Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

continued

Discourse 25

1 Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, O nations; after a long time it will stand, says the Lord. From my mother’s womb He called my name, and He has made my mouth like a sharp sword, and under the shadow of his hand He has hidden me. He has made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver He has concealed me, and said to me: You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified. Through very many exhortations and admonitions he benefits Israel, he transfers the sacred teaching to the flocks of the Gentiles, and indeed he once again makes clear to them the mystery of Christ, through whom they were destined to abandon their brutish and accursed life and be brought back to the way of life most dear to Him, and to receive the true light into their mind; so as to know clearly who is God by nature and in truth, and the nature that holds sway over all things. And he addresses the islands, which we say are the Churches of Christ, lying as it were in the sea, that is, in the surge of the present life, and encompassed by the unbearable assaults of waves, that is, by persecutions and tribulations, which the enemies of the truth, who fight against the call of God, bring upon them. Concerning such islands, it has been said in many places in the God-inspired Scripture. And somewhere the blessed David also sings, and says:

2 "The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad. For when Christ had reigned over what is under heaven, taking all things under His hand, and snatching them from the tyranny of demons; then also they rejoiced, that is, they became full of gladness, the Churches throughout all the earth. For that the prophet in these things, by naming the islands, indicates the Churches from the Gentiles, would become clear through what follows. For he immediately added to, Listen to me, O islands, the phrase, Pay attention, O nations. Then he says, that After a long time it will stand, says the Lord. He promises, as I said, the manifestation of the Savior of us all, Jesus Christ, and that the Word, being God, would associate with those on earth in a form like ours. But that the time was then of prophecy, and not yet of the appearance of the events themselves, he shows by saying that After a long time it will stand, that is, what was promised, or rather, what was prophesied. What this is, the very person of the Savior was brought in, saying: From my mother's womb He called my name. He immediately included in these things the deep and great mystery, one needing initiation from above. For so it was revealed to the divine Peter. It was For the Word is indeed God, of equal glory, and enthroned with God the Father, co-existing and co-eternal.

3 And the names before the incarnation that are somehow proper to his nature, God, and wisdom, and light, life, and power; and others besides these which are found in the sacred Writings. But since he sent himself down into emptiness, being made in the likeness of man, and found in fashion as a man, he receives the common name, that is, Christ and Jesus, or "God with us. "With us" signifying "in our condition. For it is written, that "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel; for blessed Gabriel, revealing the mystery to the holy Theotokos and virgin, says: "Fear not, Mary. For you have found favor with God, and behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. Have then the blessed angel and the prophet spoken words inconsistent with each other? By no means. For the divine prophet, speaking mysteries in the spirit, has foretold God become with us, naming him thus from both his nature and the economy with the flesh. And the blessed angel gave him the name from his work; for he has saved his own people. Therefore he is called Savior for this reason. And so when he endured the birth according to the flesh for us, the hosts of angels proclaimed the good news of the birth to the shepherds, saying: "Fear not ye;

4 for behold, we bring you good tidings today of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. Therefore, Emmanuel, because being God by nature he became with us, that is, man. And Jesus, because it was necessary for him, being God and having become man, to save what is under heaven. When, therefore, he came forth from his mother's womb, for from her he was born according to the flesh, then was his name also called. Therefore I say the name of Christ is unfitting for God the Word before the birth according to the flesh. For not yet being anointed, how could he be called Christ? For when he came forth from a mother's womb as a man, then he receives the calling concurrently with the birth according to the flesh. And he says his mouth has been made like a sharp sword. This also is true. For it is written somewhere about him, or rather the prophet Isaiah himself says: "And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and truth the girdle of his reins, and with the spirit through his lips he shall slay the ungodly. For the divine and heavenly preaching, that is, the Gospel, spoken through the mouth of Christ, has become a sharp and most cutting sword against the tyranny of the devil, slaying the world-rulers of this darkness, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness.

5 For he scattered the mist of deceit, and sent into the hearts of all the dawn of the true knowledge of God; for he transformed the world under heaven into a pious way of life, and made all to be lovers of holy practices, he reaped the sin of the world, justifying the ungodly by faith, and filling those who approached with the Holy Spirit, and making them sons of God, instilling in them a strong and most warlike mind, and giving to them the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, so that resisting those who once held sway, they may run toward the prize of the upward calling, with no one hindering. And that the instruction and initiation through Christ became destructive of the devil's tyranny for those on earth, the prophet Isaiah will make clear, saying: In that day God will bring the holy and great sword upon the dragon, the crooked serpent, and will slay the dragon. And he adds, that "And under the shadow of his hand he has hidden me. And he speaks in a human manner, yet to the sound-minded it is in no way difficult, even through these things, to see that the Son is inseparable from God the Father, and that he became man. For he says that he is under the shelter of his right hand, so that he might indicate that the unassailable and invincible quality of his own nature is preserved for him, even if he has come to be in our condition.

6 For no one will prevail over the all-powerful right hand, but the Word, as I said, has been set apart by the measures of humanity. For the Word from God the Father is still all-powerful, and he himself is the Lord of powers. Since he has become man, the Father, not dishonoring the power of the mystery, accommodates himself to the economy, and says to him through the lyre of the Psalmist: "An enemy will not prevail against him, and a son of iniquity will not add to afflict him. And I will cut down his enemies from before his face. And I will put to flight those who hate him. And my truth and my mercy are with him. Consider then, consider, also through the voice of the prophet, the one who for our sake is like us, speaking in a manner befitting a man: Under the shelter of his hand he has hidden me. He has made me, he says, as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he has concealed me. For very many have been the arrows of God, at times hidden as in a quiver in his foreknowledge, but brought forth at the fitting time for each, but a chosen arrow and above all, Christ, hidden indeed, as I said, as in a quiver in the foreknowledge of the Father.

7 For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but brought into the midst when it was necessary to visit the whole earth, which had fallen into ruin and destruction through worshiping creation rather than the creator, and being subject to unclean spirits, and being bound by the snares of sin. This chosen arrow destroys, as I said, Satan himself, and the wicked powers with him. It likewise destroys the enemies of the truth, and those who have impiously opposed his sacred proclamations. But it also wounds in another way for benefit and salvation. For thus says the bride who is struck in the Song of Songs: "I am wounded by love. And the Father said to me, he says, and it is clear that: You are my Servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified. O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! according to what is written. For the Son was, and is, free, as having sprung ineffably from the substance that rules over all. But he heard the Father saying: You are my Servant. Therefore the Word, who is free by nature, is made a servant through the economy of the flesh, that is, that which is understood according to the flesh, so that you may again understand his birth according to the flesh from a woman in time. But he names him Israel, because he was born according to the flesh from the blood of Israel; but also, "And in you," he says, "I will be glorified.

8 For the God of all was glorified also through holy prophets, yet not in them. But in Christ in a strange and unusual way. For he was being glorified in him. And when Christ is glorified, the Father is glorified in him. We see him shining forth in him through dignities befitting God and power and activity in every respect whatsoever, of sanctification and righteousness, and of utter gentleness. For in this way the Divine is given form intellectually. And so Christ said: "He who has seen me has seen my Father. And the all-wise Paul also said that the one who begot him is glorified in the person of Christ. Therefore, "in you," he says, "I will be glorified. For to the Son, who has appeared in the flesh, every knee will bow, as it is written, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And I said: I have labored in vain, and for nothing and to no purpose have I given my strength. Therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is before my God. The Savior of all appeared, in order to deliver all under heaven from the wickedness of the devil, and from death, and sin, and those who approach him through faith, having been made brilliant with sacred gifts. And to this were called, even before the others, those from the blood of Israel;

9 and they were so preferred over the gentiles that Jesus said: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But they the Having thus received a glorious and exceptional honor, they have become faithless, and insolent apostates, and terrible and arrogant herds of dishonor. And yet, though it was necessary to approach grace most gladly, and to profit from the faith, and the good things from it, this they did not do, how could they? But they rose up against him, as he called them to salvation, blaspheming unguardedly, reviling unrestrainedly; and what terrible thing did they not utter freely, and finally they crucified him. Therefore, as far as concerns the harshness of the disobedient, and the contradiction outrageously practiced by them, the Savior has labored in vain, and for nothing, and to no purpose has he given his strength. For frantic Israel, as I just said, did not endure his sacred proclamations; it has not honored his labor. For it was a labor for the Word to become as we are, and to endure human littleness. But my judgment, he says, is the Father, for the labors I have expended for the sake of their salvation. For this reason, the judgment has also been brought forth from him. And what was the judgment?

10 They have been cast out from intimacy with him, they have been thrust out from being the people of God, they have become without share in the salvation from him, they have remained without a taste of the hope of the saints, but in their place the multitude of the Gentiles has been called in. And instead of their shepherds, others have been ordained, righteous men, and beloved of God, and overseers of holy endeavors, and able to lead the people, luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life, as the all-wise Paul says. Do you wish to see the judgment of the Father, that is, the verdict against them? Hear the Savior saying to the leaders of the Jews: "There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenant farmers, and went into a far country. Then he says: "He sent servants to receive the fruits, and all were endangered. But when afterwards he sent his son, and when they saw him, he says, they said: 'This is the heir among themselves, come, let us kill him, and let us have his inheritance for ourselves.' And so they killed him. When this parable was spoken to them, the Lord spoke again, saying: "When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?

11 And they to him: 'He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard to others, who will give him the fruits in their seasons.' And in response to these things Christ says: 'Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you, and shall be given to another nation that produces its fruits.'" Which has indeed been brought to pass. For others have been appointed as keepers of the vineyards, and wise husbandmen, that is, the divine disciples. Upon these the clouds have sent down rain for us, although they were commanded no longer to water the Jewish vineyard. From these not thorns rather, but Christ has gathered the grape. For we have been taught to say that "The Lord will give goodness, and our land will give its fruit. And one might say, in another way, that the labor of the Son has been in the eyes of the Father, and a right judgment has resulted. And again, consider for me the power of the word, having understood the economy, which the all-wise Paul himself clarifies for us, saying: "The Son, being in the form and equality of the Father, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, and became obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross;

12 and for this reason he was also highly exalted and the name was bestowed on him that is above every name, that at his name every knee should bow," For he was, and is, God the Word. But since he has been called man, and has become this in truth, he has ascended to his own glory with the flesh. For he was known to be God, and he has not labored in vain. For the manner of the economy has resulted in glory for him, not attributing to him something silly and strange, but revealing him as Savior and Redeemer of what is under heaven, which indeed also being made known, prepared heaven and earth, and the things yet lower, to fall down to him. And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be a servant to himself, to gather together Jacob and Israel; To him I shall be gathered, 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 you to be called my child, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the dispersion of Israel. None the less, we say that in these things it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who uses such human-like words, even though he especially makes clear the great mystery of godliness, and renders the manner of his emptying plain.

13 For behold how he says that he who is his by nature and in truth formed him as a servant to himself, but from the womb. For he does not say that he, being the naked and still fleshless Word, was brought into the formation of servitude, with God the Father approving this; 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 from a God and free Father, he receives the form of a servant, or formation. For no one, if he had sense, would say that what is by nature a servant is formed into servitude, but rather he who is beyond servitude and a yoke, and is adorned with the boasts of natural freedom, would reasonably receive the formation, or form, of a servant. For that the Son, being free, willingly lowered himself to this, how could anyone doubt when Paul says that he was in the form of God, and did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but from the equality and likeness in all things whatsoever, he descended not unwillingly into the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. For he was God with this, and he showed us no less that which is by nature and truly free, and not unwillingly a servant, in the contribution of the didrachmas.

14 For the tax collectors asked the divine Peter whether Christ would contribute the didrachma with the others, or if he would refuse the payment. Then the Lord said to him, "From whom do the kings of the earth take taxes or tribute? From their own sons, or from others? And when the disciple spoke the truth, for the kings collect what is appointed from others: "Therefore, he said, the sons are free. But lest we should offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up; and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and you. Therefore, he who is free by nature is formed as a servant according to the economy, when he was also born from the womb of his mother according to the flesh. For this is the time fitting for the measures of the emptying. And that he was formed for service, he has fully assured by saying, 'to gather together Jacob, and Israel.' For the Word, being God, came down into our state for no other reason than to save Israel and to gather Jacob. For the inventor of all wickedness scattered all those on earth into multifaceted and multiform sin.

15 For some he caused to turn away completely from the one who created them, making them subject to himself and to the unclean demons, and casting upon them the inescapable yoke of sin, and turning them away completely from knowing who is by nature the God and Lord of all. And others, who had the law of Moses as the arbiter of their actions, he showed to be slothful and indolent, leading them away to every kind of transgression, so that they paid little regard at all to the law, but rather acted according to what seemed right to each one, and taught for doctrines the commandments of men. But when Christ appeared to the world, what Satan had scattered was gathered through faith into one right and irreproachable mind, and those who had formerly departed from the love of God have run to him, and in their zeal for good things casting the sin that makes enemies behind them, they are at peace with Christ. For the divine prophets also urged them to go eagerly toward this. Isaiah, for instance, says, Let us make peace with him, let us who are coming make peace. And the divine disciples also cried out: "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. And we make our reconciliation to God, when we come to Christ through faith. For as the most sacred Paul says somewhere again: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

16 For in Christ the world is reconciled to God. Therefore, he makes the ministry of the incarnation clear, saying that he was formed by the Father as a servant from the womb, in order to gather Israel, and Jacob. And if anyone should say that the nation of the Jews is signified by these, he would not be far from the mark. For Christ said somewhere: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But if he should wish to name all those saved through faith Israel and Jacob, this too would be well. If it is true that a Jew is not only one who is so outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is in the flesh, so might circumcision be spoken of; but rather a Jew is one inwardly, and having the circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. If, therefore, a Jew is one who has circumcision in spirit, it would not be at all inappropriate for such ones to be called Israel and Jacob. And in the middle of the discourse there is inserted by those called through faith, a voice declaring that I will also be gathered to him, and I will be glorified before the Lord, and my God will be my strength. For at the same time God commands something to happen, and almost immediately upon the command, what was spoken of comes to pass.

17 For Israel has not been saved once and for all, but some have disbelieved because of their own wickedness, not having accepted the grace of the evangelical teachings. But the multitude of the Gentiles has been called in with the remnant; who have also been made children of Abraham, so that in every way what pertains to the economy might not miss the purpose of the advent; for everyone who is Israel has been gathered, and indeed, also Jacob, according to the arguments just now presented by us. Therefore, the people called in Christ promise that they will both be gathered to God, clearly through faith, and that they will be glorified before God, gaining the splendid boast of adoption, and having become a partaker of the divine nature, and being made resplendent by the Holy Spirit, and having been shown to be a curator of the best practices, and that they will consider God their strength. For it is fitting for those who long for salvation and glory from him to be so disposed. He adds to these. And he said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the dispersion of Israel.

18 To speak in human terms, the Father does not allow the Son to shrink from the economy, nor for the meanness of the form of a servant to be unrewarded, but rather he shows the matter to be fruitful, and the humiliation not without reward, and the burden of the economy not to be without wonder, and indeed glorious for this very reason, even though it seems to be inglorious. For it was admittedly a small thing, for the Word begotten of God, to be called a servant, that is, a house-servant. For the name signifies sometimes the Son, and sometimes, as I said, the servant. But the need of the contexts causes this or that to be brought in, according to the time fitting for each. But since the discourse is about the economy with the flesh, it would be fittingly understood that the servant be understood as a slave. Therefore, even if the shame of servitude was a small matter for the Son, as I said, yet it was otherwise. And indeed it has become not a small thing for him;

19 for he is glorified by all, as one who did not consider being equal with God a thing to be grasped, and consorted with the ways of servitude, and descended into emptying, and endured a cross, and the things in it, and laid down his own soul as a ransom for the life of all, in order to destroy diabolical tyranny, and the things of the may drive away the hordes of demons of the unbearable covetousness against us, so that he may remove deadly sin from our midst, so that he may abolish death, and may reshape human nature to what it was from the beginning, and may hand over to God his own kingdom, no longer tyrannized by anyone, but rather casting off the yoke of the greed of others. Behold, I have set you as a light to the nations, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth. The Father was not ignorant of the hardened and unadmonished mind of the Jews, and their being completely turned to willfulness. For they in no way accepted the teaching through Christ, although it was necessary to admire the gentleness and incomparable love for mankind of the Redeemer, and to receive his generosity as if with upturned hands.

20 Therefore, so that the economy of our Savior might not seem to have failed its purpose, seeing that the leading people had spurned it, and did not accept, as I said, his redemption, the Father added, that he will show a path of salvation, and will send forth the light of true knowledge of God to those in mist and darkness. For Israel was called to this, Christ saying clearly: "I am the light of the world. And: "While you have the light, walk in the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you. But since they loved the darkness more than the light, they were abandoned by him, although the holy prophets had foretold to them the grace in Christ. For one said: "Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem; for your light has come, and the glory has risen upon you. Behold, darkness and gloom will cover the earth over the nations. But upon you the Lord will appear, and his glory will be seen upon you. And another: "And for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will arise, and healing in his wings. But since, as the holy Scripture says, they made their ears heavy so that they might not hear, they closed their eyes;

21 Christ shone upon the nations, and rendered the world under heaven full of divine light, so that those from east to west, and to the ends of the earth, might enjoy his generosity, and with the pure eyes of the mind might behold the divine and highest nature, and might consecrate the ways of spiritual worship to it and it alone. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel who redeemed you: Consecrate him who despises his own soul, him who is abhorred by the nations, the slaves of the rulers. Kings will see him, and rulers will rise up, and they will worship him for the Lord's sake, because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you. Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. From this you may learn with how much compassion God the Father has deemed worthy those called through Christ. For he initiates them, and reveals the profound and great mystery of the incarnation, not allowing some to be shattered on the stone of stumbling, and to trip out of foolishness on the rock of offense. For thus was shattered the stupefied Israel. What then does he say? I, the God who redeemed you, say this to you: Consecrate him who despises his own soul, that is, consider him venerable and holy, and be eager to make so him who despised his own soul, that is, who humbled himself.

22 For having become man, God, the only-begotten Word of God, has laid down his own soul for us, and chose to suffer death according to the flesh for us, having endured nothing in his own nature. For he, being beyond suffering as God, nevertheless, so to speak, cast it aside, and this for sinners. And indeed the all-wise Paul marveled at this. For he said that "God demonstrates his own love for us; for while we were still sinners, at the right time he died for the ungodly. And Christ himself says somewhere: "The good shepherd lays down his soul for the sheep. Therefore he laid it down for us, for by his stripe we were healed, and he was bruised for our iniquities, and for our sins he was delivered up. Let him therefore be sanctified, he says, That is, let him be considered holy, or rather, let him be confessed. This would be fitting for God, and for him alone properly and specifically. For even if there are many holy ones, both rational powers and, indeed, men upon earth, yet they are called holy by participation in him who is holy by nature, and who alone is truly this. For just as he himself is the true light, he has given the dignity to others also; "For you are," he says, "the light of the world. So also, being alone holy together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, he gives sanctification as from his own fullness to those who partake of him.

23 Thus we say also in our prayers: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And we are certainly not saying that we ask for an addition of holiness to be made to the Father's name; for that is altogether foolish; but rather we pray that it may be among all what it is truly, that is, holy and awesome. So here also "Sanctify" is to be understood, even if, he says, he has despised his soul, that is, even if he is said to have suffered some human things, and prepared his own flesh to taste of death, and has laid down his soul for many. But the discourse goes on, and also mentions other things, which might at times be an obstacle to believing in him for those who do not see the depth of the economy, yet to the sound-minded it would cause no harm. For when Jesus was delivered to Pilate, some of the soldiers reviled him, some impiously mocking him, and some dishonoring him with spitting, and insulting him with the crown of thorns, and jeering and saying: "Hail, the king of the Jews. For this reason he speaks of him who is abhorred by the nations, by the slaves, by the rulers. But "Sanctify" will surely follow this too, but that he suffered economically the mockeries from the nations; but after this he will shine forth, and will be glorified by all in the highest pre-eminences, and in the honors of those who are seated below, he foretells, saying:

24 Kings shall see him, and shall arise, that is, from the thrones of their kingdom. Rulers also shall worship him. And they will see not with the eyes of the body, but as in the contemplation of the mind and heart. For thus 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 Son of God the Father, and because the Holy One of Israel is faithful. And "faithful" in these things signifies the one who ever abides. For the kingdom of God the Father is unshakable; and likewise also that of the Son; the falsely-named gods not being faithful. For they are recently born, and perishing, and do not abide. But the Savior and Lord of all is truly faithful, that is, firmly established in his own pre-eminences, and having them unshakably, and he himself has chosen those who are called through Christ. "For whom he knew," he says, "he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, these he also called, and besides this he sanctified, and glorified.

25 It was necessary then, it was necessary for the chosen to sanctify him who despises his soul, and not, by looking at the things of his humanity, to be deceived from what is fitting, and to be carried away from the accurate knowledge of him, but rather, understanding the wisdom of the economy, to worship him, and to be firmly disposed, that he is by nature and truly Son of the faithful Lord, even if he appeared economically in our form, and underwent the measure of the emptying. And he addresses the chosen, and says that, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. Christ was indeed foreknown before the foundation of the world, and his mystery; but he shone forth at the times the Ruler willed, at which he has helped us, and he says the time of the incarnation is a day of salvation. For thus also says the divine Paul somewhere; "Behold now," he says, "is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation. And the prophet David also sings, and says: "This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. And I have given you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to inherit a desolate inheritance, saying to those in bonds: Come forth; and to those in darkness, Be revealed. And in all their ways they will be fed, and in all the roads shall be their pasture.

26 They will not hunger, nor will they thirst, nor will the scorching heat strike them, nor the sun; but he who has mercy on them will comfort them, and through springs of water he will lead them. And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture for them. Behold, these come from afar. These from the north, and these from the sea, and others from the land of the Persians. It seemed good to some of the previous commentators to make a beginning of the present chapter. 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 were spoken by God the Father to the Savior of us all, Christ. And they weave into it some such meaning. For he prayed, he says, before the precious cross, saying: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; and he was not heard, for he drank it. But since he has trampled death with the Father assisting him, it was necessarily said to him, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. But it seems to me that the argument is very weak in its plausibility.

27 For although he knew that it was necessary to drink the cup, and that the salvation of the world under heaven could not come about except through the death of his own flesh and his resurrection from the dead, the form of the prayer was enacted very providentially, so that the plea to be spared the passion might accuse the murderousness of the Jews; for in what way has Israel become guilty of the charges of impiety against him, if it was not against his will to suffer because of its shamefulness? nevertheless, even so it became his will, both to take away the sin of the world, and to reform our condition to a newness of holy life. For understanding in this way also what was said by him, that "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me, that is, the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing from it, but should raise it up on the last day. For Christ appeared to the world, and was devoted to the sacred preaching among those from Israel. But since they were disobedient, and hardened, unruly, and insolent, they did not accept the faith, but sinned against it in many ways, and then finally they crucified him. Here, behold for me the power of the ineffable wisdom. For from the perversity of the Jews death was brought upon him, I mean.

28 And it is clear that he made this an occasion for the salvation of the flesh for those throughout all the earth, and death was abolished by his resurrection, and corruption has been trampled [variant: corruption], and we have flourished again into life, we who through the transgression in Adam were brought down to the contrary. Therefore we do not say that there was a failure in the prayer of our Savior Christ, may it not be, but rather a divine plan, which must needs be followed by wonder. And in another way too we say that the intercession, I mean, before the precious cross, was wise. For it has become for us a model and an example of a necessary matter; for when temptation hangs over us, and fear rages like a storm, we must not be lazy and reclining, but rather watchful, and then be intent on prayers, and to beg God who saves, so that, if it be dear to him, we may carry our foot out of snares and traps. But if indeed he knows that the necessity of suffering will be more profitable for us, this too comes to its fulfillment, with him granting the endurance. Therefore, since the opinion of some has been shown to be unpersuasive, come, let us take up again the matters at hand. For he says that he has given him as a covenant to the nations to establish the earth, and to inherit a desolate inheritance, saying to those in bonds:

29 Come forth, and to those in darkness, Be revealed. For when Israel had kicked him away, and had departed from love for him through unbelief, Christ gave a law to the nations, and the New to them He established a covenant, that is, the evangelical and saving proclamation, and He settled the earth that was clearly in turmoil, and not in a good state of understanding. For it had gone astray, worshiping creation, and submitting to the herds of unclean spirits. For it did only what seemed good to them. And they brought it into every form of impurity, and commanded it to live a life befitting beasts. Therefore the earth was not moderately disturbed and troubled; but it was settled through Christ, and has passed from a storm, as it were, and a squall into fair weather. For it became His portion and inheritance. And this, then, was what was said to Him in the second psalm, as from God the Father: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. He calls the multitude of the nations a desert, comparing it to a fruitless and waterless land. But, as I said, it became the inheritance of Christ. But how, and in what way? For to those who were in bonds, and bound tight by the chains of their own sins, He proclaimed: Come forth.

30 And to those who were in darkness, and in intellectual gloom, and separated by what was almost a deep night, He commanded them to be uncovered, and to come into the light, to open the eyes of their mind, and to let in the divine light from Him. And those who were deemed worthy of these things, he says, will be fed in all their ways, and in all their paths shall be their pasture. For the ways of goodness are many, but for the nations none was passable, but was rough and steep. They were also overcome by the assaults of their own passions, and by the greed of the devil, who made what is good inaccessible to them. But when the grace of the Savior shone forth, it loosed their bonds, enlightened their heart, and they were then able to run along every way, and to gather intellectual nourishment; for this is what "they will be fed" signifies, and to go swiftly into every path of good works. Nothing prevents us from saying that paths and ways also bring our minds to God, that is, the divinely inspired Scriptures bring them to a holy and excellent way of life; but these were least known to those who had gone astray. But since they have been called to the light of truth, they have become pastures for them, and feeding-grounds that nourish them toward spiritual manliness, and to the desire for every good thing. And God promises them the abundance of His grace, and help, and spiritual consolation.

31 For they shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, he says. For long ago they were in want of spiritual consolation, for there was among them no divine law, no prophet, no guide, no instructor, no teacher, no spring of spiritual waters. But since they have received mercy from God, the supply of spiritual goods has now become most abundant for them, as they have received soul-profiting nourishment. For they ate bread from heaven, they drank living water, about which Christ Himself spoke, addressing the woman in Samaria: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will have in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And the prophet Isaiah also said somewhere concerning those justified by faith, and who submit 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 will be sure. But neither shall the burning heat strike them, nor the sun. For Christ has become their protector. He who long ago also suspended a cloud for the sons of Israel by day, and led them by a pillar of fire by night. Therefore, they will be outside of the sun and burning heat, he says, that is, they will obtain protection from God, so that no burden befalls them, that is, one that leads to faintheartedness. The divine Paul also said something of this sort:

32 "God is able, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so as to be able to endure. This, I think, signifies that the one having mercy on them comforts them. For he will lead them through fountains of waters, and he will make every mountain into a road, and every path a pasture for them. And by fountains in these things we mean the holy prophets, and apostles and evangelists, from whom, by conversing wisely and skillfully, we draw a life-giving and divine word, sufficiently able to strengthen our souls unto piety, and to work for us spiritual delight. For so it is written: "And you will draw water with joy, from the fountains of the Savior. That nothing of the exceptional great deeds is steep or impassable for those saved through Christ, the saying that every mountain will be made into a road would indicate. For it seems somehow to be raised and on high, and to be inaccessible to many for one to become manifest, for example, in self-control, temperance, long-suffering, forbearance, gentleness, love, and the rest; but the Savior has shown us every path to be smooth and easy to travel, so that even what seems difficult to traverse and hard to travel is laid bare for those who wish to walk through him. And this, I think, is what was clearly said by one of the holy prophets:

33 "Every valley shall be filled, and all crooked things shall be made straight, and the rough way into smooth roads. And again: "The way of the pious has become straight, and the way of the pious has been prepared. But that those who have been called have become more than number, and have been gathered from every part under heaven, he has declared, 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 indicate the southern parts, and 'the north' the northern parts, and 'the sea' the lands to the west. For so also the Psalmist makes mention of them, saying: "The north and the sea you have created. And those 'from the land of the Persians' would be those netted from the east. For the land of the Persians is toward the sun's rays. Or perhaps, it is fitting to understand this as the magi who worshipped him. For they came to Judea inquiring and saying: "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him. For having worshipped, they also honored him with gifts, I mean, with frankincense, and gold, and myrrh. And the Psalmist makes mention of this, saying, concerning Christ the Savior of us all: "And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia. For in this he names the country of the Persians 'Arabia'.

34 Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth be glad. Let the mountains break forth into joy, for God has had mercy on his people, and has comforted the humble of his people. He calls heaven and earth into one company and strongly commands them to fulfill the festival for those who have been saved by him. And 'heavens' might be understood not as the element itself, but as those who dwell in the mansions above, and possess heaven as their rich abode, the holy Powers, Principalities, and Thrones, and Authorities, and those even beyond, the Seraphim. And 'earth' likewise those among them expecting his appearance to be, and knowing he would come for the redemption of those from Israel, and of all the nations that are throughout the whole earth; just as, in fact, Simeon the righteous, holding the infant Jesus still tiny in his arms, glorified God, saying thus: "Now you are letting your servant depart, O Master, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all the nations," and what follows. Or perhaps, we must also understand it as the saved themselves, celebrating the festival for their own sake, and crowning the Redeemer with fitting doxologies; and as for the mountains 'breaking forth into joy,' one must suppose them to be, as I just said, the rational powers raised on high in virtue, that is, the ministers of the evangelical proclamations, who speak of Christ and fill the earth with his intelligible joy.

35 For they announce that God has had mercy on his people, and the humble of his people has com- he has called. For Christ, having shone upon them, has had mercy on all; if it is true, they have been rescued from the hand of the devil, and from the wickedness of demons. And they were delivered both from the sin that long tyrannized over them, and also from the bonds of death; and they were deemed worthy of grace and of a super-cosmic gift, having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and adorned with the glory of adoption, and enriched with the hope that is beyond understanding. But observe the accuracy of the prophet's words: For the humble of his people, he says, he has comforted. And we say that the humble are those who have submitted their obedient neck to Christ, and have not dishonored the yoke of the kingdom under him, because they have accepted the faith, and have also been prepared for worship to him in spirit and in truth, and to perform service unlike those who have not accepted the faith, not being humble, but raising their horn on high [or, `ἱέντων`], and speaking injustice against him, and, as it were, stretching out the proud neck of their mind against his holy decrees. These have not been deemed worthy of spiritual comfort. For they were not worthy. For what portion has a believer with an unbeliever, according to what is written? For Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.

36 Will a mother forget her child, so as not to have mercy, and the offspring of her womb? But even if a woman should forget these things, yet I will not forget you. For the Savior Lord of all proposed, even before others, to the children of Zion, that is, to those of the blood of Israel, the grace that is through faith, and through countless things he persuaded them, saying, Seize the opportunity in which it was possible for those who believed in him to be enriched with the bounties promised to the fathers. But they were unyielding and disobedient, and at any rate, scorning the laws given through the all-wise Moses, and caring little for the prophetic proclamations, they both slipped away from believing and were caught in the snares of deicide. Therefore, for this reason, they were cast out, and were placed far from intimacy with him, yet the remnant has been saved, and Israel has not perished root and branch. But those who have been saved have become very few, and altogether easily numbered compared to the multitude of the disobedient. Most elegantly, therefore, Zion, taking on the persona of the mother of Judaea, is now introduced all but weeping as one who has been overlooked by God who gathers. For this reason, also, few children have been left to her. For she said, he says, that The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. And what does God say to this?

37 He shows his love for humanity to be incomparable, and God promises to the spiritual Zion the good things that come from compassion, and he tries to assure that he would never forget his own creatures. For just as a woman who has given birth would not forget her own children, having as an arbiter of the highest love for humankind, or rather, natural affection, the law of nature; so neither would I forget, he says, my own; if perhaps those things of God even surpass the natural affection in mothers. For the one, it is not unlikely that she can even fall into forgetfulness. But for me to suffer this is not right. Therefore, the word is as from the Zion on earth, that is, from the mother of the Jews who has suffered childlessness, or rather, having few children; but the promise is to the spiritual Zion; to which also the all-wise Paul says that the believers have come; so that you may understand the Church gathered from Gentiles and Jews, bearing the type of the one above, which the all-wise Paul also mentions, saying: "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is the city of the living God, and the nurse of the firstborn, and the mother of saints enrolled in heaven, which Christ would never forget. For he loves the Church, which he himself presented to himself, making the two peoples into one new man, and reconciling both in one body to the Father.

38 How then could he forget his own body? that is, the Church, of which is the head. Behold, on my hands I have painted your walls, and you are before me continually, and you shall quickly be built by those by whom you were torn down, and those who laid you waste will go out from you. The meaning of the preceding is very difficult to find. For what might one suppose the hands of God to be, upon which it is right to think the walls of Zion have also been written? Indeed, in many places the holy Scripture names the hands of God his active powers, through which he brought all things into being, even if he effects something according to his own will; for instance, the Psalmist makes clear the coming into being of every person, saying: "Your hands have fashioned me and made me, because his is the sea, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. And again: "And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. Then how could anyone suppose that on the active powers of God, as on a tablet, the walls of the Zion understood here have been written? Or of what walls at all does the text make mention? What then do we say? Nothing, I think, would prevent a disciple of Christ from applying some such meaning to what has been set forth. Zion was accusing the Lord of having forgotten her.

39 But that this is not true our Lord Jesus Christ attempts to show, at least from the things of the incarnation and what he endured for us, having become like us. For although it was possible for him to exist in the form and equality of the Father, he did not consider this a thing to be grasped, but rather came down to emptying himself. He took the form of a servant and became obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross. For he was hung upon a tree, his hands having been nailed. But the saving passion cast down principalities, triumphed over the world-rulers of this age , freed all from the tyranny of the devil, brought us to God. For by his stripes we were healed, and he bore our sins in his body on the tree, and he was weakened, but we have been saved, and his passion has become for us both a security and a wall; for he redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, and in that he himself suffered, having been tempted, he has helped those who are tempted, and he suffered outside the city, 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 nailing of his hands, have become a security, and a wall both inaccessible and unbreakable to those who have believed in him.

40 Therefore he might reasonably say, "Behold, on my hands I have painted your walls. You will understand the piercing of the hands, that is the passion, as being made clear through this one thing. But "I have painted," he says, instead of "I have imprinted. And you are before me continually. For if he suffered for us, how could he forget us? Or how would those for whom he was nailed to the tree not be in his eyes? But if anyone should wish to approach the meaning of the preceding in another way, I think it is not unreasonable to think something of this sort: that all those who have believed in Christ are in the hands of God the Father, someone might say, I think, and 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. In addition to this, also that "No one will snatch them out of my Father's hand," since indeed they are under the protection from above, and are very well fortified by helps from on high.

41 Therefore, since all are in the hands of God the Father, as holding us up, and saving us beside himself, and not allowing us to be carried off anywhere to things that are not lawful, nor indeed to be subjected to the perversities of those who plot against us, that is to become prey to diabolical wickedness, nothing prevents us from understanding that the walls of Zion are, as it were, painted on his hands, that is, trained for spiritual refinement, and having as an adornment to be very well distinguished by every virtue. And we say that the walls of the intelligible Zion are the holy apostles and evangelists, appointed for this by God, and having an unceasing mind with him. For their names were written in heaven, and they are placed also in the book of the living. And do not be surprised, if he says that the saints are the enclosures and walls of the Church. For he himself is the wall, and the outer wall; Just as ... being, and all security for those who have believed in him, he has given to the holy mystagogues, as in the rank of a splendid dignity, to be called walls of his Church. But quickly, he says, you will be built up by those by whom you were torn down. For the Jews, or rather, the teachers of the Jews, tore down the earthly Zion, that is, their own mother, leading her away from Christ, and teaching to make the faith unacceptable. For they were saying:

42 "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from. And having driven to the end of all evil, and having killed the heir, they became the cause of her falling. But just as Jews tore her down, so again, the divine disciples, being Jews, raised her up, having been transformed, of course, not remaining what she was, that is, disobedient, and a slayer of the Lord, but pre-eminent in faith, clearly, that which is in Christ. But those who had made her desolate went out from her. For the first teachers were cast out, and others rose up in their place, whom we have just now mentioned; for it was not possible for her to change in any other way, and to love Christ, and to choose a shadow in preference to the shadow of the law, unless the first ones were driven out from leading her unlawfully, and the chorus of the holy mystagogues was raised up in their place, of whom also the divine David makes excellent mention, singing somewhere, and saying to the Savior of all, Christ: "You will make them rulers over all the earth, and they will remember your name in every generation and generation. Lift up your eyes round about, and see them all. Behold, they have gathered together, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will put them all on, and wear them as the ornament of a bride.

43 Through all holy and divinely inspired Scripture it is clearly declared, that the portion and inheritance of Christ is for those of the blood of Israel, or for the children of the earthly Zion, in the last times of the age. "For they will return," he says, "to the Lord their God, and to David their king. And they will be amazed at the Lord and at his good things in the last days. For when they disobeyed, there has been inserted the Church from the Gentiles, which we also say is the spiritual Zion. But those also will be called, there will be one flock, one shepherd, so that no longer will two Zions be named, but both will result in one Church, having come under the hand of the one chief shepherd of all. And that these things will be in every way and altogether, he fully assures, saying to the mother of the Jews: Lift up your eyes round about, and see them all. Behold, they have been gathered, and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will put them all on, and wear them as the ornament of a bride. For they were scattered as a shepherd no longer existed for them. For it is said somewhere through one of the holy prophets, as from the person of Christ: And I said, I will not shepherd you; let what is dying die, and what is failing fail, and the rest. Let each one eat the flesh of his neighbor.

44 For what has completely fallen away from the forbearance and love from God, what sort of harm would it not suffer? For they will be exposed to those wishing to tear them apart, and to carry them off to wherever it seems good to each of the wrongdoers. And they carry them away from God, both wicked and destructive demons. For it is written, that "They shall be portions for foxes. And this is done also by the manifold passions that are in us. For the all-wise Paul says that some were given over to dishonorable passions, and to a debased mind. What then in these things does the divine word promise? The calling and gathering of the scattered, and the return in spirit of the lost, and the coming back of those who fled, both a turning back and an awakening, and the rewards of love for Christ. Look around for, he says, and look at them all. Behold, they have been gathered to you. But that the promise might be shown to be faithful, he confirms what was said with an oath, and says: As I live, says the Lord, I will put them all on as a bride's ornament. For the assembly is the ornament of the churches. For because of this, it is the custom in the divinely-inspired Scripture to adorn the Church with golden and variegated clothing; for just as the many-formed and most precious of stones, I mean the Indian ones, set in golden rules, create a certain wonderful and sightly ornament;

45 so also the souls of the saints, beautified by the glories of their virtues, gleam with a bright beauty in the eyes of the Godhead, so that each one, giving thanks to Christ, says: Let my soul rejoice in the Lord. For he has clothed me with a garment of salvation, and a tunic of gladness; as on a bridegroom he has put a crown on me, and as on a bride he has put a headband on me. Because your desolate places, and your ruined places, and your fallen places, will now be too narrow because of the inhabitants, and those who devoured you will be far from you. For your sons, whom you had lost, will say in your ears: The place is too narrow for me, make me a place, that I may dwell. And you will say in your heart: Who has begotten me these? But I am childless and a widow. But who has brought these up for me? And I was left alone. But where were these for me? As from things in sight and more manifest, he now weaves the form of the discourse; for when Israel disbelieved and laid hands on Christ himself, the whole land of the Jews was plundered, and Jerusalem itself was burned, along with the temple itself, and so great a lack of men took hold of Judea, that the blessed prophet Isaiah enigmatically indicated this very thing in many places.

46 For he said, that "And seven women will take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own garments, only let your name be called upon us. Take away our reproach. For it was said through the law, "There will not be a barren or sterile woman among the sons of Israel. And they did not consider the reproach of childlessness to be bearable. Since, therefore, the war consumed the entire male sex, and very few were left at all, he said that seven women would be received by one man, so as to take away their reproach, that is, childlessness. But since it is burdensome for one to please seven women, they promise to eat their own bread and to wear their own garments, as if they will need nothing at all from him. For they affirmed that they only feared the reproach of childlessness, as I said. As, therefore, their land was brought into complete desolation, he promises a release from what has happened, and says that the desolate places and the fallen places will be too narrow because of the inhabitants. Evidently with those who devoured her being removed, it is clear that these were the ones who had been appointed to lead; who, almost like some wild beasts, destroyed and devoured her. And he shows the multitude of those who will be called, how great and innumerable it is. For your sons, he says, whom you have lost, will say in your ears, Make a place for me.

47 And it has been said somewhere also to the spiritual Zion: "Enlarge the place of your tent and fix your curtains. Do not spare, stretch out further to the right and to the left. And we have also read in the books of Moses, that concerning the tent in the wilderness, which I say was made of skins, wide and long courts were arranged, on the one hand facing the east and the light, and on the other to the west behind the tent, and indeed to the north and south, the type prefiguring what would be in due time the breadth and length of the holy courts, that is, of the churches. Nevertheless, even as the grace from Christ is always increasing, the places everywhere are narrow for those who have believed, so that the rejoicing Church, which is the spiritual Zion, considers and cries out by herself: Who has begotten me these? And I would say that it is faith in Christ. For through it, being childless and a widow, she is great you have become [rich] in children; she has nourished your peoples for you, and you who were formerly left alone, have become unexpectedly rich, and you have been seen with many children, you who were formerly naked and alone. Thus says the Lord: Behold, I lift up my hand to the nations, and to the islands I will raise my standard, and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders.

48 And kings will be your nurses, and their princesses your nursing-mothers on the face of the earth. And they will worship you, and they will lick the dust of your feet. And you will know that I am the Lord, and you will not be ashamed nor yet put to shame. Having promised to Zion that she will be with many children and blessed with children, and that her children will come to such a multitude, so that she would need wider places than before, and to ask that the tent be enlarged, he shows at once that not so much from Israel, but from the flock of the nations the multitude of children promised to her appears. And the matter is true, and it is possible to see it through the events themselves. For the remnant of those from Israel has been saved; but this is small and easily counted; but those under heaven have been caught in the net through faith in Christ, and the power of the apostolic and evangelical proclamations brought to him those throughout the whole earth. Therefore, that this will be, he shows by saying: Behold, I lift my hand to the nations. And "I lift" means I exalt and I raise up. And the hand would signify strength or power.

49 For when Christ was made known to the nations through the evangelical proclamations, he became both lofty and distinguished through the wonders he worked, and through the resurrection from the dead, when the standard of the precious cross was displayed, and among those who had never known the God who is by nature and truly, then Zion became rich in a multitude of children, then runners arrived to her from all sides, running headlong, crying out to one another, and saying: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and they will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. But that for those going to the divine house, there will be nothing at all uphill or rough or, in other words, an obstacle, he shows by saying: They will bring your sons in their bosom, and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders. For the blessed disciples have become like nurses to those from the nations, and those after them still holding forth the word of the sacred mystagogy, and presiding over Churches. For those approaching the faith, they practically, both carry them in their bosoms, and placing them on their shoulders, carry them, commanding nothing toilsome, but as it were nourishing them with milk, as is fitting for infants, and setting before them the simple and very easy-to-grasp word of the catechism. This again the prophet Isaiah himself taught us, saying somewhere else:

50 "The way of the pious became straight, and the way of the pious has been prepared. For the way of the Lord is judgment. And he has also brought in the divine Baptist, crying out and saying: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will become straight, and the rough into smooth ways. That, therefore, without any sweat, for those eager to go to Zion as to a mother, the arrival through faith will be, the being taken up into bosoms, and being carried on shoulders, both her sons and indeed her daughters, would signify. And that they will be full of the highest honor, and of glory and well-being, he further declares, saying that Kings will be their nurses, and princesses their nursing-mothers. For it is, it is possible to see through the piety of the rulers those who have believed in Christ being cared for with honor, and deemed worthy of all consideration, so that they seem to be their nurturers rather, and nothing else. For if they fall on their face, and will worship Zion, that is, the Church, and as if thrown to the ground with outstretched hands, they practically also lick the dust of her feet;

51 how could it be doubtful that, having advanced to this in judgment, and by the grace of piety adorned, they would add to their own practices also the need to honor the chosen, and whosoever would believe in Christ, these they will count in the rank of children? When this has happened, Zion, who was made childless as far as the Jews are concerned, will no longer be ashamed as childless and a widow, but she will be crowned with glory. Shall one take spoils from a giant? And if one takes captives unjustly, shall he be saved? The form of the discourse fabricates a question, but it demands understanding. The sense of the preceding things is something like this: For the world under heaven was seized by both the devil and the herd of demons; there was no one on earth who had escaped the tyranny of their wickedness. For there was none who did good, not even one, but the single net of sin was stretched over all, and darkness and a mist, having descended upon the hearts of all, both carried them away from knowing the God who exists by nature and in truth, and assigned them to their captors. Therefore, some worshipped creation rather than the creator, and the elements of the world, while others served those very ones who imposed unbearable greed. They became, therefore, as if taken by the spear under a harsh tyrant, and captives, and as far as their indwelling mind was concerned, subject to the one who had subdued them.

52 But there was no one at all who was able to help the wronged. Indeed, puffed up with unrestrained presumption, he said that, 'I will seize the whole inhabited world in my hand as a nest, and I will take it up as abandoned eggs, and there is none who shall escape me or speak against me.' Since the devil had such arrogance against those on the earth, the Savior inquires and says, 'Shall one take spoils from a giant?' which he says is difficult and hard to accomplish, to conquer the strong one—for in these words he calls the strong one a giant—and to take spoils from him. Then how is this doubtful? For such as these are very hard to encounter, and not easily overcome by those who wish it, but are rather captured only by those who are able to raise a surpassing and invincible hand against them. But I, He says, will take them, and I will set free the wronged, and having broken their yoke of slavery, I will make them radiant with the grace of freedom. But that a just decree of God will plunder Satan, and will demand justice from the sinner for the things committed against us, He will confirm by adding, 'And if anyone takes captives unjustly, he will be saved.' We shall take the verse again as a question and with a stop.

53 For he who unjustly assails those who have done no wrong, then takes them captive and casts them into inescapable hardships, will not be saved, but rather will be made to pay the penalty for the things he has dared to do. Therefore, He will release those who have been in the position of spoils, that is, captives of their spears, and He will also require an account from those who were unjustly under them. He says something similar somewhere else: 'Just as a garment stained with blood will not be clean, so you too will not be clean, because you have destroyed my land, and you have killed my people, you shall not remain for all time.' And one will remind those who encounter this writing that the Savior Himself is found to have said something of this sort in the evangelical decrees: "Or how can one," he says, "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? For He called the earthly region the house of the strong man, that is, of Satan, and not as being his in truth, but because it had been seized by him. But when the Word, having become incarnate, entered into it, binding the strong man with ineffable power, He transferred his goods to Himself, that is, those who once thought his thoughts.

54 Just as we say the saints are vessels of election, so also there are diabolical vessels, those who have come under him and have chosen to think his thoughts, or rather have been compelled. Thus says the Lord: If one takes a giant captive, he will take spoils; and taking from the strong, he will be saved. I just said that by the powers that using ineffable and God-befitting means, our Lord Jesus Christ entered into the house of the strong man, that is, he has arrived in this world in the flesh, and the one who of old was taking advantage of, and doing violence to those throughout all the earth, and bringing them under the yokes of sin, and making them into the rank of captives, he both plundered him and, as it were, casting him into unbreakable bonds, having cast him down to Tartarus with chains of darkness, he delivered him to be kept for the judgment of the great day to be punished, and after this he plundered him, persuading those who had been under him to turn back, at least to the point of being willing to be subject to the true God, and to hold fast to his commands, and to hasten to accomplish what would lead them to the finding of salvation. And since Christ has conquered, he has also passed on victory to us ourselves, yet not without him; for he himself is the boast of the power of the saints, according to the voice of the Psalmist.

55 And indeed the all-wise Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Therefore showing us that the ability to plunder the strong man, that is the giant, I mean Satan, is a straightforward course. If anyone captures a giant, he says, he will take spoils. For when we overcome diabolical strength, and escape the attacks of the enemies, having Christ himself as our universal weapon of good pleasure, then we plunder the evil one, both carrying away the victorious vote, and having been shown to be superior to the wickedness and evil inherent in him. But that the ability to conquer comes from Christ to those who act manfully, and that one could not otherwise attain this glory, he shows very well by adding: But taking from the strong, he will be saved. For as he gives us the ability to overcome the bloodthirsty dragon, we shall plunder him, and we shall also be saved by this, as he sends us on from victory to an untold life, to glory, to boasting, and to the kingdom of heaven. And Christ himself also said somewhere, having plundered Satan, and having declared the way of exercising power to be clear and easy for those who have believed in him: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

56 It is true then, that having received from the strong one, that is, from him, for he is himself the Lord of hosts, we have both been saved and have conquered. But one might also plunder Satan in another way, skillfully bringing those who have come under him and have been deceived into the light of true knowledge of God, and transferring them from depravity to a life befitting saints. But I will judge your case, and I will rescue your sons, and those who afflicted you will eat their own flesh, and they will drink their own blood as new wine, and they will be drunk, and all flesh will perceive that I am the one who rescues you, and who takes hold of the strength of Jacob. He makes his words as if to Zion, I say. And he seems in these words to name as her sons the holy apostles and evangelists, and those after them who were still called to the priestly ministry; who also became lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, and proclaiming everywhere the glory of Christ, and making manifest the power of the salvation from him to those throughout all the earth, upon whom indeed was a certain fierce and harsh beast, and the primeval dragon, heaping up afflictions and persecutions against them, and intolerably sharpening the champions of his own inherent wickedness.

57 Indeed persecutions were very often attempted against the holy Churches, and the fiercely savage cruelty of tyrants, having leaped upon them, brought many to the contests of martyrdom. But I, he says, O Zion—and we say this is the Church, which he indeed also calls Zion—I will judge your case, and I will rescue your sons. For having done no wrong, those devoted to God, and having been condemned for no impropriety at all, then having endured contests even unto soul and blood with brilliant deeds of valor for the A monad running upward; but as for what came to the plotters' purpose, they are both dead and have perished. Therefore the judgment upon them, that is, a righteous judgment, will entirely and in every way come from God. For those who for piety's sake swam through the most glorious contests, and arrived at the prize of the upward calling, will bind on the crown of incorruptibility. But those who brought persecution upon them, and unjustly killed those whom it was better to hasten to emulate, will eat their own flesh, and will not so much sip the blood of those who suffered, but rather their own. For what they brought upon others, they will suffer not in justice but rather by the just decree of God, who crowns those who have suffered, but brings under a long and unending punishment those who did wrong. And such a righteous judgment will be most well-known to all flesh, that is, to every man.

58 For they will be among those who are in danger for piety's sake. That the help from me, who also strengthens you, Jacob, will take hold entirely and in every way, that is, him from the seed of Jacob. And I said that the prophetic word in these things is somehow written in the person of the holy apostles and evangelists, who were from Jacob, according to the flesh, I say. And it is not unlikely that every supplanter be called Jacob, that is, the one who supplants Satan, and artfully and vigorously drives past the snares of sin. For Jacob is interpreted as 'supplanter.' Thus says the Lord: What is the bill of your mother's divorcement, with which I have sent her away? or to which creditor have I sold you? behold, for your sins I sent your mother away. The Divine is both incorporeal, and immaterial and invisible, and simple. And no one, doing the fitting things concerning it, would receive any corporeal image. But the sacred Scripture discusses things concerning it to us in human terms. For it was not possible for those who are in simple and thick bodies to be able to understand otherwise. unless our human affairs were brought forth as in the order of examples, so that from things perceptible and visible, we might be able, at least in part, to understand things concerning the divine and supreme essence, which is also beyond all corporeal imagination. Observe, then, that in these things the word to the prophet has become anthropomorphic.

59 For as some man dwelling with and joined to a wife, he speaks to the peoples of the Jews, and speaks about their mother; I mean the earthly and perceptible Jerusalem; so that again through it, and as in the person of one woman, their system might be understood. For just as when we say Church, we are not accustomed to apply the force of the word to the circuits of the walls, but we rather denote the most holy multitude of those who have chosen to worship God in it; so too if one should speak of the mother of the Jews, again he no less signifies them. Therefore, "I have not," he says, "cast off your mother, although I have become to her as in the role of a bridegroom, and have cast down the seeds of equity through both the law and the prophets; but rather she herself has departed, having disregarded her duties toward me, and having thought it of almost no account at all to be with God. Since what bill of divorcement has been given to her by me? For God sends no one away from intimacy with him; nor does he shake off any of those accustomed to walk uprightly; but to those who would be genuine in faith, and knowledgeable of every good work, to these he grants the ability to be unshakeably enriched with intimacy toward him forever.

60 Indeed, outside of such glory comes the one who has a mind inconsistent and incompatible with his divine ordinances, being a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God. Therefore, as in the role of a husband, having dwelt with the mother of the Jews: "What," he says, "is the bill of your mother's divorcement, with which I have sent her away? "For no one," he says, "could show that it was I who thrust her out and hated her, but rather he will condemn her, as having chosen apostasy of her own accord. To whom being in debt have I sold you? In these things, the figure of speech is different. For he speaks as a master to slaves. For was it, he says, that like a man pressed by a lack of money, and having fallen among creditors, I sold to other masters those who were my servants? And yet how is this not utterly foolish, either to think or to say? For the Divine is beyond necessity, and absolutely nothing is beyond it. Therefore I have not sold, he says, nor would I have given away to other masters, those who love me and are devoted to my ordinances. How then did you endure the yoke of servitude to others? The cause of your evil has become sin. For because of this, the father of sin and the inventor of all wickedness has taken possession of all of you;

61 and seizing for himself those who fall away from intimacy with God, and casting them into the pits of evils, and bringing them down to the springboard of Hades. For it surely follows for those who have slipped from intimacy with God that they must be entangled in inescapable snares. For Satan is terrible in his greediness, and whomever of those on earth he might see choosing to neglect being with God, these he brings under his own yokes, and brings them down into the worst evils, rendering them slaves instead of free, and dishonored instead of glorious. For such are always the wages of his wickedness. Why is it that I came, and there was no man? I called, and there was none who hearkened? Is my hand not strong enough to deliver? Behold, with my rebuke I will desolate the sea, and I will make rivers a desert, and their fish will be dried up from there being no water, and they will die in thirst. And I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and like sackcloth its covering. Having very clearly stated that the children of Zion, that is, those of the blood of Israel, and Zion itself, clearly the earthly Jerusalem, had been sold and cast out from intimacy with him for their own sins, he brings a charge, and an indictment of their terminal folly and ignorance.

62 For when the Only-begotten shone forth in the flesh to those upon the earth, and appeared in a form like ours, they, unholily forgetting both the law and the prophets, have remained hard and unyielding, and are incurably sick with willfulness. For they did not want to know the Redeemer, the author of salvation, who justifies the impious, and is able to release from all accusation those who are entangled in human weaknesses. I came therefore, he says, that is, I became human and I appeared to those of Israel, and there was no man among them, that is, one with understanding, and able to know the time of redemption. I called, and there was none who hearkened. For as the prophet Isaiah himself somewhere says again in the person of the Savior of us all, 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, to a nation who did not know me. All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. And indeed in the evangelical writings we will find the Lord in many places calling his own [ηυμφρεδ. λεγιτ Ἰουδαίους] to faith: "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. And again at another time: "He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

63 Yea, and also showing that believing them is both fruitful and beneficial: "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 who hearkened, he says. But perhaps those who have thus stumbled through long folly, who have a hard and unbreakable mind, will say that my hand would not be strong enough to deliver her to heaven. But in this too they have thought nothing of what is true. For he was, as I said, in a form like ours, although the Word was God. And he became human, having undergone a birth according to the flesh from a woman. But those who knew this, and were not ignorant of the depth of his divine mysteries, knew that being God by nature he can do all things, and was sufficient to redemption of all under heaven. But the unbelieving and ignorant approached him as a common man, so that they even assaulted him and said: "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. To these it would be fitting both to think and to say, as if his hand could avail to help those on earth, and to deliver those held fast by the devil, and by sin. But when you consider these things, he says, remember something better;

64 for I am not simply a man as you are, but rather God, having become in your form through the economy, that I might deliver you from both death and sin. For I myself, who speak, am present, I who of old worked wonders through Moses, and with ineffable power divided the sea, that is, clearly, the Red Sea. For the waters were frozen like a wall, and the redeemed passed through, having cast off the yoke of bondage in Egypt. The phrase, I will make the sea a desert, he says here, instead of, I made it dry. And I will make rivers deserts. And the word ‘I will make’ must again be understood as ‘I have made. For he stopped the Jordan, and made it a desert of waters as Jesus led Israel across and brought them into the land of promise. And if he says that the fish in the waters shall be dried up, understand that this too was included to show that the Jordan was completely dried up, and the divine David, commemorating this so glorious and great wonder-working, says at one time: "What is it to you, O sea, that you fled, and you, O Jordan, that you turned back? 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 waters. And concerning the Jordan again he says thus: You dried up the rivers of Etham, that is, those in the south.

65 He also commemorates another wonder-working, and says that I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and I will make its covering as sackcloth; and again, ‘I will clothe’ must be understood as ‘I clothed. For we remember that the all-wise Moses wrote that for three days a deep darkness was scattered over the land of the Egyptians, but it did no harm at all to the children of Israel. For they had both day and light. This too is strange, and beyond all description. When therefore I myself, he says, am he, and having appeared in the flesh, I who of old made the sea a desert, that is, made it dry, and did this also to the rivers, and clothed this immense heaven with darkness, and by experience itself made it manifest that I am the Master of all things, and that absolutely nothing is impossible for my powers, how should it not deserve laughter, or rather undergo an accusation of impiety, if anyone should choose to think and to say, my hand is not able to deliver? The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction, to know when it is right to speak a word. He has appointed me in the morning; he has added to me an ear to hear, and the instruction of the Lord opens my ears.

66 It would not be improbable, but rather not inconsistent with the words of orthodoxy, to apply the preceding words to the choir of the holy apostles, that is, to all who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and have been made wise through the Spirit, and have received abundantly from him enlightenment into their mind and understanding, who also have come to partake of divine gifts, and have been able to perceive the depth of the divinely inspired Scripture with pure eyes of the mind, and have entered into the art of a good evangelical life, and of a holy understanding. These, therefore, offering up hymns of thanksgiving, say that there has been given to them a tongue of instruction, that is, the ability to speak in an instructed manner, and to explain without rebuke the divine mysteries, and when and how it is fitting to use the words of consolation. This is indeed what the divine disciples did, having stored up in mind and heart a sound and blameless knowledge of the faith in Christ, and yet for each of those who approached the divine preaching, they offered the word that was fitting and suitable for him. For to those who are still infants, as it were, in the rank of milk, they offer well the word of simple catechesis, but to those who have attained to a perfect man, and have arrived at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, the solid and most nourishing.

67 This, then, is a tongue of instruction, and a gift to know when it is necessary to speak a word. And they say that they are placed early, that is, in the mind, and the heart the dawning of the day, the shining of a divine and intelligible light, the rising of the morning star. And this again we shall know from the blessed Paul having written thus: "Giving thanks to God the Father, who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love in the light. For the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that the light of the Gospel of Christ might not shine in them. But for us the sun of righteousness has risen, shining around the mind with divine light, so that we are and are called sons of light and of the day. Then he says, He has added to me an ear for hearing, and the instruction of the Lord opens my ears. For having accepted the faith in Christ, and being enriched by the enlightenment from him, we have received an addition of an ear, that is, a power of hearing that was unusual, or of old. For the Jews, when reading the law, do not pass beyond the shadow, but are settled in the types, bare and alone. For the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, as it is written.

68 For we, believing the law to be a tutor, whenever we receive into our ear the things through Moses, we understand them with other ears, transforming the types into truth, and making the shadow a pretext for spiritual contemplation. We have therefore received an addition of ears. For the instruction through Christ, that is, the evangelical proclamation, and the initiation through him, spiritually persuades to understand the law. It widens, as it were, the ears of those who have believed in him, which those of Israel did not have. For our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: "Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me, and you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. And the all-wise and divine Paul writes about them, that "when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart, not being unveiled, because in Christ Jesus our Lord and Redeemer it is done away."