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kings, so is the one who delivers you, but he is an eternal king and his kingdom is eternal, as the angel Gabriel says to his mother and virgin Mary: “And of his kingdom there will be no end.” And as his kingdom is eternal, so is your salvation eternal. Therefore: “Rejoice greatly; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem.” What shall I proclaim, O prophet? Proclaim to your king, to the one who came down from the heights of heaven to save you, thanksgiving, doxology, hymnology. Proclaim: “Hosanna in the highest, from whence you have come to save me, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” And observe for me the evangelist, how he proclaims a twofold Christ; for in saying: “Hosanna in the highest,” he reveals the high nature of the divinity, but in saying: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” he signifies the substance of his humanity, the blessed seed by which the blessed Abraham was blessed, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; “For blessed,” he says, “is the coming kingdom of our father David.”

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Let us take up again the former voice and, as it were, squeeze a prophetic breast; for it still has milk and good insights. For he says: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem.” And why “daughter of Zion” and not Zion, and “daughter of Jerusalem” and not Jerusalem? Pay attention wisely, I pray you. For just as the names of plants and of birds and of four-footed animals and of humans possess their names according to the difference of their form and power, so each tittle of the divine oracles possesses its own power and insight. Therefore let us investigate why the prophet first calls the now faithful Jerusalem “daughter of Zion,” then “daughter of Jerusalem.” For he says: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem.” Zion is interpreted as “thirsting”; and this is the assembly of the righteous and prophets, of those who from the beginning of time until the coming of Christ have thirsted to be united and to be well-pleasing to the divine and worshipful substance of the divinity, as the chief of the apostles, Peter, says: “that they might become partakers of the divine nature.” These, seeking the Lord and thirsting, were called Zion, as one of them said: “My soul has thirsted for the strong, the living God;”

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But when they attained and drew near, or rather were seen and beheld his face; for so says another version: they became Jerusalem, “seeing God and a watchtower of all knowledge.” And he calls the faithful in the Lord the daughter of this Zion, those who through faith are thirsting and through the working of the commandments of the gospel are seeking to find the Lord, the one hidden in them, as the Holy Spirit says: “This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, of those who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” And when they attain, they are called daughter of the aforesaid Jerusalem, beholding God and observing spiritual knowledge. And the prophet, exhorting God through the spirit to show forth such a Zion and Jerusalem, says: “Remember your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning.” Therefore with this your mother Zion, “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem,” crying out heavenly with your mother: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

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And what does the gospel say? “When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage”. For in order that the faithful might eat him, he was coming in the upper room, “to the Mount of Olives,” which is the faithful church from the people. “Then Jesus sent two of his disciples”, who are the two choirs of the prophets and apostles; for the apostles, making disciples of the nations, had with them the divinely inspired writings of the

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βασιλεῖς, οὕτως ὁ ῥυόμενός σε, ἀλλὰ βα σιλεὺς αἰώνιος καὶ αἰωνία αὐτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἄγγελος Γαβριὴλ πρὸς τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ παρθένον Μαριάμ· «Καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος». Καὶ καθὼς αἰω νία αὐτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία, οὕτως αἰωνία σου ἡ σωτηρία. ∆ιὰ τοῦ το οὖν· «Χαῖρε σφόδρα· κήρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ.» Τί κηρύξω, ὦ προφῆτα; Κήρυττε τῷ βασιλεῖ σου, τῷ κατελθόντι ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψωμάτων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ σῶσαί σε, εὐχαριστίαν, δοξολογίαν, ὑμνολογίαν. Κήρυττε· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, ὅθεν παρεγένου τοῦ σῶσαί με, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνό ματι κυρίου.» Καὶ σκόπει μοι τὸν εὐαγγελιστήν, πῶς διπλοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν κηρύττει· ἐν τῷ γὰρ λέγειν· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις», τὴν ὑψηλὴν τῆς θεότητος φύσιν δηλοῖ, ἐν δὲ τῷ λέγειν· «Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου», τὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος οὐσίαν σημαίνει, τὸ εὐλογημένον σπέρμα ᾧ εὐλογήθη ὁ εὐλογημένος Ἀβραάμ, ἐν τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ εὐ λογηθῆναι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς· «Εὐλογημένη γάρ», φησίν, «ἡ ἐρχομένη βασιλεία τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν ∆αυίδ.»

6 Ἀναλάβωμεν πάλιν τὴν φωνὴν τὴν προτέραν καὶ ὥσπερ μασθὸν προφητικὸν ἐκπιάσωμεν· ἔτι γὰρ ἔχει γάλακτος καὶ θεωρίας ἀγαθά. Φησὶ γάρ· «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κή ρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ.» Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν «θύγατερ Σιὼν» καὶ οὐ Σιών, καὶ «θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλὴμ» καὶ οὐκ Ἰερουσαλήμ; Πρόσεχε συνετῶς, παρακαλῶ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν βοτανῶν καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς μορφῆς καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως οὕτω καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα κέκτηται, οὕτως ἑκάστη κεραία τῶν θείων λογίων ἰδίαν δύναμιν καὶ θεωρίαν κέκτηται. Οὐκοῦν ἐρευνήσωμεν τί δήποτε τὴν νῦν πιστὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ πρῶτον καλεῖ ὁ προφήτης «θυγα τέρα Σιών», ἔπειτα «θυγατέρα Ἰερουσαλήμ». Φησὶ γάρ· «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κήρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσα λήμ.» Σιὼν ἑρμηνεύεται «διψῶσα»· ἔστι δὲ αὕτη ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν δικαίων καὶ προφητῶν, τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας διψησάντων ἑνωθῆναι καὶ εὐαρεστῆσαι τῇ θείᾳ καὶ προσκυνητῇ οὐσίᾳ τῆς θεότητος, καθώς φησιν ὁ κορυφαῖος τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρος· «Ἵνα γένωνται θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως.» Οὗτοι, ζητοῦντες τὸν κύριον καὶ διψῶντες, ἐκλήθησαν Σιών, καθὼς εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔλεγεν· «Ἐδίψησεν ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἰσχυρὸν τὸν ζῶντα·»

7 Ὅταν δὲ ἐπέτυχον καὶ ἤγγισαν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὤφθησαν καὶ ἐθεώρησαν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ· οὕτω γὰρ λέγει ἑτέρα ἔκδοσις· ἐγένοντο Ἰερουσαλὴμ, «ὁρῶντες θεὸν καὶ σκοπευτήριον πάσης γνώσεως». Θυγατέρα δὲ ταύτης τῆς Σιὼν καλεῖ τοὺς ἐν κυ ρίῳ πιστούς, τοὺς διὰ τῆς πίστεως διψῶντας καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐργα σίας τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ζητοῦντας εὑρεῖν τὸν κύριον, τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς κεκρυμμένον, καθώς φησι τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· «Αὕτη ἡ γενεὰ ζητούντων τὸν κύριον, ζητούντων τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ.» Καὶ ὅταν ἐπιτύχωσιν, καλοῦνται θυγάτηρ τῆς προ ειρημένης Ἰερουσαλήμ, θεωροῦντες τὸν θεὸν καὶ σκοποῦντες τὴν πνευματικὴν γνῶσιν. Παρακαλῶν δὲ ὁ προφήτης διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τὸν θεὸν ἀναδεῖξαι τὴν τοιαύτην Σιὼν καὶ Ἰερουσαλήμ, φησί· «Μνήσθητι τῆς συναγωγῆς σου, ἧς ἐκτήσω ἀπ' ἀρχῆς.» Οὐκοῦν μετὰ ταύτης τῆς μητρός σου Σιών, «Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· κήρυττε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ», ἐπουρανίως μετὰ τῆς μητρός σου βοῶσα· «Ὠσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλο γημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου.»

8 Καὶ τί φησι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον; «Ὅτε ἤγγισαν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Βηθφαγή». Ἵνα γὰρ φάγωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ πιστοί, ἤρχετο ἐν τῷ ὑπερῴῳ, «πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν», ὅ ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστὴ ἐκκλησία. «Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀπέστειλε δύο τῶν μαθητῶν» αὐτοῦ, οἵτινές εἰσι δύο χοροὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων· μαθητεύοντες γὰρ τὰ ἔθνη οἱ ἀπόστολοι εἶχον μεθ' ἑαυτῶν τὰ θεόπνευστα τῶν