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after a little, "And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment, and like a robe you will roll them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will not fail," that is, of the anointed one.

III. Concerning his birth from a Virgin.

Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his

name E[m]ma nuel;" which is interpreted, God with us; "And before he knows father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and eat the spoils of Samaria." And Solomon prophetically, "I was a clever child, and I received a good soul; or rather, being good, I came into an undefiled body." (Who then was good before birth? And who came into an undefiled body?) Isaiah, "And they will wish they had been burned with fire, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called Angel of great counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of peace, Father of the age to come." And again, "Behold the heifer has given birth, and has not given birth." This indicates the Virgin. And again, "He will eat butter and honey." For with this he was nourished when his mother came down from the census; for later she had an abundance of milk. And again, "Thus says the Lord of Sabaoth: The labor of Egypt and the merchandise of the Ethiopians; and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over 46.209 to you, and they shall be your servants, and they shall follow behind you, bound with manacles, and shall pass over to you, and they shall worship you and pray to you, because God is in you, and there is no God besides you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior." Ezekiel, "And the Lord turned me back by the way of the gate facing east, and it was closed; and the Lord said to me: Son of man, this gate shall be closed, and no one shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel will enter and go out through it, and it shall be closed." Isaiah, "From the mother's womb I called his name a sharp sword." Daniel, "Behold, a stone was cut without hands, and it struck the statue, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole world." The stone therefore, cut without hands, is he who was born without the seed of a man. Isaiah again, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten and raised up sons, but they have rejected me. An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger; but Israel did not know me, nor did the people understand me." And again, "Take a scroll of new, great paper, and write on it with a man's pen, to make a swift plunder of spoils. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son; and the Lord said to me: Call his name, Spoil quickly, Plunder swiftly."

By a new scroll, therefore, we understand the Virgin; for just as the new paper is clean, being unwritten, so also the holy Virgin is uninitiated by man. And again, "Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord." But no male opens the womb, but the union of a man with a woman. Therefore what was said must be understood concerning the Lord. But it happens that many of the firstborn are impious and sinful. How then are these holy to the Lord, and for this reason also blameless? and why not also every female? It is clear then, that he alone is holy and blameless, David. "Mother Zion will say, A man, and a man was born in her, and the Most High himself founded her." IV. Concerning the miracles which the Lord was to perform when he became man. Jeremiah, "Behold I have set you for a covenant of the race, and for a light of the nations, to establish the earth, 46.212 and to inherit the desolate heritage, saying to those in bonds, Come out; and to those in

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μετ' ὀλίγα, «Καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοί. Αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν,» τοῦ χρισθέντος δηλαδή.

Γʹ. Περὶ τῆς γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐκ Παρθένου.

Ἡσαΐας, «Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ

ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐ[μ]μα νουήλ·» ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται, Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· «Καὶ πρὶν ἐπιγνῶναι πατέρα, ἢ μητέρα, λήψεται δύνα μιν ∆αμασκοῦ, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα Σαμαρείας ἔδεται.» Καὶ Σολομὼν προφητικῶς, «Παῖς ἤμην εὐφυὴς, ψυχῆς τε ἔλαχον ἀγαθῆς· μᾶλλον δὲ ἀγαθὸς ὢν, ἦλθον εἰς σῶμα ἀμίαντον.» (Τίς οὖν πρὸ γεννή σεως ἦν ἀγαθός; καὶ τίς ἦλθεν εἰς σῶμα ἀμίαντον;) Ἡσαΐας, «Καὶ θελήσουσιν εἰ ἐγενήθησαν πυρίκαυ στοι, ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν, υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡμῖν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ, καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μεγάλης βουλῆς Ἄγγελος, Θαυμαστὸς, Σύμβουλος, Θεὸς ἰσχυρὸς, ἐξουσιαστὴς, Ἄρχον εἰρήνης, Πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος.» Καὶ πάλιν, «Ἰδοὺ ἡ δάμαλις τέτοκε, καὶ οὐ τέτοκε.» Τοῦτο δὲ δηλοῖ τὴν Παρθένον. Καὶ πάλιν, «Βούτυρον, καὶ μέλι φάγεται.» Τούτῳ γὰρ ἐτρέφετο κατιούσης τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀπογραφῆς· ὕστερον γὰρ εὐπόρησεν γάλακτος. Καὶ πάλιν, «Οὕτως λέγει Κύ ριος Σαβαώθ· Ἐκοπίασεν Αἴγυπτος, καὶ ἐμπορία Αἰθιόπων· καὶ οἱ Σαβαεὶμ ἄνδρες ὑψηλοὶ ἐπὶ σὲ δια 46.209 βήσονται, καὶ σοὶ ἔσονται δοῦλοι, καὶ ὀπίσω σου ἀκολουθήσουσι δεδεμένοι χειροπέδαις, καὶ διαβήσονται πρὸς σὲ, καὶ προσκυνήσουσί σοι καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐν σοί ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ. Σὺ γὰρ εἶ Θεὸς, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδειμεν, Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ Σωτήρ.» Ἰεζεκιὴλ, «Καὶ ἐπέτρεψέ με Κύριος κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς πύλης τῆς βλεπούσης κατὰ ἀνατολὰς, καὶ αὕτη ἦν κεκλεισμένη· καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς μέ· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἡ πύλη αὕτη κεκλεισμένη ἔσται, καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐ μὴ διέλθῃ δι' αὐτῆς, ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ εἰσελεύσεται, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται δι' αὐτῆς, καὶ ἔσται κεκλεισμένη.» Ἡσαΐας, «Ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς ἐκάλεσα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μάχαιραν ὀξεῖαν.» ∆ανιὴλ, «Ἰδοὺ ἐτμήθη λίθος ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ ἐπάταξε τὸν ἀνδριάντα, καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς ὄρος μέγα, καὶ ἐπλήρωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην.» Ὁ οὖν τμηθεὶς λίθος ἄνευ χειρὸς, ἔστιν ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἄνευ σπορᾶς ἀνδρός. Ἡσαΐας πάλιν, «Ἄκουε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, ἡ γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησεν· Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα, καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν. Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον, καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ· Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω, οὐδὲ ὁ λαός με συνῆκε.» Καὶ πάλιν, «Λάβε τόμον καινοῦ χάρτου μεγάλου, καὶ γράψον ἐν αὐτῷ γραφίδι ἀνθρώπου, τοῦ ὀξέως προνομὴν ποιῆσαι σκύλων. Καὶ προσῆλθον πρὸς τὴν προφῆτιν, καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβε, καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱόν· καὶ εἶπέ μοι Κύριος· Κάλεσον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, Ταχέως σκύλευσον, Ὀξέως προνόμευσον.»

Τόμον οὖν καινὸν νοοῦμεν τὴν Παρθένον· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ χάρτης καινός ἐστι καθαρὸς, ἄγραφος ὢν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ Παρθένος ἁγία ἀμύητος ἀνδρός. Καὶ πάλιν, «Πᾶν ἄρσεν διανοῖγον μήτραν, ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ κληθήσεται.» Οὐδὲν δὲ ἄρσεν διανοίγει μήτραν, ἀλλ' ἡ κοινωνία ἀνδρὸς πρὸς γυναῖκα. Τὸ γοῦν εἰρημένον περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου νοητέον. Συμβαίνει δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν πρωτοτόκων εἶναι ἀσεβεῖς, καὶ ἁμαρτωλούς. Πῶς οὖν οὗτοι ἅγιοι τῷ Κυρίῳ, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἄμωμοι; διὰ τί δὲ μὴ καὶ πᾶν θῆλυ; ∆ῆλον οὖν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἅγιος καὶ ἄμωμος μόνος, ∆αβίδ. «Μήτηρ Σιὼν ἐρεῖ, Ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεννήθη ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτὴν ὁ Ὕψιστος.» ∆ʹ. Περὶ θαυμάτων, ὧν ἔμελλε ποιεῖν ἐνανθρω πίσας ὁ Κύριος. Ἱερεμίας, «Ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς διαθήκην γέ νους, καὶ εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν, 46.212 καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίαν ἐρήμου, λέγων τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς, Ἐξέλθετε· καὶ τοῖς ἐν