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Why did his brothers worship him, and for what achievement or when did they praise him? And how could one recount the rest of the prophecy, applying it to him? But one could not even reasonably refer these things to the tribe, because not only from the tribe of Judah were rulers of the people established; for the judges after Moses, coming from various tribes, continued leading for somewhere near five hundred years, after whom Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, was the first of all to reign, and thus after these men, those from the tribe of Judah reigned for not even a full five hundred years; then after the captivity in Babylon, those from the tribe of Levi presided over affairs for more than five hundred years until the coming of Christ. Why then does the prophecy say the aforementioned things about the tribe of Judah rather, and not also about the others? Therefore the things signified would not even apply to the tribe; yet we know the true Judah who appeared in the last 23 of the days to be our Savior and Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, and steward of the conceptions concerning him, also named Judah; just as indeed in one way Israel, and in another Jacob, and David, and at other times in other ways; and him both the holy apostles, and all who were deemed worthy of the spirit of adoption, both praised and worshiped; and his hands, which we symbolically consider to be his deeds, were on the back of his enemies, that is, of the spiritual adversaries fleeing him; And he is also spoken of as a lion's whelp, whether because of his birth according to the flesh from a royal tribe, and from the root of David, having come in the likeness of sinful flesh; or because of his divinity, of which emptying himself he became man, on account of which the phrase, "from a shoot, my son, you have gone up," was also opportunely uttered by Jacob. When therefore he was signifying the Savior's birth from his shoot and from his root, he named him a lion's whelp, saying, "Judah is a lion's whelp; from a shoot, my son, you have gone up"; but when he prophesies the ascent and his sleep according to the passion, he says he is both as a lion and as a whelp in the phrase, "having reclined, he slept as a lion and as a whelp"; for then he was exalted not only as being from a royal family, but also as being king himself; with the nations confessing him, even if those of the circumcision were not willing, that he was indeed the king of Israel; and it might be said in another way, since for him who was taking up war against the opposing powers and was about to destroy 24 him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, it was necessary for the divinity of the Word to be present with him who was born according to the flesh from the shoot of Jacob; fittingly, the divinity has been compared to a lion, because of having subdued and conquered all the wild and untamable powers; and to a lion's whelp, the little flesh which he had assumed, being from the royal tribe of Judah; But if indeed our adversary the devil is as a roaring lion, see whether every sinner might be called a whelp of this one, since everyone who commits sin has been born of the devil. Since therefore the Savior also has come in the likeness of sinful flesh, and has become a curse for us; and, "him who knew no sin, he made to be sin for us"; see whether for these reasons, according to some deeper reasoning, the prophecy ordains that he became at the time of the passion not a lion nor a whelp, but *as* a lion and *as* a whelp; since he himself also compares his own passion to that of the serpent, saying, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." After these things, the mystery of his resurrection is hinted at in silence through the phrase, "Who will rouse him?" And it has become clear to us from the conclusion who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead; for it is clear that it was God his Father. Next is said the passage starting, "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins;" which, if we were to read it from another starting point, might be said to be about all those of the Jewish race who led the people, and it would be according to the very

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διὰ τί προσεκύνησαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ τίνι δὲ κατορθώματι ἢ καὶ πότε ἤνεσαν αὐτόν; Πῶς δ' ἄν τις καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς προφητείας ἐπ' ἐκεῖνον ἁρμόζων διηγήσεται; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τὴν φυλὴν εὐλογίστως τίς αὐτὰ ἀναφέροι, ὅτι μὴ μόνον ἐκ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς ἄρχοντες κατέστησαν τοῦ λαοῦ· οἵ τε γὰρ μετὰ Μωσέα κριταὶ ἐκ διαφόρων γενόμενοι φυλῶν διήρκεσαν ἡγούμενοι ἐπὶ ἔτεσιν ἐγγὺς ποῦ πεντακοσίοις, μεθ' οὓς ἐκ φυλῆς Βενιαμὶν πρῶτος ἁπάντων βασιλεύει Σαοὺλ, καὶ οὕτως μετὰ τούτους οἱ ἐκ φυλῆς Ἰούδα βασιλεύουσιν οὐδ' ὅλοις ἔτεσι πεντακοσίοις· εἶτα μετὰ τὴν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμαλωσίαν οἱ ἐκ φυλῆς Λευῒ προέστησαν τῶν πραγμάτων ὑπὲρ τὰ πεντακόσια ἔτη μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας. Τί οὖν μᾶλλον περὶ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς τὰ προειρημένα φησὶν ἡ προφητεία, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν; Οὐκ ἄρα οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τὴν φυλὴν ἁρμόζοι τὰ δηλούμενα· τὸν μέντοι γε ἐπ' 23 ἐσχάτῳ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναφανέντα Ἰούδαν ἀληθινὸν ἴσμεν τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ταμίαν τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπινοιῶν καὶ Ἰούδαν ὀνομασθέντα· ὥσπερ δὴ καθ' ἑτέραν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ κατ' ἄλλην Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ∆αυὶδ, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλως· τοῦτον δὲ καὶ οἱ ἱεροὶ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ πάντες ὅσοι τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἠξιώθησαν, ἤνεσάν τε καὶ προσεκύνησαν· αἱ χεῖρές τε αὐτοῦ, ἃς συμβολικῶς ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τὰς πράξεις, κατὰ νώτου τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τῶν νοητῶν πολεμίων φευγόντων αὐτὸν γεγόνασιν· οὗτος δὲ καὶ ὡς σκύμνος λέοντος εἴρηται, εἴτε διὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γένεσιν ἐκ βασιλικῆς φυλῆς, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ∆αυὶδ ῥίζης, καὶ ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας γεγενημένην· εἴτε διὰ τὴν θεότητα, ἧς ἑαυτὸν κενώσας ἐνηνθρώπισεν, δι' ἣν εὐκαίρως καὶ τὸ, ἐκ βλαστοῦ υἱέ μου ἀνέβης, ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἀναπεφώνηται. Ὅτε μὲν οὖν τὴν ἐκ βλαστοῦ καὶ ἐκ ῥίζης αὐτοῦ γένεσιν ἐδήλου τοῦ Σωτῆρος, σκύμνον λέοντος αὐτὸν ὠνόμασεν, εἰπὼν, σκύμνος λέοντος Ἰούδα· ἐκ βλαστοῦ υἱέ μου ἀνέβης· ὅτε δὲ τὴν ἀνάβλησιν καὶ τὴν κατὰ τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ κοίμησιν προφητεύει, ἀμφότερα αὐτὸν φησὶ καὶ ὡς λέοντα καὶ ὡς σκύμνον ἐν τῷ, ἀναπεσὼν ἐκοιμήθη ὡς λέων καὶ ὡς σκύμνος· τότε γὰρ οὐ μόνον ὡς ἐκ βασιλικοῦ τυγχάνων γένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς αὐτὸς βασιλεὺς ὢν ἀνύψωτο· ὁμολογούντων αὐτὸν τῶν ἐθνῶν, εἰ καὶ μὴ οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς ἤθελον, ὡς ἄρα αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ἄλλως δὲ ῥηθείη ἂν, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις αἰρομένῳ πόλεμον καὶ καταλύειν μέλ 24 λοντι τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστιν τὸν διάβολον, ἔδει παρεῖναι τῷ ἐκ βλαστοῦ Ἰακὼβ κατὰ σάρκα γεγενημένῳ τὴν θεότητα τοῦ Λόγου· εἰκότως λέοντι μὲν ἡ θεότης παραβέβληται διὰ τὸ κεχειρῶσθαι καὶ νενικηκέναι πάσας τὰς ἀγρίας καὶ ἀτιθάσους δυνάμεις· σκύμνῳ δὲ λέοντος, ὃ ἀνειλήφει σαρκίον ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα βασιλικῆς τυγχάνων φυλῆς· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ ὁ ἀντίδικος ἡμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων ἐστὶν ὡρυόμενος, ὅρα μὴ τούτου σκύμνος πᾶς ἂν λεχθείη ἁμαρτωλὸς, ἐπεὶ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου γεγέννηται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας ἐλήλυθε, καὶ γέγονεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα· καὶ, μὴ γνόντα αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν· ὅρα μὴ τούτων ἕνεκεν κατά τινα βαθύτερον λόγον οὔτε λέοντα οὔτε σκύμνον, ἀλλ' ὡς λέοντα καὶ σκύμνον γεγονέναι αὐτὸν παρὰ τὸν τοῦ πάθους καιρὸν ἡ προφητεία θεσπίζει· ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πάθος τῷ τοῦ ὄφεως παραβάλλει λέγων, ὥσπερ Μωσῆς ὕψωσε τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Ἐπὶ τούτοις σεσιωπημένως τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ μυστήριον ὑπαινίττεται διὰ τοῦ, τίς ἐγερεῖ αὐτόν; Σαφὲς δ' ἡμῖν ἐκ τοῦ συμπεράσματος γέγονε τίς ἤγειρεν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐκ νεκρῶν· δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ αὐτοῦ. Ἑξῆς δὲ λέγεται τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ, οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ· ἅπερ εἰ μὲν ἐξ ἑτέρας ἀναγινώσκοιμεν ἀρχῆς, λέγοιτο ἂν ὡς περὶ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων γένους καθηγησαμένων τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ εἴη ἂν κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν