Book Four

^A away, and having delivered from their bonds those who were caught in the inescapable chains of their own transgressions. That those who formerly worshipped the creature rather than the Creator, who possessed darkness in their minds, who were persuaded to bow down to the works of their own hands, who were far from God, shall be called through the faith which is in Christ, and shall acknowledge the King and Lord of all, the word of the prophecy declares very well. For it commands those who have obtained mercy through God to glorify him, and it says thus:

Verse 10. Sing to the Lord a new song; his beginning, celebrate his name from the end of the earth: those who descend into the sea, and those who sail in it, the islands, and those who dwell in them.

New is the hymn or song, fitting for the newness of things. «For if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature, according to the scripture; and the old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new.» For those who were of the blood of Israel were ^B redeemed from the tyranny of the Egyptians, with the all-wise Moses as mediator at that time; and they were delivered from the making of bricks, and from the vain labors on earthly pursuits, and from the cruelty of the taskmasters, and from the inhumanity of the ruler; they passed through the midst of the sea, they ate manna in the desert, they drank water from the rock, they crossed the Jordan on dry feet, and they were brought into the land of promise. But these things among us are all new, and incomparably better than the old ones. For we have been delivered from slavery, not carnal but rather spiritual, and instead of pursuits concerning the earth, we have been freed from the defilements of carnal desire: we did not flee from Egyptian taskmasters, nor from a tyrant—wicked and unmerciful, indeed, but still a man like us—but rather we have fled from the evil and impure demons who incite us to sin, and from the one who is set over their flocks, that is, Satan. We passed over, as if through a certain sea, the waves of the present life, and the turmoil and truly vain distractions within it. We ate the intelligible manna, the bread from heaven, which gives life to the world; we drank water from the rock, delighting in the streams of Christ, intelligible ones, clearly. We crossed the Jordan, being ^C accounted worthy of the holy baptism; we entered into the land promised and fitting for the saints, of which the Savior himself also makes mention, saying: «Blessed are the meek, for they themselves shall inherit the earth.» Therefore, because of these new achievements, it was necessary for a new hymn to be sung by his beginning—that is, by those who are under him and obey him; and it was necessary for the hymn to be sung, or the glorification worthy of him, not only in the region of the Jews, but from the ends of the earth to the ends, that is, over the whole world. For formerly God was known in Judea, and his name was great in Israel alone. But after we were called through Christ to the ^D acknowledgment of the truth, heaven and earth were filled with his glory. For thus also the Psalmist says:

"And the whole earth shall be filled with his glory." ^A Who then are they that bid his name be glorified from the ends of the earth, who appoint singers for him, and who persuade them to form a choral symphony, and call them into a spiritual choir; who go down to the sea, and sail upon it, the islands, and those who inhabit them? He makes mention, as I think, of the holy apostles. For they did not preach Jesus and grace through him in Judea alone, but even crossed the sea and proclaimed the Gospel to the regions of the nations. They arrived, indeed, even as far as Illyricum and beyond, so that even the islands in the sea did not remain unheard of the sacred preachings, nor did those who dwell in them. And historically you may interpret what has been said in this way. But you may also understand, if you please, the prophetic words in another way. For the divinely inspired Scripture frequently compares this world, or human life, to a sea, according to that which is sung in the Psalms: "This sea is great and wide; there are creeping things without number, small animals with great." ^B It asserts, perhaps, that our life is like the sea, because of the instability of things in it, and because they are tossed up and down in great confusion. Those who do not drown in it, but swim out as it were, and extricate themselves from worldly preoccupations, cross this sea: these, having obtained divine help and being always mindful of the gifts through Christ, glorify him. The islands, too, that is to say the Churches, which all but encircle the intelligible sea and receive those tossed by the waves of the evil spirit, these glorify Christ, that is, those who inhabit them. For when we say or name Churches, we signify the holy worshippers within them. One must also know this: islands are also called villages or cities, ^C whatever they may be that are situated in the midst of a great and wide wilderness.

"Rejoice, O wilderness, and its villages, the courts, and those who inhabit Kedar. Those who inhabit Petra shall rejoice; from the tops of the mountains they shall cry out. They shall give glory to God; they shall announce his virtues in the islands."

The blessed prophets, when they weave together discourses concerning the coming of our Savior, for the most part make mention of the calling of the nations. For Christ was, as I said, the expectation of nations. But they do not apply their discourses concerning such things to every nation and people throughout the whole world ^D absolutely. For it was not likely, as an innumerable multitude filled the world under heaven, that they would wish to speak so finely and minutely as to make mention of everyone by name and individually; but by taking the regions bordering on Judea, which were most devoted to idolatry, and saying that these would be called in their own time, they demonstrated the whole by a part. Therefore, since there was a wilderness bordering on the Judean land

^A lying toward the south, where the nations of the Saracens and Arabs habitually dwelt, he says that those who lived in it would at some time obtain grace and salvation through Christ. The names of the villages, or small towns, that are in the wilderness, I say, are the habitations, and Kedar, and Petra, which is situated even to this day in the land of the Arabs, and so named. Very superstitious, as I have said, are those of whom the discourse is, that is to say, the inhabitants of these places, and they had leaned entirely toward apostasy and defection from God. For they had worshipped impure spirits. But since they were about to become, as I said, partakers of the calling and of salvation, which is through evangelical preaching and faith in Christ; hence, and indeed most rightly, the prophet, as one having beautiful feet, evangelizes good things, and all but lifts up his voice to the heights, and says: "Rejoice, O wilderness, and its villages, the habitations, and they that dwell in Kedar; they that dwell in Petra shall rejoice." This is a great and admirable demonstration of the power and excellence of our Saviour, who so easily softened such hard and unyielding hearts, and persuaded them to depart from their inveterate error, to prefer better things, and to apply themselves to the truth. And this he had already signified to us by the voice of Ezekiel, saying: "I will take away their stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh," that is, a tender one, "that they may know that I am the Lord." ^B Therefore, that these also were to be called, he indicated by saying: "Rejoice, O wilderness," and what follows. But who they are who cry from the tops of the mountains, and give glory to God, and announce his virtues in the islands, it is worth the effort to see. Nothing prevents them from being understood as those who inhabit Petra, so lofty and elevated a region and city; those who have been called, who no longer weave hymns and odes to falsely named gods, but rather celebrate the God who has illumined them, and attracted them to the truth, and as it were snared them. Or those who cry from the tops of the mountains can also be said, and indeed quite rightly, to be the divine disciples, to whom the prophet also says elsewhere: "Get thee up into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion; lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, be not afraid." For they preached with the utmost confidence and freedom of speech, and did not wish to escape the notice of any mortal, but were visible to all men everywhere, as a city set ^C upon a mountain; and their word was not in a corner, and secretly held, but with great freedom and confidence, just as I was saying a moment ago. For the Saviour himself also commanded them this, when he said: "What I tell you in darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops." They gave glory, therefore, to God, and announced his virtues in the islands. For the discourse of the holy apostles and evangelists seems to have been the messenger of the glory of the Saviour. For now they speak words regarding his ineffable deity, and extol his excellent virtue with praises, and they do not reckon him among those born of mortals, but place him above all that exists, and make him ^D of the same nature with God and the Father.

^A Now, he continues with his miracles, which we can neither sufficiently admire nor express in words. For to raise the dead from the tombs, to make the sea like dry land and traverse it on foot, to rebuke the winds, and to crush Satan by a word, most diligently proclaim his divine glory.

^B VERSE 13, 14. *The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and shall crush the war; he shall stir up zeal, and shall cry out against his enemies with power. I have held my peace, shall I also always hold my peace and endure? I have suffered as a woman in labor.*

The discourse now proceeds in good order and holds a wonderful economy and dispensation. For the ministers of our Savior’s oracles were going to proclaim his virtues to all men everywhere, and intended to speak of these same matters with great boldness. But it was necessary to consider that the enemies of the truth—men who were clearly corrupt and superstitious, instruments of diabolical wickedness, and defenders of his perversity—would by all means and in every way rise up against their holy zeal and readiness, and intrigue against the Savior’s glory in manifold ways. Along with them, perhaps, there were the swarms of demons themselves, at the very time when their glory and the power they had gained by force were being shaken. For they had ruled over the world through deceit. The prophet shows by these words that it would come to pass that [the apostles] would not be captured by their enemies, nor would anyone overcome them, when God acts as their shield, saying: *The Lord of hosts shall go forth;* and he says "shall go forth" as if of some earthly king who attacks the enemy phalanxes with unbearable force, together with the troops that obey his scepter. ^C That the Lord of hosts would surely prevail, he revealed when he said, *he shall crush the war.* For the power from God is not easily met by any, nay, rather it is unbearable to any existing thing, when it rises and strikes—whether we think of evil powers, or the apostate and destructive Satan himself, or any mortal who makes these things their concern. But these, too, shall be broken in pieces, and that without toil or dust. For *who shall turn away the high hand?* according to that which is written. The prophet has therefore confirmed that the war which was, and still is, waged against those who resisted the choir of the holy apostles was not against the holy angels alone, but against the Lord of hosts himself, saying that he would go forth to crush the war. *He shall stir up zeal,* he says—that is, provocation, or his own against his enemies, according to what is written in the words of Zechariah: *I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with a great jealousy;* or rather, that [he stirs up] those who struggle for his glory—that is, those who worship him, one of whom we say was the chosen and most holy Paul, who also says: *Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril?* ^D

Again, *For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.* ^A Thus we say that the holy martyrs have become zealous, who have proved stronger than Satan and have warred against his power for the sake of piety toward Christ. For they have kept the faith, and the genuineness of their love toward Him. *He shall stir up zeal, therefore,* he says, *and shall shout against his enemies with strength.* He uses "shall shout" for "shall cry out [against]." This voice is most fitting for the victors, as it were triumphantly mocking the vanquished. Then he says: *I have been silent; shall I also always be silent and endure? I have patiently endured as a woman in labor.* From this, one might very well perceive that at that time, when the multitude of the nations was in error, with Satan tearing them apart, blackening them with the darkness of sin, and pulling them away even from knowing who is by nature and in truth the God of all, the God who is above all indeed wished to help them, but He deferred the matter, and clearly endured, waiting for the fitting time to bring aid; and this was the time when His Only-begotten Word was incarnate and became man. For then, then He waged war against those who had overcome us, and snatched us from their perversity, and took us by the hand and saved us, and placed us under His own yoke. ^B Therefore, concerning the time that had passed by, while those on earth were being torn apart, and Satan, like a lion, was devouring everyone, He said: *I have been silent; shall I also always be silent and endure? I have patiently endured as a woman in labor.* See, therefore, with what mercy the God of all treated those who dwell on the earth, even though, as the Psalmist says, *no one was doing good, but all had turned aside, even to one, and were altogether useless.* And when He felt sorrow regarding this (insofar as sadness could fall upon Him), and suffered this for our sake, He observed, as I have said, the time opportune for aid.

^C VERS. 15. *I will make [them] desolate, and will dry up at the same time, and I will make rivers into isles, and I will dry up the marshes.*

It is necessary to inquire what the word *ekstēsō* [I will make desolate/cause to stand outside] signifies in these passages. For he either says: Those who now rule over those on the earth, I will cast out, and I will cause them to be removed, and to be driven out from the authority given to them over all, according to that which was said by Christ: *Now the prince of this world shall be cast out:* or you will understand *ekstēsō* to mean: I will cause those who see the accomplished deeds, and the modes of my dispensation, and the surpassing nature of my ineffable power, to marvel; just as, indeed, the prophet Habakkuk was struck with this same astonishment on these very matters when he said: *O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid; I considered thy works, and was amazed.* ^D Or, if it pleases one, you will understand *ekstēsō* in another way. For those who are now deceived and are in darkness and diabolical fog, I will transfer to the recognition of the truth, and to the divine and intelligible and heavenly light; those who are now polluted and pro-

prostituted with an unclean and defiled mind, I will transform to a disposition incomparably better, so that they may depart from their ancient stains and choose rather to concern themselves with doing good. ^A And the phrase “I will dry up [at the same time]” signifies something of this kind, which the force of the following passage will make clear. For it says: “I will put the rivers into islands, and I will dry up the marshes.” Who might these rivers be that are set into islands, and these marshes that are being dried up? We say that they are the poets and orators among the Greeks, who have been the heralds of the polytheistic delusion. For they deified the creature, and introduced innumerable gods into life. And they were like certain rivers, watering—with a turbulent turning-away, as it is written—those who were deceived, and flooding the mind of those who admired them with streams of elaborate discourses, keeping them through this in error, and setting before them, as if for food, the sweetness and charm of their own fine writing. ^B Therefore, they might reasonably be compared to rivers and marshes, that is, to thickets or woods in which grass flourishes and grows most abundantly. God therefore promises to change such rivers into islands—that is, He promises to render them arid and dry—and to dry up the marshes as well, which has also come to pass. For their fine speaking and the charm of their eloquence now prove ineffective, and nothing at all remains for them. And those who were formerly deceived, having trampled underfoot the corrupted, profane, and old-wives' tales of those who deceived them, take hold of the wisdom in Christ. For Paul writes: ^C “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” We say, therefore, that by the rivers being set into islands are meant the discourses of the wise men among the Greeks, which hold fast to the Greek deception. Or we have understood in what preceded that there are other islands, the Churches of Christ, which receive those who are sailing—intelligibly, that is, and spiritually—and who, like certain bulwarks, provide safe harbor for their teachers within them, and who escape the wicked spirit that always stirs up a storm for those who descend into the sea in ships and do work in many waters. For the sea is to be likened, as I said, to the surge of our life and the turbulence of earthly things. But the marshes also are dried up—that is, the pastures of the flocks that were once under the satanic hand—so that they might hereafter be under Him who is the chief shepherd of all, ^D I mean Christ. He does not lead his own sheep into thorns and thistles, like those false shepherds, but rather pastures them among lilies. For His divine, sacred, and proper oracles are, intelligibly, most fragrant.

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, and paths which they did not know I will make them tread. I will make their darkness into light, and their crooked things into a straight way. These words I will perform, and I will not forsake them, says the Lord God.”

For when the Lord of hosts has come, that he might crush war, and the enemies have been destroyed,

and the rivers dried up, and the marshes parched—as is the discourse we have just now treated—those who were numbered among the captives and were subject to the wickedness of the devil are entirely redeemed. And ^A whereas they were blind (for that apostate blinded their hearts), they are led in turn, by Christ, of course, into ways which they previously did not know. For these are entirely the evangelical decrees, and a life consistent with knowledge and virtue, and the beauty of a holy manner of existence. Therefore, the divine Paul also addressed the Gentiles: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Thus, darkness became light for them; in other words, matters have changed to the very opposite. For the ignorant have become wise, those who once wandered have known the straight paths of all justice, and they who knew nothing of the good have shown themselves learned in all virtue and diligent in the offices of piety. Things that were crooked have been made straight, that is, what was difficult and arduous has become passable and level, even and smooth. ^B Such a thing is also hinted at in the preaching of John the Baptist: “For every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough into smooth ways.” For hills and hollows render the road uneven. But when there is no mound, nor any cavity, the road is always straight, and passable, and extricated from every difficulty. This is also what the blessed prophet Isaiah says elsewhere: “For the way of the pious,” he says, “became straight, and the way of the pious is prepared.” For the way of a truly evangelical conversation is not rough and impassable, but rather level and, as it were, like a plain to those who love a distinct and excellent life. Therefore, God promises that He will bring these words, or promises, to an end, and will not abandon them—that is, He will be with them always, according to the saying: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.”

VERS. 17. But they shall be turned backward. Be ashamed with shame, you who trust in graven images, who say to molten images, You are our gods.

^C Quite opportunely, He transfers the discourse to the Jewish nation, who, although they had the law of Moses, which leads one by the hand toward the knowledge of God, and toward the desire to perform the things in which it was likely they would have gained praise, have lapsed into apostasy, and having fallen into the pits of the worship of many gods, have descended into the chasm of destruction; on account of which they have, not without cause, offended God, who granted them every mercy and benevolence. ^D Since, therefore, the discourse had previously proclaimed that the nations would be called in their own time, and would tread paths they had not known, and that darkness would be turned into light, and the crooked into the straight, it exposes the ignorance of those who are sprung from the blood of Israel, saying: “But they themselves have been turned backward.” The word “themselves” must be taken emphatically; that is, those who

have been instructed by the divine Law, and who have been placed under my hand, and who have kept Moses as their mediator, who heard clearly: “The Lord your God, the Lord is one; and you shall have no other gods beside me.” ^A These, while the multitude of the nations was in good hope, have turned backward, having wickedly returned to the pollutions in Egypt, and have taken upon themselves the stain of their former deception. And that which is in the true proverb has come upon them: “The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the sow that was washed into the wallowing of mire.” Our Lord Jesus Christ said something similar to this, showing Israel returning to their ancient impiety: ^B “When, he says, the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it goes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding it, it returns to the place from whence it came. And having come, it finds it empty, and swept. Then it takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and entering they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” For indeed they have worshipped the gods of the Egyptians, but the demon was cast out, since they had been called to the knowledge of God, by the Law, I say. But because they erred, they were accused; yet they were in a worse state, because, although they knew God by nature, they became apostates, inasmuch as they worshipped gods who were not gods. “Be ashamed, therefore, with shame,” he says, “you who trust in graven images, and who attribute the august name of the Godhead, which is above all—that is, the glory—to things hewn by hands and made by hands.”

“You deaf, hear; and you blind, look up so that you may see. And who is deaf, but my children? And blind, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God have been blinded. You have seen often, and you did not keep watch; the ears are opened, and you did not hear.” ^C

He calls those who have served idols “deaf” and “blind” most beautifully. For as the most wise Paul writes: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine through.” The force of the discourse would most appropriately apply to those from Israel, to whom, although it was possible for them to enrich their minds with the divine light, the Law sending forth the irradiation of the knowledge of God unto them, they foolishly loved to walk in darkness and to be ensnared in the traps of deception. But they are blind in another way as well. For while nothing prevented them from seeing the Creator of these things from the beauty of the creatures in a rational and analogous way—for as the most wise Paul writes: “His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead”—they have fallen into such a state of ignorance ^D as to say to the molten images: “You are our gods.” For that the prophet is not now speaking of the multitude of the nations, but of those who are from the blood of Israel, he demonstrated by saying: “And who is blind, if not my children? and

^A deaf, if not my servants?” For the multitude under their hand is blinded, having fallen into this state through the slothfulness of their guides. For they themselves were the authors of ignorance to them, and the masters of their wandering. Deaf also were those who ruled over them; that is, those who had received the leadership: for although they had seen the glory of God, and had advanced thus far through long use and experience, they turned toward apostasy. For they were unwilling to obey God, who clearly says: “There shall be no other gods for you besides me.” But since, though they were learned and skilled in divine oracles, they descended, together with those who were subject to their yoke, into defection and apostasy, He is all but struck with shock, saying: “The servants of God were blinded.” And what was to them the cause of their blindness? Willingly, he says, have you been led into this. For since it had been permitted you many times, seeing, to keep guard, and hearing, to know—that is, to understand what had been written—you did not keep guard, nor did you endure for them to be brought forward and spoken, nor did you apply care, nor obedience, so as to open even your ears to the sacrosanct laws. Inexcusable, therefore, are the crimes of the Jews. For although they could have known the truth, and had the law as if it were a guide to lead them to it, they were nonetheless like those who are not endowed with eyes, or who have ears that protrude from their heads in vain, since they did not wish to listen to the sacred laws.

VERS. 21. *The Lord God has willed, that He might be justified, and might magnify the praise.* ^B I snatched them, He says, from the greed of the Egyptians, I liberated them when they were serving others against that which is right; I educated them through the law toward the knowledge of God; I gave them Moses as a minister of order. For it was my purpose, who am the Lord of all things, to render Israel a worker of justice and a student of the most excellent works, so that, having been brought into the perception and understanding of the gifts bestowed upon him by me, he might magnify praise—that is, he might unceasingly glorify me, clearly as the dispenser of all their prosperity and the provider of those things with which they had been enriched. But perceiving nothing of these things, they repaid evil for good to the Lord, and casting the yoke from their necks, they served Satan; and wallowing in the mire of the polytheistic error, they became abominable and hated ^C by God, who is a lover of virtue. This is exactly what I said elsewhere concerning them, as if of a vineyard: “I expected it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns.”

VERS. 22. *And I saw, and the people were plundered and spoiled.* For the trap was in the chambers everywhere, and in the houses at the same time, where they hid them, they became a plunder, and there was no one who was delivering them from the spoilage, and there was no one who was saying: “Give back.” He recalls to their memory the things that happened to their fathers, because they were caught in the nets of the execrable superstition of many gods. And He has done this not to no purpose, but that He might render them more sober, fearing lest they suffer things similar to their ancestors. For since, he says, they became blind ^D

and deaf, having rejected the worship of God, they offered veneration to woods and stones. I have seen this indeed, and the people has become spoiled and plundered. For when God considers the crimes of the intolerably impious, then He also brings upon them punishments ^A commensurate with their iniquities. The people then were plundered, and became a spoil to their enemies. And for what cause? For the snare was everywhere in their private chambers, and in their houses they hid them together. And whom? The molten gods, clearly. For while the leaders of the Jews pretended to worship God, and, as far as outward appearance went, to submit their necks to the legal oracles, they concealed in their minds and hearts the disease of apostasy, worshipping those who are not gods by nature; and by locking these up in the inner rooms of their own houses, they made secret ^B offerings of sacrifices to them. Thus it is written in Ezekiel: "Son of man, dig." And I dug through the wall. And I saw, he says, and behold every likeness of creeping thing and cattle, and all the idols of the house of Israel depicted on it round about. And He said to me: "Hast thou seen, son of man, are the things which each in the house of Israel does in their secret sleeping-chamber small?" Look, then, how each one of them, having in his secret sleeping-chamber the snare that had been set for him—that is, the idolatry—still feigned for the laws a show of reverence. Hence He says: "They became a spoil, and there was no one to deliver the spoil, and there was no one saying, 'Restore.'" For with God not defending them, ^C who was there to rescue them from a calamity so heavy and incurable? And since He did not rebuke those who were plundering them, who would say to them, "Restore"? For God no longer sought them as His own portion, but cast them off as having become alien to Him because they had inclined toward those who are not gods. And by these words He seems to intimate the time of the captivity, during which those from Israel were perpetually under the power and hand of their enemies. For until the seventieth year, there was no one to rescue them, nor, indeed, was there anyone to say to the plunderers, "Restore." But most ^D fitly and appropriately, after He has set forth the calling, I say, of the Gentiles, and the reasons for which the Israelites were cast out from fellowship with God, it is clearly stated, so that God may appear in all things to have used righteous judgment. For it was necessary, it was necessary that those who practiced impiety against God should be destitute of His mercy and love; but as for those who through ignorance were entangled in the snares of sin and fell under the devil's hand, it was fitting that they, inflamed with the acknowledgment of God and the light of truth, should obtain mercy from the Maker of all. For this, indeed, is found also through the all-wise Moses, who says: "They provoked Me to jealousy with those that are no gods, they incited Me with their graven images. And I will provoke them to jealousy with a people that is no nation; I will irritate them with a foolish nation." And the divine Psalmist also said somewhere: "They provoked Him with their graven images, and in their pursuits they provoked Him to jealousy. And the Lord God saw and despised, and He brought Israel to absolutely nothing." But if the spiritual

^A contemplation is to be applied also to the things mentioned, let us beware of keeping a diabolical snare in our mind and heart, and evil idols of false imaginations which call us to lasciviousness and unnatural pleasures, so that we do not become a prey to Satan and a spoil for demons. For it is written: "If the spirit of him that hath power rise up against thee, leave not thy place, because a cure shall make great sins to cease."

VERS. 23. Who among you will give ear to this? Hear for the future.

It is characteristic of divinely inspired Scripture to speak of "giving ear," when the word is to be received not cursorily or listlessly, but vigilantly in things that are necessary, so that we may keep what is proclaimed stored up in mind and heart. ^B Such is what was said by the voice of the Psalmist: "In my heart I have hidden Thy words, that I might not sin against Thee." For it is written also in the forty-eighth Psalm: "Hear these things, all ye nations, give ear, all ye that inhabit the world." For to hear is common to all who once receive a voice or any other sound into their ears; but to "give ear" is, as I said, to house within the mind some of the things that have been divinely decreed. The prophetic word here seems then to search for those who have listened more reasonable or rather more prudently, so that they might receive the things that befell those of old for the security of future things. For as Paul says: "These things happened to them by way of example, but they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." For we must not read narrations about these things in vain, but receive these things for the benefit of the soul, and carefully take heed not to be overtaken by the same sins, that we may not fall into their calamities.

VERS. 24, 25. Who gave Jacob to be spoiled, and Israel to those who plundered him? Did not God, against whom they sinned, and they would not walk in His ways, nor hear His law? And He brought upon them the anger of His fury, and war ^C and those burning them round about prevailed against them; and they did not know, and did not lay it to heart.

Very emphatically, it seems, does He name both Jacob and Israel in these words. And that the force of this emphasis might be understood by us, we shall speak briefly. For at various times the Israelites served the Egyptians, but they were delivered by God through the mediation of Moses, indeed with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, as it is written. For He exerted vengeance with countless and intolerable plagues upon those who plundered them. But after they had fled from the land of the Egyptians, they crossed the sea on foot, they ate the bread of angels, they drank water from a rock, they were brought into the land of promise, they conquered kingdoms, they overcame enemies, ^D and powerful and horri-

and they had a terrible and irresistible hand and a famous glory on account of this. But their weapon was the God of all, who stayed the course of the sun and moon at Gabaon, and sent down hail from heaven upon the aliens, and raised his own people to the lot of every dignity. Who then, he says, has given the famous Israel, the much-emulated Jacob, the one unconquerable by enemies, the mighty and most warlike, and the one always accustomed to conquer, into plunder and to those who despoil? How has he who knew not how to be conquered become weakened? How has he who was raised over all, and who was raising his horn unbroken, been brought down and placed under the feet of those who stood against him? Since it was necessary that we, who have followed them, should not be ignorant of the causes for which so bright and chosen a people was delivered over, he added necessarily: Did not God, to whom they sinned and to whom they did not want to walk in his ways, nor listen to his law? ^B This inquiry into ambiguous matters holds a manifest confession of the fact. For it was God, entirely, who gave him over, and who attached the wrath becoming to their crimes. Therefore then, war prevailed over them. This was unusual for those from Israel, for they had always prevailed with God shielding them. But since they have raged against his divine laws, they have become destitute and shorn of their ornaments of old. They have fallen into feebleness, they have been brought to an unmanly state; roundabout were those who burned them up, and as if by some fire consuming them by the magnitude of the things brought upon them, or burning their cities, just as it is clearly said elsewhere: Your cities are burned with fire. But, he says, they did not know, each of them, nor did they set it to heart; they endure the charge of insensibility in these matters. For they would be perfect in understanding who would avoid offending God, and who would stretch their foot outside of suffering anything from wrath, for the sake of offering to him a tender and flexible neck. But those who, even when having fallen into the experience of human errors, would not perceive the things brought upon them, such men would be far from any good hope. That those from Israel had become guilty of such ^C crimes, one might confirm by the words of Jeremiah to the God of all: "O Lord, your eyes are toward faithfulness, you have scourged them, and they were unwilling to receive discipline." We remember that after Jerusalem had been captured and Israel had been led off captive, the prophet Jeremiah spoke to those who remained, saying what God had said, that they should not go down into Egypt. Then the women impudently said to him, or rather, not having even been brought to a perception of the wrath, "The Lord did not send you." They added to these things matters from sheer insanity. For since, they said, we ceased to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, all these evils have come upon us. Therefore, it is true what is said, that they did not know, each of them, nor did they set it to heart, when war had oppressed them, and they were surrounded on all sides by those who burned them, and by those who were burning them completely.

^A CHAPTER XLIII. VERSES 1, 2. *And now thus saith the Lord God who made thee, Jacob, who formed thee, Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. And if thou passest through the water, I am with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee; and if thou passest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, the flame shall not burn thee; for I am the Lord thy God, the holy One of Israel, who saves thee.*

It is worth the effort even now to marvel at the merciful God. For since God is good by nature, and is the Creator of all things, even if it happens that some, for the washing away of their sins, fall into the movements of just wrath, He crosses over to mercy, and not long after, He who struck also heals; He removes the scourge, and restores those led by repentance. He resurrects us who had fallen, and to those held fast by evils and calamities, He extends a healing hand, drawing them out of every distress and leading them to happiness. Watch how He comes as if to a forgetting of their offenses, and promises to blot out and trample upon their divine-reckoned sins; adding as it were another beginning of time, which might lead them to tranquility. And we say that "Now" is equivalent to that which is said in the book of Psalms: *Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.* ^B For just as there "Today" defines a beginning of other times, so here "Now" holds the argument of both the oblivion of those things which have already been mentioned, and leads to a beginning of the way and of other things to be from God. Therefore, He does not permit them to wither away entirely in despair, nor does He turn away forever, but He frees them from all fear, and bestows confidence, and creates hope that they will attain every good thing, as God changes the nature of their affairs to that which is incomparably better.

*For I have redeemed thee,* He says. But in what way? The most wise Paul will clarify this when he speaks of Christ, the Savior of us all: *It pleased God and the Father to summarize all things in Him, both those in heaven and those on earth.* For in Him is the redemption and remission of all, and the oblivion of past things, and the method of spiritual kinship, which (I say) is with Him, perfected and consummated through sanctification, which also leads us to communion with God and the Father. For this reason He says: *I have called thee by thy name.* By what name? ^C Namely: *Thou art mine.* For we are said to be of Christ, and this is the glorious name by which we are surnamed. But it should be known that in another Scripture it is said: *I have called thee by my name*; however, when He adds and says: *Thou art mine*, He dissolves the alienation which those who are held fast by sins are accustomed to undergo. For they are not of God, although He holds dominion over all things, since the inclination toward evil things disturbs the society and connection which is with Him. Whence we say that those who are contaminated by defilements are not of God. Therefore, the phrase "Thou art mine" is a certain emphasis of spiritual connection and kinship. And He promises him invincible aid,

^A so that he may be unassailable by every temptation. For rivers, and water, and flames signify the manifold assaults of temptations. It is written: "All who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Tim. III, 12). And Christ himself said somewhere to those who believed in Him: "You have affliction in the world." But, He says, if you pass through water, I am with you. For if Christ is with them, nothing will harm those who are His. ^B Indeed, they will run toward such spiritual strength that they will consider as nothing anyone who is able to storm and submerge them, provided they know that God is the one who saves. For it is the habit of divinely inspired Scripture to liken the assaults of temptations to rivers and waters, which the Savior himself will demonstrate by saying, as in the form of a parable or example: "Everyone, therefore, who hears these words of mine and does them, will be likened to a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and assaulted that house, and it did not fall. For it was founded upon the rock, and the rock is Christ" (Matth. VII, 24, 25).

VERS. 4, 5. "I made thy exchange Egypt and Ethiopia, and Syene for thee, from the time thou becamest honorable before me. Thou becamest glorious, and I loved thee; and I will give many men for thee, and princes for thy head. Fear not, for I am with thee."

^C It is difficult indeed to grasp the meaning of these words; yet I shall narrate, God guiding me, as I am able: for He himself gives wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, before Christ had shone upon the world—who is the true light—the whole earth was wandering and was darkened by deep and most profound shadows of ignorance, and there were very many cults everywhere, according to regions and nations. Now the Chaldeans and Phoenicians were more superstitious than the rest, as were all those who occupied the land of the Egyptians, as far as Syene and Ethiopia. For they inhabit the territory bordering the land of the Egyptians. Israel alone was the chosen lot of God and the portion of the Lord, as it is written. But since they have acted impiously against our Lord Jesus Christ, ^D and have become killers of the Lord, they no longer remained the lot of God; rather, they fell away from the kinship that was with Him, and the nations were taken up, and a commutation for Israel was made. And those who were once more superstitious than all the others, and who on that account had filth not to be washed away—I have said the Egyptians were vehement and bitter, especially regarding the invention of idols, and deeply immersed in pseudo-idolatory and false cults, thinking high things because they philosophized in an excessive and sophisticated way regarding the adoration and names of demons. Therefore, he says, for you who are beloved, for you who were given to me as a lot, I have made an exchange, Egypt and Ethiopia—that is, again, Egypt. Ethiopians

are what Scripture is accustomed to call the Egyptians by divine inspiration. ^A Hence, through one of the holy prophets, it said: "And you, O Ethiopians, you are wounded by my sword." I received, therefore, in your stead, he says, those who were in grievous uncleanness, and who had, in a certain way, an indelible impurity. But from the time that you became honorable in my sight, you were glorified. For Israel did not remain in this repudiation and shame forever; for he himself will be called through the faith which is in Christ, and he will be a companion and participant in the glory of the saints. "For you have been glorified," he says, "and I have loved you."

The phrase, "I will give many men for you, and princes for your head," seems to demonstrate that, at the time of the calling of the Israelites to the knowledge of Christ, there will be very many who know how to instruct them in the mysteries, being wise and most eloquent men. For your sake, he says, I will give many men, and I will give princes for your head. But the head of those who believe is Christ; toward whom ^B all mystagogy looks, and the instruction of the peoples who are taught and led in their own time, by the suffrage and will of Christ himself. Therefore, "for you" could signify "to your advantage," or "for your utility," which will redound to you as you learn the august and great mystery of your Head, that is, of Christ.

Or you may understand it in another way: "I will give many men for you, and princes for your head." For you were rejected and banished, he says, and altogether alienated from friendship and communion with me. Hence, also, I accepted, in exchange for you, nations that had been surrendered to ultimate infamy. But from the time that you became honored in my sight—that is, inasmuch as you believed and obtained glory on that account—I have loved you. And I have loved you in such a way that, if the time or need arose that it were necessary that many men and princes be given for your head, I would indeed give them. For it is a hypothetical statement, and it has the greatest emphasis and argument that Israel is honored by God. ^C And it gives a certain hope that God is with them at all times and from everywhere. "For I am with you." That indeed is enough for them for every happiness. For if God is with us, evils are removed from our midst, and every kind of tranquility is introduced for us in their place.

VERS. 5, 6. *I will bring your seed from the east, and I will gather you from the west. I will say to the North: Bring; and to the South: Do not forbid; bring my sons from a land far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, as many as are called by my name.*

He appeared to those who were on earth in our form—that is, the only-begotten Word of God became man—so that he might draw the Greeks and the Jews, who had been cast down by many and various offenses into apostasy and defection from the Creator of all, I say, to the true and undefiled knowledge of God, and gather them into a spiritual unity, ^D very beautifully perfected through faith and sanctification, and finally by union

and that he might render them worthy of the intimacy with Him, and thus unite them through Himself to God and the Father. For that Christ became man for this very reason, it is not difficult to discern from the holy Gospel scriptures. For Lazarus lived ^A again miraculously and beyond all expectation from the dead; yet the multitude of the impious Jews, or rather the God-hated workshop of the Pharisees, gathered in council and said, "What are we doing? For this man performs many signs. If we let Him alone, the Romans will come and take away both our nation and place." And one of them, Caiaphas, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish." Then immediately the divine evangelist added to these words, "This he did not speak on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together

^A all the children of God who were scattered abroad.

VERS. 7, 8. For in my glory I have created him, and formed and made him. And I have led forth a blind people, and their eyes are likewise blind, and they have deaf ears. All the nations have been gathered together, and the princes shall be gathered together from them.

All things have been made new in Christ. This the most holy Paul will confirm, writing: "Wherefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away." He writes also to those called to a renewal, namely, a spiritual one: "And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, the good and perfect and acceptable." For we have been renewed in Christ through sanctification, having returned to the ancient beauty of nature, which is, clearly, to the image of Him who created [it], through Him and in Him; and we are instructed unto the newness of life, as if through certain elements, with sin and every inveterate depravity cast away, and we have put off the old man who is being corrupted according to the desires of error, and have put on the new man who is being renewed according to the image of Him who created him. But the reformation, and what is called the new creation, has come to pass in Christ: which we have not obtained from corruptible seed, but through the word of the living and abiding God. ^B Therefore this people, gathered from the four corners of the earth and called by my name, not any other person, but I myself have created, and formed, and made in my glory. But one might say that the Son is the glory of God and the Father; for through Him and in Him He is gloriously exalted, according to that saying: "I have glorified Thee on the earth," which was clearly spoken by Him. For we are assured that those of us who believe in Him have been formed through Him, because they are made conformable to Him, and have the beauty of the divine nature shining into their souls. The divine Psalmist said something similar: "Posterity to come shall declare to the Lord, and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord."

And by adding to these things, "I have led forth a blind people," He sets forth clearly the excellence of His own power, which is beyond all speech and truly admirable. For those whose mind and heart were formerly covered by the darkness and error of diabolical perversity, He made illustrious and radiant, like some day-star, and the sun of righteousness rising upon them, and making them sons, no longer of night and darkness, but rather of light and of the day, according to the voice of the most wise Paul. ^C That, therefore, He led forth a blind people is obscure to no mortal. But as if someone were to meet this statement and say: "Even now one can see that their eyes are blind and that they have deaf ears," He institutes a defense and says: "All the nations have been gathered together, and the princes shall be gathered together from them." O you men, accept the prophetic utterances; for the time of the events is not yet at hand, yet all the nations shall absolutely and entirely be gathered together in their own time. For he says "have been gathered together" instead of "shall be gathered together," as Scripture [is accustomed to do] ^D by divine inspiration, giving the force of the future to the past.

For things that are altogether and entirely going to happen, it sometimes sets down as if they had already happened. It is stated, for example, as if in the person of Christ, through the voice of Isaiah: "I have given my back to the scourges," instead of "I will give." And through the Psalmist: "They divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots," which also came to pass at the time of His advent. Therefore, He says, all the nations shall be gathered together, and not only this, but there shall also be princes from among them, that is, leaders of peoples and hierophants; and those who formerly wandered and lay in deep darkness shall be bringers of divine light to those initiated into the mysteries by them. The Psalmist said something of this sort about the Church from the nations: "As is her darkness, so is her light." ^B For just as she was kept in measureless and deep darkness during the time of error, so again has she become exceedingly radiant, and miraculously whitened. For it is true, as the inspired Paul says: "Where sin abounded, grace did superabound."

VERS. 9. Who will announce these things? Or who of those from the beginning will announce them to you? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them say what is true, and let them listen.

Having once made mention of the nations, that is, of those who have been called through faith to the knowledge of the truth, he weaves a kind of path and method of initiation for them, in which he rebukes not a little the error of the demons, and declares clearly that the creation of idols is absolutely nothing. For to know all things from the beginning unto the end would befit only Him who is by nature God. ^C For all understanding is from Him, and He is the fountain of all knowledge, and in Him are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, according to what is written. But if any of those coming after appears to have obtained knowledge, he is seen to have received the gift from His revelation. He proceeds, then, as I said, to converse with those from the nations, and indeed he says: "I have announced and told you all things that are to come, and that you shall be called in due time to the knowledge of the truth; but who else among you will announce these things, or is seen to have spoken them? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them say what is true, and let them listen." For I, He says, have spoken through the prophets; I proclaimed beforehand the things that were to come in their respective times, through holy men, and I have as witnesses of my ^D foreknowledge of future events those who served by my commands in these utterances. But who would testify for the demons, that is, for the inanimate idols, as having said something of this kind through them? For very numerous are the orators and poets among the Greeks, but not one of them ever said, as if from their own gods, that these things would happen to them in their times; nor, indeed, is it possible to see any of the wise men among the Greeks who had predicted that Satan would be driven out for his tyranny at his appointed time, from the glory attributed to him, or that the orb of the world would be illuminated through faith in Christ, and that the nations would be called—

^A to the acknowledgment of him, or rather that the darkness of idolatry would depart, and the truth would prevail under heaven. Let them, therefore, bring forward their witnesses, and let them demonstrate that they have spoken the truth. And if this were to happen, let them listen to them—that is, let them follow and acknowledge that the herd of demons is enriched with the knowledge of things to come. But there is no one who has testified for them, nor is there any announcer of future things. They have wandered, therefore, beyond controversy, those who have thought them to be gods; for they are profane, and deceitful, and buffoons.

VERS. 10. *Be ye my witnesses, and I am a witness, saith the Lord God, and the child whom I have chosen, that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am. And before me there was no other god, and after me there will be none.*

Having said that the knowledge of future things would not support the impure demons or the works of men’s hands by any testimony, He proceeds to address His own prophets, and says: *Be ye my witnesses.* For I have spoken through you, and my Spirit has shone forth within you concerning the knowledge of things to come. Therefore, I shall call witnesses to my own glory and divine eminence. I shall testify also for myself, and the Son whom I have chosen. Similar to this is that which was said by the voice of our Savior to the Jews: ^B "If I bear witness concerning myself, my witness is true, for I know whence I am and whither I go." And again: "I bear witness concerning myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness concerning me." For the voice of God is worthy of faith, whatever it may wish to say concerning its own glory and excellence. There follows, in the second place, the suffrage and knowledge of holy men, which renders to Him whatever things may befit a nature that is beyond all natures. Therefore, having taken the holy prophets as witnesses, He proceeds further, and to that which is beyond controversy and in no way vain—to Himself, I say, and to His own Son. For it suffices, as I have said, for the faith ^C of sensible men, the voice of God. "These things," He says, "I have spoken to you, not in vain, but that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am." For through knowledge is faith, and through faith is understanding. For unless, He says, ye believe, neither shall ye understand: believe, however, that before me there was no other God, and after me there will be none. For neither was there another God before Him, but He Himself is the beginning of all things and beyond all mind, and after Him there shall be none. For He remains the same, and has an immutable nature, and a prerogative inviolable over all, and an everlasting kingdom. For he who has no beginning of essence, toward what end shall he go? ^D

VERS. 11-13. *I am God, and there is no one who saves besides me. I have announced, and I have saved. I have reproached, and there was no stranger among you. You are my witnesses, and I am witness, saith the Lord God, that even from the beginning, and there is no one who can rescue out of my hands. I will do it, and who shall avert it?*

^A Testify, He says, that I alone am the God of all, with no one having existed before Me, nor indeed anyone to exist after Me. For I alone am He who saves, and this I have announced to you long ago, and what was spoken I have brought to completion. For I have saved in Christ; I have reproached, and there was no stranger among you. For those from Israel were from time to time forgetting the sacred prophecies, those, I say, provided through the most wise Moses, and they were lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Then, paying the penalties for their sloth, they were at times endangered by enemies invading them. But in the time of affliction, they would attempt to call upon Him who always saves for aid. And this I reproached them for, through the voice of Jeremiah, saying: “And in the time of their evils they will say: Arise, and save us. And where are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself? If they arise, shall they save thee in the time of thy affliction?” Therefore, I have reproached you frequently, you who are of the blood of Israel, and you have learned through experience that there was no god among you—a stranger, evidently. For no one of them saved you. I am, therefore, the only Savior. Do you testify, then, and I will be witness to Myself, says the Lord God. Or according to that: “Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” Testify, then, that I am He who is from the beginning, that is, He who from the beginning until now is announcing what is to come, and is able to save without struggle those who thirst for familiarity with Me.

And I save in such a way that no one is able to snatch from My hands at all the one who has once been taken hold of. For there is no one, He says, who can rescue out of My hands. I will do it, and who shall avert it? For I have accomplished the calling of the nations, He says, that is, I have saved those who were wandering. And who shall change this, or shift it so that it is not so? For that no one shall snatch from the hand of God those who have been saved by Him, the Savior Himself will confirm, saying: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give to them eternal life, and they shall not perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who hath given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the hand of My Father.” This is clearly what is written: “There is no one who can rescue out of My hands.” ^D

Verse 14. Thus saith the Lord God, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake will I send to Babylon, and I will raise up all the fugitives, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

Having wove together an exhortation that is not weak from the things recently said to us for those called from the nations to the knowledge of Him, and having shown that He alone possesses the knowledge of things at the beginning, and through the middle, and at the end, and indeed that there is no one else at all apart from Him who is able to save, and having through these things established their faith in Him as firm and solid, He transfers the discourse to those who are of the blood of Israel, and attempts to fulfill

^A His promise to show that He is all-powerful and a worker of wonders, and that the natures of things yield to His commands; indeed, even the very elements of the world serve Him, and whatever He wills is altogether accomplished, with nothing standing in the way. For there was need, I say, there was great need for the Israelites to have the greatest illumination, and exhortations, and warnings, which would render their mind stable and constant. Moreover, since they were slipping into things that were not lawful, and were inclining toward other gods, they sacrificed to idols and to the host of heaven, as it is written. Therefore, He institutes for them a prediction of future events, and very artfully unveils the calamities of the Babylonians beforehand, signifying that they themselves would be captives among them, yet showing in advance, as I said, that those others would suffer most indignified things on their account. And because the discourse to them was regarding the greatest matters, He necessarily displays the incomparable glory of His power and the eminence of His strength, saying: "Thus saith the Lord God, who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel." ^B For in order to bring them to a recollection of things past—I mean of that which occurred in the deliverance from Egypt, when a multitude of miracles bore witness to His glory—for this reason He named Himself the Lord God and confirmed that He is the Redeemer. And this is thus far concerning these things. But what is this that is to be? "For your sake," He says, "I will send to Babylon." For the Babylonian took Israel captive, and removed them from their fatherland; nay rather, he burned the entire region of the Jews along with that most celebrated temple, and transferred them to the mountains of the Persians and Medes. And when these miseries had befallen them, the seventieth year having ended, God took pity on them and roused Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, against the Chaldeans, with the Persians and Medes bringing aid; these conquered by force the land of the Chaldeans, or rather of the Babylonians, even though they had formerly feared them and avoided their tyrannical hand. It is handed down, indeed, that Cyrus took certain of the magnates there, then bound them with iron ^C and sent them off into inaccessible and uncultivated regions by the Caspian Sea. But Cyrus was aroused against the Babylonians as God urged him on, and granted him the power to conquer. For He says somewhere concerning him by the voice of Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him." And again: "I will go before thee, and will level the mountains, I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and I will shatter the iron bars; and I will give thee treasures, dark, hidden, and invisible, and I will open them to thee." For since the Babylonians, having been excited to fierce and impotent wrath against the Israelites, had offended God, for this reason they too were given over to the Persians and Medes, who ^D also treated them with intolerable inhumanity. It was said, of course, to Babylon by one of the holy prophets: "As thou hast done, so shall it be to thee; thy retribution shall be rendered upon thy head." For your sake, therefore, He says, O Israel, I will send to Babylon. But whom shall I send? Shall it not be that celebrated Cyrus and his forces? That word "I will send" signifies: I will dispatch, or I will send forth. I will also rouse against them those who once had fled,

and yielded to them, fearing them as warriors, and even more valiant ones. And the Chaldeans shall be fettered in ships. For as I said before, they too were transported into remote and inaccessible regions, having sailed across what is called the Caspian Sea. It should be noted, however, that another version is in circulation. For it says that the Chaldeans shall be fettered ^A not in ships, but in shackles—that is, in chains or bindings. Truly, the Savior and Lord of all has also saved all the inhabitants of the earth in an intellectual sense, having struck down the hosts of demons and raised up against them His invincible and supernatural power, which is to say, Christ. For thus He redeemed us who were captives, and rendered us, who were as it were serving their wills, free; and, having snatched us as it were from a barbarian land, He brought us back into the intelligible Judea, which is the Church that He acquired for Himself, having delivered it from every stain and pollution, and having rendered it holy and blameless.

I am your holy God, who showed you your king.

^A from God the Father, the Only-Begotten shone forth, he descended into self-emptying, and took the form of a servant, so that he might deliver those who lay under the tyranny of the devil, and bring them under his own scepters. The discourse therefore makes mention here of this, as of a partial redemption that was to be at its own proper time, which was given only to those who were of the blood of Israel, and of the general and most universal one through Christ, obviously, through whom God and Father has saved those throughout the whole inhabited world.

VERS. 16, 17. *Thus says the Lord: Who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the violent water, who brings out the chariot and the horse, and a strong multitude. But they slept, and shall not rise; they have been extinguished as extinguished flax.*

Good and useful things, even if they are often spoken by God and men, are in no way burdensome to the wise, but are rather necessary for salvation. Hence, the most wise Paul writes to some in an epistle: *To say the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.* For since human a mind is corrupted by a certain great sloth, so that it sometimes falls into oblivion of the things that have been given to each by God, therefore the divine discourse repeatedly refreshes our memory of them, and does not allow us to grow cold because of sloth, but inflames us through the love of piety and zeal for all good things. Therefore, when Israel had been redeemed, having received very many and incredible benefits, and then, having forgotten them, had turned toward defection and had declined toward those who were not gods, God necessarily brings back to their memory his own power, saying that he had given a way in the sea and a path in the violent water. For they crossed the middle of the sea when they were departing from the region of the Egyptians, and they also crossed the Jordan on foot. And this we say is the path in the violent water. The divine David, marveling at this, ^B sings: *What is it to you, O sea, that you fled? And you, Jordan, that you turned back?* And again, speaking of God: *Who turns the sea into dry land; they shall pass through the river on foot.* And so he gave a way in the sea, and a path in the violent water. *And he brought out the chariot and the horse, and a strong multitude.* For Pharaoh indeed pursued those who were born of the blood of Israel, using chariots and horses, and employing the hand of his accompanying soldiers in a way that was hard to resist, but he did not in any way conquer or do injury to the redeemed. *For they slept, and shall not rise,* he says, *but they have been extinguished as extinguished flax.* For they were drowned in the waters, horses and all, and they perished, and they were consumed by divine wrath like easily-burned flax, and they were extinguished without labor, that is, they have passed into nothingness, and have been reduced ^C as it were to ashes. For flax is easily consumed by fire, and it is extinguished immediately before you can turn your hand, and it produces a very thin flame. But if anyone should say: "When the leader of the land of Egypt makes an incursion against Israel by his own will, how does God himself, the God of all, [deal with] the horses and..." ^D

chariots, and the army under them?" We answer that it was said to Pharaoh by God, who is the ruler of all: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared in all the earth." And let this be said again historically. But we say that those who have chosen to live uprightly, and who reject the slavery under the devil, and who depart from worldly pursuits, and who wish, so to speak, to depart from all impurity—the wicked one indeed pursues them, but God saves them miraculously, proving for them that the swelling of the present life is passable, and with inexpressible power leading them across, and not allowing them to be submerged by the distractions of the present life, but preparing them to be beyond the carnal waves, ^B and calming and stilling for them, like a sea, the temptations that befall them in various ways; so that, having become strong in a desert land—that is, in a state of mind pure and at leisure—they might be able to eat the bread from heaven and drink water from the rock, that is, to become partakers of Christ, and to cross the Jordan, and thus to be led into the land of promise. Thus, the spiritual man will surely understand what I say.

VERS. 18-21. Ne memineritis priorum, et antiqua ne recogitetis. Ecce facio nova, quæ exorientur, et cognosces ea; et faciam in deserto viam, et in loco ubi aqua non est, flumina. Laudabunt me bestiæ agri, sirenes, et filiæ struthionum, quod dederim in deserto aquam, et flumina in aquis carente, ut potum dem generi meo electo, populoque quem acquisivi, ut virtutes meas narret.

Just as in the foregoing he proposed the particular redemption that was to come to the Israelites for them to know, and by advancing the narrative of events to incomparably greater things, made mention of the salvation through Christ, saying that he had shown Israel as our king, or rather the origin from the blood of Israel; so here also, when he has opportunely commemorated the Red Sea, and the waves of the Jordan, and the passage of the Israelites, he returns entirely to the mystery of Christ. For this reason he says: "Do not remember the former things, and do not consider the ancient things." For the bringing in of things that are incomparably superior sometimes causes one to forget that which is lesser; and illustrious things, in a way, dull and obscure those that are not such by nature, even if the former are prior in time. Such a thing also the most wise Paul conveys: "Now we know in part; but when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will be done away." For great indeed, and beyond all speech, are the things performed by God through the most wise Moses, but those [wrought] through the power and excellence of our Savior are superior and stand higher. For through him and by him, the multitude of nations throughout the whole inhabited world has been saved. ^D For this reason, he almost commands them even to forget the former things.

^A but rather to fix their mind on things that are incomparably superior and possess brilliant glory.

I will make, he says, a way in the desert.

to whom ^A the all-wise Peter has addressed himself, saying: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people, but now are a people in the Lord”?

Verses 22-24. *Not now have I called you, O Jacob, nor have I made you to labor, O Israel. You have not brought me the sheep of your whole burnt offering, neither have you glorified me in your sacrifices, nor have you served me in your sacrifices. You have not labored for me with incense, nor have you bought me incense with silver, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices. But you have occupied me with your sins, and in your transgressions and injustices.*

By the things already examined—that is, already read—he was offering a prediction of the covenant in Christ and the gifts from Him. For he said that He would make a way in the desert and rivers in a waterless place; and for this cause he says that the beasts of the field will glorify Him. This ^B may be understood as a way of describing the intelligible sacrifice, the fruit of the new covenant in Christ. But in the present passage, he attempts to convince Israel that he was indeed liberated from Egypt and delivered from the servitude there, and rescued from such grievous toils, not so that he might offer calves to Him or gain access through blood and smoke. For such things as these are rejected before God, and are shadow rather than truth.

He says, therefore: “Not now have I called you, O Jacob.” The word “now” must be taken to mean: “I did not call you at the time when you are sacrificing,” that is, “I did not call you when you were engaged in ox-slaying and sheep-culling, lest you might imagine that you had obtained your liberation as a kind of recompense for your offering—but rather, when you were involved in sins and ensnared in defilements (for you were worshiping the gods of the Egyptians), then I deemed you worthy of pity and love.” Thus, the gift is one of placability, and grace is the fruit of philanthropy, and liberation is as it were from love. ^C For he says: “The sheep of your burnt offering are nothing to me, nor indeed have you glorified me in your sacrifices.” For how could that which is entirely unacceptable and offered in vain turn into my glory? “Neither have you served me in your sacrifices.” For he who practices some good and becomes a worker of those things which are the marks of virtue, who subjects his neck to my internal promptings and is a doer of the holy oracles, he might be said to serve God who is above all. But the one who fills the holy tabernacle with the smoke of incense and offers oxen or sheep—by what noble act will he obtain true and genuine glory? For such a person has done nothing at all that is pleasing to me. ^D Therefore, service does not consist in sacrificing, but in submitting a tender and, so to speak, pliant neck to His will. For as far as concerns that which is pleasing to me, He says, I have not made you labor with incense, nor have you bought me incense with silver, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices. Simile huic est, quod per alium

Similar to this is that which was said to them through another prophet: ^A "Gather your whole burnt offerings with your sacrifices and eat the meat, for I did not speak to your fathers concerning whole burnt offerings and sacrifices in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt." The same prophet Jeremiah also says elsewhere: "Why do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a land far away? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me." Indeed, even through the voice of the Psalmist: "I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks." He declares that the shadowy worship is altogether cast off, leading them away from the types, while drawing them as it were toward justification in Christ, and teaching them to take up the care of the evangelical way of life, through which alone it is possible to please God, and to retain a worship that is truly blameless and sincere—spiritual, that is. "For God is spirit," He says, "and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

576 VERS. 25, 26. I am, I am He who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember. But do you remember, and let us be judged. Tell your iniquities first, that you may be justified.

Look again, I pray, how God has not granted to the power of the legal worship the ability to free those who use it from the impurity that is in them. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, and in these the shadow of the law is useless. For no one is justified by the law, according to the voice of the divine Paul. He writes, indeed, in the Epistle concerning himself and the other apostles or those who believed from the circumcision: "We," he says, "are Jews by nature, and not sinners from the Gentiles; knowing ^C that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; and we also have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified in Him." Do not, therefore, he says, think that you could ever render yourself free from the charge of wickedness by means of sacrifices and smoke. Know rather that "I am He who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember." For we have been justified not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His great mercy, since He is willing to be unmindful of our offenses. For this alone preserves the inhabitants of the earth, who have a weak mind and are easily inclined to all things that are condemned by the law. ^D "For the mind of man," he says, "is carefully inclined to evil from his youth." Hence, with very good reason, the divine David remembers human stumblings, saying: "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? Because with You there is propitiation." The God of all things shows mercy, and indeed, by using divine nods and forgetfulness as befits God, He removes the causes, and

we shall find that this is beneficial and has become a matter of zeal for the saints. For the blessed David chants and says, at one time, "I know my iniquity, and my sin is before me always," and again, "I will declare my iniquity, and I will be troubled for my sin." Therefore, He says, "I will be forgetful of the accusations. Do you, however, remember them, and let us indeed be judged; but do you confess, and hold your forgetfulness to be sure." For it is written, "The righteous is his own accuser in the beginning of his speech." And again, "Do not be ashamed to confess your sins." The arrogant Pharisee did not keep this commandment, whom the Savior sets forth in the Gospel parables praying in the synagogue, suffering greatly from the disease of ignorance and empty pride, and saying: "God, I thank You that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, or even as this publican: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." He did not endure to speak his own sins. Therefore, he was condemned as an arrogant man and a liar; for no one is clean from filth, and we all stumble in many things. But the publican knew and confessed his own sins. For he stood beating his breast, and saying: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Justified, therefore, is he who has confessed his failings, and not hidden them, so that he might be cleansed. ^A

VERSES 27, 28: Your fathers were first, and your princes have transgressed against me. And the princes have profaned my holy things; and I gave Jacob to be destroyed, and Israel to reproach.

Having said, "I am He who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember," He saw that perhaps some would rise against these things that have been said, and would indeed say: If You have honored Israel with the forgetfulness of his sins, if a certain exceeding great tranquility has come upon him, if he has been cleansed from filth, and has washed away the stains of his ancient accusations, how or for what sins has he demanded satisfaction while being consumed by the swords of the enemy? Then, having been taken prisoner, and having left his motherland, he has come under the hand and yoke of those who conquered him? For he was given over to the warriors who came from Babylon. He therefore apologizes for the act, saying, "Let us be judged," and says that they themselves became the authors of this, and brought these things upon their own heads. "For your fathers," He says, "and your princes have transgressed against me." ^B And He does not simply blame our ancestors by saying "fathers" in this context. Rather, He seems to wish to indicate something like this: For those who were chosen for the ministry—the wise and the lawyers—who were accustomed to instruct the peoples under their hand, could be called fathers of those who were subject to them, as well as princes and leaders. When, therefore, some of these wicked things are committed not by the multitude of the common flock, but rather by those from whom it was expected that they could correct the things of others, the matter is burdensome, and the retribution is inescapable, and due to those who have acted wickedly. ^{C D}

^A Therefore, those who were placed in the rank of fathers, he says, and who were allotted to rule over you, acted lawlessly against me. By saying "against me," he demonstrates that it was not against any one person of our own common stock that the things perversely and impiously committed by them were done, but against the very majesty of God, who is above all things. Consider this: when someone injures one of his neighbors, or surrounds him with greed and insolence, or circumvents him in any other way, he indeed sins, but it is against a human being of the same nature, and by no means against God. But he who rejects the worship due to Him, and exposes himself to the deceptions of demons, and worships them, stands against God, and as far as it lies within him, he drives Him from the seats of divinity and attempts to shake Him from the prerogative and glory that belong to Him and Him alone. The Israelites did this at various times. For they served idols, and having bidden farewell to the holy oracles, they wished to raise a stiff and proud neck against God. He accuses them, therefore, and says: "The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' And those who handle the law did not know me, and the prophets acted impiously against me." And again: "Why do you speak to me? You all have acted unjustly, and you all have acted impiously against me, says the Lord Almighty." ^B Therefore, he says, your princes have polluted my holy things. For they have dared to raise up pillars of demons not only in Jerusalem, but they have even been caught doing this impiously within the very divine temple. Therefore, the God of all said concerning the synagogue of the Jews: "What is this abominable crime that my beloved has committed in my house?" By "abomination," he means a statue and image fashioned in the likeness of God and placed in God's stead. Holy things are also polluted in another way, if those things which are commanded to be done reverently and holily for the glory of God are held in contempt by some, and if some make nothing of the transgression of His divine laws. Therefore, because, he says, your fathers were impious against me, and the princes polluted my holy things, therefore I gave them to enemies to destroy Jacob, and because of these things, I have marked Israel with infamy.

Chap. XLIV. Vers. 1. Now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen.

not unreasonably rejecting the law that guides him, but turning to what is unlawful, and indulging himself in the crimes of disobedience. But let those things, he says, be dismissed. Now listen, that is to say, lower your haughty spirit. Know your own Master; submit to the yoke of obedience, considering that you have been named my child. I have chosen you from all—that is, from the nations dwelling upon the earth. For when the Most High divided the nations, when he dispersed the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. ^A And the Lord’s people became his portion, the line of his inheritance, Israel. He puts them to shame, therefore, and in a way rebukes those who have transgressed and offended not lightly, since they had been placed in the rank of children to him, and were situated in the lot of the chosen. ^B

ORATIO II

VERS. 2. *Thus says the Lord God, who made you and formed you from the womb: You shall still have help.*

When he has accused the Israelites of apostasy, and of having fallen away from the love for him, and having attached themselves to those who are no gods—for he said, *Your fathers and your rulers acted impiously against me, and the rulers polluted my holy things*—he adds these things most appropriately; for he does not allow them to be reduced to despair, or to fall entirely from hope in him; but he promises reconciliation anew, and according to his accustomed humanity, refreshes them and leads them back to repentance. And he gives them to understand that he has not turned away from those who have sinned entirely, nor that Israel will perish utterly, since he takes pity on them and beautifully smooths the path of salvation for those who believe in him; ^C and by calling himself Lord and God, who made and formed him from his mother's womb, he seems to intimate that he [Israel] has erred by attributing the name of divinity to others, and by rashly transferring the glory of sovereignty to non-gods. And that he did not know the Creator, and him who brought into existence the man upon the earth who did not exist before, he again hints, affirming himself to be the former and creator, and as it were indicting for ingratitude those who had jumped away from love for him. For it is most absurd that the highest honors should be offered by us to our parents according to the flesh, as the divine law itself prescribes, and yet that the Creator of all things should not be much more decorated with the praises fitting for him, and honored by us with submission and obedience in all things. Of such a kind is that which he says through one of the holy prophets: *A son honors his father, and a servant his master. And if I am a father, where is my glory? And if I am a lord, where is my fear? says the Lord Almighty* (Mal. 1, 6). ^D For it is at once both Lord, as one who has the whole creation under a yoke and servitude. For the divine Psalmist said to him: *All things are yours*; and likewise, *Father*, as being the former and maker, and the procreator of essence.

for those who formerly were not. But when He says to sinners, *You shall still have help*, He stirs them up to hope and confidence; for although they may be entangled in many unavoidable faults, yet remnants of goodness and humanity are preserved, and nothing stands in the way of their also being saved, if indeed they are willing to return to better and more becoming things, and those in accordance with His laws.

Verses 3-5. *Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel whom I chose, for I will give water in thirst to those walking in a place lacking water. I will put my spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children. And they shall spring up like grass in the midst of water, and as a willow beside flowing water. This one will say, I am God's, and that one shall call in the name of Jacob. And another shall write, I am God's, in the name of Israel.* ^B

It seems that by these words He names Israel and Jacob as one chorus of the holy apostles, understood as a single person; for they all are one in Christ. For consider how He calls him beloved and elect: even though it is manifest to all, He would never have called those beloved and elect who have rejected faith in Him. But because they were of the blood of Jacob and Israel, vessels honorable and elect, and were called to the sacred work of evangelical preaching, He deemed it necessary to crown them with such splendid names, as those who were to be as lights in the world, containing the word of life, and mystagogues of the whole earth under the sun. *Do not fear, therefore*, He says—that is, act like a man, and be strengthened, and be endowed with a patient and youthful spirit; and mocking the assaults and tumults of those who persecute you, have firm confidence in God. ^C For many struggle against the most holy preaching, and an impious multitude shall rise up in opposition, resisting your words. But, He says, overcome cowardice and sloth and unmanly softness. *For I will give water to those walking in a place lacking water.* For it is pleasant and salutary, for those journeying in a thirsty place, to happen upon fountains of water. And we say that for those who are languishing for the love of piety, it is thrice desirable, and even more to be wished for, to be drenched with divine and intelligible streams, that is, with the consolations of the Spirit, by which it may come about that the human mind, even if it has been somewhat weakened, may be restored to manly strength and vigor. The water which God here promises He will supply to those walking in a place lacking water, is the Holy Spirit. ^D Truly the Savior Himself said, as the Scripture says: *Rivers of living water shall flow from his belly.*

^A Explaining the power of the things said, the all-wise evangelist added immediately: *This he said concerning the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive.* For water is a life-giving thing, and causes plants and grasses to grow, and in a way it imitates the energy of the Holy Spirit, through whom all things have been constituted and are kept existing for their well-being, and the intellectual creation is enriched by the addition of every good thing, and as it were leaps up, going toward spiritual increase. That the Holy Spirit signifies life-giving power and energy, and the consolation perceived by the intellect, when He promises water to those walking through a place lacking water, the following passage will clarify. *For I will put,* He says, *my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children.* We say that the seed and children of the holy apostles are those who have been called through them to the knowledge of the truth and to spiritual regeneration, whom they regenerate not from corruptible seed, but through the living and abiding word of God, and through the energy of the Holy Spirit Himself. The divine Paul therefore writes to those called through him, ^B and says: *For even if you have ten thousand pedagogues in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel.* And we will find him everywhere calling those who have believed in Him through themselves, children. *I will put, therefore,* He says, *my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children.* By blessings we mean those things supplied by God to the saints, the manifold variety of spiritual gifts. For to one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, and the things that follow these. The all-wise Paul also writes somewhere that: *Each of you has his own gift from God.* Then, what the utility of the blessings might be, He clarified by adding: *They shall spring up as grass in the midst of water, and as a willow by the flowing water.* Grasses and plants which might be in waterless places grow very slowly, and having grown, they instantly wither. But those ^C which the flow of streams and the course of waters wash, which preserves life, bloom excellently; and the plant of the willow is always flourishing, having always grown up by fountains and rivers. Being intoxicated, therefore, He says, with the intelligible streams, those who have been enriched by these will confess that they know only Me, and will call Him God who called them. And when He says that *this one will say, I am of God, and that one will cry out, and another will write,* He indicates the multitude of those running to Him through faith in Christ. For not just one people will be called, but rather the whole multitude of the nations which is under the sun, and all will confess that they have become God's, and will call Him Savior and Redeemer, and they will be named thereafter by the name of Jacob, which means that they are the measuring-line and the inheritance of God. For, He says, *the people of the Lord became His portion, the measuring-line of His inheritance, Israel.* ^D And we who have believed boast

^A that we are the portion of God and the share of Christ, the Savior of us all. VERS. 6, 7. *Thus saith the Lord, the God, the King of Israel, who delivered him, the God of Sabaoth: I am the first, and I am hereafter; besides Me there is no God. Who is like Me? Let him stand, and let him call, and let him prepare for Me, since I made man for eternity. And let them announce to you the things that are coming before they come. Do not be hidden, and I have announced to you.* Having made mention of the knowledge in Christ through the readings just now presented to us, he turns the discourse to another necessary matter. For because, at that time when the inspired prophet Isaiah composed these words for us regarding such matters, one who was an enemy of God was reigning over them, and everything was full of intolerable vices—for everyone’s own desire was to him a god and a religion—God introduces a necessary admonition, wrapped in most fitting arguments: ^B turning them away from the worship of many gods and the vices which arise from them, and exhorting them through repentance to the knowledge of the truth, and reviving the memory of His own glory and incomparable power. Hence He says: *Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, who delivered him, the God of Sabaoth.* For He wishes them to know that He is God and Lord of hosts, and that they might see, as if recovering from drunkenness, that they had been delivered from the tyranny of the Egyptians by God working wonders and displaying the magnitude of His power and greatness. For what has been done that is not wonderful? What plague was not inflicted upon those who attacked them? Could the sea being divided, ^C and the waters standing fixed and firm like a wall, and the fugitives passing through the midst, be any other than an open demonstration of His inexplicable power? And what, indeed, were the miracles that occurred in the desert? Did He not give them bread from heaven? Did He not break the rock in the desert, and give them drink as if in a great abyss? And did He not lead down waters like rivers? Did He not put a kind of bridle on the streams of the Jordan, so that He prepared a passage for their feet? Necessarily, therefore, He does not simply call Himself Lord and God in these words, but has added, *who delivered him*, bringing into memory, as I said, the things unbelievably accomplished by Him. Know, therefore, He says: ^D *that I am God, the first, and I am hereafter, and besides Me there was no God.* For God is the beginning of all things, He Himself being without beginning, and all things have received their being from Him; He Himself, however, has been brought into being by no one, but is He Who is and Who is to be. For this is His name, and a memorial eternal unto ages everlasting. Therefore, neither was there another God before Him, nor will there be any besides Him. This exhortation is, however, extremely useful to those who have denied Him, and who, out of great lack of understanding, have slipped into the opinion that there are many gods. And that there is no one like Him, or that any other is to be numbered besides Him—

^A He shows this, saying: "Who is like Me? Which of those supposed by you to be gods"—or rather, those foolishly named so—"shall be equal to My glory and power? From what great works have you believed them to be gods? Let someone stand forward, if he is like Me. Let someone prepare one who has a nature, strength, or glory equal to Mine. Let them call whomsoever they wish of these falsely-named gods, from the time that I made man for the eternal age." For, He says, "I have fashioned the heavens and all that is in them, having hosts of numberless holy spirits worshiping and serving Me; but from the time that I made man upon the earth—and in the things that follow—that is, unto the eternal age, let someone show Me one [who is] My equal." And by saying again, "From the time I made man," He reveals Himself as Creator, and that the falsely-named gods are nothing at all. ^B For which of those who worship them have they brought into existence? I am known as Creator and Fashioner of all things, possessing knowledge of everything. Seek this from those you call gods: let them announce to you things that are to come before they happen. For it is fitting for God by nature to possess all knowledge, both of things already past and of things that will be. But if no one is found among these falsely-named gods who has attained this, it is not obscure that those who do not have the knowledge of God cannot be gods. Do not keep hidden—that is, Do not be silent, and do not dissimulate.

"Have you not heard from the beginning, and have I not announced it to you?"

For as one who is God by nature, and who knows all things that will be and all things that have already come to pass, I announced it to you through the holy prophets, through the wisest Moses. For I revealed the mystery of Christ, and there is nothing of which it was appropriate for you to have knowledge that has not been announced by Me. ^C Therefore, those [idols] are not gods, possessing nothing that is like to God. But I am, by nature, what I have been believed to be: God, clearly over all things, and having a divine generation. Therefore, the word initiates those who have been led away from the true vision of God and have leaned toward lifeless idols, saying to the wood, "You are my father," and to the stone, "You have begotten me."

"You are My witnesses if there is a God besides Me."

^D He again recalls to their memory the power and authority exhibited to them, which would be fitting for the One who is truly God by nature and Lord of all, when they were redeemed from the land of the Egyptians. For then, indeed, the very creation stood armed with the Lord, and it resisted the perversity of those who had tyrannized them; for there were changes in the elements. For the water was transformed into blood, and a deep, three-day darkness was spread out. And the heaven brought down hail upon them, and gadflies, frogs, and swarms of flies; and the death of the firstborn was brought upon them, and they passed through the midst of the sea. But after they had reached the land of promise.

^A they conquered many nations, and ones more powerful than the strength that was in them, and they became terrible and unassailable to the neighboring nations, and were regarded with awe and became celebrated even to those far off. Therefore, no others could see more clearly than you yourselves what concerned you, who it was that brought these things to pass, who it was that held all creation in his hand as visible in your affairs; who it was that shattered the powers of your enemies, and crowned you with victory over all: you yourselves are witnesses of my excellence, if you would only choose to think rightly, and you will have no need of other teachers. For very many were the gods among the Egyptians, and their sanctuaries were filled with images; and very many were there likewise among the Amorites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, and the other nations—but no one of those was seen to have sufficed for the salvation of their own people; nay, even those who were worshipped you shattered, together with their worshippers. For it has been proclaimed through ^B Moses that "you shall tear down their altars, and break their pillars in pieces, and burn their graven images with fire." Therefore, if you wish to speak the truth, you will be witnesses to me, whether there is any God besides me. For if a god has risen up among you and fought against my forces and conquered, let him be reckoned as a god among you. But if they are discovered to be nothing, and through you they have become food and fuel for the fire, by actual experience, he says, you have learned that there is no God besides me.

VERS. 9, 10. And those who formed and carved them did not listen then; all of them are vain who fashion the things that please them, which will not profit them: but those who fashion a god and carve useless things shall be put to shame, and all as many as were made withered away, and were ^C deaf from among men.

Through these words he manifests the dire and most heavy crimes of the apostates, since, endowed with such conviction that there is no other God by nature and in truth beside Him, and having been persuaded by the glorious deeds themselves that He alone is, they slipped into such stupidity that even when the law itself proclaimed to them clearly and said: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve, and you shall not make for yourself an idol, nor any likeness of any thing, whatever is in heaven above, or whatever is in the earth beneath, or whatever is in the waters under the earth," they nevertheless counted obeying Him as nothing; but turned rather godlessly to the necessity of fashioning and forming gods out of wood and ^D stone. Vain, therefore, are such persons, and very reasonably so, going after these things for no necessary reason, but rather doing what pleased their own desires; for they became lovers of vanity. For what profit is there from wood and stone? Therefore, the making of an idol is the fruit of an unwise counsel and a manifest argument of a cold imagination. But he threatens that this matter will not pass for them unpunished, saying: "All who fashion a god and carve useless things shall be put to shame; and all as many as were made withered away, and were deaf from among men." For if these words are taken to refer to those fashioned by hand, "They withered away,"

^A we must understand as, "they perished." But if they are to be taken as referring to those who are accustomed to doing such things, it would be well to understand it in this way also: it is spoken as of trees which are accustomed to be fruitless, if they should somehow wither and eventually be hewn down for flame and burning. And the phrase, "deaf from among men," means: no longer acting among men, but rather deaf and entirely without perception, so that in no way do they resemble those who have come to be among them. For the blessed Psalmist also sings and says: "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see; they have ears, and will not hear." And he adds to these: "Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them." For such evils may be understood as the fruits of extreme stupidity. Although they know by experience itself that He is by nature and truly God, they nonetheless accord to stones and woods the glory that is most proper to Him alone; how then could they not be considered foolish and heartless, ^B possessing a heart filled with madness, and not differing much from those things which are fashioned?

Vers. 11, 12. Let them all be gathered together, and stand at once, and let them be put to shame, and blush together; for the smith sharpeneth the iron, hath worked it with an axe, and hath bored it with a drill. He hath worked it with the arm of his strength, and he shall be hungry, and shall be weak, and shall not drink water.

Not only individuals, but, if they wish, even all idol-worshippers gathered together collectively, he says are to be put to shame, and he dissolves by their own foolishness what they themselves allege. And what sort of thing this is, he brings in immediately, saying: "The smith sharpeneth the iron." He also mentions the tools by which the making is done, in order to declare that they do not worship the wood itself, but the stonemason's art. For if it were a god, it would not have need of his art or of any knowledge; ^C rather, it would be God in that way also. But if you consider wood that is neither fashioned nor given a form to be vain material, yet worship it once it has been fashioned and call it a god, then that art has become for you a god—and that, too, the art of a man who is weak and subject to corruption. For the need of food and drink is proof of corruption. Therefore, we do not say that the text "He shall not drink water" is stated affirmatively; rather, it should be read as a question with a pause. For the sense follows that "it will surely drink." Then how shall a corruptible being be the maker of incorruptible gods, or how shall a mortal make those who are immortal? For it is necessary that in the One who is truly God, there must reside incorruption and an absence of destruction, and furthermore, that He should live and be able to grant life to those to whom He might wish life to be present. The worship of those who are led astray is therefore clearly based on the axe and the drill, and on the smith's strength and art; if indeed it is true, as I said, that ^D they do not wish to worship wood or stone that is unformed, but rather [believe] that all things which are observed by them, with their form induced by the lathe, are gods.

^B

Verses 13-20. *When the craftsman has chosen wood, he set it in measure, and with glue he straightened it, and made it as the form of a man, and as the beauty of a man, to set it in a house. He cut down wood from the forest, which the Lord planted, the pine, and the rain made it grow, that it might be for men for burning; and having taken from it he was warmed, and having burned it they baked bread upon it, and the rest they wrought into gods, and they worship them: of which the half of it they burned in fire, and having burned bread they baked upon it, and upon it he roasted meat and ate, and was filled, and being warmed he said: "Pleasant it is to me that I have been warmed, and have seen the fire." And the rest he made into a carved god, and worships it, and prays saying: "Deliver me, for you are my god." They did not know how to understand, because they were blinded from seeing with their eyes, and from understanding with their heart. And he did not consider in his heart, nor did he reason in his mind, nor did he know by prudence, that the half of it he burned in fire, and baked bread upon its coals, and having roasted meat he ate, and the remainder of it he made into an abomination, and they worship it. Know that their heart is ashes, and they go astray, and no one can deliver his own soul. See, you shall not say that there is a lie in my right hand.*

The sense of the words set before us is very clear, and there is nothing rugged or arduous within them. For the worshipper of idols, and likewise the craftsman, is described as heartless, and as one having become entirely outside of his mind, and completely deprived of the reason and sense that is due. ^C He dwells much, however, upon the narration and description of them: at once putting them to shame as those who are led astray, and opening the eyes of those ensnared by the evil, and persuading them to behold the truth itself; which, if they would take it to heart, they will be immune from the plague, and will deliver their own heads from the wounds of foolishness. But this we say: that this discourse seems to us to be tempered gravely and wisely, so as to be sufficiently efficacious for persuading many to desist from the error of many gods, and to wish to be subject to the One who is by nature and truly God.

*When the craftsman had chosen,* he says, *wood, he set it in measure, and with glue he straightened it; he made it as the form of a man, and as the beauty of a man, to set it in a house.* The art, he says, of those who are accustomed to make gods, would then indeed be most worthy of all admiration, when it fashions in wood a form and the beauty of a man. But that which is fashioned by some man according to the imitation of another, is always inferior to the truth itself, and comes, so to speak, behind. Therefore, those who worship wood or stone that has been fashioned into the likeness of a man, would be convicted of worshipping their own likeness, and being far superior to those things expressed by way of imitation, they insult their own nature, as they bestow a richer glory upon them. It is then an accusation of extreme stupidity, and a criminal charge of the highest insipidity. For he sets it in a house, that is, in a temple

^A a piece of wood which he has cut from the forest. By these things he points out those who are accustomed to make gods, and who are not even ignorant of the material from which they have been made, so that they might not speak, according to the custom of the Greeks, of things fallen from Jove or self-originated, or as they say, "self-sprung," those things which have been set up in shrines. But that they mark the object of God’s creation, he refutes by saying that the wood was planted in the forest and nourished also by the bounty of the rains, so that it might be for the use of men for burning. But those who treat as gods that which has come into being for burning will themselves become food for fire along with them. He is almost struck with horror while saying that he burned half in the fire and spent it for his own needs. This, indeed, while cooking food and receiving for the baking of bread the portions of the gods. Then he has fallen into such an absence of understanding as to worship the remnants of his use, and to pray, and to say: "Deliver me, for you are my God." The heart of them, therefore, is ash and nothing else, and they have been led astray, and no one could deliver the souls of those who have fallen into this state, except only God, if He should choose, who does all things, and refashions, and illuminates that which is darkened, and turns back that which has wandered. But there is uselessness and vanity in the man-made gods, for they are deaf and senseless material. "See," that is, understand, "and you will not say that there is a lie in my right hand." For all things upon them, he says, are lied about, both names and glory. But in my right hand, that is, in the Son; for the Son is named the right hand of the Father everywhere in the divinely inspired Scripture; nothing falsely imagined could be found, but even if He were called God, He is true God; and if Lord, He does not have the matter as something added, but is rather by nature the Master of all. Even if He is King, even if light, even if life and power, even if Creator, all these things are not falsely applied to Him; for He is not a generated being, but would be understood to be by nature beyond every thing that has been brought to generation, being God from God, and true light from true light.

"Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant; I have formed you as my servant; and you, Israel, do not forget me. For behold, I have blotted out as a cloud your iniquities, and as a mist your sins. Return to me, and I will redeem you."

Christ said: "He who knows the will of his lord and does not do it shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who does not know, and does not do it, shall be beaten with few." ^D Most holy, then, is the verdict in either case. For one might grant forgiveness to those who, not knowing the master’s will and then stumbling, are involved in the charges of transgression, taking their ignorance as an occasion for mercy. But as for those who, when they knew the laws, preferred to be slothful, it is right that punishment should be visited upon them. For the charge of negligence is manifest. Therefore, in order that Israel might become better than himself, although he has been convicted of a great many crimes, being nevertheless held in such price and honor by God that He would not forget him, he is commanded to remember his own slothfulness.

^A and the gentleness of Him who has compassion. For remember these things, He says, O Jacob. And what are these things? The things already mentioned above, and that you are My child; and I have formed you as My child. He demonstrates very clearly in these words that ^B Israel did not lack tutors, but was under the law and a yoke, and had a great many who knew how to admonish him: he was, therefore, in this respect a child, and formed for this. And in what manner, we shall say as best we can. For a man is formed simply, just as, indeed, the first parent Adam was from the earth. For He took, He says, dust from the earth, and formed man. Then, following this mode of creation, he proceeds to the form with which we are endowed. For each one is formed in his mother’s womb, and this path leads the inhabitants of the earth to being, so that they become participants in essence. He is also formed into a child of God, being intelligibly informed by the knowledge of divine laws toward an excellent form and likeness, which by the adornment of virtues adheres and resides in the souls of men. This beauty may be understood as spiritual. They are also formed, as it were, in Christ through participation in the Holy Spirit, toward His own shape. For the divine Paul writes to the Galatians: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ is formed in you." Now Christ is formed in us, the Holy Spirit imparting to us a certain divine form through sanctification and righteousness. For thus, in this way, does the character of the essence of God and the Father shine forth in our souls, the Holy Spirit, as I said, refashioning us unto Him through sanctification. For even the most holy Paul again said: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." And He says that a veil ^C was placed upon the hearts of the Jews, but we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are formed, therefore, into a child of God. But since the name of "child" is in a way common—for it is taken to mean both servants and sons—we say that it is more fitting that those formed under the Law be formed as servants. For there was a spirit of bondage upon Israel, and their slothfulness did not go unpunished for them; for the Law punished them as servants. But if anyone is formed in Christ, he is formed into a son of God, according to the modes we have just spoken of. Therefore, it is necessary to remember both the philanthropy of Him who justifies, and that we have been formed unto sonship and glory, and that we are, as it were, making return to God the Father for what has been done for us by Him. And how this might rightly be done, He teaches, when He says: "And you, Israel, do not be forgetful of Me." For one might forget God by neglecting the piety toward Him, or by falling away entirely. The people from Israel ^D truly did this by worshiping gods that were not gods; and some even now do so, when they draw back from the faith, where

^A their judgment is just, as it is written. That the forgetting of God frequently signifies a falling away from piety toward Him, we shall understand from His own words to the Israelites: "You are they who forget Me, and prepare a table for the demon, and fill the cup for Fortune, and abandon My holy mountain. I will deliver you to the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter." And for precisely this same reason He cried out against the Israelites through the voice of Jeremiah, saying: "Will a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin her breast-band? But My people have forgotten Me days without number." ^B Therefore, forgetfulness may often denote apostasy, whereas memory is the steadfastness of faith, the stability of love, and a constant strength in everything that is pleasing to Him. Do not, therefore, forget Me, He says, but rather remember Me. "For behold, I have blotted out your iniquities like a cloud." By "I have blotted out," He says here, instead of "I shall blot out," as if by dispersing a certain darkness or cloud, I shall remove them. For that He says "I have blotted out" instead of "I shall blot out" is very well demonstrated by what follows: "Return to Me," He says, "and I will redeem you." For how did He blot them out, He who calls to conversion? It is as if they had not yet returned, but would come in their own time, when Christ should shine upon the world, through whom is every remission of sins, and conversion, and the calling to God, through faith in Him, the evangelical manner of life, and excellent good works.

^C "Rejoice, O heavens, because God has had mercy on Israel. Sound the trumpet, you foundations of the earth; cry out, you mountains, with joy, you hills, and all the trees that are in them, because God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified."

One may perceive from this without difficulty that the remission of sins, and indeed the conversion and redemption of all, as something to take place through Christ, was proclaimed beforehand by the holy prophets at those times. For since God and Lord appeared to us, and dwelt among the inhabitants of the earth as man—the true Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, ^D the all-holy sacrifice—then, truly then, the event became the cause of a festival for the rational powers above and in heaven, that is, for the ranks of the holy angels. For they saw, they saw at His birth—His birth in the flesh, I mean—and indeed they said: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." And if it be true—and it is indeed entirely true—according to the word of the Savior, that there is joy in heaven before the holy angels over one sinner who repents, how could anyone doubt that when Christ brings the whole world back to the knowledge of the truth, and calls it to conversion, and justifies it by faith, and renders it illustrious through sanctification, there was joy and a festival among the spirits on high? With the heavens, then, rejoicing that God has had mercy on Israel, and not necessarily only the carnal Israel, but also him who is understood spiritually,

^A the foundations of the earth have sounded the trumpet; that is to say, the ministers of the evangelical oracles. Their sound has been carried abroad everywhere, and like certain sacred trumpets they have resounded, proclaiming the Savior’s glory to all men everywhere, and calling to the acknowledgement of Christ both those who were of the circumcision, and those who once worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. But why do we say that they are called the foundations of the earth? For Christ is the foundation and unshakable base of all things, who holds fast and contains all things, that they may be firmly established; for in Him we are all being built up, a spiritual house, compacted by the Spirit into a holy temple, into His dwelling place; for He dwells in our hearts through faith. But those foundations which are more proximate and nearer to us might be understood as the apostles and evangelists, who became eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, and became a bulwark of faith. For knowing that we must follow their traditions, we shall keep the faith straight and in no way alien or deviating from Christ. For it was said by Him to the ^B divine Peter (when he wisely and blamelessly confessed his faith in Him, saying: "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God"): "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church"; calling, I think, the unshakable faith of the disciple the rock. It has also been said by the voice of the Psalmist: "His foundations are in the holy mountains." The holy apostles and evangelists are most aptly to be compared to the holy mountains, the firm knowledge of whom stands like a foundation for those who come after, not allowing those who have been caught by them to fall into a reprobate faith. The foundations of the earth, therefore, sound the trumpet. But look now at my observation here. For Moses was of a thin voice and a slow tongue. For the law was not audible except through Judea alone. Sound the trumpet, therefore, you who fulfill the embassy for Christ. "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." But He ^C commands the mountains to cry out gladness. Here, again, He calls the foundations of the earth mountains. For the divine disciples were conspicuous and visible, illustrious in deed and word, and most familiar to all everywhere, to whom also the prophetic word spoke: "Get thee up into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion. Exalt thy strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem." He commands these intelligible mountains, therefore, to cry out gladness. From this it is also possible to see the power of the law, and the far more excellent difference of the evangelical preaching. For the law, threatening punishments to those who transgress, and holding out inevitable penalties to those who are convicted, did not cry out gladness, but rather sadness. But the ministers of the evangelical oracles and the dispensers of the gifts from Christ proclaim gladness to the world. For where there is ^D remission of sins, and justification by faith, and participation in the Holy Spirit, and the splendor of adoption, and the kingdom of heaven, and no vain hope of honors which the mind cannot grasp, there is continuous cheer and joy. We say, however, that the hills and the tongue are in them, which are lower than the mountains.

trees in them are those who are defeated by the mountains and are slightly lower, according to the measure of the good life that is in them, as the holy apostles and evangelists are, of course, superior. The hills, then, might be those who have subsided slightly from their glory and are surpassed by the magnitude of their virtue, although these too excel, and are superior to earthly things, and set their minds on things above, and are counted worthy to consider the things on high according to virtue. By the trees in them, which are nourished by them, one might understand those who have believed through them, and have grown, as it were, into a perfect man and have arrived at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. These might also be teachers of peoples and guides of flocks, who, by the intelligible fruits that come from them, restore those who come to them. Therefore, hills and the trees in them proclaim the joy understood in Christ to the foundations of the earth, and they rejoice that God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified. For he was not only redeemed by having the stains of sin wiped away and being rescued from fire and punishment, but he was also glorified, having become a member of God’s household, and having been called His son, and having obtained a brotherhood with Him who is one both by nature and truly the Son, that is, Christ. ^C VERS. 24, 25. *Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord who accomplishes all things. I alone stretched out the heaven and established the earth.* Who else will scatter the signs of the soothsayers and divinations from the heart? Who turns the wise back and makes their counsel foolish, and establishes the words of His servant, and makes the counsel of His angels come to pass?

Most economically, the God of the universe discourses with us also in these matters, and attempts to produce faith in those who have turned to others—those who are, of course, not gods—by showing that He Himself is the generator of the universe, and the steward, and the creator, and the maker of those who are being instructed. Since He was making promises concerning the many and wonderful things which were likely to be disbelieved by some, He usefully, as I said, reveals His own power and preeminence to them beforehand, so that they might understand that whatever He might decide to accomplish in any way, this will run to its conclusion. For what is impossible for Him? What is He not able to do? How could He not be able to redeem, He who formed from the womb, that is, who even called into being and brought into existence those who did not exist before, who accomplishes all things, that is, the steward of the universe, and who arranges and directs each thing according to what seems good to Him? This is always correct. For God would not miss what is most becoming to His own glory. Or how could He not be all-powerful and beyond everything, both mind and word, He who stretched out this vast heaven and established the earth, as the Psalmist also says: «Fun

«He founded the earth upon its stability» ^A. But He who has ascended to this power—or rather, He who is all-power—will surely bring to pass whatever He might will to do, with nothing hindering Him. And when He says, «He who alone stretches out the heaven,» He does not exclude Him who is from His essence, the Only-begotten God the Word—He, I say, through whom all things are and in whom all things are—but rather He signifies that no one at all among the falsely-named gods joined in working with God who is over all. For since they do not exist at all, how could they be received as workers, or rather, as fellow-workers with the creating God? We do not, therefore, say that in these words there is a distinction made regarding the Son who is by nature begotten of Him; but rather that the stretching out of the heaven, or the having of the earth upon unshakeable foundations, became an effect of no other than God.

Having therefore demonstrated through these words His glory, and incomparable ^B excellence, and the magnitude of His power, in what follows He clearly demonstrates and explains who it is that will, in coming times, be the accomplisher of such things. For who else, He says, will dissipate the signs of ventriloquists and the divinations of the heart? For when the Savior of us all, Christ, had not yet shone upon us from the heavens, the violence of the devil’s tyranny was extended over all, and a deep darkness devoured all those upon the earth. For there were—there were, throughout every region and city—altars and shrines, and a swarm of images, and an uncountable multitude of falsely-named gods, and enchantments, and false divinations everywhere, and the impostures and trickery of demons, who feigned that they knew and could proclaim ^C things to come, while they neither said nor knew anything at all. But when the true Light, that is, the Only-begotten Word of God, had illuminated the whole world round about with evangelical oracles, and the mist of ignorance had been dispersed, and that deep darkness had ceased, and those who were wandering had been called to the knowledge of the truth: then, then the signs of the ventriloquists were dissipated.

By ventriloquists, He means the false prophets, or pythonics, who belch forth what they choose from the sense of their own hearts, and yet know nothing of the truth. Regarding such, the prophet Ezekiel also says: «Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart, and see nothing at all» ^D. The signs, therefore, oracles, or pre-announcements given to some by such people through false divination, were dissipated. For the Greek oracles everywhere became silent, and those who were accustomed to lie—the gods of the Greeks—were silenced. And the prudent were turned back, and their counsels were made foolish. By "prudent" in these words He seems to mean the magicians of the Greeks—for they were called "sages" among them—or perhaps those who had attained a reputation for wisdom among them, and were sharp in understanding, and possessed a power and faculty of speaking, and were excellent in volubility of tongue, and were not unskilled in eloquence, but were able to adorn a lie with the elegance of their diction. These we say have been turned back, since their wisdom has henceforth been proven to be unfruitful and useless.

^A For the all-wise Paul also says that the wisdom of the world has been made foolish, clearly by God. But, he says, when the prudent were turned back, and all their counsel was shown to be altogether ignorant and senseless, God and Father established the words of His own Child—that is, the evangelical and saving proclamation which Christ Himself spoke to us—and He proved the counsel of His angels to be true and valid. For angels may be understood as those who fulfill the office of ambassadors in the name of Christ and preach to the world as heralds. Their counsel was good, and an exhortation to all in every place to depart from their ancient transgressions, to be strengthened for deeds of virtue, to cling to better things, to know God who is God by nature and in truth, and to submit their neck to His laws, and in this way to hasten toward salvation and life. Therefore, the words from them are full of all truth; but the ravings of the Greeks were made foolish, having no beauty of truth: for all things among them were false—both prophecy, and knowledge, and the rank of their imaginary gods, a multitude unknown even to those who were themselves being led astray.

He who says to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah: ^B Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the ruins thereof.

It will follow in this way: "I am," that is to say, "Jerusalem, who redeems thee, who brings all things to pass, and who stretched out the heaven." I am, therefore, He says, who says to Jerusalem: "Thou shalt be inhabited." For the Babylonians did take it by force, having ravaged the entire land of the Jews. But they have been redeemed by God, and have cast off the yoke of captivity, for Cyrus—I mean the father of Cambyses, who burned Babylon—allowed them to do this. And indeed, having returned to Judea, they rebuilt their cities and the temple, and they lived in peace. Most cleverly, therefore, does the prophetic word, in saying that Jerusalem ^C will be built, give those who hear it to understand that it will be captured at certain times and will be destroyed. And it does not make the prediction of the things that would happen to them starting from the woeful things, but rather from those about which it was likely they would rejoice greatly; yet in such a way that, as I said, the harsher matters might also enter into their minds and thoughts. When, therefore, God commands that Jerusalem be built, the prophetic oration implies that it must first be captured entirely.

^A And God speaks through the voice of the saints: “I will put in the thirsty land the cedar, and the box tree, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the white poplar.” It has also been said through the voice of the Psalmist concerning the saints before God, sometimes that: “The trees of the field shall be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which Thou hast planted;” ^B and sometimes again: “Then all the trees of the wood will rejoice before the face of the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth.” We do not say that it is the sense-less trees that rejoice; the term would better befit the saints, who, he says, will rejoice when Christ has shone upon the world. For He thus judged the world in righteousness, having justified those who once wandered in the faith, and condemned the destruction of Satan and his angels.

VERS. 27, 28. *Who says to the deep: Thou shalt be desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers. Who says to Cyrus, that he might be wise, and he will do all My will. Who says to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built, and I will lay the foundations of My holy house.*

Israel was led away captive, as I said, in the course of time; for the Babylonians took the land of Judea. But when the seventieth year for the captives had already been completed, and the time for clemency—divine clemency, that is—was at last pressing, He aroused against the Chaldeans Cyrus, the father of Cambyses, who was administering the empire of the Persians and Medes. ^C He took them and released the Jews, having been taught that the God whom they worshipped had prophesied concerning him, that he would be fortified by His protection, superior to his enemies, and thoroughly formidable to those willing to resist, and that he himself would restore the divine temple. That the territory of the Babylonians, however populous, was therefore to be reduced to total desolation, he indicates when he says: “I am He who says to the deep: Thou shalt be desolate.” For here he referred to the uncountable multitude of the Babylonians as the “deep,” and as its “rivers,” the nations that flowed into it—those that were neighboring or held bordering lands, summoned by them for assistance. Furthermore, it is customary for Divine Scripture always to liken the multitude of nations to rivers, the sea, and waters. The inspired Psalmist indeed said concerning the Savior of us all, Christ, and the multitude of nations that has been snared and captured by His voice and words: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory has thundered: the Lord.” ^D For the voice of the Lord, that is, the evangelical and saving preaching, has spread through all nations when it thundered, as it were, over them. For the holy and saving preaching resounded, as it were, throughout the whole world. It is also written again: “The floods have lifted up their voices.” For we say that the holy apostles are named as the “floods” in this passage, whose voices, that is, whose doctrines, have become known to people everywhere. It has also been said somewhere concerning Babylon itself and Nineveh, that her waters are a pool of water. It was therefore God who said to the deep: “Thou shalt be desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers.” He was likewise the One who says to Cyrus, that he might be wise, so that he might administer all things knowingly.

is that God who says to the abyss: "Be desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers." And He it is, likewise, who says to Cyrus to be mindful, instead of acting in all things with understanding and fulfilling all that seems good to him. For this purpose was it to exact punishment from the Babylonians for what they had done, devastating Judaea and burning the holy and divine temple, for releasing Israel in addition to this, and for rebuilding the house, or rather, laying its foundations. For this is a more accurate way to put it. Cyrus had indeed commanded that the temple be raised, adding funds for it, and had laid the foundations. But after he passed from human life, the completion and furtherance of the work were hindered by the envy of certain people under his successor. Yet later, it was finally brought to completion, with God’s consent. We have the exact history in Holy Scripture, and I think it is superfluous to spend long discourses on these things. Nor let any say that the divine word is false because Cyrus, being an idol-worshipping man, did not do everything God willed. For the statement ^B is set forth: "He shall fulfill all my pleasure," meaning, certainly, those things which it is reasonable that God should wish to demonstrate: the taking, I mean, of the region of the Babylonians, the freeing of Israel from bonds and servitude, the raising of the temple, and the rebuilding of the cities of Judaea.

"Thus says the Lord God to my Christ, Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, that nations might obey before him; and I will break the strength of kings, I will open doors before him, and the cities shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and level the mountains; I will shatter the bronze doors and crush the iron bars. And I will give thee hidden treasures, dark, invisible, I will open them to thee, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord God, am calling thy name, the God of Israel. For the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel my elect, I will call thee by my name, and I will receive thee. But thou hast not known me, that I am the Lord God, and there is no God besides me. Thou didst not know me. That they may know from the rising ^C of the sun and from the west that there is none but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none else. I am He who prepared light and made darkness, creating peace and creating evils. I, the Lord God, do all these things."

We say that the most valiant Cyrus encountered this prophecy and rejoiced exceedingly at what was foretold of him by God, and came to such a frame of mind that, even in the cities and regions subject to him, he made proclamation of God’s glory, clearly confessing that He alone was God and Lord of all, who was worshipped by the Jews. The power, or meaning, of the prophecy—that is, of the prophetic declarations—is, I think, very clear. Let us go through each of the things said, as far as is permitted, and let us explain what occasionally appears to be obscure and rugged. For He calls Cyrus "Christ," not as one of the saints to whom that ^D name might apply in a derived sense, as taken from his having been anointed, but because it had been the custom that those called by God to kingdoms

^A even if they were not holy and reverent, were anointed with oil. For we shall find that the holy prophets have said to some of those who were designated for this: "The Lord has anointed you as king over Israel." Cyrus, therefore, was "Christ," or "the anointed one," as king. But the fact that he obtained dominion through God, and was raised to this illustrious glory, he suggests by calling him anointed, that is, called to the kingdom by his anointing and by his suffrage. Hence he says that he has taken hold of his right hand. And this could be a clear sign of his assumption, just as it is said by the saints in the book of Psalms: "You have held my right hand; in your counsel you have guided me." He says he has taken hold of his right hand, so that the nations may listen to him, that is, that they may be subjected and yield to him, and that the power of kings may be broken. For they say there are seven kings subject to the one who is preeminent among the Babylonians. ^B That the cities would open of their own accord, and that nothing would hinder Cyrus as he marched against the strength of the enemy, he demonstrates by saying: "The cities will not be shut. I will go before you, and I will level the mountains," that is, I will make all things bare and flat, and I will prepare them to be easily approached, so that there is nothing that can resist. But even if anyone should come against you, and should meet your forces like a mountain, even this I will level, that is, I will render him wretched and humble and unwarlike. "I will shatter bronze gates, and I will break in pieces iron bars for you, and I will open to you dark, hidden, and invisible treasures." They recount that the Babylonians, after the city was taken, hid and buried themselves in dark caves, especially those among them who were more prominent than the rest; who, fearing death, like serpents entered every cave and crevice of the rocks and hid themselves, but they could not remain hidden. ^C For some pointed this out to Cyrus, who ordered torches to be lit and those who had fled in fear to be dragged out from the dark recesses, and so to be subjected to dire punishments. Others, however, say that he emptied the treasures of the Babylonians which were hidden under the earth. "So you will be illustrious and famous, that you may know that I am the Lord God, who calls your name, the God of Israel, for the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel my chosen one." For I have called you to this, he says, "I, God alone, and I have honored you with such illustrious glory, so that you might be a benefactor to my servant Israel." I have called you, he says, and crowned you with glory. "But you did not know me, that I am the Lord, and that there is no God besides me. And you did not know me," which is as if he said openly: You have not received this such glory from me as a reward for illustrious deeds pertaining to piety: ^D but I have honored you, even when you did not know my divinity and excellence, and indeed when you were not even among those who worship me, but that those who are from the rising of the sun and from the setting may know that there is no other besides me. For because I willed, he says, to deliver my own, even through those who do not know my glory I will bring this matter to pass, that those who are in the whole world may see that there is no God besides me. For I am the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of every nation and race, and if I were to choose,

I turn the hearts of those who are on the earth, so that even if they are not mine, they perform my will, that those who were not mine might be shown to be my ministers. ^A I, therefore, am the Lord God, who fashioned light and created darkness—that is, day and night, or light for the redeemed, and darkness for the perishing. For the former rejoiced as those being delivered from bonds, while the others were in inescapable calamities. I am the one who makes peace and creates evils. And you shall understand this in the same sense as I said just now: peace for the redeemed, but evils—that is, things that cause affliction, or the efficient cause of all evil affliction—for the cruel and savage ones who invaded Israel. For that this matter offended God can be made clear when He says by the voice of the angel to the prophet Zechariah: "I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and with great anger I am angry at the nations that joined in the attack; ^B for while I was angry a little, they joined in the attack for evil." And furthermore, as to the Babylonians themselves: "I have delivered them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy." And we shall understand that it was by the will of God that Cyrus, being bold, exceedingly strong, and using the cruelty becoming to those who are to be punished, leaped upon the arrogance of the Babylonians, when He says, by the voice of Jeremiah, as if to Cyrus: "Sharply invade her and those who inhabit her. Take vengeance with the sword, and destroy, says the Lord, and do according to all that I command you." And in addition to these things: "The Lord has opened His treasury, and has brought out the vessels of His wrath, for there is a work for the Lord in the land of the Chaldeans, for her times have come. Open her storehouses, search her out as a cave, and destroy her. Let there be no survivor of her; ^C dry up all her fruits, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, and the time of their vengeance." The prophet Isaiah himself also said, as if in the person of God, to the Babylonians: "Behold, I will stir up against you the Medes, who do not reckon silver, nor have they need of gold. They will break the bows of the young men, and they will not have mercy on your children, and their eyes will not spare your children"—that is to say, the eyes of the Medes, because their day has come, and the time of their vengeance. Isaiah also said, as it were in the person of God to the Babylonians, that they do not reckon silver, nor have they need of gold; they will not have mercy on your [people], nor will they spare your children.

^D VERS. 8. Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds sprinkle righteousness; let the earth open, and let mercy sprout, and let righteousness spring up together.

It is a customary and familiar practice for the divinely inspired Scripture often to extend its discourse from those things that were done singly and particularly concerning some, to the universal kind and to all, and, as from a bright image of things historically performed, to skillfully lead the mind of those being instructed to more mystical considerations. This also may be seen in the verses that are at hand. For a long discourse has been spent through the preceding

^A pages about Cyrus, the prince of the Persians and Medes, as one who ravaged the land of the Babylonians and conquered it by force, and released Israel from the servitude and the bonds of captivity therein, and founded the temple in Jerusalem, and was stirred up against the Chaldeans, with God himself inciting him, and opening to him bronze gates and shattering iron bars. But this was a particular narrative. For it was only those of the blood of Israel who were to be brought into tranquility and delivered from the toils of captivity.

But now he transfers the force of the meaning to Emmanuel himself, who was set forth by God the Father ^B that he might preach remission to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, that he might rescue from evil those inevitably shackled by the chains of their own sins, and having rendered them free from the tyranny of the devil, might cause those on earth to return to himself, and thus bring them through himself to God and Father. For he has become the mediator of God and men, and through him we have obtained reconciliation in one Spirit to the Father, and he is our peace according to the Scriptures: he himself restored his divine, that is, his own temple, which is the Church. For he presented it to himself as a pure virgin, ^C not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but rather holy and unblemished. Therefore, one may see very well in Cyrus and the things done by him, as in an image, the divine and illustrious benefits divinely bestowed upon the inhabitants of the whole earth. This, then, is the scope of the proposed words. But we will interpret each of the written points in order, as far as we are able.

"Let the heaven rejoice from above," he says, that is, those who tread the path to the city above and hold the bright and admirable dwelling, the angels and ^D archangels, and those beyond them, thrones and dominions, and powers partaking of reason, and those who stand as attendants at the highest seats. We say that the cause of the joy for these very heavenly spirits as well is the turning of the wanderers on earth to God, through Christ, I say, the Savior of us all, and the recovery of sight for the blind, and, to speak once, the salvation of those who were lost. For if they rejoice over one sinner who repents, how is it lawful to doubt that they rejoice and are glad when they behold the world saved? Therefore he says: "Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds pour down justice." We say that the intelligible clouds are the supernal powers, from whom spiritual consolations are sent down like rain, and distill into the hearts of believers: according to what is clearly said elsewhere concerning the Israelites, as if concerning a vine: "And I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon them": or even the holy mystagogues themselves, and those who are on earth, of whom the divine disciples were the first-fruits and the beginning, who, traversing the whole earth, scattered the divine and sacrosanct word, and, as if for some parched and unfruitful land, exhilarating all who are everywhere, and like intelligently irrigating, the cause of spiritual fruitfulness

Therefore, because the Jews were ^A murderers of the Lord, and acted lawlessly against Christ himself, the dispenser of the intelligible streams, God commanded the clouds not to give rain; but to those who believe in Him, they are ordered to descend and lavishly irrigate the hearts of those who approach Him. “Let the earth be opened,” He says, “when the rains have descended, and let mercy germinate, and let justice spring up together.” 18 For it was necessary for the intelligible clouds, as I have said, by irrigating the world under heaven with the teachings of justice, just as if from good seeds, to cause good fruits to grow and bloom. For as the inventor of sin, as it were, held sway over the earth, and through the wise of this world cast abominable and profane seeds everywhere, and there was no one doing kindness—there was not one, but all turned aside, together they became useless, and the whole earth was empty of the fruits of probity and the teachings of justice, like rain that had not yet fallen anywhere—it was subsequently fitting for there to be fruits of piety toward God. By mercy, we mean the charity which is the fulfillment of the law, with the evangelical justice accompanying it, the dispenser and teacher of which Christ Himself has become for us. Someone may also say that mercy and justice, sprouting and germinating from the earth, is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For He has become for us mercy and justice from God and the Father, if it is true that we have obtained mercy in Him, and having received the remission of our ancient offenses, have been justified, and have received from Him that justice ^C which can lead us into the lot of all good things, and through which we are saved. If, however, the earth is commanded to sprout justice, let no one be offended, reflecting that the Psalmist also says somewhere concerning God and the Father, and concerning the Emmanuel Himself: “He has wrought justice in the midst of the earth.” 19 For Christ did not bring His flesh down to us from above and from heaven, but rather was born according to the flesh from a woman, who is one of those things that are upon the earth. When, therefore, it is said to be the fruit and sprout of the earth, you will understand, as I have said, that He was born according to the flesh from a woman, who was assumed for this ministry, though she was one of those from the earth.

“I am the Lord God who created you: whom did I prepare as better, like the clay of the potter?”

He renders here the cause for which, although He is God and Son by nature, He emptied Himself and chose to suffer for us, and deemed the inhabitants of the earth worthy of such great mercy that He poured out His own life as a price, as it were, for redemption, and indeed even endured to take the form of a servant and to exchange the highest glory for the ^D smallness of human nature. Therefore He says, “I am,” which must now be taken for, “I subsist and live,” being true God and Lord of hosts, and

bringing all things into existence, not creating death, but rather creating all things for incorruption. Then, honoring the nature of man, and because no animal on earth can in any way be compared to it, He says, “What have I prepared better than the clay of the potter?” For we have been fashioned by Him, taking dust from the earth, and ^A beautifully formed like a piece of pottery. But the dignity of human nature does not stop here; there is in us a greater gift and endowment of divine craftsmanship, in that we have been fashioned according to His image and likeness, and have been enriched with the character of His majesty, intelligibly beaming within our souls, even if in terms of the flesh we are earth and from the earth. Therefore, man is not a thing to be despised, but rather a creature to be wondered at upon the earth; and so God prides Himself in him. Thus He said to the most long-suffering Job, setting forth His own magnificent works: “Or did you, having taken clay of the earth, fashion an animal, and place it upon the earth as a talking creature?” And the divine David also sings: “O Lord, what is man, that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that you visit him?” Then he recounts the excellence of human nature, saying: “You have made him a little lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet.” Now the all-wise Paul applied some ^B of the aforementioned verses to Christ. Yet it may also be fittingly said of every man of our condition; for there is nothing false in these things.

VERS. 9, 10. *Shall the ploughman plough the earth all the day? Shall the clay say to the potter, What are you doing, for you do not labor, nor do you have hands? Woe to him who says to his father, What will you beget? and to the mother, What will you bring forth?*

The discourse is profound and overshadowed by much obscurity: yet, that you may understand what is profitable and true, I believe it must first be explained in a few words what is the scope of the thoughts. For thus it will be, as it were, palpable ^C and acceptable to the hearers. The God of all, therefore, redeemed Israel from Egypt, and delivered him from the error of many gods and from the deception of demons, bringing him back by the Law given through Moses to the very light of the true knowledge of God. For He taught him to worship one God and to adore one Lord; then, through type and shadow, He wished to lead him up to things yet greater and more perfect, that is, to the things which are in Christ. For the Law was a pedagogue, and it was established until the time of reformation, which was the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ; when, having removed the shadow of the legal precepts and the types in the letter, He introduced the beauty of spiritual and true worship to those who dwell on earth, ^D plainly and openly. But the Jews took this very thing with difficulty, and still championing the types, they resisted Christ, and charged Him with the subversion of the Mosaic oracles, saying now: “If this man were from God, He would not violate the Sabbath”; now with other word-

words, casting them as from a sling. Since, therefore, they treated as unacceptable the proclamation of the Gospel, which raises them from a fruitless shadow to spiritual fruitfulness, He says for this reason: “Does the plowman plow the earth all day?” ^A Foolish ones, He says; the husbandman indeed cleaves the field with plows, but he does not do this forever, nor will he consume the entire time of husbandry with the plows. For he cleaves the ground not that it may merely suffer this, but that it may be receptive to the seeds cast into it, and appear fruitful. Therefore, I formerly tilled and prepared the previously wild and, as it were, uncultivated hearts of you all, having used the Law given through Moses in a certain way as a plow, and like a husbandman cleaving it, I made them fit for the casting in of good seeds. But the sower of every good thing is my Son. Receive, therefore, what is from Him, and do not wish always to love and cherish the plowing Law. For it plowed, as I have said, not that you should remain in it—for what benefit is there in that?—but that you should produce the fruits of truth.

Since, however, we have been transformed and transfigured intelligibly in Christ—some from Greek error to the knowledge of truth and to a holy life, through our Savior Christ; others, indeed, from circumcision to the acceptance of evangelical teachings and to a common worship which no longer has the unpleasantness of types, but rather shines forth with the most becoming spiritual beauty—and this grace of regeneration through water and spirit in Christ has been bestowed upon us and them alike; ^B similarly, also, because the Jewish people rejected and did not receive this grace of theirs (for they resisted, as I said, Christ’s oracles), He says for this reason: “Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing? For you are not working, and you have no hands?’ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What will you beget?’ and to his mother, ‘What will you bring forth?’” I indeed, He says, wish to reform you to better things, and as it were to refashion you for higher things through an intelligible birth, namely, the one which is through water and spirit. But you foolishly resist My decrees. Does, He says, the clay ever rebuke the potter, as though he did not have an artful hand, or as though he did not know in what way it is fitting to form what is in his hands? But even the one about to be born, He says, does he ask his father, “Will you beget?” Now, how is it that you, being like clay in the hands of the potter, and not knowing at all in what way the intelligible regeneration concerning you will be, are not afraid to contend? And why have you not rather known how to yield to Him as artful worker and Father, ^C and to leave the manner of production to Him? That the Jews contended against the Savior’s words which He spoke to them concerning these things, it is not difficult to discern. For He said to Nicodemus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” But he, insulting and recalcitrant, rashly opposed these things which cannot be grasped by the mind, and says: “Can a man, when he is old, enter into his mother’s womb and be born?” ^D

He added to these another mystery: “How can these things be?” What, then, does Christ say to this? “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” ^A It is necessary, therefore, to yield to whatever God says. He Himself knows the way of His own works, and the things fashioned by Him cannot be attacked by anyone who is inquisitive; and those things which surpass the mind ought to be honored and respected by men like us with indubitable faith. Moreover, it should be known that the prophet Jeremiah was also sent into the house of the potter, so that he might see him working: and when the clay had fallen apart, and it was remade into another vessel, God said to him: “Cannot I do even as this potter with you, O house of Israel? Behold, as the clay of the potter, so are you in my hands.” That we are transformed intellectually into a holy and most beautiful life, Paul will declare, saying: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord”; ^B through whom also we are regenerated, possessing seed no longer subject to corruption, but that which is through the living and abiding word of God.

VERS. 11, 12. "For thus says the Lord God, the holy One of Israel, who has made the things that are to come: Ask me concerning my sons and daughters, and concerning the works of my hands command me. I made the earth, and man upon it. I with my hand established the heaven. I have commanded all the stars."

The exposition of the sense of the preceding words appears in these statements. And the meaning of these verses is as follows: If, he says, clay ever rebuked the potter, and accused the hand of the molder as being somehow unskilled or too slow; if anyone concerning those things which are not yet, or are made but are expected to come to pass, has inquisitively asked what kind of future sower of his children his father is: do you also, who shall be my sons and daughters in the passing of time, ask me how this will come to pass, and in what way you shall be my sons and daughters. ^C "Command me" also concerning the works of my hands. "Command," he says, instead of "order," as if to one ignorant of the way of doing things, and do not hesitate to give counsel to God. Therefore, the all-wise Paul is worthy of admiration, and most deservedly so, who has written thus: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” For the Wisdom that is the artificer of all things is in no need of anything at all in those things that are Her own. But there would not even be anything among us that is difficult or impossible for Her. For She who has all-encompassing power can do all things, or rather, She is everything that is power. ^D For the God of all is the Lord of powers, and He alone knows the way of His own works.

^A Since His deeds are beyond investigation and above our reach, and though they are inaccessible to human minds, they are nevertheless known to Him. We surely believe that the intelligible regeneration through water and the Spirit has been given to those who have come to know the appearing of Christ. Since Christ wished to render this grace manifest to Nicodemus, He explained the way of the matter; but he, understanding nothing of what was said, complained of the inexplicable difficulty of the Savior's words. But Him who wished to confirm this state of mind, so that he might receive the miracle by faith, He met with the saying: "We speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen." Since, therefore, we do not comprehend the way of the divine works, and having freed our minds from every doubt, we say to God: "I know that You can do all things, and nothing is impossible for You." Let us not inquire about His daughters and His sons. Nor let us command or instruct Him concerning the works of His hands; but as clay to the potter, let us surrender ourselves and grant that He may work whatever seems good to Him. ^B For He shifts our state without effort to whatever He wills, and He transforms the mind from the baser to the better, and He implants in us a new heart, having rooted out the former one. Indeed, He said something of this sort through the voice of Ezekiel: "I will take away their heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh," that is, tender and compliant, that they may know Me, that I am the Lord. For as we withdraw from every depravity and defilement, and then compose our own mind to desire the fulfillment of what is good, adding to this also the intelligible regeneration through water and the Spirit, we shall be sons and daughters of God. For that all-encompassing power dwells in Him, He demonstrates by saying: "I made the earth and man upon it." But the discoverer and author of human generation, who brought it into being when it was not, how would He be powerless and inept for the spiritual reformation? ^C Would it not rather be possible that by His nod and will, the nature of created things could shift and pass over into any form whatsoever? And why should it seem so strange or incredible if He who established the heaven with His own hand should otherwise form and fashion the mind of man according to His own will? We say, moreover, that the Son is the all-working Hand of the Father, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things. For by the Word of the Lord, he says, the heavens were established. He Himself commanded all the stars, that is, He ordained how each of them ought to be. For the sun is placed for the beginnings of the day, and the moon for the night. But as the Psalmist says: "The sun knows its setting. And God of all set darkness, and it became night." The divinely inspired David sings again, and says: "Yours is the day, and Yours is the night. You established the sun and the moon." Therefore, each of these accomplishes the course appointed to it by an orderly motion, and with measured intervals of hours. ^D Likewise also the rest of the stars, according to the law given to them by God...

both rise at their own times and set. For He Himself, who is God by nature and the maker and Lord of all things, gave the command to them.

VERS. 13. *I have raised him up with justice as king, all his ways are straight. He shall build my city, and he shall turn back the captivity of my people, not for ransom nor for gifts, saith the Lord Sabaoth.*

Some perhaps might say that these things are spoken concerning Cyrus, the father of Cambyses, for the reason that he released Israel and delivered them from the bonds of captivity, and also founded the temple in Jerusalem; but the consideration of the following context will draw the sense and force of the passages not to him, ^B but rather to the Savior of us all, Christ, who has been raised up with justice. For God and Lord has shone upon us, it having pleased God and the Father to gather together in Him all things, both those in the heavens and those upon the earth. He has been raised up, therefore, together with, or through, justice—not justice that is adopted or learned, but as He is Himself in reality justice. It is written also elsewhere concerning Him: *Behold! A righteous king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment* 17*. For the only-begotten Word of God was always King of the universe, together with God and the Father, and He subjected beneath His feet every creature, both visible and invisible. Yet if any man of the earth should fall away and revolt from His kingdom, and should belittle His scepters, because he was in the hand and power of the devil and held fast by the snares of sin ^C, He again subjected him to His own yoke, as one who is the minister and bestower of all justice. *For all His ways are straight.* And we say that the ways of Christ are the evangelical oracles, through which, tending toward every virtue and adorning our own heads with the insignia of piety, we arrive at the prize of the heavenly calling. For these ways are indeed straight, and there is nothing crooked or perverse in them, but they are direct, as it were, and navigable. For it is written: *The way of the pious has been made straight, and the way of the pious is prepared.* For the path of the law is rough, traversing through many types and figures, and is of intolerable difficulty. But the way of the evangelical oracles is level, and has nothing at all rugged or harsh. The ways of Christ, therefore, are straight, and He Himself ^D built the holy city, that is to say, the Church, in which He Himself also dwells; for He dwells in the saints, and we have become temples of the living God, having Christ within ourselves through the participation of the Holy Spirit. He has therefore founded the Church, and He Himself is the foundation upon which we too are built up, as precious and costly stones, into a holy temple, into a habitation of God in the Spirit. The Church is altogether unshaken, having Christ as its foundation and immovable base. *For behold*, he says, *I lay the foundations of Sion, a stone, elect, cornerstone, precious: and he who believes in him shall not be ashamed* 29*. He Himself, therefore, having founded the Church, turns away also his people's

captivity. For He has saved and delivered us, who were oppressed on earth by Satan and sin, and has brought us under his own yokes—yet not with prices, nor with gifts. For as his disciple says: ^A “Not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, have you been redeemed from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, but with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, Christ.” For He gave His own blood for us, and we are not our own, but belong to Him who bought and saved us. Hence, and quite rightly, those who stray from the straight canon of the right faith are accused by the voice of the saints, as they deny the Lord who redeemed them.

^B VERS. 14-16. “Thus says the Lord God of Sabaoth: Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabaeim, men of stature, shall pass over to thee, and they shall be thy servants, and shall follow after thee bound in manacles, and shall worship thee, and shall pray in thee. Because God is in thee, and there is no God besides thee. For thou art God, and we knew it not, the God of Israel the Savior. All those who oppose him shall be ashamed and brought to confusion, and shall walk in confusion.”

Having introduced the discourse concerning Christ, the Savior of us all, and having announced that he will turn back his own people not with prices, nor with gifts, he straightway shows those who are to be called to redemption, it being evident that these are the ones from the Gentiles, upon whom Christ is seen to have shone forth most especially. Yet he says clearly: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel 30.” But upon them, indeed, and first, the divine and evangelical light shone. Since, however, as it is written, “the beloved Israel grew fat, and thick, and kicked 31” (for they killed the Prince of life), hence indeed, and quite rightly, Christ shone upon the herds ^C of the Gentiles; and this very thing we shall find included in the consideration and contemplation of the present words. He names the most superstitious of all the Gentiles, so that the power of Him who calls to repentance might be admired. For just as the skill of those who are expert in medicine is then especially praised when they are able to deliver those suffering from desperate diseases by using their own experience in due time, so also God renders his own transcendent glory more manifest when he causes some who have turned greatly aside, and who have been cast down to the very lowest abyss of baseness and impiety, to recover and to go forth, to desire virtue, and to turn away from evil, and to take up the things which are worthy of praise. The Egyptians, therefore, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians—that is, the Theban cities, to which those called Sabaeim are neighbors and conterminous, that is, the nations of the Ethiopians or of the Indians (having perhaps received their name from Saba, who in former times ruled over their region and land)—“have labored,” he says. They have labored, in two ways in ^D

^A truth it should be understood: for either it signifies that they were weary and intolerably afflicted during the time of error, being subjugated to a cruel tyrant, Satan, and serving the flocks of demons that demanded sacrifices and the very fruits of their own bodies, I mean sons and daughters; or it means that formerly they were terrible and unyielding, and as it were the shield-bearers of ancient error, and relied on every strength so as to cling with youthful vigor to the Greek impiety set before them. But after Christ shone forth, and cast the true light into the hearts of all, and arose as a certain mental and intellectual Morning Star, they “have labored,” that is, they have not remained ^B persistent, as they were before, but they have slackened as it were from their former tension, yielding the victory to the preachings concerning Him; nor was the statement concerning them in any way false or mendacious. For thus writes the all-wise Paul: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” For the land of the Egyptians is seen to be full of august and holy churches. Altars are everywhere, and flocks of monks, and companies of virgins, and the labors of asceticism with great delight, and a race toward virtue, and great readiness, and a fervor that cannot be broken; and the worship of Christ extends and propagates itself even unto the Sabaeans themselves, that is, the Indian nations. For it is possible, yes, possible to see among them also, and at the emporia of Ethiopia ^C—that is, in the land of the Thebans—the same things as in Egypt. These Egyptians, therefore, he says, and the Sabaeans, being high-minded men—that is, conspicuous and most well-known to all, and to no one unknown for having been preeminently worshippers of demons and shield-bearers of diabolical inventions—shall pass over to you; that is, having first abandoned error, and leaping out from the pit of destruction, they will come to you and will be your servants, that is, the ministers of your will. For this name of slavery applied to God signifies this. “They shall follow you bound in manacles.” For they shall go, he says, in your footprints, led by the hand by the evangelical laws toward all things that are to be done, and they shall traverse the path of an excelling life ^D bound in manacles, that is, in the bonds of charity and with the fetters of an ineffable piety toward God, so that they might be able to say: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” These, he says, shall worship you and shall pray in you, because God is in you, and there is no God except you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior. For every knee bows to the Savior of all, Christ, and every tongue confesses, and every end of prayer comes unto Him. For in Christ we ask for requests from God the Father, and in Him we pray, confessing that even in Him God is, and there is no God except Him. But He also taught us to think this, when He said to the divine disciple, that is, Philip: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet you have not known me, Philip? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? He who has seen me has seen my Father. I and the Father are one.” Therefore, that which is said, “God is in you,” and, “There is no God except you,” mean the same thing and denote the same, which is that

^A “the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

But if someone should wish to transfer the power of the things said to the person of Christ alone, in a skillful manner, we say that, according to the voice of the divine Paul, “all the fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ.” For he himself was God, not divided into two sons, but the Word, as it were, having his own flesh, in which he is said also to have dwelt. Therefore, God is understood even in this, just as the soul in the human body; yet there is one Son, who is God. Indeed, it must be known that we say the flesh of the Lord is enlivened by an intellectual soul. Therefore they confess: “And in you is God, and there is no God except you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior.” This is the voice of those repenting, and of those already moving away from error and darkness toward the light, and having passed over into the knowledge of the truth, and having recognized him who is by nature and truly God, the Creator and Lord of all. They call him the Savior of Israel who took on humanity and became flesh, believing him to be the same one who long ago was the ally of those from Israel. Or rather, you will understand Israel to be not only the one according to the flesh, but also if there is anyone else able to see God. For Israel is interpreted as “a mind seeing God.” And a person sees God with the eyes of the intellect when one looks upon the character of God and the Father, that is, the Son, by whom he says those who have resisted will be ashamed, and will walk in disgrace. For they who have not accepted faith in him, but have fought against God, as indeed the Jews did, all will be put to shame, defeated by his immovable hand; they do not inflict any injury at all upon his majesty, but they create destruction for their own heads, and draw upon themselves disgrace and ignominy. For they will be a spectacle to all flesh, according to the voice of the prophet.

VERS. 17. Renew yourselves unto me, you islands. Israel is saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation. They shall not be confounded, nor shall they be ashamed even forever, says the Lord Almighty.

He again expands the prediction of the calling and conversion of the nations; and he does not stop only at those of the Egyptians, and the commerce of the Ethiopians, and those very Sabeans themselves, but by these words he has indicated that all who are everywhere on the earth will be called, and there will be a manifestation of holy Churches everywhere. For, as it were, the all-powerful Word of God calls out to the Churches to be renewed unto him, which he also deigns to call “islands.” For just as the islands in this sea are always buffeted by the onsets of the waves, but remain unmoved, and sometimes receive ships that are in danger, and by extending a harbor free from those waves, save them from the billows: so the Churches of Christ lie

^A in the very midst of the turmoil and confusion of life, and endure countless temptations, yet they possess an immovable stability in Christ, and they receive those who flee from the useless and vain agitation of the affairs of this world, and who have been driven, as it were, by tempests caused by Satan and sin. Islands, therefore, are to be compared to them. For this is what the divine word intends in these passages. Be renewed, therefore, unto me, it says, O islands. Indeed, the name of the Church signifies the multitude of those who have believed in Christ—ministers and peoples, pastors and teachers, and those who are subject to them—but all these were renewed in Christ, at the times, clearly, when God the Lord shone upon us. For then, then we were also renewed unto a newness of life, of habits, and of customs, and moreover of worship. For we have cast off the aging brought on by sin, and have become a new creature in Christ, instructed by His laws and pedagogy, and led toward a noble and desirable manner of life. And indeed, the most wise Paul writes to those called by faith and says, at one time: ^B "Put off the old man with his troubles and desires, and put on the new, renewed after the image of him who created him." At another time again: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." And he says that our old man also is crucified, that we may put on the new through conduct and life in Christ. We are renewed, therefore, also in the manner of worship: by some, who follow Jewish rites, the shadows and figures being left behind. For they shall no longer use the sacrifices of oxen and frankincense, but rather spiritual and immaterial [worship], as if it were a matter of most fragrant incense; others, drawn and ensnared from the multitude of the Gentiles, shall migrate toward better things, and toward those which are incomparably superior and preeminent. For they shall no longer have the ancient darkness in their minds, but, the divine and intelligible light being introduced, they shall be holy and true worshippers. ^C For they will cease from worshipping the creature and matter which is mute and devoid of sense; and they will desist from divinations and sorceries, and will prune away and cut off the absurdity of Greek buffoonery and the error of demons, and, to speak once for all, having abandoned what is fouler and withdrawing from detestable practices, they shall be adorned with every virtue and be skilled in the dogmas of truth. This renewal, therefore, concerns us. For it is a new creature in Christ. The God of all things promises, in fact, that He will save with an eternal salvation all those, I say, who are according to the flesh, and who are numbered among the sons of Abraham by promise ("For not all who are of Israel are Israel, but the children of promise are accounted for seed"), so that they may be free from both disgrace and ignominy, and that perpetually. For, having cast off profane sin in Christ and unloosed the yoke of diabolical tyranny, ^D and having cast aside corruption along with them, and having put on incorruption, we shall be in these things forever. For sin shall no longer insult us, nor...

shall Satan again subject us to his former greed; but he shall be undone and perish utterly forever, trampled underfoot in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory and dominion to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION III

^BVERSES 18, 19. "Thus saith the Lord who made heaven, this God who showed the earth and made it, this one separated it. He did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek vanity.' I am the Lord, speaking righteousness and announcing truth."

Having foretold the arrival of Christ, the Savior of us all, and having signified the time of salvation, at which all, abandoning the darkness of ancient ignorance, will move on to the light of true knowledge of God, He here attaches a necessary exhortation, explaining and setting before the eyes of both Jews and Greeks ground from which they may know most clearly that He Himself is God and the Creator of the universe, and that there is no other besides Him. Hence He says, "Thus saith the Lord"—and not simply "Lord," for there are many in heaven and on earth who have acquired this name by misuse—but He Himself, who by nature and truly exists as that which He is called, and who, from His glorious deeds, possesses this glory, which is neither counterfeited nor false. For He is, he says, the Lord who made heaven. He performs a great deal for the demonstration of supreme nobility and omnipotent pre-eminence, by making the heaven, and showing the earth, and establishing it. For He Himself distinguished it—that is to say, that which was of old hidden in the abyss, invisible and unformed, He rendered visible and fashioned. For He distinguished it; for he said according to the faith of the Mosaic books: "Let the water be gathered into one congregation, and let the dry land appear." ^C It appeared, therefore, out of the waters, and He separated that which was submerged and altogether unworked and uncultivated, setting aside for it barriers and gates for the abysses, and separating it very well from the waters. And that He brought it forth for this purpose, usefully and necessarily—not so that it might only be seen, but so that it might have inhabitants, specifically those formed from it, just as He evidently declared that heaven has the holy angels, when He said, "He did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited"—it is shown that it was displayed as a vehicle and, as it were, a home for those walking upon it, that is to say, for us. If, then, we were brought forth by Him into existence, how is it not true to say that we have surely been created for this very reason: that we might worship Him and Him alone, and, recognizing Him as the Creator of the universe, might offer up hymns of thanksgiving? "I, therefore, am, and there is no other besides." For if He is the one who made heaven and showed the earth, and did not make it in vain, but for the sake of being inhabited; ^D if Satan is to subject us again, he will perish once and for all, having been destined to be trampled underfoot in Christ, through whom and with whom

^A what other than Him could be understood to exist as God? Or who will equal Him in power and glory? Or who will draw near at all? And why should not every mortal nature be vanquished by this glory, fortitude, and wisdom, so great and surpassing all things? There is no one else. He alone, therefore, and apart from Him, no one at all can by nature and truly be understood as God.

Yet someone may indeed say at some point: "Who has known His aim and purpose?" or "Who can say whether He perhaps also wishes others to be crowned with the glory and calling of God, or Himself alone?" He therefore defends Himself and says: "I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth: I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek what is vain." I have set forth laws, He says, concerning these things, not speaking in a hidden place, nor seeking to be veiled, but clearly and openly. For the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, in the likeness of fire; there was darkness there, and a tempest, and smoke, and the piercing sound of trumpets. For all the people stood by, with ^B Moses as mediator, and laws were delivered by God, not commanding Israel to seek anything vain—that is, an idol or so-called worship—but, on the contrary, commandments warding them off from such things. For it was said to him: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve, and there shall be no other gods for you besides Me. And you shall not make to yourself an idol, nor the likeness of any thing, whatever is in heaven above, and whatever is on the earth below, and whatever is in the waters under the earth." Therefore it is said to him: "I am the Lord." Similar to this is what He says not once, but very often: "I am God alone, and the Lord of all, speaking righteousness and announcing truth." By righteousness, as I think, He means the law: for the law is the dispenser of righteousness; but by truth, the teaching and institutions of Christ. For there is in the law the form of truth, and the mystery of Christ is hidden in the shadows. For Moses wrote ^C concerning Him. Therefore, in the fact that He speaks righteousness, there is announced together with it also the power of truth, if indeed it is true that the law was a shadow, and in it were the form and appearance of truth.

VERS. 20. "Assemble and come, take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations. They have not known who carry the wood of their carving, and pray as to gods those who do not save."

The apostate dragon led away those who are upon the earth from intimate conjunction and fellowship with God, and having removed them from the true knowledge of God, he scattered and cast them into seduction and the error of many gods; and by precipitating them into the ways of wickedness, he rendered the net of his own perversion inextricable and inextricable for them. But Emmanuel appeared, leading out those who were fettered with might and strength, and He endured death in the flesh for our sake, so that, as the evangelist says, He might gather together into one the children of God who were scattered. For those whom he scattered as a savage and fierce

wolf, Satan, leaping upon them, Christ, the good shepherd, who laid down his soul for the sheep, has gathered together. ^A Therefore, he signifies this very thing saying: "Gather yourselves together," that is, be bound together by one faith and unity of mind. Gather yourselves to God, the ruler of all, through sanctification and justice. Come near, you who are still far off and separated by reason of sin, and because you have been carried away into a most shameful and detestable disposition of mind. We say that those who have wandered are far from God, but they shall also be near through faith in Christ. Indeed, the all-wise Paul addressed those who have run toward this: "But now you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ." And again ^B concerning the same: "He came and preached peace to us who were far off, and to those who were near." For this reason it was said through the holy prophets to those who were still far off: "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." Come, therefore, he says, and consult together, you who are saved from the nations. But "consult," he says, stands for: "Let the things pertaining to conversion be carried out by you, not unadvisedly nor inconsiderately, but with admirable prudence." For through faith understanding increases: since there is no doubt that if we condemn our error and folly, and turn away from our ancestral vanity, we hasten and run to God, receive the light of true knowledge of God, and subscribe with the calculation of sound judgment—incomparably—to better things. Consult, therefore—that is, be wise—you who are saved from the nations. For he commands those full of foolishness to return to a wise mind, to an admirable and irreproachable understanding, through which one might be able to behold the power and glory of the God who rules all things. ^C But they did not know this, he says, that is, they could be understood as being completely senseless and full of the utmost ignorance. "Who carry their wooden sculpture." And "carry" in this context refers to those who lift up, so that they ascribe to it a glory worthy of God, even though it is wood, and sculpted by them. Then they pray as if to gods, which do not save. They are, therefore, ignorant, and not far from those who are worshiped in terms of insensibility, those who worship their own crafts, and seek help from matter that lacks sense, and attribute the name of God to things fashioned by themselves. Let them hear the lyre of the Psalmist mocking them and crying out: "Let those who make them be like them, and all who trust in them."

If they declare, let them draw near, that they may know ^D together, who made these things heard from the beginning. Then it was announced to you: "I am God, and there is no other besides Me; there is no just and saving one besides Me. Turn to Me, and you shall be saved, you who are at the end of the earth."

Setting terrible and manifold snares for the inhabitants of the earth, and digging the pits of destruction, the wicked demons

and those who impiously plunder ^A and rob the glory of the Divinity, and attach it to their own heads, those most audacious ones, strove to forge and construct the machines of their own error. For they always feigned that they knew the future for a certain time, and that they could announce those things to those wishing to learn. Therefore, oracles throughout regions and cities, and false divinations were everywhere, and omens, and a multitude of impostors, as it is written, speaking from their own heart, and guessers, and necromancers, and those who utter a voice from the earth, and ventriloquists, and those who divine from flour, and to speak once for all, the world was full of lies and impostors. Neither, therefore, were they endowed with any true knowledge of future things, but with vanity, trifles, error, and deceit, and there was nothing else besides. Hence the God of all says: "If they announce, let them draw near, that they may know at the same time." For if they can announce, He says, let them come that they may know at the same time, that all of them, gathered together into one, may declare it openly. For, as I said, the oracles were separate and scattered here and there. And some went in one direction and some in another, and they worshipped the lying, impure demons. If they can truly announce, He says, let them all be gathered together in the same place, and let them know something of the future, "who has made these things known to the hearing from the beginning?" For who of the superstitious, or of those false prophets among them, or of those who sat by the oracles, ever knew and announced that Christ would shine forth in the world at the appropriate time, and that the cloud of error would depart, and the darkness of the falsely-named knowledge would be dispelled, and that it would shine forth to the inhabitants of the earth as an intelligible Day-star, as brilliance and day, as the Sun of Righteousness, Christ? But not even, He says, did those demons who pretended to possess knowledge of future things announce these things from the beginning, nor did the ministers of their vanity. For none of the poets or rhetoricians among the Greeks mentioned such illustrious things. Who then has made these things known to be heard from ^B the beginning? Then it was also announced to you, that is, from the beginning. And they were announced by no other, but rather by Me, who know all things, and have predicted them before they came to pass. For I spoke those things to you through Moses and the holy prophets, who transported my words to you as ambassadors. "Therefore," He says, "I am God, and there is no other besides Me. And I am just and a Savior." For the wicked demons are unjust, and pernicious, and bloodthirsty, thrusting the inhabitants of the earth into destruction. The God of all is just and a Savior, succouring the oppressed, loosening those snatched away from bonds, and those bound by the chains of sins, enlightening the darkened, strengthening the weak, raising up what lies low, and turning back what is wandering. Hence He says: "Turn to Me, and you shall be saved, you who are at the ends of the earth." From these words one may very well clearly perceive the magnitude of the grace through Christ, passing through to all who are on the earth. For salvation and grace were contracted, passing through Moses to one nation, that of Israel: but grace spread through Christ as though to the ends

of the earth. For the entire earth has been caught by faith in Him for salvation and life.

^A *Vers. 23, 24.* I am God, and there is no other. By myself I swear, if justice shall not go forth from my mouth, my words shall not be turned back: for to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by God, saying: Justice and glory shall come to Him.

Having taken away the falsely-named worship, it was necessary for the truth to come into the midst, and for the light, as if the darkness had been driven away, to shine forth from every side. Hence, most deservedly, after this useful and fruitful exhortation, He declares His own glory. For, "I am God," He says, "and there is no other." Then He signifies the power of those things which are expected to come through Christ, confirming by an oath that the justice spoken through Him—that is, which is in Christ, given freely by faith to all those living upon the earth—and His words, namely, the evangelical and salvific preaching, will shine forth in all places and at all times. For I think that this, "They shall not be turned back," indicates this: for when God promises, and speaks that something will be completely and utterly, who is able to hinder it? Therefore He swears by Himself. For men swear by one greater, and an oath is to them the end of all contradiction for the confirmation of a matter. But God, who is above all things ^B and excels the rest in incomparable excellence, swears by Himself. For He could not swear by another, since He Himself, as I have said, is the highest of all, and has been raised to the highest pinnacle in both nature and glory. What, therefore, is this that has been announced? The salvation and conversion of all nations everywhere. "For to Me," He says, "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by God." And that the knee shall bow to God, and His name be used by all in an oath—what else could this be understood to mean, but the conversion and recognition of all, and the revelation of their union with Him? For those who return to God through conversion no longer bow the knee to unclean spirits, nor do they carry them about with their tongues as gods (for they do not swear by anything as if it were God), but, recognizing one who is by nature and truly God, they submit their necks to His yoke, and they bow the knee, and if they might wish to swear legitimately, they make mention of Him and Him alone, saying that "All justice and all glory shall come to Him," that is, it befits Him and Him alone. For it is necessary that all the most excellent of works, and everything that is uttered in words unto the glory of God, should be attributed by us to Him alone. ^C

*Vers. 25, 26.* All who separate themselves from the Lord shall be put to shame: they shall be justified, and in God shall all the seed of the sons of Israel be glorified.

The statement is true on both counts, and the divine word cannot lie. For it will surely follow upon those

who wish to withdraw from union and fellowship with God—clearly a spiritual one—that they must be put to shame; but for those who love Him with a pure heart, it will come to pass that they shall be glorified in Him and shine forth in righteousness. These, however, would not entirely be the Israel according to the flesh, but rather the seed of the sons of Israel. ^A And to make the thought of what is proposed clearer and plainer, we say this: For the only-begotten Word of God shone upon the inhabitants of the earth, in a form like ours—that is, having become flesh, according to the Scriptures—and He came preaching remission to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, sending away the broken in remission, and healing those who are broken in heart, and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. And although the Jews especially ought to have accepted faith in Him, since they had obtained the law as a pedagogue and the holy prophets as mystagogues, they did not do this, but rather recoiled from Him as if from something foreign, and have become filled with shame, having an indelible sin which brands them with ignominy and infamy. It is true, therefore, that "All who separate themselves from the Lord shall be put to shame." For they heard Him say: "Amen, amen, I say to you: Unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." But those who knew His advent were justified through faith, and gained a great and everlasting glory, being revealed as partakers of the Holy Spirit, ^B and enriched with the brilliant dignity of adoption as sons. For He gave them the power to become children of God, and in addition to this they have acquired a hope worthy and not subject to calumny; for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. ^C These might be understood to be the "seed of the sons of Israel." And we say that the holy apostles and evangelists are called "sons of Israel" in these words, for they were of the Jews according to the flesh; and furthermore [we call] "sons of them" those who were called through them to the knowledge of Christ. The divine Paul addressed those who believed through him: "For if you have ten thousand pedagogues in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel." We also find on many occasions other of the holy apostles calling "little children" those who have been caught by them for the salvation which is in Christ.

Chapter 46. Verse 1. Bel has fallen, Dagon is crushed, their carved images have become like beasts and cattle.

^D The prophecies which occur through the holy prophets concerning Christ, the Savior of us all, are always followed by necessary predictions of the things accomplished by Him, or of those things rightly administered in the world. But the most distinguished achievement of all was the removal from the midst of Satan and the unholy and man-slaying multitude of demons. When, therefore, He had shone upon the world, the vast and execrable darkness of sin—which Satan had instilled into the minds of all so that they might not behold the light of truth—was dissipated. Furthermore, the tyranny of the demons and the mockeries of idolatry have ceased. Therefore, of necessity, as I said, this discourse follows for us on these matters

^A and says that Bel has fallen. Now this was the idol especially of the Babylonians, though it was honored in other cities as well. They say that Bel is the one who among the godless Greeks is mythologized as Saturn, whom they also hold to be cruel, bloodthirsty, and a lover of human slaughter. It is recorded in Greek histories, in fact, that one day some people slaughtered three hundred strangers to him, holding an abominable festival, hateful to God and men. And so the God of all, being indignant at such dire impieties, says through one of the holy prophets to those accustomed to doing such things: "Sacrifice men, for calves have ceased." For he says that the unclean demons had arrived at such a point of inhumanity and savagery that they thirsted insatiably for human blood and rejoiced in the destruction of those who were caught. For perhaps a bleating calf on the altar, or incense and sheep, did not suit them; rather, they longed more for the slaughter of men. "Bel has fallen, therefore," he says—that is, he has been brought down—"and the power of the demon has fallen," so that henceforth, having cast off the yoke of their perversity, those who were once bound by his wickedness might run toward God with a free and unimpeded will.

^B "Dagon also is broken." This was a deity of those dwelling along the seacoast, which is adjacent to Judea—I mean the Ascalonites and the Gazaeans, whom the divine Scripture frequently names the Philistines, or "foreigners." And the prophet says very skillfully, "is broken," as if from the event that befell him in time past; and now the prophet continues the discourse concerning him. For we have learned in the Books of Kings ^C that the foreigners once took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon; then, the worshippers of the demon having entered, they saw the idol fallen before the ark and having suffered such a breaking as to lose its hands, feet, and head. Most gracefully, therefore, as if from the event that truly happened in that time, he says, "is broken." We say, however, that the prophetic discourse indicates to us the abolition of idolatry, having named Bel and Dagon as if from the part. For it was not possible to make mention of all the idols on earth, but as for a part, he designates the whole again.

"Lift them up, bound as a burden for the weary, and for the hungry, one who is faint, and not strong at the same time; they will not be able to be saved from war, but they themselves have been taken captive and put to shame."

^D This discourse demonstrates again to us in these words the uselessness and vanity of things fashioned by hands, and, as if from the games performed for them, it reveals the worship of those who are led astray to be full of shame. For they used to perform for the demons cold and sometimes ridiculous festivals; then, bringing the images out from the shrines and placing them upon the priests, some would go around in the squares, staggering and as if drunk, as if carrying a very heavy burden, and wherever that which they wished to carry would weigh them down, there they would be pressed and carry the burden

But the unwise and herd-like populace, and weak-minded women, would exalt the inanimate material with praises, even though they saw some semblance of a man or a woman, and they truly thought that the one being carried by those who dedicated it was of an intolerable weight. ^A The divine discourse, therefore, here mocks the great stupidity of the Greeks, and says regarding the images that were in the shrines, which they heedlessly wished to adore: "You carry them bound up as a burden to the weary, hungry, and, in short, powerless." For these things, as I said, certain priests would feign as they carried around their handmade objects. But by what reasoning the weakness of those things that were being adored may be discerned, it is possible to see from many other things. For wood or stone or some other matter is the composition of idols of this kind. ^B But since it was necessary to demonstrate this from the most pertinent matters, he brings them into the remembrance of their future captivity—by the Babylonians, I mean, which they actually suffered—when, having abandoned the fulfillment of the law and the worship of the one and natural God, they turned to all the most hostile things and bowed down to the works of their own hands, and, as it is written, they offered sacrifice even to the host of heaven. Whence, therefore, will the weakness of the feigned gods be apparent? They will not be able, he says, to escape from war, but they themselves were led away captive. For when a city or region is captured, if there are any gods of gold and silver among them, they are seized before all other things by the destroyers, whereas it would behoove them, if indeed they were gods, to come to the aid of their own authors and to declare themselves superior to the hand of the enemy. What profit, therefore, is an idol, because they carved it, according to the word of the prophet, and formed it as a molten image with a deceptive appearance, if it can neither help itself nor others? For how could something of this kind come from wood and stone?

"Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel, who are carried from the womb and instructed from infancy even unto old age. I am, until you grow old. I am. I will sustain you. I have made, and I will be lenient; I will take up and I will save you."

^D The discourse is again woven most artfully and proceeds in an orderly and composed fashion. For after he had made mention of war, in which it happened that an infinite multitude of men and women perished, and the region of the Jews was reduced to a great scarcity of men, for this reason he speaks as though to one house, as though to a remnant, and as a relic of barbaric cruelty: "Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel." This discourse would have brought no small utility to the hearers, if indeed they had been wise and weighed what was in their interest. For sad and intolerable things, when they are announced beforehand, one may easily evade, avoiding the causes of the incursion; but when they have arrived and are, as it were, leaping upon one, how could one repel them? He calls them therefore "remnant," all but shouting that they will be consumed by war and will be booty for the bar-

- ^A barous cruelty, if they do not desist from such foul pursuits. That the minds of the Jews were indocile, and that the meditation of the Law was of no use to them, he shows, saying: "Who have been carried from the womb, and instructed from infancy even to old age." For from childhood to their old age, they were exercised in the sacred and divine Scriptures, yet they derived no benefit, and as if they had been deemed worthy of no admonition at all, they fell away into apostasy from God. But yet, he says, even if a long time has been spent by you in fruitless exercises, and I see you to be most inept at learning, I shall not desist from my innate placability; but I manifest myself to you thus and say: "I am," that is, I live and subsist, not as one having a beginning of generation or foreseeing an end, but as the same always, and similar to myself, and again until you grow old, I shall be the same. For old age does not befall me as it does you, but I am living and all-powerful. And I brought about the calamities that befall you from war, calling those who have ignominiously defiled my glory to punishment by a holy and righteous judgment. Nevertheless, I will release, that is, I will remit, and, having forgotten all injuries, I will restore you who have labored. I will take up and save you. For I who gave you into the hands of enemies will again receive you into favor and will loose you from the bonds of captivity. And so, as with a manifold medicine, he heals the hearts of those who have acted wantonly against Him, and who out of excessive ignorance have slipped into things which were not permissible, partly by threats and partly by good promises. For his aim and purpose is to save what was lost, and to snatch from the hands of the devil what has wandered. ^B

Vers. 5-7. "To whom have you compared me? Contrive, you who have wandered, who contribute gold from the purse, and weigh silver in a balance; they place it on a pair of scales, and having hired a goldsmith, they have made hand-made things, and having bowed down, they worshiped it. They carry it upon their shoulders, and they go. But if they place it in a spot, it remains, it will not be moved; and whoever shall cry out to it, it will not hear, it will not save him from evils."

He reproves those who worship idols as being insolent and of narrow mind, and for transgressing against the divine and supreme nature itself. ^C For as much as lies in them, they drag down and cast into inanimate matter the transcendency of His glory—to which it does not pertain—while they transfer it to their own handiwork and figments, and then entangle their own wretched heads in the ultimate penalties. "To whom, therefore," he says, "have you compared me, who am preeminent in nature over all things, and raised on high by incomparable excellence, and superior to all mortals, the creator of all things, king and lord at the same time?" And it is likely indeed that God wishes to signify something else when he says to those who have wandered: "To whom have you compared me? Look and contrive, you who have wandered." For he says: "Contributing gold and silver, then, having hired a goldsmith, they fashion the form of a man, or a woman, or, if I may say so, of a wild beast, or a beast of burden, and give the name"

^A of God immediately to the statue fashioned by them. Consider then, he says, to what have you likened me? For it is either to a man or a woman, or even to wild beasts or irrational animals. Furthermore, how is this thing not beyond all impiety? Devise something by way of a defense; absolve yourselves of the crime. But you will not find a supporting argument for this. For since you bring down the nature that surpasses all things to the level of beasts and cattle, what words will you use that could suffice to ward off the force of the charges? That the crafting of idols is nothing other than vanity and meanness of thought, he strives to show; hence he speaks quite precisely and incisively. For they gather, he says, silver and gold from the purse, and place it on a scale and in an equal balance, with each perhaps contributing, so that in all fairness, he who contributes more might be more favored and inclined toward by the one who is being fashioned. ^B One might say, I suppose, that if they were in need of funds, they would not have a God at all, and if the world did not abound in craftsmen, there would be no one at all to be worshipped by them. But they reach such a depth of ignorance and unintelligent reasoning that, while they exist before their gods and honor those who were born after them—and whom they themselves make, while it were fitting that they (the gods) rather be seen as their makers—and while they are the masters of the material, they take it for a necessary use and seek salvation from it. They carry a burden, having lifted the gods onto their shoulders, though they see them to be motionless and such that they are led away wherever anyone might please, and they offer prayers to them. Therefore, when you see them accepting your prayers, then expect there to be help. But if you see that they are devoid of both sense and motion, what benefit, pray, do you expect from them? ^C You are suffering from a similar disease, and you perceive nothing, being extremely stupid and senseless.

VERS. 8-11. Mementote horum, et ingemiscite; pœnitentiam agite qui errastis, redite ad cor. Et mementote priorum a sæculo, quoniam ego sum Deus, et non est præter me: annuntians prius ultima, antequam ipsa fiant, et completa sint. Et dixi: Omne meum consilium stabit, et omnia quæcunque cogitavi faciam, vocans ab oriente volucrem, et de terra remota. De quibus cogitavi locutus sum, adduxi, creavi, et feci. Duxi eum, et faustum effeci iter ejus.

Seeing them held fast in error, darkness, and grievous ignorance, God again takes pity on them and commands them to look back, as it were, and apply the eye of the mind diligently to the facts, so that they may be transferred from evil to better things, and keeping in everlasting remembrance the prayers addressed to them, they may repent: not doing this merely with the tongue, simply and lightly, but from the heart itself and from the soul. For such a manner of repentance is most worthy of praise and true. Therefore, he bids them perceive from the things he has already foretold that the making of idols is a ridiculous thing. But he persuades them to understand that he himself is the God of all, from the dignities most worthy of God that are by nature inherent in him. For, he says, I am God, and I possess the knowledge of all,

and whatever happens before it comes to pass, I signify it, and I bring what has been promised to its end. And I affirm in regard to this, that everything that I have planned has been completed, and there is nothing at all of those things that seem good to me that would remain unaccomplished. This is also a matter of great weight for the demonstration of strength that is insurmountable and worthy of God. For men, although they may have obtained the highest honors and hold supreme powers, propose to themselves some goal and plan to achieve something, yet it does not always and in every way go according to their wishes with the things they have devised. For very many things happen in between, and they have an influence that is difficult to resist. But God, the Lord of all, if he should wish to do anything, what could there be that would stand against him and oppose him? ^A For what the holy God wills, who shall scatter? And his high hand, who shall turn back? Therefore, for the demonstration of the fact that he is God by nature and truly, it might rightly be said by him: My every counsel shall stand, and all things whatsoever I have planned, I will do. ^B Then, in addition to this, he says: Calling a bird from the east, and from a land far away, concerning the things I have planned; and with this will follow, I am. Moreover, we say that the bird called from the east and from a land far away is the Babylonian, who, after burning up the entire land of the Jews, captured Jerusalem and shook the temple in it; then, having removed many from among both the common and the illustrious people, he carried them away from the land that had reared them, and deposited them in the land and country of the Persians, having cast upon them the yoke of captivity, harshly and intolerably. ^C And this will be clear to you from the things which God said to the blessed prophet Ezekiel. It is as follows: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, tell a story, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord Adonai: The great eagle, long of wing, full of claws, which had the will to enter into Lebanon, and took the choice parts of the cedar, plucked the tops of its tenderness, and brought them into the land of Canaan, and placed them in a walled city; and took of the seed of the land, and transplanted it into a sown field, in much water, and set it to be gazed upon. And it became a weak vine, and small in size, so that its shoots appeared in it, and its roots were beneath its own earth. ^D And it became a vine, and made shoots, and extended its branches. These things, then, God said to the blessed prophet Ezekiel. But because the discourse was difficult to grasp, and the power of the thoughts was not very clear to the listeners, he himself clarifies it again, saying: And I said to the house of Israel that provokes me: Do you not know what these things are that I have said? When the king of Babylon comes to Jerusalem, and will take its king, and its princes, and will lead them to him to Babylon. And he will take of the seed of the kingdom, and will make a covenant with him, and will bring him under a curse, and will take the princes of the land, so that the kingdom may be weak, and never rise up, so that he may keep the covenant, and strengthen it. For as we read in the book of Chronicles: After the holy city had been captured, Sedecia

^A a captive, and some of the prominent men bound with him, were carried off to the land of the Chaldeans by the Babylonian; and these are the elect trees of the cedar. "I, therefore," he says, "am he who calls a bird from the east." Concerning those about whom I have planned, I have spoken and brought them, and I have not lied. I have proclaimed beforehand that they would come at their appropriate times, but what was spoken has been brought to pass. "I have created," that is, I have prepared evils, clearly those that cause suffering, and the calamities of war, for those who have defiled my glory and have turned aside to inanimate idols. ^B And I acted; I led him, and I prosperous his way. For it was not the work of his hand to conquer Israel, if indeed God was his helper. But rather, I, who preserve and set over affairs, made his path prosperous so that he might exact punishment from those who made little of piety toward him, or rather who had turned away entirely, to such an extent that they attributed the honor and glory fitting for him and him alone, to wood and stone.

VERS. 12. 13. Hear me, you who have lost heart, you who are far from justice. I have brought near my justice, and the salvation that comes from me I will not delay. I have given salvation in Sion to Israel for a glory.

Behold, he again promises them salvation, and does not allow them to lose heart, lest, ^C overcome and cast down by boundless sadness, they should be far from the hope that they might be saved, should they choose to repent. For they were heartless, wandering astray, and the saying concerning them was true. For with what kind of mind were those affected, who worship what they themselves create, and by offering veneration to wood and stones, seek salvation from them? Yet even so, God bears with them, and pities those who have been deceived, and has compassion on those who have fallen, and by good promises leads them back to understanding, and bids them wake up, and tells those who are far away and removed from the lot of justice—that is, from God—to come to him. It seems, moreover, that with the promise of a particular salvation, he is at the same time weaving in a demonstration of that which is universal and most general. For he had saved from the land of the Chaldeans those who had been carried off into it in the rank of captives, and this, I think, it will be allowed to call a particular ^D aid; but the most general one was that through Christ, which was proclaimed to those of old, not long before it was to be exhibited. For, "I have brought near," he says, "my justice; and the salvation that comes from me, I will not delay." We say this is similar to: "For yet a little while, and he who is to come will come and will not delay." And salvation is given in Sion to Israel for a glory. By these words he names as Sion that which falls under the understanding, that is, the Church of Christ, in which we all who count ourselves as the intelligible Israel receive his salvation in glory. For just as the Jew is not he who is so only by the flesh, but if anyone is considered worthy of circumcision in the Spirit: so also Israel is not [merely…]

those who are born from the blood of Israel, but truly as many as have possessed a mind that sees God, who have been placed as children, and according to the promise of Abraham, we say that these are the truer Israel.

CHAPTER XLVII. VERS. 1-3.

Having said that "I have given salvation to Israel for glory," and having promised to them redemption from captivity, he mentions and narrates clearly thereafter in what manner and how she was plundered, and he describes the state of the captives as if on a tablet. For just as he had pre-announced to the land of the Jews the upheaval from the war of the Babylonians, detailing each thing minutely and saying: "Because the daughters of Zion were lifted up, and walked with an outstretched neck, and with winks of the eyes, and with the moving of their feet, at once dragging their tunics and at the same time sporting with their feet, God will also humble the rulers of the daughters of Zion; ^C and the Lord shall uncover their shape in that day, and the Lord shall take away the glory of their apparel, and their ornaments, and their braided hair, and their baubles," and what follows these; then he adds to these: "And it shall be instead of a sweet smell, a stench; and instead of a girdle, thou shalt be girded with a rope; and instead of the golden ornament of thy head, thou shalt have baldness because of thy works; and instead of the mid-purple tunic, thou shalt gird thyself with sackcloth"—so he points out now also what the daughters of the Babylonians, that is, the co-habitants, are about to suffer, with the Persians and Medes dragging them around, saying: "Descend, sit upon the ground, O virgin daughter of Babylon." "Sit on the ground" signifies, become humble, you who have labored under the very grave disease of pride. Descend, therefore, from the mountain—from an elated mind to humility, from glory to infamy, from delights to misery, from boundless wealth to extreme poverty, from liberty into servitude, and, to speak once for all, from all the most pleasant things to the worse and most miserable. "Sit in the darkness," namely, that which arises from the incurable calamity. For sharp grief, poured into the soul, subjugates the mind, as does an onslaught of unexpected labors, and fear falling upon one like a burden. That the time of her ancient prosperity has passed, he shows by saying: "Thou shalt no longer be added to be called soft and delicate." For it is not unlike that the women of the Chaldeans lived splendidly, and were studious of elegance, and did not hold the art of artfully painting themselves in low esteem. Nay, they even report that they—as those knowledgeable in the drawing up of battle lines—[scintillated in gold and stones].

and were not impatient to be distinguished by a display that invites admiration, even in the very thick of battles. You shall no longer, He says, be called delicate, but you shall undergo, whether you will or not, the misery of servitude. You shall grind flour; you shall be seen naked of the coverings for your head, with your hair—which formerly had been variously braided—now being carelessly disheveled on every side. ^B Uncover your gray hairs; and this may be a clear sign that those who have captured you have descended to such cruelty that they will not spare even an old woman. Uncover your shins; cross the rivers. Your ignominy shall be uncovered, and your disgraces shall be made manifest. For as for those who have once been taken into captivity and led away from their homeland into the land of the victors, it is necessary to cross the intervening rivers on foot, keeping their legs bare, of course, and no longer bearing before their eyes that modesty which befits women, but by necessity even exposing the secret parts of the body to many. One may also speak in another way of her ignominy and disgraces being about to appear, since she who has now been taken, and is about to be in a sad state, had formerly lived softly and delicately, and had flourished in every kind of happiness. He further says: "I will take justice of you," that is, I will take of you that which you deserved to suffer. And what that may be, He has pre-signified through another of the holy prophets, saying: "As he has done, so will I do to her." And again: "As you have done, so shall it be to you; your recompense shall be returned to you upon your own head." It has been said elsewhere, too, concerning everyone the habit of whose life is to sin: "Woe to the wicked; evil things shall befall him according to his works."

VERS. 4. *No longer will I deliver you to men, says He who has delivered you, the Lord Sabaoth; the Holy One of Israel is His name.*

Another discourse is inserted here, and this, as it were, to Israel; and God promises that they shall never again fall under the hand of their enemies. For He says that He had mercy on those who had paid penalties worthy of, and as it were equal to, their sins, and who had even been punished beyond what was just. ^C For He said somewhere concerning him: "O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, because her humiliation is fulfilled; her sin is pardoned, because she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins." Therefore, He says, He who has delivered you, the Lord Sabaoth, to whom also the name is the Holy One of Israel, has said that henceforth you shall not be delivered to evil and unmerciful men—that is, to those who had conquered because God was angry, and had left Israel void of mercy and love, having seen them turned to apostasy and moving with unbridled impulse to do things that are condemned by His divine laws.

*Sit, pricked with sorrow; enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; you shall no longer be called the Strength of a kingdom. I was angered against my people; you have defiled my inheritance. I gave them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy; you have made the yoke of the elder excessively heavy, and you said: I shall be a princess forever.*

^A You did not consider these things in your heart, nor did you remember your final end.

He shows that He always uses a just measure, inflicting upon some punishments that correspond equally to their transgressions. For the crimes of the Babylonians were very many, and Scripture writes of them as having great cruelty and inhumanity; it also shows them to be arrogant and foolishly confident in their own strength, so much so that they believed that a change for the worse would in no way ever happen to them. ^B Therefore, He says, when you undergo captivity, then you shall sit pierced with remorse. To be "pierced with remorse," He says, is equivalent to "having understood," albeit too late, and especially concerning yourself; accept then this dizziness. For He says that incurable evils pour, as it were, a sort of darkness over the mind, and like dust they fall into the soul. Therefore, He says, you shall no longer be called the Strength of the kingdom. For Babylon was so named, as it possessed a multitude greater than could be counted, and a most belligerent force, and one sufficient for resistance, if indeed there were any to oppose them and to lead out armies against those who held authority among them.

Then, He explains the reason why the things brought from divine wrath were inflicted upon the Babylonians, saying: "I was provoked against my people, you have defiled my inheritance. I gave them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy." He seems to say something similar through the voice of Zechariah, saying: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy, and with great wrath I am angry at the nations that conspire against them, for I was angry only a little, but they conspired for evil." ^C For God sometimes chastens out of love, and those who have become unheeding of admonition, and who have raised a proud neck against Him, He shifts through labors to a more tractable state, either by bringing the hand of enemies upon them, or by inflicting other griefs upon them. For just as fire or iron often heals the most difficult wounds, as they cannot endure the balance of salves, in the same way, I believe, our God, who is a lover of virtue, when He sees a soul rushing with unbridled impulse toward the rocks, and tenaciously clinging to the ways of worthlessness, heals it with sharp pains.

But there are some who, having been invited into the order of those who exact punishment, ^D flare up with grievous and uncontrolled anger, and go beyond measure and fairness, and intolerably burden those who are subject to them. It is then a very grave thing, and God is provoked against those who are accustomed to doing this. We must, therefore, refrain from such evil; and even if some pay penalties by God's chastening, let us gaze toward mercy and placability, knowing well that the Chastener is greatly incensed if the punishments are inflicted by us immoderately. Therefore, He says, you did not have mercy on the aged, and although you took them not by your own strength, but by my granting, you became harsh and savage in spirit; and, what is still more grievous, you have proceeded to such arrogance as to think and say that you would possess an empire that would not end, and power that would not...

^A be shaken. But then, he says, these things happening to you, you did not think it worth your while to keep in mind, nor did you receive into your memory, the things that were at the end. And what were these? The captivity, clearly, and the misery brought upon her by God.

VERS. 8-10. *But now hear these things, O delicate one, who sittest, who art confident, saying in thy heart: I am, and there is none other; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know bereavement. But now these two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day: widowhood and childlessness shall come suddenly upon thee, in thy sorcery, in the strength of thy enchantments exceedingly, in the hope of thy wickedness. For thou hast said: I am, and there is none other. Know that the cleverness and the fornication of these shall be to thee for disgrace and confusion.*

He discourses as if with some wicked and wanton woman, who lives delicately and loosely, and is intent upon elegance. But we say this: there were very many among the Chaldeans who were magi, whom they also called wise men, by whose counsels and false prophecies the Babylonians did everything. For, pretending to have an exact knowledge of future events, they would prophesy nothing sad to the rulers of the land, but rather those things by which they saw their hearers would be pleased. One must consider, therefore, that when Cyrus was threatening them with war and was already bringing forward a hostile force, these men ^B were surely always present among them, speaking falsely and saying that they would immediately and very easily prevail over him, and would overcome their enemies, and would rule over them as they lay defeated. So much for them. But now hear, O delicate one [that is, learn the truth from me, O delicate one]. By these words he rebukes and attacks the way of life of the Babylonians, as being too loose and lax. For they were effeminate, anointed with the most fragrant ointments, using varied attire, and valuing the elegance of adornment very highly, so that the art of beautifying was held in high esteem among them, and there was a contest for beauty. She is called "delicate" for this reason. He also calls her "sitting," meaning "reigning" over those who were near, or rather, even over nations far away. She was also "confident," that is, relying on an infinite multitude of warriors, so as even to say: "I am, and there is none other." For she thought that there would be absolutely no other compared with her. But she was frustrated in her hope, and went astray from the truth. For Cyrus was roused, and brought the Persians and Medes ^C against them. And she scarcely realized, through this experience, that there was another stronger than she—the territory and land of the Persians and Medes, clearly—by whom she was made a widow and childless, even though she had never expected to suffer this at any time in the past. For she was widowed, being deprived of her king, who was delivered to death there; and she became childless, being bereft of the multitude of her warriors, consumed by the swords of those laying her waste. Therefore, widowhood and childlessness came upon her. "These things," he says, "shall come upon thee in thy sorcery, and in the great strength of thy enchanters, in the hope of thy wickedness." Since, he says, you had an evil hope in your sorceries and enchantments, therefore you have become both childless and a widow. For, lifting up your eyebrow in pride, and in your soul ^D

with [incantations] and charms, on account of this you have become both childless and a widow; for lifting high your eyebrow, and possessing a mind full of arrogance, you assumed ^A yourself to be better and more valiant than all other regions. For you said that there is no other. Know then that the wisdom of these, and your fornication, shall be to you a disgrace. I have already said that they called the magicians, that is, the prudent ones, wise. Know then, O Babylon, says He, that the wisdom of the magicians, or rather of the false prophets, and of the enchanters, and your fornication in addition to these, shall be a disgrace to you. For you have fallen under the hand of the enemies, because you trusted in these things, from which it is impossible to derive any benefit, except that you will only be put to shame for having placed a vain hope in them. Does He speak here of the fornication of the Babylonians? It is not, I suppose, altogether of the bodily kind, but rather of that wanton and unbridled departure from ^B God. For the land was full of graven images and, as with full sails, was carried away by the seductions of demons.

VERS. 11. *And you said in your heart: I am, and there is none other; and destruction shall come upon you, and you shall not know [it]: a pit, and you shall fall into it. And misery shall come upon you, and you shall not be able to be cleansed; and destruction shall come upon you suddenly, and you shall not know it.*

He accuses it again of arrogance, and because it had completely turned its own heart away from being willing to know that among men nothing is firm, and that it depends on the divine will whether those who are on the earth exist or not; but since they could not endure to know this, they attributed to their own heads the ability to accomplish everything, and whatever they were able to perform for their own prosperity, such people admired, and having placed as it were a cane ^C of reed beneath themselves, they would be broken, for they fall unexpectedly, and they mourn over a destruction beyond their expectation. Since, therefore, you said in your heart: "I am, and there is none other," the bitter end of such terrible arrogance shall overtake you. "Destruction shall come upon you, and you shall not know it," that is, your divination regarding this shall be of no use to you. For you shall suffer things you did not know, and a bitter and unexpected calamity shall happen to you. "A pit shall come, and you shall fall into it"; it is similar as if He were saying, a terrible and inescapable evil. For to those once cast down into a pit, if it happens to be deep, it is sometimes impossible to escape. And "misery shall come upon you, and you shall not be able to be cleansed; and destruction shall come upon you, and you shall not know it." For the magicians could not know what was to come at all; but as they were prophesying to find favor and speaking from their own heart, according to what is written, they saw that the end of what had been expected ^D had happened, contrary to their predictions.

VERS. 12-15. *Stand now in your incantations, and in your many sorceries, which you learned from your youth, if you might be helped. You have labored in your counsels: let the astrologers of heaven stand and save you, they who contemplate the stars, let them declare to you what is about to come upon you. Behold, all shall be burned up like stubble in the fire, and they shall not deliver their soul from the flame; because you have coals of fire, sit upon them: these shall be your help, you have labored in your exchange from your youth; humanity has wandered within itself, but to you there shall be no salvation.*

^A He mocks and, as it were, ironically derides the vain superstition of the magi, and demonstrates that such a way of life is altogether useless. For, he says, when your warriors are gathered, and Cyrus is opposed to you, and the hostile phalanx prevails against your arrows, your shields will be weak, and the skill of archery will be of no avail when the riders of horses fall along with the infantry and their mounts. "Stand in your incantations," he says, "and in your many sorceries, which you learned from your youth, if you can be helped. Rouse," he says, "the magi against those who besiege you, those skilled in the ordering of battle, try your cold incantations; but you will not be able," he says. "You have labored in your counsels": he says "you have labored" in place of "you were weak and debilitated in your sorcerous counsels." For the counsels of the magi, which seem to be wisdom, have helped you not at all. But if you think that my word has strayed from the truth, let those who observe the heavens stand and save you: let those who watch the stars announce to you what is to come upon you. ^B This is another order of triflers, besides, I say, the magi and the enchanters. For certain people among them pretended to know the risings and settings of the stars and to measure the motion of each, where they are, and whence they come: and they claimed that through this false discipline they attained the knowledge of future things. Therefore, if they are not mere babblers, and if the stars that occupy the firmament act for them in the order of prophets, let them speak the things that are to happen. But they would not be able to say, he says, for they shall be to others like stubble, the work and fuel of fire, and no one of them shall escape. Then, in a way mocking the Babylonian as one who is deluded, he adds and says: "You have coals of fire," that is, hot and burning men, of whom the discourse treats, "when you sit upon them." And this sitting might signify rest. These will be your help; for if you should choose, he says, to acquiesce in the lying deceits of the magi and the empty trifling of others, you will find much help from there. Then again he addresses her: "You have labored in your exchange from your youth." Again, "you have labored" must be understood as "you were weakened." For having departed from God and migrated toward departure through bowing down to the deceits of demons, and this from your youth, you have become weak and vulnerable. For you were not enriched by the protection of Him who alone knows how to save, and who is the Lord of hosts. He adds to these that "Humanity has wandered within itself, but to you there shall be no salvation"; it is similar to saying: many men have wandered in a human way, offending God with a tolerable departure, either by descending toward carnal things or by laboring under some other kind of malady. But you have progressed to such a degree of impiety that no place is left for your salvation. For always, grave transgressions are followed by an equal penalty. ^{C D} CAP. XLVIII. VERS. 1-3. Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, remembering, not with truth, nor with

righteousness, and holding fast to the name of the holy city, and relying on the God of Israel: The Lord of Sabaoth is his name. Former things I have already announced, and they have come forth from my mouth, and it was heard. Suddenly I have acted, and it has come to pass.

Having finished his discourse regarding the Babylonians, he shifts the power of his warning again toward those of the blood of Israel, seeing that they had turned away entirely, and, as with slackened reins, had been borne away into apostasy. For after the death of Hezekiah, who had managed the throne of the kingdom, Manasseh, who was born of him, became a most impious man, and was carried away in every way by the deceits of demons. He proceeded to such a depth of wickedness, baseness, and impious deeds that he filled the holy city with altars and statues, and in the divine temple itself, ^B he set up an abomination—that is, an image made to take the place of God. Consequently, the God of all indicted Jerusalem in these matters, saying thus: "What has the beloved one done in my house, committing abomination? Shall prayers and the flesh of holy things take away your iniquity from you, or shall you escape by these things?" And again elsewhere: "According to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you set up altars to sacrifice to Baal. Why do you speak to me? All of you have dealt unjustly, and all of you have acted impiously against me, says the Lord." And when Jeremiah was falling down and raising up prayers for the sake of Israel, God said: "And you, do not pray for this people, ^C and do not ask that I should show them mercy, and do not approach me for them in supplication or prayer, for I will not listen. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers kindle fire, and their wives knead dough to make cakes for the host of heaven; and they have poured out drink offerings to strange gods, that they might provoke me to anger." For as I said before, Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, worshipped the host of heaven, and he wished to count as worthy of every word [of influence] sorcerers, false prophets, enchanters, and augurs, and he sacrificed to idols even one of his own children. Therefore, God of all wished to bring back to the light of truth Israel, who had slipped into such baseness and impiety, by frequent warnings. ^D For this reason, he granted them the word of consolation very often, so that, having opened the eye of their own understanding and having delivered it from demoniacal mist, they might at least, even if late and with difficulty, be able to see who is the Creator and Lord of the universe. Hence he says: "Hear these things, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from Judah." Very aptly does he make mention of the nobility of their fathers—in their conduct, I mean, and their way of life—for the shaming of those who have lapsed. For they were, indeed they were, of them as far as the flesh was concerned; but they were alien and stood far from their integrity, endowed with other habits and a different mind, having only the naked name of them, but in mind they dissented from those whose nobility they boast. Moreover, it is vain...

for them to make this a matter of profit, as our Lord Jesus Christ clearly showed. For the Jews, ^A priding themselves greatly on the splendor of their fathers, and making their virtues a matter of boasting, foolishly said: "We have Abraham as our father." But He said to them: "If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham." Therefore, the name is not sufficient for the power of nobility for those who are descended from glorious fathers, unless they should become imitators of the brightness that was in them. He puts them to shame, therefore, by saying that while they are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth from Judah—that is, have sprung from the seed of Judah—they are in no matter whatever like them. ^B Furthermore, He rebukes them for swearing by the name of the Lord the God of Israel, and for performing the precept of the law (for He says: "By His name you shall swear, reaping the fruits of the oaths"—though not in true or just matters, but in false ones, contrary to the prescription of the law); and thereafter for the fact that they clung to the holy city and were established in the God of Israel. For they wished to lift their eyebrows on high because they inhabited the city named after God. For they heard the sacred ministers chanting in the divine temple concerning Jerusalem: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." ^C The Lord Himself also makes mention of this, saying that no one ought to swear by his own head, because they cannot make one hair white or black, nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. For they swore by Jerusalem, calling it, as I said, the city of God. They also relied upon Him, saying that the Lord of hosts was their strength. But it was necessary for those who had supposed that matters stood thus not to profane the city of God with altars and sacrifices, nor to be implicated in the errors of demons, nor to stir up against themselves Him in whom they trusted, but rather to gladden Him with good pursuits and to offer to Him the solidity of piety as a kind of sacrifice. ^D "But hear these things," He says. What are these things? "The former things I have already announced; they went forth from My mouth, and were heard. I did them suddenly, and they came to pass." For because, as I said from the beginning, Manasseh, the enemy of God, having gathered together from all sides those called conjurers and soothsayers, was always inquiring what was to be, and being carried away by their trifles, thought that they knew this manifestly, for this reason the God of all says: "I announced the first things to you, and they were not announced by any other of the falsely-named gods; but they went forth from My mouth, and it became audible to you; and I did them suddenly, and they came to pass," that is, even if

you did not expect that they would reach their completion, yet you know, through the things themselves and by the test of experience, that I have both acted and it has come to pass. ^A It seems he refers first to the misery brought upon them by the war, when they were taken from their homeland and, having accepted the yoke of bitter slavery, were carried off to the land of the Persians and Medes. For the second thing that happened to them after that was the calamity brought upon them by divine wrath from the Babylonians, which has already been described by us in a great many words.

“I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. And I have announced them to you of old before they came upon you; I have made them audible to you.” ^B

In these words, He reveals the incomparable gentleness of the supreme Nature, and how much mercy He exerts toward men, even if they have been accustomed to offend Him. For He possesses a clemency equal to His own glory. And just as His immense excellence surpasses and, as it were, towers over the measure of mortal things, so also is He incomparably humane. For see how, although He knows Israel to be hard, and to have a neck that is arrogant and unyielding—so that it appears to be even an iron sinew, hard, that is, and inflexible—and a bronze forehead—that is, shameless, and having rejected all modesty ^C and shame—He nevertheless proclaimed to him the things that were to be, and made them audible before they came to pass. And He did this not in vain, but because they had an heart impatient of admonition, He made the prediction and mention of sad things, so that, perhaps being for a little while broken by these terrors, they might withdraw from their monstrous and most abominable life, and might turn themselves to seek what is better, and, abandoning the accursed and most abominable false worship which they rendered to falsely-named gods, they might choose to worship the one God, who is such by nature and in truth. For those whom persuasion does not turn away from wicked undertakings, fear sometimes makes them desist, even against their will. Indeed, the divine David seems to ^D intimate something of this kind to us, chanting and saying to the Savior God of all: “With bit and bridle You will constrict their jaws, of those who do not approach You.” (Ps. XXXII, 9.)

“Do not say that the idols did these things for me, and do not say that the graven and molten images commanded them for me. You have heard these things, and you have not understood; and I have made new things audible to you from now, which are going to come to pass. And you did not say: ‘Now they are happening, and not long ago’; neither in former days have you heard them. Do not say: ‘I know them.’ You did not know, nor did you understand, nor from the beginning did I open your ears. For I knew that you would act treacherously, and you will be called a lawless one from the womb. For the sake of My Name I will show you My wrath, and I will bring My glorious things upon you, that I may not destroy you. Lo, I have sold you, not for silver; and I have rescued you from the furnace of poverty. For My own sake I will do this for you, because My Name is profaned, and My glory I will not give to another.”

In the words of the prophet Jeremiah we find that when the Babylonians had one day stormed the holy city, laid waste all Judea, and carried off Israel captive, the...

^A women who were left behind desired to go down into Egypt with those of Israel who had been preserved, even though the prophet resisted them, urging them to remain at home and clearly explaining the reason why. Against this, however, they cried out in reply: “Since we have ceased to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, all these evils have come upon us.” For they thought, even after suffering the capture, that because they had offended the falsely so-called gods and were bereft of their protection, they had fallen under the feet of their enemies. For this reason the prophet Jeremiah also said to God: “Lord, thine eyes are upon faith; thou hast scourged them, but they felt no pain; thou hast consumed them, but they refused to receive instruction.”

“Since, therefore,” He says, “I have declared things to you before the events occurred, do not say again, ‘My idols have done these things for me.’ What have they done? Manifestly, they have brought about that state of being caught in the calamities of war. It was not because of their wrath that you were led away captive, nor was it because you spurned their protection that they brought upon you this inevitable punishment. For they are carved and molten images.” And He further says, “Do not say to yourself, ‘The idols have commanded me,’ meaning, they have threatened, that is, they have announced beforehand that I would suffer such evils. You heard these things from me, and you did not know, that is, you did not understand, nor have you become wise. For this is what we say it means to understand in truth. For it was the task and duty of understanding, and the fruit of admirable prudence, to turn away from those things which had been predicted and not to await the sorrowful end, but to escape all wrath and punishment. And so I have declared to you new things from this time forward, which are going to come to pass. For predictions regarding things which had not yet happened, nor taken place, were made by God. Do not say, therefore, that you did not hear them long ago or in former days; for I predicted them from the beginning. Do not say, ‘I know these things,’ meaning, of course, through the false prophets and vain talkers. For you neither knew these things, nor did you understand, nor did I open your ears from the beginning; that is, before these words of mine were spoken, I did not make this known or testified to you through another: but I have brought about the end of those things which were predicted. For I knew that you would act treacherously, and you shall be called a transgressor from the womb.”

Since it was fitting that for those who had chosen to be treacherous and to act impiously, and this from the womb (for they were taught from childhood to serve foreign gods), there should be imposed punishments worthy of them. “I have shown you my wrath for my name’s sake, but I will bring my glorious deeds upon you, that I may not destroy you.” For it was necessary for Israel, having shown contempt and having reached the height of every kind of wickedness, and having no regard whatsoever for the honor due to God, to have the wrath shown to them; yet, in order that we might again perceive the greatness of the humanity that is in Him, it was worthwhile for unexpected things to be mingled with the sorrowful, so that they might not be destroyed. For He saved them from the hand of the enemies, and when they had fallen into the snare of punishment, He rescued them again and loosened the bonds of captivity, so that He might not utterly destroy Israel. “Behold, therefore,” He says, “you have sold yourself, not for silver,” that is, not for the sake of money. For I have sought nothing of that kind from you,

nor have I been in need of any worldly things—neither calves, nor sheep, nor slaughtered goats. But because you sinned, and were slothful regarding the honor and glory owed to me by you. Nevertheless, even so, I delivered you, He says, from the furnace of poverty—for you were enslaved to the Babylonians. But the evils of servitude are inevitably followed by the condition of being in want of every good thing. “For my own sake I will do it for you, because my name is profaned.” For those who took them captive thought that, even though God was willing to save them and was their protector, they had still conquered, and had overcome the one being helped without His consent. My name is therefore profaned, He says, because they have such opinions about me. “But I will not give my glory to another.” Now, the glory of God is to save, and to show mercy, and to be able to rule over all things, and to be able, without labor, to accomplish whatever He might choose to bring to fruition. ^B

VERS. 12, 13. “Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I call. I am the first, and I am for eternity; and my hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has established the heaven.”

He calls them back again to a remembrance of the honor and glory that had been given to them, and, furthermore, of His compassion and love. For they were deemed worthy of the highest rewards, they who alone out of all the nations were called to a relationship and intimacy with Him, and who had become His portion and lot. Indeed, the divine Moses once addressed the people from Israel, speaking thus: “Behold, the heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you out of all the nations to be His people.” And again: “When the Most High divided the nations, when He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God; and Jacob became the Lord’s portion, His people; Israel was the lot of His inheritance.” It was fitting, therefore—it was fitting that those who were so honored, who had obtained a glorious and chosen name, who had been enrolled into the portion of God, and who were enriched by the privilege of being among the chosen, should not decline toward things that are not lawful, nor choose to grieve the Benefactor, the giver of all honor to them, and the provider of such exquisite and most desirable blessings. But the wretched ones, thinking of none of these things, were stuck fast in the mire of idolatry, and, abandoning the true God, they worshipped the elements of the world. Yet even so, He pities them again; for He calls them to obedience: “Listen to me,” He says, and commands them to perform, even if late, that which it would have been better to perform in the beginning, so that they might possess their prosperity unshaken, and so that they might set a foot outside of punishment, and loosen the bonds of the slavery that had been brought upon them. But since they bowed down to the host of heaven, and, abandoning the Creator, attributed worship to things brought into the light by Him, He initiates them once again into mystical principles. For as the blessed Paul said: “Whereas you ought, by reason of the time, to be teachers, you again have need of someone to teach you the first principles of the divine oracles.”

That He Himself is “He who is,” and is before all things, and possesses a boundless existence, being God by nature, He demonstrates, saying: “I am the first, and I am unto eternity.” For who could be conceived of as prior to the First? ^A Just as no principle could be conceived of as prior to the true and first Principle, so no one else could be conceived of as prior to the First. Therefore, the God of all things exists always, before all things, and unto endless ages. For he who has no beginning, in what end shall he ever terminate? And this much regarding the divine glory. But the swarm of falsely named gods, or the elements of the world, can neither be considered first, nor can they continue to exist in the same way and manner unto eternity. For the stars, the sun, and the moon, and in addition to these the heaven itself, were brought into being and had a beginning and an origin, and will at length even cease to exist. Nor is there anything to be seen in them which is not altogether and entirely subject to the glory of the divine and immortal nature. That this discourse does not stray from the truth, He shows shortly after, when He says: “My hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has established the heaven.” Then how shall that which has been made contend on terms of equality with Him who fashioned it? How shall it vie for glory with Him who created it? He demonstrates, therefore, that it is most absurd, and indeed bears the marks of every impiety, to choose to worship the creature rather than the Creator, and to forsake Him who is always and First, in order to bestow the name and dignity of true Divinity upon things made in time, and to grant this to the works of their own arts. ^B For they worshipped what their own fingers had made, according to what is written. Now God and Father names the Son His own hand and right hand. For thus we find Him called very often in the divinely inspired Scripture. Indeed, the divine Moses also said: “Thy right hand, O Lord, has been glorified in power; thy right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemies.” And the blessed David: “Let thy hand be strengthened, let thy right hand be lifted up.”

Vers. 14. *I will call them, and they shall stand together, and all shall be gathered, and they shall hear. Who has announced these things to them?* ^C I desired, He says, when they were gathered together, to pose a question, so that they might clearly identify whom they consider to have truly been the foreknower or predictor of those things which were brought upon them unexpectedly—namely, the calamity which arises from war. For no one of the false prophets is seen to have announced these things beforehand. For they pretended to call upon God, and to labor, and to be inspired by the numen of demons. But there was no foreknowledge of future events in the impure spirits, nor in the inanimate materials which have been fashioned into gods. Therefore, none of the imaginary gods has announced anything at all. But I have revealed each detail carefully through the holy prophets: yet, ^D when it were possible to escape the evil and

^A to be carried outside the snare, you have been drowsy, awaiting the experience of these evils as a true witness to my words. What need, then, have you of sorcerers? What profit is there in false prophets? What knowledge could you gain from the workshops of those who are accustomed to observing omens? These men occupy the precincts of idols and, sitting by unclean altars, sell for the cheapest of coins the lie that springs from their own hearts as if it were from God; and they belch forth to those who approach them what they imagine to be true, for the sake of a handful of barley and a morsel of bread, according to that which was spoken by the voice of Ezekiel.

"For your sake I sent to Babylon, and brought down all the nobles, and the Chaldeans whose cry is in the ships." ^B I have spoken, I have called, I have brought him, and I have made his way prosperous. Draw near to me and hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; when it was happening, I was there; and now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.

He does not allow them to be carried away again toward false notions. For it was very likely—since they possessed a mind lacking instruction, and were far too easily inclined toward apostasy and vulnerable to the snares of error—that they might think and say that these evils of war happened to them because of the anger of the so-called gods, because the worship due and owed to them had been overlooked and their sacrifices were no longer offered. And yet, if those people had been merciful, and if, when they suffered such things ^C again, they believed these punishments were measured out from anger, there would be nothing illogical in this reasoning. For we have shown before that when Jerusalem was ravaged, and when the whole of Judea was burned down together with the divine temple, the women who were left behind stated that these things had happened to them because they had ceased sacrificing to the Queen of Heaven. In order, therefore, that they might know the Redeemer, and might attribute their salvation not to alien gods, but rather to Him, He says most clearly that, moved by His mercy and love, He brought to completion that which was most desired and prayed for by them: namely, that the seed of the Chaldeans—since they had captured them and shown every kind of inhumanity, and had entangled them in these most grievous evils—should be removed. "Because of the love I have for you," He says, "I was impelled to accomplish what was pleasing to you in the land of the Babylonians, so as to remove the ^D seed of the Chaldeans." Then He speaks concerning Cyrus, that it was by His nod that he was brought and called to lay waste the land and to take it by force. "I have brought him," He says, "and I have made his way prosperous. And I have spoken these things from the beginning," He says, "and not in secret; I have proclaimed them clearly through the holy prophets: Thus says the Lord to my anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations might be obedient before him, and I will break the strength of kings." Therefore, I have not spoken concerning him stealthily or in a hidden place, but I have brought him, and I have called him, and I have made his way prosperous; and not only have I spoken, but I have also in actual view

^A of my most omnipotent right hand, turning aside the strength of the Chaldeans, and rendering him who laid them waste all-conquering and irresistible; so that the events were not to be attributed to the hand of Cyrus, but to my own most all-powerful right hand, inflicting justice upon them for the sake of the insolence offered to you, or rather because of their measureless inhumanity and absolute cruelty. For He said: "I have delivered them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy." Then, between these words, He also places the voice of Cyrus himself, confessing that God had incited him and had rendered him invincible and stronger than the might of the Babylonians. For he says: "And now the Lord has sent me, and His Spirit." He puts "And now," instead of saying: even if none of the things that have happened had been foretold by God, yet behold, now Cyrus confesses that God has stirred him up and crowned him with supreme glory, so that I might come forth superior to the Babylonians. For when Cyrus had heard from the Jews inhabiting Babylon that God had spoken concerning him in the holy prophets, ^B that he would come in the passage of time and by force lay waste the land of the Chaldeans, and set Israel free from captivity; then, as they say, when they had shown him the sacred Books, they brought him to such a state of mind that in his own proclamations he named the God of Israel Lord and Most High. For it is written as follows in the first book of Esdras: "In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he proclaimed throughout his whole kingdom, and also by letters saying: Thus says Cyrus, king of the Persians: The Lord, the Most High of Israel, has appointed me king of the world, and has signified to me to build Him a house in Jerusalem in Judea. If there is, therefore, any one of you from His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel; He is the ^C Lord who dwells in Jerusalem." Since, therefore, He says, you know that these things which have happened were revealed to you before they occurred, not through falsely named gods, but through Me, hear Cyrus saying: "The Lord has sent me, and His Spirit."

VERS. 17-19. *Thus says the Lord who has delivered you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God; I have shown you so that you might find the way in which you should walk. And if you had hearkened to My commandments, your peace would have been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea; and your seed would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your womb as the dust of the earth; nor even now shall you be cut off, nor shall your name be destroyed before Me. Go out of Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans.*

He again implants in them a steadfast soul and a well-settled mind, so that they may recognize the God who is ^D by nature and truly existent; and He reveals His own glory to them, so that they might not be carried away by the words of those who lead them astray to some vanity, so that, evidently, they may perceive and sense that the God who is by nature and truly is the one whose glory they recognize, and they should not be carried away by the voices of those who lead them astray to what is fleeting, or rather towards

those who are falsely called gods, to whom they have brought relief, though they are not gods at all. ^A For this reason, I think, He says, “I am your God,” the word “I am” signifying that I exist. This is what He also declared to the all-wise Moses when He said, “I am who I am.” For the God of all things is truly and properly He who is. But things that have been brought into being by Him so as to exist can also be said to be, except for the fact that they have come into being and have obtained a beginning of their existence. So, therefore, the Lord who delivered you, the Holy One of Israel, says: “I am your God.” “But, O Lord,” someone of those who have sprung from the blood of Israel might say, “I believe that You have redeemed and saved us; You have snatched us from fire and punishment, from the yoke and slavery of a barbarian hand, being obviously all-powerful and accomplishing whatever You might choose by Your mere nod. ^B Why, then, have we, who depend upon Your mercy and love, and who always glory in You as our helper, been brought to such misery that we even fall under the feet of our enemies, and we who are free-born have been reduced to servitude contrary to what is right?” What, then, does God say to these things? “I have shown you the way in which you should walk. I have set for you a law,” He says, “as a definer of things to be done, one that knows how to guide towards all things that are most pleasing to Me, a leader to righteousness, a teacher of piety, bringing you onto a straight path, by which, if you had wished to act, you would have arrived at being a genuine and true worshipper, and most beautifully crowned with the ornaments of virtue. But you have gone off the straight path and, having abandoned the track, you have deviated into ways that were not lawful; you have worshipped the host of heaven, you have sacrificed to idols, you have bowed down to those who are not gods, you have forgotten the Creator, you have counted the given law as nothing. For if you had been obedient to My commandments, your peace would have been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea.” ^C And what He wishes to signify is of this sort: They say that mountain torrents, when heavy rain descends upon them, are carried down violently and intolerably, so that nothing at all can resist their rush. And I think that this other thing is also clear: the onsets of the waves of the sea are terrible and hard to withstand, and not only for sailors and merchant ships, but sometimes even for the very rocks themselves. For even these are broken apart by the waters crashing against them with great force. Therefore He says: “If you had hearkened to My words, if you had applied a compliant and obedient mind, your peace would have become, in the manner of a river and waves, inexpugnable to enemies and to any who might encounter you.” Or also in another way, so as to show the abundance and perpetuity of peace, He compares it to a river and to waves; to a river indeed as always and abundantly flowing and passing by, and to waves as always being arched and as if perpetually encroaching upon the land. ^D “And your seed would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your womb as the dust of the earth.” It is as if He were saying: With no one even drawing a sword, and no hand of enemies destroying anyone, you would have been fruitful and innumerable, so that your children could be compared to sand and dust. But because you have raged in

^A rage against God, and have stumbled not moderately, having deviated into every manner of transgression, you have been brought low to a small remnant, and you no longer possess that expansion of the nation into a multitude; yet not even now shall you be utterly destroyed. For the remnant of Israel ^B is preserved everywhere. For God said that it would not fall root and branch, because of the promise given to the fathers. Then he says, "Go out of Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans." This is the royal nod and will, delivering Israel from captivity. For just as those who hold the supreme power on earth, and occupy the thrones of the kingdom, sometimes grant a remission of exile to those beneath the earth, indicating the matter with a benevolent nod and voice; thus also the God of all granted a benevolent nod to those who had labored, and says plainly: "Go out," that they might know there is a Redeemer, and a provider of all tranquility.

653 VERS. 20-22. *Proclaim a voice of gladness, and let this be heard. Proclaim it to the end of the earth. Say: The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob; and if they thirst, He will lead them through the desert; the rocks shall be split and waters shall flow, and My people shall drink. There is no joy for the wicked, says the Lord.*

^C Things which God does are admittedly all worthy of admiration. But those which excel his other works, and obtain the highest glory, if they remain hidden, harm those who are deprived of the knowledge of them; but if they are known, they are of no small benefit. For from this it is possible to see his ineffable glory, and his excellence in all things, and his sublime hand, and his omnipotent majesty. For he redeemed Israel from Egypt. But that he might appear magnificent, and his glory might become illustrious to those inhabiting the whole world, Pharaoh was taken as a sort of vessel, that by resisting the Mosaic words, he might call forth God, in order to demonstrate his glory thereafter to all, and to declare the magnitude of his immense power. For it was said to him: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared in all the earth." ^D And these things indeed happened to the ancients, but they occurred for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. It was necessary, therefore, it was necessary that the redemption of the Israelites from Babylon should not be passed over in silence, but should be as it were proclaimed everywhere to all. And therefore he says: "Proclaim a voice of gladness." Now we say that the voice of gladness is the doxology which anyone might offer, celebrating him for such great and illustrious deeds. This is properly and truly the voice of gladness befitting the righteous, whom it is right to sing praises. The divine David also sings, and says: "The voice of exultation and salvation in the tabernacles of the righteous." He intends the voice to have the narration of the redemption of the Israelites, such as it is in the book of Psalms. Truly it is...

as it is: “You have blessed, O Lord, your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob, you have forgiven the iniquities of your people, you have covered all their sins.” ^A For although these things contain the explanation of spiritual realities, yet they are also useful historically. He promises, moreover, that if those traveling through the desert should thirst, He will bring forth water for them from a rock. The rock shall be split, and water shall flow, and my people shall drink. And we say that He shows in these things that it was not some other God who delivered Israel from the cruelty of the Egyptians, who led them through the midst of the sea, who supplied food in the desert, and who brought forth water from the rock; but the same One, always existing in the same way and similarly, and who is able to perform miracles equal to those of old. For if, he says, they should go through a desert, and then be in need of drink and water, that ancient sign will be displayed to them; for water shall be brought forth from a rock. And one would not find that this happened ^B to those of Israel ascending into Judea from Babylon. But it has been stated, as I said, according to the economy [of salvation], so that they might know that the God who was of old, also exists now, and is able to employ equal power and similar miracles, and that He possesses an unchangeable strength, and He cries out as if issuing a general law. “For there is no joy for the impious,” says the Lord. And this is true. For the countenance of the impious is always, in a way, downcast, with the heart as it were struck, and the mind bearing the burden of a reproving conscience. For it does not expect crowns, nor the honor of praise, but rather fire and punishment, which are prepared for those who offend. Or perhaps this voice might also fit the Babylonians. For they were rejoicing because they had carried off the people of God, and they thought ^C that, having prevailed over His right hand, they had gained possession of Judea. But they were mistaken regarding the truth. For the former, because they were caught offending, were deprived of His mercy; the latter, because they were hard and unyielding and knew not how to pity, were sought out for deserved punishments and were henceforth deprived of joy, having their brow now afflicted, their spirit afflicted. For not because they once conquered the Israelites will they henceforth be affected with joy, but because, being evil, they have perished miserably, with their own country destroyed, they received the bitterness of grief.

ORATION IV

“Hear me, you islands, and pay attention, O nations; after a long time it shall stand,” says the Lord. “From my mother’s womb He called my name, He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and under the protection of His hand He hid me. He made me like a chosen arrow, and in His quiver He concealed me, and ^D He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified.’”

With very many exhortations and admonitions he has helped Israel, and turns the mystagogy to the flocks of the Gentiles, and indeed the mystery of the

^A Christ shines forth for them again, through whom they were about to abandon their beast-like and cursed way of life and be brought back to the manner of living most dear to Him, and to receive into their mind the true light, so that they might clearly know who is by nature and truly God, and the nature that holds sway over all things. He addresses the islands, which we say are the Churches of Christ, ^B situated as if in the sea—that is, in the tempest of the present life—and tossed by the unbearable onrush of its waves: persecutions, that is, and afflictions, which the enemies of the truth, fighting against the divine calling, bring upon them. Concerning such islands, it has been said in many places in the divinely inspired Scripture. Blessed David also chants somewhere and says: “The Lord has reigned, let the earth exult, let many islands rejoice.” For when Christ held the kingdom of the world and took the whole earth into His own hands and authority, and rescued it from the tyranny of the demons, then the Churches throughout the whole earth also exulted—that is, they became full of joy. For that the prophet in these words designates the Churches from the Gentiles when he names the islands, would become clear from what follows. For he immediately added after that, “Hear me, O islands,” this: “Listen, O nations.” Then he says, “For a long time it shall stand, says the Lord.” He promises, as I said, the manifestation of the Savior of us all, Christ, and that the Word being God, will associate with those on earth in a form like ours. Furthermore, that it was a time of prophecy then, and likewise also of the manifestation of the things themselves, He shows by saying, “For a long time it shall stand”—that is, what was promised, or rather what was prophesied. What then is this? The very person of the Savior was brought in, saying: “From my mother’s womb He called my name.” ^C He interweaves here a deep and great mystery, which has need of a heavenly mystagogy. For it was revealed thus to the divine Peter. For the Word, being God, was and is of equal power, and sharing the same throne with God and the Father, existing at once and co-eternal. Names also before the incarnation were appropriate to His nature: God, and Wisdom, and Light, and Life, and Power, and others in addition to these that are found in the sacred Scriptures. But after He emptied Himself and became in the likeness of man, and was found in fashion as a man, He receives a common name, that is to say, Christ and Jesus, or “God with us.” The “with us” indicates that which pertains to our condition and nature. For it is written: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel.” Blessed Gabriel ^D also, revealing the mystery to the holy and God-bearing virgin, says, “Do not fear, Mary. For you have found grace with God. And behold, you shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. For He Himself shall save His people from their sins.” Did then this blessed angel and the prophet speak words at variance with one another? By no means. For the divine prophet, speaking mysteries by the Spirit, gave a presignification of God having been made with us, by nature and dis-

dispensation ^A which is joined with the flesh, thus naming him. But the blessed angel bestowed a name upon him from his operation and efficacy; for he saved his own people: wherefore he was called Savior. For when he had undergone this generation of the flesh for our sake, the hosts of the angels announced the auspicious and happy birth to the shepherds, saying: “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.” Thus, he is called Emmanuel, because being God by nature he became with us—that is, man. And Jesus, because he was to save the world, being himself God and having become man. When, therefore, he came forth from the womb of his own mother—for he was born of her according to the flesh—then also his name was called. The name of Christ is therefore inappropriate for the Word of God before the birth according to the flesh, I say. For since he was not yet anointed, how could he be called Christ? For when he came forth from the womb of his mother as man, then he received a title consistent with his fleshly birth. ^B And he says his mouth is placed like a sharp sword. And this is true. For it is written concerning him, or rather the prophet Isaiah himself says: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and truth the belt of his sides. And with the spirit he shall take away the impious.” For the divine and heavenly proclamation—that is, the evangelical, spoken through the mouth of Christ—became a sharp and most cutting sword against the tyranny of the devil, destroying the world-rulers of this darkness and the spiritual powers of wickedness. For it dispersed the mist of deceit and cast into the hearts of all the ray of the true knowledge of God; for it transformed the world under heaven into a godly life, and rendered all men lovers of holy institutions; it reaped and mowed down sin from the world, justifying the impious by faith, filling those who approach with the Holy Spirit, and making them sons of God, implanting in them a brave and most warlike courage, and giving them the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, so that those who once resisted the victors might run toward the prize of the upward calling, with nothing hindering them. ^C That this instruction and mystagogy through Christ has proven destructive to the tyranny of the devil for those on earth, the prophet Isaiah will make clear, saying: “In that day God shall bring the sword, the holy, the great, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent; and he shall destroy the dragon.” He adds: “And under the protection of his hand he hid me.” He speaks in a manner befitting a human, yet to those of sound mind there is nothing difficult in these words either to see that the Son is not separate from God and the Father, and that he has been made man. For he says ^D that he was under the protection of his right hand, so as to intimate the power of his nature, which cannot be captured or overcome, that it remains for itself, even if he has undergone our condition. For no one shall defeat the omnipotent right hand; but, as I said, by the reason and measure of his humanity, the Word is distinguished. For the Word is from God the Father for-

- ^A he is all-powerful, and he is himself the Lord of hosts. But since he has become man, the Father, not dishonoring the power of the mystery, joins in the dispensation, and says to him through the lyre of the Psalmist: "The enemy shall not profit against him, and the son of iniquity shall not continue to afflict him. And I will cut his enemies down from his face, and those who hate him I will put to flight. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him." See, therefore—see also him speaking in the prophetic voice in a human manner, he who for our sake became like us: "Under the protection of his hand he hid me." He set me, he says, as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he covered me. For there have been many arrows of God, hidden in their own times in his foreknowledge as in a quiver, and brought forth, each at its appropriate time; but the chosen arrow, and above all, was Christ, hidden, as I said, in the foreknowledge of the Father. For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was brought into our midst when it was necessary to visit the whole earth, which had fallen into ruin and destruction because it served the creature rather than the Creator, and was subject to unclean spirits, and had been bound by the snares of sin. This chosen arrow, as I said, shall destroy Satan himself and the evil powers that are with him. ^B It shall likewise destroy the enemies of the truth and those who have impiously resisted his holy preachings. But it also wounds in another way, for benefit and salvation. For so says the wounded bride in the Song of Songs: "I am wounded by love." And he says to me, the Father, namely: "You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified." O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! as it is written. For the Son was and is free, as one who has sprung in an ineffable manner from the essence that is the queen of all things. But he heard the Father saying: "You are my servant." Therefore, the Word, free by nature, by the carnal dispensation—and understood according to the flesh—is fashioned as a servant, so that you may again consider his birth from a woman in time according to the flesh. And he calls him "Israel" because he was born from the blood of Israel, as far as the flesh is concerned; but he also says, "And in you I will be glorified." For the God of the universe had indeed been glorified also through the holy prophets, yet not in them. But in Christ [it happened] in an unaccustomed and unusual way: as one who was glorified in him. And with Christ glorified, the Father is glorified in him. We see him shining forth in him through divine authority, and power, and energy in all things, through sanctification, and justice, and altogether through his clemency. For the Divinity is thus expressed intelligibly. Since Christ also said: "He who has seen me, has seen my Father." ^C And the most wise Paul said that he who begot him is glorified in the person of Christ. Therefore he says: "In you I will be glorified." For every knee shall bow to the Son, even when born in the flesh—of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that the Lord Jesus

Christ is to the glory of God the Father.

And I said: I have labored in vain, and for nothing, and for vanity have I given my strength. Therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my toil before my God.

^B The Savior of all appeared, that He might deliver the whole world under heaven from the wickedness of the devil, and from death, and from sin, and that He might enlighten with holy gifts those who approach Him through faith. Those who were of the blood of Israel were called to this before others; they were so preferred before the nations that Jesus could say: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But they, having obtained a dignity so glorious and exceptional, became faithless, and bold apostates, and terribly dishonorable and arrogant. And yet, though they ought to have approached the grace most gladly, and to have profited by the faith and the good things from it, they did not do this. Whence would they? Rather, they stood against it, speaking ill without restraint of Him who was calling them to salvation, slandering Him uncontrollably; and what terrible thing did they not utter openly? And in the end, they crucified Him.

Therefore, as far as the stubbornness of the disobedient went, and the contradiction that they had perversely studied against Him, the Savior labored in vain, and for vanity and for nothing He gave His strength. For the senseless Israel would not endure—as I just said—His holy proclamations; they did not honor His toil. For it was a toil for the Word to become as we are, and to endure human pettiness. "But my judgment," He says, "is with the Father, concerning the pains I have expended for their salvation." Therefore, the judgment has been brought forth by Him.

And what was the judgment? They have been cast out from the intimacy with Him, they have been thrust away from being the people of God, they have become bereft of salvation from Him, they have remained without foretaste of the hope of the saints, and the multitude of the nations has been called in instead of them. And instead of the shepherds who were among them, others have been appointed—just men, and beloved of God, and caretakers of holy pursuits, able to lead the people as lights in the world, holding the word of life, as the all-wise Paul ^C says.

Do you wish to see the judgment of the Father, or rather the vote passed upon them? Hear the Savior saying to the leaders of the Jews: "There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country." And then He says: "He sent servants to receive the fruits, and they have all been endangered." And since later—

^A He sent the Son, and they saw Him, He says, "they said, This is the heir; come, let us kill Him, and take His inheritance to ourselves. And they did indeed kill Him." Having told this parable to them, the Lord is again introduced, saying: "When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?" And they answer Him: "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons." And concerning these things, Christ says, "Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Which has indeed come to pass. For other keepers of the vineyards have been placed, and wise husbandmen, that is to say, the inspired disciples. Under them, the clouds have sent down rain, even though they were commanded no longer to irrigate the Jewish vineyard. Under them, Christ has harvested grapes rather than thorns. For we have ^B been taught to say: "The Lord shall give goodness, and our land shall yield her fruit." One might also say in another way that the labor of the Son was before the eyes of the Father, and a righteous judgment has gone forth. Observe with me again the power of the word, and consider the dispensation which the all-wise Paul also explains to us, saying: "Being in the form and equality of the Father, the Son thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, and became obedient to the Father unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore also God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that in His name every knee should bow." For He was, and is, God the Word; but since He was named man, and this was truly brought about, He has ascended in His glory with the flesh. For He was recognized as God, nor did He labor in vain. For this kind of dispensation resulted for Him in glory: not that He might render Himself some insolent and strange being, but that He might declare Himself the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Because this was known, it came ^C to pass that heaven, and earth, and even things below, should bow down before Him.

VERS. 5, 6. And now thus saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, and Israel. I shall be gathered to Him, and I shall be glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And He said to me, It is a great thing for thee to be called my child, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to turn again the dispersion of Israel.

We say that here also it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has none the less used human words, even though He unfolds the greatest mystery of godliness, and reveals the manner of His emptying. For observe in what way, although by nature and truly He is His own master, He says that the Father formed Him as a servant to Himself, yet from the womb. For not when the ^D Word was naked and had not flesh, in ser-

^Avitutem, but after it had pleased God and the Father, but rather from the womb, that is, when He was born according to the flesh from a woman. For then, being God by nature and free, as being from God and a free Father, He receives the form, or the shaping, of a servant. For no one in their right mind would say that one who is a servant by nature is formed into servitude; but rather one who is beyond servitude and the yoke, and who is illustrious with the insignia of natural liberty, may justly take upon himself the formation or figure of a servant. For that the Free One and the Son submits Himself to this willingly, who would doubt, when Paul says that He was in the form of God and did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but from this equality and likeness in all things, [not unwillingly] He descended to this form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. For God was with Him, yet He showed us none the less that He was free by nature and truly, and not unwillingly a servant, in the contribution of the didrachma. ^B For the tax collectors asked the divine Peter whether Christ would contribute the didrachma with the others, or if He would decline the payment. Then the Lord said to him: "From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or tribute? From their own sons, or from strangers?" And when the disciple correctly answered that kings collect the appointed tax from strangers, He said: "Then the children are free. But lest we should offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first; and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for Me and for you." Therefore, the One who is free by nature is formed into a servant by economy, when He was also born from the womb of the mother according to the flesh. For this is the time suitable to the measures of the emptying. And that He was formed in the manner of a minister, He confirms by saying: "To gather together Jacob and Israel." For God the Word, being what we are, descended for no other reason than to save Israel and to gather together Jacob. For the inventor of all evil had scattered all who are upon the earth into ^C manifold and polymorphous sin. For he caused some to depart entirely from the Creator, and prepared them to be subject to himself and to unclean demons, and cast upon them the inescapable yoke of sin, and led them entirely away so that they were ignorant of who is by nature the God and Lord of all. Others, who had the Mosaic law as the arbiter of their actions, he rendered sluggish and indolent, and drew them to every turpitude, so that they regarded the law very little, but rather did what seemed good to each one, and taught as doctrines the commandments of men. But when Christ appeared to the world, those things which Satan had scattered were gathered together through faith into one, ^D right, and blameless judgment; and those who had once departed from the love of God hastened to Him, and having cast behind them sin, the cause of enmity, through their zeal for good things, they have peace in Christ. For the divine prophets also exhorted them to hasten here immediately. Thus Isaiah says: "Let us make peace with Him, let us make peace as we come." The divine disciples also cried out:

^A "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." We make our reconciliations to God when we come to Christ through faith. For as the most holy Paul himself says elsewhere: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." For in Christ the world is being reconciled to God. Therefore, he clarifies the ministry of the incarnation when he says that he was formed as a servant by the Father from the womb, in order that he might gather Israel and Jacob. Even if someone were to say that the Jewish nation is indicated by these words, he would not be wide of the mark. For Christ once said: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But if one were to wish to name all those saved through faith Israel and Jacob, that would also be correct. For it is true that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is the circumcision in the flesh to be called truly circumcision; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and who has circumcision of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. If, therefore, he is a Jew who has circumcision in the spirit, then it would be appropriate for ^B none other than such as these to be named Israel and Jacob. Inserted into the middle of the discourse is the voice of those who have been called through faith, putting forward and promising their faith: "I shall be gathered to him, and I shall be glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength." For truly, God commands it to come to pass, and the end of the things commanded and commemorated in this place comes almost immediately. For not all Israel was saved, but some did not believe, and because of their own wickedness they did not accept the grace of the evangelical doctrines. But the multitude of the Gentiles was called together with the remnant; these are also numbered among the children of Abraham, so that, as far as the dispensation is concerned, the purpose of his advent might never be frustrated. For everyone has been gathered, if anyone is Israel, and indeed also Jacob, according to the words just recently set forth for us. ^C The people called in Christ therefore promise that they will be gathered to God, clearly through faith, and that they will be glorified before God, having gained the illustrious glory of adoption, and having become partakers of the divine nature, ornamented by the Holy Spirit, and shown to be followers of the best practices, and furthermore that they will believe God to be their own strength. For it is fitting that those who desire salvation and glory from him should be so disposed. He adds further to these: "And he said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, in order that you might raise up the tribes of Jacob and convert the dispersion of Israel." If it is permissible to speak in a human manner, the Father ^D does not permit the Son to perform the dispensation remissly and hesitantly, nor does he allow the humility of the servile form to lack its reward; but he renders this office fruitful, and he does not leave this abjection without recompense, and the burden of the dispensation will not be without admiration, but will even become glorious, even if it might appear inglorious. For it was indeed humble for the Word born of God to be called a boy, that is, a servant.

^A For the name denotes now the Son, now, as I said, the servant; and the need of the meanings makes this and that introduced at the time appropriate to each. Since, however, the discourse is about the dispensation in the flesh, it is fitting that the "boy" should be understood as a servant. Therefore, even if the ignobility of servitude was, as I said, a small thing for the Son, yet the matter stood otherwise. For it was not a small thing for Him who is glorified by all, who, when He did not count it robbery to be equal to God, even lived here in a servile manner, and came down to this emptying, and endured the cross and the evils in it, and laid down His own soul as a ransom for the life of all, that He might destroy the diabolic tyranny and drive away the troops of demons from their intolerable violence against us, that He might remove the destructive sin from the midst, that He might abolish death, and remold the nature of man toward that which it was from the beginning, and deliver to God His own kingdom, no longer tyrannized by anyone, but rather casting off the yoke of the covetousness of others.

"Behold, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation unto the extremity of the earth."

^C The Father was not ignorant of the hardened spirit of the Jews, impatient of admonition, and thoroughly turned toward extravagance. For they did not accept the instruction through Christ at all, although it was fitting to admire the gentleness and incomparable philanthropy of the Redeemer, and to receive His generosity with open hands, as it were. That, therefore, our Savior's dispensation might not seem to have been frustrated in its goal and purpose, seeing that the leading people had kicked away and did not accept, as I said, His own redemption, the Father added that He would show the way of salvation and would cast the light of true knowledge of God upon those wandering in mist and darkness. For Israel had been called to this, with Christ saying clearly: "I am the light of the world." (John viii, 12). And: "While you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overtake you." (John xii, 35).

^D Since, however, they loved darkness more than light, they were overtaken by it, even though the holy prophets had foretold to them the grace in Christ. For one said: "Shine, shine, Jerusalem; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold, darkness and gloom shall cover the earth over the Gentiles. But the Lord shall appear upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you." (Isa. lx, 1-2). And another said: "And to you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise, and healing in his wings." (Mal. iv, 2). But because, as the sacred Scripture says, their ears were made heavy so as not to hear, and their eyes were closed, Christ shone upon the Gentiles, and filled the inhabited world with divine light, so that from the rising even unto the setting, and to

the ends of the earth, they might reap the fruit of His glory, and with the pure eyes of the mind perceive the divine and supreme nature, and consecrate to Him and to Him alone their spiritual worship.

^A VERS. 7. *Thus saith the Lord, who delivered thee, the God of Israel: Sanctify him who despiseth his soul, who is held in abomination by the Gentiles, by the servants of rulers. Kings shall see him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him for the Lord's sake, because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen thee. Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee.*

That God and Father considered those who were called through Christ worthy of great mercy, you may learn from this as well. For He initiates them into the mystic rites and reveals the deep and great mystery of the Incarnation, not allowing any to be crushed by the stone of stumbling or to trip through imprudence upon the rock of offense; for so was the foolish Israel crushed. What then is it that He says? "I, the God who delivered thee, Israel, thus say unto thee: 'Sanctify him who despiseth his soul,'" that is, esteem Him as venerable and holy, and strive to honor Him who humbled his own soul, that is, made it of no account. For the Word of God, being the only-begotten, became man for our sakes, and laid down His own soul for us, and willed to suffer for our sakes the death in the flesh, though He underwent nothing ^B that pertains to His own nature. For as God, He was inherently above suffering; yet, as I say, He thus cast it aside, and that for the sake of sinners—a fact which the all-wise Paul also admired. For he says: "But God commendeth his own love toward us: in that, while we were yet sinners, at the proper time he died for the ungodly." And Christ Himself somewhere says: "The good shepherd layeth down his soul for the sheep." He laid it down, therefore, for us, for "by his stripes we were healed," and He was made infirm because of our iniquities, and for our sins was He delivered up. "Let him be sanctified," He says, that is, let Him be proclaimed holy. This, indeed, is proper and peculiar to God alone; for although there are many who are holy, whether they be rational powers or indeed men upon the earth, they are still called holy through participation in Him who is holy by nature and who alone truly exists as such. ^C For just as He is the true light, yet has imparted the dignity to others, saying, "For ye are the light of the world," so also He who alone is holy together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, gives sanctification to His partakers as out of His own fullness. Thus we say even in our prayers: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." And we do not mean that we pray for some addition of holiness to be made to the name of the Father (for that is utterly absurd); ^D but rather that we pray that exactly what is true regarding all...

^A that is holy and terrible should also be understood here: “Sanctify.” Even, he says, he who lowered his soul—that is, who is said to have suffered something human, and caused his own flesh to taste of death, and “laid down his own life for many.” The discourse proceeds and brings to mind other things that might sometimes be an obstacle to believing in him for those who do not see the depth of the dispensation; but to those who are intelligent, it will bring no harm. For when Jesus was delivered to Pilate, some of the soldiers treated him with utter contempt, partly by striking him impiously, partly by disgracing him with spittle, and by insulting him with a crown of thorns, mocking him and saying: “Hail, King of the Jews.” Therefore, he speaks of him who is held in abomination by the nations, by servants, and by rulers. But ^B following this will certainly be the command to “Sanctify,” for although he has suffered the mockery of the nations by way of the dispensation, he will shine forth after this, and will be glorified by all, both those in the highest positions and those in inferior honors. He foretells this, saying: “Kings shall see him, and shall rise up,” clearly from their royal thrones. “Rulers also shall worship him.” They shall see him, not with the eyes of the body, but as if by a searching of the mind and heart. For this is how we see the glory of Christ. And they shall worship him for the sake of the Lord, that is, for my sake. For he is glorified as the Son of God and Father, and because the Holy One of Israel is faithful. Now “faithful” in these contexts signifies the one who always abides. For the kingdom of God and the Father is unshaken, ^C and likewise that of the Son; while the falsely so-called gods are not faithful, for they are newly born, they perish, and do not abide. But the Savior and Lord of all is truly faithful—that is, he is well-established in his own exalted state, and possesses it unshakably; and he himself chose those who have been called through Christ. “For whom he foreknew,” he says, “he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, and these he also called, and sanctified besides, and glorified.” It was necessary, therefore—it was necessary for the chosen ones to sanctify him who indwells the soul, and not to gaze upon the dimensions of his humanity and fall away from what is proper and wander from the accurate knowledge of him, but rather to understand the wisdom of the dispensation, to worship him, ^D and to be steadfastly disposed in mind and persuaded that he is by nature the Son of the faithful Lord and is truly the Son, even if, according to the dispensation, he appeared in our form and took on the measure of self-emptying. He addresses the chosen ones further and says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Christ and his mystery were foreknown before the foundation of the world; but it shone forth at the times which the Sovereign willed, in which he brought us aid, and he calls the time of the incarnation the day of salvation. For so also does the divine Paul say: “Behold, now,” he says, “the accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation.” The prophet David also chants and says: “This is the day...

which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” ^A

VERS. 8-12. And I gave you as a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to inherit the inheritance of the wilderness, saying to those in bonds: Go forth; and to those in darkness: Be revealed. And in all their ways they shall be fed, and in all their ways shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, nor shall the heat nor the sun strike them; but he who has mercy on them shall comfort them, and shall lead them by fountains of water. And I will make every mountain a way, and every path for them a pasture. Behold, these come from afar; these from the north, and these from the sea, and others from the land of the Persians. ^B

It seemed to some of the earlier interpreters that they should make the beginning of this chapter thus: “Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” And they say these things are spoken by God and Father to the Saviour of us all, Christ, and they weave into them a sense such as this. He prayed, they say, before the precious cross, saying: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”; and he was not heard, for he drank it. But after he had trampled upon death, with the Father assisting, it was said to him necessarily: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” ^C But this interpretation seems to me to be very far from probability. For since he knew that he must drink the cup, and that the world could not be saved except through the death of his flesh and the resurrection from the dead, the mode of the prayer was formed in a manner most expedient; so that the petition against the passion might be an accusation of the Jewish murder. For in what way would Israel be held guilty of the crime of impiety against him, if this passion had not been towards him something compelled and violent, by reason of its ignominy? Yet it was also in this way voluntary, both to take away the sin of the world, and to reform our nature to the newness of a holy life. For we must know that it was thus said by him: “I have descended from heaven, not that I might do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of him who sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing of it, but should raise it up in the last day.” For Christ appeared to the world, and inaugurated his sacred preaching among the Israelites. But because they were disobedient and hardened, unbridled and bold, they did not receive the faith, but sinned against it in many ways, and finally even crucified him. Here, see for me the power of his ineffable wisdom. For from the perversity of the Jews, he brought about for himself—I mean the death—the cause of salvation, I say, for the inhabitants of the whole earth. And mortality was abolished through his resurrection, and corruption was trampled underfoot, and we have flourished again into life, we who through the transgression of Adam were thrust down into the opposite. ^D Not

^A that we say this prayer of our Savior Christ was uttered out of despair—far from it—but rather as a dispensation, which it is right to admire. We also say that this prayer, offered before the precious cross, was made with prudent counsel. For it has stood as an example and a form of necessary conduct for us. For when temptation hangs over us and fear floods in, we ought not to be slothful and supine, but rather vigilant and intent upon prayer, and to entreat God the Savior that, if it be His will, we may extricate our foot from snares and traps. But if we must suffer, He knows that it will be more beneficial for us if it proceeds to the end, He Himself granting the patience.

Since, therefore, the opinion of some has been shown to be less probable, let us come again to what we have in hand. For the Father says He gave Him as a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth and to possess the inheritance of the desert, saying to those in bonds: "Go forth," and to those in darkness: "Be enlightened." For when Israel rebelled and turned away from love for Him through unbelief, Christ brought laws to the nations and prescribed for them the New Testament, that is, the evangelical and saving preaching, and He established the earth—being, as is evident, troubled and not sufficiently prudent. For it had wandered, worshiping the creature and serving the flocks of unclean spirits. For it performed only what was deemed right by them. And others led it into every kind of turpitude and ordered it to live a bestial life. The earth, therefore, was not moderately troubled and in tumult; yet it was settled through Christ, and, as if from a storm and fluctuation, was turned into serenity. For it has become His portion and lot. And this is that which was said in the second Psalm to Him by God and the Father: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, ^B and the ends of the earth for thy possession." He calls the multitude of the nations the "desert," comparing it to an unfruitful and thirsty land. But, as I said, it has become the lot of Christ.

And how, and in what manner? For to those who were in bonds and constricted by the chains of their own sins, He cried out: "Go forth." And those who were in darkness and in intellectual gloom, and were, so to speak, buried in deep night, He ordered to be enlightened, and to come to the light, and to open the eyes of the mind, and to harbor the divine light ^C which is from Him. And those who were deemed worthy of these good things, He says, "shall feed in all their ways, and their pasture shall be in all the paths." For while there were many ways of probity, none were passable for the nations; they were rough and steep. And they had been overcome by the impulses of their own passions and by the greed of the devil, who set before them the good as impassable. But since the grace ^D of Christ has shone forth, it loosed their bonds, enlightened the heart, and enabled them from then on to run in every way and to gather the good food of the mind and understanding (for this is what "they shall feed" signifies) and to pass quickly through every path of probity. And nothing forbids us to say that the paths and ways lead our souls

^A to God, that is, to a holy and excellent manner of life, namely the divinely inspired Scriptures; these were least of all known to those who were wandering. But because they have been called to the light of the truth, they have become pastures for them, and fodder nourishing them for spiritual manliness and for the desire of every good. For God promises them the abundance of His grace, and assistance, and spiritual consolation. "For they shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst," He says. For formerly they were in need of spiritual consolation, since there was for them no divine law, no prophet, no pedagogue, no guide, no teacher, no fountain of intelligible waters. But when they have obtained mercy from God, the supply of spiritual goods has since ^B been provided in abundance for them, as they have possessed food beneficial to the soul. For they have eaten the bread from heaven, and have drunk the living water, concerning which Christ Himself spoke when addressing the Samaritan woman: "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will have in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life." The prophet Isaiah also spoke somewhere concerning those justified by faith, who bow the neck of their mind to the evangelical decrees: "He will dwell in a high cave of a strong rock; bread will be given to him, and his water shall be trustworthy." But neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them. For Christ has become a protector to them: who also formerly suspended a cloud by day for the children of Israel, and in a night of fire went before them in a pillar. Therefore, he says, they shall be outside the sun and the heat, that is, they shall be covered by a divine shelter, so that nothing may happen to them that is troublesome, or that might lead to faint-heartedness. ^C Of this kind is what the divine Paul also said: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, along with the temptation, make a way out, that you may be able to bear it." For this, I think, signifies the fact that He who has mercy on them will console them. For "He will lead them by fountains of waters, and will turn every mountain into a road, and every path into pasture for them." By fountains here we mean the holy prophets, and apostles, and evangelists, by whom, conversing wisely and skillfully, we draw from them the life-giving and divine word, which is abundantly sufficient to be able to confirm our souls in piety, and to generate spiritual pleasure in us. For thus it is written: "And you will draw ^D waters with joy from the fountains of salvation." That no noble deed, however, will be arduous or difficult for those who have been saved through Christ, that statement may suggest when it says that every mountain is to be turned into a road. For it appears sublime, and high, and inaccessible to many, for one to cultivate virtue—for example, self-control, temperance, long-suffering, patience, meekness, charity, and the rest—but the Savior has rendered this whole way plain and level for us, so that what appeared impassable and unnavigable has been made smooth and accessible for those wishing to go that way. And that is, I believe, what is openly said

^A by one of the holy prophets: "Every valley shall be filled, and all the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth paths." And again: "The way of the righteous has become straight, and the way of the righteous has been prepared." That those who have been called are beyond number, and have been gathered together from every part under heaven, he shows by saying: "Behold, these come from afar, and these from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians." For "from afar" seems to signify the southern regions; "the north," the northern regions; and "the sea," the western regions. For thus the Psalmist also makes mention of them, saying: "The north and the sea Thou hast created." But those from the land of the Persians would be those ^B who have been caught and ensnared from the East; for the land of the Persians is to the East. Perhaps it is also fitting to understand the Magi who worshipped Him. For they came into Judea, inquiring and saying: "Where is He who has been born, King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the East, and have come to worship Him." For they worshipped, and honored Him with gifts—I mean with frankincense, and gold, and myrrh. The Psalmist also makes mention of this when he speaks of the Savior of us all, Christ: "And He shall live, and there shall be given to Him of the gold of Arabia." For here he calls the region of the Persians Arabia.

"Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth exult; ^C let the mountains break forth with gladness, because God has had mercy on His people and has comforted the humble of His people."

He summons into one assembly heaven and earth, and commands them right well to celebrate the feast for those who have been saved by Him. By "heavens," one might understand not the element itself, but those who dwell in the abodes above and possess heaven as their dwelling-place: the holy Powers, Principalities, and Thrones, and Dominions, and those even beyond them, the Seraphim. The "earth," likewise, signifies those who among them expect His epiphany, and know that He is to be present for the redemption of those from Israel and of all the nations that are upon the whole earth; just as, ^D clearly, Simeon the righteous, while still holding the child Jesus in his arms, gave glory to God, saying: "Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all the nations," and so forth. If, perhaps, it is proper to understand as those who have been saved, those who therefore celebrate the feast and crown the Redeemer with worthy praises, then the "mountains" that break forth with gladness must be thought to be, just as I said a moment ago, those rational powers raised up on high in virtue, or the ministers of the evangelical preaching, who speak of Christ and the things that are His, and fill the earth with the joy that

God has had mercy on His people, and has comforted the humble of His people. For Christ, having shone upon them, has had mercy on all; if it be true, they have been rescued from the hand of the devil and the cruelty ^B of demons. And they have been delivered from the sin that formerly exercised tyranny over them, and moreover have been deemed worthy of the bonds of death; and they have been made partakers of the grace and the super-cosmic gift, having become participants of the Holy Spirit, and having been illuminated by the glory of adoption, and enriched with a hope that surpasses mind and thought. But observe the strictness of the prophet’s words; for he says: "He has comforted the humble of His people." And we say that those are humble who have subjected a flexible and tractable neck to Christ, and have not despised the yoke of His kingdom; because they have embraced the faith, and have also been prepared to render to Him the adoration and worship in spirit and in truth. Whereas those who have not embraced the faith are not humble, but raise their horn on high and speak injustice against Him, and lift up the proud neck of their mind, as it were, against His holy oracles. These have not been deemed worthy of the spiritual consolation: for they were not worthy. For what portion have believers with unbelievers, according to that which is written?

For Sion has said: "The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Will a mother forget her child, so as not to have mercy, and the fruit of her womb? But even if a woman should forget these things, yet I will not forget you."

For the Saviour and Lord of all set forth before others—to the children of Sion, or those from the blood of Israel—the grace through faith; and by countless words He endeavored to persuade them, saying: "Lay hold of the opportunity, in which it is possible for you, if you have believed in Him, to be enriched with the glories promised to your fathers." But they were stiff-necked and disobedient, and having despised the laws ^C described through the all-wise Moses, and having cared little for the prophetic proclamations, they slipped away from believing and were ensnared in the snares of the Lord-killing. For this cause they fell and were alienated far from the intimacy that is with Him. The remnant, however, has been saved, and Israel has not perished utterly. Nevertheless, those who have been saved are very few, and altogether a small number compared to the multitude of those who disobeyed. ^D Therefore very elegantly, Sion, bearing the person of the mother of Judea, is introduced now as it were weeping, as though she were despised by the God who gathers her together. Hence, with very few children remaining to her, she says: "The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me." And what does God say to these things? He declares His incomparable love toward men, and to the intelligible Sion, He promises the blessings of His mercies, and seeks to assure her that He could never forget His own handiwork. For just as a woman who has given birth cannot forget her own children, as one who has the law of nature as the dispenser and administrator of supreme piety and indulgence, so, He says, I…

having as a guarantor the highest philanthropy, or rather affection, the law of nature; thus, he says, not even I could forget my own, if perchance the affection that is even in mothers is surpassed by those divine things. For that one, indeed, it is not unreasonable that he should even lapse into forgetfulness. But for me to suffer this is not right. Therefore, the discourse is as if from the earthly Sion, or rather the mother of the Jews having suffered childlessness, or rather having few children; but the promise is as towards the intelligible Sion, to which the all-wise Paul says those who have believed have come ^B; so that you may understand the Church gathered from the Gentiles and the Jews, holding the type of the one above, of which also the all-wise Paul makes mention, saying: "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all." [Galat. iv, 26] For it is the city of the living God, and the nurse of the firstborn, and the mother of the saints who are enrolled in heaven, whom Christ could never forget. For he loves the Church, which he set before himself, having made the two peoples into one new man, and reconciled both in one body unto the Father. How then could he forget his own body? That is to say, the Church, of which he is the head.

"Behold, I have graven your walls upon my hands, and you are before me always; and you shall be quickly built by those by whom you were torn down, and they that devastated you shall go forth from you."

The meaning of what is set before us is quite hard to find. For what are we to suppose the hands of God to be, upon which it is right to think that the walls of Sion have been inscribed? ^C For the most part, indeed, Holy Scripture names the hands of God his active powers, through which he brought all things into being, and through which he effects something according to his own judgment; as, for instance, the Psalmist declares the passage of every man into being, saying: "Your hands have fashioned me and made me," [Psal. cxviii, 73] because the sea is his, and he made it, and his hands have fashioned the dry land. [Psal. xciv, 5] And again: "And you, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands." [Psal. ci, 26] Then how, one might suppose, could the walls of the Sion here understood be pictured, as on a tablet, by the active powers of God? Or of what kind of walls, in sum, does the discourse make mention? What, then, do we say? Nothing, I think, would prevent a disciple of Christ from applying to the things set before us a meaning of this kind. ^D Sion was accusing the Lord, as though he had forgotten her. But that this is not true, our Lord Jesus Christ attempts to show from the perspective of his incarnation, and from what he endured for our sake, becoming like us. For although it was within his power to exist in the form and equality of God and the Father, he did not consider this something to be seized, but rather descended to this emptying. He took the form of a servant, and became obedient to the Father even unto death, even the death of the cross. [Phil. ii, 6-8] For he was hung upon the wood, with his hands pierced by nails. But his saving passion cast down the principalities, and triumphed over the cosmic powers of the age.

^A and freed all from the tyranny of the devil, and brought us to God. For by his stripe we were healed, and he bore our sins in his body upon the wood; and though he himself was afflicted, we have been saved, and his passion has become for us a security and a wall. For he bought us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for our sake; and in that he suffered when tempted, he has come to the aid of those who are tempted; and he suffered outside the city, so that he might sanctify the people with his own blood.

Therefore—for I will say it again—the passion of Christ, and the precious cross, and the fixing of his hands, became a security and a wall inaccessible and unbroken for those who have believed in him. Rightly, therefore, one might say: "Behold, I have painted your walls upon my hands." You shall understand the piercing of the hands, or the passion, to be signified by this one thing. ^B "I have painted," he says, instead of "I have fashioned." "And you are before me always." For if he suffered for our sake, how could he forget us? Or how could they not be in his eyes, for whose sake he was fixed to the wood? But if anyone should wish, in another way also, to approach the sense of the things laid before us, I think it not at all absurd to understand it in this manner: that all who have believed in Christ are in the hands of God the Father, and one who says this would not err from the truth. For he himself said: "My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life." And furthermore: "No one shall snatch them from the hand of my Father," ^C inasmuch as they are under the protection on high, and fortified like a tower by the help from above.

When, therefore, God and Father holds us as it were in his hands, saving us and keeping us with himself, and not allowing us to be carried off anywhere to what is forbidden, nor to be subjected to the malice of those lying in wait, nor to become prey to diabolical violence, nothing prevents you from understanding even the walls of Sion as being, as it were, painted by his own hands—that is, trained toward spiritual elegance, and having a beauty that is well-distinguished by every kind of virtue.

Now, we say that the walls of Sion ^D are the holy apostles and evangelists, set for this purpose by God, and having their resolve toward him uninterrupted. For their names were written in heaven, and they were set in the book of the living. And do not marvel if he says the holy ones are the bulwarks and walls of the Church. For he himself is the wall, and the circumvallation, and the safeguard of all who have believed in him; yet he has given to his holy mystagogues, as in a rank of brilliant dignity, the title of being walls of his Church.

"You shall be quickly built," he says, "by those by whom you were destroyed." For the Jews, or rather the teachers of the Jews, destroyed the earthly Sion, that is to say, their own mother, while taking her away from Christ and teaching that this faith was not to be accepted. For they said: "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is." And when they had fallen into the lot of all evils,

^A and had slain the heir, they were the cause of its falling. But just as the Jews tore it down, so again the disciples—Jews by race—raised it up, transformed, of course; it did not remain as it was, that is to say, rebellious and a slayer of the Lord, but shining forth in faith, and clearly the faith that is in Christ. Those who had laid it waste departed from it; for the first teachers were cast out and others stood in their place, those whom we have just mentioned. For it was not possible to change it otherwise, and to love Christ, and to choose the truth instead of the shadow of the Law, unless the first ones had been driven out, lest they govern it iniquitously. The choir of the holy mystagogues was stirred up, of whom that divine David makes most beautiful mention, ^B chanting and saying to Christ, the Savior of all: "You shall make them princes over all the earth, and they shall remember your name in every generation and generation."

VERS. 18. Lift up your eyes round about, and see all. Behold, they are gathered, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all, and you shall put them on as a bride’s ornament.

In all the holy and divinely inspired Scripture, it is clearly stated that the portion and lot of Christ is those who are sprung from the blood of Israel, or the children of the earthly Sion, in the last times of the age. "For they shall return," ^C he says, "unto the Lord their God, and unto David their king. And they shall be amazed at the Lord and at His blessings in the last days." For the Church of the nations, which we also call the intelligible Sion, has entered in because of their unbelief. But they too shall be called, and there shall be one fold, one shepherd, so that they may no longer be called two Sions, but both may be consummated into one Church, subjected under the hand of one supreme shepherd. That these things will indeed and entirely come to pass, He proves when He speaks to the mother of the Jews: "Lift up your eyes round about, and see all. Behold, they are gathered, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, because you shall clothe yourself with them ^D all, and you shall put them on as a bride's ornament." For they were scattered, as if no shepherd had been over them. For it has been said through one of the holy prophets, as if in the person of Christ: "And I said, I will not shepherd you; let that which is dying die, and that which is failing fail, and the rest. And let each one eat the flesh of his neighbor." For what harm is that which has fallen away entirely from the mercy and love of God not prone to suffer? For they will be exposed to those who wish to rend them, and to carry them off, wheresoever it may seem good to each of those who are accustomed to do injury; and evil and destructive demons lead them away from God. For it is written: "They shall be portions for foxes." The varied passions that are in us also do this. For the all-wise Paul says that some were delivered into passions of dishonor and into a reprobate mind. What then, in

^A these words does the divine discourse promise? The calling and gathering of those who were dispersed, and the return in the Spirit of those who had perished, and the restoration of those who had fled, and the return and awakening, and the rewards of the love for Christ. "Look around," he says, "and behold them all. Behold, they are gathered to you." And in order to show the promise to be firm and valid, he confirms what has been said with an oath, and says: "As I live, says the Lord, for I will clothe all of them as if with the adornment of a bride." For the gathering is the ornament of the churches. And for this reason, it is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture to adorn the Church with golden and variegated clothing. For just as the various and most precious species of stones—I mean those of India—clinging to golden settings, add a certain wonderful and spectacular ornament; so also the souls of the saints, adorned with the distinctions of virtues, shine with the most splendid beauty before the eyes of the Godhead, so that each one gives thanks to Christ and says: "My soul shall exult in the Lord. For he has clothed me in the garment of salvation, and he has wrapped around me a tunic of joy as with a bridegroom's ornament, and as a bride he has placed a mitre on me."

^B VERSE 19-21. "For your desolate and scattered and fallen places will now be too narrow for those inhabiting them, and those who devoured you will be far removed from you. For your sons, whom you had lost, will say in your ears: 'The place is too narrow for me; make room for me, that I may dwell.' And you will say in your heart: 'Who has begotten these for me? I am childless and a widow; and who has brought these up for me? I was left solitary; but where were these for me?'"

By means of things that are perceived as if by sight and are more manifest, he continues the character of the discourse even now. For when Israel did not believe, and had laid hands upon Christ himself, the whole land of the Jews was ravaged, and the very temple, together with Jerusalem, was burned, and so great a dearth of men seized Judea that the blessed prophet Isaiah frequently indicates this very thing enigmatically. For he says: ^C "And seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, 'We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own clothing; only let your name be called upon us. Take away our reproach.'" For it was said through the Law: "There shall be no barren or sterile person among the children of Israel." And they considered the disgrace of childlessness to be intolerable. When, therefore, the war had consumed the entire male sex, and those who remained were very few, he said that seven women would entreat one man, so that he might take away their disgrace, that is, their childlessness. But since it was burdensome for one man to provide sufficiently for seven women—to eat his bread and to be clothed with his clothes ^D

^A, they declare that they shall need nothing at all from him. For they asserted that they feared only the disgrace of childlessness, as I have said. Since, therefore, their land had reached a state of complete desolation, He promises a release from what had occurred, and says that the desolate and ruined places will be too narrow for the inhabitants who will occupy them. For those who were devouring it are removed—those, evidently, who had been allotted the leadership, who had practically ravaged it like wild beasts and swallowed it up. He shows also the multitude of those who were to be called, as being great and numberless. For "Thy sons," He says, "whom thou hast lost, shall say into thine ears, 'Make room for me.'" It has also been said elsewhere to the intelligible Sion: "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and fix thy curtains. ^B Spare not, extend [them] to the right and left." We have also read in the books of Moses that in the tabernacle made of skins in the desert, spacious and very long curtains were erected, some looking toward the east and the sun's ray, others toward the west behind the tabernacle, and indeed toward the north and the south, which type signified the future size and length of the sacred tents, that is, of the churches, in their own time. Nevertheless, with the grace of Christ always abounding, the places are cramped for those who believe, so that the Church, which is the intelligible Sion, might reckon with herself and cry out: "Who has begotten these for me?" But I would say that it is faith in Christ that has begotten them. For through it, though thou wast bereaved and widowed, thou hast become numerous in children; this [faith] has nurtured thy peoples for thee, and thou who wast once found alone, hast been enriched beyond expectation, and hast appeared fruitful in children, thou who wast once naked and solitary.

"Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I lift up my hand to the nations, and I will raise my signal to the isles, and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and they shall carry thy daughters on their shoulders. And kings shall be thy foster-fathers, and their queens thy nurses upon the face of the earth. And they shall worship thee, and lick the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and thou shalt not be ashamed, nor indeed shalt thou be confounded."

Having promised to Sion that she shall have many children and goodly children, and that her children will come to such a multitude ^D that they will stand in need of places wider than they had before, and that they will call for the tent to be widened, He shows immediately that the multitude of children promised to her will appear, not mainly from Israel, but from the flock of the nations. And the matter is true, and it is possible to see it from the very facts. For the remnant of those from Israel has been saved; but this is small and easily numbered. However, the world under heaven has been caught by the net through faith in Christ, and the power of the apostolic and evangelical preaching has brought to Him those throughout the whole earth. That this will therefore come to pass, He shows, saying: "Behold, I lift up to the nations..."

my hand." By "I lift up," He means "I exalt," "I raise on high." And the hand ^A signifies strength or power. For when Christ became known to the nations through the evangelical preaching, and became high and conspicuous by the miracles He wrought, and by His resurrection from the dead, when the sign of the precious cross was shown to those who had not previously known the God who is such by nature and in truth, then Sion grew rich with an abundance of children; then they came running to her from every quarter, cheering one another on and saying: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will announce to us His way, and we will walk in it." That there will be no steep or rough path, or any obstacle at all, for those going to the house of God, He makes clear, saying: "They shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and shall carry thy daughters upon their shoulders." For the blessed disciples, and those who after them still offer the discourse of the holy mysteries and preside over the Churches, have become like nurses to those from the nations. For they all but carry in their bosoms those who approach through faith, and place them upon their shoulders and bear them, imposing no heavy burden, but nourishing them like infants in a manner suited to their childhood, and setting before them the simple and very easy-to-understand discourse of catechesis. This, again, the prophet Isaiah himself taught us, saying elsewhere: "The way of the godly has been made straight, and the way of the godly has been prepared." For the way of the Lord is judgment. He also brought in the divine Baptist, crying and saying: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, ^B and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth ways." That, therefore, for those who strive to go to Sion as to a mother, the approach will be without any toil, this being taken into the bosom and carried upon the shoulders of her sons and daughters would signify. That they will also abound in the highest honor, and glory, and happiness, he further demonstrates, saying: "Their kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers." For it is possible, it is indeed possible to see, by reason of the piety of those in authority, how those who have believed in Christ are treated with honor and deemed worthy of every mercy, so that they appear to be nothing other than their nurslings. For if they fall upon their faces and adore Sion—that is to say, the Church—and, cast ^C upon the ground with hands extended, all but lick the dust of her feet, there is no doubt that those who have progressed to this knowledge, and have been illuminated by this grace of piety, would add to their own deeds the necessity of honoring those who have been chosen; and those who have believed in Christ, they would count in the place of children. This having come to pass, Sion, who as far as the Jews were concerned was bereaved of children, will no longer be put to shame as a barren woman and a widow, but shall be crowned with glory. ^D

VERS. 24. Shall a man take spoils from a giant? And if one has taken captives unjustly, shall he be saved?

^A The form of the discourse is presented as an interrogation, but it requires understanding. The meaning of the words set forth is something like this: The orb of the earth had been captured by the devil and the herd of demons; there was no one on earth who could escape the tyranny of their perversity. For there was not one who did good, not one even so much as one, but the cord of sin was stretched out over all, and darkness and mist had descended upon the hearts of all, and had diverted them from knowing Him who is by nature and truly God, and had delivered them over to those who had gained mastery. Therefore, some worshipped the creature instead of the Creator, and the elements of the world, while others worshipped even those who had imposed their intolerable greed upon them. They became, then, as if under a harsh tyrant, taken by the spear, and captives, and—insofar as it refers to the mind that is within—prisoners to the one who had mastered them. But there was absolutely no one who could bring aid to those suffering injury. Therefore, the devil, puffed up with immoderate pride, said: "I will grasp the whole world with my hand like a nest, and I will take it up like abandoned eggs, and there is no one who will escape me, or say against me." ^B Since the devil had such an arrogant spirit against those on earth, the Savior inquires and says: "Shall one take spoils from a giant?" It is difficult, He says, and arduous to conquer the strong—for here he calls the strong a giant—and to take spoils from him. For how is this not a matter of doubt? Such beings are very fierce, and not easily overcome by just anyone, but are vulnerable only to those who have the power to raise a stretched out and invincible hand against them. "But I," He says, "will take them, and deliver those who have been injured; and, having broken their yoke of slavery, I will make them brilliant with the grace of freedom." Furthermore, that it is the just sentence of God that will despoil Satan, and will demand from the wicked one the penalties for the offenses committed against us, He will confirm when He adds: "And if one takes captives unjustly, shall he be saved?" We shall understand this verse as though it were by way of interrogation and a slight pause. For one who falls unjustly upon those who have done no wrong, and then carries them off as captives, and casts them into inescapable calamities, shall not be saved, but will pay the penalties for what he has dared to do. ^C Therefore, he will not only relinquish those who were in the rank of spoils, or rather, who had been made booty by them, but he will also be held to account for those who were not rightly under them. Something similar is said elsewhere: "As a garment stained with blood will not be clean, so neither shall you be clean, because you have destroyed my land, and killed my people, and you shall not endure for all time." One might also remind those who will read this composition that the Savior Himself is found to have said something of this sort in the evangelical oracles: "Or how," He says, "can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his vessels, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his vessels?" For by the house of the strong man—that is, of Satan—He referred to the earthly realm, ^D not as if it truly belonged to him, but because it had been occupied by him. But after the Incarnate Word entered it, having bound the strong man with ineffable power, his vessels,

^A that is, those who once thought his thoughts, he translated to himself. For just as we call the saints vessels of election, so we name as diabolical vessels those who are under him, and who either wished, or were compelled, to think his thoughts.

VERS. 25. *Thus saith the Lord: If anyone shall have taken captive a giant, he shall receive spoils; but receiving from the strong, he shall be saved.*

I said just now that our Lord Jesus Christ, using ineffable and god-befitting powers, entered the house of the strong man—that is, he came in the flesh into this world—and he despoiled him who formerly plundered and oppressed those throughout the whole earth, and subjected them to the yokes of sin, and treated them as war-captives. Having cast him as if into unbreakable bonds, and plunged him into the chains of darkness in Tartarus, he delivered ^B him to be kept for the judgment of the great day, there to be punished. And after this he plundered him, and persuaded those who were under him to return, and to desire to be truly subject to God, and to hold fast to His will, and to hasten to fulfill what leads them to the finding of salvation. And since Christ gained the victory, he transmitted the power to conquer to us ourselves, yet not without him; for he himself is the boast of the strength of the saints, according to the voice of the Psalmist. And indeed, the all-wise Paul says: *I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.* Accordingly, he shows that the ability to plunder the strong man—that is, the giant, I mean Satan—has become accessible ^C to us as well. *If anyone shall have taken captive a giant*, he says, *he shall receive spoils.* For when we rise above the devil’s power, and evade the assaults of the enemies, having Christ himself as the weapon of goodwill in all things, then we plunder the evil one, and bringing back the victorious vote, we are shown to be stronger than the perversity and malice that is in him. But that the power to conquer can come to those who show themselves manly—through Christ, and that no one can arrive at this dignity otherwise—he shows most beautifully by adding: *But receiving from the strong, he shall be saved.* For if he grants that we may overcome that murderous ^D dragon, we shall plunder him, and furthermore we shall be saved, as this victory transmits us to eternal life, to glory, to praise, and to the kingdom of heaven. Christ himself also said, having plundered Satan, and having rendered the way to obtain victory plain and easy for those who have believed in him: *Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall harm you.* It is true, therefore, that receiving from the strong—that is, from him (for he is the Lord of hosts)—we are both saved and we have conquered. Moreover, one might also plunder Satan in another way, if one were to skillfully bring back his subjects and those who have strayed to the light of the true knowledge of God, and lead them from their depravity to a holy manner of living.

^A Ver. 26. *Ego autem judicium tuum judicabo, et ego filios tuos liberabo, et comedent qui afflixerunt te carnes suas, et bibent quasi vinum novum sanguinem suum, et ebrii erunt, et sentiet omnis caro quia ego Dominus qui liberavi te, et qui adjuvi fortitudinem Jacob.*

He speaks, as I have said, to Zion; and by her sons he here seems to mean the holy apostles and evangelists, and those who after them were called to the ministry: for they have become lights in the world, applying the word of life, and everywhere proclaiming the glory of Christ and making manifest the power of his salvation to those who dwell throughout the whole world. Against them, even like some savage and brutal wild beast, and the dragon who is the prince of evils, accumulated afflictions and persecutions and intolerably incited ^B against them the satellites of his own wickedness. Thus, persecutions were often stirred up against the holy Churches, and the cruelty of tyrants, rushing in savagely, brought many into the contest and peril of martyrdom. But, he says, O Zion (and we say that this is the Church, which he calls Zion), "I will judge your judgment, and I will deliver your sons."

For those who offered no injury, who cleaved to God, and were accused of no foul crime, and who then endured the struggle unto life and blood—these run with such illustrious deeds to the heavenly habitations; but as for the counsel of those who prepared the snares, they have died and perished. Therefore, the judgment against them, that is, the righteous judgment, will be altogether from God. For those who through piety have emerged from these most noble contests and arrived at the prize of the upward calling shall be crowned with the crown of incorruption. But those who pursued them and unjustly slew them, whom it would have been better to emulate, shall eat their own flesh, and shall drink, as it were, not the blood of those who suffered, but their own. ^C For what they unjustly inflicted upon others, they shall suffer themselves by the righteous decree of God, who crowns those who have suffered and subjects those who committed injustice to long and unending punishment. And this righteous judgment will be most well known to all flesh, that is, to every human being. For those who fall into danger on account of piety will assuredly receive aid from me, who am able to help you, Jacob, that is, from the seed of Jacob.

I have said, moreover, that the prophetic word in these passages is written in the person of the holy apostles and evangelists, who were of Jacob, as far, I say, as the flesh is concerned. Nor yet is it absurd that Jacob should be named as any supplanter, that is, one who supplants ^D Satan and who skillfully and with youthful vigor leaps over the snares of sin. For Jacob is interpreted as "supplanter."

Cap. L. Vers. 1. *Sic dicit Dominus: Qualis est liber repudii matris vestræ? cui dimisi eam? aut cui*

^A creditori vendidi vos? Ecce peccatis vestris dimisi (id est, expepuli) matrem vestram.

The Divinity is incorporeal, separated from matter, and without outward form, and simple; and no one who acts rightly would ever suppose any corporeal form concerning It. But Holy Scripture speaks to us about It in a human manner. For those who are in this palpable and gross body could not understand matters otherwise, unless these things which are among us were brought forward by way of example, so that from things which come under the senses and sight, we might at least in part understand something concerning the Divine and supreme Essence, ^B which surpasses every corporeal form. Observe also here that the discourse is shaped by the prophet in a human manner. For just as a man dwelling with his wife, and joined to her, so He converses with the crowds of the Jews, and speaks concerning their mother: I mean, that is, the earthly and sensible Jerusalem; so that again, through him, and as in the person of one woman, their entire society might be understood. For just as when we say "Church," we do not apply the force of this term to the circuit of the walls, but rather signify the most holy multitude of the pious who are therein; so even if someone says "the mother of the Jews," he nonetheless designates them. Therefore, "I have not," He says, "cast out your mother, though I was to her in the place of a spouse, and have sown the seeds of probity, both through the Law and through the Prophets; but rather she herself departed, having made light of the rights that are owed to me, and holding as naught, in a manner of speaking, the being with God." For what writ of divorce was given to her ^C by me? For God drives no one from His fellowship, nor does He reject any of those who are accustomed to walk with a straight foot; but whosoever are genuine in faith and knowledgeable in all honesty, to these He permits that it may be lawful to possess, as if they were firm riches, the society and conjunction with Him forever. From so great glory falls away whosoever with his whole mind struggles against and dissents from His divine oracles, and is more a lover of pleasure than a lover of God. Therefore, as if in the place of a husband, living with the mother of the Jews: "What," He says, "is the writ of divorce of your mother, in which I have cast her out?" For no one, He says, can show that I have cast her out or have hated her, but rather one will accuse her, as having chosen her departure of her own accord. "But to what creditor have I sold you?" There is another habit and figure of speech in these words. ^D For He addresses them as a master to his servants. "For have I," He says, "like a man pressed by a lack of money, and falling in with creditors, gone abroad and exposed my servants to other masters? But how truly stupid this is even to think, or to say! For the Divinity is above necessity and destitution, and It has nothing to do with such commerce. Therefore I have not sold, nor have I hired you out to other masters, you who love me and are attached to my oracles. How then, therefore, did you submit to the yoke of another's servitude? The cause of this evil for you has become [your] sin. For of this, the father of sin and the inventor of all vice has forged you all, and he who

^A snatches those falling away from intimacy with God unto himself, and casts them into the pits of evils, and carries them down into the precipice of Hades. For it will follow in every way for those who have slipped from intimacy with God that they must be entangled in inescapable snares. For Satan is terrible in his greed, and whomsoever of those on earth he might see choosing to neglect being with God, these he subjects to his own ^B yokes, and carries them down into the uttermost evils, making them slaves instead of free, and dishonored instead of glorious. For such are always the wages of his perverse wickedness.

Vers. 2, 3. *Why, when I came, was there no man? I called, and there was none to hear? Shall my hand not have power to deliver? Behold, by my threatening I will make the sea a desert, and I will make the rivers deserts, and their fish shall rot for want of water, and shall die of thirst. And I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and will make its covering like sackcloth.*

The children of Zion, that is, those of Israelitish blood, and Zion herself, namely the earthly Jerusalem, having been sold by their own sins and cast out from intimacy with Him, he has spoken of very well, and brings them under accusation and a charge of remarkable mindlessness and ignorance ^C at once. For when the Only-begotten shone upon the inhabitants of the earth in the flesh, and appeared in a form similar to our own, they impiously forgot both the law and the prophets, and remained hard and unyielding, and were intemperately unbridled. For they did not want to recognize the Redeemer, the prince of salvation, who justifies the ungodly and is able to deliver from every charge those who are entangled in human infirmities. "I have come, therefore," he says, "that is, I put on humanity and appeared to those of Israel, and there was no man among them," that is, clearly, no sensible person, and one capable of knowing the time of redemption. "I called, and there was none to hear." For as the prophet Isaiah himself says again elsewhere ^D in the person of our common Savior Christ: "I was found by those who did not seek me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for me. I said, Behold, I am here, to a nation that knew me not. All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people."

And in the evangelical writings, we shall find the Lord very often calling His own [Jews] to faith: "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you." And at another time: "He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." And furthermore, declaring that believing in them is fruitful and profitable: "Amen I say," He says, "to you, that he who believes has eternal life." And one could pile up very many other sayings having the same power, if one should choose to speak at length. Therefore, "I called, and there was none to hear," He says. But perhaps those who have thus offended out of remarkable mindlessness, with a hard and unyielding heart, will say that my hand is not able to deliver the world. And yet here truly he does not

^A know anything of the truth. For he was, as I said, in the likeness of our nature, although the Word was God. He became man, having undergone the birth in the flesh from a woman. But those who knew this, and were not ignorant of the depth of his divine mysteries, knew that he could do all things, being God by nature, and that he was sufficient for the redemption of the world under heaven. But the faithless and ignorant approached him as a common man, so that they even assailed him, saying: “For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” It would be consistent for these both to think and to say that his hand would not be able to succor those on earth, nor deliver those who have been conquered by the devil and sin. ^B "But," he says, "when you calculate these things, consider also something better; for I am not as you are, simply a man, but rather God having become in the likeness of our nature for the sake of the economy, that I might deliver you from both death and sin. For I myself who speak, am present, who formerly worked miracles through Moses, and with ineffable power divided the sea—and it is clear that this is the Red Sea. For the waters stood fast as a wall, and the redeemed crossed over, having cast off the yoke of slavery in Egypt. 'I will make the sea a desert,' he says here, meaning instead: 'I made it dry.' 'And I will set the rivers as a desert.' And the word 'I will set' should again be understood as 'I set.' For he caused the Jordan to stand, and rendered it devoid of waters, while Jesus brought Israel across and led them into the land of promise. But if he says that the fish are to be dried up in the waters, understand that this is added to signify that the Jordan was completely dried up, and mention was made of this so illustrious and great miracle also by the divine David, saying elsewhere: 'What is it to you, sea, that you fled? And you, Jordan, that you turned back?' ^C And at another time again: 'The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you, and they were afraid; the abysses were troubled, the multitude of the sound of the waters.' And concerning the Jordan he says again thus: 'You dried up the rivers of Etham,' that is, the southern ones. He also recalls another miracle, and says: 'I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and I will place its covering as sackcloth.' And 'I will clothe' is to be understood instead of 'I clothed.' For we remember that the all-wise Moses wrote that a three-day and deep darkness was scattered over the land of the Egyptians; but it did not harm those from Israel at all. For there was day and light for them. This is also paradoxical, and beyond all reason. Since, therefore, he says, I am that same one, and I have appeared in the flesh, who formerly made the sea a desert—that is, rendered it dry—and having worked this also in the rivers, and having clothed this vast heaven in darkness, and having made it manifest through the experience itself that I am the Lord of all, ^D there is nothing that is impossible for my powers.

Who would not justly incur laughter, or rather, the accusation of impiety, if one chose to think and say, "Is my hand not strong enough to deliver?"

^A *Vers. 4, 5. The Lord gives me a tongue of discipline, that I may know when it is time to speak a word. He placed it in me in the morning; He added an ear for me to hear, and the discipline of the Lord opens my ears.*

It is not discordant, but rather quite consonant with the most upright reasoned discourse, for us to apply these words set before us to the choir of the holy apostles, or indeed to all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and who have been instructed by the Spirit, and who possess for this reason an abundantly illumined soul and mind, and who have become partakers of divine gifts, and have had the strength to behold with the pure eyes of the mind the depth of divinely inspired Scripture, and who have entered into the evangelical fineness of life and a holiness-befitting understanding. These, then, as they raise up hymns of thanksgiving, say that a tongue of discipline has been given to them, that is to say, the ability to speak with good instruction and to explain the divine mysteries blamelessly, and to know when and how it is fitting to use words ^B of consolation. This is exactly what the divine disciples did, filling and heaping up in mind and heart, in a healthy and unblemished way, the knowledge of the faith in Christ, and offering to each of those approaching the divine preachings the word that was proper and suitable for him. For to those who were still little children, they offered very well, as it were in the order of milk, the word of simple instruction, but to those who had arrived at the perfect man, and had reached the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, they gave solid and most nourishing food.

This, then, is the tongue of discipline, and the gift of knowing when it is proper to speak a word. And they say that it was placed in them "in the morning," that is to say, the brightness of the day in mind and heart, the illumination of divine and intelligible light, the rising of the morning star. And we shall understand this again from what the blessed Paul wrote thus: "Giving thanks to God and the Father, who delivered us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in the light." (Col. 1, 12). For the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the Gospel of Christ might not shine upon them. But for us, the Sun of righteousness has risen, shining with divine light upon our minds, so that we are and are called sons of light and of day. Then he says, "He added an ear for me to hear, and the discipline of the Lord opens my ears." For having accepted the faith in Christ, and having been enriched by the illumination from Him, we have had an addition of an ear—that is, a power of hearing that is unusual and formerly unknown. For the Jews, when they read the Law, do not go beyond the shadow, but sit amidst the types, bare and alone. "For the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God," as it is written. But we, believing the Law to be a pedagogue, when we receive what is through Moses into our ears, understand it through other [ears],

we turn this into an occasion for ourselves. We have, therefore, the addition of ears, ^A translating the types into truth and making the shadow a pretext for spiritual contemplation. For the instruction through Christ, that is, the evangelical proclamation and the mystagogy through him, spiritually persuades one to understand the Law. It opens, as it were, the ears of those who have believed in him—a thing which those of Israel do not possess. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore says to them: "Search the Scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me; and you refuse to come to me that you may have life." And the all-wise and inspired Paul writes concerning them, "When Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts, not being unveiled, because it is abolished in Christ Jesus our Lord and Redeemer."

ORATION V

VERS. 6, 7. "But I do not resist, nor do I contradict. I have given my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the slaps, and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spittings, and the Lord became my helper. Therefore I have not been confounded, but I have set my face as a firm rock, and I know that I shall not be ashamed, for he who justifies me is near."

From the things already read and examined above, he has leveled a very great reproach against the disobedience of the Jews. For he said, "I came and there was no man; I called and there was no one listening." Meanwhile, the person of those who have embraced the faith is interjected, who said, "The Lord gives me the tongue of instruction, so that I may know when it is necessary to speak a word," and the things that were added to these, and they also resounded with thanksgiving voices. Again, the person of Christ himself intervenes, ^C striving to contrast his own obedience with the contumacy of the Jews, so that he may convict them of being entirely enemies of God, and of lifting up a proud and stiff neck against him who calls them to salvation. "For I called," he says, "and there was no one listening." They have become slothful toward obedience, sluggish and utterly ignorant regarding what it behooves them to understand—that which ends in their own benefit—and also the ways by which it was probable that they could, and with no labor at all, escape both the tyranny of sin and the snares of diabolical perversity; but they refused. "But I do not resist," he says, "nor do I contradict." For since God and the Father willed to gather together all things in me, both those in heaven and those on earth, I humbled myself to empty myself, ^D and I descended to the measure of human poverty, appearing as a man so that I might become obedient even to death, and death upon a cross. "I have therefore given my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the slaps. But I did not turn away my face from the shame of spittings." For it befell him to suffer these things, while the ignorance of the Jews raged against him, and Pilate lacerated him with scourges, and one of the impious ministers treated him contumeliously, and struck him, and the others spat upon him. But this one

^A aim of the sufferer was to carry out to the end the good will of the Father. And indeed Christ said somewhere, "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day." Therefore, in order to accomplish life for those who believe in him, he did not refuse insults, nor scourges, nor the trial of spitting, even though he is God by nature and true Lord. Then he speaks as a man: "And the Lord became my helper; therefore I was not put to shame, but I set my face as a hard rock, and I knew that I would not be put to shame, because he who justifies me is near." He discourses, as I said, in a human manner, and in no way inappropriately to the measures of the kenosis. ^B Yet he seems to hint through these words at the justice that has fallen upon those who committed impiety against him. For he says, "The Lord became my helper." It is as if he were to say: "When I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the smitings, and suffered the passion of the cross, the Father became my helper." For he assisted, nor did he allow his own Son to be utterly covered with shame or to be disgraced. For those who dared to fight against God have been punished and have paid the penalties for their transgressions against me. And by adding "He who justifies me is near," he revealed wittily again that the punishment for those who raved against him is not far off, nor ^C to be delayed, but is as if near, and will follow the deeds themselves as if as a companion and footman. We say that the Son is "justified" in a certain way. For since they dared to kill one who was just and in no way subject to crimes, as I said, they were punished; and the punishment of those who suffered testifies to the innocence of him who was contumeliously and impiously mistreated by them. God and the Father said something of this sort: "And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death." By "the rich and the wicked," he names the leaders of the Jews. For burning with an incredible love of money, they were driven by it into the wickedness against him. And although they had recognized him, they said: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and hold his inheritance for ourselves."

VERS. 8. "Who is it that contends with me? Let him stand against me at the same time. And who is it that contends with me? Let him draw near to me."

That he is just and completely innocent, and did not commit the sins which the Jews in their rage heaped upon him, the divine prophet Isaiah himself will confirm, speaking of him: "See how the righteous perished, and no one understands in his heart." And again, as if in the person of the Jews concerning him: "Let us bind the righteous man, because he is useless to us." And the matter itself would proclaim this. For with regard to the divine and undefiled nature of the Word, how was it possible for him [to commit] sin

a fault or to incur a stain? It ^A has been said, then, regarding Christ, the Savior of us all, that "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." Since, therefore, he declares himself to be innocent and righteous, having endured the plots of the Jewish Synagogue, he necessarily addresses those who either were altogether ignorant of his innocence, or perhaps thought that something wrong had been done to him, and judged that [the things] which [happened] upon the cross had been endured justly; and he says: "Who is it that contends with me? Let him stand against me together." Similar to this is what was clearly said by Christ himself to the Scribes and Pharisees: "Which of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" Although the only-begotten Word of God had indeed become as we are and had put on the likeness in every respect, yet for this very reason he is believed to be the only one who has a nature beyond our own. For since every man is subject to trespass and sin, and there is no one whose life is altogether free from reproach in every part, he alone, even when he became man, ^B retained the God-befitting dignity for himself. For the nature of God, one might reasonably think, is beyond the capacity to transgress. Therefore, he also said, that "the prince of this world is coming, and he will find nothing in me." For he who became as we are, that he might deliver us from the snares of sin, how could he himself be overcome along with us, or how could he have come under stain and judgment, he who relieves all those who believe in him of judgment and stain? "For it is God who justifies; who is it that condemns?"

VERS. 9. Behold, the Lord will help me; who will harm me? Behold, all you [shall] grow old like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up.

He wishes to teach those who labored with impious and unjust envy against him two things at once, which are both useful and necessary. First, that their counsel and nefarious undertaking against him would be altogether futile; second, that they who transgressed against him would pay bitter and unbearable penalties. For they thought that they could hand over to death the Lord, the author of life. But, as the Psalmist says: ^D "They devised a counsel which they shall not be able to establish." For it was impossible, since he himself was life, for him to be overcome by death. He was raised, therefore, by the power of God and the Father, as it is written, and not because he himself was weak, as far as he is understood to be the Word and God, in the sense that I mean of being [unable] to cast off the corruption of his own flesh; but because he became man, and this he seemed to receive from the Father. For all things are given to man by God. For that God and the Father abolished through him the power of death, by his resurrection from the dead, would be clear from his saying to the crowds of the Jews: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." But since it is his custom to attribute what is above the hand and nature of man to the person of the Father

^A he also says here in a human manner: "Behold, the Lord helps me; who shall harm me?" For, he says, with God and the Father coming to my aid and destroying all your insolence, and establishing my glory, who among you will be so great as to resist his invincible counsel, and be able to harm him who is helped by him? Therefore, if the Scribes and Pharisees had been sensible, they would have refrained from their schemes and attempts against him, having learned before from the holy prophets that no one would have the power to harm Christ, being God, and Lord, and true Son of the Father; but they themselves, rather, brought down upon their own heads a terrible and most searching punishment. And he teaches this by adding: "Behold, you shall all grow old like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up," that is, you shall go away into aging, and rottenness, and disappearance, ^B being consumed by many and inescapable evils, and by an incurable calamity devouring you like a moth. The prophet Isaiah says this again elsewhere, somewhere: "Why will you still be struck, adding sin? Every head is for pain, and every heart for grief; from the feet to the head, there is no soundness in it, neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering sore; it is not possible to apply a poultice, nor oil, nor bandages. Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, strangers devour your country in your presence, and it is desolate, overturned by alien peoples." The prediction of these thus-abhorred things was more than sufficient to persuade the Jews to be quiet, and by no means to choose to offend God, ^C since, as I said, their intrigue was going to be fruitless, and they themselves were going to pay the penalty for their unaccomplished attempts, and to fall into utter destruction and ruin.

Who among you is he that fears the Lord? Let him hear the voice of his Servant.

Saying that they shall grow old like a garment—those who wish to labor in vain, and to revel in their own outrages against him (for he says: "Behold, you shall all grow old like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up"), he henceforth offers his kindness to the gentle, and points out to them the path of salvation; for very many of those from Israel have believed, as was also clearly declared in the Acts of the Apostles. For the remnant has been saved, ^D of which the divine disciples were like a first-fruit and beginning. Therefore, to those who are more ready for faith, he holds out things from compassion, saying: "Who among you is he that fears the Lord? Let him hear the voice of his Servant." By calling himself the Servant of God, he allows it to be understood that, although he has become man, he is the true Son of God and the Father. And to hear the voice of his Servant was not a transgression of the law, but a confirmation of the law, which through type and shadow described beforehand the truth, which is Christ and his predictions. Hence also the most wise Paul writes and says: "Do we then abolish the law through

^A faith? By no means; on the contrary, we uphold the law. It is written: 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" And the mystery of Christ was the end of the law and the prophets, justifying the ungodly through faith, and delivering from charges those who were entangled by their own transgressions. Therefore, to hear his voice—that is, the voice of Christ—is to accept the evangelical and saving proclamation, and it was a confirmation of the law. That it is well-pleasing to God the Father for those on earth to be instructed by the words of the Son, the power of the evangelical Scriptures might demonstrate to those of more understanding. For Christ was transfigured on the mountain, and his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light; and Moses and Elijah were seen ^B conversing with each other; then a voice came from God the Father, enjoining the holy apostles and saying: "This is my beloved Son, hear him." If any one, then, he says, has the fear of God in his mind, and has hidden and stored it up within himself like some treasure, let him hear the voice of his Son. For the evangelical and divine proclamation is, as I said, a calling to redemption through faith in Christ, and to a holy manner of life, far more excellent than the legal conversation. For the latter, as I said, was in shadows: the former has a bright and manifest truth.

VERS. 10. *You who walk in darkness, to whom there is no light, trust in the name of the Lord, and lean upon God.*

^C The most skilled physicians sometimes mix certain helps of mild remedies with sharp drugs, soothing the bitter and harsher pain as if by an incantation. Such a thing we discover our Lord Jesus Christ to have done now. For he rebukes them as walking in darkness, and held as it were in a mist, and entirely deprived of light—obviously of the divine and intelligible light—and directing their paths toward nothing that contributes to salvation, or rather to what is useful for them, but toward those things which easily cast them down into the pit of destruction. For it is not possible, it is not possible, for those who are in darkness to ever walk with a straight foot. For they are carried down into a pit if one is found, and if stones have been thrown about, they stumble ^D through carelessness. To you, therefore, he says, I propose admonitions, you who walk in darkness and foolishly do not admit the light from me. "Trust in the name of the Lord, and lean upon God." For the Jewish people, when from great stupidity they saw the only-begotten Word of God in a form similar to ours—that is, having become man—did not understand the mystery concerning him; but, being foolish, they often offended him with shameful words, sometimes calling him a Samaritan and a drunkard; sometimes being incited to anger by a false zeal. For they said: "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God." Necessarily, as I have already said, having become man...

He manifests to them His transcendent and God-befitting glory and power, and He brings those who might wish to think insignificantly of Him to a different frame of mind, saying: "Trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon God." Most clearly, then, He affirms that He is Lord and God, leading them away, as I said, from wishing to think or speak anything base or abject concerning Him. And it is a boast for those who have received the faith to trust in Him, and to make Him their rod and support. For He sustains all things so that they may be well. And this, I think, the inspired Psalmist teaches, saying to the Father and God of all: "Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me." For the human mind is slippery regarding the things of this world, and inclines much toward ^B extravagant pleasures and carnal interests; it always needs One to save it, and to stretch out a saving hand, so that even those who have become partakers of this aid may say: "He set my feet upon a rock, and He directed my steps." That the mind of the Jews had been enveloped in darkness and gloom, one may see from the Holy Scriptures. For the most wise Paul says: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the Gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine forth." And the inspired prophet Isaiah also speaks thus concerning those who are of the blood of Israel: "When they expected light, darkness came upon them; and when they awaited splendor, they walked in darkness." Christ Himself also called them to the light, saying: "I am the light ^C of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." It is therefore established, and it is true, that for those who do not choose to follow Him in every way and altogether, it will follow that they walk as if in night and darkness.

VER. 41. "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, and strengthen a flame. Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled. By me these things have come to pass for you; you shall sleep in sorrow."

He shows them something else also, which seemed able to lead them without labor to think rightly. For the remembrance of punishments renders even the disobedient and hardened mind somehow tractable and compliant through useful terror. He says, therefore, that they kindle ^D a fire against themselves, and strengthen a flame. For as they stumble through long-standing disobedience, and wish to have so unadmonished a heart, they stir up against themselves the unquenchable flame, clearly that of punishment. The saying stated by our Savior Christ of all to the same effect matches these thoughts: "He who believes in the Son is not judged. But he who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the Son of God." For what else is it to be judged, if not to fall into a flame, and into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels? But when He adds, "you have strengthened the flame," He implies something harsh.

For those who add fuel to a fire that is able to burn, strengthen it. Indeed, the flame rages in much fuel, but it grows somewhat weaker when it does not abound in many things. The Jews, therefore, kindled a fire against themselves, having killed the prophets and having stoned those who were sent, and they strengthened their own flame by adding their outrages against Christ to their previous crimes. For they added the Son to the servants, and as far as they were concerned, they killed the Prince of life, even though He rose again, being God and Life. But since they did not accept the instruction through Christ, remaining in the shadows of the Law—for this reason, and very reasonably, as those who think they have the light of the Law, but do not truly have it, He casts them off from His union and fellowship, saying: "Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled." For there was no light in them, but since they thought they knew the Law, and yet refused to accept the Christian doctrine delivered to them, this produced for them this flame and conflagration. That they have paid the penalties for their outrage against Christ, and will die entangled in their sins, He declares when He adds: "Because of Me these things have happened to you; you shall sleep in sorrow." And what are these things? For their region has been laid waste, the wicked have perished miserably, ^B and the holy city has been captured and has fallen into the hands of enemies, and the temple itself has been burned, and they have slept in sorrow. For those who finish their lives uncircumcised, and refuse to accept the redemption through Christ, will not sleep in the hope of rewards and in spiritual tranquility, but in the fear of punishments and in sorrow on account of them.

Cap. LI. Vers. 1, 2. Audite me, vos qui quod justum est persequimini, et qui Dominum quaeritis. Intuemini in solidam petram quam excidistis, et in foveam lacus quam effodistis. Intuemini in Abraham patrem vestrum, et in Sarram quae peperit vos, quia unus erat, et vocavi eum, et benedixi ei, et dilexi eum, et multiplicavi eum.

Having reproached sufficiently those who have hardened themselves against the truth, and having rendered manifest the punishment that will befall them if they do not wish to follow the evangelical precepts, and if they persist in raising the proud and stubborn neck of their own mind, He appropriately transfers the words of exhortation to those who believed from the blood of Israel. For the nation of the Jews has not perished entirely, ^D but a remnant has been saved according to the voice of the prophet. And indeed, as it is written in the Acts of the holy apostles, very many accepted the word concerning Christ, and recognized the manifestation of His glory. To these, therefore, He speaks, and says: "Hear me, you who pursue the just, and who seek the Lord." By "the just" He means "justice," and it is clear that He means the justice through Christ, that which is, I say, through faith in Him, which justifies the ungodly, and frees from all filth those who are stained, and which sanctifies in the Spirit, and produces the illustrious praise of adoption. They persecute...

^A righteousness, not as though they were driving it away or casting it from their own minds, but as those running toward it, so that they might apprehend it. Something like this the inspired David also said: "Seek peace, and pursue it." Or you might understand it also in accordance with that which is brought forward by one of the holy prophets, saying: "Wherewith shall I apprehend the Lord, shall I take hold of my God the Most High?" Therefore, they pursue righteousness, as I have said, that they might seize it once they have found it. These would be they who are also seeking the Lord Himself, that is to say, Christ. For they find Him through faith, the God and Father calling them to this. And indeed, Christ said somewhere to the crowds of the ^B Jews: "Murmur not among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him." But mark this: God does not discourse to all simply, but rather to those who would be pursuing righteousness, and seeking Him as well, according to the ways just mentioned by us. Therefore all who have been called through faith in Christ to the knowledge of the truth are taught by God. And as for what might be meant by the meaning of these notions, we shall say as best we can. For there was a very great multitude of the Jews, but very few indeed from among them believed. Yet that those who believed would in time increase into a ^C superior multitude of a vast number—those gathered by God—is what He attempts to confirm, having taken the inspired Abraham, and with him Sarah, for the sake of an example and to confirm hope, by being added to those from the circumcision and the so-called uncircumcision, that is to say, the Gentiles. For they were the root of the whole nation, even though they had reached a senile and more than mature age, nor was there any hope left of being able to conceive. For he was one hundred years old, and she was barren and childless. But since nothing is difficult for God, and all things are smooth and easily driven, they became the origin and root of a multitude of people ^D that rivals the stars. For it was said somewhere to the inspired Abraham that he should look up to the stars and believe that his seed would be equal in number to those that were seen. And as for the fact that Sarah had not given birth according to the law of human nature, and the inspired Abraham had become the father of a child, being already an old man and past the age of generation, he takes two examples: a solid rock being hewn out, and a deep pit being dug. For just as it is one of the most difficult things to be able to hew stones out of a solid and stubborn rock, and to dig a deep well, in the same way, I think, it was not easy—or rather, it was impossible—for a child to spring from an old man and a barren woman. But it has been accomplished paradoxically, and this, with God assenting. When, therefore, you who have believed consider yourselves to be few—inasmuch as the divine and holy proclamation is in its beginnings—yet be firmly disposed, He says, because it will still increase into a multitude exceeding in number.

For there is one Abraham, and I called him, and I blessed him, and having blessed him I loved him, and having loved him I multiplied him; that is to say, I have established him as the father of the whole Jewish race, or rather nation, and in addition to this, of those who are of promise. For it was said to Abraham, "I have established thee a father of many nations." ^A Therefore, the one who is called is blessed, and whoever is blessed shall in every way and altogether be loved; and he who attains to this will be numerous—spiritually, of course. For he shall have varied fruits from virtues and evangelical distinctions. Moreover, even according to the account of history, it is possible to see the promise as true through the events themselves; for the world beneath the heavens worships Christ, the Savior of all, and all things have become full of Him, and the whole earth is filled with His glory.

VER. 3. *And I will now comfort thee, O Sion, and I have comforted all her deserts, and I will make her deserts as the paradise of the Lord. Gladness and exultation shall be found in her, confession and the voice of praise.*

The discourse ^B of the holy prophets is always fashioned in some way toward visible things and things that fall under the senses. Yet it has its reference to things beyond sense and to intelligible things. Therefore, even if he names Sion, do not imagine the earthly one, but rather accept the intelligible one, which is the Church of the living God; for otherwise how could one see the words of the prophet coming out into truth? For God promised that He would comfort her, yet we shall nowhere find this to have happened [to the earthly Sion]; but on the contrary, one can see her desolate and ravaged. Consequently, the prophet’s discourse is now addressed to the multitude of those who believe, which is the Church of the living God. And what, then, does He say? Just as, He says, I have called ^C Abraham, and being one I established him as the father of many nations, so too will I comfort thee, O Sion. Now the comfort here is a promise that brings gladness and implants a firm hope in the hearers, that because God is gathering from everywhere those who are to be called through faith, she will not be deserted and laid waste, but will be like a certain flourishing and most fruit-bearing paradise, thick with beautiful and noble plants, and possessing an intelligible fertility, that is to say, gladness and exultation, confession and the voice of praise. Understand from this that He promises to lead away from the legal ^D worship those who are to be in the rank of plants, and who are to fill the intelligible garden, which He also calls the paradise of God. For of old the law of Moses commanded one to sacrifice oxen, to slaughter sheep, to offer turtledoves to God, and fine flour mixed with oil. But the God of all is no longer accessible through these sacrifices, but as Christ Himself said, "God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Now the worship in spirit and truth, and the power of the intelligible service, has a sweet fragrance, a spiritual gladness and exultation in the hope in Christ. For we are confident that He will also transfigure the body of our lowliness, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory; and we shall be together and reign together with Him, being ordered in

^A the rank of the children of God, and enriched with His divine and life-giving Spirit. We, too, bring to Him an intelligible fruitfulness, confession, and a voice of praise—that is, hymns, doxologies, and odes of thanksgiving. For it is with such sacrifices that God is well pleased.

“Hear me, my people, and ^B you kings, give ear to me; for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the gentiles.”

Promising that He would manifest a vast and uncountable multitude of those believing in Him, He addresses them thus, as though it were already gathered together, and instructs them and initiates them from henceforth as His own true worshippers, so that what was written concerning them might appear true: “And they shall all be taught of God.” The divinely inspired David, therefore, also sings, and says thus to Christ, the Saviour of all: “Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt chasten, O Lord, and shalt instruct him out of Thy law.” He promised, furthermore, glory on account of this to those who had recognized His manifestation. And indeed, He says through one of the holy prophets concerning His own presence, which took place in this world in the flesh: “In that time, says the Lord, I will give my laws into their mind, and I will write them upon their hearts.” The all-wise Paul, rightly understanding this, writes and says to those who have attained this: “You are our epistle, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” Therefore, “Hear me,” He says; that is, receive my words, and do not become intractable and rebellious like Israel, clinging to the antiquity of the legal letter and seeing nothing beyond the shadows. He says that the commandment ^C given through Moses was until the time of reformation. But since the time of the incarnation is no longer awaited, but is already present, let the shadow pass over to the truth. “Hear me, therefore, my people.” By saying “my people,” He puts forward the spiritual intimacy granted to them at the present time, persuading them, as I suppose, and by this means also making them more ready, as I say, to accept the word from Him. He calls not only those who are numbered among the common people, but together with them He calls also kings, so that you may understand the princes or those who are set over the nations. For many were brought to this from the multitude of believers, of whom the divine disciples were the first-fruits; then, after them, those who followed in their footsteps were invested with the name of royalty—since they were indeed enriched with the name of royalty and were also appointed to lead the peoples. And so, as if from exceeding great joy, they offer songs of thanksgiving to God, saying: “He has subjected peoples under us, and nations under our feet.” The divine singer also sings concerning them: “The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham.” Therefore, O peoples and kings, ^D hear me and hearken, and announce what is to come. “A law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the gentiles.” By this He speaks of the divine law and the evangelical preaching. For it is in one way a certain...

different sort of thing, like the ^A new and saving decree; yet it is a transformation of the ancient law for the better, and a transition of types that have run their course toward the truth. For Christ said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For I say to you, that not one iota or one serif shall pass from the law, until all things are done.” For the law in letters was given through Moses; but the saving—that is, the evangelical—preaching went forth through Christ. For it was fitting, as it seems, for Moses to be the minister of the shadow and the type, but for Christ to be the illuminator of knowledge and the true worship in the Spirit. For He is the true light. ^B He adds to these: “My judgment for a light of the gentiles.” By “judgment” here He means either His holy and philanthropic decree, which brought forth the grace from Him into the light of the gentiles, or “judgment” as rectitude and just judgment—that is, the evangelical justice. For so the inspired David makes mention of the sacred preachings, saying: “Thou hast prepared rectitude, judgment, and justice in Jacob, Thou hast established them.” But if He says that the divine and saving preaching was established in Jacob in these instances, and not rather among the rest of the gentiles—yet one must remember God saying clearly: “I was not sent except to the lost ^C sheep of the house of Israel.” And indeed also through the voice of the inspired David himself: “But I was established king by Him (it is clear that this means by God and the Father) upon Zion, His holy mountain, proclaiming the commandment of the Lord.” For the fathers and the promise, the legislation and the covenant, were indeed from Israel. But since they became disobedient apostates and slayers of the Lord, grace has therefore since migrated, and has become a light to all the gentiles.

VERS 5. “My justice draws near quickly, and my salvation shall go forth, and in my arm the gentiles shall hope. The islands shall await me, and in my arm they shall hope.”

He does not allow the zeal of the called to be extinguished, or to wither as it were ^D in sorrow, nor does He say that the delay of hope will be for a long time; but He shows that the promise follows these words, as it were, at heel. Of such a kind is that which, by the voice of Habakkuk, or which was said to him by God: “Yet a little while, a little while, and He who comes will arrive, and will not delay.” For the hopes of good things, when thirsty for that which they await, melt away from hesitation and procrastination. Hence He says that His justice draws near. And if we should wish to attribute these words to the person of God and the Father, we say that He calls the Son His justice. For we have been justified in Him, and not from works done in justice which we have performed, but according to His great mercy. For He came into this world, not that He might judge it, but that it might be saved through Him. And it was saved in no other way except that

^A by means of much kindness. For He says, "I, I am He who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember them." And again, "And you, Israel, do not forget me. For behold, I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as thick darkness." David also sings, and indeed says to Him: "You have been favorable, O Lord, to Your land; You have turned back the captivity of Jacob; You have forgiven the iniquities of Your people, You have covered all their sins." Therefore, in the righteousness of God and the Father, that is, in Christ, we have been saved and sanctified, having washed away the stains of our depravity. But if it is Christ Himself who says, "My righteousness draws near quickly," you shall understand "righteousness" in this context no less as the justifying grace that comes from Him, or rather the evangelical and heavenly proclamation, through which we have known the way of the righteousness that is pleasing to Him, and have been led toward every one of the best deeds, ^B according to what is said in the Psalms: "Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths." And indeed, He calls righteousness "salvation," and with very good reason. For it draws us out of every evil, and by releasing us from the bonds of death, carries us up to undying life. But He promises something else, too. "For the nations," He says, "shall hope in My arm." And He even asserts that the islands shall wait for Him. For in times past, the multitude of the nations, entangled in unbreakable bonds—by which I mean the bonds of sin—and subjected to the rapacity of the all-wicked and original-evil serpent, was captive, and in the utmost miseries was utterly without help. For there was no one who could deliver them from so bitter and inescapable a calamity; there was no one who could break the yoke of that rapacity. But they were, as I said, in the place of captives, stripped of all hope that leads to life, and destitute of every good thing. For those who did not know Him who is by nature and truly Lord, being altogether ^C estranged from God and "having no hope," continued in the world, according to the voice of the blessed Paul. But, He says, those who were once weak, and as though cast down to the ground, taking My arm for salvation, will gain an unexpected hope. Now, holy Scripture everywhere calls the Son the arm of the Father. For He is His power. But if anyone should also wish to understand the arm of the Son Himself, upon which the hope of the nations who are called to salvation will rest, you shall understand it to be His divine and extraordinary power, through which, having crushed Satan and the world-rulers, He has saved those from the nations. For He Himself said: "Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his goods?" And David also said: "You have humbled the proud as one wounded, and with the arm of Your power You have scattered Your enemies." Consequently, Christ is hope and the way of salvation, not ^D only for the Israelites, but also for all the nations; for whom also the islands shall wait. And by islands, I suppose, He means the churches of the nations, which, set in the midst as if in a sea, [are]...

are struck by the assaults of circumstances as if by waves, yet take away the crown of approval through patience. For patience works probation, and probation hope, and hope does not confound. Therefore, to wait for God should be understood as nothing else than to please Him rightly through endurance and patience, and for this reason to be deemed worthy of His mercy and oversight. For it is written: “Waiting I waited for the Lord, and He attended to me.”

VERS. 6. *Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth; for heaven has been established like smoke, and the earth shall grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in the earth shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.*

Since He declares that He will be a hope to the nations, He weaves for them a necessary mystagogy. For they who knew Him not could not otherwise be joined to God by spiritual kinship, unless they were freed from their former error and loosed from the snares and diabolical perversity, and enriched with a true and irreprehensible knowledge of God. For as it were an approach into familiarity and conjunction with God is to know clearly and to confess that there is no other God besides Him. Since, therefore, they opined ^B that heaven was God, and were persuaded to worship the brighter stars, and worshipped the very earth that lies under the feet of all, departing entirely from the opinions of piety, and from Him who is by nature the God of the universe, and who brings into existence things that once were not—hence, showing that the creature has a nature other than His own, and declaring the incomparable difference between the Maker and the thing made, He commands them to lift their eyes to heaven, that is, to contemplate the firmament itself and what is in it, and to cast their mind down again to the earth, or rather, to the contemplation of the living things in it, and, to speak once for all, to contemplate everything; and if they wish to admire Him, not to let their mind rest there, but from the magnitude of the works to measure the power of the Artificer, and the supreme and ineffable glory of the Creator of all. We are accustomed, however, to gather the knowledge of God both from the divinely inspired Scripture and from the magnificence and order of the creatures. For Paul derides the wise men of the Greeks because, while they imagined themselves wise with the error of opinion, they had a heart filled with every folly. ^C “They worshipped,” he says, “and served the creature rather than the Creator.” He also rebukes others who turn back again to the weak and beggarly elements of the world, and wish to serve them contrary to what is right. For he declared that for the more discerning, the beauty of the workmanship does not provide a cause for error, but an occasion for the true knowledge of God, when he says: “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the works, even His eternal power and divinity.” When, therefore, He says, you shall marvel at the established heaven, and as if

it were seen in the form of smoke, ^A know also, He says, that those things which have been brought forth to exist shall again be dissolved. For those things which have the beginnings of their generation shall again at some time end in that which is not. The earth, therefore, shall be worn out by age, He says—that is, it shall be destroyed—and they that dwell upon the earth shall die, even as these things shall. He aptly names the change for the better the “death” of the elements. For as Paul says, “And the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” But in what manner shall it be delivered? The disciple of Christ shall make it clear, saying, “For the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up. But we wait for new heavens and a new earth according to His promises.” He says, therefore, that the renovation of the creation shall be as it were a resurrection from the dead, just as with human bodies. But while the elements are being dissolved, “My salvation shall be for ever,” He says, “and My righteousness shall not fail.” Now, as we have said very often, He calls the Son “Salvation” and “Righteousness”; and by saying “My,” He shows ^B the property which He has with Him, and that the Son is by nature from Him and in Him. But “He shall be for ever,” He says, “and shall not fail.” Moreover, He makes clear by these words how great the difference is between the Creator and the creation, between the Maker and the made, saying: For the creation shall be worn out by age, and as it was brought from that which was not into that which is, so it shall not be alien to corruption. And the Creator and Artificer of all, the God the Word, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things, shall be for ever, and shall not fail. This the divine Melodist also teaches, saying: “Thou, O Lord, didst lay the foundations of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt abide, and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a vesture Thou shalt fold them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.”

“Hearken unto Me, ye that know judgment, My people, in whose heart is My law: fear ye not the reproach of men, nor be overcome by their contempt. For they shall be as a garment that shall be eaten away by time, and as wool that shall be eaten by the moth; ^C but My righteousness shall be for ever, and My salvation unto generations of generations.”

Having instructed those from the nations, and having woven for them a discourse simpler and suited to their minds (for milk is more appropriate for those yet childish in their habit), He addresses again those who are already manly, and who possess a stronger heart and a mind well-established, and who consider nothing ^D of piety to be a hardship.

^A He declares clearly who these are: "You who know judgment," that is, who, like certain proven money-changers, examine each of the things that ought to be done, and judge accurately, and hold fast to what is good, while abstaining from every evil thing. These are they who have the law of God deposited in their mind and heart, and have accustomed themselves to accept it as a kind of pedagogue and wise guide. David indeed psalms and says concerning every just and wise man, that "the law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be tripped." It is therefore a salutary thing to deposit and store up the divine law as it were in our mind and heart. For just as a vessel made of brass or some other such material, when fire is brought near and piled up, remains hot, so too the soul of a man having the divine law in his mind is in every way fervent in the Spirit. And one of the holy disciples says that because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. ^B Hear then, He says, you who know judgment and who carry my law in your heart. Do not fear the reproach of men, and be not overcome by their scorn. For all who desire to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution; and as they suffer for the sake of piety, they bear the mockery of those who do not know it. But one must hold such things as nothing, and rather understand that even the Savior of all and Lord Himself endured the cross, despising shame. And for this reason He said: "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more his household." ^C Furthermore: "Blessed are you when they shall persecute you, and revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." You ought, therefore, to have a mind unbroken concerning these things, and to spit upon the laughter of your persecutors as stale, and to scorn all railing, and rather to consider it a cause of all honor to be persecuted for the sake of piety, and to be reviled for Christ. For what will insult harm, and a word stirred up from an unintelligent heart, against him who has attained the praise of patience? For that the glory of those who have suffered will shine forth at the proper times, and that those who have scorned and heaped reproaches will depart into nothingness, He has confirmed by saying, that "they shall grow old like a garment by time, and they shall be eaten like wool by a moth." ^D Now wool and a garment suffer growing old and corruption most easily. "But my justice," that is, the justification through me, "and the salvation which has been given shall be long and unending, and it shall run unto many generations," that is, it shall stand perpetually. Therefore, if we have suffered a few things for the sake of piety, we shall find a most bountiful recompense. And the all-wise Paul will bear witness, saying: "For this light and momentary affliction of ours produces for us a weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen"

are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

^B VERS. 9. *Awake, awake, Jerusalem, and put on the strength of your arm; awake as in the beginning of the day, as a generation of the age.*

It seems that in these words he is making mention of the calling and conversion of Israel. For they too shall be called to the recognition of the glory of our common Savior, Christ, after the arrival of the Gentiles. For it is written in the prophets: *For the children of Israel shall sit many days without a king, and without a prince, and without priesthood, and without revelations; and after this the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall be amazed at the Lord and at His goods in the last of the days.* For that the prophet here names as David Him who is of the seed of David according to the flesh, Christ, I think no one will doubt at all. For when the divine David had already died, these prophetic words occurred many years later. The all-wise Paul also knew of the future calling of those of the blood of Israel by faith in his own times. For he says ^C at one time, *When the fullness of the Gentiles has entered, then all Israel shall be saved*; and at another time he speaks to those among the Gentiles who have believed, saying, as if concerning a plant and an olive tree: *But if some of the branches were broken off, that you might be grafted in, do not boast against the branches. For you do not support the root, but the root supports you.* For just as you were cut off from the olive tree that is wild by nature and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, so too shall they be grafted according to nature into their own olive tree. Jerusalem, therefore, he says, awake. This, I think, is clearly what the most holy Paul wrote to some: *Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you.* Wake up, therefore, that is, arise as if from the dead, he says; put on the strength of your arm—and not a sensory arm, but rather a mental one, that of the soul, by which one is clearly directed towards the achievement of virtue. For it is confessed that Israel was debilitated and infirm when they raged against Christ; but when they return and wake up, they will again put on the power from Christ. And this was, then, ^D what was said to them through one of the holy prophets: *Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, because you have been infirm in your iniquities.* It is also said concerning them by the voice of Jeremiah by our common Savior Christ: *Behold, I give infirmity upon this people, and fathers and sons shall be infirm therein, and the neighbor and his kinsman shall perish.* For Israel has fallen away completely, because of their impiety toward Christ, so as to be unable at all to fulfill the things that achieve a distinguished life. But, he says, awake, as in the beginning of the day, as in the generation of the age, so that you may run toward this, and return again to what you were

datum. Christ, therefore, refashions us in Him and inscribes again upon us the ancient beauty of our nature, imprinting as it were His own character. For we were made in His image and likeness. The excellent Paul therefore writes to those who, after receiving the faith, were led back through ignorance to the shadow of the law: "My little children, of whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you." ^A

VERS. 10. *Art thou not it that hath dried the sea, the water of the deep, a multitude? That hast made the depths of the sea a way of passage for them that were delivered and redeemed?*

He brings back to Israel's memory the magnificent deeds in Egypt. For He delivered them from a hard and inevitable servitude, He snatched them from the hand of one who oppressed them intolerably, and He led them through the midst of the sea. ^B For the waters were compacted as a wall, and the surge was passable to the redeemed; they ran indeed as if on dry land. And these were not their works, but a declaration of the incredible marvel of the most powerful right hand. For it was God, as I said, who made the liquid element passable for them. Yet, as though the works done for Jerusalem were her own, He says they were performed by her: and at the same time He persuades her to be of good and confident mind, because those who have believed in Christ shall overcome every temptation and will vanquish all the powers of the enemy. For He who once led them through the midst of the sea and manifested it as a way of passage for those who were rescued and redeemed, will again drive back with all-powerful might those things which at times shall be done by others, and He will pursue them most strongly. For it is written: "All who wish to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution." ^C God therefore says to Jerusalem: "Art thou not it that hath dried the sea?" and what follows.

Or you may understand the meaning of these words in another way. After she had been called to the recognition of Christ, with God and the Father saying: "Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, and put on the strength of thy arm," being in a way aroused and brought back to the memory of His strength, He addresses her and says: "Art thou not it that hath dried the sea, and the multitude of the abyss? Which hast made the depths of the sea a way of passage for us who were rescued and redeemed, a way made open through the waves?" And it is ^D likely, indeed, that from these things already done, they would receive the pattern for having unshakable faith in the things to come. For He who led them through the midst of the sea will surely dissipate the surge of this present life as well, and will render the vain and discordant turbulence of worldly matters stale, so that in no way may the souls of the called be smothered by worldly cares; but moreover, He will also bring them through every temptation, so that, having been saved and redeemed, they may glorify Him, saying: "Sing to the Lord a new song, for the Lord hath done wonderful things. His right hand and His holy arm have saved him." But the right hand and the arm of God and the Father cannot be anyone else but our Lord Jesus Christ.

"For they shall be turned back by the Lord, and shall come ^A to Sion with gladness and everlasting joy." "For on their head shall be joy and praise, and gladness shall take hold of them; pain, sorrow, and sighing shall flee away." He shapes the form of his discourse again according to the power of the things that have already happened to them. For having offended God in many ways, and having slipped into the worship of idols as if into certain pits, they were not moderately defiled; and having pushed aside the commandment of the all-wise Moses, they turned to the teachings and commandments of men. For these reasons, they were all delivered over at various times to the Babylonians, and were captives inhabiting the land of the Persians and Medes. But they have been treated with mercy again. For when Cyrus released them by the will of God, and allowed them to return, they were restored to Judea rejoicing and shouting, and having their hymns to God as if a kind of crown upon their head. Therefore, as from the things that happened historically, he very well depicts the joy in the final callings. For they shall be returned by the Lord, he says, and shall come to Sion—understood intellectually, that is, the Church—rejoicing and glad. For "there shall be on their head praise and joy, and gladness shall take hold of them." For the Savior of all crowns, as it were, the souls of those who believe, and fills them with all joy, gladness, and rejoicing, being glorified by them, and having become to them a stringed instrument and a lyre. ^B And where there is altogether a calling that summons to repentance and turning, and to the washing away of sin—through faith, that is, in Christ—where there is the ministry and grace of the Holy Spirit, and the honor of adoption, and the enjoyment of endless good things, and the hope of the kingdom of heaven, there surely is also the need to rejoice; and "pain, sorrow, and sighing shall flee away." For what place will pain have, and for what causes would there be sighing, where there is absolutely no occasion for sighing and grieving, but rather hope, gladness, and joy, and irrepressible delight holds sway? ^C

"I am, I am He who comforts you. Know who you are that you feared mortal man, and the son of man who have withered like hay. And you forgot God who made you, who made the heaven, and founded the earth. And you feared always all the days the face of him who afflicts you. As he thought to take you away, and now where is the fury of him who afflicts you? For when you are saved, he shall not stand, nor shall he remain."

"I am," he says in these words, instead of "I live and exist"; for he is himself "He who is." ^D And it is a dignity, and a kind of privilege

^A divine and excellent. For to be and to live belongs to this nature alone which surpasses all things, not having received these as a participation from another, nor as something given, but rather as it is life itself. Therefore, He says: "I am He who consoles you," that is, I who impart every spiritual consolation and sustain you with safeguards, so that, beautifully supported, you may press forward bravely and boldly toward the rectitude of every virtue. Or perhaps you might understand the consolation here in another way. For the Savior, through the preaching of the Gospel, called men to the washing away of sin—through faith in Him, that is to say—to the participation of the Holy Spirit, and to the praise and glory of adoption. But you, He says, O Israel, while I am He who is, did not fear to despise and contemn Me who call you to life, but you feared for yourself before mortal man and the son of man, who have withered like grass. Then you forgot the God who made you, who fashioned the heaven and established the earth, and you feared the face of the one ^B who afflicts you. In these words, God accuses the leaders of the Jews, who always and assiduously resisted the Savior’s glory, and as far as it was in their power, rendered it altogether of no effect. For He performed various miracles here, but they, against divine signs more than admirable, poured forth bitter words, and maintained that He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons. He often mollified His hearers with doctrines and teachings more than legal. They slipped into such impiety that they would reproach those who praised Him, and say: "He has a demon, and is mad; why do you listen to Him?" They feared, therefore, the plots of the Pharisees: and the blessed evangelist will testify to this, saying: "The rulers, however, knew that He was Christ; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it." For the Jews had already conspired ^C that if any man confessed Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. The Savior Himself also reproves the teachers of the law, saying: "Woe also to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are entering." He accuses, therefore, the Jewish people, inasmuch as, from a very great lack of understanding, they despised the God who is and who lives, who established the heaven by His word and founded the earth, and preferred reverence toward men, and heeded the voices of mortal men who wither just like grass. For He proved that those who have struck this base fear into them, and by this means have led them away from worshipping Him who calls to salvation, are destined to undergo the ultimate punishment, ^D when He added: "For just as they plotted to remove you, so now where is the fury of him who afflicts you? For in you being saved, he shall not stand, nor shall he abide." For the fury of the Scribes and Pharisees was temporary, against the people subject to their hand and power; but they themselves went off to destruction, and were exposed to slaughter. And those who believed in Christ rejoiced, having been saved and freed from divine wrath. Yet they did not endure; that is, not in this

^A long duration have they perished, with all of Judea laid waste, and Jerusalem burnt, along with those who inhabited it.

VERS. 15, 16. *For I am your God, who disturbs the sea, and makes its waves roar. The Lord of Sabaoth is my name. I will put my words into your mouth, and I will shelter you under the shadow of my hand, with which I established the heaven and founded the earth; and Sion shall say, that you are my God.*

Having accused those from Israel, as men who feared ^B other men—that is, those whom they had chosen to preside over the synagogue—and who, out of regard for them, had unwisely stepped into the mire of impiety, having utterly despised the love for Him, He shows in these words that He renders light and easy whatever calamities and persecutions may befall those who have chosen piety, and He proves the perversity of their oppressors to be ineffective and weak, turning sad things into better, and changing the assault of harsh circumstances into tranquility. He takes, for the sake of example, this vast sea that we see. "For I am," He says, "who disturbs the sea, and who makes its ^C waves roar. The Lord of Sabaoth is my name." Just as, therefore, a wave is sometimes arched and dashed onto the shore with violent force, pushed by the might of the winds, but then again, at God's will, it shifts immediately into calm and stillness, in the same way, He says, I change even things that are grievous and intolerable and leading to every extreme of evil, as if merely by bowing towards serenity. For when every tumult is lulled to sleep, I relax and restore those who have chosen to contend for piety into the vastness of gladness. ^D And this, I think, is what is sung enigmatically by the lyre of the Psalmist: *He commanded the storm, and it stood still as a breeze, and its waves were silenced.* But in order that they might receive confidence without any hesitation, that the things promised will surely and in every way run to their conclusion, and that the help offered by Him could never be false, He necessarily says, "The Lord of Sabaoth is my name." For if He is the Lord of hosts, how would He be weak to save some? Or what is so difficult, or arduous, or impossible among things to be accomplished by the almighty right hand? Furthermore, He adds something else that is sufficient for aid, and at the same time declares that their anger has been dissolved and extinguished, and the disadvantage of hatred has ceased; and that henceforth He will take account of them and count them worthy of mercy and love, which is fitting for those who have acknowledged His appearance. "For I will put," He says, "my words into your mouth." And what this is, the divine David said somewhere, singing: *But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my righteous decrees, and take up my covenant through your mouth?* For, as it is written, praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner. He therefore forbids and prohibits profa—

^Ane and wicked men from remembering his words at all. For it is said: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." How is it not evident to all that those who have a wicked heart cannot belch forth good words? To the saints, therefore, it is most fitting both to have the law of God in their mind and to heave it up, as it were, through their tongue and their speech. The God of the universe promises, then, as if to those who are already righteous and sanctified in faith and have obtained the praise of noble character, that he will put his own words into their mouths, so that by using the divine law in frequent speech, they may discern the path that is adapted to their salvation. For it is written concerning every righteous man that: "The law of his God is in his heart, and his footsteps shall not be subverted." And again: "In my heart I have hidden your oracles, that I might not sin against you." For the law of God supports us so that we may be beautifully solidified and grounded, and may rightly direct our mind toward all the best institutions of life; and it does not allow it to slip toward worse things, and it leads it away—as if with youthful vigor—from that which is accustomed to cause harm. But because, as I said, he addresses them as though they were already noble and genuine, he promises yet another thing. "I will cover you," he says, "under the shadow of my hand." This is also a good worth possessing, and an exceptional one, and sufficiently great for salvation for those once granted the grace to enjoy it. For we understand the hand of God and the Father to be nothing else than the Son born of him, our Lord Jesus Christ. But to those who obey him, nothing of those things that are accustomed to harm will be able to do harm. For they shall be robust and very courageous, surpassing every tumult and every temptation, nor shall they be captured by Satan; they shall overcome all the filth of the flesh, and shall not succumb to the impulses or affections of soul or body. And that the right hand of the Father is all-powerful, he shows by adding: ^B "By which I established the heaven, and founded the earth." For if, as it is written, the heavens were established by the word of the Lord, and the earth was fixed so that it remains immovable; why would it not be sufficiently powerful to save those who choose to value his protection highly? "Then, then," he says, "shall Sion say: You are my God." Consider here for me how clearly and evidently the confession of the Christian faith is introduced. For formerly, though Christ performed many miracles and was illustrated by the splendor of divine signs—which surpasses all speech and admiration—out of a certain notable impiety, they said they did not know him, when yet they had not truly been ignorant, but acted with insult. For men notably delirious, and foolish, and possessed of an impious mind, dared to say: "We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know from where he is." But, he says, those who deny and have slipped into this impiety, while carrying my words upon their tongue, and having lived under the protection of my right hand, shall again acknowledge the Redeemer and shall confess him, saying to him: "You are my God." The faith, therefore, is a saving thing, and a way leading to life.

the power of the confession unto Christ. Verse 17, 18. Excite yourself, excite yourself, arise, Jerusalem, who drank the cup of the wrath from the hand of the Lord. For the cup of ruin, the goblet of wrath, you have drained and emptied, and there was none to console you from all your children whom you bore; and there was none taking hold of your hand, nor from all your sons whom you raised up.

^B He addresses the Jewish Synagogue, as if it were fallen and still lying there, and commands it to rise, providing the hand, as it were, and having compassion as God. And we do not by any means say that the rising is bodily, for neither is it fitting for such a fall to be understood in that way, but rather intellectually, as having been finished in unbelief. Therefore, the good of the resurrection in these [people] is in faith. For they have fallen, by common consent, into destruction, since they did not accept the evangelical and saving proclamation, but rather paid heed to the doctrines and commandments of men, even though God says clearly through the voice of Isaiah: "My people, those who call you blessed deceive you, and disturb the path of your feet." For those who held the lead among them, babbling about the Law of Moses and repeatedly shouting, "We are blessed, Israel, because those things which are acceptable to God are known to us," were drawing the mind of their own people away from the love of Christ, and by persuading them to count His grace as nothing, they have deceived them and confounded the path of their feet, not letting them walk with a straight foot, nor tend by a straight way toward justification in faith, even though the Law profited nothing. Therefore, He says, "Excite yourself"; this is clearly that which was said by the voice of Paul: "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you." And furthermore, besides that: "Therefore, lift up the slack hands and the paralyzed knees, and make straight paths for your feet."

That they paid a penalty worthy of and equal to their own impieties, having acted wantonly against Christ and having dared to subject to death the Author of life, as far as it was in their power, He makes clear by saying: "You who drank the cup of the wrath from the hand of the Lord." For the cup of ruin, the goblet of wrath, you have drained and emptied. And by "goblet," he means the judgment; but the word "emptied" does not indicate in these words "you poured out," but rather this instead, that "you have drunk the whole thing," that is, you received the full wrath from the Lord and have endured a wrath equal to your transgressions. For the wicked miserably perished: partly by their entire land being ravaged and at the same time, along with Jerusalem, the very temple itself, famous as it was, being burned down; and furthermore, by falling away from the hope in God and being driven out from the flock of the saints. And with all these things happening to you, and being, as it were, intoxicated with the most complete wrath, there was none of your children present to you; there was none to take hold of your hand, none to console you. For there were many among them who were Levites and priests,

^A Scribes and Pharisees, reveling in the honors received from all, and raised on high because they excelled and presided over the rest; yet none of them warded off from Judæa the calamity brought upon it by divine wrath. There was no one so great who could offer even a moderate consolation to her who was entangled in unbearable evils. Therefore, they committed an injustice by leading them away from the love of Christ, and by persuading them to reject faith in Him, and, for those who had slipped into the pits of destruction, they brought no assistance at all.

Vers. 19, 20. Duo ista contraria sunt tibi, et quis tecum contristabitur? Ruina et contritio, fames et gladius: quis te consolabitur? Filii tui indigentes, dormientes in compitis omnium viarum, sicut beta semicocta, pleni furore Domini, dissoluti per iram Domini Dei. ^B

One could enumerate very many evils that befell the Jews at the time of the capture, I mean under Vespasian and Titus, when the whole land of the Jews was set ablaze, and no manner of calamity was lacking to them, but they arrived at the peak of almost every evil. Even this, Christ the Saviour of all foretold to them: for He was being led away by the soldiers of Pilate to the place of the cross. And when women were following and wailing for Him, He turned and said to them: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." ^C And again: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will say to the mountains, 'Cover us,' and to the hills, 'Fall upon us.'" And the weight of this incurable calamity was foretold in many words through the holy prophets. This, then, the force of the verses set before us now travaileth to bring forth. For, "O wretched Jerusalem," He says, "these two things are contrary to you"—by which He means, they battle and make war. And what are these? Ruina et contritio, fames et gladius. By these words, as if briefly and concisely, the calamity of war is signified. But ^D that which is to be considered must not be overlooked. For having enumerated four, He says they are two. For He mentioned ruin, and contrition, and famine, and sword. What, then, do we say? Or in what way can these things that have been named be two? Even if they appear to be more, the prophetic word joins the following to the first ones here. For what do I mean? The fall is always followed by the crushing, and the famine by the sword, that is to say, death. The first two, therefore, are these: ruin and famine; and following these are crushing and the sword. Therefore, these things having happened, he says, who is he who is able to come to the rescue and ward off the onset of this calamity? For this is what consolation signifies here. Will your children, therefore, be sufficient for this? But, in truth, one can see them reduced to poverty, that is, having nothing that they might offer in counsel or in deed for their own solace.

for the benefit of their own souls. For they sleep at the very edge of every exit. ^A For when the war descended, the powerful fled from the land of the Jews and seized the extremities of the land, that they might be ready for flight. For some hastened to seize upon reaching the neighboring Egyptians, while others did so reaching the Moabites, or other regions of the surrounding nations. They were, I say, at the very edge of every exit, that is, in the extremities of the land, as I have said; they were not wakeful, nor able to do anything of all those things which are not without utility for the benefit of the afflicted; but [they were] as if drunken, and heavy-headed, and lying down, so relaxed in their senses, and with their mind so undone, as a half-cooked beet. And what is the cause of these things? For they have been filled with the fury of the Lord, and this has become the cause of their exhaustion for them. For we are always such, by nature, that when we are struck by calamities that end in death and are beyond consolation, we are all but beside ourselves in mind, and can find no path capable of saving us, especially when the evil that is upon us is sent by God.

^B Therefore, hear, you who are humbled and drunken, not with wine. Thus says the Lord God, who judges his own people: "Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of ruin, the chalice of fury, and you shall no longer drink it, and I will give and cast it into the hands of those who unjustly oppressed you and humbled you, who said to your soul: Bow down, that we may pass over; and you have made your middle parts like the ground, for those walking outside."

These are the words of one who shows pity, and who restrains anger, moving them instead toward tranquility of mind. For he calls her humbled and drunken. For, as I said, immense calamities could easily bring those who are caught in them to extreme evils, and they made the afflicted drunken, though not with wine, as he says. For the cup of the Lord is by no means understood as that which is perceived by the senses, nor is there such a mixture in it that it should be understood in a common or general way. It is the custom, rather, of the divinely inspired Scripture to call a "cup" the portion distributed to each one, whether to the unjust, by chance, or to the good. For example, I say this: the divine David chants concerning the wicked and says: "Fire, and sulphur, and the spirit of a storm, is the portion of their cup." ^C This lot is prepared by God for those who do not know him, and a most grievous sentence shall overtake them. For as those who drink fire and sulphur, they endure a perpetual and inevitable punishment. But it would be fitting for any righteous man to say: "I will take the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord." For to know and to call upon the Lord of all is, for those accustomed to doing this, a saving mixture. Therefore, God, who judges justly, does not say that Jerusalem has been made drunken with wine, but with an incurable calamity and intolerable misfortune. He judges justly, indeed, [rewarding] the good with their fitting lot, while those who are…

not such, He reproves, so that, having shown themselves better than they were, they might depart from these kinds of vices and turn their mind toward the desire to think and to see the things which seem consistent with His divine laws. ^A However, He says: "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of ruin, and you shall not drink it again." For it will be called, as I said, to the recognition of Christ, and it will abound with us in the blessings from above; and it itself will be a partaker of holy gifts, and will possess spiritual riches. And of this the prophet is a witness, saying: "Because the children of Israel shall sit for many days, there being no king, nor prince, nor sacrifice, nor altar, nor priesthood, nor signs; and after this the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and they shall be amazed at the Lord and at His blessings, in the last days." ^B For in these words the prophetic discourse calls Christ, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, "David." And a clear proof of this is that the prophecy came to pass many generations after the divine David was already dead. Therefore, so long as it has not yet been called to the grace through faith, the cup of wrath has not yet been removed. But when it worships Christ through faith, then the cup will altogether be taken from it, and it will itself likewise enjoy the other blessings, concerning which it is written that "they shall forget their former affliction, and it shall not come into their heart; but there shall rather be exultation and eternal joy upon their head; for pain, and sorrow, and groaning have fled away." But when the cup is taken from it, it will be given into the hands of those who have unjustly oppressed it. ^C And how did they oppress it? Since they did not allow it to stand with an upright foot, nor to walk in the blameless path, through which it was possible to order a life acceptable to God, and to be clothed with the splendor of the evangelical walk, and at the same time to arrive, with those who have believed in Christ, at the city above. Who, then, are to be understood as those who oppressed it unjustly? As far as concerns the obvious and manifest sense, primarily those who presided over the synagogue; these have most of all drained the cup of fury. For by how much more distinguished a tranquility they enjoyed compared to others, by so much the more grievous did they feel the assault of the war, being cast down from honor, glory, wealth, luxuries, and from life itself. ^D But if something else hidden must be said—and I think it is necessary to say this—we say that the Synagogue of the Jews has been oppressed by injuries, not only by those who held the office of leader, but also by the sinister malice of the devil, which does not allow them to receive into their mind the divine light, so that they might understand Him who calls to salvation, Him who justifies the ungodly and delivers from punishment, and who draws them forth from the bonds of death—I mean, of course, Christ. And of this, Paul is a witness, who wrote thus: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden in those who are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the Gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine upon them."

^A Indeed, the Son himself also said that such a thing had happened to the flocks of the Jews, and he explicitly rebuked them, as those who, because of an unclean spirit, had become hard-hearted and disobedient, and were driven toward every kind of evil. For he said: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it wanders through waterless places, seeking rest; and when it does not find it, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' Then it takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it be with this evil generation." For they had worshipped the gods that were there ^B in Egypt, and the unclean spirit was in them. But since they were redeemed through Moses, and received the Law which defines what must be done (hearing him clearly say, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve"), the unclean spirit was driven out of their heart. But because they did not have the fear of God in themselves, nor did they receive Jesus within them through faith ("For Christ dwells in our hearts through faith," as it is written), that ancient and unclean spirit, seeing the place vacant, burst in again and dwelt in them, and their last state became worse than the first.

That he also caused the traitor among the disciples to become such a one, at the instigation of the inventor of impiety, is not obscure. For it is written that after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Therefore, the Synagogue of the Jews has been punished, with Satan blinding it ^C and not allowing it to see with the eyes of the mind the light of the world, that is, Christ. But when they were called to conversion, the cup of wrath and the bowl of ruin were given into the hands of those who had oppressed it with injustice. For the evil and opposing powers were punished, with the Savior of all, Christ, casting them down into Hades, and having consigned them in chains of gloom to Tartarus, he delivered them to be kept for the judgment ^D of the great day, to be tormented. For these are the ones that said: "Jerusalem, bow down, that we may pass over." And she set the middle of the earth for those walking through her—that is, she laid herself down and submitted herself to those wishing to trample her. The evil powers do this when they see a soul that is relaxed, and which casts aside its own mind, so that it may easily be willing to submit to their unholy and God-hated counsels.