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judgment, which is gloomy and painful to those who suffer, as if it were brought upon them out of wrath and anger. And the holy Apostle also teaches this, saying: But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation and of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds. Just as if one might call the punishments imposed by the law on a murderer wrath and anger, not with the law being truly angry and wrathful, but with the one being punished having supposed the punishment to be the wrath of the law.

And indeed also the evil demons who administer punishments against the ungodly, and the ministering powers of God, such ones have also been named wrath and anger. For so it is said in the account concerning the ten plagues brought against the Egyptians, that, He sent upon them wrath and anger, a sending through evil angels. So the right hand of God is spoken of, referring to the things supplied to the worthy through the right and good powers. David therefore beseeches not to be rebuked through evil powers, nor to be disciplined through a sending of evil angels, but through saving words and helpful teachings. And in another way he implores not to be kept for the day of wrath, and revelation, and righteous judgment of God; but to receive recompense for his sins already here, in the present life, before his end. And he certainly achieved his purpose; for he appears to have paid the penalty, through the things he suffered, before his end. And in another way also he himself punished himself, by subjecting himself to all sorts of punishments in the ways of confession. For your arrows have pierced me, and you have pressed your hand upon me. There is no healing in my flesh because of your wrath. There is no peace in my bones because of my sins. The great athlete Job, having endured all kinds of temptations, was not ignorant of whence this happened to him; wherefore he said: For the arrows of the Lord 30.88 are in my body, whose wrath drinks up my blood. But David, not struck in the body like Job, but wounded mortally in the soul itself, does not say like Job: For the arrows of the Lord are in my body; but, For your arrows have pierced me, and you have pressed your hand upon me.

But Job mentions the hand of the Lord, saying: It is the hand of the Lord that has touched me. And the devil, saying to the Lord, Stretch forth your hand, and touch all that he has, he said. And again: Stretch forth your hand, and touch his flesh and his bones. But it was a different hand, and different arrows reaching his flesh and his bodily possessions. But here, since David was sick in the soul itself, he indicates that other arrows reached him, and another hand had touched him. And it seems to me that the arrows spoken of here are rational, or rather the very words of God, pricking and wounding his soul, and punishing and chastising his conscience itself; since, being so great a man, and having obtained so many good things from God, he gave himself over to a shameful deed. And perhaps also he means the devil himself, and the flaming arrows of the evil one, the passionate and erotic ones, which ignited desire for the wife of Uriah; concerning which the Apostle also teaches, saying: Take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one; for since, having been found unguarded, he did not withstand the flaming arrows of the evil one, it is fitting that, having been wounded in the soul, he was captured by desire. And just as Job called the arrows of the devil, the ulcers inflicted on him against his body, since it happened by the permission of God, the arrows of the Lord, saying: For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, whose wrath drinks up my blood; so it is likely that David also here spoke of the arrows of the Lord, since by the permission of the Lord

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κρίσιν, σκυθρωπὰς οὔσας καὶ ἀλγεινὰς τοῖς πάσχουσιν, ὡσανεὶ ἐξ ὀργῆς καὶ θυμοῦ ἐπαγομένας ὑποτυποῦται. Τοῦτο δὲ διδάσκει καὶ ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀπόστολος, λέγων· Κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς, καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως καὶ δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Ὡς εἴ τις καὶ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ νόμου τῷ ἀνδροφόνῳ ἐπηρτημένας κολάσεις, ὀργὴν καὶ θυ μὸν ὀνομάζοι, οὐκ ἀληθῶς τοῦ νόμου θυμουμένου καὶ ὀργιζομένου, τοῦ δὲ κολαζομένου ὀργὴν τοῦ νόμου τὴν τιμωρίαν ὑπειληφότος.

Ἤδη δὲ καὶ οἱ τὰς κολά σεις διακονοῦντες κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν πονηροὶ δαίμονες, αἵ τε ὑπηρετικαὶ δυνάμεις τοῦ Θεοῦ, αἱ τοι αῦται καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ θυμὸς ὠνομάσθησαν. Οὕτω γοῦν εἴρηται ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς δεκαπλήγου τῆς κατ' Αἰγυπτίων ἐπαχθείσης λόγῳ τὸ, Ἀπέστειλεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ὀργὴν καὶ θυμὸν, ἀποστολὴν δι' ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν. Οὕτως δεξιὰ λέλεκται τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὰ διὰ τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν δυνάμεων τοῖς ἀξίοις χορη γούμενα. Ἱκετεύει τοίνυν ὁ ∆αβὶδ μὴ διὰ πονηρῶν δυνάμεων ἐλεγχθῆναι, μηδὲ δι' ἀποστολῆς ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν παιδευθῆναι, διὰ λόγων δὲ σωτηρίων καὶ μαθημάτων ὠφελίμων. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ ἀντιβολεῖ μὴ τηρηθῆναι εἰς ἡμέραν ὀργῆς, καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως, καὶ δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἤδη δὲ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον, πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς, ἀπολήψεσθαι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Καὶ ἔτυχέ γε τοῦ σκοποῦ· φαίνε ται γοῦν δίκην δεδωκὼς, δι' ὧν ἔπαθε, πρὸ τῆς τελευτῆς. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐτιμωρεῖτο παν τοίαις ὑποβάλλων κολάσεσιν ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως τρόποις. Ὅτι τὰ βέλη σου ἐνεπάγησάν μοι, καὶ ἐπ εστήριξας ἐπ' ἐμὲ τὴν χεῖρά σου. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ὀργῆς σου. Οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις μου ἀπὸ προσ ώπου τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου. Ὁ μὲν μέγας ἀθλητὴς Ἰὼβ, παντοίους ὑπομείνας πειρασμοὺς, οὐκ ἠγνόει πόθεν αὐτῷ τοῦτο ἐγένετο· διὸ ἔλεγε· Βέλη γὰρ Κυρίου 30.88 ἐν τῷ σώματί μού ἐστιν, ὧν ὁ θυμὸς αὐτῶν ἐκπί νει μου τὸ αἷμα. Ὁ δὲ ∆αβὶδ, οὐ τὸ σῶμα πληγεὶς ὁμοίως τῷ Ἰὼβ, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν καιρίαν τρω θεὶς, οὐχ ὁμοίως τῷ Ἰὼβ φάσκει· Βέλη γὰρ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ σώματί μού εἰσιν· ἀλλ', Ὅτι τὰ βέλη σου ἐνεπάγησάν μοι, καὶ ἐπεστήριξας ἐπ' ἐμὲ τὴν χεῖρά σου.

Ὁ δὲ Ἰὼβ μνημονεύει τῆς χειρὸς Κυρίου, λέγων· Χεὶρ Κυρίου ἐστὶν ἡ ἁψαμένη μου. Καὶ ὁ διάβολος τῷ Κυρίῳ λέγων, Ἀπόστειλον τὴν χεῖρά σου, καὶ ἅψαι πάντων ὧν ἔχει, ἔφασκε. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἀπόστειλον τὴν χεῖρά σου, καὶ ἅψαι τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλ' ἑτέρα τις ἦν χεὶρ, καὶ ἕτερα βέλη τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ καθικνούμενα καὶ τῶν σωματικῶν ὑπαρχόντων. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ, ἐπειδήπερ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτὴν νενοσήκει ὁ ∆αβὶδ, ἕτερα βέλη καθικέσθαι αὐτοῦ σημαίνει, καὶ ἑτέραν χεῖρα ἧφθαι αὐτοῦ. Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὰ ἐνταῦθα λεγόμενα βέλη, λογικὰ εἶναι, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτοὺς τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγους, νύττοντας καὶ τιτρώσκοντας αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ τὴν συνείδησιν αὐτὴν τιμωρου μένους καὶ κολάζοντας· ἐπεὶ τοσοῦτος ὢν ὁ ἀνὴρ, καὶ τοσούτων τετυχηκὼς ἀγαθῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, αἰσχρᾷ πράξει ἑαυτὸν ἐξέδωκε. Μήποτε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον, καὶ τὰ τοῦ πονηροῦ πεπυρωμένα βέλη, τὰ παθητικὰ καὶ ἐρωτικὰ, εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐξάψαντα τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου γυναικὸς, σημαίνει· περὶ ὧν καὶ ὁ Ἀπό στολος διδάσκει, λέγων· Ἀναλάβετε τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι πάντα τὰ βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ τὰ πεπυρωμένα σβέσαι· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἄφρακτος εὑρεθεὶς, οὐκ ἀντέσχε πρὸς τὰ τοῦ πονη ροῦ πεπυρωμένα βέλη, εἰκότως τὴν ψυχὴν τρωθεὶς, ἥλω τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ. Ὥσπερ δὲ ὁ Ἰὼβ τὰ τοῦ διαβόλου βέλη, τὰ ἕλκη τὰ ἐπιτεθέντα αὐτῷ κατὰ τοῦ σώματος, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ συγχώρησιν ἐγίγνετο τοῦ Θεοῦ, βέλη Κυρίου ὠνόμασεν, εἰπών· Βέλη γὰρ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ σώματί μού ἐστιν, ὧν ὁ θυμὸς αὐτῶν ἐκπίνει μου τὸ αἷμα· οὕτως εἰκὸς καὶ τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἐνταῦθα βέλη Κυρίου εἰρηκέναι, ἐπεὶ κατὰ συγχώρησιν τοῦ Κυρίου