Selecta in Ezechielem

 of Jesus the Savior God having gone forth. If then they might hear, or be terrified. Similar to this doubtful expression is the one in Jeremiah: Perha

 of Israel. But neither are they slow of speech for their tongue, that is, their speech, does not have weight and a certain elegance but they are lig

 He sat in their midst. But when he is about to see the glory of the Lord, he rises up and goes out into the plain, with only the breadth of the plain

 the iniquities of the house of Israel. And who took up the iniquities of the sons of Israel, being two in number, both that against God and that again

 But it is not proper for God to effect these things. For thus also the teacher of the Hebrews explained the passage: I will honor those who honor me,

 those who have emulated the mere practical are said to be glens but those who are humbler in soul than all are called ravines. And your precincts sha

 someone might say, the temple-keepers under 13.789 the priests and the house of Israel those from the 12 tribes and those who fear the Lord are fore

 to him, so that he became worthy even of being laid up in the Holy of Holies in the tent of testimony. That there is a vision for all the multitude. F

 his observance. And when they are not capable of giving counsel, nor do they preside to consider what is necessary for the common good, it must be sai

 written for the evil ones, and to have transferred the sacred weekly cycle from the holy things to the idols, so that they might receive a kind of sta

 Theodotion have placed alongside, preserving, as I think, the Hebrew word for I do not think that among the Greeks the word 'kasto' means to have a w

 the houses are built. The meaning of the present text is this: These men, he says, say, seeing the city newly built after the previous captivity, that

 he answers them through the prophet, as they are in need of repentance, saying: Repent and turn away, and so forth. Land, which if it sins. It is the

 they will enter, it is said. These bring out sons and daughters. This must be read as a question: If Noah and Daniel and Job will not suffice for thos

 Incense. Incense and oil is the prayer sent up to God from the mind with knowledge, in which God delights. And you spread your legs to everyone passin

 is of the vine, so also we, if we follow as the natural impulses draw us in our earliest years, are eating unripe grapes. Of the same. The unripe grap

 by his most wicked doctrines laying waste the land and those who dwell in it. These lions, therefore, are a symbol of the kings of Jerusalem in a tang

 to those before us I mean those outside the flesh. For besides having its own historical account, such as that which occurred among us men, it also h

 The Egyptians must be punished from the first to the last. All who inhabit Egypt, or rather, who are, will be punished in it.

of Jesus the Savior God having gone forth. If then they might hear, or be terrified. Similar to this doubtful expression is the one in Jeremiah: Perhaps they will hear, and they will repent. And they said, narrating those things as well, that these things are said for the sake of exhortation of the hearers, so that they may not think, while hearing what is said, that because our worse or better actions are foreknown by the knowledge of God, it is not possible for the opposite of what was foreknown to happen. For in this way it is equally up to us to hear and not to hear, just as if God had not foreknown it, neither does less become up to us because He has foreknown it, nor more, if He had not foreknown it. From the same. It would be more safely said instead of 'be terrified,' 'they will cease.' And 'be terrified' is placed here for those who are moved by the divine oracles and proceed from being terrified at what is said to fear God. And something else must be considered to be signified here by 'be terrified' beyond what is said by the Greeks of 'ptoia', defining it as a passion of the human soul. And in it a scroll of a book. The divine words, because they are partial and very small in comparison with the whole Word and all wisdom, are not called a book, but a certain scroll of a book. And in the Psalms, the phrase: 'In the scroll of the book it is written of me,' indicates the same thing. But what is in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne is no longer called a scroll of a book, but a book written within and on the back. Nevertheless, 'No one was able,' says John, 'either in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, to open that book, or to look at it, except only the victorious lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David.' And you will find another written scroll of a book in the Apocalypse which John ate; for human nature has not the capacity to eat more than a scroll. And there was written in it lamentation and song. Song for the saints, lamentation for those sinners who are not despaired of; but woe for those who will be punished. 13.773 CHAP. III. And he fed me the scroll. From this it is especially clear that human nature does not have the capacity to eat more than the scroll, and this while being fed by the hand of God. However, the one who eats this scroll, as the outstretched hand unrolls it toward the one eating, will eat it; so that through the unrolling of the scroll he may grasp each of the things written in it, and, having chewed the scroll and its unrolling, he may receive into his spiritual stomach all the things written not only on the front, but also on the back. But I think that by the things on the front of the scroll are signified the principal doctrines, and the things concerning the saints, and the things concerning the reports, and simply the things concerning the blessed and the conduct of their lives; and by the things on the back, the things concerning those being punished and the manner of their punishment and the things that followed in creation upon what happened previously. And the principal and front things are signified by the song, but the rest by the lamentation and the woe. Therefore, I suppose that those who are in sins and have completely fallen away from the doctrines of salvation are to be lamented; but the song is announced to the blessed; and the woe, to those who have completely fallen from blessedness. Even he who has tasted in knowledge the living bread which came down from heaven can taste in this way, whenever, having been lamented, he becomes worthy of blessedness. And so Theodotion published it in accordance with the Seventy; but Symmachus not very discordantly, 'lamentations and a list, and a mournful song'; but Aquila says, 'written on it was creation and opposition; and it shall be.' And perhaps through this it is signified, according to him, that it was written concerning creation and, as it were, the portion of each. And it is clear that the good things in the promises which will also come to pass are signified by 'it shall be.' Not to the people of deep lip. For if they did not have their words superficially, but their heart, because of the depth of their thoughts, was their mouth, and you would not have entered into the house

ἐξεληλυθότος Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος Θεοῦ. Ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν, ἢ πτοηθῶσιν. Ὅμοιον τούτῳ τῷ διστακτικῷ ἐστι τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ· Ἴσως ἀκούσονται, καὶ μετανοήσονται. Ἔλεγον δὲ κἀ κεῖνα διηγούμενοι, ὅτι ταῦτα ὑπὲρ προτροπῆς λέγον ται τῶν ἀκουόντων, ἵνα μὴ δοκῶσι, προκατειλημ μένων ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ γνώσεως τῶν ὑφ' ἡμῶν χει ρόνων ἢ κρειττόνων, μὴ δυνατὸν εἶναι τὸ ἐναντίον τῶν προεγνωσμένων γενέσθαι, ἀκούοντες τῶν λεγο μένων. Οὕτω γὰρ ἐπίσης ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστι τὸ ἀκούειν, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀκούειν, ὡσεὶ καὶ μὴ προεγνώκει ὁ Θεὸς οὔτε ἐλάττονος γενομένου ἐφ' ἡμῖν διὰ τὸ προεγνω κέναι αὐτὸν, οὔτε πλείονος, εἰ μὴ προεγνώκει. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ἀσφαλέστερον ἂν λέγοιτο ἀντὶ τοῦ πτοηθῶσι, κοπάσουσι. Τέτακται δὲ τὸ, πτοηθῶσιν ἐνταῦθα ἐπὶ τῶν ἀπὸ λογίων θείων κινουμένων καὶ ὁδευόντων ἐκ τοῦ πτοεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ φοβηθῆναι τὸν Θεόν. Καὶ ἄλλο γε ἡγητέον ἐν ταῦθα σημαίνεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ πτοηθῶσι παρὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς πτοίας ὁριζομένων αὐτὴν ἀνθρώπου ψυχῆς πάθος. Καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ κεφαλὶς βιβλίου. Οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, διὰ τὸ ἐκ μέρους εἶναι καὶ ἐλάχιστοι συγκρίσει τοῦ ὅλου λόγου καὶ τῆς πάσης σοφίας, οὐ βιβλίον, ἀλλά τις κε φαλὶς βιβλίου εἴρηται. Καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς δὲ τό· Ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ, τὸ ὅμοιον δηλοῖ. Οὐκέτι δὲ κεφαλὶς βιβλίου λέγεται τὸ ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον, ἀλλὰ βιβλίον γεγραμμένον ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν. Πλήν· Οὐδεὶς ἠδύνατο, φησὶν ὁ Ἰωάννης, οὔτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, οὔτε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὔτε ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς, ἀνοῖξαι τὸ βιβλίον ἐκεῖνο, οὔτε βλέπειν αὐτὸ, εἰ μὴ μό νον ὁ νικήσας λέων ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα, ἡ ῥίζα ∆αυίδ. Καὶ ἄλλην δὲ κεφαλίδα βιβλίου γεγραμμένην εὑρήσεις ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει τὸν Ἰωάννην κατεσθίοντα· πλεῖον γὰρ κεφαλίδος οὐ χωρεῖ φαγεῖν ἡ ἀνθρώπεια φύσις. Καὶ ἐγέγραπτο ἐν αὐτῇ θρῆνος καὶ μέλος. Μέ λος μὲν τοῖς ἁγίοις, θρῆνος δὲ τοῖς οὐκ ἀπεγνωσμέ νοις τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων· οὐαὶ δὲ τοῖς κολασθη σομένοις. 13.773 ΚΕΦ. Γʹ. Καὶ ἐψώμισέ με τὴν κεφαλίδα. Ἐντεῦθεν μάλιστα δῆλον, ὅτι πλεῖον τῆς κεφαλίδος οὐ χωρεῖ φαγεῖν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπὸ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ψωμιζομένη. Ὁ μέντοιγε ἐσθίων ταύτην τὴν κεφα λίδα, ἀνειλούσης αὐτὴν τῆς ἐκτεταμένης χειρὸς πρὸς τὸν ἐσθίοντα, φάγεται αὐτήν· ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἀνειλήσεως τῆς κεφαλίδος ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τῶν ἐγγεγραμμένων ἐν αὐτῇ ἀντιλάβηται, καὶ, μασσησάμενος τὴν κεφαλίδα καὶ τὴν ἀνείλησιν αὐτῆς πάντα λάβῃ εἰς τὴν νοητὴν αὐτοῦ κοιλίαν τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα οὐ μόνον ἔμπροσθεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὄπισθεν. Νομίζω δὲ διὰ μὲν τῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῆς κεφαλίδος δηλοῦσθαι τὰ προηγούμενα τῶν δογμά των, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀπαγ γελιῶν, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τὰ περὶ τῶν μακαρίων καὶ τῆς διεξαγωγῆς τοῦ ζῇν αὐτῶν· διὰ δὲ τῶν ὄπισθεν τὰ περὶ τῶν κολαζομένων καὶ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς κολά σεως αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπακολουθησάντων ἐν τῇ κτίσει τοῖς προηγουμένως γεγενημένοις. Καὶ δηλοῦται τὰ μὲν προηγούμενα καὶ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν διὰ τοῦ μέλους, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ διὰ τοῦ θρήνου καὶ τοῦ οὐαί. Τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἐν ἁμαρτήμασι γενομένους καὶ πάντη ἀποπεσόν τας τῶν τῆς σωτηρίας δογμάτων θρηνεῖσθαι ὑπολαμ βάνω· τὸ δὲ μέλος ἀπαγγέλλεσθαι τοῖς μακαρίοις· τὸ δὲ, οὐαὶ, τοῖς τέλεον ἀποπεσοῦσι τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ. ∆ύναται καὶ οὕτως γεύεσθαι καὶ ὁ ἐν γνώσει τοῦ ζῶν τος ἄρτου τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβεβηκότος γεγευ μένος, ὁπότε θρηνηθεὶς ἄξιος γενέσθαι τοῦ μακαρι σμοῦ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν οὖν Θεοδοτίων ἀκολούθως τοῖς Ἑβ δομήκοντα ἐξέδωκεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὐ πάνυ ἀπᾳ δόντως, θρήνους καὶ κατάλεγμα, καὶ μέλος πεν θικόν· ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας, γεγραμμένον, φησὶν, ἦν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ κτίσις καὶ ἀντίβλησις· καὶ ἔσται. Καὶ τάχα διὰ τούτου δηλοῦται κατ' αὐτὸν, ὅτι περὶ τῆς κτίσεως καὶ οἱονεὶ μερίδος ἑκάστου ἐγέγραπτο. ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὅτι τὰ ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἀγαθὰ ἃ καὶ ἐκβήσεται, σημαίνεται διὰ τοῦ ἔσται. Οὐ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν βαθύχειλον. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦσαν ἐξ ἐπιπολῆς ἔχοντες τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' ἡ καρ δία αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ βάθος τῶν νοημάτων στόμα ἦν αὐ τῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν σὺ εἰσεληλύθεις πρὸς τὸν οἶκον