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indicates a wickedness that puts wicked men to shame; whose king, Og, is killed with Sihon; so that the land which they wrongly held, spending their time on the nature of things sophistically and with a wicked disposition, thinking to rule it, might be given to Israel; but the interpreted land, taken away from them, is given as a possession to Israel to inherit it, being a true servant of the cause of all things. For the Lord remembered us in our lowliness. And in the preceding passages Israel was shown in various ways not to be the race of the Jews, but the one of such a manner of piety; For not all who are of Israel are Israel; nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, according to the Apostle, but the Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision of the heart, not in the letter but in the spirit; whose praise is not from men, but from God; and therefore He redeemed us from the Gentiles (for we are the circumcision and the true Israel) from our enemies more than them; for those who came out of Egypt escaped the physical tyrants; but carrying in their own souls the impious ways, they fell in the desert, having committed idolatry. But He truly redeemed us from the enemies of our soul, and remembered us in our lowliness more than them; for they served the Egyptians with their bodies, but we with our souls were the playthings of demons, and we were humbled under wicked spirits. So great is the mercy of God, that He not only cares for the pious and is concerned for those who draw near to Him, but also provides for all upon the earth without exception, and not only for the rational but also for the irrational, so as to supply food to all living things on earth, and to bestow on each kind what is suitable and fitting for life, and from there again to extend to heaven. Therefore the word, after saying, *He who gives food to all flesh,* sends us up to heaven, saying again: *Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His mercy endures forever.*

PSALM 136.

The present psalm is without a title among 24.37 the Hebrews, and it is not written whose

it is, nor of what kind it happens to be; but it is a plain prophecy spoken from the person of those who were in Babylon; and note this, that in some of the copies, according to the Seventy, it is inscribed "of Haggai and Zechariah." Blessed is he who shall render to you your recompense! The blessing will fall upon those who give back in kind to Babylon, and upon the one who dashes their infants against the rock and kills them; and for indeed, the first blessed thing was to have never seen Babylon, nor to have been in the confusion of its evils; but if once someone should fall away from better things and be in it, he would be blessed if he should do what he has suffered, and take the Babylonians captive in turn, and transfer the very souls of the Babylonians to the fear of God. And if he should not permit their infants to grow, but should dash them against the rock, he would be more blessed than many. You would not be wrong to say that the infants of Babylon are the seeds of wickedness and the beginnings of confusing sins; which the one blessed in these things will be zealous to destroy by the saving word (for the rock was Christ), so that they may not grow, nor proceed to deeds. PSALM 137. I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart. Just as the perfect man loves God with his whole soul and power and strength, not dividing the powers of his own love

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κακοὺς καταισχύνουσαν κακίαν δηλοῖ· ἧς ὁ βασιλεὺς Ὢν, σὺν τῷ Σηὼν ἀποκτίννυται· ὅπως τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἡ γῆ, ἣν κακῶς ἐκράτουν, σοφιστικῶς καὶ μετὰ μοχθηρᾶς ἕξεως περὶ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων διατρίβοντες φύσιν, δοκοῦντες βασιλεύειν αὐτῆς· ἀλλ' ἀφαιρεθεῖσα αὐτῶν ἡ ἑρμηνευομένη γῆ, εἰς κατάσχεσιν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ δίδοται ἐπὶ τῷ κληρονομεῖν αὐτὴν, δούλῳ γνησίῳ τοῦ πάντων αἰτίου τυγχάνοντι. Ὅτι ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡμῶν ἐμνήσθη ἡμῶν ὁ Κύριος. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω διαφόρως ἐπεδείκνυτο Ἰσραὴλ, οὐ τὸ γένος τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὑπάρχων, ἀλλ' ὁ τοιόσδε τῆς θεοσεβείας τρόποις· Οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ· οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομὴ, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας οὐ γράμματι ἀλλὰ πνεύματι· οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ἡμᾶς οὖν τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν (ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομὴ καὶ ἀληθινὸς Ἰσραὴλ), ἐλυτρώσατο ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκείνους· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου προελθόντες, τοὺς σωματικοὺς ἐξέφυγον τυράννους· ἐπαγόμενοι δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ψυχαῖς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τρόπους, πεπτώκασιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ εἰδωλολατρήσαντες. Ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀληθῶς ἐλυτρώσατο ἐκ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν ἐχθρῶν, καὶ ἐμνήσθη ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡμῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκείνων· οἱ μὲν γὰρ σώμασιν ἐδούλευον τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, ἡμεῖς δὲ ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐταῖς δαιμόνων ἦμεν παίγνια, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῖς πονηροῖς πνεύμασιν ἦμεν τεταπεινωμένοι. Τοσοῦτον δέ ἐστι τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς μὴ μόνον κήδεσθαι τῶν θεοσεβῶν, καὶ τῶν αὐτῷ πλησιαζόντων φροντίζειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων ἅπαξ ἁπλῶς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς τὴν πρόνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι, καὶ οὐ λογικῶν μόνων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀλόγων, ὡς ἐπιχορηγεῖν τροφὰς πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ζώοις, ἑκάστῳ τε γένει τὰ πρόσφορα, καὶ τὰ κατάλληλα πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν δωρεῖσθαι, ἐντεῦθέν τε πάλιν εἰς οὐρανὸν διήκειν. ∆ιόπερ ὁ λόγος μετὰ τὸ φάναι, Ὁ διδοὺς τροφὴν πάσῃ σαρκὶ, ἀναπέμπει ἡμᾶς εἰς οὐρανὸν, αὖθις λέγων· Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.

ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΡΛςʹ.

Ὁ παρὼν ψαλμὸς, ἀνεπίγραφος ὑπάρχει παρ' 24.37 Ἑβραίοις, καὶ οὔτε τίνος

ἐστὶ προγέγραπται, οὔτε ποίου τυγχάνει εἴδους· ἀλλ' ἔστι ψιλὴ προφητεία ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι γενομένων λεγομένη· καὶ τοῦτο δὲ σημειώσει ὡς ἔν τισιν τῶν ἀντιγράφων, κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα, ἐπιγέγραπται Ἀγγαίου καὶ Ζαχαρίου. Μακάριος ὃς ἀνταποδώσει σοι τὸ ἀνταπόδομά σου! Ὁ μακαρισμὸς εἰς ἐκείνους περιστήσεται τοὺς ἀποδιδόντας τὰ ἀμοιβαῖα τῇ Βαβυλῶνι, καὶ τὸν τὰ νήπια αὐτῶν προσαράσσοντα τῇ πέτρᾳ καὶ ἀναιροῦντα αὐτά· καὶ γὰρ τῷ ὄντι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον μακάριον ἦν τὸ μὴ θεάσασθαί ποτε τὴν Βαβυλῶνα, μηδὲ ἐν τῇ συγχύσει γενέσθαι τῶν ταύτης κακῶν· εἰ δὲ ἅπαξ τις γένοιτο ἐν αὐτῇ ἀποπεσὼν τῶν κρειττόνων, μακάριος ἂν εἴη εἰ ἃ πέπονθεν ποιήσειεν, καὶ ἀνταιχμαλωτήσειεν τοὺς Βαβυλωνίους, καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς τῶν Βαβυλωνίων ψυχὰς μεταγάγοι ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ νήπια αὐτῶν μὴ συγχωρήσειεν αὐξῆσαι, ἀλλὰ συντρίψειεν πρὸς τῇ πέτρᾳ, πολλῶν ἂν γένοιτο μακαριώτερος. Βαβυλῶνος δὲ νήπια τὰ σπέρματα τῆς κακίας, καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν συγχυτικῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοις εἰπών· ἃ δὴ τῷ λόγῳ τῷ σωτηρίῳ (ἡ πέτρα γὰρ ἦν ὁ Χριστὸς) ἀναιρεῖν πρὸς τὸ μὴ αὔξειν, μηδὲ εἰς ἔργα προέρχεσθαι σπουδάσει ὁ ἐν τούτοις μακαριζόμενος. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΡΛΖʹ. Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου. Ὥσπερ ὁ τέλειος ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἰσχύος ἀγαπᾷ τὸν Θεὸν, οὐ διασπῶν τὰς δυνάμεις τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπης