7

For when this happens, those who wish to act insolently no longer have a place, as the jealous man drives away from his wife those who approach her to her harm; again caring genuinely and cohabiting with love, as also before when she had not yet been abandoned. 1.63 That this idea is sound can also be learned from the prophet Ezekiel; for when God was angered with the Hebrew multitude, he said: “I will no longer spare you, nor will I be jealous for you.” He announced these things beforehand, stirring them up, so that she would not fall under the threats, by keeping the rights of their cohabitation undefiled. 1.64 He calls the object of his jealousy Zion and Jerusalem so that she might no longer be worn down by those who attack her for evil, because of her inherent virtues. For Zion is interpreted as a watchtower, a commandment fulfilled, and Jerusalem as a vision of peace; Zion is called, in a spiritual sense, she who observes not the temporary but the eternal things by doing the given commandments. 1.65 And following such a state is the unconfused and untroubled nature of things accomplished. And the peace is seen about which Jesus says: “My peace I leave with you.” And this has been given with divine “grace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” as Paul teaches. And both of these, I mean peace and grace, are the Savior. For it is said of him: “He is our peace.” And again, he who succeeds from and through her says: “Not I” have accomplished these certain mighty deeds, “but the grace that is with me.” This grace and peace God the Father provides, and Jesus gives them substance, having given himself to be shared by those who have known him to be grace and peace. 1.66 May we also, by a good choice, become such, so that we may not be abandoned, like a wife who has rejected her partner, being jealous objects of desire to him. 1.67Zach. I, 16: For this reason, thus says the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem with compassion and my house shall be rebuilt in it, says the Lord almighty, and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem again. 1.68 Since nothing happens by chance by the one who provides for all things, for this reason causal connectives are often placed before events, with God saying to those subject to his administration: because you have said or done these things, these things will be brought upon you. So, indeed, even in the saying before us, the phrasing is conveyed thus: “For this reason, thus says the Lord almighty.” 1.69 What is this but “my being jealous for Zion 1.69 and for Jerusalem with a great jealousy”? Since, “when I was a little angry, they joined in for evil,” the enemies of those for whom I am jealous, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion,” pitying her as a protector and genuine helper, for he is this very “father of compassion.” 1.70 And what the manner of Jerusalem being pitied is, is immediately announced; “For my house shall be rebuilt in it” and in its midst, so that dwelling and walking among its citizens, I may completely pity it, no longer allowing it to be desolate or plundered, proving it to be an object of jealousy and worthy of remembrance, a measuring line being again stretched over it as also before when it had prosperity and fruitfulness. For while a desolate and neglected land is not measured, the land henceforth pitied by God is measured as a fruitful land. And the city is measured, being divided into lanes and broad places, and sacred precincts and gymnasia. 1.71 And what the measure imposed upon it is will be shown in what follows, with an angel appearing holding a measuring cord. 1.72 But the house being built in the midst of Jerusalem which is pitied is the Church of the living God, in which it is fitting for the minister of God to conduct himself, consecrated according to law. This the Apostle who speaks in Christ addresses to Timothy, writing thus: “If I am delayed, so that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 1.73 According to the spiritual meaning

7

Τούτου γὰρ γενομένου, οὐκέτι χώραν ἔχουσιν οἱ περιυβρίζειν βουλόμενοι, τοῦ ζηλοῦντος ἀνδρὸς φυγαδεύοντος ἀπὸ τῆς γαμετῆς τοὺς ἐπὶ βλάβῃ αὐτῆς ἐπιβαίνοντας· πάλιν φροντίζων γνησίως καὶ μετ' ἔρωτος συνοικῶν, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ὅπου οὔπω ἐγκαταλέλειπτο. 1.63 Ὅτι δ' ἔρρωται ἡ νόησις αὕτη καὶ ἐκ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἔστιν μαθεῖν· ὀργισθεὶς γοῦν ὁ Θεὸς τῇ ἑβραϊκῇ πληθύϊ· «Οὐ φείσομαι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἔτι, εἶπεν, οὐδὲ ζηλώσω ἐπὶ σοί.» Προανεφώνει δὲ ταῦτα διεγείρων, ἵνα μὴ ὑποπέσῃ ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς, φυλάττουσα ἄχραντα τὰ τῆς συνοικήσεως δίκαια. 1.64 Σιὼν καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καλεῖ τὴν ζηλουμένην ὅπως μηκέτι καταπονῆται ὑπὸ τῶν συνεπιτιθεμένων αὐτῇ εἰς κακά, διὰ προσούσας ἀρετάς. Σιὼν μὲν γὰρ ἑρμηνεύεται σκοπευτήριον, ἐντολὴ πεποιημένη, Ἰερουσαλὴμ δὲ ὅρασις εἰρήνης· Σιὼν κατ' ἀναγωγὴν καλεῖται ἡ μὴ τὰ πρόσκαιρα ἀλλὰ τὰ αἰώνια σκοποῦσα τῷ ποιεῖν τὰς δοθείσας ἐντολάς. 1.65 Ἕπεται δὲ τῇ τοιαύτῃ καταστάσει τὸ ἀσύγχυτον καὶ ἀτάραχον τῶν κατορθουμένων. Ὁρᾶται δὲ ἡ εἰρήνη ἡ περὶ ἧς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· «Εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν ἀφίημι ὑμῖν.» ∆έδοται δὲ αὕτη μετὰ θείας «χάριτος ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ», ὡς παιδεύει Παῦλος. Ἀμφότερα δὲταῦτα, ἡ εἰρήνη καὶ ἡ χάρις φημί, ὁ Σωτήρ ἐστιν. Εἴρηται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν.» Καὶ πάλιν ὁ ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ δι' αὐτῆς κατορθῶν λέγει· «Οὐκ ἐγὼ» τάδε τινὰ τὰ ἀνδραγαθήματα κατώρθωσα, «ἀλλ' ἡ χάρις σὺν ἐμοί». Ταύτην τὴν χάριν καὶ εἰρήνην Θεοῦ πατρὸς παρέχοντος, καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὑφίστησιν αὐτάς, ἐπιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν μετέχεσθαι τοῖς ἐγνωκόσιν αὐτὸν ὄντα χάριν καὶ εἰρήνην. 1.66 Γενοίμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς προαιρέσει ἀγαθῇ τοιοῦτοι, ἵνα μὴ ἐγκαταλείπωμεν, οἷα ἀθετήσασα γυνὴ τὸν συνόντα, ζηλωτοὶ ποθητοὶ αὐτῷ τυγχάνοντες. 1.67Zach. I, 16: ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἐπιστρέψω ἐπὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐν οἰκτιρμῷ καὶ ὁ οἶκός μου ἀνοικοδομηθήσεται ἐν αὐτῇ, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ μέτρον ἐκταθήσεται ἐπὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔτι. 1.68 Ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν ὡς ἔτυχεν γίνεται ὑπὸ τοῦ προνοουμένου τῶν ὅλων, διὰ τοῦτο προτάττονται πολλάκις τῶν γινομένων αἰτιολογικοὶ σύνδεσμοι, τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς τοὺς ὑποκειμένους τῇ διοικήσει· ἀνθ' ὧν τάδε εἴπατε ἢ πεποιήκατε, τάδε ἐπαχθήσεται ὑμῖν. Αὐτίκα γοῦν καὶ ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ ῥητῷ φέρεται ἡ οὕτως ἔχουσα λέξις· «∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ.» 1.69 Τί δ' ἐστὶ τοῦτο ἢ τὸ «ζηλῶσαί με τὴν Σιὼν 1.69 καὶ τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ζῆλον μέγαν»; Ἐπείπερ, «ὀργισθέντος ἐμοῦ μικρά, συνεπέθεντο εἰς κακὰ» οἱ ἐχθροὶ τῶν ζηλωθέντων, «ἐπιστρέψω ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐν οἰκτιρμῷ», οἰκτείρων αὐτὴν οἷα προστάτης καὶ γνήσιος ἐπίκουρος, «πατὴρ» γὰρ αὐτὸ τοῦτο «τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν» ὑπάρχων. 1.70 Τίς δ' ὁ τρόπος τοῦ οἰκτείρεσθαι τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ παραχρῆμα ἀπαγγέλλεται· «Ἀνοικοδομηθήσεται γὰρ ὁ οἶκός μου ἐν αὐτῇ» καὶ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, ἵν' ἐνοικῶν καὶ ἐμπεριπατῶν ἐν τοῖς πολίταις αὐτῆς, τελείως οἰκτείρω αὐτήν, οὐκέτι ἐρημοῦσθαι ἢ διαρπάζεσθαι αὐτὴν ἐπιτρέπων, ζηλωτὴν καὶ ἀξιομνημόνευτον αὐτὴν ἀποδεικνύς, μέτρου πάλιν ἐκτεινομένου ἐπ' αὐτὴν ὡς καὶ πρότερον ὅτε εὐθηνίαν καὶ καρποφορίαν εἶχεν. Τῆς γὰρ ἐρήμου καὶ ἠμελημένης χώρας οὐ γεωμετρουμένης, ἡ οἰκτειρομένη λοιπὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ γῆ μετρεῖται οἷα χώρα καρποφόρος. Μετρεῖται δὲ ἡ πόλις διαστελλομένη εἰς λαύρας καὶ πλατείας, τεμένη τε καὶ γυμνάσια. 1.71 Τί δὲ τὸ ἐπιβαλλόμενον ἐπ' αὐτῆς μέτρον ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δηλωθήσεται, ἀγγέλου ἐπιφαινομένου κατέχοντος σχοινίον γεωμετρικόν. 1.72 Ὁ οἶκος δ' ὁ οἰκοδομούμενος ἐν μέσῳ τῆς οἰκτειρομένης Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἡ τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ ἀναστρέφειν προσήκει τὸν Θεοῦ θεραπευτὴν κατὰ νόμον ἱερώμενον. Τοῦτο προσφωνεῖ Τιμοθέῳ ὁ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλῶν Ἀπόστολος, γράφων οὕτως· «Ἐὰν βραδύνω ἵν' εἴδῃς πῶς δεῖ ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος, στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας.» 1.73 Κατὰ νόησιν