth psalm, where the present expression is also found. That the Savior is the right hand and arm of God has been demonstrated at greater length, since the right hand and the arm are predicated of him. Therefore his right hand, by God himself, saves those who are led to blessedness. For not everyone who is saved is saved by the Lord God, but both the one alone and everyone who is delivered from evils and passions according to right reason and has received the knowledge of the truth with piety.

For one who has been saved from diseases and wounds is not in every case saved by God, especially since he does not know that health has been given to him by God, nor again if he has remained unharmed from war or robbers or dangers of such a kind. But only and every one who has been saved from such things is saved by God, whenever he ascribes the cause of having suffered nothing to God. Since, then, the Savior has come to seek and to save the lost, but not to judge the world, he saves for God those who are benefited by him, giving them the things that lead to blessedness in the right way. Holy is the arm of God, not attaining holiness by participation but being the arm of the Holy Spirit. And perhaps the right hand is the active power of God, being none other than the Word of God, and it is called this because he does all things rightly—that is, holily, wisely, praiseworthily, blamelessly—while the arm is so called because of its strength and its exceeding might. As the right hand and arm of God, so also are his salvation and righteousness, namely Christ. At any rate, the phrase “All flesh shall see his salvation” intends to show that all men, through being saved, shall see the salvation of God—that is, Christ himself who provides salvation. And well does it say “He has made known”; for though he could have said “He has revealed” or “He has brought forth into the midst,” he said none of these, but “He has made known.” For one makes known those things of which he previously had a faint conception, and afterward comes to know them perfectly.

Since it is not naturally implanted in human thought to have a conception of God in such a way that his creative and providential Word alone supplies perfect virtue and establishes the laws of nature, God brought this conception of the Word into the open, sending his own Son as Savior into the world at the last of the days; with good reason it is said that God has made known his salvation among the nations. And having made known his salvation, God, according to the notion of saving, also revealed his righteousness, which is the same as his salvation, as was said just now: For the Savior has become for us righteousness and sanctification from God. For while these things were simply hidden from us, when he became ours for those able to approach him, righteousness was revealed to us. But if someone will say that the righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ is what the present passage concerns, he will say that this righteousness was hidden by the figurative and shadowy righteousness which Paul called righteousness according to the law, evidently once the shadow had ceased; for without the law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. And it has been manifested and revealed to those among the nations to whom God made known his salvation; hence not Jesus alone will be agreed upon in every nation, since the one who fears the Lord and works righteousness is acceptable to God. At any rate, the nations are justified by faith and not by works of the law, according to Abraham, their faith being reckoned as righteousness. Israel differs from Jacob in conception but not in substance; for he is the same, sometimes Jacob, sometimes Israel.

For he who is an ascetic, attaining practical virtue and wrestling down the irrational passions and the vices and the powers that energize them, is Jacob tripping up the host mentioned before; but when, having risen above all wickedness through purity of mind, he draws near to God, he is called Israel. Since, then, there is need of God's mercy for him who is still struggling against the adversaries just mentioned, but of the truth for him who is sharpened toward contemplation, in harmony with what lies before us God is said to remember his mercy for Jacob and his truth for the house of Israel. And in Jeremiah, too, the one who is beginning in virtue needs mercy, so that God says to the pious man, I remembered the mercy of your youth and the love of your perfection; for just as mercy is needed by the beginner, so also is love by him who has been brought to perfection, who can also say, The truth of Christ is in me. And that the truth is fitting for those who see clearly, the Savior says to the Jews who had believed in him, If you remain in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. When the prophecy has come to fulfillment which says, All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before him, it will be said, All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. For when the gospel has been proclaimed in all that is under heaven and in all the inhabited world as a testimony to all the nations, according to the oracle of Christ, then all the ends of the earth have seen Christ, the salvation of God.

But if they saw, not by sight assailing them, but by faithful assent to his teaching, through which they had a mental image of him as present; but also those who passed over the earth in understanding and came to be above it, by no longer thinking material and earthly things but seeking and caring for the things above the earth—being such, they saw salvation and the God who is the cause of it, the Word who is the saving God. All the earth, that is, all men upon the earth, he commands to send up a hymn of victory to the Lord, who has cast down the invisible enemies of men, the devil and his shield-bearers. And all who are upon the earth, crying aloud to him, let them sing psalms to him and on the lyre. And what the lyre is, we have often said, and what it is to sing psalms on it—namely, to perform the works of virtue practically through the body, or through all the powers of the soul. And singing psalms on this lyre and bringing forth a song, they receive a command, which he called the voice of a psalm: instead of the psalm being struck through the instrument, let there be sung a certain voice, namely the contemplation of things to be done. They trumpet with trumpets who bring forth the word of truth brightly and fervently. For these are truly able to rouse people to a spiritual feast, saying, Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant—those who are rich in every word and all knowledge being alone able to bring this forth. And they trumpet with the horn who are able to fight with the word against sophistries and deceitful words.

And consider whether the expounder of divine instruction uses a trumpet in a teaching and demonstrative manner, bringing forward his words, and a horn trumpet to stop the mouths of those who contradict the truth. And those who are divided in mind and in conduct—those who have been called by reason of the height of faith—rejoice, not being liable to the judgment which the Lord came to execute. For the Lord says, "He who believes in me is not judged," that is, he is not subject to accusations, but he stands before the judgment seat of Christ to obtain the promised good things. And judging the inhabited world in righteousness, he will judge by preeminence those who have been made his own, as his peoples, in uprightness, since the peoples have an upright heart and upright deeds. For he will render to each according to his deed. Formerly in Zion, according to the giving of the law and the prophets, the Lord is great, and thereafter he is exalted over all the peoples who come to the faith from the nations. For glory and honor and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek; for being lifted up from the earth he drew all to himself. But both the exalted and the great belong to his nature. For he is exalted, dwelling in the high places, and he is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, while created nature is lowly and brief—or rather, is nothing in comparison with him. And we have a mental image of him as exalted when we think on things above; but also, forming great conceptions about him, we contemplate his greatness. But we do not form a mental image of either his greatness or his height in a sensory way (for these things are far from incorporeal beings), let alone of God himself.

You will understand it also in this way: great is the name, and it is greatest in such a way as to suffice to reach all. For only the name of the Savior has been given on earth under all heaven, so that it is wonderful in all the earth. At any rate, one may see that all who are saved from all the nations—Christians, called after Christ—are from Christ, concerning whom there is again another prophecy: "To those who serve me, a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth." For truly the name of Christ has extended to all rational beings, so that not only those on earth but also those in heaven and those under the earth shall confess his great name, since for the apostates from the divine law and from the truth itself it is fearful, but it is holy for those who have obtained the prayer which they sent up, saying, "Hallowed be your name." And all shall confess this great name of Christ the King; honor loves judgment. For if those who transgress his law dishonor him by the very act of transgressing, those who set the divine law aright honor the King who legislated it by the very act of working according to it, loving the judgment that comes from him, knowing that his judgment is just, and that they shall obtain divine rewards for having conducted themselves piously and justly according to his will—while the wicked do not love his judgment, inasmuch as they have dishonored it.

Every base person, who is ashamed of the manifestation that comes from the light and hates the light, does not come to it, so that his works may not be exposed; but the one who does the truth comes to the light, so that his work may be made manifest, that it has been wrought in God, on account of which he also loves the judgment that makes it manifest. The uprightness of the virtues must not be considered to be anything other than these. These, then, Jesus prepared beforehand, having set them right first and put them into action, so that we might follow in his footsteps by imitating him; for he showed us a pattern of the best life. Saying, then, "Learn from me, that I am gentle and humble in heart," he prepared uprightnesses, so that, being able to find them easy and ready, we might partake of them. And in the one who trips up all wicked things, God makes the judgment that examines the matters of truth with righteousness. And the name of righteousness can indeed signify the practical virtue, while that of judgment signifies the examination of doctrines; and further, the disposition according to which one distinguishes what is to be thought and what is not to be thought, and what is to be done and what is not to be done, he called judgment, while the activity itself according to virtue he called righteousness. At any rate God does both, that is, he grants them to the practical and ascetic faculty, which is signified by the name of Jacob. Make him high, not by raising him from below to above (for this is proper to bodies), but by having high and transcendent thoughts about him. And his footstool can be the flesh that was assumed. Whenever, then, we treat the matters concerning God the Word as concerning the only-begotten Son of God, we exalt the Lord God.

But we also contemplate the economy of his visitation and worship at the footstool of his feet, because of the one who set upon him his traveling powers, allegorically called feet. His footstool is also said to be the former temple, as it is written in Jeremiah: How the Lord has darkened in his anger the daughter of Zion; he has cast down to the earth her sanctuary, he did not remember his footstool. Truly and properly, worship belongs to the Trinity alone: for you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. In this sense of worship, the Lord Jesus is also worshiped: for let all the angels of God worship him. But in another manner of honor, for the sake of men, those who are in high positions are said in this Scripture to be worshiped. Often, then, it is recorded that many worshiped King David, since also the other kings of Israel. These things are said not only about these men, but also about

of all who possess the same virtue as they. And that this is true, consider what is written in Ezekiel; and this prophet lived at the time of the captivity. It is written, then, in Ezekiel himself, where God says in his threats against Israel: "If I bring a sword upon the land and Noah and Job and Daniel be found in it, the sword shall not enter upon them"—and yet he makes mention of men who lived ten thousand years before. For Noah lived before the flood, and Job, being fifth from Abraham, existed very many years before the prophecy. What then are we to say about these things, except that he named those who possessed the same virtues by the same names as them? And if this is so, it is clear that all who became faithful servants are likewise reckoned as Moses, and similarly in the case of the others. He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. And from this we learn that according to the Scripture there is what is called the comprehensive mode, which names the things belonging to individuals in the plural, as though making declaration concerning all. For though it was to Moses alone that he spoke in a pillar of cloud, now it speaks concerning all. You will find also in the Epistle to the Hebrews a figure of such narration. For when all who pleased God through faith had been enumerated, it speaks the acts or suffering of individuals collectively at once concerning all: "They were sawn asunder, they were stoned," and the rest. But what the speaking of God in a pillar of cloud means must next be considered.

Perhaps, then, since the word of God is firm and unwavering, it is reasonably called a pillar, inasmuch as the church that received him is a pillar and foundation of the truth. But since it is also drinkable and the cause of fruits, coming like rain into the minds of men, it is a pillar of cloud. Perhaps too this foretold the Savior's descent here below, by which he came down upon a light cloud into Egypt, or into the region around the earth. It belongs to a perfect man who possesses all the virtues to keep all the testimonies and commandments of God. 959 To "go out from the face of the Lord God" is opposed by "to enter before" him. Just as Cain, when he went out from the face of the Lord God, did not leave a place in which the face of God was and come to be in another place, but having become destitute of right thoughts about God, he departed outside his face, embracing heedlessness and godlessness, so as no longer to have a vision or thought of God's manifestation—so too "to enter before the Lord" is to hold through thought that he is present. For he who has contemplated the Creator of all things from the greatness and beauty of created things by analogy has transcended the whole world and entered into the very thought of God, so as to stand before the Lord continually, according to him who says, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I have stood." The gates of the Lord are the virtues in their specific forms, about which it is also said elsewhere, "Open to me the gates of righteousness," so that having passed beyond his gates, having entered into the courts of God in the hymns of theology, they may give thanks and confess to God.

The one who now sings soothes and calms the minds of the hearers, hymning God as judge of the things done by men through his song; and since his judgment is exact, examining not only the manifest things but also the hidden things of the heart, he brings it forward with a good disposition. For if he were to look upon our works and words and thoughts according to their worth, we would be utterly destroyed; therefore, so that this may not happen, he shows mercy before the judgment. For if you should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But since with you there is propitiation (for you are a fountain of goodness and mercy), we are confident that, since you examine our affairs with mercy and judgment, we shall obtain salvation. But for the one who lives rightly and wishes to have a blameless way, not only the action ought to be blameless but also the understanding and the knowledge concerning doctrines must be exact. For someone sings, striking the instrument melodiously and harmoniously—which is the body, as has often been said—in order to accomplish the best activities. And he takes up understanding, thinking about the things that ought to be minded. And since the goal of acting and thinking blamelessly is to receive the presence of God into the mind and the understanding, he immediately added, When will you come to me? For by your coming to me and dwelling in me as in a holy temple, the things previously spoken have been accomplished by me. But it might also be said by those who foretold the Savior's arrival here: We sang, we understood the things divinely ordained concerning your coming into life.

Those who travel according to the workings of the mind, whenever they are moved with evil, come to be outside themselves, passionately gaping after sensible things. At any rate, it is the custom to say that such people are outside themselves and beside themselves. But the one who is moved without evil—that is, with virtue—in matters to be done and thought, turns back, having inclined toward himself, becoming wholly of the mind and the care of the inner man, and he travels with the best habit in the midst of his house. And the house of each of the earnest is the virtue they accomplish. In this way Jacob too is remembered as dwelling in a house, and the souls that inquire into unseen and hidden contemplations, whom the word calls midwives of the Hebrews, fearing God, build the houses allotted from the virtues; and calling them wise women in another sense, it said, Wise women built houses. I did not set before my eyes a lawless thing: I do not have as my aim and proposed end to act lawlessly. And they will say what is set down—Joseph, Susanna, the three children in the furnace—and those who are gathered into their rank; whence they say to those who war against them and persecute them: You do not drive me out of the purpose I have, even if you contrive ten thousand upon ten thousand things, even if you suspend punishments and threaten death itself. I hated those who commit transgressions. He calls those who sin committers of transgressions; for every sin is disobedience and transgression of the divine law. And the custom of the brethren calls those who have denied Christ transgressors, whom it is fitting to hate intensely, since they have chosen to be enemies of the Savior.

Hence, wishing to have no fellowship with them, the Word says, "If any brother is named, and along with other sins is also an idolater, do not eat with such a one." For the apostle does not write this about outright pagans, since he himself in his own epistle writes, "If any of the unbelievers invites you and you wish to go, eat everything set before you, asking no questions." If, then, he does not forbid sharing salt with unbelievers, but forbids eating with one who is called a brother while being an idolater, it is clear that he means the one who has transgressed from Christianity to the worship of idols. And these transgressors, who commit transgressions, are especially to be hated, not insofar as they are human beings, but insofar as they are such as they are. "A crooked heart has not cleaved to me." It is written in Ecclesiastes, "God made man upright." If, then, he has become upright by having been made from the beginning according to virtue, all wickedness and crookedness of character is far from him. Whoever, therefore, has remained keeping uprightness and the likeness to God, utters this voice, showing that the crooked and the perverse understanding, having lost what is right, is not suited to us but comes upon us from somewhere outside, whenever we draw it upon ourselves and cast off what is upright. "When the evil one turned aside from me, I did not know it." The evil devil turns aside from everyone who keeps "Do not give place to the devil." Judas, at any rate, since he did not guard himself to provide no place for him, the devil did not turn aside from him, but first, having cast into his heart

His thoughts were polluted, and later the evil one, having entered into him, worked the things of his own wickedness, so that Judas knew by perception and knowledge that the evil one was with him. For by wickedness even the one who received the evil one has become such; but the one who now sings the psalm, not having a crooked heart into which the evil one can work, had been filled with God and the things of God, so as not to have a place for the evil one in himself, that he might turn away from him. At any rate he sings, saying, "When the evil one turned aside from me, I did not know," because he had no perception of his presence; for I had no thought or work of his in me. Perhaps also, wishing to set forth his worthlessness, he brought forward such a voice, since the great-souled are accustomed to despise the weak and those who are nothing, and to say concerning them, "I do not know whether he exists or is absent." But this one is always called "the evil one" with the article in the teachings, because he surpasses in wickedness and through deceit makes those who draw near to him evil. Since it is impossible for this to happen according to the literal sense (for no one will be able to destroy the sinners of all the earth, even if he be king of all of it), but the one who says the things set before us speaks truth, another earth must be contemplated, whose sinners he will kill all, at no other time than the morning. Therefore the body and all the material things around us are called earth, and the sinners of this earth are the shameful and licentious pleasures and desires and the other passions.

When, therefore, the reasoning power has not prevailed—the sun of righteousness having risen upon it as the beginning of a spiritual day—at that time, having put to death the members that are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, every evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry, it will speak the voice set before it concerning victory, not attributing to itself so much the having destroyed the enemies as to the true light that cooperated with it through illumination. And it is well said in the plural, "the mornings." For each sinner of the earth, when the day begins for him, he destroyed him by the fact that sinners live and are active—where is the night of ignorance and wickedness. For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk, are drunk in the night. And the end also passes away; night receives it, when the true light has risen. And often rising in him, he makes many mornings, in which he also kills all the sinners of the earth. And the illuminations stand for him not only up to the mornings; therefore also after the mornings, enjoying long and many days, he will be long-lived and of many days. And concerning another saint it is said in the manner of a blessing: "With length of days I will fill him." And the city of the Lord, who is the great King, is called Jerusalem, which is interpreted as "vision of peace." Every soul, therefore, that purifies the war arising from wickedness and passions and ignorance, comes to be in the vision of peace—peace that surpasses all understanding—receiving grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore it will also be called the city of God, Jerusalem. In this city of God, the sinners of the earth, as they go up, become workers of lawlessness.

For the soul has the occasions of the evils within it from the passions of the flesh. If anyone is able to kill all the sinners of the earth in the manner that has been stated, he will destroy from the city of the Lord all those who work lawlessness. For when the members that are upon the earth have been put to death—the body being beaten down and enslaved—the occasions of sins from the flesh are no longer able to raise up in the soul thoughts that hasten to commit lawlessness through the enjoyment of pleasure. Everyone who asks for something, not having what he asks for, comes by his request to obtain it—he is poor. Everyone, therefore, who prays to God asks for a participation in good things, which he is not able to have from himself; whence also all are poor before God. Even if David was great and a king, in the things given by God he was poor; whence, knowing himself to be lacking many or all of the things supplied by God, he is filled with despondency, so as to be greatly disheartened. Then, after being so disposed, he pours out his supplication before the Lord, asking from the one who gives good things to those who ask him. For he who asks not these things but those of a temporary nature has no boldness before the Lord to pour out his supplication, because of his passionate disposition. Prayer indicates the supplication toward God and the entreaty, while petition indicates the request concerning the things which he wishes to be granted to him in his need. And these are the things that are properly good, both fitting for God to give and beneficial for those who ask to receive.

It has been said, indeed, concerning the cry of the saints who hymn God and pray to him with a loud voice, that it is not the utterance of the voice but the intensity of the thought. God turns his face away from some who pray in several manners: either those who ask but do not entreat to receive what it is fitting for God to grant and profitable for them to receive, or those for whom it is fitting that God provide what is asked, yet they do not as of now have the time to pursue these things profitably; and there are also those who deem it worthy to obtain certain things for the purpose of sinning. The saint, then, entreats, saying: May I not ask such things, on account of which, having turned away, you turn your face from me; but I pray not that I not be afflicted (for that is impossible), but that being afflicted I not be defeated, and that I rejoice in hope, enduring afflictions and boasting in them. For affliction works endurance, and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope, and hope does not put to shame. Phrygium is where they are accustomed to place things that have been roasted, exceedingly roasted, because it is always kept burning underneath. And smoke fails when the fire is extinguished, having subsisted as long as the fire is active, which a person follows. Therefore, that my days not fail (for it will not be good for me that the light be extinguished from me, the light that makes my days), bring on the afflictions; for if they should persist, they will become the cause of the failing of my days, but they would also cause my bones to be more thoroughly chilled, if they remain. It has often been said that the bones of the inner man are the well-toned doctrines and the most solid powers of the soul, which are also chilled by the burning of the soul's passions.

He says that his heart was dried up, having acquired nothing cheerful or in which there is gladness. For in the circumstances that have been set before us, it has come to such a point that he is no longer able to be nourished by the bread suited and appropriate to his more honorable substance. For to partake of this bread means not being dragged down or clouded by external things. But he says that he has not been turned to this bread to such an extent, and that he has forgotten that he once tasted it. And groaning exceedingly because of the present hardships, I let out a groaning so intense and continuous that, as my voice came with a wailing, my bone was glued and in a certain way united to my flesh because of the great dryness that came upon me, all the moisture scattered throughout my body having been dried up by the affliction that came upon me. For this moisture, while it was present with me, fattening the bone, separated it from the flesh, occupying the space between flesh and bones. For you will have pity on what has been suffered, since you are God, compassionate and long-suffering and very merciful and true. And there will be a time of these things in which the promises concerning Zion will be fulfilled. But what is this much-prayed-for and thrice-desired time of the resurrection, O Lord? I think that in these words the Word of God, our very Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, prophesies the manifestation of God to men, which will be the cause of the rebuilding of Zion. Having come to that place, do not suppose that the earthly city is meant, nor think that the earthly Jerusalem is indicated, but the constitution of the commonwealth of piety—

renewal. Why does he mention Zion alone? Because he had not come in the first place except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But having once come into the world for his own (for they were reckoned his people because of the fathers), he will overlook no one in the world, but together with his own he will give life to the whole world. When people are being introduced to fearing the name of the Lord, and when they have been perfected in fearing the Master himself (for there is no lack to those who fear him), surely also when beginning godliness they believe in his name. For after faith in his appellation, they believe in God himself and in his Christ, a faith reckoned to righteousness, according to which anyone who first believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And to have been born of God is perfect; therefore sinlessness follows the birth from him. But when the nations have feared the name of the Lord, those who have risen above the nations, being intelligibly kings by having laid aside foolishness so as to reign forever, fear the glory of the Lord, which is greater than his name, so that between those who fear the name of the Lord and the Lord himself there are those who fear his glory—kings reigning in accordance with those very things to which Paul writes to the Corinthians: "Without us you have reigned; and would that you had reigned, so that we too might reign with you." And perhaps in his first coming the Lord built Zion, but in his second he will be seen with his glory. Or also thus:

The Word, having become flesh and dwelt among us, built the church, which is spiritually called Zion; and he will be seen in his glory, when, having dwelt among us, we behold his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. For the Gentiles who believed in the Lord were created according to their coming to piety; for if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; and in Christ himself the two are created, the one from circumcision and the one from the Gentiles, into one new man. For the name of creation signifies not essence but alteration or transformation. According to this meaning, "Create in me a clean heart, O God," is also spoken. And if this meaning applies in many places, then "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works" does not signify the essence of the person speaking; for he was not created once for all, but for the beginning of God's ways, those for his works; and to be created as the beginning of certain things indicates a relation, not an essence. The people, therefore, who are thus created will praise the Lord, coming to the knowledge of the one God. And well did he say "being created"; for if he wished to indicate essence, he would have said "the people who were created"; for it is not always possible to remain in being made essence but in being transformed and altered. And the reason why the people are created and praise the Lord is presented in the words "For he looked down from his holy height." For in condescending to us by taking the form of a servant and reaching even to death, he looked down from his holy height, not ceasing to be either holy or exalted.

The incorporeal and intelligible essence—or rather, the Lord, who is above these—is not in a place, since the incorporeal is not confined by place, being uncircumscribed and beyond limits. But since he has pervaded all things that come to be and are governed by him by his power (for he was in the world, and the world came to be through him), he dwells in the better and superior parts of the world. If it is said, "He who dwells in the heavens," and "Our Father who is in the heavens," we do not suppose that he is contained by places, but we hold that he is present to his own works by an ineffable power; therefore he is said to be in the heavens, the more excellent parts of the world. For the understanding of all men somehow has this notion. Since, then, God, being in heaven in the manner stated, looks upon the earth—because he has come to provide for the things here—it is most rightly said: The Lord looked down from heaven upon the earth. And the reason for which he does this the text immediately adds, saying: To hear the groans of those who are bound. For those who bear the bonds and fetters of wickedness groan from repentance. For when they were practicing evil with pleasure, they supposed it light and gladly bore its fetters; but when they have withdrawn from the deeds of wickedness, they are weighed down, bound by that most wretched habit itself; therefore they also groan to him who is able to loose those who are bound. And the Lord looses also the sons of those who have been put to death, looking down upon the earth—that is, those born from those who have committed the sin unto death and have for this reason died.

And if these are those who come from the nations, being descendants of sinful and impious fathers, whom death also swallowed up when it prevailed—whose sons he freed and released from bitter bonds through the mystery of regeneration. But these two verses can be applied to those who are bound in persecutions for the sake of the word of Christ, and to the sons of those who have been put to death for the testimony of the truth. For the soul that is watchful, being Zion, will have teachers who announce to it the name of the Lord, and who announce his praise also in the mind that is called Jerusalem because it sees peace. But if Zion and Jerusalem were accused of the church because it looks to the better things and sees peace in the order and harmony of doctrines, reasonably also in the Zion so called the name of the Lord would be announced, and his praise in the Jerusalem so named. Who answered him in the way of his strength—the phrase does not make this clear. Perhaps, then, he means the people being built up for the praise of the Lord; or, rather, one should consider that the one who answers is the poor man mentioned in the inscription, who is despondent and pours out his supplication before the Lord—not with voice and utterance, but walking in the way of his strength, strongly and with vigor, the way of actions according to virtue. For thus alone, in deed and not with the voice, is it possible to answer God. And he says:

Since you have enjoined on me a great eagerness to set right and to contemplate the doctrines of your most unadulterated truth, and I need much time to be perfected in these things, I beseech your goodness to declare to me the fewness of the days that extend my life in the flesh, so that I may set myself to intense prayer and so accomplish it; whence I also ask this: Do not bring me up in the midst of my days. For he is brought up in the midst of his days who has not borne fruit here perfectly, nor as he ought, in virtue. But this is not measured by a span of time, since then I am taken up full of days, like Abraham, when I am perfected together with the knowledge of the truth and of the virtues. For then he took me up, when, the true light shining upon me, I become full of all days, having done those things in virtue and thought those things that can possibly be done throughout the whole time of my life. And a little while ago we noted that the words set before us were spoken with reference to Christ by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews. What the psalmist says, then, is this: And you, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth—that is, as soon as it came into being you made it, in agreement with In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. The phrase in the beginning can refute the opinion of those who say that the earth is an element of all things, so that all things came from it, with nothing existing prior to it. For it appears that there are not a beginning, but, according to certain beginnings conceived beforehand, foundations of it.

It is also said to Job by the Lord himself, as having founded the earth: Where were you when I founded the earth? And since the Lord, through whom all things came to be, founded the earth, it is also said concerning the Father: God founded the earth in wisdom. And the statement concerning God, He hangs the earth upon nothing, shows that it has its place in the central region of the universe. But in addition to your founding the earth, the heavens also are the works of your hands—your active powers being called hands. For since among us craftsmen who work with their hands produce works, this genuinely establishes that they themselves have made them, so it is properly shown that the works of God are the creations, because they are called the works of his hands. But while the creations are changed, because the form of this world passes away, you remain in the same way, not being of a nature to be altered or changed. For this is proper to creations, that their very substance also has its origin from change. Accordingly, he says next: And all of them will grow old like a garment, since all things that are subject to need grow old. For things that received a temporal beginning in their coming to be, as much time passes by, grow old. But see that you are not deceived when you hear in Daniel concerning God, the Ancient of Days. For here it does not indicate that he has grown old from a multitude of days, but that he is ancient and old of days; as the same meaning is able to be conveyed by what is said in the Psalms: He who exists before the ages, so also Before the days—that is, before all time—he is old and ancient. But the oldness of the heavens shows not that they are before time, but that they are in time.

But these, being made old like a garment, will be rolled up, and like a cloak by the one who made them they will be rolled up, for a change and transformation of elements. And their growing old and being rolled up signifies that the use for which they contributed to the present order has passed. For just as a cloak is rolled up after it has fulfilled its use, so too, since there will be a reconstitution of the heavens together with the earth after they have passed away, according to the Savior who says, Heaven and earth will pass away, it is reasonably said that they are rolled up like a cloak. At any rate, upon their rolling up there follows, And they will be changed. And in Isaiah it is said, The heaven will be rolled up like a book. But since these things, he says, do not remain in sameness, your years will fail at some point. But you, O Master, always being in the same state and in the same way, your years neither began nor will fail; for In generation and generation are your years. But see that you do not wish to understand the years in a temporal sense; for he about whom these things are said is timeless. And his years do not fail, since his existence remains without limit, being incorruptible and alone having immortality. But sons of servants of God must not be understood altogether according to the flesh, but according to instruction and imitation of conduct. For in this way certain ones were also called sons of the prophets, by having come to be, perhaps, from them according to a prophetic condition. And Paul, at any rate, being a servant of Christ, had as sons Silvanus and Timothy and those like them. And their seed were those who were benefited by them.

The aforementioned servants of his will dwell with Paul in the heavenly tabernacles, their seed also being directed forever with them. Others say that the composite human being often speaks of himself as though of another: "My soul," "My body." And Paul certainly uses this usage, at one point saying, "I call God as witness upon my soul," and at another, "I buffet my body." They say this, interpreting it thus: just as we speak of the populace and the rulers and the overseers of the city, which are not entirely other than it (for it is filled up from them), but each order is another part of the whole city (for the city is not the rulers alone, nor separately its councilors, nor the populace by itself), but all together are the city—so, even if the composite human being is not other than the soul and the body (for he is composed of these very things), nevertheless the soul is spoken of as the whole, as being another part of it. Therefore, the composite being is not...

He is the one who stirs up his own soul to bless the Lord. And those who say that the soul is the Spirit's do not call it dust, but as being under it and obtaining its care. And "within him" he calls every rational power of the human being. For thus must we hear the Savior also when he says to certain people, "The kingdom of heaven is within you." And consider the things "within" in another sense according to thought: when we have our powers at rest, those which we are able to exercise well are said to be within us. It is necessary, then, to stir these up and turn them toward activities through which we bless the name of the Lord. For no one blesses the holy name by merely having powers, but by good activities. Indeed the Savior also said to those who had received a power of virtue and divine knowledge, "The kingdom of God is within you," almost saying: The starting points of the faith and virtue which I seek from you, you have within yourselves, having been made rational and according to the image of God; therefore do not seek the good outside yourselves. The sicknesses of the soul are sins. For he says, "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you." And he redeems your life from corruption, so that you no longer live a life according to corruption and passion, but in incorruption, loving the Lord Jesus. And by providing you also with an incorruptible human body in the resurrection, he redeems your life from corruption. And he crowns you also in mercy and compassions, the material of this crown being almsgiving and compassion.

For just as others receive the crown of righteousness and the unfading crown of glory, woven from righteousness and true glory, so you too, being of mercy and compassion, have crowned yourself, according to "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Or also in this way, which is better: not so much because you have done noble deeds in your striving, as because you are shown mercy and compassion by the Lord, have you been crowned, the Lord binding your noetic head with the crown of graces. For just as by the grace of God and not from our own works we are saved, and the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us, so also he crowns us, looking not to our contest but to his own mercy and compassion. And he fills your desire also with good things. For he is the one who gives good things to those who ask him. Since, therefore, the very desiring of good things is in fact asking for them, by giving you all things that you desire he fills your desire with good things; for every desire of the righteous man is good. And since, being made according to the image and likeness of God and at the same time coming into existence, you were in need of the good, but through carelessness you shed your wings and cast off virtue, both practical and intellectual, by which, being lifted up, you ascended to the height, know that you have the power to grow wings again, if you will it and are aided from God. And this shall be yours, your youth being renewed like the eagle's.

For just as this bird, having grown old, is stripped of its feathers, so that it may put forth new feathers again, in the same way you too, having grown old in wickedness, be renewed from your old age, and becoming young again in the loss of your former strength, so that using now the strong things you once used, you may be lifted up on high into heaven toward all who with you have waited for God. For those who wait for the Lord shall change their strength, they shall grow wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary. The Lord, Father of mercies and alone good, performs acts of mercy, showing mercy to all and doing good; therefore also to those wronged by the devil and by wickedness, executing judgment, he sent his own Son to heal and to set free those oppressed by Satan, redeeming their souls from usury and from injustice, having taken away the handwriting that was against us and nailed it to the cross. The one who held us, the devil, kept us as debtors, since we ourselves, through what we did, had established for him the handwriting against us. We have therefore been delivered from all the injustice that was against

of us, since God has executed judgment for those who are wronged, how through the blood of his Son Jesus Christ we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness—not only that by which we were wronged but also that which we ourselves practiced. From this we learn, in accordance with Paul's exhortation, to prefer being wronged to wronging. For to those who are wronged God executes judgment by benefiting them, but upon those who do wrong he brings punishment, so that they do not inherit the divine promise; for the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. The virtues are spoken of in parallel. For he who says, Make known to me your ways, O Lord, asks that the virtues be made manifest to him; and the saying, You will not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord, spoken by Paul to Elymas, presents the same meaning. And that the virtues are also the will of God will be confirmed from, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will. The present passage may also be understood in another way: since God gave through Moses the law, which had a shadow of the good things to come, and each part of this law bears an image and type of the intelligible and spiritual, so that it is possible by way of analogy to pass from sensible things—or from vice—to the spiritual and original realities, and such transitions no one else will teach but the Lord—reasonably it has been said concerning these transitions, He made known his ways to Moses. For who else besides Moses knew how to ascend from sensible circumcision and bodily sacrifice and the other shadowy things to the truth, having learned from God to walk in this way?

For he made known to him his ways. But also if anyone is a son of Israel—concerning whom it has been said, "Israel my chosen"—he will likewise attend to the will of God, which is made known by him to those who see clearly, so that those who strive to be Jews in secret may be circumcised not in the flesh but in the heart; but they also offer to God a sacrifice of righteousness and praise, which is a spiritual sacrifice. All the things that have been said belong to the Lord, since he is true God, and being true God he is not in a state of the aforementioned virtues but is the source and substance of them. Therefore we also take courage that even if at some time he should be angry with us when we have sinned, he does not do this in order to make an end and destroy. For this was the meaning of "Will he be angry to the end?"—that is, to persist in being angry until the end and destruction of those against whom the anger is directed. Therefore, not being angry to the end, neither will he be wrathful forever. For he who says, "For when my wrath of anger comes, I will heal again," does not have an abiding anger. But the mercy of God takes its beginning upon the earth, according to what was said: "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord"; then, beginning from there, mercy comes upon the devout and lifts them up and raises them on high, leading them to the height of heaven. For "your mercy has been magnified as far as the heavens." For the very ascent into the kingdom of heaven comes about rather by the mercy of God than by anything else. And the saving virtues, being luminous, resemble sunrises, while sins resemble sunsets, wholly deprived of light.

Since it is impossible for anyone to be in virtue and in vice at the same time, he who has drawn near to the aforementioned east, so as to dwell, as it were, in the paradise planted by God in Eden toward the east, has kept far away from himself the aforementioned west, by as great a distance as the west just mentioned is removed from the east that has been interpreted; for vices are far from virtues. But just as he who is in the east has the aforementioned west far removed from him by God, so he who wishes to be in them by sinning is removed from the east by himself, and not by God, having been cast out of paradise. But nevertheless, even when these things have happened through disobedience to the divine commandments, Jesus, coming to the west according to "Make a way for him who rides upon the west, the Lord is his name," will not allow him to remain there long, saying to each one, "You shall be with me in paradise." For granting forgiveness of sins, he removes them from the west in order to lead them back to paradise toward the east. Rather, beyond measure and exceedingly, God has compassion on those who fear him, placing them in the rank of his sons by his having known each of us as his own handiwork. For he made nothing out of hatred, but knowing the hearts of men, which he formed individually, he knows what is beneficial for each of us. And whatever power and occasion we have, these too he gives, so that by having them in actual practice we may become his sons. It is possible to understand "For he himself knew our frame" also in this way: he experienced our frame; having become flesh, he had a natural disposition, so as to reckon us as his own sons.

He does not, as the creator of our nature, overlook our weakness. For even if not our entire constitution is from dust (for we also possess within ourselves a rational nature, existing according to the image and likeness of God), yet in our supplications to God, deeming him worthy to have as our helper and benefactor, we bring forward the inferior and weaker part of what is in us and say, Remember, Lord, that we are dust; therefore help our weakness and our lowliness. In accordance with Remember, Lord, that we are dust, the words spoken refer not to the inner man but to the outer. For according to the material life with the flesh, we have certain days that complete for us the extended time of life with the flesh, compared to grass that dries up. In agreement with these things Isaiah also says, All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: the sun rose and dried up the grass, and its flower fell off. These things set forth the seeming prosperities that exist in this life for those who live with the flesh—wealth, glories, dignities, and the other forms of success—which, like a flower and grass, flow away and wither so as to seem never to have existed. But understandings in another sense: sons of righteous men are the emulators of their works; thus his mercy upon those who fear him is unbounded, extending from age to age. For he does not show mercy at one time and not at another; for being good by nature, he always shows mercy. But righteousness is also the consort of this mercy.

Nor is it itself limited by time, but extends to all generations, abiding upon children's children and into every succession, so that those who keep the covenant of God always possess this righteousness together with the mercy that is from everlasting to everlasting, and they have been inscribed as heirs of the promises to come through doing good. For in this way, keeping it, they will also remember the commandments of God, with a view to doing them. For these have been given not so that there may be a bare remembrance of them, but a remembrance unto doing. And that they have been given for doing, the Savior also shows when he says, "The one who has my commandments and does them, that is the one who loves me." For the reward and inheritance of the promises belong to the doing of them, not to the mere remembrance of them. And in other places it has been said that God is not in a place, but by a certain order and economy he is said to dwell in heaven. Accordingly, in agreement with those things, here too it is said that he has prepared—that is, established—the throne of his kingdom in heaven, since his rule and kingdom holds sway and lords it not only over those in heaven but over all things absolutely. One must understand that it is not the prophet, being a man, but the Holy Spirit in him that commands the angels the things set forth; for he says, "All his angels"—clearly of the Lord—"bless him." And the Spirit, commanding all the angels, is different from them in essence. And if this is so, how boldly did some dare to say that it is of the order of the angels, although it is something different from all of them?

He put on majesty in that he has the fitting dignity among great and surpassing things, and confession in that he has all harmonious concord concerning them. For the name of confession also signifies concord in words. But if you wish that he has put on another confession, that which is according to repentance, and that which is unto thanksgiving, you would not err. And in a manner corresponding to this meaning, he will also put on the virtue of those who live rightly, which is called majesty. And just as the Savior, saying, I was naked and you clothed me, makes clear that the action of those who live according to him becomes his clothing and covering, so too the Father will put on the virtues of those who are zealous around him. Just as one who wraps himself in a perceptible cloak is covered on every side, so God, filled with knowledge on every side—so that his essence is incomprehensible—wraps light as a cloak, the name light signifying here too the purest knowledge. In agreement with this, Paul writes concerning God that he has light inaccessible or dwells in light inaccessible. For in this phrase too it is said that God is wholly knowledge and for this reason is hard to comprehend by intelligible things, dwelling in light inaccessible. The air above us, and the water tending toward the ether, he covers with the gatherings of the clouds. And according to the deeper meaning: he calls the intelligible essence heaven, stretched out and spread for the covering of the mind—the one who covers with intelligible and divine waters the upper chambers of the soul, that is, its powers that are above the perceptible things.

You will find the abyss to consist in incomprehensibility, and in the words "Your judgments, Lord, are a great abyss." For since his judgments are unsearchable, it is not possible to have comprehension of them. Therefore they are compared not simply to an abyss but to a great one. And so the great abyss—his judgments—covers God like a garment, an incomprehensibility named an abyss. The mountains, hearing thunder—that is, the word that comes with a great voice through providence—are afraid. These things must reasonably be understood as said of perceptible mountains and waters. But it is possible to take "At the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid" as referring not to the waters but to men, or rather to all living things, in such a way that there might be thunder, as they perceive the invisible and unseen divinity. Through every word the present psalm, hymning God, gives glory, making mention of each creature; whence also in what has been set forth above, approving his providence, it marvels at his goodness together with wisdom, since he has cared also for the continuance of irrational animals. And reasonably so; for if he himself made them, he himself would be the provider of their food and drink. And by way of spiritual interpretation you will understand the mountains just explained: they are the men who bear the Spirit. They are watered from the upper chambers of God himself, being filled with the gifts of the Spirit—the word of wisdom and the rest of those enumerated. And the upper chambers of God, from which he waters the mountains, are the pure and surpassing contemplations of the truth, called upper chambers because nothing has ascended above them. "From the fruit of your works the earth shall be satisfied.

For he himself says, "Let the earth sprout grass of herb and a fruitful tree producing fruit," and so on. But by way of spiritual interpretation, from the works of Jesus at his coming, which have much fruit, the whole earth is filled, partaking of the things that were thus wondrously brought about by Jesus. For this is the fruit of his works. And the word concerning the works of his creation and providence, understood as being the fruit of God's works, will fill the earth—I mean the human beings dwelling on the earth. And he will cause to rise also in his transcendent and most lofty words, which are mountains, grass such as is borne there, which are the more irrational. And the grass on these mountains is the word concerning sensible things and the letter of Scripture, but also the more ethical word, of which the many will also be able to partake, each of such things saying, "In a place of green pasture, there he made me dwell." But when they have once surpassed such a condition, no longer being slaves of men but having become men, they will each say again, "You have prepared a table before me." And wine gladdens the heart of men—not only the one who has his origin from the one who said, "I am the true vine," but since all sensible things are called earth because of their material nature. And from these it is possible to receive a word that leads up by some analogy to intelligible things. And this word is bread brought forth from the earth to nourish the inner and hidden man; and from the bodily narratives of Scripture, which because of their historical character are called earth, the bread brought forth is the mystical word.

The face of the inner man is made cheerful and radiant with the oil that nourishes the divine light and loosens the sicknesses and labors of the soul, differing only in conception from the mind that was given. For the Word of God is both a vine and an olive tree: "For I," he says, "am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." For his teaching, according to its different aspect, is both wine and oil and bread. By way of spiritual interpretation: the race of deer is hostile to the race of serpents. At any rate, they hasten to destroy them. Such altogether are the disciples of Christ, ready to avenge every disobedience. And they received the power against the spiritual serpents from the one who gave them authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy. These, then, are the spiritual deer that long for the spiritual springs of waters, which are also called mountains in another sense; they dwell upon these very mountains. And there are souls perfected in virtue, leaping as great deer, imitating the one who leaps upon the mountains and bounds upon the hills, being also a gazelle because of its sharp sight and keen vision. But the souls that are inferior to these and weaker, called rock-badgers, flee as to an impregnable fortress, to the rock on which Jesus founded the church; and this is the confession of faith. And in Proverbs it is said: "And the rock-badgers, a people not strong, made their houses in the rocks.

It is nothing wonderful if the rock is spoken of sometimes in the singular and sometimes in the plural, since Christ is a rock simply, and is also rocks according to the different conceptions. A writing is cited: A rock is a refuge for the hares, so that perhaps there is a synonymy of hare and rock-badger. It is possible, then, to hear each one saying: Behold, the Lord helps me; who will harm me? And the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear; what will man do to me? But the "as" placed here is indicative not of likeness but of truth, just as also in "As God is good to Israel"; for it does not say that God is like a good thing but truly good. And in the present phrase, then, the being magnified of the works of God is signified through "As your works were magnified, O Lord." For everything that comes to be in the wisdom of God is great. And the wisdom of God, in which all things came to be, is the Lord; for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. But another says that it was spoken only about rational beings. For to expect and to have expectation toward God—this is what is hinted at. And they expect to obtain it at the right time, when they are freed from every bad condition and disease. For then, when it is given, they will gather as much, hastening to receive it, as to be fed to satiety. And the goodness upon such abundance will be supplied to them, as he opens to them the hand of your words and the wisdom. God, providing eternal glory to his own works, rejoices when all things have expected toward him.

For just as in the beginning, having made all things exceedingly good, he rejoiced when he had completed the inhabited world, and rejoiced among the sons of men—there being as yet no transgression—so at the consummation and restoration of his works to their ancient state, God would rejoice; the joy of God being not a passion (for the divine is impassible) but an acceptance of those who have achieved perfect virtue. But if you wish these things to be understood spiritually: when God looks upon them, according to "Look upon me," and "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous," then the earthly things no longer stand but, reeling in darkness, tremble, so as to be cast off and pass away—the material condition. And God, touching also the evil powers, which are called "lofty" because of their pride, makes them smoke, already kindling in them the fire of punishment. I will sing to the Lord—the song having its substance not in voice but in thoughts; and I will sing with perfect deeds to God, so long as I exist, having existence according to which I partake of him who exists before the ages and who said, "I am the one who is." And speaking things well-pleasing and acceptable to God, I will say, "Let my meditation be sweet to him." For thus he too, having received the church, says in the Song of Songs, "Your voice is sweet." Just as according to the history Samuel, serving continually in the tabernacle of witness, saw the face of God, so those who have given themselves over to continuous and unceasing examination of the doctrines of truth and to the practice of the virtues seek the face of God at all times, wishing to see him with a pure mind.

The face of God is the impress of his substance, being the image of the invisible God; therefore the one who sees it immediately sees God. And you may understand his mouth as his Word, who, like a lawgiver and a strict teacher, has given you discerned teachings and commandments. Having called those from Abraham slaves of God because of the descent of the race from Abraham, and the chosen ones from Jacob because they are named after him, and the election from the nations who were then taken into the lot of the divine God, and God himself as their lord and God, he nevertheless says that the providential judgment is over all men. The number of a thousand generations is not spoken according to quantity but because of its affinity to the monad, just as also in the passage "Thousands of those who prosper," and again, "Good to me is the law of your mouth above thousands of gold and silver." Therefore, since we too have become partakers of Christ, having been deemed worthy of the manifestation of the Son of God; for he himself is the Christ who also spoke to them, and the Savior himself teaches this in the words, "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad." When did he see it? Was it not when, lifting up his eyes, he saw God standing by him at the oak of Mamre? For then the Scripture says, "God appeared to Abraham." And these things, then, even if they are of another time, it was necessary to be proclaimed to the nations by those here commanded to do this. He said "brief" instead of "few." For "brief" is used of magnitude, while "few" is assigned to things numbered.

They humbled only his feet, while the soul of his was not bound but had come to be outside the iron. For those who are encompassed by such bonds bear the circumstance ignobly, having their soul bent by the iron. But he endured this not to the end. For the end of the circumstance limits it, since he said that it had held sway until the word of God passed through, according to which, having been transferred from the prison, he had been appointed guardian and nurturer of all, when the oracle of the Lord had set it on fire to boil in the spirit and to have it kindled with the divine light, after which it is also possible to keep the exhortation that says, Do not quench the Spirit. And Joseph himself knew this doctrine; therefore he said to those who were responsible: You did not send me here; for you intended it for evil, but God for good. Since not all are of themselves and through themselves able to withdraw from harmful things, God sends to those who are thus weak guides and leaders of the road that leads to good things. And these are the law of God, Moses, and the high-priestly word, of which Aaron is a symbol; the one declaring what must be done, the other ministering on our behalf to God and ferrying to us the graces that come from him. Using these as leaders, we flee Egypt. And by way of ascent you will understand that each of those in these watches, having health and strength, will say, I can do all things in him who strengthens me, and being rich also in good works and in every word and all knowledge, in silver and gold, he comes to be outside Egypt by God.

For it is impossible for one who is weak and deprived of the aforementioned gold and silver to depart from Egypt. The present utterance is especially that of the saints who, before the coming of the Savior, entreated that the Lord remember them in the good pleasure of his people—which he was well pleased in his beloved Son, having judged to save his own people and the world. Showing him, then, he says: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I was well pleased." Since, therefore, the divine prophets saw with the eye of the mind, desiring to see and hear the things done and spoken by Jesus, they ask that a remembrance of them be made in the salvation according to the good pleasure. And Christ is often called the salvation of God, as also in "All flesh shall see the salvation of our God." The father of the Baptist, making this visitation clear concerning God, says: "Through the tender mercies of our God, in which the dayspring from on high has visited us." And when he has visited us in his own salvation, it will be ours to become his elect and to behold in the goodness of his elect the joy that is being accomplished, and to be gladdened in the divine banquet of the people that is being completed from all who believe. And may it be granted to us also to be praised together with his inheritance—that is, that we have it as an inheritance in desire as heirs. And what is this but the Church from the Gentiles, according to "Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles as your inheritance"? For spiritually, henceforth according to the Gospel, those who attend to the law are praised together with the aforementioned inheritance.

They are praised by God and by the holy powers, who receive those who strive to be approved before God. And the divine men, taking up also the person of those who repent of the evils they have done, and teaching how one must repent after sins, say, "We do not sin, but we have sinned with our fathers"—calling their fathers either their forebears and ancestors, or those who begot them in wickedness. Therefore all these things they will say, confessing; they turned to the past time, saying, "We have sinned, we have acted lawlessly, we have done wrong." And it is well that, enumerating the things for which they repent, they do not say, "We have acted impiously"; for it was not that they had gone outside the Godhead but, being encompassed by it, they sinned, overcome by passions and a wretched disposition, and did the other things. God, who rebuked the Red Sea, is acknowledged by all. If, then, Jesus also rebukes the tossing sea, so that out of the surge and billow calm may come, he is shown to be God, himself being the one who rebuked the Red Sea, or the son of that one. Nevertheless, when God rebuked the Red Sea, it is dried up, so that the sea of old, and the deep so called because of the abundance of waters, becomes passable. And they made a calf in Horeb, having a fantasy brought from Egypt of the Apis in Memphis. Therefore they also worshiped this calf and other carved images, held fast by the delusion of polytheism. At once, then, a calf

...having done so, showing many, they were saying: "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." And the psalm that follows, containing God's benefactions and mercies that have been shown to men, being his, has "Hallelujah" placed before it. Those whose surrounding afflictions have changed (though they themselves contributed nothing to this), knowing that they have this by the mercy of the good God, would say the verses set before us. And since some, being in temporary things reckoned good, do not simply have experience of God's mercy—those who are shown mercy forever having eternal goods from him. For indeed the good God himself says to someone: "With eternal mercy I have shown you mercy." And so he shows mercy to thousands of those who love him, preparing for them what "eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man." It has been said before that the good is synonymous with the kind. Therefore also, being in the desert of virtues, we were wandering, having no guide and leader, following whom we might be able to find after the journey a city well ordered by sacred law, in which we could dwell without departing from it. And it is virtue and the wisdom of God. And since the preceding poverty is opposite to being rich in every word and all knowledge and in good works, the one released from these evils will not even be tried by punishments. While they were still walking in the way of their lawlessness, the merciful God took hold of them, since, humbled because of the multitude of impieties they had, they were held fast by those from which he raised them up.

And consider whether you can apply to these things the account of the robber who repented on the cross. For while he was still in the way of lawlessness (for he had been condemned for robbery) and was humbled by punishment because of the lawless deeds he had committed, the one who said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise," took hold of him. And in general, both in body and in soul, the one in a bad condition because of some disease loathes all food, both bodily and spiritual, whereas those who have the health of the soul hunger and thirst for righteousness. And the gates of death are the sins that lead to death. Those who approach these gates, before coming to him, still have vital breath and power—I mean, the thought concerning God; therefore, when they are afflicted, they cry out to the Lord, and he saves them from all the necessities that constrain them. And if they had not cried out to the Lord, they would have reached even death itself. And everyone who proclaims the things that have happened to himself, and has had experience of his beneficence, proclaims his works in exultation—not the one who merely recounts the things that have happened to others. And the statement that the waters rise up to heaven and descend to the abyss is said by way of hyperbole. For you would find countless examples of this manner in the Scripture; for concerning the cities of the enemies of Israel, that they were walled up to heaven because they were fortified with high walls, and the saying "I shall be made whiter than snow" is spoken in the same manner. Others say: the so-called sheep would be cattle, which have abundance and size because they have attained gentleness and docility.

But also, since she is unable to speak against God's economy concerning the Gentiles, let it stop her mouth. And you will understand "lawlessness" as the devil and everyone formed in accordance with it, according to "The mouth of those who speak lawlessness has been stopped." Since the greater part of them is devoted to the spiritual meaning, it belongs to the wise and understanding to comprehend them. His glory is the practical and contemplative disposition, according to which he is disposed toward ethical and intellectual virtue. Those for whom the true light has risen, having risen early toward the Lord and walking decently as in the day, striking the psaltery and plucking the lyre, sing to the all-wise God, sending up hymns rhythmically and harmoniously. And it has been said in the psalm what the psaltery is and what the lyre is. His mercy is magnified as far as heaven, beginning from the earth; for the earth is full of the Lord's mercy. The end has those who began to receive mercy from the earth reach heaven, in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven. And his truth is magnified also in the clouds that minister the spiritual rain—Moses and the prophets—since their ministry, beginning from the shadow, ends in the truth, so that they too worship the Father in spirit and truth, just as the apostles and all the disciples of the Spirit do. From the first phrase as far as "Over all the earth is your glory" it is the same as the fifty-eighth; but from the next verse until the end, the fifty-ninth; therefore, having spoken there of each of the points set before us, we now summarize.

When God is exalted among those who bear the image of the heavenly one and for this reason are called heavens, his glory extends over all the earth that is able to bear fruit a hundred, sixty, thirty; or when God is exalted over the contemplative natures of the world, which are addressed as heavens, his glory comes to rest upon the practical ones, which are named earth. The worthy ones would not otherwise be rescued from the enemies who hold them and those who surround them, unless you saved them with your right hand and listened to me as I intercede on their behalf. Omiasis is translated as Sikeima, being a symbol of work. When the Lord was therefore exalted upon the cross and had ascended, he divided the works of men, so as to justify some and reject others; for he is a righteous judge. Therefore also the region around the earth, because it is somewhere below and is called a valley, is called tabernacles of the human bodies dwelling in it, a measurement of the souls that inhabit them, since he provides for things both below and here. At any rate, he sent the heralds of the truth to all the Gentiles, having justified the proclamation of the gospel. Galaad is translated as migration, Manasseh as from forgetfulness, Ephraim as fruit-bearing. The Savior will therefore say: Galaad is mine, and Manasseh is mine, being migrated from wickedness to truth, or from wickedness to virtue, or from earth to heaven; and mine is also the one who has surpassed all forgetfulness of good things and has come to be from it. For the one who comes after forgetfulness into memory is Manasseh, that is, having dismissed and abandoned the forgetfulness from which he had forgotten God's good things.

But also the abundant fruitfulness of the nations that have believed has become a shelter and a help of the Savior; for as Paul writes to those who were benefited by him that he has joy and a crown in them, so also the Savior has as his help his crown, being woven from those who bear fruit of righteousness and truth. And Judah is his king, not by his ruling over him, but by the one who is king being closely joined to him. Such is David, or perhaps every one who gives thanks for the things in which he succeeded is Judah, being interpreted as thanksgiving. Moab, however, because he is punitive toward those handed over to him by the Lord, is a cauldron of the hope of the one who says this. And the cauldron in many places of the prophets signifies punishment. Since, then, the punishments are brought on with a good purpose, having a good hope succeeding them, it is a cauldron of hope and expectation of good things. Upon Idumea I will stretch out my sandal. If it be the person of the Savior who says these things, since Idumea is taken to mean the earthly, he will say that he makes his journey upon the earth and earthly things; for it is a symbol

...the sandal of a covered journey. Formerly he did not use a bare journey when creating and providing, but now he is clothed with flesh, which is also his sandal. And since some have shod themselves with the gospel in the preparation of peace, this sandal too, spread everywhere, was stretched out upon Idumea in both of the ways that have been mentioned. 1033 Not all have the same right hand, but for the earnest man the intelligible things and the things of virtue, and for the base man the sensible things and the things of vice; in the right hands of the saint God stands, but in those of the sinner the devil. But perhaps someone will object, saying: And concerning Jesus the great high priest, who is holy, it has been said, And the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him. But the objector did not notice the difference in the wording; for in the case of Judas it is written, Let the devil stand at his right hand, but in the case of the great high priest, And the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him; for he stands at the right hand of the saint fighting and opposing, even if he is not able to overthrow him, since God is in his right hand; but in the case of Judas, as in his own place, he stands at his right hand. Therefore he is also base, and what follows further indicates his wickedness, since the Savior prays that the prayer of Judas become unto sin. A prayer becomes unto sin for the one who sends it up, whenever he fails to obtain what he asks. So then he prayed, in a certain manner betraying the teacher, that his word be made away with and that all the disciples and believers be scattered, but he failed.

His word, then, ran, and those who believed in him, increasing daily, filled the whole inhabited world. And in another way prayer becomes a cause of sin for someone, when he asks to receive from God not what is fitting but what is not beneficial to him, and for this reason God judged him, since he asked for what is neither proper for God to give nor profitable to him. But for every traitor of the truth the days become few—the days he had while being enlightened, before he betrayed the truth—being enlightened by the true light. And he receives also the oversight of this instead of it, becoming a teacher, the one who both remained and advanced in the truth. The fathers of Judas can be those who begot him for betrayal, and those who urged him to this by the giving of silver, and further Satan who cast it into his heart to betray the Lord, and the rulers who have the wisdom of this age, concerning whom Paul says, For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But he put him to death, having become the cause of his being handed over to death. He who is clothed with the form of a slave speaks as to a lord, to the Father. And he says to the Lord, that he will deal mercifully with him, benefiting those who believe, who are his body; for what is done to his body he reckons to himself. Therefore he says, Deal with me for the sake of your name, since indeed in this I have come to those whom you sent me, saying, I have come in the name of the Father; for the sake of this name, then, deal with me, For your mercy is good, being beneficent and full of goodness.

Do this, since "And my heart is troubled within me." You might call his heart also his apostles, of equal soul to him, since those who believed, being lesser, happen to be his body. Since, then, the disciples were scattered, having been scandalized on that night when Judas and the crowd of the Pharisees stood by to seize him, it happened that they were troubled in heart, being his heart. Yet even if his heart was troubled, it did not depart from him, being held together by him and being within his disciples. But also everyone who is troubled in heart by thoughts or passions, yet does nothing or says nothing in accordance with the trouble, will say, "My heart was troubled within me." And since the Savior was always going to spend his time among humans (for he was taken up into the heavens after the resurrection), he will speak concerning human life, which is not lasting nor stable, as a shadow when it declines: "You were taken away when I was shaken off like a locust." For just as locusts, by the weakness of their nature, are shaken off more quickly when startled, so too I, having taken up a weak life for the sake of humans in order to be crucified, was quickly driven out from weakness, taken up after the resurrection. He can also say concerning all the disciples as concerning himself, "I was shaken off like locusts," since when persecuted and shaken off by those who wish to harm them, they are not humbled but, flying, are carried aloft. And so all the martyrs, shaken off like locusts, having let go of things below, pursue the prize of the upward calling. And giving the reason for confessing and praising him, he added, "Because he stood at the right hand of the poor man.

Clearly of me, who became poor for the sake of all, so that by my poverty they might become rich. He stands at the right hand of the one who does and thinks all things rightly. Again, giving as the reason that God stands at his right hand, he says, "To save my soul." 1038 To the Son, the Lord, who fulfilled the dispensation, who rose from the dead and was taken up into heaven, the Lord said, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"—that is, the Father. Paul, then, indicates that this voice was spoken after that ascension, by saying, "Having made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high"; and next, "For to which of the angels did he ever say, 'Sit at my right hand'?" The Lord, therefore, being the Father of all things that have come to be from him, says to the Lord of creation, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." But the Father speaks to the Son as a father would speak to a son and a son to a father; for he does not converse with the Son by utterance, since he himself is his own understanding, truth, wisdom, and word. And the Lord of the lord sits at the right hand. Not in a spatial sense—whether a body or whatever he who said these things had—even if we sought the right hand in a place. Therefore, those who partake of God, insofar as he is God and holy and good, are at the right hand of God; and no other will rule over them than the one who reigns together with the Father. For "Sit at my right hand" signifies the Son's reigning together with the Father. And in the case of rational beings: those who possess wisdom and unalloyed virtue are a throne of God; and sitting among these, the Savior sits at the right hand of God.

But those who have rushed headlong into wickedness and false opinion are enemies of the Word and of the truth. The Father wishes also to draw these through repentance under the course and to make them the feet of the Word, so that having become his footstool, as far as possible they may touch his feet; after this touch, becoming more nimble toward virtue and wisdom, they too shall be a throne instead of a footstool. Therefore Paul says, For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And here God says, Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. For he sits at the right hand of the Father, reigning as long as the enemies resist. But when he has subjected them and, having placed in them the beginning of benefit, made them his footstool, stretching out his hand he raises them up, so that they too may be numbered among those on the right, since wickedness no longer exists then, on account of which they happened to be on the left, so that for the rest the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, and all rational beings, having been perfected, may become one toward the Father and the Son of God, with God becoming all in all. You will understand it also in this way: the name of rule signifies here the kingdom that is with the Savior on the day of his power, either after the resurrection which he raised from the dead; for if he was crucified from weakness, yet he lives from

of power of God—either signifying the innate principle that belongs to him, according to which he rules and holds dominion (and this is the day of his power), not among ordinary things but in the splendors of the saints, according to which they will be enlightened and made radiant by the true light, so as to say, "Let the splendor of the Lord our God be upon us." But if he calls the ruled "a beginning," in the sense in which it is said, "God is ruler over every beginning," and "His beginning came to be upon his shoulder," then you will also say thus, that with the existence of those ruled by him, in the day of his power, the sun of righteousness shines upon them. At any rate, he himself says concerning those ruled by him to the Father, "I wish that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory." All the ecclesiastical writers say that this present utterance was spoken by the Father, not now for the first time but also always, joined to the beginning of the psalm thus: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet; from the womb before the morning star I begot you"—the other half-verses having been spoken in between. And the apostle also seems to have followed this thought when he said, "For to which of the angels did he ever say, Sit at my right hand?"—almost saying: To none of the begotten did he say it, but to his only-begotten Son alone he said, "Sit at my right hand," since he alone is the only-begotten who is in the bosom of the Father. Let us also consider what the expression itself means. And it must be said that God is simple and uncompounded:

And yet, although he is so, the divine Word, if he wishes genuinely to present him as creator, speaking from what we know, says that the heavens and the rest of creation are the works of his hands. In the same way, we also, when we speak of genuine parents, call the womb by name. For since some are properly sons of certain people, while others are adopted and made sons, when we mean not the adopted but the proper ones, we call them offspring of the womb of those who bore them. And God, then, wishing to present a genuine son and the only-begotten who is from himself, makes mention of a womb. But just as his making with hands is to be understood in a God-befitting way, so too let us hear his having begotten from a womb. But many are the works of his hands, yet one is the only-begotten offspring of the womb; whence creating and begetting must not be said to be the same in God, as some suppose. For all things came to be through the Word and in Wisdom, but Wisdom and the Word were begotten not through anything but from God. Therefore begetting is not the same as making; for if there were no difference, nothing would prevent saying: My hands made you, and the heavens are the works of my womb. But just as the expression has a great distinction, so too do the things signified by it. But the Father says these things not because the Son is ignorant of them, but so that we might know the intimacy of the Father toward the Son and of the Son toward the Father—for this reason these things were written. Just as also what was said by the only-begotten Wisdom herself: Before all the hills he begets me—therefore here too he is said to have been begotten before the morning star, and the morning star is of light, not sensible only but also intelligible.

But if he is also [Lord] of things intelligible, it is evident that he is also [Lord] of all creation, according to what is said: And he himself is before all things. Just as our Savior defines an oath for us to be the Yes and the No, so—rather, much more—God, speaking truth, is said to swear, not using any oath of denial or of affirmation. The Lord has sworn, then, and will not repent, since the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance; and the greatest calling is that of the Savior to the priesthood, and the gift without repentance is the priesthood, not according to the order of Aaron but of Melchizedek forever. For the priesthood of Aaron, which was imposed until the time of correction, was changed, as Paul says: When the priesthood is changed, there is of necessity also a change of law. But the covenant made with the Savior is eternal and has an inviolable priesthood, since this priest is able to save completely those who through him draw near to God, living always to intercede for them. And so he also offers the spiritual sacrifices on our behalf to the Father—sacrifices of praise and righteousness as they are—but he has also brought himself as a sacrifice for all for the salvation of all. When the Father said to the Son, Sit at my right hand, now it is said, The Lord is at your right hand, so that it is made clear that the Son is not at the right hand of the Father in a spatial sense. For behold, at once both he himself is at the right hand and his Father is at the right hand, which is impossible if At the right hand were understood spatially. As, then, the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, so the Son is at the right hand of the Father.

And the Father of the Son, at his right hand, shatters in the day of his wrath the intelligible kings, who are none other than principalities and powers and world-rulers of the darkness. And these same are those placed beneath the feet of the Savior, who because of the evil and wickedness they chose are his enemies; yet once shattered they will cease to be adversaries, since every such principality and every such power is being abolished by the Lord. And the day of the Lord's wrath is called in the Scriptures the time of the judgment of all together. But when these things are accomplished in this way, God among the nations will fill up the fallen, leaving no one empty and without a share in the fullness that comes from him, of those who have fallen for salvation, so that they may rise to eternal life. For he himself lies as that of whose fullness the saints have received, for the fall and resurrection of many, casting down and making to fall those who hold a base position, because in evil and impiety they seem to be established, in order to raise them to a resurrection of life, so that they may henceforth have him as their head, when the base kingdoms have been shattered, which he called heads of many, of those called many who have been poured out because of evil. For since it was not possible for them at the same time to have him as head, that is, as king, while he was still first upon the earth, having shattered those who ruled for the harm of the nations, he himself, reigning over them lawfully, is head of every man according to the inner man and of the blameless church. And the cause of all these things is that he drank from the brook, having become in the way of the life of men.

For the last line hints at this, saying, "He shall drink from the brook in the way; therefore he shall lift up his head." The brook in many places, as also here, signifies temptation, and to drink from it is to receive it. But Jesus was tempted, having become in the way of men for the sake of salvation, as the apostle says when he writes: "For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." And having been proclaimed king over them, with authority given to him in heaven and on earth, he lifted up his head, appointed by the Spirit as ruler not only of things on earth but also of things in the heavens, so that every knee should bow to him, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The cross bears the symbol of this exaltation. But all these things will be spoken concerning the Word who became flesh. For even if he is one and the same, nevertheless the things set before us will fit, in their meaning, his coming in the flesh.

And a little earlier we set down a tradition of the ancients, that those psalms inscribed with "Alleluia" belong to those arranged among the earlier ones, for which here too, from Psalm 110 to Psalm 118, "Alleluia" is prefixed, no explicit person being indicated as to whose each of these happens to be. Since, then, Psalm 119 is inscribed "Of David," it is necessary, as far as his tradition goes, that all the successive ones also be his until Psalm 118. And let this be a general observation for all the untitled psalms. But the saint, about to proclaim the things that came to be for the salvation of all by the Lord, first announces the words set before us. With his whole heart everyone confesses—and only he who has loved God with his whole heart and soul and mind. And having stretched out his whole capacity for love toward God, he loves God with his whole heart; and having spent his whole capacity for hymn-singing and thanksgiving toward God, he confesses to him with his whole heart in the assembly of the zealous, not in any chance place or with any chance people. It is possible, by punctuating after "With my whole heart," to read next, "In the counsel of the upright and the congregation, great are the works of the Lord." When the will of the Lord is named generally and universally, the particular wills of his individual works are meant. If, then, "all that he willed he did," universally his doing depends on his will, the individual works being fitted to the specific wills. Therefore, since the craftsman is great, great also are his works, exceedingly refined for the fitting of his wills.

For not as it happened, but diligently sought out are these things for all his will. Therefore, since the works are diligently sought out, let no one say, "For what purpose is that?" For all things were created for their use; therefore all the works of God are very good. But if someone should take as works of God the things accomplished paradoxically and wondrously (on the one hand through Moses and the prophets, on the other through Jesus our Savior), the words set before us might also be spoken concerning these. For Jesus, when he accomplished the resurrections of the dead and the cleansings of lepers and the recoveries of sight of the blind and things of the same kind as these, was symbolically indicating through them the healings of the inner man, which are above all things primarily the will of God. But if someone should take the virtues to be called the will of God, because of "He who will do all my wills," he will say that the great works diligently sought out for all the wills of God are the activities according to virtue. And according to the literal sense, moreover, he especially gives food to those who fear him with some wondrous working, as to Daniel, who was a meal in the pit of lions in Babylon; from Jerusalem he took up Habakkuk and brought him aloft to Babylon, carrying the food to Daniel himself. But also, having commanded ravens to bring bread in the morning and meat in the evening to Elijah (when there was a great famine), he fed him who feared the Lord. But since his old covenant was given until a time of correction and has received an end, he will be remembered forever, while the new covenant according to the gospel remains without successor.

Therefore also to the people whom he purchased with his own blood through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Spirit, Jesus gives the strength of his works, revealing to them of what power each one is that he commanded the people to do, and the words of the things that have come to be. He will remember his covenant forever. At one time a hardening in part came upon Israel, and the fullness of the Gentiles entered into salvation. But since God is good, not content that only the fullness of the Gentiles should enter into the undefiled and glorious inheritance, he remembers forever the covenant made with the sons of Israel for the sake of their fathers. He will proclaim the strength of the works which he has done to the Israelite people, so that, having contemplated the power of the dispensation, they too may be saved, after the fullness of the Gentiles has entered, receiving from God the inheritance that has been brought near and confirmed to the Gentiles. In many places of the divine oracles we find the Lord called the hand of the Father, as in "My high hand did all these things." For the Word through whom all things were made, and the Wisdom in whom the Father made all things, is his hand that created the whole. But also when he led the people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, God accomplished this in the same Son, as one of the apostles writes: Jesus, having once saved a people out of Egypt, the second time destroyed those who did not believe. And since also other scriptures [say] that God made [all things] not with one hand

They say that the passage which says, "The heavens are the works of your hands," and the one which declares, "Your hands did not make all the host of heaven" (and in agreement with these is also the one who said, "Your hands made me and formed me"), if one seeks reasonably, he would find also that the Holy Spirit is called the hand of God; from which it is shown that the Holy Spirit is creative, since the Father worked the heavens and created the host of heaven in the Son and the Holy Spirit. But the works of these hands of God are found in all the saints to be truth and judgment. For the practical disposition which the Son gives in the Holy Spirit is judgment—judging and with examination determining which good things one ought to choose and which evils to flee; and truth is what Christ gives through the Holy Spirit and according to the Spirit—a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge. Therefore the works of the hands of God are knowledge of truth and ethical virtue, being truth and judgment; wherefore fittingly it was added, "All his commandments are faithful," not because they are spoken in this way for believing, but because of their immovability and firmness, according to which meaning it is written, "I will give you an eternal covenant, the faithful holy things of David." These faithful commandments, then, are established forever and ever because they are of God and cannot be overturned. Concerning them, at any rate, the Savior said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away." But do not let it escape you to suppose that the present words were spoken concerning the commandments that are according to the shadow. For those passed away, having been given until the time of correction.

For one must hear concerning the spiritual laws that pertain to it from the things set before us, as the following teaches, having this form: "They have been made in truth and uprightness." For they come to be understood in truth according to the doctrine of piety. But also they are accomplished in uprightness, being guarded with the best disposition, as works of the Lord's hands—and these too, truth and judgment, come to be accomplished in each pious person. And he has taken judgment into uprightness, by the practical and ethical virtue directing the soul and being discerning of things to be done and not to be done. The redemption which God sent to his people is not different from that of the one who said, "The Son of Man came to give his soul as a ransom for many." For by his precious blood, by the grace of God, we were redeemed for every one who tasted death, from our vain manner of life handed down from the fathers. For Christ has become for us, as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification from God, so also redemption, saying, "He sent me to proclaim release to the captives." For having released from captivity those held by the devil and by evil, he has appeared as redeemer and benefactor of all, forgiving sins and impieties of those who take refuge in him. But his goodness, not being satisfied with the captives alone having been redeemed, also made them heirs of his own Father, and co-heirs with himself, having commanded for them an eternal covenant, so that holding to it earnestly and with perfect zeal they might receive an immortal inheritance according to the eternal and incorruptible promises.

His name, he says, is holy to the saints, but fearful to those who are not holy. For just as it makes those who partake of it holy, being a fountain of holiness, so it is fearful to those who sin while bearing it. And just as the beginning of the good way (and this is the contemplation of truth) is the doing of righteous things, so the beginning and introduction to the wisdom of God—which is none other than the contemplation of truth—is the divine fear, the same fear being named for those who are practical in righteousness. Therefore, whatever ratio the doing of righteous things has to the good way, this the fear of God has to wisdom. The name "beginning" can here be taken not as introduction but as cause, so that what is said is that the fear of God is cause and beginning. And understanding, good together with this wisdom, belongs not to those who have understood without doing, but to those who do it. For to those who do understanding—which is none other than virtue—there will be benefit, from which benefit they learn its good. Upon all the things theologized in the present psalm, praise of him is brought forward as the end to remain. For this is a fitting end for those who theologize: to say that his praise (clearly of the one theologized) remains without limit. For since the one hymned is immortal, his praise must also be endless, so as to endure into all the ages.

The one who performs these things not for the sake of something else or for their own sake—for instance, for human glory, or to avoid the punishment brought upon those who sin, or for a reward—but who chooses and performs them for the good itself: such a person will truly be blessed. For the man who is called blessed because he has the fear of the Lord, the seed he sows into the good earth, his own earnest and good heart, is able to bear fruit a hundredfold. For the seeds that the wicked sow into the flesh, their material and earthly condition, are weak (and therefore from the flesh they reap corruption), but the seed of those who sow into the spirit is powerful, and from it they reap into eternal life. At any rate, to each of those who are thus perfect, and at the same time to all, the word commands: Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap for yourselves for the fruit of life. Glory and wealth are in his house. The one who turns the words of Jesus that he has heard into deeds builds his house upon the rock, laying the foundations of his contemplative and practical life upon the unbreakable word of God. This house, then, which each of those who fear the Lord has built, because he has willed to be in the commandments of the Lord (that is, has willed exceedingly to be in the words of Jesus), he fills with the glory of the thoughts of truth and with wealth composed of every word and all knowledge and good works. Therefore the promise of his righteousness also extends to the age of the age.

Such houses did the midwives build for themselves, fearing the Lord, so that they might not be wandering in the wilderness like Esau, but might dwell in a house like the fashioned Jacob. But others have understood the present passage according to the literal sense as well. And one must not consider the words to be human. For the words which they are entrusted to administer are also in some way said to be theirs. At any rate, someone from God placed before his own prophecy the words "The words of Amos which came to Zechariah," and Solomon, laying bare the matter, says, "My words have been spoken by God." Indeed, the divine Gospel is sometimes attributed to the one who gave it and sometimes to those who minister it—to those who minister, when Paul says "my Gospel," and to the one who handed it over, when Paul again says, "As we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel," and "That we have been set apart for the Gospel of God." And it is no wonder. For the Holy Spirit himself, who fills the sacred men with divine things, is sometimes called God's and sometimes that of those who possess it, as in "The spirit of Elijah has rested," and "In the spirit and power of Elijah." But do not suppose, because it was said with reference to time, "Until he looks upon his enemies," that he is not shaken, meaning that after the overthrow of his enemies he is shaken. For how could he be shaken, once his enemies have been brought down—he who, in threatening and pressing upon them, did not suffer this? For it is customary for Scripture to use this expression in many cases, as when the Gospel says concerning Mary that she remained a virgin, "until she bore her firstborn son," and so on accordingly.

For it was fitting to show that Jesus' birth came from a virgin without marriage, and reasonably so, where the matter was ambiguous—lest perhaps the virgin had suffered corruption; she conceived and gave birth. Removing this ambiguity, he says that she remained a virgin until the delivery. For if she is said to have been a virgin until she gave birth, she did not conceive from a man what she brought forth while being a virgin. With this understanding it is said by God: "I am, I am," and "Even until you grow old, I am." He calls God a horn. For all the righteous, trusting in this, say: "In you we will gore our enemies." And so the one who is called blessed, having gored his enemies in the Lord, has his horn exalted in glory, by which he brought them down. Since the promises belong to those who have lived well in the life hereafter, each of the sinners, encountering punishment, will see what he plundered from a righteous man, and he will be angry with himself, coming into most vehement regret, and he will also gnash his teeth, and he will melt away, casting off the bulk and the swelling of his material and fleshly disposition and choice, since the desire of sinners is destroyed. At any rate, they gnash their teeth against themselves. That these things happen to those being punished, the Savior also said, saying: "Cast him into the outer darkness; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." But do not be so slow as to think that teeth perceptible to the senses are meant.

Since we do not take "you shattered the teeth of sinners" in a perceptible sense, perhaps those who in this life were nurtured on wickedness and the impiety joined with it, having taken it as poisonous food, were breaking down the divine doctrines with certain powers of the soul as if with teeth and molars, repenting of the things in which they had been badly nurtured—those very powers of the soul through which they were cutting and grinding up the worst food—and they will gnash them violently, condemning themselves for the things they did and were held fast by the burning punishment. The statement "Children," spoken without qualification, does not permit one to think that "children" was said in place of "slaves"; for simply and without addition the young are called children. But slaves are children of certain people; for as a slave, so also "child" has its reference to the master. At any rate, in many places one can see the slaves of David called children of David, and of Solomon, and of many others. But if "Praise, children" has the same force as "Praise, sons," consider this too. For the account can have a sequence when it is distinguished, that it belongs to slaves to fear God, but to sons to glorify him through hymning; for God says, "A son glorifies a father, and a slave fears his master"; and "if I am a master, where is my fear? and if I am a father, where is my glory?" Perhaps there are also certain risings of the sun of righteousness at which it rises. And these have a kinship (or are the same as) the risings in which the paradise was planted.

If in these risings there are also settings corresponding to them, it is fitting to praise the name of the Lord at these risings and settings. For he set for Israel, but he rose for the nations that believed. Since, then, he both set for those and rose for these wisely and by righteous judgment, accepting the judgments of providence that are everywhere and in every case brought about by the Lord: Praise the name of his; the Lord is high above all the nations, his glory above the heavens. And the words taken more simply show that God provides for all things, being high as a king above all the nations, having his glory also in the heavens, in that he also leads the rational orders there. But with deeper meaning, the Lord is high above all the nations that have believed, being hymned by them through a pure life, both practical and contemplative. And above the heavens—those who no longer bear the image of the earthly man but that of the heavenly one—his glory is, so as even to declare it to his own disciples; for the heavens declare the glory of God. For surely they declare it to certain ones. But if you can call the Lord and Savior our glory of the Lord—the radiance of his glory—

You will be understood in accordance with what was said to the one being enlightened: And the glory of God has risen upon you. And through the words set before us we learn that God, who provides for all things, has incomparably compared to all created things, of whom the Son says, Who is like the Lord our God? For there is none like him, since he alone is both maker and provider of all things. He says these things not dividing the Son from the Father nor the Father from the Son; for the Godhead is one, and the Son is not one God and the Father another. In Isaiah, then, it is said to the Father: In you is God, and there is no God besides you; for you are God, and we did not know it. For if in the Son there is another God besides him, how does he add next, And there is no God besides you? And immediately, For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior. Therefore even if the Who is like the Lord our God was spoken concerning the Father, the Son is not excluded; but even if concerning the Savior, the Father is not separated, since the Godhead of Father and Son is one. Who, then, he says, is like the Lord our God, who dwells in the heights and looks upon the lowly? For compared to God all creatures are lowly, being his works—not only those on earth but also those in the heavens. And he looks upon these lowly things with providential care. Indeed, at any rate, seeing the poor man cast upon the ground and the needy on the dunghill, he raised and lifted them up from the evils of poverty and destitution that surrounded them, and not only to raise and lift them up, but further increasing his goodness, he seated them with rulers, making them equal in honor to them.

He will seat them not with ordinary rulers but with the rulers of his people. And a woman who rejoices, who previously because of barrenness was childless, he will cause to dwell in a house, having become a mother in her abundance of children. This can also be said concerning the people from the nations, about whom the prophecy speaks: Therefore the poor people will bless you. This poor and needy people, then, having raised up from lowly things and from the dung-heap of Greek abominations, he will seat with the rulers of Israel, which is his people. And the apostles are rulers of the Hebrew people, whom we said sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And the church from the nations, which was barren and at first childless, he calls to gladness, saying: Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth; break forth and cry out, you who do not travail, for many are the children of the desolate more than of her who has a husband. For truly the church from the nations has become many-childed and fair-childed beyond the synagogue of the Jews, which has the law as her husband. And every soul, being childless because of barrenness, is settled by God in a house—the church of the living God—becoming a mother of works, teachings, thoughts, and words, so as to rejoice together with her own offspring from the God-Word who dwells with her. These things also happened according to the history of the Scripture. At any rate, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is said to be settled in a house, a mother of children rejoicing, having become a mother of whole children.

And concerning Sarah and Rebecca and Elizabeth, and before her the mother of Samson, one might reasonably say of each of them that he caused her to dwell as a mother of children rejoicing. And according to the deeper meaning: the mind that is a seer of God, being the supplanter of the things opposed to the truth, withdrawing from Egypt so as no longer to act like an Egyptian nor to be caught up in Egyptian superstitions, sees God, the one who sanctifies the soul that is genuinely confessed, who will also exercise authority and rule as king over the discerning faculty. For Judea means confession, and Israel means a mind that sees God. First it is fitting to confess, so that one may become a sanctuary of God and be built up as his holy temple, so that thus perfected through the contemplation of the truth he may be shown to be Israel, having come under God's authority, so as to be able, being ruled by him, to obtain blessedness, seeing God with a pure heart. Since you, O Master, do good to us, the nations will have no place to say, Where is their God? For since they themselves have local gods, established somewhere, they also conjecture this about you, saying, Where is their God? Or perhaps they say this mockingly, thinking that we have no God. But even if those who are deceived say this, at any rate we with accurate understanding know that our God is in heaven above, not thinking this in a local sense but by the preeminence of his majesty. For if he were in a place above, he would be prevented from being elsewhere. But he is also the cause of all things in the heavens and on the earth, since whatever he willed he did, being other than all things.

Therefore he is not contained by all things, but both outside all things and present in them according to the principle of creation and providence. For in this way he fills heaven and earth. But if all the heavens and the things in them, and the earth and all things in it, came into being by the will of God, some, thinking very impiously, kindle the existence of the Son from the will of the Father, thereby making him one of the things in the heavens that are given substance by the Father's will. But let the impious hear that he made creation alone dependent on the will of God. For the Maker suitably has the power to create what he wills (whence also James agrees, writing, "Having willed it, he brought us forth," he says, "by the word of God, the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures and works")—the will of God is productive. But the Son is neither a creature nor a work; he is the offspring of substance, not of will. For if the Son were of will, he would also be the image and impress of God's will; but the divine words call him the impress of his substance and the image of the invisible God. If, then, the Son is the impress of the substance and the image of the invisible God, reasonably the only-begotten would be the offspring of the substance of the invisible God and of his substance. And so those who are begotten by will attain this by the word of truth, but he himself is the Word and the Truth, the only-begotten of God. Since he is not conceived by the word of truth, he himself is the will of the Father; for in the same way that he is wisdom and truth, so also is he the will of God. At any rate, it is the same thing to do all things in wisdom and in will.

The whole race that is clear-sighted, because it has a mind that sees God (which is called Israel through attaining to being a church of the living God), hoped in the Lord, having its expectation directed toward nothing else of the things in which other men hope. And the house of those who serve the divine, through attaining to being priests, hoped in the Lord with a greater and more exalted hope than Israel; for of those who have ascended higher in contemplation and action, the hope is greater, as they ask in greater measure to have him as helper and protector. But also all who fear the Lord (and these are the proselytes and those added to the law from the nations), having themselves also hoped in the Lord, call upon him to be their helper and protector. For God remembers all those who remember him. Therefore he says, You forgot the law of your God, and I will forget your children. For he who forgets the divine law immediately forgets also the one who gave it, but when someone remembers, God at once shows him to be blessed, giving spiritual and heavenly blessings in proportion to the greatness of faith that each has, giving blessings just as he gives the other gifts. But consider whether the small together with the great must be taken of those who fear the Lord alone, or also of all the ranks mentioned, there being in these too a difference according to which some are great and some small. And we are blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. For he himself is the one whose laws we keep.

For, lest anyone suppose that the oracles which Moses served were someone else's, the hierophant, in accordance with this, before the giving of the laws handed down the accounts concerning the creation of the world, through which he teaches that there is one God, and that all the parts of the world, and the world itself, are created. But one who wishes to contemplate these things more deeply will say that there is a certain heaven especially spoken of in Scripture that is closely united to God, in which God alone is; and I mean "God" with reference to the Trinity. Far from this heaven—not in place but by the peculiarity of its essence—are created things, even if they are in the heavens. Indeed, before his transgression the devil, being in heaven as one who was somewhere below this heaven, said, "I will ascend into heaven, and above the stars of heaven I will set my throne"; for these things were said to him before he fell from heaven. This, then, is also recorded as the cause of his fall. Into this heaven no one has ascended except the one who came down from heaven, since he was also sent from there and came, saying, "I have come down from heaven." But the Holy Spirit also was sent from this heaven, of whom Peter says, "And it was announced to us through those who preached the gospel to us by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven." For where the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are—but consider carefully, do not bring down your understanding of these things to sensible things, supposing a local heaven and a transition from there occurring by motion; for the name of the heaven that has been described indicates, so to speak, God's preeminent transcendence and stability.

None of those who have been put to death by sin praises God (for praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner), nor do any of those who go down into Hades, in the figurative sense, become those who die the death that follows upon sin (for in death there is no one who remembers God), since no one in Hades confesses him. Since these, then, do not praise him, we who are alive and partake of eternal life praise him—concerning which the Savior says, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." The Lord himself guards those who are infants according to Jesus' command, having turned and become like little children, not allowing enemies to attack them, since they do not yet have a time of struggle. Yet while guarding those who are infants in this way, he set me forth for struggle, as one who has advanced beyond the age of children, and he humbled me and caused me to be tested instead of many strong men; and just as he humbled me, so also he saved me, clothing me with invincible strength and irresistible armor.

The apostle, writing to the Corinthians, sets out the meaning of this phrase: "Since we have," he says, "the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, and therefore we also speak"—calling the spirit of faith either the disposition that arises from faith itself, or the spirit supplied by God to the one who has faith. "I believed, therefore I spoke" is in harmony with "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth one confesses unto salvation." "If," he says, "you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved"; for to this was immediately appended, "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness," and what follows. In line with this meaning you will also take up "Unless you believe, you will not understand"; for one first believes, then understands, and after this speaks, as the psalm says, "I believed, therefore I spoke." But when, having believed, I spoke of things surpassing nature and great, then, seeing myself to be nothing, I was humbled exceedingly. Such is what John says concerning Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease." For John was not decreased by casting off any of the greatness he had, but comparing himself to the pre-eminence of the

of the teaching and conduct of Jesus. And so the one who said, after speaking from a state of settled faith, "I was greatly humbled," did not experience this by the removal of height, but from having contemplated things greater and beyond himself. But if the death of the holy ones of God is also signified—according to which they die together with Christ and carry about his mortification in the flesh—then he rightly determined also to give thanks, about to receive the saving cup of such a death, which the one who receives it will also drink blamelessly, if he calls upon the name of the Lord for the drinking of it bravely. But if we have said that calling upon the name of the Lord belongs to the lesser, while the Lord himself belongs to the perfect, let it not disturb you now that it is taken in this way concerning the perfect; for the saints, being self-diminishing through freedom from vanity, assign to themselves the lesser things of which they are in need. At any rate, neither Moses nor Samuel said concerning themselves, "They called upon the Lord," but another spoke concerning them. The account of salvation was not complete unless it had also included the remembrance of those being saved. For having said in that place, when the shadow had received its end, "To you I will sacrifice a sacrifice of praise," he immediately calls all the nations to praise, so that these too through praises may bring the sacrifice of praise, when one nation and people has been cast off, since a sinful nation is counted wretched and a people has become full of sins; but when this nation and people has been cast off, the mercy of God has reached all, so that his mercy becomes firm and strong upon us. And since this has been established, the truth of the Lord remains forever.

For the truth succeeded the shadow, setting a limit and inheritance for it as its end, but nothing will succeed the truth itself, since it is eternal, because nothing is above it, but it is above all things, incomparably beyond comparison. Therefore he rightly rendered the reason why it remains truth forever. Since the mercy that was strengthened upon us coexists eternally with the truth, and these names—his mercy and his truth—are often spoken of the Savior, as also in "God sent forth his mercy and his truth and delivered my soul from the midst of lions." This truth, then, was also the expectation of the nations; therefore, having shone upon the human race forever, it calls all the nations and all the peoples, teaching them to give thanks to the Father who strengthened his mercy and made his truth remain forever. Since God, being good, wills the repentance of the sinner rather than his death, you who are liable for sins, making confession to him out of repentance, will find him forgiving the things for which you confess. For his mercy, being inseparable from him, was forever, since it always was, as he has been showing mercy not now for the first time but also long ago from the beginning, while all who have had experience of his goodness give thanks to him. The righteous man who has come into affliction does not so much pray to be out of it, but that he may bear it nobly and cheerfully.

For the one in the stadium who is hard pressed by his opponents does not pray that the contest pass him by, lest he be disqualified, but he calls on the trainer to work with him, so that by enduring the attacks brought by his opponent he may, in hope of victory and the crown, make the things through which the crown is awarded pleasant to his reputation. And the words "I shall not fear what man will do to me" can be said concerning different mortal men, but concerning invisible enemies, "And I shall look upon my enemies"—enemies who also stir up men against us, making war with them against us and disposing them murderously against us. But if also the words "I shall not fear what man will do to me" are referred to the devil, because "An enemy, a man, has done this," it is clear also that the sowing of the tares and the words "But you are a man and not a god" are to be understood together with it. "It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man," and the rest; not absolutely is trusting and hoping in the Lord, when compared with trusting in man and hoping in rulers, good. For simply and strictly this is good. But to trust and hope in man and a ruler is not good, but such instruction is brought to those who are eager to trust in man and hope in a ruler, so that they may learn to trust in God, who always remains and is strong and almighty, and not in man, who is mortal and most easily corrupted; sometimes he is also changeable in his mind; for instead of helping, sometimes he will greatly harm the one who has trusted in him.

Therefore blessed is the one who has trusted in the Lord, remaining unashamed, according to the words "In you, O Lord, I hoped; let me not be put to shame forever." If it is not said hyperbolically, what is promised is impossible; for how did one man dwelling in Judea have all the nations encircle him and, while they were encircling and warring against him, he repelled them by the name of the Lord? For it becomes a weapon and shield and fortress to the one who bears it. Consider whether, in a manner similar to "In the mornings I killed all the sinners of the earth," it is possible to understand the present passage by the zealous man being encircled by evil spirits that suggest the ticklings of the flesh and the other passions together with all the works of the flesh, and moreover godless arguments that overturn the doctrines of the truth by sophistical cleverness. But the vigorous and strong man, armed with the name of God, will overthrow all the nations, turning them to flight, and sometimes even destroying them. For the one who has used the name of God instead of a weapon and a sword will cut off the passionate impulses together with the disturbed reasonings, and will also loose and overturn the deceptive doctrines sophistically constructed. "They encircled me like bees a honeycomb," and the rest; the race of drones bears a resemblance to bees; for these, even if they happen to be larger than bees in bulk, at any rate deceive the inexperienced as though they were bees; yet they neither make honey nor fashion wax, nor do they have a sting to ward off those attempting to harm the honeycomb.

But, by contrast, those who eat the honey make war on the bees, so that they use their own sting against them, destroying the drones in heaps because they have damaged their fruit. It is not without allegorical meaning that the bee that makes honey and molds wax is the Church that has honored the wisdom of God; since she is a worker and is desirable and renowned, kings and private citizens bring her labors to themselves for health—although she is weak in strength because her preaching is not in persuasive words of human wisdom, nevertheless she has the sting in the demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, having the word of faith, so as also to destroy heresies like drones, cutting them in two by the refutation of truth. And one is the bee that has honored wisdom, but many are those that have fallen away from honoring the wisdom of God—not bees but as bees, which, if you call them drones, you will not err—circling like a honeycomb to consume the honey around it and set ablaze like fire among thorns. For those from the heresies kindle also the fire of shameful things and desires, of which Paul says, "For the things done by them in secret are shameful even to speak of." And the Gospel has interpreted thorns as pleasures. Nevertheless, even if bees circled the wise man like a honeycomb and were set ablaze like fire among thorns, yet he himself defended himself by the name of the Lord. For he not only remained unharmed, but also brought down every sophistical reasoning of theirs, and every high thing that exalts itself

against the knowledge of God, since his weapons are not fleshly but powerful for God, not being other than the name of God, he defended himself against them. The Lord, having become for salvation, does not receive a beginning of being; for he is eternal and everlasting. But he becomes for salvation in that he takes up a relation toward those who are saved. Hence the thought is suggested that Christ says all things have come to be: for the Word did not become God, nor truth, nor wisdom, nor Son, but he became wisdom for us—not simply becoming wisdom, but this very thing: righteousness and sanctification and redemption for us. For these things are said to have become for us simply and eternally by reference to us; so also God has made him both Christ and Lord—Christ, that is, king and priest for those who are ruled and for those on whose behalf he offers the sacrifices. But also for those who wish to serve him, he is Lord; and in general, understanding in this way the things said relationally about him, you will not be impious. And you will understand the tents of the righteous as the mansions with the Father, according to the repayment of the promises, about which the Savior says, When it fails (evidently mammon), they will receive you into the eternal tents. In these tents all the righteous are exulting; for they have obtained the good things hoped for. Hence it is well said, A voice of exultation and confession in the tents of the righteous, when grief and groaning have fled away. But if you also call the bodies of the righteous their tents, when incorruptible and spiritual bodies have been given back to them, you will not dispute that in these tents of theirs too there will be a voice of exultation and confession.

A voice of exultation and salvation is brought forth, in that the righteous exult as in the tents mentioned above, because they have received eternal salvation, which is none other than eternal life. This, then, made power for those who have partaken of it, so that each one may say, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." This exalts and lifts up the one who partakes, so that, having been strengthened more brightly and more greatly by the right hand of the Lord, he may also say a second time, "The right hand of the Lord has made power." Therefore he says, "I shall no longer die" the death that follows upon wickedness, "but I shall live," having partaken of the life that is contrary to the death of the evil one, in order to recount the wonderful works of God that have come to be in me. His right hand makes power in everyone who thinks and does what is on the right, and it also lifts him up, so that a second power of the former power may come to be in him, by which, having obtained immortality, he will say, "I shall not die, but I shall live," and the rest. The gates of old were the law and the prophets, through which Israel entered to God, but the gate now is faith, through which we are now brought nearer more intimately, being witnessed to by the law and the prophets. You will understand in this sense also what is said in Jeremiah: "Stand in the ways and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, and examine which is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find purification for your souls.

For here too, if one stands in the many roads—I mean the particular virtues—he will examine the paths worn from of old by the saints, to know what good road there is after these in contemplation, by which the one who walks finds purification for his soul, having purified it for obedience to the truth. You will understand it also in this way: the one who is disciplined by divine instruction and very profitably by the Lord does not fall into the death that rules over those who sin. For since death meets the undisciplined, the one disciplined by the Lord, being best in mind and in action, is not handed over to the death that takes those handed over to passions of dishonor and to a reprobate mind. But since the name of righteousness is predicated of every ethical virtue, its gates must be called its particular virtues, into which enter those who by practice and care concerning them knock at them. And they enter in order to give thanks for what they did while outside the gates of righteousness. He says they enter not through them but into them; for one must not pass over the activities of the virtues, but must spend time with them. But to those who have entered the gates of righteousness and given thanks in them, another gate is shown, superior and more honorable—the gate according to the contemplation of the truth, into which enter those who have accomplished righteousness, so as to be called righteous by a name derived from it. I hymn you, therefore, who opened for me the gates of righteousness, and I give thanks that you heard me and accepted my petition and provided salvation.