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not from foreigners, but from your own race I bring forward the witness saying: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. He speaks concerning the Jews; for there is no other enemy, except the one who denies the cross. But I, leaving the God-fighting synagogue, am joined with the God-inspired Church. If a Jew says to you, 'Tell me how the virgin gave birth without a man,' you also say to him: How did Adam beget Eve without a woman? How did the virgin give birth without seed? how did the earth blossom without seed? How did the virgin give birth? how did the virgin, the flinty rock, gush forth water? How did the virgin give birth? tell me how Aaron's rod budded?

How did the virgin give birth? tell me how the manna came from heaven? how was the water jar multiplied? how did the flower blossom from the root of Jesse? how did Elisha's oil gush forth into the jars? How did the virgin give birth? tell me, how in the time of Gideon did the fleece release dew? tell me, how in the time of Samson did the bone gush forth water? tell me, how did the furnace protect the young men? tell me, how in the time of Manoah was the rock kindled without fuel? tell me, how was the bush burning, and was not consumed? tell me, how was Elijah not burned up in the fiery chariot? tell me, how did Moses enter into the darkness, and come out again? How did the virgin give birth? how did Isaiah behold the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up? tell me, how did Daniel reveal the hidden dream to Nebuchadnezzar? how did Ezekiel see the invisible one sitting upon a chariot of Cherubim? How did the virgin give birth? how was Jeremiah sanctified as a prophet from the womb? tell me, how did the prophet's dead bones then raise the dead man? tell me, how was the Red Sea hardened by a rod? tell me, how did the Jordan reverse its course? tell me, how do the trees conceive their fruit? tell me, how does the vine bear the grape cluster? tell me, how did the night give birth to the day? How did the virgin give birth? tell me, how does the luminary of the sun warm the world, tell me, how does the heaven reveal the stars? And in these things there are mysteries, unspoken, hidden and incomprehensible in the heavens. If you, the examiner of the Jews, will interpret these things for me, I know that you also comprehend the conception of the Virgin. But you are a stranger both to those and to these mysteries; but we both cherish these things, and believe those. Interpret the prophets, and see the orators of the coming. Ste 61.692 let the preaching be made manifest. Whatever things he did and suffered, these things those who came before so many generations ago depicted. First David beseeches: Lord, bow the heavens, and come down. And having obtained his request, he preaches the good news and says: He bowed the heavens, and came down. And since he was to appear as a child, Isaiah says: A child is born to us. And that his mother was to take him and flee to Egypt, Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and will come to Egypt, and the handmade things of Egypt will be shaken. The Word fittingly called the Virgin a light cloud, because she did not receive the weight of man-making seed. And that he was to be baptized in the Jordan, Jeremiah says: How will you fare in the swelling of the Jordan?

And why do we enumerate them one by one? Come now, gathering all the prophecies together into one luminary. Concerning the interpretation, Gabriel says: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you. And concerning the meeting of Christ and the Baptist, David says: Mercy and truth have met together; and concerning the greeting of Elizabeth to the holy and pure Theotokos, Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And again concerning John and concerning the Lord he says: Truth has sprung out of the earth, and righteousness has looked down from heaven. And concerning the apostles he says: I said: You are gods. And concerning the witness from above David says: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. And concerning the sick he says: He sent his word and healed them; and concerning the

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ἐξ ἀλλοφύλων, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ σοῦ γένους προσφέρω τὸν μάρτυρα λέγοντα· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. Περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων λέγει· οὐ γὰρ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ἐχθρὸς, εἰ μὴ ὁ σταυρὸν ἀρνούμενος. Ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐάσας τὴν θεομάχον συναγωγὴν, πρὸς τὴν θεόπνευστον Ἐκκλησίαν συνέρωμαι. Ἐάν σοι εἴπῃ Ἰουδαῖος, Εἰπὲ πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ παρθένος δίχα ἀνδρὸς, εἰπὲ αὐτῷ καὶ σύ· Πῶς ἔτεκε τὴν Εὔαν ὁ Ἀδὰμ δίχα γυναικός; Πῶς ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος δίχα σπορᾶς; πῶς ἐξήνθησεν ἡ γῆ δίχα σπέρματος; Πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ παρθένος; πῶς ἔβρυσεν ἡ παρθένος τὸ ὕδωρ ἡ ἀκρότομος; Πῶς ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος; εἰπὲ πῶς τοῦ Ἀαρὼν ἡ ῥάβδος ἐβλάστησε;

Πῶς ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος; εἰπὲ πῶς οὐρανόθεν τὸ μάννα; πῶς ἐπληθύνετο ἡ ὑδρία; πῶς ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ ἐβλάστησε τὸ ἄνθος; πῶς Ἐλισσαίου τὸ ἔλαιον ἔβρυσεν εἰς τοὺς κεράμους; Πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ παρθένος; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐπὶ Γεδεὼν ὁ πόκος ἀπέλυσε δρόσον; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ Σαμψὼν τὸ ὀστέον ἔβρυσε τὸ ὕδωρ; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐφύλαξεν ἡ κάμινος τοὺς παῖδας; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐπὶ Μανωὲ ἀνήφθη ἡ πέτρα δίχα ὕλης; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐκαίετο ἡ βάτος, καὶ οὐ κατεκαίετο; εἰπὲ, πῶς οὐ κατεφλέχθη Ἠλίας ἐν τῷ ἅρματι τῷ πυρίνῳ; εἰπὲ, πῶς ὁ Μωϋσῆς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν γνόφον, καὶ πάλιν ἐξῆλθε; Πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ παρθένος; πῶς Ἡσαΐας τὸν Κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου ἐθεάσατο; εἰπὲ, πῶς ∆ανιὴλ ἐφανέρωσε τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἐνύπνιον τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσωρ; πῶς Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἐφ' ἅρματος Χερουβὶμ καθήμενον εἶδε τὸν ἀόρατον; Πῶς ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος; πῶς Ἱερεμίας ἐκ μήτρας ἡγιάσθη προφήτης; εἰπὲ, πῶς τὰ νεκρὰ τοῦ προφήτου ὀστᾶ τὸν νεκρὸν ἤγειραν τότε; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἡ Ἐρυθρὰ ἐπετρώθη ῥάβδῳ; εἰπὲ, πῶς ὁ Ἰορδάνης ἀνεπόδισε τὸ ῥεῦμα; εἰπὲ, πῶς τὰ δένδρα τοὺς καρποὺς ἐγκυμονοῦσιν; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἡ ἄμπελος φέρει τὸν βότρυν; εἰπὲ, πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ νὺξ τὴν ἡμέραν; Πῶς ἐγέννησεν ἡ παρθένος; εἰπὲ, πῶς ὁ φωστὴρ τοῦ ἡλίου θερμαίνει τὸν κόσμον, εἰπὲ, πῶς ὁ οὐρανὸς τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐκφαίνει; Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων εἰσὶ μυστήρια ἄῤῥητα, κεκρυμμένα καὶ ἀκατάληπτα ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Εἰ ταῦτά μοι ἑρμηνεύσῃς ὁ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐκσκέπτωρ, οἶδα ὅτι καταλαμβάνεις καὶ τὴν κύησιν τῆς Παρθένου. Ἀλλὰ σὺ ἀλλότριος εἶ κἀκείνων καὶ τούτων τῶν μυστηρίων· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα φιλοφρονοῦμεν, κἀκεῖνα πιστεύομεν. Ἑρμήνευσον τοὺς προφήτας, καὶ βλέπε τῆς παρουσίας τοὺς ῥήτορας. Στε 61.692 φανούσθω τὸ κήρυγμα. Ὅσα ἐποίησε καὶ ἔπαθε, ταῦτα οἱ προλαβόντες πρὸ τοσούτων γενεῶν ἐζωγράφησαν. Πρῶτος ἱκετεύει ∆αυΐδ· Κύριε, κλῖνον οὐρανοὺς, καὶ κατάβηθι. Καὶ ἐπιτυχὼν τῆς αἰτήσεως, εὐαγγελίζεται καὶ λέγει· Ἔκλινεν οὐρανοὺς, καὶ κατέβη. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ὡς παιδίον εἶχε φανῆναι, λέγει Ἡσαΐας. Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν. Ὅτι δὲ ἔμελλεν αἴρειν αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ φεύγειν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, Ἰδοὺ ὁ Κύριος κάθηται ἐπὶ νεφέλης κούφης, καὶ ἥξει εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ χειροποίητα Αἰγύπτου. Νεφέλην κούφην εἰκότως ὁ λόγος τὴν Παρθένον ἐκάλεσεν, ὅτι ἀνθρωποποιοῦ σπέρματος βάρος οὐκ ἐδέξατο. Ὅτι δὲ ἤμελλεν ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ βαπτίζεσθαι, λέγει Ἱερεμίας· Πῶς ποιήσῃς ἐν φρυάγματι τοῦ Ἰορδάνου;

Καὶ τί κατ' εἶδος ἀριθμοῦμεν; Φέρε δὴ ὅλας ὁμοῦ τὰς προφητείας εἰς ἕνα φωστῆρα συνεχόμενος. Περὶ τῆς ἑρμηνείας Γαβριὴλ λέγει· Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου. Καὶ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπαντῆς καὶ τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ ∆αυῒδ λέγει· Ἔλεος καὶ ἀλήθεια συνήντησαν· καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀσπασμοῦ τῆς Ἐλισάβετ πρὸς τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ἁγνὴν Θεοτόκον, ∆ικαιοσύνη καὶ εἰρήνη κατεφίλησαν. Καὶ πάλιν περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου καὶ περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου λέγει· Ἀλήθεια ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνέτειλεν, καὶ δικαιοσύνη ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διέκυψε. Καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων λέγει· Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε. Καὶ περὶ τῆς μαρτυρίας τῆς ἄνωθεν ∆αυῒδ λέγει· Υἱός μου εἶ σὺ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε. Καὶ περὶ τῶν νοσούντων λέγει· Ἀπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὑτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς· καὶ περὶ τῶν