free will, but it indicates the foreknowledge of what will certainly be. For this reason it also proclaims "woe to them," as they stumble willingly. He calls punishment the people living unseemly lives. V. 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. V. 21. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Two gathered together in the name of Christ, 17.300 body and spirit, not warring against each other; the body being subjected, and the spirit imparting divine life to it; and three, the whole: spirit, soul, body, he keeps for the coming of Christ; Or the two testaments, when their gatherer, the Holy Spirit, is in them; and three, the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel; or spirit and desire, and reason; or the calling and election, and the race set apart for the first honor with us. But observe that he did not say "I will be," but "I am." For as God, being everywhere, He is in the midst of those who are joined together through piety. For the all-seeing power of God, though indivisible, becomes divided among the worthy. Since we have authority to forgive offenses against us, but not those that reach God, unless it is God himself; for this reason Peter said, "against me." For in asking how long it is necessary not to bear a grudge, he added as something great, "seven times." But the Lord, signifying the infinity of forbearance, said, "seventy times seven;" that is: As many times as he sins against you, if he repents, forgive him. Since Christ set a measure for those who are excommunicated, but not for those who repent, Peter reasonably asks: "How many times must one receive the one who repents?" But see if this is possible: Since the number six is of work and of the genesis of the world, but seven is of rest; he who loves the things of the world and material things, when he sins, has the seventh day as the end; which Peter, having understood, wishes to forgive in the seven. But the Lord intensifies this in the same way, for in proportion to a unit to tens and hundreds, so that the one who has transgressed worldly things no longer has forgiveness of sins; for forgiveness is for the things here, whether late or soon. CH. 21. v. 33. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went away, etc. The parable calls the householder God the Father, who showed great providence for the Jews from the beginning. The vineyard is simply the first people, that is, Israel, planted by God in the land of promise. The fence is the Law, not allowing them to mix with the Gentiles. The winepress is the altar, that is, the place of libations. The tower is Zion, or heaven. The tenants are the elders of the people and the wise, and the teachers throughout the ages. But the householder went away, when he no longer appeared to them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. Or the long-suffering of God, not demanding 17.301 punishment for their offenses from the Jews immediately. The demand for fruit is a life according to the Law; Their time is the prophetic demand; The first and second servants who suffered terribly are the prophets sent at different times, of whom they beat one, like Micaiah, when Zedekiah struck him on the jaw; and another they killed, like Zechariah, between the temple and the altar; and another they stoned, like Zariou son of Joda the priest. Perhaps the vineyard is the kingdom of God, and His mysteries in the Law and the Prophets, and in the other natural philosophy. The fruits are the virtuous life in morals. The fence is the place of reason, and the letter, so that the hidden mysteries might not be spied upon by those outside. The winepress is the depth of the soul that receives its fruits, launching everything into war. The tower is also the distinct word concerning God. The temple is of the divine temple within it. The tenants are the first ones entrusted with the oracles of God; from whom he departs to his own domain, having given opportunity, from what he himself planted, and set a fence, dug, built, to bear fruit. The time of fruits, which the householder knows, perhaps not

αὐτεξούσιον, ἀλλὰ τὸ προ γνωστικὸν τοῦ πάντως ἐσομένου δηλοῖ. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὸ οὐαὶ αὐτοῖς ἐπιφωνεῖ, ὡς ἑκουσίως πταίουσι. Κό λασιν δὲ λέγει τοὺς ἀσέμνους ζῶντας ἀνθρώπους. Στ. κʹ. Οὗ γάρ εἰσι δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνημμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. Στ. καʹ. Τότε προσελθὼν αὐτῷ ὁ Πέτρος, εἶπε· Κύ ριε, ποσάκις ἁμαρτήσει εἰς ἐμὲ ὁ ἀδελφός μου, καὶ ἀφήσω αὐτῷ; ἕως ἑπτάκις; ∆ύο συνημμένοι ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὀνόματι, σῶ 17.300 μα καὶ πνεῦμα, μὴ ἀντιστρατευόμενα· ὑποταγέντος μὲν τοῦ σώματος, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος μεταδιδόντος αὐ τῷ θείας ζωῆς· τρεῖς δέ τε ὁλόκληρον, πνεῦμα, ψυχὴ, σῶμα, τηρεῖ τῇ παρουσίᾳ Χριστοῦ· Ἢ αἱ δύο διαθῆκαι, ὅταν ὁ συναγωγεὺς αὐτῶν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν αὐταῖς ᾖ· τρεῖς δὲ, νόμον, προφήτας, Εὐαγ γέλιον· ἢ θυμὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ λογισμόν· ἢ τὴν κλῆσιν καὶ ἐκλογὴν, καὶ τὸ εἰς πρώτην τιμὴν τασ σόμενον γένος μεθ' ἡμῶν. Τήρει δὲ, ὅτι οὐκ εἶπεν ἔσο μαι, ἀλλ' εἰμί. Ὡς Θεὸς γὰρ πανταχοῦ ὢν, ἐν μέσῳ ἐστὶ τῶν δι' εὐσεβείας συναπτομένων. Ἡ γὰρ παν επίσκοπος τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμις ἀμέριστος μεριστὴ γίνε ται τοῖς ἀξίοις. Ἐπειδὴ τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς πταισμάτων ἡμεῖς κύριοί ἐσμεν τοῦ συγχωρεῖν, οὐ μὴ τῶν εἰς Θεὸν φθανόν των εἰ μὴ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεός· διὰ τοῦτο εἶπεν ὁ Πέτρος τὸ, εἰς ἐμέ. Ἐρωτῶν γὰρ, ἕως τίνος χρεία μὴ μνησικακεῖν, ὡς μέγα προσέθηκε τὸ, ἑπτάκις. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος, τὸ ἄπειρον σημαίνων τῆς ἀνεξικακίας, εἶπεν τὸ, ἑβδο μηκοντάκις ἑπτά· τουτέστιν· Ὁσάκις ἁμάρτῃ εἰς σὲ, ἐὰν μετανοῇ, ἄφες αὐτῷ. Ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀφοριζομένων μέτρον ὥρισεν ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐ μὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων, εἰκότως ἐρωτᾷ ὁ Πέτρος τό· Ἕως πόσου δεῖ δέχεσθαι τὸν μετανοοῦντα; Ὅρα δὲ εἰ δύναται· Ἐπεὶ ὁ μὲν ἓξ ἀριθμὸς ἐργατικὸς καὶ ἐν γενέσει κόσμου, ὁ δὲ ἑπτὰ ἀναπαύσεως· ὁ μὲν τὰ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ὑλικὰ ἀγα πῶν, ἐξαμαρτάνων τέλος ἔχει τὴν ἑβδομάδα· ὅπερ νοήσας ὁ Πέτρος, συγχωρεῖν θέλει ἐν τῷ ἑπτά. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἐπιτείνει τοῦτο ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ, ἀναλόγως γὰρ μονάδος πρὸς δεκάδας καὶ ἑκατοντάδας, ὡς τὸν ὑπερβάντα τὰ κοσμικὰ μηκέτι ἔχειν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων· ἡ γὰρ ἄφεσις ἐπὶ τὰ τῇδε εἴτε βρα δὺ, εἴτε τάχιον. ΚΕΦ. ΚΑʹ. Στίχ. λγʹ. Ἄνθρωπος ἦν οἰκοδεσπότης, ὅστις ἐφύ τευσεν ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθη κε, καὶ ὤρυξεν ἐν αὐτῷ ληνὸν, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε πύργον, καὶ ἐξέδοτο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς, καὶ ἀπ εδήμησε, κ. τ. λ. Ἡ παραβολὴ οἰκοδεσπότην λέγει τὸν Θεὸν καὶ πατέρα, τὸν πολλὴν πρόνοιαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰς τοὺς Ἰου δαίους ἐπιδειξάμενον. Ἀμπελὼν δὲ ἁπλῶς μὲν ὁ πρῶ τος λαὸς, τουτέστιν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ, φυτευθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ γῇ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Φραγμὸς δὲ ὁ νόμος, οὐκ ἐῶν αὐτοὺς μιγῆναι τοῖς ἔθνεσι. Ληνὸς τὸ θυσια στήριον, ἤτοι ὁ τόπος τῶν σπονδῶν. Πύργος ἡ Σιὼν, ἢ ὁ οὐρανός. Γεωργοὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ, καὶ οἱ κατὰ καιροὺς διδάσκαλοι. Ἀπεδή μησε δὲ ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης, ὅτε οὐκέτι ἡμέρᾳ ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης καὶ νυκτὸς αὐτοῖς ἐν στύλῳ πυρὸς ἐπιφαίνε ται. Ἢ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ μακροθυμία, ἡ μὴ παρὰ πόδας 17.301 ἀπαιτοῦσα τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τὴν τῶν πταισμάτων τι μωρίαν. Ἀπαίτησις δὲ καρπῶν ὁ ἔννομος βίος· Και ρὸς αὐτῶν ἡ προφητικὴ ἀπαίτησις· ∆οῦλοι πρῶτοι καὶ δεύτεροι παθόντες ἄτοπον, οἱ κατὰ διαφόρους και ροὺς ἀποσταλέντες προφῆται, οἷς τὸν μὲν ἔδηραν, ὡς Μιχαίαν, πατάξαντος ἐπὶ σιαγόνα Σεδεκίου· τὸν δὲ ἀπέκτειναν, ὡς Ζαχαρίαν, μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου· τὸν δὲ ἐλιθοβόλησαν, ὡς Ζαριοὺ υἱὸν Ἰωδαὲ τὸν ἱερέα. Τάχα δὲ ἀμπελὼν, ἢ ἡ βασι λεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ μυστήρια αὐτοῦ ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις, καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ φυσιολογίᾳ. Καρποὶ δὲ ὁ ἐν άρετος ἐν ἤθεσι βίος. Φραγμὸς ὁ λογικὸς τόπος, καὶ τὸ γράμμα, ὡς μὴ κατοπτεύοιτο τοῖς ἔξω τὰ κεκρυμ μένα μυστήρια. Ληνὸς τὸ βάθος τῆς δεχομένης τοὺς καρποὺς τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς, πᾶν ἐπὶ πόλεμον ἐπιβαλ λούσης. Πύργος καὶ διῃρημένος περὶ Θεοῦ λόγος. Ναὸς μὲν ἡ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ θείου ναοῦ. Γεωργοὶ οἱ πρῶτοι πιστευθέντες τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ· οἷς ἀποδη μεῖ εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ περιοπεῖν, δοὺς ἀφορμὴν, ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς ἐφύτευσε, φραγμόν τε ἔθηκεν, ὤρυξεν, ᾠκοδόμησε, τοῦ φέρειν καρπόν. Καιρὸς καρπῶν, ὃν οἶδεν οἰκοδεσπότης, τάχα οὐχ