Fragmenta in Psalmos

Every day that comes to be by perception, when the sun has risen above the earth, the day shown by the sun is made—the Lord being the sun of righteousness—which day those who are illumined by the true light also point out to one another, saying: This is the day that was made by the Lord; therefore let us rejoice and be glad in it, walking decently as in the day. For we are no longer of night and darkness, but sons of light and truth, having the faith of Abraham, who rejoiced that he might see the day of the Lord, and was glad that he had seen it. He who holds the belief that God provides for all things asks from him both to be saved and to prosper; for God is of saving, and by him a man's steps are directed. Hence also in the first psalm the one who is blessed, in all things whatsoever he does, prospers, having God as guide of the road that leads to blessedness. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And this utterance the Evangelists have understood to be a prophecy concerning Christ; for he truly is the one who comes with authority and in the name of the Lord. Since all the men before him together with the angels had come as servants of the Lord—indeed, each said, Thus says the Lord, and each of the angels says to the one to whom he comes, The Lord has sent me—but this one who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. Hence each of those who foretold his coming says, We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. For the one who comes is out of the house of the Lord, that is, from the Father's bosom. There follows, then, immediately:

God is the Lord and has appeared to us. For his coming is not a change of place but an appearing, previously unseen. For being invisible in that he is the image of the invisible God, he took the form of a servant and, having become the Word made flesh, he was seen, so that thus appearing he might lead us by the hand through this understanding to behold also his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. At any rate, those who have completed this initiation say: Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know him so. And it is well said, "The one who comes," not "the one who has come"; he always comes and is present to the human race, even if not through the flesh—not moving, not changing place himself, for he is immutable and unchangeable and fills heaven and earth by his divine presence. But as we by relation and disposition draw near to him or are far from him, to some he comes, being found by them (for "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you"), while from others he is far off, not departing locally but, as I said before, by relation; for "God is far from the wicked." Or also thus: those who are now bearing shoots and fruits are the ones who cover thickly. Being therefore among these, establish as new plants a festival extending to the horns of the spiritual altar, from which, taking the coal with the tongs, one of the seraphim is sent to the prophet to cleanse him and remove his lawless deeds and sins. But to whom is it commanded to establish a festival, except to teachers and priests? And perhaps you would say also to angels.

A festival, constituted by God's guidance, is to do what is fitting and to think the truth. But it has its place especially in those who have shaken off the oldness in order to become a new planting. And since the Passover is celebrated in the month of new things, it is possible to suppose that one who passes over from wickedness and things perceptible to virtue and things intelligible, being renewed, adorns himself, so that he may both celebrate the festival and offer spiritual sacrifices, up to those things which show that the altar is royal by its horns. And if these things were said about our festival of weeks, it is not out of harmony with the truth. He who through this whole psalm gives thanks to God who has done such great and so many benefactions cries out, You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Glorifying, theologizing, I say: You have done marvelous things for me; for you have exalted me and made me a power, so that I should not die but, having lived, declare your works. And secondly I give thanks that you have heard my supplications and have become to me for salvation. Having therefore learned by experience your great mercy and goodness, and urging others on, I say, addressing many: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever, according to which he has mercy by his great goodness.

The testimonies and the oracles of God would be those borne witness to by him and by his truth. Blessed, then, are those who search out his testimonies and seek him with their whole heart, having withdrawn from all human haste and drawing near to him through good works and upright thought. And it is well that he calls blessed not those who have journeyed but those who are journeying, although the words "Those who work lawlessness have not walked in his law" make clear that they never at any time experienced the divine law, so that the saying applies to them: "For as many as sinned without law shall also perish without law." And these are those who have never at any time heard divine teaching; for those who stumble after being initiated into it are said to have sinned in the law and to be transgressors of it. Then I shall not be put to shame when I look upon all your commandments—not upon some but upon all. For by those commandments which I do not look upon I shall be put to shame. For I am often forsaken for a little while for the sake of my trial and testing, so that by bearing the circumstances nobly I may be benefited. At once, then, when you help me, I shall be crowned after contending in the struggles as one ought; therefore, lest I be defeated, since those who wrestle against me are terrible, do not forsake me utterly. He who does not receive the oracles of God superficially hides them in his heart, so that, with his mind and purpose formed in accordance with them, he may be sinless before God, who sees what is hidden—not only not committing adultery but not even having a shameful desire. In agreement with what lies before us is also this: "Son, if you receive the utterance of my commandment and hide it with yourself, your ear will be obedient to wisdom.

So that I may not seem to have practiced your statutes without reward, repay me with the divine and blessed life, so that, having lived according to it, I may keep your words; for after remembering them, keeping them follows. To this end you will take up what was said by Jesus: "The one who has my commandments and keeps them"; for the one who remembers his commandments has them, and the one who also puts them into practice keeps them. But another, having said not "judgments" but "statutes," explained it thus: the statutes of God always benefit, being good in the proper sense. Having a desire for them at all times, he longed for them, not wishing to do them out of grief or necessity, as do those who practice them out of fear of falling into punishment, but with appetite and desire. For from this it will come about that one bears all things with self-control and nobility, not only pleasant things but also toilsome and disagreeable things, and goes to every earnest action with longing. Since some reproach and despise me for seeking out your testimonies, do you remove my reproach and my contempt. But how would these be removed? When those who until now reproached and belittled me come to the knowledge of the truth; and when this has come about, together with me they too will seek out your testimonies. Another writing says, "I declared your ways," that he might say: the ways of the virtues that lead to you, which are not other than you, O Master, I declared in practice with earnest purpose and with works suited to it, and you heard me; therefore I say to you who have obeyed, "Teach me your statutes.

The one who by choice has departed from the way of unrighteousness and has come to the law of God desires to be perfected and confirmed in these things by God, who brings about the ends of good things. For just as, having hated ignorance, he held a longing to possess the opposing knowledge, being unable by himself to depart from ignorance and to rest upon faith, he entreats the teacher: Remove ignorance from me, and in your knowledge have mercy on me. This is the voice not of one who is conscious of sin in himself but of one who suspects it, just as also the words Cleanse me from my hidden faults. But I am confident that you will take away the reproach that I suspected, being persuaded that your judgments are full of kindness and love for humanity. But if it is possible that all these things were spoken concerning the Word who was sent, consider it; for he himself is both mercy and the salvation of the Lord. Therefore one should pray that the mercy of the Lord may come upon us, the salvation according to his mercy. For thus, having been shown mercy and saved, we shall answer those who previously reproached us as being destitute of the mercy and salvation of God. But you will understand it also in this way: even if at some time, in the face of difficulties that arise concerning providence or similar questions, I should not have a reason to give that resolves the objections of those who raise difficulties, yet do you, in your own goodness, to me who have opened my mouth by your word, give an interpretive power of the truth, so that there may not be a complete removal of the word of truth from my mouth, but that I may be able in some way to speak concerning things hard to explain: Because I hoped in your judgments, your words that have been judged and examined, or the judgments according to which you govern and provide for human beings.

Do not take away from my mouth the word of truth exceedingly. For in this way it will also come about that your law is kept by us at all times, being guarded not only in this present age but even forever, since the words of Jesus do not pass away. We therefore keep the law of God according to the image of the realities, having first been kept by the Jews according to the shadow, and it will be kept by us according to the good things to come, forever and ever. Since the heterodox boast against the law by slandering it, I held fast exceedingly to its keeping, not tolerating even in some small measure the shaking of my assent to it. Since of sinners some sin lawlessly because they have not even from the beginning had experience of laws, while others sin against the law by transgressing it, despondency took hold of me because of sinners who abandon the law of God. For if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it. And so it is fitting to grieve over our brothers who sin, because they are such, and to be so disposed according to this holy man. The face of God is the impress of his substance, as has often been said by us. Therefore the one who longs for this with his whole heart, so that, having become pure, he might behold it and by gazing upon it be shown mercy according to the word of his teaching—if indeed the things that lie in the text are of such a kind. But see how great is the one who will see the face of God. Let Jesus teach you, saying, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

And what are the cords, or the evil reasonings, and the evil powers that suggest them, by which they were attempting to cast down the state that is according to God? But the zeal of those who cast cords around the righteous man is unaccomplished, whenever he remembers the law with intense zeal. The same circumstances, too, which are brought against the righteous man by sinners, can be their cords; but even these he endures steadfastly, and the righteous man does not forget the law of God. And those who exhort to sin through deceitful words weave cords; but if one is sober, he does not forget the law of God. Let us understand the “partner” as the friend and companion, of whom Ecclesiastes says, “For if he falls, the one will raise up his partner.” Perhaps, then, this is what he means: that I am a friend and companion of all who fear God and keep his commandments, and I myself fear him and keep his commandments. Since there is about God both kindness and severity, according to the apostle, kindness comes upon those who stand firm in the faith, but severity upon those who have fallen away from it. Since, then, the saint had been established in the faith, he said, “You have done kindness with your servant.” But he says this wishing to show that the kindness of God is not by allotment, as it were, with someone, but with the one who serves him, whoever this may be. And the addition “according to your word” makes clear that the kindness of the Lord comes to someone with reason and a rational cause.

Therefore, desiring to know what is rational and wise in her, he does not deem any other teacher worthy to be for him concerning her, so that together with her he might learn both discipline and knowledge—calling discipline the ethical virtue, and knowledge the intellectual virtue. And in Proverbs, "Receive discipline and not silver, and knowledge rather than gold that has been tested," must be referred to practical and contemplative benefit. Since, having rightly and prudently approached your commandments, I believed them so as to keep them, grant me wisdom, having taught me goodness and discipline and knowledge. In harmony with these is "Having desired wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will supply it to you." For even if the manner of bringing such things upon oneself is twofold—for some things are brought on by sin, and others for the sake of being tested and made manifest—giving himself the lesser of these, he said he had transgressed. Nevertheless, he says, I kept your saying, so that just as, having transgressed, I was humbled, so, having set things right and kept your saying, I may be released from the humiliation. Not looking to my own worth (for I have transgressed) but to your goodness—since being good, you possess goodness—I deem it worthy to be taught your judgments, not by another but by you yourself. Since many deceivers, desperate against your commandments, say countless things for their slander and overturning, as they claim, great injustice has come upon me.

Nevertheless, even if they seemed to say terrible things, [such as] can turn away the unstable from them, I, intensifying my zeal and longing for them, searched them out with my whole heart, so that, having beheld their beauty, from my great and intense searching of them I came to condemn utterly those who slander them. And this is also the case with one who is oppressed and wronged by certain arrogant and powerful men in the affairs of life; for from your commandments, he says, I shall be able to learn that to do wrong and to defraud is worse than to be wronged and to be defrauded. For since, having been given the rational and guileless milk to drink by those who teach, they did not manage it nor digest it, but it curdled and congealed within them, it curdled their heart. But nevertheless, even if those men suffered this through their own fault, I, having your law through meditation, was eager to understand it, since the understanding of it dissolves not only the mist but also the thickness of the material disposition. Since the law is twofold—the one spiritual and directed to the mind, the other ordained according to the letter and the shadow through angels in the hand of—

of the mediator, the prophet says that the law of the divine mouth is good to him beyond all the pleasant things of the world, which he indicated through thousands of gold and silver. For the sake of contemplation it must be said that silver stands for reason and gold for mind; for there are many thousands of such silver and gold among those who philosophize about the things of the world and of the heresies, but beyond all these, for the lover of the wisdom and truth of God, the law of the mouth of God is good, since from this alone the true benefit comes to those who attend to it. You may also understand it thus: those who fear God are perfect in that they lack nothing; and being such, they are good in accordance with the fear they have. Therefore they also wish all to make progress and to have benefit, and they rejoice over those who are well-pleasing to God, imitating those in heaven who rejoice over the benefit of those who repent. It is possible also to take it in a lower sense, concerning those of whom he says, They shall see me and be glad, so that the meaning of what is said is as follows. Having set my hope in your words, I long to be perfectly united with them; I act and think according to your instruction; but those who abstain from evil through fear of falling into the punishment that follows upon the judgment for those who sin—if, then, those who fear you in this way are able to see me, they will be glad, no longer abstaining from sins out of grief and compulsion, but eagerly taking it up because they too have set their hope in your words. And since the mercies of God are spoken of not only here but also in many other places, one must consider whether the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit, who are the givers of life, are the mercies of God.

And he is called Father, according to the apostle's philosophy, of mercies. And it is the mark of a great man to say, "They have acted lawlessly against me unjustly." My soul faints for the salvation of God, when faith's end obtains salvation; for the soul no longer remains a soul, setting aside the condition by which it happened to be a soul, becoming spirit and mind through its longing toward the salvation of God and its continual hope toward his oracle. For the name "soul" is not indicative of its essence but of its relation to communion with the body. But when it partakes of immaterial life and receives back from the resurrection the incorruptible and spiritual body, that which was long ago yoked to it, corruptible and soulish, while it was a soul, will become mind and spirit, fainting into the salvation of God and becoming one spirit toward him, through him to the Lord. And this is what it means for someone to deny himself; for he who has denied himself will become another in place of another, not according to the underlying substance but according to the qualities that constitute it, sometimes soul, sometimes mind. For even if the Gospel sayings are exhortations to martyrdom, they must nonetheless also be understood according to the mystical sense mentioned. The Word of God, being spiritual frost—since it is also called dew and rain in many places—cools my licentious flame from the passions and makes my flesh weak, so as to carry in it the dying of Jesus. Many attempt to interpret the divine Scriptures, both of those of the church and of those outside it—heretics and Jews, and even Samaritans—but not all speak well.

For rare is the one who has the grace from God for this, while many promise to speak, but do not live well or lawfully. If they say anything, it is idle talk and nonsense; for a vigorous and strong and saving word cannot be in a lawless soul. The one persecuted for righteousness and for the teaching of Christ will rightly say the aforementioned utterance, and all the prophets as well. And to be completed in the earth is not to have died in the common sense, but to have come to the end of what he called earth, that is, the material condition, so as to be made conformed to it. To live according to the oracle of God is to live with piety, not simply this perceptible life. For having obtained this, he will be in good living, so as to keep the testimonies of the mouth of God, which were testified and demonstrated by the word of God, which he said was his own mouth. By your ordinance the day remains, so as to circle in an ordered and even manner according to the yearly cycles, the day never departing from the ordinance it has toward night, both in equality and in inequality. For just as one who has recovered firm and steadfast health from a great illness through certain medical aids does not, by the very fact of being healthy and in good condition, forget those medical aids which he followed so that he might be healthy in this way with good condition, so this saint, having been given life by God, says that in the statutes he received from him he does not forget them for the whole age, giving as the reason that God himself has lived in them.

Even if virtue has an end because of what comes about in every advance, nevertheless each advance has its immediate limit. So the one who has arrived through every advance at the end of virtue will say, "I have seen the limit of every completion," since the one passing over to the perfect good lays down many beginnings and ends; for the boundary of the former improvement is the beginning of the one that follows, and the end of that one is an element of the next. Hence it has been said, "When a man completes, then he begins." For no one who walks in the commandment of God is constrained, becoming great-souled and great-minded from attending to it. Here "as" does not signify a parable and likeness, but truly and primordially, and not because of something else, that the law of God is considered beloved. We can understand "All the day my meditation is" instead of "In the whole time of my life"; for in many places the whole time of a man's life is called a day, as in "And I waited for you all the day," and "For your sake we are put to death all the day." The enemies who lie in wait, invisible, try with all zeal to lead me to prefer pleasure; through which pleasure it happens that one is disposed with difficulty toward every pain, so as even to decline the divine commandment, which is accomplished with sweat. But the one who is made wise in the commandment of God by him, so as to have it forever, becomes stronger than pleasure and than the enemies who advocate it, having preferred it to the pleasure that is for a little while and temporary. Therefore, giving thanks and singing to God, he will say, "You have made me wise in your commandment," from which I have also become greater than my enemies.

He shows the freedom of the will by "I have restrained my feet." For as though it were in his own power to move his feet to walk and to restrain them, he spoke the words set before us. This agrees with "Turn away from evil and do good"; for the one who turns away from evil restrains his feet from every evil way, so that, having done good, he may keep the words of God. The law is a lamp for those who walk in the night before the rising of the sun of righteousness, since the true light is not a lamp but a sun that enlightens those for whom the night has advanced as the day draws near, on which day it is possible to walk becomingly. And "to stand" here means to determine firmly, and "to swear" means not to name God but to purpose this immutably and to keep it inviolably, accomplishing the work of the oath in effect. And it is not as though, having failed to obtain his request, he brings it again, but as one who has learned the judgments of God through a former petition; as though still dwelling upon them, and wishing to contemplate them more greatly than he had known, he prays and always does this, until he comes to the end of the understanding of them. And what I said just now concerning the learning of the judgments, that they come about in different ways, I will say also concerning the knowledge of the testimonies, since their knowledge is always raised higher in accordance with progress for the one who dwells upon the contemplation of them. These things agree with "Good to me is the law of your mouth.

more than thousands of gold and silver, and with "Receive instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than gold that is tested; for wisdom is better than precious stones, and every precious thing is not worthy of it." Therefore it is also said to his companions concerning it in Job: "The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equated with it." These things are said not by way of comparison but in relation to the choice of men. He who came to fulfill the law and the prophets made manifest all the words in them, on the one hand fulfilling the prophecies by their outcome, and on the other unveiling the law so that it is no longer seen as letter and shadow but as spiritual. This manifestation of the divine words, then, will show the prophet to be understanding and will enlighten those called from the nations after Israel, who are infants, to have received their birth from faith later and at last. But even if before the descent of him who fulfilled the law and the prophets the wise man proclaimed, saying, "The manifestation of your words will make me understand," yet surely seeing these things by the prophetic Spirit, he longed to have their understanding, as far as it was possible for it to be manifested before the coming of Christ. He deems it worthy to see and learn the coming illumination of the Savior, saying to the Savior concerning it, "Make your face shine," which whoever sees, sees you. For he himself says concerning himself, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." For when this has come to pass, he says, it will happen that I learn your statutes. And to learn is itself to walk in them, not according to the flesh but according to grace.

For this reason your judgment is upright, since being righteous according to the rules of righteousness, which are most upright, you will judge all those who have received your judgments, which you commanded to be righteousness and truth exceedingly. For your divine Scriptures, which you commanded to humans—not only the new but also the old—being righteousness according to ethical matters and truth exceedingly, that is, having been made exact according to the contemplation of things, according to which you commanded us to do judgments, so that we might judge according to the great and the small, judging a righteous judgment exceedingly—they are truth and righteousness. Hence the oracle thus purified exceedingly, having been loved by someone, makes him boiling in spirit, and a servant of God. Such a person, when the Scriptures are explained by Jesus, is set aflame in heart, so as to say, like those around Cleopas: Was not our heart burning within us, as he opened the Scriptures to us? For being immutable and unchanging, he never at one time has righteousness and at another does not, being the source and begetter of it; and his word is truth—truth to those who hear forever, since no human word is such. For the word of human wisdom, even if it comes to seem true, afterward, when the truth appears, will be convicted of being false. You have given me testimonies that are not beneficial for a little while; they are righteousness forever, justifying the one who draws near to them by disposition.

First, in the untimely hour, which you will understand also in this present age, often called night in relation to the age to come, called day, according to "The night advanced, and the day drew near." And his discerning powers also came beforehand, functioning as his eyes toward the dawn that comes from the rising of the sun of righteousness. Therefore, being enlightened and finding himself in the light, he surely meditates on the commandments of God, which give him wings to be lifted up and to approach the true light itself naked, so as no longer to be in the untimely hour but in the full and midday light. But another writing has it thus: "And all your ways are truth," clearly the ways that lead to him; for the end of all these ways is the one who said, "I am the way and the life and the truth." Of these ways, the one who has reached the end is in truth, having it and its father in himself. Since also of those who sin he was near in a second way, he is near to them; and all his ways, along which he proceeds to make examination and judgment of their affairs, are truth. The testimonies were founded by God, so that no one can shake or overturn them; for your word, being wisdom and your Son, is their foundation. Therefore, setting forth their invincibility and indestructibility, he said, "My words shall not pass away, even if heaven and earth pass away." Since the beginning is taken in many ways, according to one meaning we will say that the truth of God's words is a beginning, as in the phrase "for the sake of.

For the legal and prophetic words of God—and indeed also the words of the new covenant—have been given so that it may be known and appear naked of types; for being trained through them and led by the hand according to their spiritual intent, we come to meet the truth face to face. And if there is something for the sake of which they are brought forward and which comes to be on its account, and the words of God do bring us to the truth (for it is for its sake that they have been spoken), then reasonably it is called their beginning. And since, in another sense too, the beginning is called that which is present in certain things, and the truth is present in the words of God, since they are true from the very outset, in this respect too it is said that this is their beginning. Correspondingly, in the case of true words, the true state precedes, according to which they are said to have spoken the God-inspired Scriptures from the very Truth itself that inspires them—and these are the words of God. And in this respect it would be correct that the truth is the beginning of the words of God. And further: since the Lord says, "I am the truth," he himself is also the word of God, to whom he himself says to the Father, "Your word is truth," the one who comes to each prophet. And in another way: the one possessed by God, being truth, those who are formed according to the truth become the beginning of the words of God. As, then, the truth was the beginning of your words, so all the judgments of your righteousness are indestructible and shown forth forever.

Fear is twofold: the one, irrational, is occupied around the spirited part of the soul; the other, rational, is established around the heart and the understanding, not without reason, and perhaps it can be the same as the divine fear. Throughout his whole life the righteous man is enlightened, and in the perfect day, not interrupted by night, he will praise God seven times, having become supramundane by having advanced above the world that was made in six days; and he, having also been in the paradise of God and having contemplated the word of God's creation and providence, gives thanks for the judgments of God's righteousness, according to which judgments each one received a varied creation and providence. But if he also awaits the Savior, concerning whom it is said, All flesh shall see the salvation of God, he accordingly loves the commandments of God, whose salvation he also awaited, so that he may be pure in action and contemplative in hope, always awaiting and contemplating the God Word who has come to seek and to save what was lost. He prays that such a petition may be approved and firm and blameless, so as to enter before the Lord. And I shall know if my petition enters before you, if I am rescued by you according to your word and your wisdom; for the one who has advanced above all irrational passions and the evils energized by irrationality is rescued by God according to his oracle. And when you have taught me, from the fact that these things are energized and clearly guaranteed to me, may I offer to you a thank-offering hymn from the lips of my inner man.

If the utterance is a hymn of God, then clearly its beginning, becoming food, is the most complete theology. Your various commandments are all precepts of the virtues in their specific forms; the general virtue in its universal sense consists in the specific virtues following one another, so that the one who perfectly possesses one possesses all. I speak your oracle with the lips of my inner man. Properly, the oracle concerning righteousness is spoken not by one who merely utters it with the voice but also by one who does so with deeds and with a practical disposition directed by right reason. The phrase "Let your hand be to save me" does not here signify the generation of his hand according to essence but his relation to those being saved. The same thought is held by "Be to me for a God and protector." The way of one who longs for the salvation of God is that the law be the meditation of the one who longs, proclaiming beforehand his arrival here. And here he calls the old and divine Scripture "law." Since, remembering your judgments and holding fast to them, I turn aside from the death that follows sin, not sinning at all but performing those things which are followed by the soul's living and praising you in thanksgiving, for the immortal life which you granted it. Since, remembering your judgments, I turn aside from the death that attends sin by not sinning, my soul shall live, having performed the works of life and the thanksgivings of praise, for the immortal life which you granted it.

As the lost sheep that is one of the hundred, which the Savior came to seek, willing to leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, I went astray, being subject to the transgression of Adam. For the lost one of the hundred sheep is the human race, while the rational beings that did not fall are themselves also a part of creation; they remained on the mountains, in the height of the virtues and the doctrines of the truth, since man alone had come into error. Since, then, I have gone astray in a manner like the sheep—or rather, being a part of it—seek me, your servant; for you came to seek and to save the lost. Seek me so as to find me ready for this; for I have longed for your commandments. But one must know that the temple in Jerusalem had fifteen steps, and on each of them, as one went up into it, those appointed to sing stood and sang a song. Therefore it also came about that the songs were equal in number to the steps. The arrangement concerning the songs and those who sang them at each of the steps of the temple is set down in Chronicles. And you will understand that the holy temple of God, intelligible and at the same time spiritual, is theology, and the steps are... He who has ascended to the second step of the temple already begins to be transformed toward perfection, no longer thinking anything lowly. Therefore he says that he has raised the eyes of his mind to the height. Hence the song of the second step has obtained its own proper number. For the hundred and twentieth bounds the perfection of human life.

At any rate, after the flood it was said concerning men: Their days shall be RK. Hence also Moses, the great hierophant of all things, having become a servant of God, defines his own life as a hundred and twenty years for those who perfect human life, setting forth his own life as an imitation for those who have received the laws from him. But the present passage can also be understood powerfully with respect to character: when the guarding God makes an exodus from the evil of the one who turns aside from evil, and likewise keeps the entrance toward doing good, and the exodus of someone from things perceptible and the entrance into things intelligible and spiritual. 1154 He who always stretches forward to the things before forgets the things behind, not running again. For day by day, hastening toward the prize of the upward calling, he proceeds to the things above. Therefore also, having begun the ascent to the temple, he journeys without turning back and has ascended to the third step; hence, having already received from afar a mental image of the house toward which he hastens, he is glad with gladness, as those who are able to lead the way encourage him to begin the entrance. Those who have firmly established the feet of their soul beforehand in the courts of Jerusalem have a longing also to ascend to the temple. And the purest theology would be the temple, while the courts of the vision of peace are the particular contemplations, being the individual virtues. The vision, then, of the aforementioned peace, having begun to be transformed, is built as a city by the Lord, whose participation has the aforementioned courts gathered into the same place, in which the feet of the steadfast stand.

It is not lowly, but is situated in a certain height, so that everyone who wishes to become a citizen of it does not descend but ascends to it. And indeed the tribes of the Lord—the various ranks of those being saved, having a disposition of confession—ascend there, having been well testified by the Lord to have ascended and confessed and leading the Israel that performs them to zeal and progress. David the savior is often mentioned, either because the one according to the flesh is from the seed of David, or because he is sufficient in hand; for David is interpreted as "sufficient in hand." For how is he not sufficient in hand who performs wondrous powers? Of this David is the church, in which thrones are set for judgment, on which the apostles sitting judge the twelve tribes of Israel. For the faith and conduct of each apostle is the throne of his kingdom, judging and condemning those who did not accept the one prophesied in the divine scriptures nor believe the words he did and taught. And according to contemplation, he who, because he loves Jerusalem, bears spiritual fruit will be in great prosperity and abundance, bearing fruit not only of the actions of virtue but also of the contemplation of truth. And the phrase "In your dominion" can be said with reference to Jerusalem, because, reigning, she has cast down every enemy that formerly warred by dominion, so that there is prosperity thereafter in the tower-fortresses. And these are great towers built in the walls for the sake of watching for the approaching enemies.

For "heavy" in the local tongue among the Syrians the great houses are called, and these, when they also receive height and have their position on walled cities, are called tower-houses. When, therefore, Jerusalem, having used the dominion that she received from God, subdues those who are arrayed against her, she will make peace follow and prosperity be in her tower-houses. But if allegorically the tower-houses are those who, through the height of their conduct and the contemplation of the truth, not only watch for the enemies who come to war but also strike them from on high in their refutations. And in contemplation, the one begotten of God, by doing righteousness and believing that Jesus is the Christ, has as brothers those who do the same and believe, and as neighbors those who are inferior in the doing of righteousness and in faith in Jesus Christ who draw near. Moreover, for the sake of both these ranks—of his brothers and of his neighbors—I speak concerning the Jerusalem that has been restored, he says that they speak peace, praying that their fatherland be peaceful, both theirs and that of the brothers and of the neighbors, but also for the sake of the house of the Lord his God, to seek the true goods for Jerusalem. And he calls it the house of the Lord his God, to which he began to go up, seeking for this reason goods for Jerusalem: the keeping of the divine commandments and the understanding of the right faith together with truth. And it is possible to take the slaves, with their eyes in the hands of their masters, as the nations that are administered by the angels, according to "They set the boundaries.

of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and a handmaid into the hands of her mistress, having her eyes—the synagogue from the circumcision—and called a handmaid because of the spirit of slavery; but her mistress, the Church of God without blemish and without spot, whoever calls her this does not err. But we are not in the hands of those lords, but toward the Lord our God, who has compassion and mercy on us. He says "Ara" not as an interrogative but as a syllogism. "Substanceless water" means that no one is able to give it substance without Christ. But if someone means that evil is "substanceless water," it must be said that evil is called substanceless because it is not a substance nor has its own subsistence; for being an accident in those who work it, it subsists, having no existence in itself. Just as the mountain of Zion is unshaken and immovable (and it is the word of God), so also those who have trusted in God have an immovable standing, striving to be imitators of him. For the present passage is not said concerning the perceptible mountain, since all mountains are unshaken alike, but concerning that one about which the Spirit, commanding the prophet, says, "Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion." For since Zion, the contemplative faculty of good things of the holy Church, is interpreted as "watchtower," the high mountain is God the Word himself, and the mountain of the heavenly Zion, about which it is said, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

Let us therefore set right our trust in God, so as to obtain blessing and the other promises, since the prophecy urges us on, which runs thus: And you shall trust in the Lord, and he shall bring you up to the good things of the land. For the beginning of being brought up to the good things of the land of the living and the meek is, from God, the trusting in him. But it is possible to see the church, which bears this name, in the passage: Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, built as a city. Therefore the one who thinks wholly and genuinely the things of the church will be said to dwell in her forever, not to be shaken nor to be removed from this kinship, because he has received firmly and immovably the things to be done and the things to be thought. And properly he would be said to dwell in her forever—the one who lives and believes in the Lord, who will not die forever, because he has here pledged the eternal life as a surety. But if at some time they grow slack, so as to yield in attention and in longing for the good, he will be moved from his dwelling; therefore it says in Proverbs: The righteous man will not yield forever. And the mountains of the noetic Jerusalem would be the lofty doctrines of the truth and the distinct ordinances and canonical rules of the church, and besides these all the saints—not only those before the visitation but also those after it. For each of these is a mountain situated around the church, so that from all of them one continuous and unbroken circle is made, having the church in the midst. And besides these, angels too can be mountains, encamping round about those who fear the Lord—the mountains round about Jerusalem.

Greater than the safety from the mountains is that which belongs to the people who dwell in Jerusalem, by which especially the one who dwells in her is not shaken forever, the Lord being round about him. And the Lord becomes round about, not in a local and bodily way, confining certain people within, but being partaken of by them and being present with them all, not only in the present age but also in the age to come. And the aim of this rod is to force the righteous to stretch out their hands to lawlessness, but the will of the Lord is that the righteous stretch out their hands to righteousness, lifting them up holily without anger and without reasoning. Good are those who have been benefited in their judgment by virtue, and upright in heart are those who truly and rightly think the things of piety. These differ not in substance but in conception. For those who dwell in Jerusalem forever, unshakably, having learned both practical and contemplative things, are good and upright in heart. And God makes them good, giving good things to those who ask him, a increase of faith and of the rest of virtue together with participation in divine gifts, so as also to lead them into the heavenly promises and the kingdom of heaven. He says "he will lead away" meaning "he will hand over" to desires for uncleanness and to passions of dishonor and to a reprobate mind, to do the things that are not fitting. And he said also in the Psalms: And I sent them away according to the devices of their hearts; they shall walk in their own devices.

He will therefore lead away those who turn aside into crooked ways along with those who work lawlessness, so that it may be shown openly who they were who escaped notice, so as to seem not to commit lawlessness, although they were disposed according to it. The blameworthiness of crooked ways is made clear also in the prophet, when God says to the one who comes to fasting, Loose the crooked ways of violent contracts, so that you may accomplish it rightly and with the disposition that is due. But the peace that surpasses all understanding, given with divine grace by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, will belong to everyone and to the one alone who has understanding and bears the name of Israel, as the one singing prays. Eighth song of the ascents: hinting at the mysteries of the resurrection of the Lord on the eighth day, it is recorded for Solomon, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and was truly peaceable. For he himself is our peace, of those who are saved, saying, My peace I give to you, which is the destruction of every enemy and foe, and peace for the one who lays the foundation of the house of God and builds it, whose symbol Solomon, born of David, bore, when, great peace having come about in his days, he built the temple of God in Judea. And no less than the other scriptures, the present verses also set forth the Lord as the provider of all things, human endeavors becoming vain unless they happen to receive the fitting end from God; whence, doing something, let us not give the whole to ourselves, but to God who perfects it, nor, leaving the whole to him, let us remain inactive.

For both of the words set before us make this clear—"then" from us and from God—saying vainly that the builder is without God, not one who is in no way active. You may also understand it this way: those who are torn to pieces by the cares of life, by giving themselves to the same pursuits, eat the bread of pain continually. Therefore they are also deprived of the beloved things of God, who exhorts and counsels them to attain these in moderation, since the end and the providence belong to the Lord. Whenever, then, those who are roused to piety have despised the beloved things of God, sleep comes to them—the beloved things of God having turned aside to their own rest, or having been transferred from this life, and their watchfulness consisting according to the common life—at that time those previously mentioned eat the bread of pain; they do all their pursuits imperfectly, rising early in vain and awakening after sitting down, since both the sitting and the standing and the rising outside are unaccomplished for them. For they could have done these things not in vain nor eaten the bread of pain, if they had attended to the beloved things of God before receiving sleep from God. And those who seem to go toward godliness, if they think they are enlightened by themselves, rise early in vain; for to those who do not say, "From the night my spirit rises early to you, O God," this would reasonably be said. But they also rouse themselves in vain to the activity, ostensibly, of good things, after which, sitting down again and resting, not from God but

thinking of themselves that they accomplish this from themselves. But that they have this from God, he confesses who says to the Lord, "You knew my sitting down and my rising up." And it was fitting also to have joy and gladness when eating the bread that strengthens the heart of man; but they eat it with pain, from grief and from necessity, not approaching its use cheerfully. Therefore these are altogether imperfect and do all things in vain. And the former inheritance of his became Israel; for "the cord of his inheritance is Israel"; he was the firstborn son of God, who says, "Israel is my firstborn son." But all became one son through the agreement and unity of mind, living according to one law. And second after those are the sons concerning whom it was said by the Father to the Savior, "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance." And from both of the two inheritances one has come to be, which showing in the Son, the Spirit says, "Behold, the inheritance of the Lord are sons," all having the Spirit of adoption and having been begotten from God by doing righteousness. And the reward for her is the Lord who came to dwell, being the fruit of the womb of the virgin. At any rate it was said to her by Elizabeth, "Blessed is the fruit of your womb." And the fruit of the womb has been named because he was not from a man but from Mary alone, the Holy Spirit having come upon her and the power of the Most High having overshadowed her. For those who have their seed from fathers are the fruits of those men.

For it is said to David, "From the fruit of your loins I will set upon your throne," the Word teaching him that his kingdom will not fail as Saul's did, but that it is to be directed through his succession. But whether the son can also be the fruit of the father's womb, in accordance with "From the womb before the morning star I begot you," consider as well. And who is the mighty one who sufficiently sends forth his arrows so as to wound unto love, wisdom, and truth, if not the Savior, of whom it is written, "Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one"? In like manner to him, the sons of the shaken-out ones shoot arrows—those born of holy men. And these are the shaken-out ones who have cast off all the dust of material things and the dirt by rational motion; whence also they are able to apply a keen-sighted soul to the sequence of the connected doctrines. And for this reason the Word, urging them to see peace, exhorts them to this, saying, "Shake off your dust, O Jerusalem." Since indeed, according to the ancestral custom of the Hebrews, the young and those mighty for war are called "shaken-out," as we learn from Esdras, fittingly those who have put on the new man, by having shaken off from themselves the old man together with his deeds, becoming imitators of the Mighty One in their deeds which are done with reason—their hands being called so—have as their arrows the sharpened words which they are able to shoot. And the sayings of Esdras concerning the shaken-out ones are as follows:

And from that day, half of those who were shaken out did the work, and half of them held fast, and spears and shields and bows and breastplates and the rulers behind all the house of Judah who were building on the wall, and so on. And through the words set forth, clearly we learn that the sons of those who were shaken out, in building the house of the Lord, hold javelins and swords and the other weapons, so that with one hand they do the work of building, and with the other they strike with javelins those who wish to hinder the construction of the divine house. For it is the zeal of the divine teachers at once to build a house for God in each soul of those being instructed and to wage war against reasonings and evil powers that try to impede the growth of the building. He calls blessed the man who, because he has kept the image of God, remains, in that his desire has been fulfilled from the arrows of the mighty. For having been wounded into desire for good things by them, he has been shown blessed. Hence also, having unashamed

Speaking with boldness in the gate, in the entrance of things beneficial, he is not put to shame by his enemies, who were eager to be hindrances to the fulfillment of his desire and to the building. And it is no wonder if, having called a man blessed in the singular, he said in the plural that those who speak in the gate shall not be put to shame; for the word is not about one man but about everyone who has fulfilled his desire from the arrows. And in another way you might say that virtue itself nourishes the soul, so that the labors according to God are themselves nourishing and gladdening to the soul. He, then, who fears the Lord eats the labors of his fruits, but he who loves him, as one already perfect, will eat the living bread, the heavenly one, according to “Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.” And he calls “fruits” here the hands, so as to say, “You will eat the labors of your hands,” that is, of the practical powers. Readily and, so to speak, at hand, smoothing out the phrase, these promises are given to the one who fears the Lord, as to one still imperfect, but not to the one who loves him with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength; for “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard and it has not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.” But to the one who fears the Lord there is given as a gift of God a certain companion and yokefellow, not any woman that happens to be, but the one likened to the true vine, so that it has been said of her, “A good woman is a good portion,” and, “A manly woman who will find?” And such a one is more precious than costly stones.

Conversely, from the opposite side, the anger of God would be an evil and, in character, a wrathful consort. In the same way, sons are also given by God to the one who fears the Lord—not like the many sons, but those who, like young olive plants, encircle and crown his table. You will understand these also from the perfect man who says, "But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." For the offspring of such an olive tree are said to be like young olive plants. But if someone says that those who do not fear the Lord often possess an abundance of children and a wife in prosperity, we will say that the present blessing does not simply promise a wife and children, but this very thing as a whole: a wife likened to a vine, and children to young olive plants—but the children of the ungodly are not such as these. From this point, blessed are you who fear the Lord, since the wife who lives with you is a vine that bears fruits that gladden. But also your offspring are not weak, not female, but sturdy sons around your table, like young olive plants bearing the nourishment of light as fruit. And your noetic table is full of all things that nourish the mind and the soul. Know that, having been in these things, you have a blessing from the Lord, which no one other than the devout man will receive from the Lord. This is made clear through "Man and every man." Therefore it is not fitting to understand the present words about a sensible wife and bodily children, since many who possess the fear of God have had neither wife nor children. If, then, the things of the wording are not universal, the spiritual meaning of what is set forth must be sought, which belongs to every devout man.

But you will understand this in an anagogical sense: those who are captured by a single assault of enemies would not say this, but only the one who from youth to old age always turns the enemies to flight, always becoming their conqueror and trophy-bearer. As proof that they warred against him many times, he added, "For indeed they could not prevail against me"; for they had the Lord, who crushes enemies and strengthens me. And of the things declared with boldness, he calls as witness not any chance mind but the mind that sees God. And the phrase "From my youth" added shows that from youth and, so to speak, from his mother's womb, being raised in piety, having the devil and his allies and bodyguards arrayed against him and warring against him, he was not defeated by them even to the slightest degree. The phrase "From my youth" can indicate that he is strong and being strengthened by Christ, from which [youth] I put off old age, having cast off the old man together with his deeds, having put on the new man; warred against by the enemies just mentioned, I was never overthrown by them, winning without interruption and continually and routing them, with Israel as witness. And it is no small boast to be warred against by the devil and those around him, since the wicked do not have this; for they are his friends and subjects. And every single person will say, "For indeed they could not prevail against me"—the one who has received authority from the word of God to tread upon serpents and scorpions and to trample lion and dragon.

For having overcome all such things, while God crushes Satan under his feet, he will say, "They have fought against me many times from my youth, and indeed they could not prevail against me; but I prevailed against them, being strengthened by the Lord." "Upon my back the sinners wrought; they prolonged their lawlessness." It is harmful and altogether dangerous to have enemies before one's face, in one's mind, who are sufficiently able, merely by being seen and by coming at all into perception, to harm and destroy those who have perceived them in any way; therefore it is always fitting to turn them away, casting them behind one's back. For the one who hastens toward God and virtue turns away from evil. For if the sinners wrought upon the face and the other things in front, they would harm the heart, striking it at the right moment with evil thoughts, and harming the sight through destructive spectacles and the remaining senses through the objects proper to them. But the one who forgets the things behind has the sinners behind, while stretching forward to the things ahead and walking behind the Lord God; but the one who follows the sinners who have been explained turns away from the Lord, as God says: "They turned their backs to me and not their faces"; for each of them, having hated instruction, cast my words behind him, following the demons that are the lovers of his heart. And the words "They prolonged their lawlessness" make clear the persistent wickedness of the sinners who wrought upon the back of the righteous.

For weaving their sins like a chain, by adding further things to those that came before, they lengthen their lawlessness. Pronouncing woe upon such people, the Word said, "Woe to those who draw their sins to themselves as with a long rope, and their lawlessnesses as with the strap of a heifer's yoke." For their hands weave together injustice, and as though adding sins to sins, they lengthen their own lawlessness. The righteous Lord has cut off the necks of sinners. The righteous Lord cuts off the neck of those who do not submit to the good yoke. And he does this by a good addition, so that, casting off their vigor and strength toward evil things, they may be subject to the Lord, to whom all things are naked and laid bare. And the wise of the world are themselves grass, since even their promise extends only as far as the present life, and they are grass of the housetops, because they suppose that through what they do and think they have surpassed the condition of human life. Therefore it is grass that has dried up, since they cast their roots into dry ground (that is, into things perceptible to the senses), and since they hastened to be a spiritual planting instead of grass. Hence, before being pulled up, they are dried up, since the reaper does not fill his hands with this grass, on account of the unbelief they possess; for "the ungodly shall not rise in the judgment," and "he who does not believe is already judged." And the reaper will fill not only his hands but not even his bosom with this grass, because they are not received first into the bosom of Abraham, and then in turn into the bosoms of the reaping angel; for he interpreted the reapers as angels.

The Savior, the harvester, saying in the prophet, "Therefore I mowed down your prophets." He himself, then, will also thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, holding the winnowing fork in his hand to gather the wheat into the storehouse, but to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And who are those who hate Zion? They become not grass but like grass—the weeds sown alongside the good seed by the evil one and burned in the coming age at the time of harvest. For the weeds are the heretics, while the grass on the rooftops are the wise men who have, as it were, leaped over the human commonwealth of the world, to whom the Word says, "Why have you all gone up to the useless rooftops?" But those who are citizens of Zion—let them not go down from the rooftop to take anything from the house, but let them also proclaim in the hearing of the ear upon the rooftops, so that, remaining good seed, they may bear fruit, to be gathered by the one who collects such sheaves into the threshing floor of salvation. And those who pass by did not say, "The blessing of the Lord be upon you"; we have blessed you in the name of the Lord. Those who have been given over to heterodoxy, hating Zion, and the wise men of the world, interpreted as grass on the rooftops—since they kept the promise of life and of their mindset only as far as things temporary and passing—are called "those who pass by." But these, harsh and arrogant, having no brotherly love or affectionate disposition at all, thinking themselves alone to be great and friends of God, call down a blessing on no one; therefore it has been said concerning them, "And those who pass by did not say, 'The blessing of the Lord be upon you,'" saying that no one of the others besides themselves will obtain a blessing from the Lord.

Nevertheless, even if those men address a blessing to no one, we who bless the name of the Lord, being joined by love of the brethren, do address a blessing to all those to whom our word is directed. It is possible to take both half-verses as spoken by those who pass by, so that "They did not say" is set before both: for those who pass by did not say, "The blessing of the Lord be upon you," nor did they say, "We have blessed you in the name of the Lord." He who has fallen into the depths of wickedness and impiety, according to the saying, "If an impious man comes into the depth of evils, he despises," when he has come to a sense of his evils, having already reached the depths of the tossing sea of life, by his own slackness begs the one who brings up from there; but finding no one able to help, he cries out to God. Along with confessing where, having fallen, he has arrived, he also says, "Out of the depths I cried to you, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice"; for having heard, you will bring me up out of that very abyss of wickedness and the deepest mire. In agreement with this interpretation are the things said by him afterwards in the passage, "If you should mark iniquities, O Lord, Lord, who shall stand?" It is possible also for everyone dwelling in the region around the earth with a human manner of life to send up this prayer, perceiving that he himself is somewhere very far below heaven and God; for "heaven is high and earth is deep." It is possible also that the one praying is holy, according to what has been set out above. But this man sends up his prayer not concerning small and earthly things but great and heavenly ones. He does not send up the prayer from a merely soul-like conception about them, asking God for them.

But being enlightened by the Spirit who searches all things, even the deep things of God, in knowledge and contemplation, following the Spirit who searches them out, from these very deep things he cries out to him [asking] what things one ought to ask of God, deeming it worthy that his voice be heard. From these deep things he cries out who asks to receive nothing perceptible but all things intelligible, and the Holy Spirit himself. Equal in force is "Let your ears be made attentive" to "Incline your ear to me." Since our voice does not reach the lofty things, which are far off by difference of nature—"your ears." And from this we learn, having attended to it, that "Let it be made" does not always signify essence but also a certain relation. For he does not ask simply that the ears of God be made, but that they be made attentive to him. Following these things, one must also understand what is said concerning Christ: "Who was made for us wisdom from God," and "That God made him both Lord and Christ," and whatever things are like these. Since with you is the propitiation, he who propitiates and forgives sins, the Savior—do not look closely, examining iniquities; for if you should do this, no one will stand. For "all have turned aside, all have sinned." Therefore, since no one withstands your judgment, there is need of the propitiation from you, propitiating for the sake of the salvation of all. And that the Savior is a propitiation, John writes: "And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

But Paul too: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood, and so on. A symbol of this propitiation was prepared in the law, about which the one who prays to God now also says: For from you is the propitiation; from you, as from a good Father alone, is the offspring, the propitiation. Not every rational creation asks this, since no God who would watch over the lawless deeds of each of those who have acted will stand by. One must always and at every time hope in the Lord, not only when pleasant circumstances surround us but also when gloomy ones do. From the morning watch, then, when present things are bright, and until night, when the circumstances surrounding us are unpleasant and darker, and even from the morning watch, when the true light rises and makes the beginning of the intelligible day, let the discerning mind, called Israel in the Hebrew tongue, hope in the Lord, expecting from him an increase of bright things and a release from gloomy ones, because with him, as at a fountain, and from him is the mercy which those who hope in him need; but there is also abundant redemption from him, which is not other than the propitiation. Therefore the Lord himself will redeem him from all his lawless deeds. For even if the lawless deeds of Israel are many, he will redeem him from them all. David, having achieved gentleness, says the words set before us; for he says, Remembering me, for these things you will give me as an inheritance the land of the meek.

And those who are with these priests, being holy, will not rejoice casually but with exultation, since only the perfect one, and one who exults from a settled habit, has this from the most perfect exultation. It is possible for the same person to be both priest and holy, so that the subject is one in subsistence but differs in the relations according to which he is priest and holy to God. And who is the cause for them of putting on righteousness and exulting with exultation, if not David, who is mighty with his hand and is holy? Hence it has been added: For the sake of David your servant. For the one who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh is a servant of God, having taken the form of a servant when he emptied himself. You may also understand it this way: since you purposed by your grace, O Master, to shine the face of your Christ upon men, do not turn it away, so that they remain without a vision of it, though they are to be benefited by its manifestation. And the reason why there will certainly be a shining forth he has added, saying: The Lord swore to David the truth and he will not annul it. The "there will certainly be" which he swore to David in truth concerns the coming of the Lord, who is the fruit of David's womb, that he will sit upon his throne. Having sworn, he will fulfill it; for the truth of God is an oath, according to what was said by Gabriel to Mary concerning the one who is reckoned in the genealogy from David: And God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. If one takes the earthly Zion,

How could this rest of mine be understood as "forever and ever," when at the end of this age it passes away, when the heaven and the earth pass away? For if the whole earth passes away, Zion too, which is on the earth, will pass away. Therefore the present words concern the spiritual Zion, of which it is written, "Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion." And this is the most holy Church, which he also chose to have as a dwelling for himself, who said, "Here I will dwell, for I have chosen her." Another, instead of "the hunt," renders "the widow," and says: The unprotected woman, having no man as guardian, I will bless together with the poor, to whom he who provides breads in abundance says, "I will fill her poor with bread," since each of such poor, being the seed of a righteous man, is not lacking in breads. But it is transmitted in copies, "Blessing I will bless her hunt." And a hunt is blessed with the blessing of the Lord, which those fishers and hunters sent by the Lord hunt upon every high mountain and in the clefts of the rocks, of whom those who dwell in the village of the hunters, Andrew, Peter, Philip, bear the symbol; for all these dwell in Bethsaida, which is interpreted as "house of hunters." And the priests of this Zion I will clothe with salvation. And the salvation of all is Christ, who has come to seek and to save what was lost. And besides being salvation, he is also a garment, about which it is written, "Let my soul rejoice, for you have clothed me with a garment of salvation," while his holy ones also exult with divine exultation. There in Zion I will raise up a horn for David.

This horn of the kingdom is raised up by God in the house of David, according to what was spoken by the righteous man: "He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David." And for this horn, which is Christ, the Father prepared a lamp that runs before his coming—the divine law, about which it is written: "Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths." Or also John, who was until the law and the prophets, is a lamp prepared for his Christ, about whom the Savior said: "That one was the lamp burning and shining, in whose light you were unwilling for an hour to rejoice." When these things are spoken of as divine concerning the one who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, his enemies will be clothed in shame—wishing, if only they had been burned with fire—that "a child was born, a son was also given to us," whose rule is upon his shoulder, incurring greater shame, because in embracing the same things as other men he does not have the life that has ascended above. Therefore his sanctification will also blossom forth upon him, about which he says in Isaiah: "And a flower shall rise up from the root," in accordance with which "the flowers of the earth appeared in our land"—that is, being such flowers as have received from the sanctification that blossoms forth from the Lord. For this blossoming one sanctifies those who draw near to him, being himself both the holy one of God and a flower, so that one may say: "I am a flower of the field, a lily of the valleys.

Whenever it produces these things—the flower and the lily of the plain and of the valleys—the flowers will reasonably be seen in our land, when God has caused his sanctification to spring up, so that they may be enlightened and renewed for the blessed and spiritual feast. 1187 The beard is a symbol of manly age. And the myrrh comes down from the beard of Aaron onto the edge of his garment. Aaron has the face of the priesthood according to shadow. The head of this—the archetypal and truly priesthood—has been filled with the divine myrrh of the name of Christ, about which it is said, "Your name is myrrh." And this myrrh comes down onto the beard of each of those who are able to say, after having passed beyond the shadow, "Because I have become a man, I have done away with the things of the child." And such a man becomes a man by having become an imitator of that one about whom it is written, "Behold, a man, the East is his name," and "After me comes a man who was before me." Nevertheless, even if the myrrh comes down onto the head of Aaron, it comes down not onto any chance beard but the high-priestly one, and from there also onto the edge of the high-priestly garment. And the high-priestly garment—the tunic of Aaron which bore the type—is the Lord's body, the Holy Spirit having begotten it, according to what was said about the virgin: "For what has been begotten in her is from the Holy Spirit." And you will understand the mountains of Zion as either the high doctrines of the truth of the divine and universal church, or those who by the sweep of the soul have received the being of the mountains of Zion.

The spiritual dew descends upon these mountains, concerning which Moses says, "And let my words descend as the dew," and in the prophet: "For the dew from you is its sign." Since this dew is heavenly, the dwelling of those who are blessed will be from heaven. But this spiritual dew does not descend from ordinary clouds, but from the exalted light that says, "I have come as a light into the world." For this light both bedews and elevates and causes one to become in the purest brightness. All the servants of the Lord bless the Lord, not standing far from him but drawing near to him in mind. Therefore they have also stood in the house of the Lord, firmly established in him. And they have stood also in the courts of the house of our God. And the courts of God in which those who fear him have stood are the God-inspired Scriptures and the doctrines of truth. After the songs of the steps were completed, it was fitting that those who had gone up into the temple itself should praise God in thanksgiving, whose temple he is. Therefore the psalm is also inscribed "Alleluia," the title signifying that the God who is must be hymned. And how would they not, having gone up all the steps with songs and hymns, stand in the house of the Lord with upright thought and blameless action—being his servants in the house of the Lord—and hymn him in the courts of the house of our God? And the courts of God are the old and new Scriptures, or the theologies in part, or the many mansions in the promises in the house of the Father.

And first to praise, according to the introductory teachings, his name, and then the Lord himself by serving him and genuinely being a slave to him. And allegorically, there are certain spiritual clouds, flowing with an intelligible and invisible rain. And these are brought up from the uttermost part of the earth, since not from great rulers, rich philosophers, or orators, but from men who have understood the lowest things, whom the Gospel calls unlettered and common men. But he has also made lightnings—the bright contemplations and the righteous acts—into rain, for the purpose of both enlightening and watering those who need these things, in a manner suited to what has been set before us. And he brings forth winds out of his treasuries, which signify better breaths and rational natures that have ascended above. This memorial is from the former generation, that of the Hebrews, until the generation of the calling of the Gentiles, concerning which it is written, "A generation that is to come shall be declared to the Lord." And these things will remain, as God has compassion on his people and is entreated in his servants. For having assented to the intercession and entreaty of his servants, sent up on behalf of the people and themselves, he was entreated—that is, he accepted the entreaty. Therefore he also has compassion on his people. And by way of leading upward, the house of Israel is those who are clear-sighted and will see God with a pure heart, and the house of Aaron is those who serve him perfectly and in a priestly manner continually, but not day by day; and besides these, the house of Levi—those inferior to the priests, yet being in the temple and performing the services that fall to them in the house of

...fulfilling [the will] of God, whom one might rightly address as temple-keepers of God; and above all, those from foreign nations who are added through fear of the Lord. Yet even if all bless, nevertheless not each one will do this according to the proportion of his power. But the one whom those previously mentioned bless is not only being blessed but is also blessed, not from any ordinary place but from the heavenly Zion, dwelling in the city of God who gave the heavenly Jerusalem and the church that has no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, being Jerusalem by seeing the peace that Jesus gives, saying, "My peace I give to you." But even if in another sense he is blessed in Zion, so also in it and from it is God. And these things might be said also concerning a soul called Zion and Jerusalem through knowledge and perfect virtue. And the present psalm, inviting to thanksgiving, commands us to give thanks to the Lord who acts with kindness and great goodness. Therefore at each verse, in the manner of a refrain, it is added: "For his mercy endures forever." For since he does not show mercy at one time and not at another, but always shows mercy, those who sing the refrain reasonably say: "For his mercy endures forever." But of which gods is he God, or of those about whom it has been said? If, then, he called those gods to whom the word of God came, according to the scripture that says, "I said, You are gods"—for it truly fits him alone to be called God; indeed, at any rate, also of those around Abraham, being gods in this way (he is recorded as God, saying, "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob")...

...it truly befits this same one to be called God), according to this signification of divinity both angels and divine powers might be called gods, as the apostle says: "As there are many gods and many lords in heaven and on earth," because all those called gods after the Trinity are such by participation in divinity. But the Savior is not so, but is God by essence; therefore he makes gods those who partake of him. He is called only-begotten God; for he alone is true God from true God, being God according to the same things as the Father, because he is consubstantial with the one who begot him. In addition to being God of gods, he is also Lord of lords, of those in heaven and on earth who have kinship with the holy principalities and powers and dominions. For he alone was recorded to do wondrous things; for the Father, remaining in the Son, does the works. But also to him who makes the heavens in understanding and establishes the earth upon the water, again confession must be made. And there accords with what has been said: "God founded the earth in wisdom, and prepared the heavens in prudence." Understanding and prudence, by which the heavens are prepared and established—who would say this is the wisdom through which all things came to be, concerning which the theologian says: "Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God"? But indeed those who bear the image of the heavenly one, being spiritually heavens, become such. Such are prepared in the previously indicated understanding and prudence of God. And the earth is established upon the water—the earth that received the seed sown by Jesus so as to bear fruit.

For in the flowing and temporary affairs of life, those who spend their time allegorically at the water gained stability and strength so as to bear fruit most fully. Having alone made the great lights by saying, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven," he appointed the sun for rule over the day and the moon and the stars for rule over the night, as also in the creation of the world it is said that the sun was made for the beginnings of the day and the moon for the beginnings of the night and the stars. Nor do these elements contribute little to us for the good order of life and to life itself, nourishing fruits, ripening them—without which it is not possible to live—showing us seasons, marking hours, portraying the courses of day and night, guiding travelers on land and sea, and providing countless other needs. You have seen how his mercy endures forever. And allegorically, since Egypt is the world that is about the earth, the things of Egypt that seem to be firstborn are struck by God for the benefit of Israel. For when these are struck, the mind that sees God comes to be outside it, guided by God. And God brings Israel out from the very midst of what is allegorically called Egypt by his word and his wisdom, which is named his arm and mighty hand. And these things might also be said concerning Christ, since according to the epistle of Jude, Jesus is the one who saved the people out of Egypt. And the mighty hand and exalted arm must be called his wonder-working activity and power.

God divided the Red Sea not into one division but into several, so that Israel, walking as on dry land, might be led out from its midst by God. It is handed down that it was divided into twelve divisions, so that there might be twelve passages, in order that each tribe of Israel might pass through having its own crossing. These things are according to the literal sense. But with respect to the deeper meaning, the life of men has often also been called in what was said before a sea, which, filled with waves and much saltiness and turmoil, the word of God makes passable for us, checking and parting the surges that rush upon us from the passions, so that—once the passions have been dried up, all their moisture being held back by God—it may become passable for us, while the intelligible Pharaoh and all the power of demons and unclean spirits is drowned in it, God casting them into it like the most worthless dust. Since those who are skilled at deceiving are formidable because they are sophistically equipped—for the Amorites are interpreted as "talkers," that is, "provokers," and their king Sihon as "temptation" or "provocation"—whom else ought one to regard as provokers and talkers than those who by sophistical arguments provoke the enemies of the truth, and who wish to be talked about and cried up for their preparation for deception, and who have as their aim to tempt and provoke?

But also, since Bashan is interpreted as a shame that is a symbol of the vice that puts to shame those who practice it, accordingly its king Og, together with Sihon king of the Amorites, is struck down and killed, so that their land might be given to Israel—the land which they wickedly and sophistically held, spending their time with a depraved disposition concerning the nature of things and seeming to rule over it. But their land, which is interpreted, having been taken away from them, is given to Israel for possession, to inherit it, since Israel is a genuine servant of the cause of all things. And when we have been humbled through freedom from vanity, he remembers us and redeems us. My confession becomes mine on account of your mercy and your truth, since, having often been shown mercy and having contemplated the truth that was enlightened for me by you, I was delivered from every vice and from the deceit akin to it, your mercy granting me forgiveness of sins, and your truth making me free from all error. But since you have magnified the oracle given to me by you, attaching it to your own name so that it is called your oracle, I will worship toward your holy temple and confess your name, acknowledging thanks because my oracle is magnified; for then it is magnified for me, when, progressing by it, I hasten toward being perfected. Another reading is also brought forward, saying, "Because you have magnified your holy name above all." And when is this fulfilled, except when in

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, when the Son at that time declares the Father's name to those who have become his brothers; for he alone has come in the name of the Father, so that the holy name of God may be magnified over all. We learn to say in prayer: Hallowed be your name. And just as the name of God, when it is hallowed, does not become holy from something profane, but is shown to be such, so too it is not magnified by increase, as though from small it became great, but by the manifestation of his majesty. 1205 He who prays without distraction and does this in spirit and mind, saying, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also," has God listening to him each day, concerning whom it is written, "He hears the prayers of the righteous," and "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their supplication." And he prays to have God as his guardian, one who neither neglects nor despises him but watches over him in his providential power. Because they mind earthly things and seek the things below and temporal, they are called Peoples of the earth, about whom the prophecy here speaks—and the reason for their wanting all the words of your mouth which you spoke in the law and the prophets concerning their calling—for even if they are not hearers of your oracles, yet in power, insofar as their faith was foreknown, they have heard them.

Therefore I too wish to come upon them, to sing skillfully and musically in your ways—that is, in the Scriptures—which a person, traveling through them by meditation and continuous practice, sings, declaring the understandings derived from them. But if someone also calls the virtues the ways of the Lord, then one traveling through these too should sing songs of victory against those who of old worked evil within them. He sings in the ways of the Lord who is able to give an account of each virtuous activity, sending forth a melodious voice through the very deeds performed in accordance with them. And all these things will be accomplished aright, since great is the glory of the Lord that brings them to perfection, concerning which it is said to Jerusalem: And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, and: All flesh shall see the salvation of our God, since the glory of the Lord shall be seen. And who would this be but the Savior, who is the radiance of the glory of God and the express image of his substance? Instead of Peoples, Kings, it is rendered thus: Let all the kings of the earth give thanks to you, O Lord. And both expressions are in agreement with the fact that those who give thanks to the Lord are called to reign, being destined to become a royal priesthood and a holy nation; whence also it is written by one of them: And would that you did reign, that we also might reign with you. These things must be said not of the Father alone but also of the Son, who holds sway over all things that came into being through him and consist in him, and of which he is before all; whence also the title Almighty is assigned to him, as in Zechariah the prophet.

Even if certain things that the exalted Lord observes among those who are lowly are lofty for the heavenly one, and are of a nature that has advanced even beyond, yet he knows these too from afar, since they are far from him by the change of their existence. Similar to this is the apostolic saying: Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath; for we know the one who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. That is: do not overlook us, we humans, while invisible enemies are murderously disposed against us. Advancing according to this, I stretch forward to the things ahead, until I reach the prize of the upward calling. And it is no wonder, he says, if you have known all things that concern me; for you know all things, not simply observing them, but also their beginnings and their ends and the causes through which they have come to be, and what will be concerning them after the cosmic variety. Having, therefore, the knowledge of all things, you formed me and laid your hand upon me, so that what is said might be first and later. Having laid your hand upon me, being dust and clay, you formed me a human, so that each of the understanding might say this: Your hands made me and formed me, and otherwise: Remember that you formed me as clay. And it is possible also thus: having formed me, you were not satisfied with having made me, but you also laid your hand upon me, for the purpose of improving and guarding me and of my being exalted by it. At any rate, the one who knows this gift also advises others, saying, Be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in time, so that, being secured under it, no assault or plot may be able to come upon you.

For no one snatches from the hand of the Father. For the invisible enemies will tear away only those who have been thrust away from it. Having considered that you have knowledge of all things, I came to marvel. But even if, having considered, I marveled at your knowledge, yet when I wish further to contemplate it, it has been strengthened beyond me, so that I am unable to reach it. With this agrees what is in Ecclesiastes: If I become wise, this very thing has been far from me beyond what it was, and a deep depth—who will find it? But Paul too uttered the same words, saying: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! And he said these things because he cannot reach the knowledge of God, which has been strengthened beyond him. What is added, "from me," can also mean that from me and from the things that pertain to me your knowledge has appeared to me as marvelous, inasmuch as, when it has been strengthened, I shall no longer be able to withstand or approach it. But if he is also discoursing on the knowledge of God which the saint himself has concerning him, as far as he is able to comprehend, consider it as well. Having spoken theologically about God's being foreknowing and having knowledge and understanding of all things, he proceeds to say that he is everywhere. For he says to God himself, who is being spoken of theologically: If your Spirit has filled the inhabited world, where shall I be able to go from it? But since your face also oversees and watches over all things, where shall I be able to flee from it? For having gone up to heaven, I receive an impression of your presence; if I come to Hades, I see you present with me.

But if your presence is made known in heaven and in Hades, then you are evidently also in the places between; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord, as the prophet says. But you also reveal yourself in the sea itself to those who seek you, as the following text sets forth. Therefore one of the theologians also says to each of his hearers: "And you shall know in your mind that God is in heaven above and on the earth below, and there is no other besides him." He sets this forth as being everywhere, not dwelling in a place but by his creative and providential power visiting all things. For it has been said of the only-begotten Word that all things consist in him; and if all things consist in him, none of the things that consist in him is left apart from him. And from the preceding we learn the Trinity being theologized. For the Holy Spirit is often shown to be the Spirit of God and his own person; the only-begotten is his Son, being the image of him who is invisible God, but also called the express image of his person, of God himself. And from this we learn that the Spirit of God is not a creature, being joined to God himself and to his own person. For it has often been shown that he is never joined with the creation but always with the Father and the Son. He sets forth almost this very thing: that, since I am a created being, to change place and to ascend belongs to me, but to be and to be established there belongs to you, in that you have made him and turn him; but also to descend into Hades I likewise have in a change of place, while you are there by providence.

by his presence. Therefore God is not in a place; for if he is everywhere, he does not pass from one place to another, nor is he bounded by each one, nor circumscribed by all places together, but evidently by his creative and providential presence he pervades all things, being over all and through all and in all, according to the apostolic philosophy. "I have looked," he says, "lest perhaps, using the wings of thought and crossing over the sea and Ocean himself, having come to be in the uttermost parts, I should be able to go from your Spirit and flee from your face, and there I have beheld your active and providential hand and your right hand itself, which surpasses all, at work, so that this very thing—that I have encamped, in the sequence previously mentioned, in the uttermost parts of the sea—has been accomplished for me, your hand guiding me and your right hand holding me. For even if Ocean is boundless, yet the worlds after it also are directed by the ordinances of the Master; for all things that have come to be from him, wherever they are, being administered by the ordinances of his own providence, are guided for me.

Since I was enlightened by the knowledge of the Lord, and at dawn, at the beginning of the day, I thought that I had come to be, I considered being lifted up on the intellectual wings with which every rational nature is winged, so as to be far away and beyond the ocean; but when I recognized that even this—to go away from the Spirit of God—was not possible, and the things that follow, I turned to seek another way, by which it is possible to go away from the Spirit of God and flee from the face of God, in the hope that perhaps, having come to be under darkness, I might be able to escape notice. Therefore I say, Surely darkness will trample me, that is, will hide me. For as the ground that is trodden upon is hidden, so I would be hidden below, if darkness, much having come around me and upon me, should trample me. Then, when I thought I was enjoying luxury at having obtained what I was eager for, I immediately saw that even the night itself and the dense darkness is illumination, since darkness itself is in no way darkened when God shines upon it, just as also all other things. For among us who use sight, there is a difference between night and day—we see and are seen in the day, but in the night we neither are seen nor see; yet with God the night is illuminated as the day, since the things in darkness and night are comprehensible to him as the things in light and day, inasmuch as the night is illuminated as the day by God himself. But the righteous man attaches all these things to his own person, intending to teach those who do not have a right understanding concerning God that it is not possible to escape God.

For there are those who think these things about God, as though God himself had said, "Shall anyone hide himself in secret places, and I not see him? Am I not a God near at hand, and not a God far off?" The father of this evil opinion was Cain, who said to God, "If you cast me out from the face of the earth today, I shall hide from your face." And another, through excessive foolishness, sinning in a lightless and gloomy house and in the night, said, "Darkness covers me on every side, and the walls cover me; who sees me? The Most High will not remember my sins"—all but saying, "Since I sin in darkness and inside the house with no one present, I escape the notice of all, nor would the Most High himself know my sins." But consider whether one who has gone beyond the mere wording about darkness can behold mysteries, so that the division of what is said is as follows: could I, having become wicked and base, flee God, so as to come under the darkness, to be trampled down by it? But having thought this, I immediately recognized that even the night is illuminated in the day—that is, in the delight of the rational creature; for truly a feast and a delight suited to the rational creature is the illumination that comes from virtue and knowledge. So then, I may become a son of night and darkness by eagerly doing and thinking evil through what I practice and think; but since darkness is not darkened by God himself

Illuminating all things, as the word says, "God, who said, 'Out of darkness light shall shine,'" who shone in the hearts of men for the illumination of the knowledge of Christ, "night shall be enlightened as day," when he who has passed over from ignorance and wickedness says, "I am no longer a son of darkness and night, but of light and day." And it is for this reason that "night shall be enlightened as day," since as its darkness is, so also is its light. For since darkness is a matter of choice and not of nature (for no one is evil by constitution), so also is virtue; and finding no place of escape, turning to himself he says: It is no wonder if, having become evil, I cannot be removed from you, since you possess even my very reins, being God who tests reins and heart. For if you are a knower of my hidden things and possess my reins, in whatever part of the world I may be, you have knowledge as though I were present. For you also took hold of me from my mother's womb, having formed me in the belly and laid your hand upon me. And then, because through all the things previously spoken you were fearfully made wonderful (for with fear I wondered at all that I have set forth concerning you), turning to thanksgiving I say, "I will give thanks to you, for you were fearfully made wonderful." God possesses the reins of him who has achieved purity in chastity. He, then, who devotes himself to celibacy, having inscribed his own reins to God, will say, "You have possessed my reins, Lord"; and after this achievement, having knowledge of all his wonderful works—those of creation and providence and miracle-working—he says, "Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it exceedingly.

The "exceedingly" refers either to the knowledge of the soul or to the wonders. And "my bone," he says, "which you made in secret," so that no one knows its composition; it is not hidden from you. For how could it be, since you are its maker, just as you are of the whole body, so also of this? It has also been said by those who have studied the nature and generation of living things that the transformation of blood into bone is invisible and incomprehensible, although they observe the generation of the other flesh and sinews—I mean, in whatever way they happen to have it. And the writing of Ecclesiastes presents this, saying, "As bones in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you shall not know the works of God." Nor was my substance hidden from you, even having reached the lowest parts of the earth; for neither the soul, having come to be in Hades, nor the body itself, buried and dissolved into earth, escapes your observation. Having spoken theologically through the things set forth above with prophetic eyes, he says that he has seen the Lord's visitation, how he was born of the virgin. For the offspring born of the virgin Mary was unworked, not constituted from the labor practiced through union, but existing from the Holy Spirit. Some understand in this way what is said in Daniel about the stone cut from the mountain without hands. When this same unworked stone has appeared, accordingly the salvation of all will come to be, so that they may be deemed worthy to be written in the book of God.

But since that too can be unworked—that which is naturally capable of receiving working, but has not yet received it—the present passage can be spoken concerning all things that are going to be, God doing them, and especially concerning the resurrection of the dead, so that the sequence of what is said may hold together. Since my substance is in the lowest parts of the earth, yet it will not continue forever in this state, since there will be a resurrection of the dead; having grasped this beforehand by faith and hope, I say, "Your unworked thing your eyes saw, and in your book all shall be written"; since you are all things in all, and all darkness and grief and pain and groaning are removed from our feet, they shall shine in a day of light as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Hence it is said, "They shall be formed in days," their formation no longer being of darkness—since they are sown in corruption and in dishonor—but of light, and being established in a day, since they are raised in incorruption and glory. But since, when they have been thus formed in days and written in the book of God, God shall be all things in all, there is no one among them who is wicked or worthy of being despised. Or perhaps where there is "the many" there is also "someone" and "no one"; when, through great perfection and their restoration to one and the same identity, there is no longer number, all having attained to the unity of the Spirit, "someone" and "no one" will no longer be among them. A scripture is cited that has, "Your unworked thing your eyes saw." This may also be understood in the same way as "You understood my thoughts from afar," in place of "the unworked thing of my thoughts.

Before they are completed, your eyes that see all hidden things saw them. The Gospels are full of such things. Friends of God are those who have become so through faith and virtue. It is said, then, concerning Abraham: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called a friend of God; and concerning Moses it says that God spoke with him mouth to mouth, face to face, as if one should speak to his own friend. But each of the prophets also became a friend of God in this way. And to the apostles too (they have this friendship) Jesus says, "I say to you, my friends." And their principalities—the authorities they received from Christ the King, taking authority over ten cities or over five cities—are very mighty, and they reign together with Christ. But their principalities might also be spoken of in another sense: the mighty causes by which they are friends of God. And these friends of God who have been greatly honored, because of the abundance of contemplations and good works that they have, will be multiplied beyond the sand—that is, beyond things perceptible and bodily. For since those who are companions of material things are concerned with the sand, or lie beneath it, so that the foundation of their building is established upon it, or buried beneath it—easily collapsing—of which the Egyptian struck by Moses and buried under the sand bears a symbol—it is necessary that those who receive a disposition beyond the world be beyond the sand, being worthy to be numbered by God.

It is his [i.e., the same author's] to accept and honor the friends of God, and to hate those who hate him and to reckon as enemies those who are impious and think unworthily about God. For how are they not enemies of God—those who pervert from the truth those who are being deceived, when God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth? Perfect hatred is against such people, when one hates them not for any other reason but because they are enemies of God. And just as one has perfect love toward the good, desiring it not for any other reason but for its own sake, so the one who hates those who are different from God hates them not for any other reason but because they are enemies of God, being consumed against them, as the prophet says: "I have been very jealous for the Lord Almighty, because the sons of Israel have forsaken you." A wicked man is the deceitful and fraudulent one, but an unjust man is one who has surpassed him in evil, so that through cunning and reckless dealing he hastens to wrong rational nature, attempting by some craftiness to shift it from virtue into vice. Wishing to be saved from both, the one who speaks the words set before us calls upon God, since they devised injustice against him, hiding it in their own heart, so that by concealing that they are such people they might be able to ensnare him, standing in hostility and opposition against him through the whole time of his life. Therefore it is said: "All the day long they arrayed wars," having no time of peace and rest, having sharpened their tongue instead of a sword for the purpose of bringing forth a word that is deceitful and able to wound, in imitation of

The one who corrupted Eve in his cunning—that serpent. Hence also under their lips, that is, their speech, they have thoughts like poison, suggested to them by evil powers because of the harmful and venomous nature of those called asps. But it is possible to understand these things also concerning the devil and the other invisible enemies; for the devil is often called a wicked and hostile man. But the antichrist who serves his will may also be so called. The hand of the sinner is the sinful action, from which he prays to be guarded by God as a protector. And in addition to these things, he deems it worthy that he be delivered also from men who wish to wrong him by their choice, since they have devised through deceptive words and thoughts to trip up the steps of those who advance toward better things in their progress. In these words it is possible to understand the sinner as the devil, and unjust men as either his evil angels or the men in whom he works to wrong souls. And these would always be also arrogant, possessing a deceptive wisdom, which they do not bring forth openly but hide it as a snare beneath their sophistical words. But also cords—that is, their intricate wickednesses, or the sophistical arguments composed and woven together by them—they stretch out in order to seize the feet of those who walk rightly, reckoning by these cords to trip up the steps of those who do not foresee what lies before them and the things that belong to the path which someone has trodden.

Stumbling blocks and scandals are the thoughts that are suggested to those who choose to walk well and in virtue. But the one who knows himself, that he is not sufficient to remain unharmed by so many things, flees to God and asks for power; therefore he also declares the things that surround him. The one who has been made familiar with practice and prudence will practically say to him, "You are my God," and he asks that he may give ear to the voice of his supplication, receiving it into his ears. For truly he says, "O Lord of all, you are also my Lord, who serves you; whence also you are the power of my salvation." For you are the power of the truly saving and touching salvation of the inner man, since it is impossible to have salvation without having become in you. And likeness is saved for me, who have been made according to your image and likeness, by partaking of your holiness, through which I also have salvation. And the Gospel itself is written by the apostle as the power of God for salvation, for the one who has become in the Gospel already has the power of salvation, which he would also have in actual operation, thinking and living evangelically. And being the power of my salvation, O Master, you overshadowed my head in the day of war, my noetic head. Therefore I will suffer nothing grievous from the enemies who war invisibly in the day, that is, in the temporal extension of this life. A witness that the head is noetic is "The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the righteous," and "The eyes of the wise are in his head.

The sinner is the devil, who takes hold of those who complete sin, having them under his hand because of their very doing of evil. But it is clear that he also rules over those who have come to be in some desire for shameful things. For if someone is dragged out from desire into sin in action, he immediately comes under him; but if, having looked at a woman to desire her, he should check his appetite by reason, so as to accomplish nothing of the things desired, he will not come to be in relation to the sinner set before us. He prays, then, to the Lord that, from desire alone, which has not taken action upon the desired object in addition, he may not be handed over to the sinner, nor go further, conquered by it, but may always be hindered by the better reasoning that comes from you. But one must also say it this way: since, when I am righteous, every good desire is present with me, may I not become such as to fall away from such desire and be handed over to the sinner, having acted in a sinful way. So that, having reasoned many things against me, they may not be able, do not abandon me, guarding me in the shelter of your wings and under your mighty hand, from which no one is able to snatch or be lifted up arrogantly against me, as though I had been caught by him. He seems to call the contentious and abusive man "of the tongue." For none of such people, however much they are in an earthly disposition, is able to be set straight, always being twisted by the fact of being contentious; for such things belong to those who love sins, in that they rejoice in fights and insults and abuse. Therefore such a person cannot have being set straight by virtue. And the unjust one is said to be the one who is worthless in every respect.

But perhaps he calls "corruption" the worst disposition, into which the many-sided evil deeds that are carried out hunt them. That punishment is corruption is established from "By your corruption, Jerusalem, who will help?" And that it is also the worst condition is established from "Because of uncleanness he shall be corrupted with corruption," as is made clear from "Evil companions corrupt good morals." And he calls "judgment" the examination of deeds and intentions, and "justice" the recompense according to worth. But whether the same subject is signified by both terms in parallel, examine that yourself. The same things must be said also about "poor" and "destitute": for either both names must be taken of the same person, or of different things—so that the "poor" man is the one who has utterly fallen from wealth (for "the rich became poor and hungered"), while the "destitute" man is one who does not yet have his necessities for living from abundance but from labor. And the righteous "give thanks," either because they themselves have come to be outside of falling into such things, or because those who warred against them and plundered them greatly have been subjected to painful judgments and the justice of God. And in addition to the righteous giving thanks, "the upright," being others of the righteous, "shall dwell in the face of the Lord," in whose name the righteous gave thanks. But he called "the upright" others of the righteous, not altogether in substance, but sometimes only in conception—the righteous man being the one who succeeds in the ethical virtues, and the upright man the one who has obtained the contemplation of truth.

Or perhaps he can be just who at some time or other does the things that are praiseworthy; except that the practical man among the just gives thanks in the name of God, while the upright man dwells through contemplation in the face of God, possessing the city and the house itself. And the face of God has been shown to be the impress of his substance, he himself dwelling in this face of every man of whom it is said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." But if it were "The upright shall dwell with your face," it must be expounded thus: where your face is, there the upright also shall dwell, not going out, like Cain, from the face of the Lord God, nor fleeing from it like those of whom it is said, "And Adam and his wife fled from the face of the Lord God." Or thus: those who are upright, preserving the image and likeness of you and having become conformed to the image of your Son, dwell together with him wherever your Son may be, the saying of the Savior concerning such persons being fulfilled: "I will that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory." But "where" and "wherever" must be understood in a manner befitting God, not in a local sense. This sacrifice he offers who has reached evening by having been perfected, while he who offers the perceptible sacrifices according to the law sacrifices in the morning. And at midday, after this, he sacrifices who has learned what is said by the Lord: "I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings." And above all, one must bring the evening sacrifice, the offering of the hands of those just mentioned. It has been said somewhere: "The rash man with his lips draws near to destruction," and "A man of many words shall not be prospered upon the earth.

So I too, lest I fall into these things: Set, O Lord, a guard on my mouth and a door of enclosure around my lips. For I have done all that lies in my power, persuaded by the exhortation of the one who said, By your words make a yoke and a weight. For speaking is not beneficial to all, just as neither is silence; for the one who is able to open his mouth with the word of God ought not to be silent, but for the one who utters an idle word and words that condemn, silence will be to his good. And the one who speaks of the difference among those who keep silence says, There is one who is silent and is found wise, and there is one who is silent because he has no answer, and there is one who is silent knowing the time. For the one who has knowledge of the time to speak and of the time when one ought not to say anything would ask that a guard and a door be provided from God for his mouth and his lips, so that he may utter nothing untimely; and let the one who is unable to answer the questions put to him pray that, having been shown by God to be even-tempered, he may not answer one thing in place of another; and moreover, let the one who is found wise through silence seek confirmation from God for the silence by which he is found wise. And since men who work lawlessness invent pretexts, ostensibly making defense for the evils they do, I, who have pleaded with you concerning many things, O Master, ask also that I not come into such a disposition as to have my heart inclined to words of wickedness by making pretexts in sins together with the men who work lawlessness.

For if my heart is kept under your guard, I will not be joined together with the chosen ones of the men who work lawlessness. And the chosen ones among these are those who fabricate pretexts for the evils they do, since those who sin without pretext and without concealment are worse. These are the ones who sin with knowledge, while those who make ignorance or weakness their pretext seem to excel over those who sin openly and with knowledge. Therefore, through what has been said, let the one who prays have no cause, O Master, for turning aside his heart to evil words—as though on account of ignorance, or force, or weakness—which someone might bring forward as a pretext for the sins he commits, so that the joining together with the chosen ones of the men who work lawlessness may not follow either. And in these things, the head must be understood as signifying the ruling faculty, as though it were the head of the soul. You will also understand it in this way: the chosen ones who work lawlessness—what else are they but evil inclinations, or false opinions, and wicked dispositions, within which he deems his prayer to be made, so that once exposed they may be destroyed? For in these, his prayer comes about in no other way than by his asking God for their overthrow and dissolution. Therefore, in response to his request, the matter was arranged. For the mighty ones among the men who work lawlessness, being the same as their chosen ones, were swallowed up when the divine Word—which the divine Scripture has often interpreted as a rock—drew near to them. And being swallowed up is a symbol of being conquered.

For this is why it is said both "Death was swallowed up in victory" and "that the mortal may be swallowed up by life," but also "Aaron's rod swallowed up theirs"—and he means the rods of the sophists and enchanters, since the scepter of divine truth and wisdom conquers the scepters of the phalanx. And if you speak of the rulers of this age who profess wisdom, and of the host of the other demons, as being mighty among those fashioned according to vice, these too, having come near to Christ the rock, will be swallowed up, being made to vanish and shown to be nothing by the presence of Christ, who destroys the wisdom of the wise and sets aside the understanding of the prudent; while the perceptible seeds need to be cast into earth that has been plowed and split open, so that, hidden in the earth, they may send their roots down into the depth. For in this way, firmly established by their roots, the words of the saints—being spiritual seeds that they received from God—will be able to bear fruit securely. It has so much power as not only to root and bear fruit but also the need of the plow

For they are all-powerful, and he will water, he will plow the earth, and he will do all that agricultural activity performs, so that after this, having taken root, it may yield the fullest fruits of piety and of the rest of virtue. For truly these words are as powerful as to break through minds that have grown fat and petrified, so as to take root by penetrating through compunction, from which, as from a secure root, the fruit of the best deeds and thoughts will be yielded. But another reading is also transmitted, which runs thus: "Their judges were swallowed up close to the rock." And these are those who by examination and division of the words they pursue judge, as it were, matters; these, being none other than the mighty ones, when they come to be close to the rock, are swallowed up, while the heralds of the truth are not swallowed up but stand upon it and are exalted (for "he set my feet upon a rock," and "in a rock he exalted me"), and moreover also drink from it; for "they drank from the spiritual rock that followed, and the rock was Christ." But the bones of the soul must be called the powers of the soul, as has been said. These, if they are accomplished rightly, praising God will say, "Lord, Lord, who is like you?" But if they sin and are perverted by the very activity of vice, casting off all harmony and unity, they are scattered—not wherever it happens, but where the place of the dead souls is.

But if this too has come about from carelessness, it is nonetheless possible to lift the eyes of the soul to the Lord, who is able to gather into the same place the bones that were scattered beside Hades, as it is interpreted, so that each may be restored to each, and, as the Scripture said, "each to each," to its own harmony. And it is well that the scattering is spoken of in the plural (for "our bones were scattered"), while the saving word is spoken in the singular; for it is not said, "To you, Lord, Lord, are our eyes," but "My eyes." For sometimes the turning of the gaze toward the Lord is the unity of those who look to him, and sometimes wickedness and the scattering of the bones is a multitude, when those who have suffered these things speak. You may compare with these the first commandment of God to Adam, which has the singular in the injunction but the plural in the prohibition; for it says, "And the Lord God commanded Adam, 'From every tree that is in the paradise you shall surely eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from it; for on the day you eat from it, you shall surely die,'" it said. But if in the Decalogue both the injunctions and the prohibitions were expressed in the singular, what was just said is not set aside; for these too will receive their proper exposition in due time. "To you, Lord, I have lifted up my eyes, hoping in you; therefore do not take away my soul," so as to cast it out completely. For even if the bones of each of us were scattered beside Hades, yet I hope that, having gathered them, you will restore them to their own concord and harmony.

Since this has come about through your goodness, my soul will not only not be destroyed but will also be saved, as you guard me from the snare that was set against me. And not from this alone, but you will also guard me from the stumbling blocks of those who work lawlessness. And perhaps the snare set against me by the wicked is the deception that consists in false opinion, while the stumbling block of those who work lawlessness is moral vice, when the unstable person is caused to stumble when he sees many acting lawlessly. The testimony to this is the saying, Because lawlessness has multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold, and the proof that the snare deceptively set up is the falsely named knowledge comes from the words, They strengthened a wicked word for themselves; they recounted how to hide snares. If this is said about the devil, the explanation will be as follows: the enemy of our race has a net woven from all his various thoughts, all of which are terrible for deceiving, with which, casting it around human beings, he brings them through sin to a fall, so that they immediately

to be shown to be sinners, with only those able to say, "For we are not ignorant of his designs," escaping it; whence also, having caught many, he deifies the nets which he used for the hunt of the deceived, as God's for a dragnet and a seine with the casting-net, as it is written in the prophet. But even if sinners shall fall into his casting-net, I, having withdrawn from all material things, am alone, until I pass through this ephemeral life and the multitude of evils and am joined to the Lord, so as to become one spirit with him. No one of the material and foolish is recognized as wise, since concerning the wise man and wisdom they have not even the beginning of a notion, only the wise recognizing themselves and those like them. Since, then, he says, there was no one who recognized me, I was considering things at the right hand, having previously had the consideration of them, so that, when one wiser than I had come to be, my heart might come still more to the right, perceiving nothing sensible any longer but all things intelligible. And since everyone who sins flees God, as is established from what is said after the transgression, "And Adam and his wife fled from the face of God," he who no longer sins but has achieved sinlessness will say, "Flight has perished from me," that is, evil has perished from me, into which those who flee God hide and withdraw. Therefore there is also no one who seeks my soul, having been made manifest to God and having stood before him. And the word "seeking out" shows an intensification of seeking; what has perished is sought and sought out. And to have perished is the same as to have fled.

And the one who has come to be in evil, when he begins to repent, flees this; for "Flee," it says, "idolatry," and "As from the face of a serpent, flee from sin." And he intensifies the flight day by day, being removed through progress from the habit which he has left behind, so as to come to the most unmixed virtue, and standing thereafter firmly in the good he will say, "Flight has perished from me"; for no longer do I have sin pursuing me, nor the one seeking my soul, having come to be in the fortress of piety. And by way of elevation, all evil and impiety, as a kind of guard encompassing the souls within, held them fast; from which guard each one sends up the prayer set before us, as though the Lord had nodded assent and come to lead out those bound from chains and those sitting out of the house of the guard in darkness. The third psalm is inscribed "A Psalm of David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son," but here "When his son was pursuing him." Yet it is not so terrible to flee from someone as for that one to pursue. And it is possible to flee even from mere suspicion, but the fact that the one pursued is driven on makes clear the cruelty and savagery of the pursuer. He says, then: "Being in need of many things, I fled for refuge to you, knowing precisely that you will fill me with all things of which I am lacking, having heard my supplication in truth, in your only-begotten offspring, who said, 'I am the truth.'" Or: since for the present I worship in image and shadow, I pray that what is lacking to me also be given. And it is to surpass the typical service, so as to draw near to your truth nakedly, in order that I may worship you in spirit and truth.

Hear me in your righteousness, having justified me in it. For my righteousness will be reckoned as nothing before you. Therefore I also ask that you not enter into judgment with me; for I am your servant, and I fear to be judged against you or before you. For you examine not only words or deeds but also the intention from which these come; hence of the living, no one, even if he has the highest virtue, will be able to be justified before you. At any rate, all the righteous, comparing their own righteousness with yours, from a disposition that speaks truth say, "All our righteousness is like a rag of a woman in menstruation before you"; but we are justified freely by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ, having the righteousness that was revealed apart from the law, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Or perhaps, since the one who believes in him is not judged, he prays to receive perfect faith from him, so that he may obtain not being judged. For judgment comes upon those who have loved darkness rather than light because of having evil deeds. Therefore, when God hears someone in his righteousness, he does not enter into judgment with him; for he happens to be his servant, doing all these things that have been commanded him. To be humbled to the earth is for someone's life to look at things below and to think on things upon the earth. For just as the life of those who store up treasures in heaven is lifted up and exalted, and they have their heart there, so the one who stores up treasures on the earth and has his mind on perceptible things is humbled, having his life on the earth.

He says, "in the dark places of the age" (where the rulers of this darkness rule), so that the one caught may be made like the dead of the age. These are those called sons of this age, except that the one who has lamented these things is not a dead man of the age but has become like a dead man of the age. Therefore the spirit that is with him for the sake of help, called the spirit of the man that is in him, also grieved over him. For since the man who is helped by it had fallen in with the things set before him, it reasonably grieved and was disheartened, knowing only the things of man. This waterless land and the similar souls—waterless places though they are—the unclean spirit passes through, finding no dwelling or rest among them. Yet even if they are waterless by being deprived of the evil waters, they do not fail to seek the Lord at dawn to find him ready, and he will come to them as the early and the late rain. Therefore they too will become watered, having within them springs of living water leaping up to eternal life. And since the Holy Spirit does not endure to be where sin is, having said, "The enemy has persecuted my soul," and what follows, he is careful lest for these reasons he abandon him then as a spirit present with him, so that the present passage is the same as "Do not turn away your face," and "Do not take your Holy Spirit from me." For no one of those in the sight of God and having the Spirit is immediately cast off when he sins, but the one who intensifies sinning so as to consolidate the worst habit; for then such a one will be cast out from the divine presence and be deprived of the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, even if the one who is in this state is not stripped bare of the Spirit, he does not grieve it when present by sinning. 1240 In the beginning of the day that is enlightened by you, for one who is in that state and has begun to be illumined by the rising of the sun of your righteousness, make your mercy heard to me—speaking about it in accordance with my own condition and capacity to hear. For then, having been benefited by the hearing about it, I will be able to advance so as even to desire to see it. And I will also attain the sight of it, when with all who share the same zeal I say in prayer, "Show us, Lord, your mercy"; for then it becomes visible when one receives it as something heard, not being in ignorance but in the beginning of knowledge, which he indicated by "in the morning." Perhaps also, having walked the former ways—Moses and the prophets—according to "Stand in the ways and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord," after the journey in them, seeking the good way, he will say to its Father, who alone knows the way that is the Son, "Make known to me the way in which I should walk." Therefore also, when the Father has assented, she, revealing herself, will say to those who are worthy, "I am the way; for no one comes to the Father except through me." 1242 Since his soul has been pursued by one enemy, as he just said, he now prays to be delivered from a multitude of enemies. But these different expressions do not conflict; for he called the leader of evil one enemy, but the

He called his army "enemies" in the plural. And he demands to be taken away from the enemies most justly, since he has fled for refuge to no one except to him alone. "Teach me," he says, not merely to know but also to do your will; for the mere understanding of it without putting it into action is not sanctifying and beatifying, but rather when it is enacted and practiced. Therefore the Savior also says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." And it is clear that the one who does God's will also knows it, but not altogether so the one who knows and does not do it; with this agrees "Learn to do good." What this learning of the divine will is, the following phrase indicates: that it is the guidance of the Holy Spirit into the upright land. For the one who has learned God's will in moral virtues will be guided by God's gift, by the Holy Spirit who works toward all truth. And the upright land is the good and pure heart, in which Jesus will bear fruit as a seed, or the seed of the meek. It can also be taken thus: "Teach me to do your will," so that I may fulfill your law no longer typically but spiritually, since it is nothing other than your will; and having advanced to this point, may I be led by the Holy Spirit in the upright land, henceforth articulating the truth face to face. In some copies, instead of "Your Holy Spirit," it is read "Your good Spirit.

From this it is established that the holy good is, and that the good is holy, and it is good not by participation in goodness but by being such in essence, just as it is also holy. Such also is the Father; for it has been said concerning him, "Holy Father," and "No one is good except one, God." And the Son also, being from the good and holy One, is said to be good and holy. Because of your name being invoked, I bear your name. You will give me life in your righteousness, justifying me according to it; for thus it will come about that I live in it. And with good reason he inclined to the future tense in "You will give me life," since here we have life in part, just as the other good things, and we shall live perfectly at that time when Christ, our life, is revealed; for he himself is the righteousness of God, in which the one who has applied himself to it shall live. Since every good and beneficial thing comes to humans from God, whatever the saints hold concerning such things, they give thanks to God, knowing that he is the cause of good things. See, then, David also, when warring against his enemies, has skill in warfare—by which the various invisible foes are overthrown and struck down—and blesses God, who becomes his teacher of the knowledge of such wars, so that the fingers and hands of the inner man skillfully grasp the defenses, through which it is possible to strike and wound the champions of evil and of falsely named knowledge, both wicked humans and demons.

The constitution of human beings is compacted from a corruptible body and an immortal soul; by the immortal and intelligent soul it has reasoning and knowledge of the cause of all things, but by the body, being nothing, it is likened to vanity, so as to be compared to the swift-passing and easily-vanishing shadow of the day of a human being's life. Nevertheless, even if the power of the soul is intelligent, it does not think or reason of God as it happens, but God himself supplies it with good things. For it has not been said, "What is man, that he knows you and reasons concerning you?" but, "Because you have been known and are reasoned of by him." For the Savior manifests himself to those prepared for this, and in this way he is said to have been known by them. And having been known and seen according to intelligible contemplation, he shows the Father also by the fact that he himself has been seen: "For he who has seen me has seen the Father," and "No one has known the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal him." And since the Son, having the Father in himself, shows him by the fact that he himself has been seen,

Through whom also the Father, having the Son in himself, reveals him to the one who no longer wishes to have knowledge through flesh and blood, but from God. These words can also signify the Savior's coming from Mary: he who bows the heavens, which are his own handiwork, came down in order to come forth from her. And since, having come down for the benefit of all, he overthrew the harmful and destructive invisible demons of human beings together with their whole army, they are said to have been darkened, since because of their boastfulness and arrogance they are called mountains. And since the things purified and made bright by the application of fire among them are not gold and silver, but thorns and thistles, wood and grass and stubble, they were filled with smoke when he who came to cast fire upon the earth darkened them. And he scattered them by the flashing of lightning, though they were of one mind and gathered together for evil. And the lightning is the manifestation of the divine Word, rousing to fear those who take hold of it. But also, having sent forth his arrows, he threw them into confusion. And by the arrows he signifies God's punishments, as Job also says: He has shot me through with his arrows, and: For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, whose fury drinks up my blood. But if someone refers these things to the second coming of the Lord with glory, he will find rather the sequence of the preceding verses.

But if some arrogant persons, supposing themselves to be something because of this boldness of boastfulness, should slander providence, saying that it does not exist at all, because God, while he exists in his own watchtower, neither cares for nor takes any thought at all for human beings, then one might pray—he who wishes to bring them to a perception that God does care even for the things on earth—saying to the Lord: "Bow your heavens"—you who are said by them alone to be—"and come down" by your providential word, painfully touching them, so that all material things in them, being utterly consumed, produce smoke. And consequently the following words too will have their explanation according to this sense. Those who have fallen away from having God as father are alien sons, having become the offspring of vipers or of the devil. These, then, the alien sons, are harmful both in thought and in action, and are destroyers, primarily of themselves, and then also of those who follow them. Hence both by what they say and by what they think godlessly and impiously, their mouth is said to speak vanity, and by the forbidden things they do, their practical power—which they suppose to be their right hand, thinking that they act praiseworthily—is full of unrighteousness. These things, then, they utter vainly, and concerning the things for which they are godlessly and impiously disposed, there happen to be many waters; for by what they teach they wish to imitate the one who said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink," and, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, it will become in him a spring of water leaping up to eternal life." And surely in these words it is as of one water that Jesus gives.

This was the Spirit which those who believe in him were about to receive. The waters of the heterodox, through which they imitate the drink given by the Lord, are many, because they are varied and discordant and are not referred to one end; for both the ends and the beginnings of their ways of thinking are different. Send forth, therefore, says the psalmist, the creative and protective hand of the whole upon me, to deliver and rescue me from the many waters and from the hand of the alien sons; for "alien" must be understood in common, both of sons and of waters. And it is possible to say that to be rescued from many waters means from the evil powers and from the devil, the king of all those in such waters, and to be taken out also from the hand of the alien sons, those who are energized by men. The ten-stringed psaltery is composed and fitted together from the working of the Decalogue; for each of the ten commandments is a string, musically arranged in the whole instrument. Kings, he says, you will understand, and those

...who grasp the nations and the inhabited world in a perceptible sense. For if a king is not saved by great power, the kings who are saved have their kingdom from God. And it is well said, "Giving salvation to kings." For since they always have it from him to be saved, he did not cease from salvation, but he has always given and will give and gives. The same applies also to the one who ransoms and has not ransomed and will ransom. One must use the foregoing for the avoidance of the world. For Paul writes concerning the women of the church, that praying with modesty and chastity they should adorn themselves with the works of piety, but not with the putting on of gold and pearls and the plaiting of elaborate hair. You will observe what has been said also in the case of the heterodox. For their word has been sharpened like a sword for the wounding and killing of those who have not put on the armor of God. And those previously mentioned, who are alien sons speaking vanity, use this evil sword. Their sons can be the divine thoughts which they possess, compared to newly planted vines whose strength is in youth but not in maturity; and their daughters are the expressions which they produce, beautified and adorned with smooth composition and the melodiousness of phrasing. Therefore they are also a likeness of a temple but not a temple; for they do not have in themselves a divine mind as the words of the divine Scriptures do; for these are a temple of God, since he is found in them by those who read correctly. And he exalts God who theologizes rightly and truly, forming great and lofty conceptions about God.

He who has become a child of Abraham through works and faith speaks the aforementioned praise, confessing that God is the cause of all things, saying to him, "I am your God." And this man, having become a man of God, because God is his own and is called his God, has fled every evil kingdom and is ruled as king by God himself; whence he will also be able to say, "You yourself are my king and my God." And since he has an immortal soul, he can say, "I will bless your name forever and forever and ever." He blesses the name of his God and king who, in bearing it, does and says and thinks what is proper to the appellation of God invoked upon him, beginning to bless from the present age in order to do it until the age; for if now, knowing in part and partaking partially of the good, he blesses the name of his benefactor, much more will he bless it when the perfect good has come and the knowledge of God face to face. It might also be said concerning those of the circumcision and of the nations who have believed: "Generation and generation will praise your works," since they are rightly praiseworthy by their own reason, as even the Maker himself has seen with a divine eye that they are exceedingly good. The holiness of God is none other than that of the Savior; for he himself is the sanctification that sanctifies those who draw near to God, to whom it is said, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The glory of this holiness is magnificent.

Those, then, who have partaken of the holiness of God, and also of his glory, lay claim to it and hymn magnificently him whose holiness and magnificent glory it is—not with bare utterance, but before this with works and a right disposition, thinking, acting, and speaking holily and gloriously, and indeed magnificently. The glory of the holiness of God can be that "He shall glorify me" (that is, the Paraclete), "because he shall take from what is mine and declare it to you." Therefore those who have heard him declaring when he gives the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge shall speak of his holiness. And to this end they shall recount his wonderful works, whose holiness it is, expounding with attentiveness and pure contemplation the mystical account of his wonderful works, which have come to be and are coming to be at various times. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and "Shout to God with a voice of exultation, because the Lord, the Most High, is fearful"—they shall say this practically and with a right mind (for through this very fear of God and having surpassing reverence), they shall speak to him the power of his fearful deeds. And so, having been benefited, they fear his greatness together with virtue and sinlessness, and they shall not say "The power of your fearful deeds they shall tell"—with the knowledge that it is infinite and has no limit; for they do not recount it as though they had circumscribed and bounded it with their mind, but as surpassing every comprehension of a created being. For only the Son knows who the Father is, and the Father knows who the Son is.

But even if the Son reveals the Father to whom he wishes, yet he makes him manifest as it is possible for created beings to see, in proportion to the capacity each has for preparation. Since the belching that occurs perceptibly has its cause in fullness (for one who has been filled with food sends forth breaths, carrying the breath of the quality of the things eaten), it would be consistent to say that one who has been nourished on the words concerning God's goodness, filled from these spiritual foods, belches forth intensely the remembrance of God's goodness, which is able to be equal to his kindness. But since it is beneficial to know God in respect of the good, and also to have a conception of his righteousness by which he judges, next to "They shall belch forth the remembrance of your goodness" he added "And in your righteousness they shall exult." The righteousness of God can be his only-begotten offspring, in which those exult who have obtained "who became for us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption." For because by the goodness of God he was sent to proclaim release to captives, he has become redemption for those freed from captivity, who also, remembering the goodness of God that came upon them, belch forth its remembrance; but also, having perceived that they were justified, since the one who redeemed them became for them also righteousness from God, they exult in this righteousness, which is God's. And it is fitting to understand that every practical virtue, and also the righteousness that came through faith in Jesus, unto all who believe, is signified in the present phrase.

God rules and reigns over all things that God has made through the Word and his Wisdom, and hence he is also Almighty. Since, therefore, the ages too, being a part of all things, were made by God through the Savior, according to the Scripture that says, "Through whom he also made the ages," he also reigns over all of them. And the theology spoken by Paul agrees with what has been set forth, being as follows: "To the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, only wise God." For to reign over all the ages and to be the King of the ages are the same thing. Consider whether it is said of the Son, "Your kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages," while he reigns over the house of Jacob, his kingdom having no end; for ruling and reigning over all things that have come to be through him, he reigns forever. Hence, as with the other attributes that belong to the Father, so too he shares the title "Almighty." If, then, the Father is King of the ages, and the Son's kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages, and reasonably his kingdom is also without beginning and without end, he reigns both before the ages and after them; for "the Lord reigns forever and for ever and ever," and "Our God is King before the age," that is, before every age. In accordance with his kingdom, his dominion also extends to all generations; and he is Lord of those who are under time and generation, but he reigns over those who have transcended temporal things, because he looks to things unseen and eternal. God is faithful in all his words.

It is said not that they offer from faith or by faith, but that they are worthy to be believed. Indeed, at any rate, everything he says comes to pass according to what is written: "He has spoken, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not abide by it?" Hence it is also said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." And this is toward his being faithful in his words and holy in all his works, imparting to them the holiness that comes from him. For just as he is holy in those who partake of his holiness, and the Savior is wisdom in those who are wise according to him, so the Lord is holy in all his works that have become holy through communion with him. Perhaps those who fall are those who are in desires and base thoughts without action; but those who are utterly broken down are those who sin actively. Nevertheless, helping both, he supports the one and raises up the other. How does he support them? By commanding each one: "You shall not desire your neighbor's wife," and the rest, and by exhorting through a wise man: "Let not desire for beauty overcome you." But those who fall would be those who sin in moral matters but are held fast within Christianity, while those utterly broken down are those who have fallen away from it; or those who fall are those who sin in practice, while those utterly broken down are those who pursue the things of the impious heresies. In all his ways, along which he travels, providing, governing, judging, benefiting, granting favor, punishing, he is found righteous; for God is faithful, and there is no injustice.

But if someone should call his ways the virtues (for they lead toward him who journeys by practice and by thought), he is shown to be just in these as well. At any rate, no one who lives earnestly and according to virtue blames providence, but only some worthless person who has walked outside his ways; for "the folly of a man corrupts his ways," and he blames God in his heart. But since the ways are also said to be the commandments given by him, he would be recognized as just, having measured them against the capacity of those who received them. But the one who says that human nature is incapable of virtue, or that fate compels to sin, will not say that God is just in the ways in which he gave law. He is said to be near to those who call upon his name. Therefore those who are advancing also pursue calling upon him in truth; for calling upon the name of the Lord is more elementary, while those who call upon him are perfect. For Moses, he says, and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he heard them, being distinguished from those who do this genuinely and not at random. It is possible that those who live according to the letter of the law, calling upon the name of the Lord, may speak, while those who follow the newness of the spirit, calling upon him in truth, fitly worship him in spirit and in truth. Each of those who are piously disposed, having denied the human will, prays to have the will of God, saying, "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.

Therefore, by doing the will of those who fear him, he converts his own will into action, which he chose to hold as a God-fearing will. And it makes no difference whether one speaks of his wills in the plural or his will in the singular; for his wills are the virtues in their particular forms, while his one generic will is virtue in its universal and common sense. 1262 He who wishes to be guarded by him, so that the evil one may touch nothing in him, let him love God with his whole heart and soul and strength. For those who are thus guarded by him because they love him, he has prepared what he truly promised, concerning which it is said: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him." He speaks of a mouth, not the perceptible one but the intelligible one, about which he also said to God in another psalm: "You will open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise." When his mouth utters the Lord's praise, all flesh, having heard him, will bless his holy name

of the Lord, the name invoked upon her, about which the disciples of Jesus learn, when they pray to the Father, to say: Hallowed be your name. And all flesh—that flesh about which it is said, Hear my prayer; to you all flesh will come; and indeed, And all flesh will see his salvation—that flesh blesses his holy name. These things are not said of perceptible flesh but of that which has an analogy to hearts of flesh, about which God says: I will remove from them their hearts of stone and I will put in them hearts of flesh, in which the spiritual law is also inscribed, Paul saying about this that it is not written on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. The hymn is sent up to God not by just anyone but by the one who celebrates a festival to God by doing what is fitting and remembering him according to a right and pious understanding. For Haggai means "festival," and Zechariah means "remembrance of God." Therefore everyone who acts according to the practical virtues without interruption keeps not one but many festivals, being named Haggai in the Hebrew tongue; but also everyone who has been well affected and benefited through all things, remembering the goodness of God, is called Zechariah in the Hebrew language, which is interpreted as remembrance—that is, of God. Praise the Lord, O my soul. And when will you do this, and how will you do it always? When you are released from sins and come to the uprightness that is according to virtue and the knowledge of the truth. For praise is fitting for the upright, since praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner. I will praise the Lord in my life. For as long as I live (and I live always, having eternal life), I will praise.

It is shown by what has been said that no one who has death—which every soul that sins dies—is able to praise the Lord. I will sing to my God, as long as I exist. It has often been explained that to sing means to act in accordance with virtue. Therefore he promises a harmonious action in I praise. And the phrase as long as I exist suggests a thought of this kind: as long as I exist, having a share in the one who said, I am the one who is, I will sing to the one who extends existence to me, since no one is able to sing who is separated from the God who is, or who is not. But it is also possible to divide it thus: Do not trust in rulers who exist in this age, and in the other evil powers (for these too have a beginning that can be overturned), nor in the sons of men; for there is no salvation for them, since they are mortal; for they cannot provide the salvation which they do not have of themselves, but which they have received from God. For the Savior alone is the cause of eternal salvation, saying, There is no savior besides me. And he is called blessed not simply as the God who is a helper, but as the God of Jacob who is a helper, since Jacob is helped by God—Jacob, who supplants the principalities and the authorities and the world-rulers of this darkness. For the one who has the struggle against these, having supplanted them by prevailing over them, is helped by the God of Jacob, being a son of Jacob in action by doing his works. Being helped in this way, he has his hope in the Lord God, who in the beginning made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all things in them. For he made not only these but also all things in them.

But if his works are enduring, much more is he himself both enduring and powerful. Take courage, then, because he confirms the truth of his words and of the promises in the sacred Scriptures, and keeps his own promises for all eternity, so that his word and the promises he made to his own people do not fail. And what is the truth of the word? The judgment that is to come and the vengeance for those who are wronged in this present life. For do not think, he says, that the pious are overlooked, nor that the blood of God-loving men goes unavenged. For he is truthful who promised to exact vengeance for them and to give eternal food to those who hunger and thirst and are oppressed in this present life, according to "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied," and according to the prophetic word that says, "Behold, those who serve me shall eat, but you shall hunger." But if someone wishes to take these things in a perceptible sense too: he gave food to the hungry in the desert—rain of manna—and he fed five thousand hungry men, and he gave food also to Elijah and Daniel, to the one through ravens, to the other through Habakkuk the prophet. And he executed judgment for those who were wronged—for Joseph and Susanna, the one by the Egyptian woman, the other by the judges of Israel, and for David when he was wronged by Saul and by many others, of whom Scripture is most full. Those who are broken down are the same as those who are fettered, differing only in intent.

For they are either hindered from acting and running toward the truth by evil, bound as captives, or they fall from the height of virtue and are found broken down. It must be said that those who sin in practice are bound and broken down, since their eyes are blind—those who cast away the sight of the mind—so that they do not see the beauties of the doctrines of truth. Therefore, just as he loosed the bound and raised up the broken down by offering forgiveness of sins, so he made the blind wise by enlightening the eyes of their heart, he himself being the light about which Paul writes: God, who said, "Out of darkness light shall shine," has shone in your hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of Christ. Since the present passage mentions the righteous together with the proselytes, the righteous who are loved by the Lord must be understood as those who were well-pleasing to him under the old Scripture, and the proselytes as those called from the nations to the teaching of the gospel; and that this interpretation is sound, one must hear the Savior saying: Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and to hear what you hear. Of these righteous men was also Abraham, about whom it is written: Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. And concerning the nations as being proselytes, one must hear Paul saying: Therefore remember that once you, the nations—and after other words—that you were at that time without God, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and after a little: But now you who once were far off have become near in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.