Commentarii in Isaiam

PROCOPIUS OF GAZA, CHRISTIAN SOPHIST: EPITOME OF THE VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH THAT HAVE BEEN COMPILED. A prophet is one who foretells either the future or present things that are hidden, as Paul says: "But if you all prophesy, and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, the hidden things of his heart become manifest." And Elisha says: "Was not my heart, he says, going with you, when the man turned back with his chariot to meet you?" The prophet sees the governing faculty, as one who is shaped in dreams while awake; or as one might see a writing on a tablet of good or of contrary matters. Not by an ecstasy of the mind, as some have said, when the human intellect is covered over by the Spirit—which is unworthy of a divine visitation, to make frenzied and near to madness God himself. For the Divine is perfective for those in whom it comes to be, but not depriving of natural reasonings. For it is not fitting that the word which benefits others should be ignorant of itself and should have fallen away from the benefit that comes from words. And how does the Spirit of wisdom fill one with ignorance? For light does not produce blindness; rather, it calls the power of sight into activity, as also the pure mind of God into spiritual contemplation. But it belongs to an evil and only power to produce ecstasy for the plotting against those who receive it. And how, being wise, does the Apostle not have the ability to follow what he will say?

For," he says, "the wise man will understand the things from his own mouth, and on his lips he bears discernment." How then does it say, "Isaac was astonished at the entry of his son"? And the great David: "But I said in my astonishment"? But he calls amazement by this name, as in "Heaven was astonished, and the earth shuddered." There is also prophecy through dreams, through which Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon foretell what is to come. And it is no wonder if Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar saw such things. For it was necessary that rulers foresee concerning worldly circumstances, so that they might be believed. And Balaam also, and Caiaphas, foretold, having those who obeyed them—the one as high priest, the other as a seer. Here, then, it is a dispensation, not a pure mind being illumined. Sometimes, then, the prophets speak clearly the things that are revealed, so as to need no interpretation—as in "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I am full," and the rest. But sometimes through symbols—as in the dreams of Joseph and of Pharaoh, who saw by means of ears of grain: the one, his own affairs and his brothers; the other, the times that were coming—as also "A vineyard became the beloved one's on a horn, in a fat place," and the rest. And Daniel saw the kingdoms in the forms of brute beasts. Some things are also said in a combined manner, some being spoken with reference to the letter and some with reference to the meaning—as in the Savior's words: "Do you not say that there are yet four months, and the harvest comes?" This is with reference to the letter.

As for the deeper meaning: "Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are already white for harvest." Such also in Isaiah is the passage, "Because this people did not want the water of Siloam that flows quietly," and what follows. For in these things, Siloam and what is called the mighty river are spoken figuratively. As for the literal wording: "The people who wanted Rezin, who was king of Damascus, and the son of Remaliah ruling in Samaria." For divine Scripture, since it exists for the benefit of all, offers ready understanding even to the simpler, or rather the more careless, and grants to the more diligent an exercise of the mind through things concealed. And God sometimes orders the whole human arrangement in this way. For the lack of necessities exercises the mind, as do circumstances and all manner of events. Such also is the obscurity of the Scriptures, so that one occupied with these things may be drawn away from worse things. And

because things acquired by labor are both beloved and precious. And nature for this reason shows dreams as unclear, God exercising the mind, since sometimes it needs a divine gift for discernment, our own thoughts not sufficing for the hunting of truth. Therefore Joseph and Daniel judge these things. And at the same time, through continuous study, the divine oracles are impressed upon the soul and become more venerable. For one must learn through the whole of life, both in knowledge and in practice.

Just as Moses, having learned the wisdom of the Egyptians over forty years, went into the deserts under the pretext of shepherding and devoted himself to the contemplation of things that exist, and when he did not wish to be sent out to the care of human beings, not even then was he attached to action alone, but often returned to contemplation—at the time when they also turned to the making of the calf. Such was Elijah, fleeing the crowd of human affairs. If, therefore, the acquisition of truth came to the saints through toil, and Elijah, after countless withdrawals, was deemed worthy of God, how is it likely that we should enter upon the higher things without effort and with unwashed feet? But those who read the words concerning God ought to have common and noteworthy reasons. For since they are human beings, Scripture converses with them in a human way. So even if Scripture says that God is angry, or grieved, or repents, it is fitting to seek the meaning of the expression in a way that harmonizes with the conceptions proper to God. And of the prophecies, since they concern future things, the times of the kings are prefixed. Since the condition of affairs among the Jews at that time pertained to others, and what had not even come to mind was going to happen long ages later—so that it might be known how long before it was spoken, and after how long a time it came to pass. And that, "When sin abounded, grace superabounded." For almost the majority ran together with one another in time. Hosea in the days of Uzziah, and in the days of Jeroboam. Micah in the days of Joab and Ahaz. Zephaniah in the days of Josiah son of Amoz.

Now the kings are set forth: Uzziah, Joash, Ahaz, Hezekiah; and he shows that he has seen the things prophesied against Judea and Jerusalem, not under one king alone, but under the four. For you would find him in each reign reproving the Jews and foretelling the things that were to come upon them in later times, up to the end of the book, so that the whole subject, as he says, is a vision against Judea and Jerusalem, which the Holy Spirit showed him as in a mirror. Here "Judea" signifies the nation of the Jews, or the land itself; and "Jerusalem" the city, or the worship according to the law that was then in it; whose destruction and the new polity of Christ he foretold. For the Jews were driven out because they disobeyed the continual exhortations; but the nations were called, having ceased from the error of idols. And being about to speak of visions against Egypt, Damascus, and Babylon, and to make mention of very many others, he has done all these things in the second place. But he made his beginning from those consecrated to God, according to what is said: "Begin from my holy ones." And, "The mighty shall be mightily examined." And, "To whom much has been given, much shall be required of them." For having received very many benefits from God, they became unworthy of them. And he comes down fiercely upon rulers and those who follow them, despising every danger and fear with divine confidence. So the book is one; but it was spoken in part at different and long intervals of time. And it is difficult to fit the times to the words, and to assign the history to the deeds of each reign.

At any rate, the time of the kings set forth above is completed in fifty whole years, with which the account concluded the prophecy. They say that when the prophet was proclaiming the words from God, certain men were present, called recorders, noting down what was said, both in the house of God and at the gates. For there they made their words, because of the crowds coming in. At any rate, after the prophet's narration, they arranged what had been said. CHAPTER ONE. 1. The vision which Isaiah son of Amoz saw, which he saw against Judea and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Uzziah, and Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who reigned over Judea. Vision is more accurate than the senses for the apprehension of truth. For hearing and sight do not apprehend fearful or pleasant things in the same way. Therefore the contemplation of true things, because of its clarity and freedom from doubt, is called vision. For which reason the prophet was also said to see, and to look beforehand, as Amoz and Samuel: the one, as seeing what is to come; the other, as contemplative of the divine will. And it is ours to be purified for seeing; but God's, to illuminate the mind for the revelation of hidden things. And having set vision first, he added a promise of words. For he did not receive it through hearing, but declares the thought impressed upon his mind. There is need, then, of words for the manifestation of things seen. But God impresses these things, touching the ruling faculty of those who are worthy. And showing the prophecy to be ancestral, he also added the father. And the word "he saw" is twofold: the one, so that he might show the common nature of vision; the other, indicative of what is his own.

He shows that words are visible, according to what is in Exodus: "And all the people saw the voice." Of the other prophets, some set "vision" before their prophecy, others "word." Vision: Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk. Word: Hosea, Amos, Micah, Jonah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah. But Malachi says, "The burden of the word of the Lord." And Nahum: "The burden of Nineveh." And Habakkuk: "The burden which Habakkuk saw"—making clear that they do not have the power of prophecy from themselves, so that "burden" is equivalent to the gift from God; and "in the hand of Haggai" can mean the same as "burden." Isaiah, then, having set vision first, brought in the words; but Amos, having set words first, added "which he saw." And some define times, while others wrote without times. And some wrote beforehand the kings of their own race; others perhaps those of the barbarians, because they were then in power as more notable rulers. And some included their own fathers, while others omitted them. And perhaps, they say, those of distinguished fathers did so for the sake of easy acceptance (for the more well-known are more trustworthy), while those of undistinguished fathers passed them over in silence. And they say that the father of Isaiah is not the one of the twelve; for that one is called Amos without aspiration, and is interpreted as "a harsh word." But the father of Isaiah is aspirated, and signifies completion, and power, and strength. And Uzziah was the same person as Azariah. For in the second book of Chronicles he is called Uzziah; but in the second book of Kings, Azariah, with the same father and mother. For his mother was Chanah; and his father was Amaziah. And the time of his reign was the same: fifty-two years.

In the days of Uzziah, also called Azariah, Isaiah prophesied, as did Hosea and Amos. But since "the beginning of the word of the Lord was to Hosea," was he perhaps the first to begin prophesying? And since Amos prophesied two years before the earthquake, was he perhaps before the Vision of Isaiah, in which he says, "The lintel was lifted up"? 2. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken." He astonishes his hearers, as though even senseless things perceived the words of God, which they themselves, though rational, had thrust away. Perhaps, however, not seeking trustworthy hearers of his words but rather judges before whom he was about to accuse the people, he summons the powers in heaven and, as it were, the nations upon the earth, foretelling that God has called these in place of the senseless Jews, and that they also condemn the senselessness of those men. Or rather, since the things prophesied were to come to pass after long ages, and none of his hearers would have remained alive until the outcome, he calls upon the divine powers and the everlasting parts of the world as witnesses to the future fulfillment of what would come to pass. Perhaps, then, since the nation of the Jews was no longer worthy of the divine voice, he calls upon those of the nations who have a heavenly mind, and those more earthbound. Therefore to the former, as understanding, he assigned the hearing; but to the latter, the

To give ear. For hearing through the ears is more bodily. At any rate, since there were also among the Jews certain lofty men, such as prophets, and certain others of this sort, even if rare, while the rest were entirely earthbound and lowly, he called both. Perhaps he calls as witnesses those at whose hands the giving of the law took place, wishing to convict the lawlessness upon the same. For "Assemble to me," he says, "your rulers and your elders, your judges and your scribes, that I may speak into their ears and testify to them both heaven and earth." Therefore Moses also calls upon these as witnesses: "Give heed, heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words from my mouth." And indicating that these things will certainly come to pass, he added: "Because the Lord has spoken." "For since," he says, "God has spoken, it also comes to be." Just as, therefore, the taking up of those in Israel became most notable, when the whole creation was stirred against the Egyptians and the other enemies, so also he wishes the casting off to be made known to all. And again, since they transgressed the law and served the creature rather than the Creator, worshipping the host of heaven and idols made of matter, most fittingly he hints at their impiety in these things through the invocation. Therefore God also says to one of the prophets: "Arise, and contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, you hills, the judgment of the Lord, and you valleys, foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a judgment against his people, and he will be reproved with Israel. For the judgment is not against mountains and hills, but against the impiety itself that is in the mountains and hills. Moreover, he provided them with a goad of memory. For heaven and earth, contemplated continually, drove out the forgetfulness of those who saw them, on which they had made them. In all things it must be said to hear; for the word is addressed to men, whom he called sons. And since every man is composed of a heavenly soul and an earthly body, and has a kinship with heaven and earth, he convicts the sin on the things most akin to him. I begot sons and exalted them; but they rejected me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey the manger of its lord. But Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand. It would be fitting for God the Word to say concerning rational souls, I begot sons, and exalted them. And he begot them in both respects: on the one hand, bringing them from non-being into being; on the other, earnestly making them better through virtue and doctrines; just as the phrase I exalted them is also said. Thus Paul too was in labor with those in whom Christ must be formed. For he gave them the law, and sent prophets. Or I exalted them, because he brought them out of Egypt with glory, and performed so many marvelous things against those who grieved them. And he displayed fatherly providence on their behalf: for example, giving bread from heaven, and a table in the wilderness.

He calls them sons, then, both as rational creatures and as those who obtained greater care than others, when it was said, "The Lord's portion is his people Jacob, the measuring-line of their inheritance is Israel." Therefore he deemed them worthy even of this title, even if they became unworthy of it. Hence they also received the title of sons in a figurative sense. For the true adoption as sons belongs to those of whom it is said, "To those he gave authority to become sons of God, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God." So, by way of contrast, Israel is called firstborn, but not only-begotten. Let not the Jews, then, be proud when they hear, "Israel is my firstborn son," since Cain too, being firstborn, was cursed, while Abel was admired. And Ishmael was firstborn, but not heir; and Esau was firstborn, but was hated. "For I loved Jacob," he says, "but I hated Esau." And Reuben was firstborn, but was rejected, when Judah was preferred in the promise concerning Christ. God, then, so far as it depends on him, both begets and exalts, and grants to those who are worthy to say, "Our Father who is in heaven." But those from Israel rejected him, not fearing him as God, not honoring him as a father. For they assigned their reverence to idols, saying, "To the wood: You are my God.

You, and to the stone: "You begot me," having inscribed the devil as father. For he who commits sin, he says, has been begotten of the devil. And to those who do evil he says: "You are of your father the devil." But it is fitting that these things be said prophetically also to the Savior, since those from Israel neither received him nor honored him with a cross, though he came to dwell among them alone out of all the nations. Therefore he says: Israel did not know me. And the people did not understand me. For they did not understand what sort he was, he who had also been seen by their fathers in human form in various ways. Accordingly he says: "Abraham your father desired to see my day, and he saw it, and rejoiced." And: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I wished to gather your children, and you were not willing!" Now concerning every man, then, it has been said that he has lost the image and the rational dignity: "He who was in honor did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them." But the Jews, having enjoyed so great an honor, not only becoming rational, but also being called the people of God—these very men, he says, have proved more irrational than irrational beasts, neither knowing their master as the ox does. For a natural impression knows him. Nor as the donkey knows its Lord's manger. For the donkey, even if it does not know its master, nevertheless hastens by habit to the place of the manger. For it recognizes the manger because of its greediness. Therefore, since these animals are in a relation of unfitness to one another, in Deuteronomy he enjoins not to plow with an ox and a man together.

That is, do not yoke the soul's active and industrious part to its pleasure-loving and passionate part. For God does not care about oxen. But elsewhere again they are yoked together. For blessed is he who tries every water, where the ox and the donkey tread. That is, he who by the didactic word rouses the industrious part of the soul and tends its pleasure-loving part; for the desiring part, burdened with the weight of sin, resembles a donkey carrying loads. Me, then, he says, it did not know, the benefactor, the Creator of all. And as great as is the difference between an ox and a donkey, so great is the difference between Israel, who sees God, and the ordinary people. 4. Woe to a sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless sons, etc. Nation and people are often said together, as in "In a great nation is the glory of a king, but in the affliction of a people is the crushing of the mighty." And "Why did the nations rage and the peoples?" But now, beginning from being a sinful nation, advancing toward wickedness, they become a people full of lawlessness; and from being an evil seed, they also become lawless sons; for growth comes from lesser things in virtue and in wickedness. And consequently after the seed comes the son, and analogously in the case of the soul. For the seed of teaching is the laying down of lessons. And every son is one who has become like his teacher, whether in virtue or in wickedness. But the one is called a son of the kingdom, the other a son of Gehenna. And he reproaches the Jews as worse than the other nations. For it was not adoption as sons, nor height of glory, that made them better. Nor are the scourges different of him who scourges every son whom he receives.

And since they boasted of bodily nobility, as being from Abraham, he calls them a wicked seed and lawless sons, as also rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, showing that choice and manner of life produce both nobility and its opposite. These men had splendid ancestors, the patriarchs; but from the wicked fathers after them they became wicked—not by nature, but by imitating their choice. And it is a great accusation that a whole nation is called sinful, so that scarcely anyone in it succeeds in virtue. And the phrase "full of sins" indicated every kind of wickedness. Such is the saying, "Filled with all unrighteousness." And, "For the sins of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled." And the Savior also says: "Fill up also you the measure of your fathers." And a wicked seed is that which the enemy man sowed as a weed among the wheat, which when matured became a lawless son, instead of a Son of the Most High. Therefore he laments over this one, saying somewhere:

"How have you fallen?" The first accusation, then, is the wickedness; the second and greater is the abandonment of the good, to which is added the provoking of the good and gentle one; for those who do so, in proportion, store up wrath. But just as the one being perfected stretches forward to the things before, so the one sinning goes backward to the things behind. Concerning which he says: "Behold, those who distance themselves from you shall perish." And as one who has applied every kind of remedy to those who sin, he says, "Why should you be struck any more?" For to those who have erred curable, the word says, threatening: "I will visit their iniquities with a rod." But to those who are incurably sick: "Why should you be struck any more?"—as one who is at a loss and despairs of their correction.

Of circumstantial concessions, some occur for sins, some for the improvement of those being tested, some for the display of hidden virtue, as in the case of Job, and some for the destruction of those who are utterly hopeless, as those now threatened, just like those of Pharaoh. These things can be understood only in one way: after the saving Passion, when the nation was handed over. For there was nothing greater the Jews could have sinned by saying, "Away, away, crucify him," and "We have no king but Caesar." Therefore the disciples of Christ bear witness to them as the first to begin, and when they did not receive it, turning to the Gentiles, saying almost in so many words, "We healed Babylon, and she was not healed. Let us abandon her." For they are likened to Babylon, as impious. For the sins before the coming of the Savior were not incurable. For they had prophets in Babylon. And again, having returned, they made use of the worship according to the Law; but after the Romans, no longer, since their temple was torn down and all were scattered. The prophet therefore sets forth the Lord and Holy One of Israel, Christ, whom they abandoned, when also every head of theirs became pain—clearly the ruling authority brought low. And from feet to head the blow. From the least to the greater. Therefore they were given up as hopeless. For what greater healing would have come to them after the visit of the Savior, who was able to heal every disease and weakness of souls and bodies for those who believed?

Some say that "every head" means each individual person, as in "Take a beginning from every congregation of Israel according to their head," meaning that no one was found worthy to escape the threatened judgment. A wound is a breaking of the body's continuity, when the connection is severed in some small part; this can signify the schisms of the Church. A bruise is a bloody mark of a blow, when the body is crushed by the resistance of what struck it. And this too occurs in some part; it signifies hearts that are secretly diseased. An inflammation is a fiery swelling, when the humors flow together to the weak part and by unnatural heat inflame the affected place; this signifies the soul's puffing up from irrational conceit, swollen and therefore lifting itself against the knowledge of Christ. He speaks of the Jews, that they have not had one passion in isolation, but the evil lies upon them united, so that all the passions are wholly confounded together, and each passion does not admit the remedies suited to it. A salve, then, is the word that humbles empty swellings with gentleness and forbearance. Oil is the word that, with pity and compassion, smooths the deceitful, secretly diseased, and rough speech of those who lie in hypocrisy. A bandage is what holds together things that rush toward division. And the passage "There is no soundness in him," and what follows, Symmachus rendered thus: "There is nothing healthy in him, but a wound, and a bruise, and a blow, of a wound not bound, nor bandaged, nor softened with oil." The ninth. Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire.

Strangers devour your land before your eyes," and so on. He foretold these things in the reign of Uzziah, and they were fulfilled in part by the Babylonians, but wholly at the siege by the Romans, which things are seen even to this day. He calls the nation a vineyard. For he will say further on: "For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel." And he states the cause of the desolation, that they desired a clamor, having abandoned the Spirit, who is gentle and quiet. For God justly measures back, abandoning those who abandoned him. And the tent of the vineyard signifies the completeness of the abandonment. For as long as it has fruits, the tent is inhabited by the one who guards it. But when these have been harvested, it is left desolate. Thus, while the whole nation was bearing fruit, the divine temple stood. Instead of oversight, God guarded it from here, saying: "I will be to her, says the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be for glory in her midst." Therefore it was fenced about by angelic powers. But when it sprouted the thorns of sins, and produced a cluster of gall, and made a vine-branch of Gomorrah, God says through the psalmist: "I will tear down its fence, and it shall be for plundering," and the rest. And through another prophet he says: "I have abandoned my house, I have left my inheritance," and the rest. Josephus also has recorded in his account of the capture that before the city was taken, voices of angels saying were heard by the priests: "Let us depart from here." And not only, he says, did it not bear the cluster that is more precious as in fruit, nor the transient and bodily worship according to the law of Moses as its autumn fruit.

For she is beautiful in appearance and flourishing, but also temporary; to her refers the abandonment of the fruit-watch, which again is the temple. And the cucumber-patch means the guard of the cucumbers. For when, having abandoned the true God, we lift up our hands to a foreign god, we are handed over to those who overthrow us. Understand also the desolate land as the soul, as receiving the seeds of the word. But desolate is she who is deprived of virtues and of piety. And such a one is also a city burned with fire, because she has much vanity in her works—wood, hay, stubble—which are consumed in the day of judgment. The same is also a land devoured by strangers, neither filled with the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, and the rest—and when foreign thoughts fall upon her, she is consumed, and those who are truly strangers, the demons, overthrow her, who indeed, taking away the virtues, do not depart until they have also cast in a mistaken knowledge. Thus every unfruitful one is deprived of God's visitation. But the one bearing fruit worthily of the eternal storehouses is guarded by the divine Spirit, who drives off the hostile. Let us receive the fruit also in reference to the pleasure of this life, after which a soul ought not to be excited—a vine planted by God, true, according to the image of its Creator, who prunes the one bearing fruit for the production of more fruits. For he assists those who wish for purification from the passions, just as a farmer prunes a vine, keeping off the superfluous bark, and perfecting the zeal for the good.

But when the soul does not will it, its fences fall—the assistances that come from the angels—and it is exposed to those who pass by and wish to plunder it, and a wild son, leaping in, destroys everything; and the strangers who pass through us are the powers that activate sins against knowledge, while the son, rushing like an unreasoning beast and wallowing in foul smells, seizes such a soul beforehand with passions, because it did not bear fruit worthy of the divine storehouse, but rather fleeting and foul pleasures, desiring which the people once called "desirable" were buried in the wilderness. For they wept, it says, remembering the cucumbers and the melons, the Egyptian foods, which an Israelite fed on the heavenly bread would not eat. Those men, despising it, desired the onions and the garlic. For such is the life of pleasure, being provocative and sharp, and it instills foulness in the depths and produces tears in those who live according to it; they are abandoned like a city under siege, which enemies encircle, while those within pursue ease, so that they may attack the unguarded. And he called her "daughter" from her former name. Following the things against the Savior—

He brought this upon those who dared such things: “And unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed.” This would be the seed of which God speaks to Abraham: “Because I will give it to you and to your seed.” For as he spoke of one, who is Christ, who prevented Sodom and Gomorrah from suffering. For all the others, as he said, are lawless sons and a people full of sins, whose seed it would not be; they, who ought to have suffered the fate of Sodom, were prevented by his own presence. And after the daring against Christ, the remnant according to the election of grace was saved. But the rest were hardened, who were also handed over to destruction, concerning whom Amos speaks from God: “I overthrew you, as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,” signifying the final destruction. And the seed must be understood as the apostolic choir, not as the seed of the impious, but rather as belonging to the prophets, who, having despaired of the whole nation, obtained consolation, being enlightened concerning the seed that would appear from them, which, becoming like leaven among the nations, drew all to its own likeness, so that they too might be called Israel and the people of the Lord, and a hidden Jew, and heir of the spiritual promises. But if they had not become the agents of all piety, and through them churches had not been established everywhere (the temple among the Jews having been destroyed), to what should one compare them, if not to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, of which nothing has been left? Sodom is interpreted as deviation, and Gomorrah as faction. All of us, then, he says, had it in our power to deviate from God, and, abandoning spiritual peace, to be filled with war and faction, which indeed wickedness and the passions produce.

But now the peace that surpasses all understanding has shone forth upon all through the flesh; and the disciples of Christ proclaimed this to all, so that the Church, bringing thanksgivings for the benefaction, might hymn with all praise the words, "Unless the Lord had left us a seed." Yet there will also be a recalling of the Israelites in later times, even if in the beginning there was only a remnant. And the prophetic word made this clear: "Because, it says, for many days the sons of Israel shall sit without a king, and without a ruler, without sacrifice, and without an altar, nor priesthood, nor teraphim. And after these things the sons of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king." And elsewhere: "I will not surely do according to the anger of my wrath, I will not surely leave Ephraim to be utterly destroyed." This was also made clear to us in another way. For the people of old disobeyed, of whom he says, "I swore in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest"; but Caleb and Joshua entered in together with the new people, being a type of the remnant of Israel, saved through obedience and faith in Christ, and having passed with us through the holy Jordan, and destined to inherit the kingdom of heaven. 10. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give heed to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. Above he called heaven and earth to witness. Now he converses with the Jews themselves, dividing them into rulers and people. And he calls them Sodom and Gomorrah, as those who are about to suffer things similar, or also because of a similarity of ways. For proceeding further he will say.

They proclaimed their lawlessness as that of Sodom, and they made it manifest together with their injustice, since they devised an evil counsel, saying among themselves: "Let us bind the righteous one, for he is troublesome to us." The transgression, then, spoken of against the one righteous man—clearly Christ—proved them liable to such a designation. He also punishes their pride, as though on account of noble birth from Abraham, indicating, in the manner of the divine Apostle: "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly," and what follows. And again: "For not those of Israel are Israel; nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children." Therefore, conversely, it is also possible for those from among the foreigners to be called rulers of Israel, and a people of God, if they furnish deeds and doctrines worthy of it. But when the seed that was left to us had been separated out, he fittingly deemed the rest worthy of such names, calling them rulers of Sodom, because Sodom is, as it were, the metropolis of wickedness, and by the excess of their evil its rulers surpass it. And he added fittingly that, just as those men rejected Lot, who judged what was right, saying: "You came in to sojourn, and are you also to judge?" so too these men rejected the righteous judge, saying: "Crucify, crucify, take away such a one." And those men committed outrage against strangers; these against the one who came to his own. And those against angels; these against God. Jerusalem, therefore, became Sodom through impiety. For just as God, seeking in those places, did not find ten righteous men, for whose sake the city ought to have been saved, so Jerusalem had a great scarcity of the righteous.

Therefore, when Jeremiah was entreating God concerning her, God said: "Run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in her broad places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice and seeks faith, and I will be merciful to her, says the Lord." And having been deprived of every good thing, they moreover arrived at the utmost pitch of impiety, having killed Christ; which indeed came about especially through the wickedness of the rulers. For knowing that he is the heir, they attempted to kill him, wishing to make his vineyard their own inheritance. Concerning whom God says in the prophets: "Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard," and what follows. And again: "The shepherds have played the fool, and have not sought the Lord. Therefore all the pasture has not known, and they were scattered." For it was necessary that those who believed Moses should recognize the Lord, and guide others to him. "For concerning me," he says, "that one wrote, saying: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers, like me; you shall listen to him.'" Hence the prophet, by a striking admonition, in a humane way leads them to the necessity of recognizing him—the rulers, as being more clever, by crying out that they should hear, which is more a matter of the mind. Therefore the Lord, rousing them to know the will of his words, says: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear"; but to the peoples, as being unintelligent, that they should pay attention, or that they should give ear, as others have rendered it. For it is clear that the mere sound is placed in the ears. Therefore also in Exodus the people says:

All that God has said, we will do, and we will hear." For those who are imperfect do the things that pertain to the body, keeping the bodily precepts of the law; and for this reason it is placed first: "But the perfect man hears," understanding the intent of the things in the law. And so again he assigned the word to the rulers, and the law to the people. For the law is a rule of just and unjust things, commanding what must be done and forbidding what must not be done, which the ordinary man has earnestly striven to keep, though ignorant of its purpose. But the word is also that which gives the reason for which each thing was spoken, showing the law to be spiritual. And he calls them rulers of Sodom, not only as rulers of wicked men, he says, but also as being such themselves. And he set forth the wickedness of the people too, saying, "people of Gomorrah." For the first would have sufficed, if he had indicated the wickedness of the people. But the greater part of this he assigns to the rulers, because Sodom held the foremost place in the Pentapolis, showing its wickedness to be authoritative and greater. But rulers of Sodom, apart from those who were defeated, we have not received from history; yet because he reproves those who do injustice with great boldness, Paul says: "But Isaiah dares greatly and says." Therefore they say that this too is one cause of the plot against the prophet. And one might apply these things to disorderly rulers of churches and a lawless people. 14. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I am full, etc. The word introduces a new legislation, setting aside the old, as being unprofitable for those who live according to it in a bodily manner.

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, even if they themselves, though erring, thought to propitiate God by these things. But since the seed which the Lord God left has been cut off, it is reasonably to be supposed that the statement is made concerning those who have dared such things against Christ, both rulers and those who follow them. Therefore, he says, I will no longer remit your sins. For he remitted them to those taken captive to Babylon when seventy years had passed, as Zechariah says: "You have overlooked the cities of Judah this seventieth year"; but to those who crucified Christ, he says, he will not remit them, except that in the last of the days the remnant shall be saved. And the cause of such abandonment he has added, saying, For your hands are full of blood, signifying the murder of Christ. For he accuses them nowhere now as idolaters, but because they did not know the Lord, and because they abandoned him, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. Therefore he also turns away from their sacrifices, as those of the impious, and as they persist in their sins. "For a sacrifice to God is a broken spirit." For each one must offer himself as a living sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, a reasonable service, a sacrifice of praise. For these things the former sacrifices also, having a shadow of the good things to come, hinted at; even if they were suited, as appeared, to those who were then dull, until the time of correction; since, as far as pleasing God is concerned, he would not have legislated sacrifices. But since the multitude of sacrifices according to the law is dismissed, he has accepted one sacrifice in the last ages, for the putting away of sin, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And when the truth has appeared, the shadow is of no profit. And one must bring to God both virtues and faith. For God is well pleased with such sacrifices. Since even long ago they used to offer sacrifices for their own transgressions, and Christ forgave them, being prefigured in the things offered. But now, having come among us, he has put an end to the types. And the phrase "I am full" must be taken by itself, not joined to what follows. For fullness of every blessedness belongs to God alone, but not to the things that are brought forward in what follows. "For from his fullness we all have received." For he is the object of desire for all, himself desiring nothing. From him comes a crown full of grace and power. And Paul, after the knowledge, returned to Jerusalem full of the Spirit; from this, Abraham was full of days. And in the people who return, full days will be found. But if he rejects all the worship through Moses, how is it that "not one jot shall pass from the law until all things come to be"? Is it not therefore evident that, having cast out the bodily, he promises to fulfill the spiritual? And observe that he did not reject all blood, but that from irrational animals, in contrast to the blood poured out in the last days for the forgiveness of sins, which speaks better than that of Abel. But since the sacrifices are being transferred to the spiritual, the priesthood also had to be transferred, so that the one according to the order of Melchizedek might enter in its place. And the whole burnt offering must be distinguished, and thus the offering of rams must be brought, so that it may be brought in agreement with "I do not will." To which must be assigned, "Nor if you come to appear to me." For "I do not will" is common.

He rejects along with the sacrifices also the requirement that every male be seen before the Lord. For they were unjust and crooked. And it is written: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." And "His face beholds uprightness." And he also says: "Who has required these things from your hands?" — meaning, clearly, the physical things of the law. For the whole law is summed up in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And, he says, "You shall no longer trample my court." So fearful is it to despise the Church after being set apart, unless one deliberately chooses the greatest of the penalties. And he makes clear their insolent entry, as of those trampling the holy things. Of those who enter, one reaches the Holy of Holies itself, having passed through the fleshly things within the veil and conversing with intelligible things in naked contemplation; another touches the more bodily worship. But the one now being led in is commanded to set foot only in the court. And another is driven out even beyond this, outside the places of piety. And through the casting out of the bodily things he exhorts them toward the spiritual things of the law. For spiritual fine flour is a word about God separated from bodily conception. Unworthy of God is also the notion that he desires the sweet fragrance that comes through smell, and that one should not understand the sanctification of the body by the incense under the

...being accomplished in the soul with respect to self-control, since the parts of the soul are in equal balance toward one another in accordance with the composition of the incense. And he exhorts them to keep the new moon as well, which is fitting for eternal years, and to keep as a festival the restoration through repentance to the original state. For the new moon is the beginning of the life in light that was eclipsed by the turning toward the worse. The return to it is a festival. And he wishes the Sabbath also to be understood as the cessation from evils. But instead of the great day, the rest have issued "called" — so that not one is signified, but every day called "called" in the Law, such as the first seventh of the Unleavened Bread, and of Pentecost, and the tenth of the month, and simply all the notable festivals. And he wishes fasting also to be the subduing of the mind of the flesh without display, which comes about not through fullness of foods, but also through good conduct and association with those who benefit. Nor ought one to intensify the abstinence from foods, so as to loose the tension of the body and drag the mind into inattention. But when the bridegroom is present we were commanded not to fast the fasting that comes from the word. 10:20. Wash yourselves, become clean. Remove the wickednesses from your souls from before my eyes. Cease from your wickednesses, etc. In accordance with this he exhorts those who have departed from the self-chosen worship according to the bodily law to become obedient to the New Covenant. Therefore he also introduces the mysteries of this covenant, all but crying out the Gospel saying: "Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." And this:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit." But how is it that, having said as though to those who had sinned incurably, "Though you multiply your supplication, I will not hear," he now speaks as one able to heal through the washing? Because Christ, having come, fulfilled what was impossible for the law, not cleansing each defilement of bodily filth, nor commanding a garment to be washed, but purifying our souls in baptism, and urging us to build virtues upon baptism. For the cleansing of the washing is of God's love for humanity. But the setting aside of the habit of evils is our own work, with God assisting here also, and guiding those who are willing toward virtue. For it is not right to be idle, deferring to the grace of baptism. For the washing cleanses; but virtues make bright. "Before my eyes," he says, since it is possible for humans to seem good to us by pretense and hypocrisy; but God, searching the hearts, sees the hidden things of the mind; that is, since no action is rightly accomplished unless it is performed with piety toward Christ. It is necessary, then, to cleanse our reasonings, not only to cut off the activity of wickedness, which is the mark of perfect love. For according to Paul, "Love does not reckon the evil." And this truly is to be baptized with the holy Spirit, and with fire to melt away every stain. And somewhere the oracle also commands, "With all watchfulness keep your heart." And he says, "Learn to do good." For the ethical discourse is not clear.

For, he says, you shall justly pursue justice, directing us as it were to render the account concerning righteousness and to perform the righteous deed. Seek judgment. Either it means always to be careful and anxious about the judgment seat of Christ (for he will render to each according to his works), and to meditate on this restrains from wickedness and urges toward virtue. Or it means that one must do each thing with discernment. For, he says, do everything with counsel. And, The thoughts of the righteous are judgments. And injustice is twofold: into things of the soul and things of the body. And the first is greater, and greater than it is the hindrance. For evil companionships corrupt good morals, both in respect of virtue and of doctrines. And one must come to their aid by refuting the deception. For, he says, rescue those being led away to death, and purchase those being killed, do not spare. But one must also restrain bodily injustice with all one's power. Judge for the orphan. For he is bereft of a father and unable to help himself because of his age. But if God is also the Father of those who have believed, whenever someone

transgressing has fallen away from the faith, and from the works befitting the faith, he has become an orphan of God, being bereft of his providence. And one must lead this man back from where he has fallen, by moderate rebuke and fitting words. But also the one who practices wicked things has the devil as a father, departing from whom he has become a good orphan, and he needs one to lead him by the hand to the truly Father God, wishing to be reborn through the Gospel. Let him therefore obtain the fitting stewardship from those who administer the common affairs. And the widow, the truly widow, and bereft of all help, and devoted to the service of God:

And the widow analogous to her—the soul that has gone out from the bridegroom Word to the demons—ought to obtain the help that is fittingly due to each alike. And you might call a widow also the Church of the Israelites according to the flesh, which has put off the yoke of the law, so as no longer to be reckoned an adulteress, having become joined to another man, Christ; and she must be justified by us, learning the righteousness of the Gospel. All these things must be present in us before God, not merely in outward appearance, nor so that we are inwardly ravening wolves. Nor so that anyone, as Jeremiah says, "speaks peace with his mouth, while he has enmity within himself." Concerning whom David says: "His words were made smooth beyond oil, and yet they are arrows." For even if these men strive to escape notice, yet he who dwells in the heavens will laugh them to scorn, and the Lord will mock them, knowing kidneys and hearts. Therefore Paul also says: "Providing what is good not only before the Lord, but also before men." But if anyone removes his wickednesses from before the eyes of the Lord, he becomes a Nathaniel, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. And such a one, having somehow gained boldness, comes to the judgment seat of God. For he deems it fitting, through his love for mankind toward us, to be convicted, showing how many benefits he has bestowed and how many things he has suffered at our hands. And nevertheless he grants amnesty to the aforementioned, and cleansing us who are stained crimson with blood through the washing of regeneration, he promises the kingdom of heaven.

To whom we shall say, when we are being reproved here, "What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me?" And in many places of Scripture we find that God, in condescension, enters into judgment with men as with equals. For he himself says: "The Lord will come into judgment with the elders of the people, and with its rulers." And Micah also says: "Hear the word of the Lord; the Lord has said: Arise and be judged against the mountains, for the Lord has a judgment against his people, and with his people he will be reproved." For the judgment that befits God is the communal rather than the tyrannical kind, providing room for defenses to those who are judged. And these things are the concern of Scriptural personification, which implants in us the defense that comes from works. For we shall not hear something and then speak it. But the judgment is between the thoughts that accuse or even defend, on the day when God will judge the hidden things of men. The books also mentioned in Daniel signify this, teaching that the forms of things done are stirred up in the memorial record of men, each one remembering and seeing that for which we are punished. The reproof, then, is not as though we were being judged by the Master (for he will be justified in his words, and will prevail when he is judged. For no one is clean from filth, nor will anyone boast that he has a pure heart), but rather as those being reproved within themselves, as "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us." Now as for the divine washing, some say that it suffices to whiten us as snow; for they say that nothing is hard to wash away when God sifts through, according to Paul, who said:

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” And, “It is God who justifies; who is he that condemns?” But some say that he purifies only, and that deeds must be brought to so great a brightness, such as is the judgment of the orphan and the vindication of the widow. Now the crimson of the palm-dye is redder, whence the one is compared to snow and the other to wool. And by the red color he likened sins, as it were palms of our souls. But the one

is dye-making, as it were, in color, and cannot be washed out. The other, having its order on the surface, is easily washed away, in proportion to the sins, the soul being cleansed more easily or with difficulty. Wool, then, although it is sometimes naturally white, becomes whiter than itself by some care. As also a man, perfecting his natural capacities by discipline, could advance far in virtue. But snow, being water in the clouds, is whitened when checked by the force of the wind, swelling into foam and taking solid form by the cold of the air, and being moved and tending downward by its weight. So also a soul, having increased its natural capacities by its own discipline and by the help of the Spirit, becomes worthy, in the righteous judgment of God, of the brightness given by the grace of God to the saints; and the word, hinting at its free will, says: “If you are willing and hear me, you shall eat,” it says, “good things”; or exhorting the Jews, who are dull through bodily things; or calling the soul “earth,” according to the parable of the seed in the Gospels, which is said to receive the heavenly seed, whose good things, it says, are the advances in virtue.

Or the things promised in the kingdom of the heavens, called "land," according to the saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land"; or the good things "which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not arisen in the heart of man." Where also is Jerusalem, and Mount Zion—these heavenly things for those who obey, but for the disobedient he threatens a sword. In the sensible sense, the Roman sword, which came upon them at their very feet; but in the anagogical sense, the devilish sword, under which they have come, denying the grace of Christ, or simply some sword [and] intelligible—of which it is said that it was drunk with the blood of the wounded. And the mouth of the Lord is perhaps the Holy Spirit, who cooperated in these things being written. For so that we should not despise the threats, he says that the unlying mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. And he set before the not-hearing again the not-willing, and he sets down the cause of evils as what is in our power. And these things agree with what was said by God through Moses: "Behold, I have set before your face life and death." Therefore also he said beforehand, "Remove your wickednesses." For no one can benefit or harm another as each can himself. And doing what is fitting, let us run to the physician, who cleanses the consciences that have been made stiff over much time by our sins. 29, 23. How has the faithful city Zion, full of judgment, become a harlot? In which righteousness slept within her, but now murderers, etc. It was said also before: "The daughter of Zion shall be forsaken." For thus he called the city on Mount Zion, as it were the daughter of the mountain, that is, the temple in the city.

But now he marvels, as it were, at the cause of so great a change for the worse. For how did she, nurtured in the divine law, commit fornication? First, toward idolatry; but after the coming of the Savior, toward the teaching and commandments of men. And the cause of fornication in soul and body is unbelief. For no one who believes that God is present everywhere, and sees even the things hidden in minds, would endure to think or to accomplish in deeds anything evil. He calls the city of the faithful inhabitants "Pistis" (Faith), in whom virtue and righteousness, dwelling as it were, took their rest. For this he indicated by "she has fallen asleep." He seems to describe the times of David. For having received this city from the hand of the foreigners, he set the ark of God in it, and established the tabernacle, and dwelt in it while it was called a holy place. For then she was faithful and righteous. For David appointed choirs singing hymns to God, and psalms and a more rational worship, of which he himself became the inventor, with other prophets present with him—Nathan, and Gad, and Asaph, and those concerning Idithum, and Aeman, and the sons of Kore, and as many as were arranged in their choirs. It is likely also after David, in the times of the pious kings, she was well-pleasing to God, having faithful and righteous inhabitants from piety. But she became a harlot because of those who committed fornication in her, whom he also calls

Murderers. For later they shed the blood of Christ, saying, "His blood be upon us." And before this they killed the prophets. "Jerusalem, for he says, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets." "For which of the prophets did your fathers not kill?" Stephen reproached the Jews. But the word will fit better with the time of the visitation; therefore the Savior also calls these same people an evil and adulterous generation. Accordingly the prophet now charges them not with idolatry but with bloodshed. And since after so great a daring act against the Master they pretended to be teachers of piety, and brought mythical second-hand additions into the interpretations of the Scriptures, with good reason he calls their silver reprobate. They peddle it as though diluting the unmixed and converting sense of the Scriptures, and the wine that gladdens the heart of man, through their mythical tradition. And your rulers, he says, are disobedient. For they did not obey Christ when he called. And they became companions of Judas the thief. For they were with him, sharing in the betrayal. They also betrayed and took bribes against the just. They returned evil, removing the reproof that was for benefit. Entrusted with the oversight of the needy, they overlooked orphans and widows; and since in all these things they had played the harlot, the city of God has been called a harlot. Thus Jeremiah also calls her, saying: "You saw what the dwelling of Israel did to me. They went upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree, and there they played the harlot." And again:

And you played the harlot with many shepherds, and you kept turning back to me, says the Lord." Except that here he accuses one of idolatry, another of every wickedness. But may these things be far from being heard of any Church, when, having cast off the word of faith which the Fathers handed down from the beginning—the Fathers who presented her as a pure virgin to Christ—she accepts many and varied seeds of doctrine from those who have played the harlot with the reverence of the mysteries, who are reasonably called murderers of souls, taking away the life of the simpler sort by deceit and guile, as with a sword, by the word of the wisdom of this world; whose word of faith, being counterfeit, is unapproved silver, not bearing the royal image which the apostles and prophets handed down, which enemies, having clipped it and stamped on it an hostile form, bring into the royal treasuries, corrupting the divine wealth. And the wine that produces eternal gladness, which the Spirit pours out, they water down to the destruction of those who hear, and are convicted of mixing in their own mind, and of disobeying the Spirit, and of making their subjects imitate them. For they love to be like their rulers. Therefore the city also, having laid aside faithfulness, has become a harlot; these he says are also partners of thieves—not of those caught in petty thefts, but rulers of nations or cities, who under the pretext of piety bring in the common... from the wrongs they commit. But they, when they ought to reprove and correct, accept them, and sometimes even call those who give them blessed.

Therefore, he says, they love gifts, because they forgive those who come to them many of the forbidden things, and they pursue repayment, which is more alien than anything to a ruler, [when it is necessary, or: whom it is necessary] to avenge those who have been wronged in every way. For how could he also teach not to return evil for evil? And exposing their boastfulness as worse than the injustice of the judge, he added, "They do not pay attention to the judgment of widows." For that judge, even if he was unmerciful, paid attention to the judgment because of the persistence of the widow who came to him; but these men did not endure to pay attention at all. 24, 31. Therefore, thus says the Lord God Sabaoth: Woe to the mighty of Israel. For my wrath will not cease against the adversaries, and I will execute judgment from my enemies, etc. Sabaoth is interpreted as Lord of powers, or Lord of armies. And it is referred to the Savior, the Son of God. For in the twenty-third psalm, speaking about his ascent

to heaven, he added: "The Lord of powers, he is the king of glory." About whom Paul also says: "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." And he attributes the causes of the corruption of Jerusalem to the rulers, who led the people into transgression. These were those about whom the Savior says in agreement with the present words: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." And God, who is impassible, calls his own wrath his punitive power, saying that he will bring a Lord upon the rulers, frightening them in a human way. For the least is worthy of forgiveness of mercy; but the mighty will be examined mightily.

For those who are powerful in wealth, or in speech, or in some other power, and who do not extend the fitting assistance to the weaker in the Church, and everywhere, pay the penalty to God, who exacts the work in accordance with what has been given; whom he also calls adversaries, as if they had been weighed down by his commandments, from which he does not cease his wrath as long as they remain adversaries. He calls these enemies, and says that he will make judgment from them. For he himself said: "The one who believes in me will not be judged. But the one who does not believe has already been judged." The enemies, therefore, are the cause of judgment. "For the wrath of God," he says, "comes upon the sons of disobedience." He says that he brings punishments upon them with judgment, according to the worth and the magnitude of their sins. But the Word, being loving toward humanity, and not desiring the death of the sinner, as he promises repentance, offers the healing hand to those who do not need wrath, and through this will burn to purify, and to separate the better from the worse. For which reason Symmachus said, "into purity, your dross." But Aquila, "your grape-like part," just as those who fire bronze or iron cast off the dross, and the grape-like part in the winepresses. He shows that these are those through whom he brings upon them, the lawless and the arrogant; ... more clearly spoken by the Seventy, and having interpreted the allegory. The rest have rendered "tin." But some, understanding the same wrath and hand, and each concerning the same things, say, "See the auspicious end of the judgment of God.

For he is angered in this way, as one who benefits sinners by correcting them, but not punishing them to their destruction. And the Lord himself says this: "He comes as a refiner's fire, and as fuller's soap, and he will sit refining and purifying as silver, and as gold." And what benefit remains from this? "They shall be," he says, "bringing a sacrifice to God in righteousness." He seems to call fire the calamities that come from war and other circumstances—formerly because of idolatry, and later because of their drunken insolence against Christ—when, laying his hand upon them as a craftsman, he separated the counterfeit from the genuine in fire, keeping the one for himself and handing the other over to destruction. For he baptizes with spirit and fire, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor with the winnowing fan, and the rest. Therefore, having chosen the apostles, he handed the lawless and arrogant over to the Romans—those who disobeyed the law, and who raised their horn on high and spoke iniquity against God. And it is a great benefit to the soul that the lawless and the causes of apostasy be removed from it. Therefore the types of the Church also separate those who commit forbidden offenses, so that a little leaven may not corrupt the whole lump, being types of those who are separated to darkness by the fearful judgment—which, not understanding, they often fail to perceive. Paul sets forth the harm that comes from not separating from the lawless when he rebukes the Corinthians, because they did not mourn, so that the one who had committed the evil deed might be removed from among them.

But when these, he says, have been driven away, I will set over you as judges and counselors those who are left, approved as Christ, in accordance with those former ones. For if they did not have such men long ago, he would not have said through the same prophet: "Behold now, the Lord Sabaoth will take away from Jerusalem." Then, having said which ones, he adds: "And a judge, and a prophet," among whom also a wonderful counselor, through whom she was then faithful and full of judgment and righteousness; in accordance with whom he promises to make the apostles the remnant according to election; concerning whom he said: Unless the Lord Sabaoth had left us a seed, when with a new name she will be called a city of righteousness instead of a harlot; and instead of a city of murderers, a faithful city of righteousness, and instead of a city, a metropolis. And leading others to salvation; and as it were sending out certain colonies, the community of monks; and this long ago had been established among the Jews, and has fallen, but now is seen throughout the whole inhabited world founded in the churches of Christ upon the rock, having received its beginning from the apostles, and presiding in the churches by succession, concerning whom David said in wonder: "Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you." For being Jews, and their disciples Jews, and sons of their Synagogue, they were transferred to the rank of fathers, leading the former mother Synagogue to Christ. And another prophet says concerning Christ and his disciples: "Behold now, a righteous king." But why, having passed over the kings, did he mention the judges, although some among the kings also were good?

For in the time of the judges the commonwealth was autonomous, and they knew God alone as king. For by their own private judgment, out of folly, they asked for a king. It was necessary, then, that those who had been benefited should return to that blessed condition, possessing freedom. "For there was no king in Israel, but each did what was right in his own eyes." Or: because when the true King had come, there was no longer a time for kings, but for judges, concerning whom it has been said, "You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And again, because of free will, he promised to give counselors. For a king commands, but a counselor persuades those who do not of themselves perceive what is needful. Every bishop, then, is given not as a ruler but as a counselor, like the prophets, and Moses; to all of whom... it is necessary to be likened in mind. "And I give my opinion, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord." And that the word concerns few, he has made clear from the remnant of the people of the Jews, adding: "For her captivity shall be saved with judgment, and with mercy." Or, as the others interpreted, "with righteousness." For those judged worthy of salvation by God will alone obtain the promise, while the Jews imagine that the return of their whole nation will be one. And the release from captivity is a change from error to the knowledge of God; wherefore also the Savior, taking up the passage, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me," in which it is written, "To proclaim release to captives," asserted that it was spoken concerning himself. For the prophet now has said nothing about sensible enemies.

But each one who sins is a captive of the enemy, and hunting the glory that comes from men by outward show, after the revelation of hidden things (when all things become naked and laid bare, and no creature is invisible), they will be a spectacle before their time, since the deceit now surrounding them has been done away, so that their condition may be likened to an oak; for thus the rest have rendered terebinth. And in Genesis too they have learned the same oak and terebinth. And their strength shall be as stubble of flax. But not of wheat, nor of anything else more necessary, "Because strength has been taken away from them, and the strength of bread that strengthens, and the strength of water, giant and strong." So that they cannot say with Paul, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me"; for having lost their freedom, they serve whatever Roman rulers they happen upon, and the strength of the idols in which they trusted has been exposed. Thus each one is bound fast by the chains of his own sins. For these have become to them all but fire and wood. And the power they expected has delivered them to unquenchable fire, just as all our transgressions deliver those who commit them to fire, even if they boast of being Christians. For the lawless, he says, shall be praised together with sinners. Let no one, then, by mere

Let him boast in Christianity. For their works become the cause of fire for all who build not gold nor silver nor precious stones, but only stubble, as the word concerns the Jews, whose metropolis and earthly city fire devoured when they raged drunkenly against Christ. But some have said that through the things set before us the condition after the captivity is made clear—that they received back their ancient glory, and good judges, and were ashamed of the things in which they of old forsook God; and they say that in the captivity itself they were ashamed with this shame, being deprived of all things, and their hope in idols being brought to nothing, through which they became weak, and they kindled against themselves the fire of the wrath of God. But who will be able to hinder the sentence of God? CHAPTER 2, 1. The word that came to Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem. The first vision, indeed, was inscribed against Judea; but the present one, concerning Judea; and according to Symmachus, for Israel. If he had brought good things concerning it, it would have implied a change of the threat that was spoken. But since he again brought gloomy things concerning it... his people, the house of Jacob, and the rest. And again, Behold, the Lord Sabaoth will take away from Judea, and the rest; correspondingly it is also rendered... in the vision against Judea, as being a repetition of that... strength... He inscribed the present things against Judea, since along with the nations, about which the word now is, he also calls the Jews to the knowledge of the truth, saying, And now, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Perhaps he also calls them in the first instance. For through the preceding vision he exhorted them sufficiently, and having rejected them except for a few, he proceeds to the Gentiles. Along with these he calls those as well no less. Therefore Paul also says: "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, behold, we turn to the Gentiles." This has now also happened in the words of the prophet. It is not out of place, again, to say now that the inscription concerns Judea, because the grace of the gospel began from there, according to which Christ had made the proclamation and the healings. For their having been threatened does not set aside the grace of God that came first to them. Therefore Zechariah also announced this good news: "Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion," and these same things. But to one who looks to the meaning, it might seem to be said now concerning another Judea; and Jerusalem, and concerning Judea, according to Symmachus. For he introduces a new law beside that of Moses, and another Word, and another new mountain, formerly invisible but now made visible, and a house of God known to the Gentiles, not to Jews. Consequently, both Judea and Jerusalem must be understood as promised to the Gentiles. Concerning which he says, "God is known in Judea." And it would be the soul that has received the knowledge of God, which the first people did not have. For he said, "But Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me." Therefore they were called the people of Gomorrah and rulers of Sodom.

Accordingly, then, since the calling of the Gentiles is being foretold, it was necessary that the Word of God be set first, in agreement with John, who made the beginning of the Gospel from this: "In the beginning was the Word." For the prophet is proclaiming the same one even now as good news. And observe that vision and Word are the same thing. For neither is perceptible to the senses. For the things a person hears, he sees with the mind; and of the things he again sees, he carries the words within himself. And again, the grace of the Spirit is one, providing power from God to the saints for the discernment of things unknown, through revelation and the illumination of the heart; but according to the difference of the matters about which the knowledge concerns, it would reasonably be called either vision or word. So then, above, present things were being seen: the wickedness of the people, the separation from God, their ingratitude toward the benefactor; here, what is to come is foretold. For this reason it is now foretold as a Word concerning the Gentiles. For God is not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. And according to the divine Apostle, "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, but he who is one inwardly." To the

The things previously spoken were in the visible, but the things about to be said are in the hidden. And the house of God is the Church from the Gentiles, founded upon the unbreakable and saving rock. And he calls them the last days, those near the end of the present age; for time, being akin to the things seen and perishing, perishes together with them. And in agreement with these things, Jacob prophesied, having promised to tell his children the things that would be in the last days: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he himself is the expectation of the nations." And now, he says, all the nations shall come to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of God, clearly meaning the Church of Christ, about which he himself says: A city cannot be hidden when it is set upon a mountain. And Paul explained to us the phrase "upon the top of the mountains," saying, "Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." And you might perhaps say that the mountain of God, more bodily, as the Jews do, is the one in their own region. And how will it be manifest, he says, as though it were previously hidden? For the fleshly Israel awaits neither the origin of another mountain nor the construction of a second house that will be on other mountains; but in the times of Isaiah both Mount Zion and the temple were visible to all, according to the present meaning—the lofty and heavenly word of the Lord, the evangelical word. Or, as the great Paul teaches, that Zion is a heavenly mountain, and the Jerusalem above, which he says is the mother of us all. But this mountain was not, then, manifest to the men of old.

But when Christ was manifested for the putting away of sin, having become a rock for those on the earth, upon which he built his own Church. For now the evangelical word has appeared to all together with the rock that underlies it, when the mystery hidden from the ages was made manifest at the consummation of the times. And the mountains were likened to the Lord's descent upon the earth, because the mountain is high upon the earth; and the flesh of the Lord, being earth according to its common nature, was exalted through its union with God, whom those who imitate him are called mountains, and rocks that support the house of God, such as was Peter, to whom it was said, "And upon this rock I will build my Church," and everyone who has a lofty and elevated mind, standing above earthly things, and who receives the divine knowledge through greatness of mind and purity of deeds. And such men are the peaks of the mountains, on which the house of God is built, being exalted above the hills, which are certain mounds having their rising from the earth easily circumscribed, surpassing the lowly but falling short of the highest. Since, then, the Lord's preeminence in his human nature is beyond comparison with all together who are in whatever most illustrious achievements, for this reason he also stands above the hills. For he was deemed worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who built the house has greater honor than the house; and than Abraham, who rejoiced to see the day of his incarnation, and he saw it and was glad, and gave tithes to Melchizedek, who was a type of the Lord. Such, then, is the incarnate economy of the Lord.

For he did not commit sin, nor was guile found in his mouth." Far be it from us to glorify the divinity from its superiority over servants, whose magnificence has been exalted above the heavens. Therefore, he says, every nation shall come to the Lord. For all who are called by the saving proclamation shall come to the faith; "for this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world." And the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth. But how is it that in one place he said that all the nations shall come, and in another that many shall go? Because the one, "to come," is appointed for believing; the other, "to go," for living one's life. For we all confess the faith, but we do not all walk according to the commandments. For concerning conduct the divine David also said, "Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." How then, he says, are there many nations, when the Lord says that few are those who find the way? Because a nation is one thing—namely, a whole—and the multitude under it is another.

Many nations, then, are those among whom are those who live rightly; but of those under each nation, few. And Zephaniah says, "All the kings of the earth shall come to serve him under one yoke." Having therefore abandoned the polytheistic error and the mountains that were formerly thought to belong to demons or gods—physical mountains—the nations now hasten to the true God, urging one another on: "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob." But it is not said now "Lord and God of heaven and earth," but "of Jacob," since he was seen by Jacob in human form, and changed the patriarch's name, calling him Israel. Therefore he also called the place the form of God, saying:

For I saw God face to face, and my soul was saved. Now therefore, he says, that very one will become known to the nations, as he promised to Jacob the calling of the nations; to whom now the mountain and the house of God prophesy, that the things in the heavens have become manifest and known, as Paul says: "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother." And, "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." But those who advance in knowledge, and as it were have already grasped the things above, summon to a like zeal those who linger in the things below. For he who has been raised with Christ and seeks the things above leads by the hand those who set their minds on earthly things. And we must pray that those who ascend do not descend. For the relation is twofold. And it would be rightly understood in the case of the fleshly economy, God condescending to fellowship with the flesh, and the flesh being exalted together with him through union with him. Let us therefore urge one another to run up to the height of theology, beginning from the passion, and first to the mountain of the Lord, according to the common preconceptions about God; then, with knowledge advancing, we shall add to the property of God the God of Jacob. "For I am, he says, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. This is my name forever." For he joined the saints to himself, making them ever-memorable among those who always remember God. And Jacob will know God, he who still wrestles and supplants the demons, learning what is attainable and fitting for himself; and Israel will know God, he who has received perfect contemplation; but the God of Jacob will not declare to us his way, unless we ascend the mountain.

For if they do not receive the Gospel, how shall we live according to it? And those who call to one another—if they are equals, how do they know the way? But clearly they display their eagerness, and in this way the attainment of good things; as if some were now saying to one another: Come, let us abandon earthly things and set our minds on heavenly things; let us enter into the house of God, and from there we shall learn the way of ascent to perfection. But from where did the nations set out, or who taught them, that they say: Come, let us go up? He added, saying: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. For this law is new, and the word is strange compared with that on Mount Sinai, being said to go forth from Zion and to teach the nations. For the evangelical law of Christ, having set out from above, from the heavenly Zion—or rather also from the earthly, in which the Savior suffered for us, and having suffered rose again—and the mystical precepts of the New Testament, having received their beginning, went forth into the whole inhabited world. For those who think these things are said about the law of Moses must be asked how this law is from Zion, and how he prophesies its future going forth. And what is the word? For if it is the prophetic word, how is it from Jerusalem? For it came to be everywhere in Judea. Or rather even in the captivity and in Nineveh. Therefore let them receive the legislation of the Lord, which came from the watchtower, from His own flesh, from which He watched over our affairs, of which also the word began... indeed, as from Jerusalem it was spread to the whole world. They say, then, those who call to one another, either that we shall receive the word from the house of God, and having come to be there we shall know it.

Or that he has abandoned Zion, and as it were the law has departed from her, and the divine Word has withdrawn from Jerusalem, because they raged drunkenly against him. From which time a certain prophet said: "And I said, I will not spare you. Let what is dying die, and let what is failing fail," and the rest. "Let a man eat the flesh of his neighbor." For vision and prophecy were sealed after the Savior's cross. Therefore also to those who did not receive the word Paul says, "Behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us." And he himself also made a distinction among the Gentiles, setting apart for himself those who were worthy, and choosing the called ones from those who were not such. But standing as God in the assembly of gods, he will distinguish; and among the Gentiles he will judge. For it is fitting for the saints to be distinguished, for the knowledge of their worth; but for those who have lived in vain, to be judged. And indeed, some say, all who are outside piety are judged by this very fact; but according to each one's different life and conduct, the judgment is also different. Thus then the evangelical word, having distinguished a great people from the Gentiles, convicted them—either those who believed in him, convicting them of their former error, or those who did not believe in him, convicting them as perishing through their own fault. And through the conviction, the justice of the judgment is shown. "For I will convict you," he says, "and I will set it before your face." But here the conviction is through witnesses; in the tribunal of hidden things, however, the matters themselves stand before us, each sin standing before the one who sinned in its own form.

And there the reproof serves to establish the justice of the judgment; but here it serves for correction. For we are tested bitterly, having received a sense of our sins, though before we were insensible. Those, then, who received him, having been released from every warlike disposition, live in peace, freed from the demons that formerly ruled over them, to whom the Savior says: "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you." And indeed the word gave this as a sign of the times, saying that the instruments of war are turned to the instruments of peace, when all men have again raged against one another. For one would not find such a peaceful condition as existed under the Roman empire after the coming of the Savior, among nations and cities and fields. Therefore he says, and they shall no longer learn to wage war. And the useful end of reproofs is this: to change the turbulent to peace. For the law and word of Christ proclaimed peace to those near and to those far off, to Jews and to Gentiles, so that the sword that destroys becomes, by the life-giving seeds of wisdom implanted in rational souls, a plow preparing the ground, softening what has been hardened and overturning thorns; and the spear, which strikes from afar and repels, becomes that which gathers near and binds together. For the sickle, having gathered the scattered, prepares the sheaves to be bound together for fellowship. And for the rational harvest, these things themselves contribute to the summer, concerning which he says: "Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white." To which he sends his disciples. For no maker of war is fit for such a summer.

Since, then, they have no instrument of war in their heart, he has given them authority to breathe peace into the houses they enter; which was not the case as long as the word of the wisdom of the world was fiercely at work. For with sharpened study and persuasiveness they brought against one another the gleaming sword of argument; but when it was proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace," all falsehood was silenced before the truth, and there is no longer a word for teachers who wear themselves out in word-battles. And to the grace of the saving bath he lovingly calls even the Jews. 55. And now, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has released his people, the house of Jacob, etc. Very affectionately he exhorts his own people to receive the peace that has been poured out upon all the nations, and the light of the Gospel. And carrying himself very urgently into the exhortation, he added it. And he calls them not Jacob (for they are unworthy), but as it were his empty house. And defending God, that his people be released

He set forth the reasons. And something else more clearly: after the mountain of the Lord, he also mentioned the house, according to the ascent of those who are advancing, who grasp a purer radiance for the understanding of the blessed and intelligible visions. Such is the saying, "Draw near to him, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be put to shame." For how could they be ashamed, upon whom the light of the face of the Lord has been set as a mark? And since they thought they had in themselves a self-sufficient light—the legal and the prophetic—he added "of the Lord." For those were like a lamp and stars, before the sun appeared, after which those things are covered, having become useless. Therefore the Savior also said to them: "While you have the light, walk in the light, lest the darkness overtake you," speaking about himself: "I am the light of the world." And now the prophet says, as it were, "I am being remolded,"—the letters of Moses, into truth. But since they thought they were cared for by God on account of their fathers, even if they sinned grievously, even if they did not receive the one who became flesh for our sake, he says to them: For he has let his people go. Another prophet makes this clear, saying: "And they desired fields and plundered orphans, and oppressed houses." And they magnified themselves against the Lord, saying: "Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come upon us." For this reason, "Because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field," and the rest. The Savior also said this to those who did not wish to receive him: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." But why did he let them go? The prophet set forth the reason: that they imitated those before them who inhabited the land, the impious.

The most grievous loss is abandonment by God. For as he held them by the hand through God's protection, he says, "You have let go," no longer providing for the people. And observe of how many evils the practice of divination, when it comes from God's abandonment, is the cause, on account of all those of the faithful who involve themselves in such things. For the law of Moses also denounced all these things as inventions of demons. "But to you," he says, "the Lord your God has not given so." For it is absurd that those who have the token from God's ordinances should be led astray by things done at random. And divination seems to be an invention of the Philistines, as astrology is of the Chaldeans, and incantations and sorceries of the Egyptians, and augury of the Cretans. And children, he says, of foreign stock were born in her. For when a city has admitted wicked customs, the sin of the fathers thereafter becomes, as it were, a law for those born after; and immediately from birth they become estranged from God, being called foreign stock, and when the fornication multiplied, perhaps they were born from foreign women. But in the case of the soul, the foreign children are the fruits of arguments from outside the worship of God. And he shows how dreadful the love of wealth is by ranking it among such impieties. For apart from unjust acquisition, poverty is a tutor toward unjust acquisition, while wealth is a source of insolence. Therefore he says, do not store up treasures on the earth. And of horses, he says, there is no number, since the law said, "You shall not multiply horses for yourself." And every saint avoided the use of these. And through these things he reveals the arrogance of the Jews. But the phrase "there was no number" is either hyperbolic, or because in God's sight none of the evils is counted, not a woman, as being weak.

Not a child, as something easily despised, except the firstborn and the Levites; not a slave, because of the dishonor; not a mixed multitude, because of being foreign. Then he also speaks about abominations. For it was necessary that those who began from divination, journeying through love of money and madness for horses, arrive at idolatry—those who trusted in the uncertainty of wealth and in false horses for salvation, rather than in the one mighty to shatter wars. Every lawless deed is an abomination to the Lord. And in reference to idolatry, in the sense in which Scripture used it, every molding of false doctrines formed in the mind might reasonably be called an abomination. And Scripture also speaks according to appearances: "Cursed is the man who makes a carved or molten image, the work of a craftsman's hands, an abomination to the Lord." Lamenting this, the prophet says: "And a man hid it, and a man bowed down in worship." If the most honored among rational beings after the angels, honored as the image of God, fell down before an idol as though it were able to save, stooping to the ground and not even worthy to look up to the heavens, because of the sin against him—therefore, he says, he was brought low, as one who fell from so great a height, he who has Christ as his head, and the greatest part of the shame is that he is a man. Therefore also, when after so many lawless deeds they arrived at idolatry, he added: "I will certainly not forgive them," since they both shamed themselves and offered to idols the honor due to God—and also the not forgiving of divine benefits. For relaxation is a starting point for licentiousness, but affliction produces the remembrance of God. It should be noted, however, that the other interpreters turned the phrase "for he let go his people" toward God.

Aquila, having left it out, says "you have let go"; but Symmachus says "you have cast away." And Theodotion says "you have sent away." These also indicate that certain foreigners were going to inhabit Judea in the times foretold, namely the Romans, who delight in wealth and in divination, and in horses, and in the worship of idols, which they will make with their own hands. But these things have befallen the Jews who did not receive the Savior, having disobeyed the prophet who says "Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord"; and the prophet, indignant at what was being done by the foreigners, said to the Lord, "you have sent away your people, the house of Jacob." And he set forth as proof of the sending away the things done by the foreigners. And after these things he says: "And do not spare them"; for instead of "I will surely not spare them," Aquila translated "you shall surely not spare them." But Symmachus: "and do not spare them." This could not reasonably be said concerning the Jews (for how would the prophet have prayed against his own people?), but concerning the nations that had settled Judea. Therefore in the preceding passages he made mention neither of the nation nor of the people, but of the country and the land, as about to be filled with foreign inhabitants. And this happened after the coming of the Savior. For before, foreigners do not appear to have inhabited Judea. For before they were led away to Babylon, those from David's line were reigning; but during the captivity it was completely deserted; after which Jews again inhabited it until the siege by the Romans. After which the city became inaccessible to them. For settlers brought in by the Romans took possession of the places. But the things that are to come. 21.

And now enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to shatter the earth, etc. In the end they will cast them away in fear of the Lord who shatters the earth; and these things have indeed come to pass in part also at the first coming, when the gods formerly thought to exist were refuted. For they were not able to help themselves. Therefore their worshippers have been brought low, but the Lord of all has been exalted. And fearing the removal of the costly material of the idols, they hid these things, according to the prophecy, in lightless places, trying to escape the notice of the royal officials. But the passage not found in the Seventy, "Cease from man for yourselves," seems to be introduced inconsequently to what precedes. However, since many things have been foretold about the proud and the lofty, the discourse now exhorts not to pay attention to them, nor to hope in any mortal, who has all his life in his nostrils. Perhaps also it commands the invisible powers, which it has figuratively called bats, to refrain from now on from plotting against men, who are weak in the flesh but honorable, and have nothing unasked for from God. But some take the present saying otherwise, from above, saying that this is another exhortation to the house of Jacob, exhorting to what is advantageous. For as "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord," and as "Come and let us walk in the light of the Lord," so also "Enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord.

But who will dare to slander the Scripture, as though it advised fleeing from the face of the fear of the Lord by hiding in the hollows of the earth? "For where," it says, "shall I go from your Spirit, and from your face where shall I flee?" One of the evils previously enumerated is a release: to enter into the shelter of the rock, into the firm foundation of faith in Christ, where Moses too was placed when he was about to see God. And to be hidden in the earth by burying ourselves through baptism, so that, having been buried with him and having died to sin, we may walk in newness of life. For thus we turn aside from the fear of the Lord who shatters the earth—the earthly things and the earthy man—so that we may have our life in the Spirit unhindered. And thus may we attain to his resurrection with power and glory. And so that you may not think he is advising a bodily withdrawal from God, he shows that God, looking down from on high, overlooks nothing of things below. A humble man is nothing in comparison with God—either the one who has put aside arrogance with a modest mind, or the one who has fallen from on high through sin; but now the humbling of men from on high is spoken of in praise, when the vain mind is set aside as they return to their own worth. For it was said as an evil, "Man has bowed down, and man has been humbled." But now the discourse concerns those who have fled to the rock and been buried with Christ. For recognizing the lowliness of their nature, they ascribe height to God alone. But on that day, he says, as if speaking of what has been acknowledged, either it does not produce a bodily light that begins and ends, but it is unmoved, the same in relation to itself.

In it alone, he says, the Lord will be exalted. For every height and every splendor, even if it belongs to the more intellectual powers themselves, is made to vanish by the surpassing glory of the divine. And every great one—of prophets, of apostles, and of all those in heaven—when that one appears, will be brought low. For in comparison with us, the poorer ones, these things are great and lofty. For in comparison with him, no one is powerful, no one is wise. In comparison with him Moses too is slow of speech and slow of tongue, and Abraham is earth and ashes. For as light and a lamp, they are outshone by the light of the steadfast noonday. And the day of the Lord, he says, is against every mocker and every proud one. For this is the beginning of evils. For the devil, having waxed insolent through satiety, fell away from God, taking other partners, saying: "I will set my throne above the stars;" and having said other things, he said: "I will be like the Most High." It was necessary, then, that the vengeance begin from there. And insolence precedes pride. For the one who spurns others makes a prelude of arrogance. For pride means to appear above others. For kindred offenses are punished in a like manner. But the lofty and exalted one differs from these in his condition. For being by himself, he exalts and lifts himself up, having nothing established because of his lightness. And having been ignorant of himself, he is punished. For sin, it says, is the lifting up. But those who are puffed up insensibly he calls cedars of Lebanon. For these are exceedingly tall, producing useless fruits, not easily growing old, nor rotting away. And Lebanon was full of all idolatry.

And the cedars signify the destructive powers that dwell in it, the heights of wickedness that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God; concerning which David says: "The Lord will shatter the cedars of Lebanon." They also signify the empty dispositions that are puffed up without any underlying fruits; for it is possible to be exalted on account of some advantage, even if wickedly, yet for a reason. And how are these of Lebanon? First, because every exaltation is demonic; second, because the trees on a mountain seem somehow greater by reason of another's height. Such are those who are puffed up over things that are not in our power. You would find cedars also praised. For "the trees of the field shall be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted." And "the fruitful trees and all the cedars praise the Lord." For it is shown that nothing is evil by nature. But a person is estranged from God by his own doing, and is joined to him. And the cedars of Lebanon themselves, when cut down (which is idolatry), are taken for the construction of the temple; but when they remain as they are, they are shattered. In general, indeed, both the dispositions of animals and those of plants

The various kinds are taken to signify the diversity of human choice. And the oak of Bashan signifies a hard and stubborn character. Such people common custom also likens to an oak, whose fruit is food for pigs. Hence it has been called a tree of shame. For this is what Bashan means. Therefore those whose glory is in their shame are also punished. But according to the literal sense, they say that this place of Judea is Bashan, the present Batanaea, an excellent nurse of trees. And Scripture calls shame not only the licentious life but also idolatry. As Elijah said to Ahab: "Send," he says, "to him to Carmel the prophets, men of shame, who ate at the tables of Jezebel." Moreover, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire in the day of the Lord." And upon every mountain, he says, and upon every hill. These are the evil powers, having as the measure of their injustices their difference from one another, as mountains and hills differ from those subject to them. For there too there is one choice, differing in magnitude. And the tower is a lofty watchtower for the guarding of a city, and knowledge of hostile incursions, such as the mind was given to us by God, guarding good things and foreseeing those who plot against us. But one must not use it to pursue the ascent to heaven through earthly things. For the Lord comes down to it when it has fallen low through pride, tearing apart for its salvation its agreement with evils; concerning whose building the Lord commands first to count the cost, then we acquired it for completion. He says that this one, who is high-minded, must fear the day of the Lord.

And the wall, guarding a city, repels the assaults of the enemy. So also of the words within us, some are guardians of the doctrines of truth, set round the mind so that the doctrines may not be overthrown; others are pursued for the fortification of falsehood and the guarding of vanity, from external invention. For dialectic is a wall, not permitting those who wish to plunder and dissolve the doctrines. Wherefore the walls of Jerusalem are recorded as being on the hands of the Lord; but the walls of Jericho are thrown down by Joshua, dissolved by a voice alone. Above, then, only the high things are accused. But here, also those things which have some strength along with height—the persuasiveness in demonstrative methods, greatly strengthened and exalted—the prophet calls a high wall figuratively, affirming that this shall be thrown down in the day of the Lord. For the sake of exercise, Scripture delivers these things through names, training us to accept nothing at random, nor to keep the mind grovelling on the ground. But after the high-minded mind, which is not carried along with the lowly, he again hints at bodies, calling them ships of the sea. For the day of the Lord is not fearful to soulless things; but to those who through bodies are tossed in the salt surge of this life, which those who live in the flesh trample down, and who do not wage war according to the flesh, doing work in many waters, when they also descend with their life to gain some of those who are sunk. Wherefore they saw the works of the Lord, receiving as the wage of their work the understanding of the works of the Lord, and of the wonders in the deep.

He threatens also those who adorn their bodies and are curiously fascinated by the sight of them. For the sight of ships is not a thing to fear, but the contemplation of the body directed toward desire. And that these things are riddles concerning what was said before, he has made clear by saying: and every man shall be brought low—that is, every form of the evils among men shall fall down. But the Lord alone, he says, shall be exalted. For when light has appeared, darkness vanishes, and when truth has been demonstrated, the nature of falsehood is exposed. And when all true contemplation has been grasped, the things that formerly seemed high and lofty become contemptible, since the height of every rational nature bears witness to God alone. In an interwoven manner, however, the Scripture speaks concerning the two comings of the Lord. For the things said before concern the second. But the things brought forward concerning idols concern the first, from which idols—wood and stones—are reckoned. And demons flee both the sight and the name of the cross. Nor is the account entirely out of harmony with the second either, which looks toward the complete destruction of impiety. And we called idols also the impressions stamped upon the mind concerning false doctrines. When, therefore, the true light has appeared, each one, having condemned his own doctrines, will hasten to make them disappear, hiding them as it were in caves and holes, seeing from the working of it that the fearful things of God shatter the material and earthly things for the manifestation of spiritual things already, and that the image of the earthly must be made to disappear, so that the image of the heavenly may appear. But those who at first hid the idols later cast them out.

For it is necessary first to be ashamed of the lie, and then to cast it out of the heart. And the silver idols are doctrines falsely composed with persuasive words; the golden ones are those stored up in the mind concerning what is false. And he worships the bats who deifies the power of the demons as being akin to darkness; ceasing from which, one might seek to enter the holes of the solid rock. And these alone are divided according to the analogy of faith in Christ. And the clefts of the rocks signify the passion of his body, to which all who are being saved pray continually to flee for refuge and to hide themselves in its shelter. And according to the literal sense, he shows the reasoning of the Jews to be worthy of laughter, if they hide their gods and hasten to save those whom they worship, signifying by what they do the weakness of these things, lest they be taken captive with them by the enemies. For those who made these things derived no benefit from the idols. And perhaps they assigned temples to the bats. For the creature dwells in lightless places, which it also fills with foul odor. They will consider, then, that they were worshipping idols rather as bats lurking in them, having perception in their dwelling-places which are without perception. And they have been eager to be buried together with their own gods, but they were not hidden while with the God of all things, but Pharaoh, pursuing, was drowned. Nor indeed, when Rapsakes raged with threats, was God hiding himself, punishing the impious. Chapter 3.

Behold, the Lord, the Master of hosts, will take away from Judea and from Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman, the strength of bread and the strength of water. The giant and the strong man, and the man of war, etc. Having spoken concerning the day of vengeance, he now from another beginning threatens the removal of the gifts of God from the former people, saying that they will be taken away not because of idolatry, nor because of other deeds, but because of the counsel which, he says, they took against the righteous man. For having killed the prophets, at last they also madly raged impiously against the Master of all, killing the author of life, as far as it depended on them. And he takes away first the strong man and the strong woman, and according to Aquila, the support and the support. And according to Symmachus, the stay and the stay, indicating, according to the apostolic word, those who are distinguished according to God, whom he calls pillars and foundations. For the former people also had such men, and he was strong who by divine impulse ruled over the passions. But such a one now exists among the Jews—no one. For they cannot say, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." For they have become weak through unbelief because of the cross. For he who does not have Christ, the power of God, does not have strength. And the strength of bread, he says, and the strength of water. Not bread nor water simply, but strength, which indeed another prophet interpreted when he said:

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord, of which they think to partake as they pass through the divine Scriptures, and to cultivate the learning of these things, not having the strength of nourishing words, and of the life-giving fountain. And of the bread of which David says, He gave them the bread of heaven. And of the waters of which the prophet says: Draw water with gladness from the fountains of the Savior. And the Savior: Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life. And again, he says, My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink; not having these, they had no strength of bread and water. And from weak foods, those who are fed are weak. And the strength of the prophetic Spirit also failed them, and they are thirsty for it. And there is also with us a food that does not produce strength, but prevents death; of which the Corinthians partook, being infants. But vegetables are also the food of the sick, for solid food was for the perfect. And it is necessary to open the eyes to be filled with such bread and water. For he says, Open your eyes, and be filled with bread. And, he says, the eyes of Hagar were opened, and she saw the water. And in another way the life-giving bread has been taken away from the Jews, which gives life to the world, and the water of holy baptism, and its strength, the putting away of sins, the spiritual stirring that makes us conformed to Christ, and having boldness toward the kingdom of heaven.

For unless one is born of water and the Spirit," he says, "he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." But the name "giant" neither the Hebrew tongue nor the rest of the translators used; instead of this, Aquila rendered it "mighty," Symmachus "valiant," and Theodotion "potentate." Yet we find the appellation "giant" here used in a good sense, as in "He shall rejoice as a giant to run his course." It signifies one who has reached the utmost height of spiritual strength. And "mighty" signifies one who falls a little short and is less than the preeminence understood in that one. For to each is given a measure of grace from God. For Paul says, "I desire that all men be as I myself am. But each of you has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that." But "giant" could also in another way signify one who has natural advantages for the acquisition of knowledge or for the practice of virtue; for the strength of giants is natural, while "mighty" signifies one who has perfected the natural good by study and labors. And no longer among the Jews are they warriors; for they are not counted in the military registers. But they are conquered by pleasures and passions of the soul, and by opposing arguments, no longer able to prevail; nor to judge by the thoughts of the mind. For they do not have God to guide them toward what is needful; nor do they know how to judge concerning what befalls them, which is what is pleasing to him. These were also handed over to judges who took them captive, themselves no longer judging.

And in the Church, warriors are those who take up the whole armor of the Lord and stand nobly against the methods of the devil, suffering hardship together for the Gospel and not entangling themselves in the affairs of life, so that they may please the one who enlisted them. Judges are those who reconcile brothers, by whom the world is also judged, who will even judge angels. But if there are none, then judgments are made among the unbelievers through the lack of saints; and thus it is a sign of abandonment. He also removes the prophet. For the grace of prophecy has ceased among them. And vision and prophecy have been sealed, according to Daniel. For prophecy existed among them until John. But in the Church God placed first apostles, second prophets. "For if," he says, "you all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted." But the prophet, by revelation of the Spirit, foretells things to come; while the conjecturer, by understanding gained through experience of affairs, infers the future from a similar comparison; so that when we do the things of the Sodomites, we will suffer similar things; if we repent, we are saved like the Ninevites. And a presbyter is not simply one who has been deemed worthy of precedence, but one who is adorned with nobility of mind and bears the character of the presbyter intact; above all, unmarried; but if not, a man of one wife, having faithful children, and the rest; holding fast to that which is according to the

of sound teaching, so that he may be able both to exhort in healthy teaching and to refute those who contradict. And he must be advanced in age, having experience of many through time, and showing forth the steadiness of his character from the conduct that flourishes in him. For the glory of an elder is gray hairs. And even if in age he finds one thing of an elder's mind, the gift is not to be dishonored. For gray hair, it says, is understanding among men. When these have been taken away from Jerusalem, those now among the Jews who are falsely named elders are so. And through the removal of the commander of fifty, he indicates that all the well-ordered administration among them will be thrown into confusion, having spoken the whole from the part, as much as Jethro advised Moses. And he sets forth all civil order. For while Christ was still with them and calling them to eternal life, there were still among them chief priests, and ruling scribes and Pharisees. But having dared dreadful things against him, they have been deprived of all good things, and of counselors who suggest what is needful. For such men are useful for the things of life, but for the things of the soul they are most saving to those who obey them. One who lacks these is a ship without a pilot, given over to the surging waves. But from the time they made the evil counsel, how they would hand over Jesus the wondrous one, they were deprived of the counselor whose counsels they marveled at. For they were astonished at his teaching, but they did not obey his exhortations.

How is he not to be admired, who, instead of "an eye for an eye," counsels turning the other cheek also to the one who strikes, not to be angry, not to go to law, not to desire evil, not to judge an enemy, but to conquer enmity by love? Him, then, who gives such counsel, because he was not received by them, the Lord took away—and previously the prophets too—from what was introduced for the salvation of the Jews. And every wise master builder, who knows how to build the church, is as Paul said: "As a wise master builder I have laid a foundation." According to him the Holy Spirit also builds as master builder the Church of God, saying that we are built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. And that, through the supply of the Spirit, we are built together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord. Those, then, who rejected the wonderful counselor, the Word of God, he made desolate of the wise master builder, the Holy Spirit. But he also takes away the understanding hearer, the one who has the discernment of the Spirit, and who understands who is the one speaking in the Spirit of God, and who is the one in Beelzebul. Therefore Paul also says: "Become prudent money-changers; test all things; hold fast what is good; abstain from every form of evil." And if according to Solomon, a word is precious to the hearing ear; where there is no word, there is no need of hearing either. But when the wonderful counselor is taken away, the understanding hearer is taken away with him. For when there is no silver, the money-changer is idle.

It is also painful when a word is full of meanings but the one who understands is not present, because he does not have the ears of the soul that Christ seeks for the hearing of his own words, saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." And from all these things it is established that these things reached their fulfillment after the saving advent; for neither in the times of Isaiah nor in the capture by the Babylonians did these things happen. For many prophets were present with them before the siege. And in the case of Babylon, at the return from there. They also had administrators who judged the people. For in Babylon Daniel judges the elders. And after the return there was Joshua, the son of Josedek, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. And after them came the times of the Maccabees. And there were certainly also captains of fifty, as in military order, and, as is likely, admirable counselors, and architects of wise words, according to Paul, the architect of the Church. And there were also discerning hearers who approved the words of the prophets, rejecting those of the false prophets with a critical spirit, according to the one who says, to one is given prophecy, to another discernment of spirits. But having fallen away from all these things after the plot against the Savior

They were handed over to mocking lords and to young men as rulers. The punishment is twofold: both to be deprived of good things and to be handed over to worse men. For it is a harsh punishment for a city to be ruled by young men. For countless evils are yoked to youth by reason of its levity. Having spoken in the singular of the good things—"strong" (masculine) and "strong" (feminine)—he threatens the other evils in relation to a multitude. It is not that youth as an age is accused, but the man who is young in character. Since he also said to... "Do not say, 'I am too young,'" showing that youth was not in him, because of the perfection of his mind. For mockers will lord it over you who have made yourselves slaves to sin. For the common enemy, having become lord, does not treat those under his hand as his own, but as enemies he mocks them, exulting over them, and over the Lord from whom he has separated them. Therefore the one who perceives the working that comes from there says, "My jaws are filled with mockings." But these mockers, the Lord does not say that he himself will set over them, as he does the young men as rulers. Rather, he says, the being ruled by them—each one's being lorded over by them—comes from themselves, since they draw it upon themselves through their deeds. And having mocked Christ at the cross, they were handed over to the younger Roman rule; and mockers lorded it over them too, having no truth in themselves, but disposed only toward appearance—sometimes even buying with money the being called rabbi. And such men, how could one not say that they are young in mind? Such men one may see as the teachers of the Jews.

May it be far from us to see such a church led by those who by their villainy make plain their doctrine, in the hypocrisy of false speakers, deceiving the guileless through smooth words and persuasive speech. These one might reasonably call mockers. But to what end these things lead, he added: that the people will fall, man against man, showing every kind of disorder and confusion, all shame and order having been abolished; and openly, no longer through riddles, he recounts the evils of the final capture. For they filled the city with sedition and murder, not even agreeing with one another through fear of the enemy, but attacking one another out of love of rule, with no elder abiding by teachings; and one who had dishonor from his manner of life armed himself against a man of dignified conduct. And having wasted away with famine and tasted one another, they enrolled as patrons those who seemed to be rich, and kinsmen, in case they might be softened to pity by reason of kinship, not seeking good men to rule, but those who would feed them. But the others set up equal poverty in opposition. And when faction prevailed, they had not made the choice of those able to rule by agreement. But each laid hold of whoever happened to be at hand. Let this affliction be driven far from the church, so that the one lacking wedding garments and driving away spiritual foods, and not having the true bread that strengthens the heart of man in the hidden house of his mind, should not call himself to leadership. And among the Jews, those called to rule did not promise what they did not have. But among us, some who have not put on Christ, who have not the bowels of compassion, leap toward leadership and are uncalled.

They stood in need of a becoming garment and of orderly speech, of that which covers the shame of their soul. But those who were called did not at that time altogether decline the rule, but only the rule over this people. And they state the reason: "Praise Jerusalem." For she who was held by the hand of the Lord in the bond of union has now been cast off, and Judea has fallen, its supports having been removed; and they acquired a lawless tongue, having acquired a heart estranged from God, and instead of meditating on the law of the Lord day and night, they said that he was a Samaritan, that he had a demon, that he was a glutton and a wine-drinker, and that he was born of fornication. At which one might justly say, "Nets are spread for the winged." And the overthrow of lawless men is evil. Having no boldness, then, they do not look up to God. For they sinned such things that they are compared to the Sodomites, who did not transgress even in secret out of shame, but because of their insolence proclaimed their sin to all. For just as the Sodomites, demanding the men from Lot, proclaimed their licentiousness, so these proclaimed their lawlessness to Pilate, crying out, "Away, away, crucify him." But everyone who plans evil has planned it against himself, as missiles that strike solid bodies return upon those who hurled them. And what is the plan? "Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us." For having bound Christ they led him to Caiaphas. And righteousness is troublesome to those who do injustice, just as the sun is to those with diseased eyes.

But the offspring of their works: captivity, dispersion, the overthrow of the temple, the fall from glory, the shame of their face, on account of which they do not look up to God, having acted impiously against the only-begotten Son, and having bound the Word, the truth, the light, the righteousness, the Savior, the physician, the deliverer—which things Christ is variously conceived to be. They have been deprived of the Word, the light, the truth, reaping in return for what they sowed such things as these. "For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." And as they handed Jesus over to Pilate, and to the savage angers of the soldiers, so, he says, they themselves will be handed over to the armies of the Romans. With this Ezekiel agrees, saying, "As I have done, he says, so it shall be to you. Your recompense shall be recompensed upon your head." But these things have been said concerning the final divine judgment, which measures out to each one what is just. But if on this account, "Woe to the wicked, for it shall happen to him according to his works"—for the one to whom evil has not advanced to deed, but has been completed in evil, will there not be punishment and woe? But having spoken of what is perfect in evil, he has left the rest to you by analogy. For the deed brings to completion, but the impulse of the mind is incomplete. And instead of "their tongues," Aquila says "their practices." And instead of "disobedient," Symmachus rendered it "to provoke him bitterly." And from "woe to their soul, because they have devised an evil counsel," the prophet speaks lamenting, having seen their shameless and Sodomitic audacity toward impiety. 12. My people, your exactors strip you bare, and those who demand of you will lord it over you.

My people, those who bless you lead you astray, and they disturb the path of your feet, etc. Of those who err in some way, some stumble knowingly, overcome by evil and bitten by conscience. Others err in ignorance, living like cattle. Worse than all are those who drag others into evil through plunder. But the Word of God, seeing many among the Jews sinning in error, separates them from the charges previously brought against them, and as a father Christ exhorts them, calling them his own people by way of encouragement. For all are his, even if we sin. Therefore he wishes all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, not desiring our death as he desires our repentance—that is, as those who are able, if they would choose it, to become the people of the Lord. And granting pardon to those who erred in ignorance, he convicts those who are responsible for their unbelief in him, whom he previously called mockers, and whom he says also pluck the people, wanting to receive the firstfruits and tithes, and they did not permit them to believe in Christ. For in the things in which they were rich, they commanded them only to keep the law, neglecting the other commandments. Therefore he pitied them as wretched, because they tithe mint and dill and cumin, but neglect the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. And sometimes they brought judgment against those who stumbled, as one who has been convicted on a charge brings against them things beyond their power out of fear. Hence he says they pluck, as after the harvest, and extending a hand to those still remaining; and he calls them tax-collectors.

For they lorded it over them harshly, not behaving gently like teachers toward disciples, but like harsh masters compelling them toward whatever seemed right, in opposition to the divine Peter, who instructs teachers not to lord it over the lots, but to become examples to the flock. And the evil powers prove to be exactors of souls, demanding effort toward the worse; whence Scripture calls blessed those who have not heard the voice of the tax-gatherer—that is, the one who has conquered the passions, and who keeps his own mind from being reaped or beaten down; which things the Pharisees, wishing in every way to do among the Jews, at one time frightened them, as has been said; at another time, going about the houses of the Jews, they attempted to speak fair words, and they called the people blessed and the lot of God, and for the sake of gain they persuaded them to set aside the law. For the Lord reproached them as making void the commandment of God through their own tradition. Doing these things, then, they do not allow you, he says, to journey toward the saving word, knowing that when the law is set aside, they will no longer have a share in the profits that come through it. They confused their paths, then, commanding them to remain in the shadows. And one who blesses flatteringly does no small harm, taking away the perception of sins and preventing one from walking the road to repentance. For afflictions produce humility, but blessing produces self-exaltation. Flattery, then, lifts up the simpler sort, but neither does abuse contract a zealous soul, nor do praises lift it up. CHAPTER 5, 1. Let me sing now to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard, etc.

And the one bearing fruit, he prunes it, so that it may bear more fruit. This is what the wicked steward does not do. For, he says, I am not able to dig. And it follows from not being cut and not being dug that thorns come up as if on uncultivated land, which the Lord likened to worldly cares. So then, he said above, "It produced thorns"; but here he added, "they shall come up." For the magnitude of the wickedness and its pouring forth over a great extent the word makes clear. Since, then, he says, I waited for it to produce fruit, but from its own choice it produced thorns, I will deliver it over to desolation and destruction, of which it made itself worthy. But he also commands the clouds not to rain upon it—thus calling the prophets, because of the purity and clarity of their life, for which reason the heavenly word was supplied to them. For as a cloud is air made dense, composed from the moist exhalation from the earth, and raised on high by the winds, when it receives from them a notable gathering and the weight from the moisture sown within it becomes sufficient, then it sends down drops upon the earth. And this very nature of rains is that they are borne from earth to earth. So too the prophets, starting from the common nature but raised on high by the power of the Spirit through purity of soul, drip the drops of fruitful words into souls that are good and fruitful.

Such was Moses, saying, "Let my speech be awaited as the rain." And again, "As a shower upon the grass, and as a snowfall upon the hay, so are my words." They are commanded, then, not to rain upon the thorn-bearing vineyard, the one that crowned my Lord with its own thorns, and raised on this account the godless cry, "Away, away, crucify him." For this, he says, is the cause of the abandonment, on account of which both the temple is on the ground, and the nation is left unvisited, and there is no heavenly rain for them; although both in Egypt and in Babylon prophets were with them, and after the return from there; but now they have wholly ceased. And if someone should say that they had ceased even before the coming of Christ, yet not all things; for still the temple stood, and they were performing the legal worship, until his presence. But now there is both the demolition of the tower, and the desolation of the vineyard, and the eclipse of prophets, in place of those thorns, and of the cry which every sin unto death lets fall, the deed itself crying out, as also the blood of Abel cries out. And everyone who does lawlessness, not by the rule of righteousness nor of law, but acting indiscriminately on whatever seems good, is a cause of crying and tumult and confusion; just as for righteous judgments stillness attends, when those being judged steadily accept what is ordained. Therefore Paul also says, "Let all crying and tumult be taken away from you." But there is also a certain refined cry, which the Lord, standing in the temple, cried out. To which also David

He had used the words, "With my voice I cried to the Lord," which signifies the loud-voiced and noble-natured character of the heavenly doctrines. As the first cry is akin to that from Sodom and Gomorrah. But the name of Jacob was divided into Israel and Judah; and formerly in the case of David, after the death of Saul, into David himself and the son of Saul; and later when Jeroboam drew away the ten tribes from Rehoboam. Therefore even now he speaks of the two names. But Israel sinned more, and for this reason was also taken captive sooner. Therefore even here, the thorn-bearing vineyard becomes the house of Israel; but the man of Judah is no longer a vineyard, but a new plant, not made waste, but beloved. And since in these things the account concerning the vinedressers of the vineyard has been passed over in silence, for this reason Christ spoke the present parable to the rulers of the people, as being well known, and adds the vinedressers, supplying what was lacking; in which he says, "He who let out the vineyard and went into a far country." But they killed the servants who came at the proper time to receive the fruits, to whom later they also added the son and heir. Therefore he threatened that he would miserably destroy those wicked vinedressers. Let us pray, then, to be attached to the true vine, being filled as branches with life-giving richness. For thus through spiritual kinship we become fruit-bearing. Therefore he says, "Abide in me and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who is in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit." He himself, therefore, makes them fruitful. He himself sets a hedge around them. And having raised a wall, he will drive away those who pass through. For to him, another oracle says, "And eternal desolations shall be built for you, and a memorial to generations of generations, and you shall be called a builder of hedges, and you shall stop the paths that are in between." 18. Woe to those who join house to house, and field to field, drawing near, so that they may take something from their neighbor. Will you not dwell alone upon the earth? For these things were heard in the ears of the Lord Sabaoth, etc. These can indeed be common precepts for those sick with greed and luxury. But they can also be connected with the things above, and describe in detail the thorns which he said the vineyard had produced. And again, the hardships which will befall the Jews because of these things, disregarding which, though they were about to happen, they applied themselves to robberies and drunkenness, and dared these most terrible things against the Lord. But since each of us also carries a field within himself, let us beware of offending God. For then we shall dwell in varied virtue as in a secure house, and we shall multiply grain like valleys. For he will bless and increase the produce of our righteousness, according to the divine Apostle. These, he says, that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. For the prophet now laments these, who are not permitted to see the works of the Lord with sober reasoning.

For, being inflamed with wine, they have no limit to their drinking, the inflammation showing also the flame kindled by the other passions, which intensify these things, and the musical instruments, which are the inventions of Jubal, who descends from Cain, with which Laban also wished to send Jacob on his way, but he fled to see the works of the Lord, judging these things an obstacle, at the sound of which even the tribes of the Babylonians fell down. But those who fled from the Babylonian wine and from that king's table neither fell down and worshipped, and they quenched the power of the fire. So then, one sees the works of the Lord through the eyes. And from these he perceives the invisible things. For these, being understood from the things made, are beheld. And how could this happen when the mind is besotted with drunkenness and is unable to see God? And the works of the hands, and the recompense awaited in Hades, fire and a tongue drying up, and the rest; whence let us will to rise up and live as priests. "For wine and strong drink," he says, "you shall not drink," to Aaron and his sons the

God, "whenever you enter into the tabernacle of testimony." And sikera, among the Hebrews, is anything able to produce drunkenness. Then thereafter he brings on the terrible things that happened to them through Vespasian and Hadrian, the Roman emperors. And in mind also, being deprived of the supersubstantial and rational bread of life, they hunger terribly, according to, "They will return at evening, and they will hunger like a dog, and they will encircle a city." And having denied the author of life, they have fallen into the death of the soul, and having turned away from the one who came to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, they were handed over as captives to the intelligible enemies. They were put to death, then, not by famine of bread, nor by thirst for water, but by famine of hearing the word of the Lord, and by thirst for water, of which whoever partakes from the Lord will never thirst forever; for the Lord will not starve the souls of the righteous; nor does the seed of the righteous seek loaves; nor do the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is present with them. And, "Hades enlarged his soul," reveals the passion of those who are perishing. For not so is the living creature, nor is the power intensified in those who die. And by saying "mouth," he presented a certain place from sin unto death, in the innermost parts of the earth, without light, receiving those who descend through a certain opening. And one is taken captive, led away by deception from the blessedness in paradise. And he is put to death, not having the life from the commandment. And into Hades descends the one separated from God by nature of evil, which makes a disposition contrary to the good.

But from the opposite side, the righteous man has been gathered together with Christ and has been seated with him in the heavenly places. But they go down to Hades—first the illustrious, who seem to be good but have not acquired works of that kind. Then the great, who surpass the many in power and rule, who are rich from injustice, or who have an insatiable desire for more, and all the plagues, who teach wicked things by words or by incitement to sin. But the Jew who lives according to the flesh exults in the earthly Jerusalem, not looking to the blessedness laid up for the saints. But man is brought low—simply the one who is greater according to common notions, and the power given to him from the first creation, because of his sympathy for things below. But the one already deemed worthy to be called a man, softened toward the passions, is dishonored, having been penalized not simply the common good but also the good that came to him from discipline. "For those who glorify me, I will glorify; and those who despise me shall be dishonored," he says in the first book of Kingdoms. But the one who transgresses the commandments despises God. And the eyes are lifted up of those who raise their mind to the height. For having beheld the one who made all things, and having become above the sensible things, through false opinion and through attachment to material things, they were rightly brought low. But the Lord is exalted in judgment, according to the just recompense of the things said. And by each right action we exalt God. For we accomplish right actions by his cooperation. Therefore he says, "I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have taken me up"; and again, we exalt him, beholding his wisdom, his power, his judgments.

so that it is said concerning the righteous man, "The exaltations of God are in his throat." But he who has seen the Lord exalted in his judgments also sees the glory of his righteousness. And instead of, "And those who have been plundered shall feed as bulls," Symmachus says, "Their lambs shall be avenged." But the desolate places of the lawless, sojourners shall eat—which also came to pass. For when the rulers of the people, leading like bulls of a herd, were led away into captivity and plundered in a foreign land, certain sojourners and resident aliens came upon their desolate lands and occupied them; which he meant by, "Strangers devour your land before your eyes." The opposite of this was the case when God fought as champion for his own people. But now through another prophet God says, "Gather, gather, as a vine, the remnant of Israel. Return as the vintager to his basket." He says, then, also this,

that those who were formerly plundered by the Jews, when God fought alongside them, shall feed on their possessions, having the strength of bulls. And the desolate places, he says, of those who were besieged, the lambs from the Gentiles shall feed on, grazing on the deepest grass, as in a desert. Calling the strong ones bulls, and those not such, lambs. But such things we suffer when we are defeated by the opposing powers in war and by irrational impulses; like bulls, we shall pass our lives in the desert of this life. Wherefore he did not say, "oxen"—for they are gregarious. But the bull, being spirited, is drawn apart from the others. 19. Woe to those who draw sins to themselves as with a long rope, and lawlessnesses as with the strap of a yoke, those who say—

Let what he will do draw near quickly, so that we may see. And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know. And these things follow what was said before. For after hearing many teaching words of the Savior, and after him of the apostles, they remained in unbelief and made additions of offenses, always weaving other things together with those that came before, just like those who braid a rope: when the twisted strand stops, they join another, wishing to make it long. And everyone who sins prepares bonds for himself through the things by which he sins, making the rope by which he is bound long or short in proportion to his sins. For this reason we become bound, according to the voice of Jeremiah. For in truth each person is squeezed tight by the chains of his own sins. And the things we accomplish against our neighbor not incidentally, but by counsel and ambush and long preparations, are a long rope, through which we drag sins far away for ourselves, that is, the punishments for them. For Scripture knows how to call these too sins. For in a certain way we force the justice of God to come against ourselves, so that it is said to each of us: "Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, and his forbearance, and his long-suffering?" But Symmachus rendered it: Woe to those who drag their lawlessness with a rope of vanity, and their sin as with a cart-rope. For long ropes are hard to untie, being made dense by the tension of sins. For the yoke-bindings are not easily broken even by the strongest yokes, even when they violently draw the loads.

He intensified the force by speaking of the strap from a heifer, a strong animal, one that had grown weak neither through toil nor through time. Or it is thus: just as those who bring heifers, that is, oxen, under the yokes, sometimes drag them with great violence and bind them fast for toils; in the same way, they said, submitting themselves to what would come from divine wrath: Let what he will do draw near quickly—having heard the threats against themselves both from the prophets and from the Savior himself, and calling these down upon themselves through unbelief. Therefore a prophet pronounces them wretched, saying: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. And this is darkness, and not light. And indeed, having himself become a captive of sin, let him follow Christ, who says to those in bonds: Come out. And he calls the Holy One of Israel the only-begotten Word of God. 20. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. And these things are added against the same people. For turning away from the good and prudent words of the Savior, they accepted the opposite reasonings. And instead of the light of the Gospel, they embraced the darkness of their own error as though it were a light, and they pursued the bitter nature of vice as though it were some sweet pleasure. As even now they turn away from the truth of the Gospel and marvel at old wives' tales; such was also the case with denying Christ and demanding Barabbas, having become of the lot of robbers; and with accepting idolaters while persecuting the people of Christ, the reverent and chaste.

For having thrust away the illumination that comes through Christ, they have remained in darkness, according to the saying: "While they waited, the light became darkness to them; waiting for the brightness, they were surrounded in the dead of night." It belongs to the perfect man, whose senses have been trained by habit, to be able to discern the nature of the good from the evil. And it belongs to the approved money-changer to hold fast to the good, just as it belongs to the unapproved to have his judgments disposed contrary to nature. Three pairs, then, have now been set forth, differing in the bodily things, but in the things of the soul revolving around one thing according to different conceptions. Now they define the good as a praiseworthy good, to which the shameful is opposed, which he has now called evil; which would be a blameworthy evil. And light is a substance that diffuses darkness; and darkness is air deprived of light. And sweetness is a smoothness of flavor or juice that sweetens the sense of taste. And the bitter is a taste that roughens the taste. These things, then, according to the ready interpretation. But the discourse seems not to be about things known by the senses. But if indeed the commandment of the Lord is very bright, enlightening the eyes, the one who does not live by it, but rolls about in material passions, has regarded these things as light, thinking that commandment to be darkness, and doctrinally, the one who does not believe in the true light makes this darkness, and makes the devil light. And if the oracles of the Lord are sweet to the throat of the righteous man, the one who flees the toilsome aspect of the commandments, but assents to the smoothness of pleasure, this man turns the sweet and bitter around. But also doctrinally, the Lord is sweetness to those who taste him with knowledge.

For taste and see that Christ is the Lord." But one who does not believe him calls the sweet bitter. And the true is also beautiful—the beautiful that is in a soul disposed in due measure according to virtue. For virtue is a mean, whose excess or deficiency is vice; as in the case of courage, cowardice is the deficiency, while rashness is the excess, and these produce disgrace. And he who does not believe in the Lord does not assent even to the nature of the beautiful. For properly speaking that is beautiful, according to the verse, "In your beauty and in your comeliness"; and all disgrace is the devil. Since, then, there is no fellowship of light with beauty, nor harmony of Christ with Belial, these things must be separated from one another; and let us not be deceived into thinking that the one who transforms himself into an angel of light is light, nor let us prefer pleasure as sweet, nor bodily beauty to that of the soul. But why is it that in the case of the beautiful, the word "saying" is used, while in the case of the light and the sweet, the word "placing"? And in some respect it is also more bitter. For in the first choices of life we go astray through reason alone. But when we practice evil, and after experience persist in it, we set up for ourselves, as it were, immovable boundaries of the works of vice. And if someone does not turn from licentiousness to chastity, he places the bitter as sweet for himself. And worse than this is to plead in defense of evil, and to say that the beautiful is evil; for, he says, they not only do these things, but also approve of those who practice them. "Placing," then, means "practicing." And "saying" means "holding as doctrine"—which some have declared to be the sin unto death, belonging to those who are pleased with their sins and are not pricked with remorse for the sins they commit; from which it follows that they do not even repent. 23.

Woe to those wise in themselves, and knowledgeable before their own eyes. Woe to those strong among you, who drink wine, and to the rulers, and to those who mix strong drink. Those who justify the impious for the sake of gifts, and take away the justice of the just. And he applied these things again to those above, even if the threat is directed generally against the pretenders to wisdom, such as were the teachers of the Jews, teaching nothing accurately, but being led astray with the people, and addicted to drunkenness. For since the law says, "Judge a just judgment," the prophet says to Jerusalem: "Your rulers are disobedient, companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing repayment, not judging for orphans, and not attending to the judgment of widows." For they did these things, overcome by shameful gains, toward the prodigality of life. Therefore the prophet says, "They drank wine from false accusations." And being teachers of evil, they were intoxicated with the darkness of ignorance, and mixed for others a deceitful drink, the strong drink, peddling the word of God. To whom

They were saying, "Your hucksters mix the wine with water," and they condemned the innocent man, letting the guilty one go. The phrase "wise in themselves" is said not only about those who seem to know what they do not know, but also about those who have the gift of knowledge but do not share it with others. "For hidden wisdom and an unseen treasure—what benefit is there in either?" Such was the man who hid the talent, remaining wise in his own eyes. And even if someone uses knowledge for evil and not for the glory of God, he is not knowledgeable before God, just as neither is the one who credits the right action to himself and does not hymn God as the cause of the gift. To him it is fitting to say, "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?" Understanding is spoken of as, so to speak, a quick comprehension of the soul, swiftly gathering the thoughts of things into one; that is, a nimble-mindedness that is quick to follow, finding what is proper to each thing. Knowledge is a state that has certainty in itself, unchangeable by argument. And wisdom, they say, is knowledge of divine and human matters and of their causes. Since Christ is wisdom itself, we shall call wise the one perfected through participation in Christ, insofar as he is wisdom; like those master builders of that tabernacle: "For I will fill them," he says, "with the spirit of wisdom and knowledge"; and whoever does not attribute this to him is wretched. Wine and strong drink were forbidden to Nazirites, and to the priests entering the holy places. And Solomon says in Proverbs:

Rulers are hot-tempered; let them not drink wine, lest having drunk they forget wisdom." For it is necessary that the one who serves God and the one who takes care of human affairs have a mind unmuddied. For the least is both pardonable and worthy of mercy; "but the mighty shall be mightily examined." And to whom they entrusted much, they will demand from him more. And everyone who is mastered by passion is said to be drunk to the extent that he has been mastered by it, submitting to the ecstasy in accordance with reason, and by its confusion proceeding to forgetfulness of wisdom. But how is one who has wisdom hot-tempered? Because he does not yet speak of the passionless one; but concerning the one moderately passionate, somewhere else too he says, "A fool declares his anger on the same day, but a wise man stores it up in part." For by reasoning he curbs the passion, inasmuch as it is said, "Be angry and do not sin." But the Lord, ordaining the more perfect things, forbade anger altogether. 24. Therefore, just as stubble will be burned by a coal of fire, and will be burned together by a flame let loose. Their root will be as chaff, and their flower will go up as dust. For they did not want the law of the Lord of Hosts, but provoked the oracle of the Holy One of Israel, etc. Again he proclaims the punishments beforehand by his threats, if perhaps hearing they might turn back. And he says "therefore," that is, because of the things said, not because of some chance occurrence, or natural necessity, or fate, but because of the transgressions he set forth. For to those who have produced wood instead of grapes, and grass, and stubble, and a multitude of thorns, reasonably he says, "just as stubble will be burned together," and he calls the flame "let loose" — the unrestrained one, and advancing with authority when nothing hinders it.

And he calls the beauty of the body, and the glory of wealth, and the comeliness of the whole nation, things which, he says, will be scattered like dust. Nor does he now accuse them of idolatry, but that they did not receive the law, concerning which he said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." He might also mean the law of Moses: "For if you believed Moses," he says, "you would believe me. For he wrote concerning me." But neither did they receive the gospel word. Therefore, he says, the Lord was angry with his people. For he wished them to be his own people, but they did not receive him; henceforth he foretells against them the assault of enemies, and the multitude of those slain, so that even the mountains themselves are filled with dead bodies. And as though the anger of God were still abiding upon them even now, it has been said, "Still his hand is exalted." Indicating this, Paul says, "But the wrath has come upon them to the end." But whence did he bring upon them so many dead bodies thereafter, sketching the assault of the nations and a battle array? And whence were the mountains provoked, or rather shaken, according to Aquila; or troubled, according to Symmachus? Unless they made these things not of themselves, but as drawn by God to the siege of those who had sinned, from the end of the earth, so that he might indicate the Roman army, which set out from the western parts. For Scripture is accustomed to call Babylonians and Assyrians either by name or "from the north." For these are more northern than Judea. But now, speaking concerning the Romans, he says, "They rage like lions, and [they stood] like the cubs of a lion." And indicating both the multitude and the mingled nature of their voice, he likened them to a surging sea.

And concerning those who are besieged he says, They shall look to the earth. And behold, thick darkness in their perplexity, indicating the perplexity that comes from terrors, they who shall also be cast under their enemies like dung. And he says, a signal is what is indicated to the armies by standards raised or pulled down. And these things they have suffered because they turned away from the Word of the Lord, just as Jeremiah also says, "They were terrified and were taken." What wisdom is there in them, that they have rejected the Word of the Lord? Therefore now he likens them to a reed, which, being hollow through and through, stands on a rotten base, and has an uneven growth, such as one might suppose those who are notable in this world to be. For being empty in the inner man, they live together with the unevenness of life, for they walk on rotten ground. And a coal is an earthly fire that remains in the thicker material after the passing of the flame. To those, then, who are inflamed by passions, since they have within themselves the cause of their burning, from which the rich man was burning with thirst, such as also those who drink wine and are inflamed by it, to whom the word now is addressed, it reasonably threatens the destruction that comes from the burning. But also, he said, for the sake of gifts they pervert justice. Therefore also their root shall be burned together, which is the love of money; from which root no fruits are produced. And what sort of flower? One likely resembling dust, by its unstable and scattered nature. And just as this dust, obstructing our breathing, plots against our life, so also the flowers of the love of money—acts of greed, falsehoods, slanders—destroy our true life, obstructing the purity of the Spirit.

And having said, Woe to those who are strong among you, and the rulers, he now says, And the Lord was angered with wrath against his people, as though it too had sinned through zeal for its leaders. For from those the wrath made its passage onto this people; and thymos and orgē are spoken figuratively of God. And perhaps the painful chastisement is orgē, while the conviction that produces turmoil in our reasonings is called thymos. For in his thymos, he says, he will trouble them, not yet deeming them worthy to partake of reason. But orgē chastises, according to the text: Then he will speak to them in his orgē. Thymos, then, accomplishes more, in that it chastises. Therefore Jeremiah says, Chastise us, O Lord, but in judgment, and not in thymos. For he did not say, And not in orgē. And the chastisement that comes from judgment is kinder than that from thymos and orgē. For the one chastised in judgment is illuminated by God's judgments to do all things with judgment and reason. For the reasonings of the righteous are also judgments. And when God brings his hand upon the people, that is, the punitive power, according to Job: For the hand of the Lord is that which has touched me; concerning which the devil also says: Nay, but send forth your hand and touch his bones. Then, he says, the mountains were provoked. For creation is stirred together with God for justice. Thus from every side were the plagues of the Egyptians, from air, from earth, from water. And fire besides these blazed forth. But some say that the Roman principalities are thus spoken of, because of their conspicuousness in glory and their exaltation in dignities. And he likens the dead to dung, because of their dishonor.

Such also are those who persist in their sins and are trampled down by the opposing powers. For because of their unrepentant heart, he says, his wrath will not be turned away, but his hand remains raised for judgment; against whom also the mountains of the mind are provoked—principalities and authorities and

world-rulers, by whom the soul dies when God no longer hinders it; as in the case of the righteous, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. This is the end of the prophecy that began in the time of Uzziah the king, from the words, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. What follows is after the death of Uzziah, in the time of Jotham, who succeeded him. CHAPTER 15. And it came to pass in the year in which Uzziah the king died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up. And the house was full of his glory, and seraphim stood round about him, etc. The Lord, whom in the preceding passages he had often proclaimed as Sabaoth, he has now received by direct sight. It was the only-begotten Word of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, who sometimes condescending from his own majesty makes himself visible to men. He appeared often to Abraham, as the Scripture says, and was formed in the likeness of a man, so as even to sit under the oak, and wash his feet, and share a table. And he appeared to Isaac, and often to Jacob; and he saw him wrestling as a man. And Moses also asked to see God knowingly, but he heard: You shall not be able to see my face. For no man shall see my face and live. For the divinity of the only-begotten Son of God remains invisible to all.

And Ezekiel also saw his glory through riddles. And the present prophet was deemed worthy of this, and John is a witness. For having said that Isaiah said, "He has blinded their eyes," and the rest, "These things," he says, "Isaiah said when he saw his glory." For now Isaiah says this: "You will hear with hearing, and you will certainly not understand," and what follows. So the prophet saw the glory of Christ through the things set before him, not altogether with the eyes of the flesh, but with those within enlightened by the divine Spirit. For with the cooperation of light we see with the eyes within and with those outside. Therefore the Savior says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Being such, Isaiah saw the Lord Sabaoth, but not while Uzziah was alive; for this man, on account of the successes wrought through God—which he accomplished, having become pious in the beginning—was forcing his way into the priestly ministry, until, with leprosy blooming on his forehead, he was driven out. But since the law commands the dead man to be sent out of the camp as unclean, Uzziah dwelt in Jerusalem, defiling the whole city; therefore the Master has kept silent, not dishonoring the prophets, but judging those who dwell with the unclean to be unworthy of his admonition. For he says to Ezekiel: "And I will bind your tongue, and you shall be made deaf, and you shall not be to them a man who corrects, because they are a house that provokes bitterly." And now too he is silent out of indignation, and because of this Jerusalem has been shaken. Amos has made this clear, saying: "The words of Amos." Then, having stated the kings in whose days the words came, he added: "Two years before the earthquake.

The silence has therefore also ceased with the death of the king, when Jotham began to reign, who also did what was right before the Lord and is testified to. He saw, then, the Lord Sabaoth seated on a throne high and lifted up, and the house was full of his glory. But the prophet did not see the Lord in the house, but on a throne; concerning which Scripture says in every way: "The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord, his throne is in heaven." And the Lord also says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet." And another: "His throne has been lifted on high," because the kingdom of God is beyond every nature. And the firmness, established in the sameness of good things, he has indicated by the sitting. And David says: "God sits on his holy throne." And Jeremiah: "For you are seated forever, and we are perishing forever." Above, then, he saw the Lord, and the house on earth [he says] full of the glory, as if illuminated from above out of heaven by the rays of light, by the gleamings of the divine Word. For not yet had Israel acted impiously against the Master Christ, and the glory of the Lord was filling the temple there. But having denied the