5

I am like those who in the midst of their days lay aside an incomplete and untimely life. And it seems to me that it was because of such voices of the prophets that our Savior said: Many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Your years are in a generation of generations. He turned the word again to the Lord. For His years, which He completed in the flesh, are in a generation of generations, as having a perfected and whole life; whence also Paul, wishing to present those in perfection, said: That we may all attain to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In the beginning you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain.

4. The phrase, In the beginning, is able to refute the opinion of those who say that the earth is the element of all things, as if all things were generated from it, with nothing existing before it. For it appears not as a beginning, but that its foundations exist according to certain preconceived beginnings. It was also said to Job by the Lord himself, as one who founded the earth: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? But as the Lord, through whom all things were made, founded the earth, it is also said concerning the Father: God in wisdom founded the earth. And what was said about God, Hanging the earth on nothing, shows that it has its place in the very center of the universe. And all will grow old like a garment. And like a robe you will roll them up, and they will be changed. For all things seen will grow old, and will imitate the oldness of a garment; but you will change and renew them, and you will make them incorruptible instead of corruptible. This the divine apostle also said: That creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. But you are the same, and your years will not fail. You therefore reshape creation as you wish, O Master; but you have an unchangeable nature, and one superior to alteration. These things, however, the divine Apostle attributed to the Son's own property in the Epistle to the Hebrews. But nevertheless in the Son we behold the Father. For whatever he does, these things the Son does likewise, and the sameness of nature is known in each. For we know one operation of the Trinity. The children of your servants shall dwell, and their seed shall be established forever. But instead of, Shall be established, Symmachus has put, Shall remain. And it signifies that those who have been freed from slavery will inhabit Jerusalem; and their seed will remain forever. But one must not understand sons of the servants of God entirely according to the flesh, but according to instruction and imitation of a true way of life; for in this way some were also called sons of the prophets, having perhaps been formed by them according to the prophetic 55.641 habit; and the seed of these were those who were helped by them. And concerning this seed the divine Apostle said: Until the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and, To Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. And he does not say, To seeds, as of many, 55.642 but as of one, And to your seed, who is Christ. This seed will remain forever. For, being united with the Word of God, it has its being imperishable, and gives life to those who believe, according to the voice of the Lord himself; for he says: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever, in Christ himself our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

PSALM 102.

5

ἔοικα τοῖς ἐν ἡμίσει ἡμερῶν τὴν ζωὴν ἀτελῆ καὶ ἄωρον ἀποτιθεμένοις. Καί μοι δοκεῖ διὰ τὰς τοιαύτας τῶν προφητῶν φωνὰς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εἰρηκέναι· Πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ ὑμεῖς βλέπετε, καὶ οὐκ εἶδον, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ ὑμεῖς ἀκούετε, καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν. Ἐν γενεᾷ γενεῶν τὰ ἔτη σου. Τὸν λόγον πάλιν πρὸς τὸν Κύριον ἔτρεψεν. Αὐτοῦ γὰρ τὰ ἔτη, ἃ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποίη κεν, ἐν γενεᾷ γενεῶν, ὡς ἀπηρτισμένην καὶ ὁλόκληρον τὴν πολιτείαν ἔχοντα· ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τοὺς ἐν τελειό τητι παραστῆσαι βουλόμενος, ἔλεγεν· Ἵνα καταντήσω μεν οἱ πάντες εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Κατ' ἀρχὰς σὺ Κύ ριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοί. Αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ δια μένεις.

δʹ. ∆ύναται τὸ, Κατ' ἀρχὰς, κείμενον ἀναιρεῖν δόξαν τῶν λεγόντων, πάντων τὴν γῆν στοιχεῖον εἶναι, ὡς πάντα ἐξ αὐτῆς γεγενῆσθαι, οὐδενὸς προτέρου αὐτῆς ὄντος. Φαί νεται γὰρ οὐκ ἀρχὴ, ἀλλὰ κατά τινας προεπινοουμένας ἀρχὰς θεμελίους αὐτῆς ὑπάρχειν. Εἴρηται καὶ τῷ Ἰὼβ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου, ὡς θεμελιώσαντος τὴν γῆν· Ποῦ ἦς ἐν τῷ θεμελιοῦν με τὴν γῆν; Θεμελιοῦντος δὲ τοῦ Κυρίου, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα γεγένηται, τὴν γῆν, καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς λέγεται· Ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ ἐθεμελίωσε τὴν γῆν. Καὶ τὸ εἰρημένον δὲ περὶ Θεοῦ, Κρεμάζων τὴν γῆν ἐπ' οὐδενὸς, ἐμφαίνει τὴν ἐν τῷ μεσωτάτῳ τοῦ παντὸς χώραν αὐτὴν ἐσχηκέναι. Καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται. Καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλί ξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. Ἅπαντα μὲν γὰρ τὰ ὁρώμενα καταγηράσει, καὶ ἱματίου μιμήσεται παλαιό τητα· σὺ δὲ αὐτὰ ἀλλάξεις καὶ νεουργήσεις, καὶ ἄφθαρτα ποιήσεις ἀντὶ φθαρτῶν. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος ἔφη· Ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ. Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσι. Τὴν μὲν οὖν κτίσιν με ταῤῥυθμίζεις ὡς θέλεις, ὦ ∆έσποτα· σὺ δὲ ἄτρεπτον ἔχεις τὴν φύσιν καὶ ἀλλοιώσεως κρείττονα. Ταῦτα μέν τοι ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος τῇ τοῦ Υἱοῦ περιτέθεικεν ἰδιότητι ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῇ. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐν τῷ Υἱῷθεωροῦμεν τὸν Πατέρα. Ἃ γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ποιῇ, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ὡσαύτως ποιεῖ, καὶ τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς φύσεως ἐν ἑκατέρῳ γνωρίζεται. Μίαν γὰρ ἴσμεν τῆς Τριάδος ἐνέρ γειαν. Οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν δούλων σου κατασκηνώσουσι, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατευθυνθήσεται. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Κατευθυνθήσεται, ὁ Σύμμαχος, ∆ιαμε νεῖ, τέθεικε. Σημαίνει δὲ ὡς οἱ μὲν τῆς δουλείας ἀπ αλλαγέντες, τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκήσουσι· τὸ δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν σπέρμα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα διαμενεῖ. Υἱοὺς δὲ δούλων τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ πάντως κατὰ σάρκα δεῖ λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ παί δευσιν καὶ μίμησιν ἀληθινῆς πολιτείας· ταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ υἱοὶ τῶν προφητῶν τινες ἐκαλοῦντο, τὸ κατὰ προφητι 55.641 κὴν ἕξιν ἴσως γεγενῆσθαι παρ' αὐτῶν· σπέρμα δὲ αὐ τῶν τούτων οἱ πρὸς αὐτῶν ὠφελούμενοι ἐτύγχανον. Περὶ δὲ τούτου τοῦ σπέρματος ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἔφη· Μέχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα, ᾧ ἐπήγγελται· καὶ, Τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐῤῥέθησαν αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ. Οὐ λέγει δὲ, Τοῖς σπέρμασιν, ὡς ἐπὶ πολ 55.642 λῶν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐφ' ἑνὸς, Καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου, ὅς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός. Τοῦτο τὸ σπέρμα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα διαμενεῖ. Ἑνωθὲν γὰρ τῷ Θεοῦ Λόγῳ ἀνώλεθρον ἔχει τὸ εἶναι, καὶ δωρεῖται ζωὴν τοῖς πιστεύουσι, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν· λέγει γάρ· Ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα, ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστῷ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΨΑΛΜ. ΡΒʹ.