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These are taken in the 148th 14S_048 psalm to praise God, through their very constitution. Therefore these too partake of the ineffable providence, but only in respect to living, even if without soul and without sensation, and according to the cohesive aptitude, which is a property of power; for a state (hexis) is said to be the immanent quality, according to which disposition and power a thing is said to be of a certain quality; therefore, according to this state of vegetative life, partaking only in growth and motion, essentially and cohesively, but without soul and without sensation, it is said to desire the goodness of God.

The intellectual: He calls the angelic nature intellectual, and the human nature rational; and those below these, the irrational, to which only the sensitive faculty belongs. For which reason he also said 'sensibly', that is, 'sensitively' and the others, that is, the plants and whatever is entirely soulless and motionless, he says some are according to vital motion, that is, the nutritive and augmentative, for these indeed belong to plants, but the soulless in having in themselves being at all; for he called this essential and cohesive aptitude.

§ 6. As eternal: See how clearly from caused and created things they praise the highest of all; for they call eternal the maker of the ages and in reality age itself, since he is the one who 'always is', whence also he is called 'aion' (age); but 'eternal' is not age itself, but that which partakes of age; and indeed Isaiah says: "The eternal God, who made the ends of the earth"; but God is not secondary to age, so as to partake of it, but is the maker of ages.

14S_050 As ageless: According to, "But you are the same, and your years will not fail."

As in a breeze: This is what is said in Kings, that the Lord did not come to speak to Elijah either in the earthquake or in the cloud, but the Lord calls in the voice of a gentle breeze; and this shows that he says God, who is uncontained in all things, is also in a body; for the breath is both partaken of by all, and is in all, and is contained by none, as the Lord also says in the Gospels: "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth."

§ 7. And the nameless: Nameless because he is all things and none of the things that are, but all things are from him, as he himself explains.

As beginning: Beginning, as providing being, and end, as sustaining in being.

All things in all things: All beings, because all things are from him. And hearth. He called him the hearth of all, as being the dwelling-place of all the saints,

as the Lord himself says, "abide in me"; for just as we are his temple according to, "I will dwell in them and walk among them," so also he is our house; and well did he immediately add the word 'unitedly'; for since he said that he is all things and all things are in him, lest someone, leading his mind to composition, should fall away from the truth, supposing all things to be brought together in a heap in God, or that God is all things by composition, he quickly cured the unseemly notion, by saying 14S_052 "unitedly", that is, in his own henad, or rather remaining above the henad, super-extended without parts and without mixture to beings, to be all things and in all things; but also he is unrelatedly; in all things, instead of, being held or circumscribed corporeally by nothing, but rather transcendently; for he is outside of all things, being nowhere, since all things are from him, and he himself is in all things; for from him all things consist.

All things simply: That is, uncompoundedly; for he was not compounded or corporeally united with any of the things that are, except at the time of the economy.

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ταῦτα παραλαμβάνεται ἐν τῷ ρμη' 14S_048 ψαλμῷ αἰνεῖν τόν Θεόν, διά τῆς αὐτοῦ συστάσεως. Μετέχει οὖν καί ταῦτα τῆς ἀφάτου προνοίας, ἀλλά κατά μόνον τό ζῇν, εἰ καί ἀψύχως καί ἀναισθήτως, καί κατά τήν ἑκτικήν ἐπιτηδειότητα, ἥτις ἐστίν ἰδιότης τῆς δυνάμεως· ἕξις γάρ λέγεται ἡ ἕμμονος ποιότης, καθ' ἥν διάθεσιν καί δύναμιν ποιόν τι λέγεται· κατά ταύτην οὖν τήν ἕξιν τῆς φυτικῆς ζωῆς εἰς αὔξησιν καί κίνησιν μόνον μετέχοντα οὐσιοειδῶς τε καί ἑκτικῶς, ἀψύχως δέ καί ἀναισθήτως, λέγεται ἐφίεσθαι τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Τά μέν νοερά: Νοερά μέν τήν ἀγγελικήν φύσιν, λογικά δέ τήν ἀνθρωπίνην φησί· τά δέ τούτων ὑφειμένα τήν ἄλογον, ᾕτινι μόνον τό αἰσθητικόν πρόσεστι. ∆ιό καί αἰσθητῶς εἶπε, τουτέστιν αἰσθητικῶς τά δέ ἄλλα, ἤγουν τά φυτά καί ὅσα πάντῃ ἄψυχα καί ἀκίνητα, τά μέν φησι κατά τήν ζωτικήν κίνησιν, τουτέστι τήν θρεπτικήν τε καί αὐξητικήν, ταῦτα γάρ δή ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς πρόσεισι, τά δέ ἄψυχα ἐν τῷ ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τό ὅλως εἶναι· τοῦτο γάρ εἶπεν οὐσιώδη καί ἑκτικήν ἐπιτηδειότητα.

§ 6. Ὡς αἰώνιον: Ὅρα πῶς σαφῶς ἐκ τῶν αἰτιατῶν καί κτιστῶν τόν ἁπάντων ἀνώτατον ὑμνολογοῦσιν· αἰώνιον μέν φασι τόν τῶν αἰώνων ποιητήν καί τῷ ὄντι αίῶνα, εἴ γε ὁ ἀεί ὤν αὐτός ἐστιν, ὅθεν καί αἰών λέγεται· αἰώνιον δέ ἐστιν οὐκ αὐτός ὁ αἰών, ἀλλά τό αἰῶνος μετέχον· καί γοῦν φησιν ὁ Ἠσαΐας· «ὁ Θεός ὁ αἰώνιος, ὁ κατασκευάσας τά ἄκρα τῆς γῆς»· ὁ δέ Θεός οὐ δεύτερός ἐστι τοῦ αἰῶνος, ἵνα καί μετέχῃ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' αἰώνων ποιητής.

14S_050 Ὡς ἀγήρω: Κατά τό, «Σύ δέ ὁ αὐτός εἶ, καί τά ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν».

Ὡς ἐν αὔρᾳ: Τοῦτό ἐστι τό εἰρημένον ἐν Βασιλείαις, ὅτι οὔτε ἐν τῷ συσσεισμῷ, οὔτε ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ παρεγένετο ὁ Κύριος λαλῆσαι τῷ Ἠλίᾳ, ἀλλά φωνῇ αὔρας λεπτῇ καλεῖ ὁ Κύριος· τοῦτο δέ δηλοῖ, ὅτι καί ἐν σώματί φησιν εἶναι τόν Θεόν, τόν ἐν τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀπερίληπτον· ἡ γάρ πνοή καί παρά πάντων μετέχεται, καί ἐν πᾶσίν ἐστι, καί παρ' οὐδενός ἐμπεριλαμβάνεται, ὡς καί ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις φησίν ὁ Κύριος· «Πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός, καί τούς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν ἐν Πνεύματι καί ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν».

§ 7. Καί τό ἀνώνυμον: Ἀνώνυμον διά τό πάντα εἶναι καί μηδέν τῶν ὄντων εἶναι, ἀλλά πάντα ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἶναι, ὡς αὐτός ἑαυτόν ἐξηγεῖται.

Ὡς ἀρχῆς: Ἀρχῆς μέν, ὡς τό εἶναι παρασχομένης, πέρατος δέ, ὡς ἐν τῷ εἶναι συνεχούσης.

Τά πάντα ἐν πᾶσι: Πάντα δέ τά ὄντα, διά τό ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἶναι τά πάντα. Καί ἐστία. Ἑστίαν αὐτόν πάντων ἔφη, ὡς οἴκησιν ὄντα πάντων τῶν ἁγίων,

ὡς αὐτός ὁ Κύριός φησιν, «μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί»· ὥσπερ γάρ ναός αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν κατά τό, «ἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καί ἐμπεριπατήσω», οὕτω καί αὐτός οἶκος ἡμῶν ἐστι· καλῶς δέ εὐθύς ἐπήγαγε τό 'ἡνωμένως'· ἐπειδή γάρ εἶπεν, αὐτόν εἶναι πάντα καί ἐν αὐτῷ τά πάντα, ἵνα μή τις, εἰς σύνθεσιν τόν νοῦν καταγαγών, ἐκπέσοι τῆς ἀληθείας, ὑπονοῶν ἅπαντα συμφορεῖσθαι σωρηδόν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ, ἤ κατά τήν σύνθεσιν τόν Θεόν εἶναι τά πάντα, ταχέως ἐθεράπευσε τό ἀπεμφαῖνον, εἰπών 14S_052 «ἡνωμένα», τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἑνάδι, μᾶλλον δέ ὑπέρ ἑνάδα μείναντα ὑπερηπλωμένον ἀμερῶς καί ἀμιγῶς τοῖς οὖσιν εἶναι τά πάντα καί ἐν πᾶσιν· ἀλλά καί ἀσχέτως ἐστίν· ἐν πᾶσιν, ἀντί τοῦ, ὑπ' οὐδενός κατεχόμενος ἤ περιγραφόμενος σωματικῶς, ἐξῃρημένως δέ μᾶλλον· ἔξω γάρ ἐστι τῶν ἁπάντων, οὐδαμοῦ ὤν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντων ὄντων, καί αὐτός ἐν πᾶσιν· ἐξ αὐτοῦ γάρ τά πάντα συνέστηκε.

Πάντα δέ ἁπλῶς: Τουτέστιν ἀσυνθέτως· ἐν οὐδενί γάρ τῶν ὄντων συνετέθη ἤ σωματικῶς ἡνώθη, εἰ μή ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς οἰκονομίας.