Selecta in Ezechielem

 of Jesus the Savior God having gone forth. If then they might hear, or be terrified. Similar to this doubtful expression is the one in Jeremiah: Perha

 of Israel. But neither are they slow of speech for their tongue, that is, their speech, does not have weight and a certain elegance but they are lig

 He sat in their midst. But when he is about to see the glory of the Lord, he rises up and goes out into the plain, with only the breadth of the plain

 the iniquities of the house of Israel. And who took up the iniquities of the sons of Israel, being two in number, both that against God and that again

 But it is not proper for God to effect these things. For thus also the teacher of the Hebrews explained the passage: I will honor those who honor me,

 those who have emulated the mere practical are said to be glens but those who are humbler in soul than all are called ravines. And your precincts sha

 someone might say, the temple-keepers under 13.789 the priests and the house of Israel those from the 12 tribes and those who fear the Lord are fore

 to him, so that he became worthy even of being laid up in the Holy of Holies in the tent of testimony. That there is a vision for all the multitude. F

 his observance. And when they are not capable of giving counsel, nor do they preside to consider what is necessary for the common good, it must be sai

 written for the evil ones, and to have transferred the sacred weekly cycle from the holy things to the idols, so that they might receive a kind of sta

 Theodotion have placed alongside, preserving, as I think, the Hebrew word for I do not think that among the Greeks the word 'kasto' means to have a w

 the houses are built. The meaning of the present text is this: These men, he says, say, seeing the city newly built after the previous captivity, that

 he answers them through the prophet, as they are in need of repentance, saying: Repent and turn away, and so forth. Land, which if it sins. It is the

 they will enter, it is said. These bring out sons and daughters. This must be read as a question: If Noah and Daniel and Job will not suffice for thos

 Incense. Incense and oil is the prayer sent up to God from the mind with knowledge, in which God delights. And you spread your legs to everyone passin

 is of the vine, so also we, if we follow as the natural impulses draw us in our earliest years, are eating unripe grapes. Of the same. The unripe grap

 by his most wicked doctrines laying waste the land and those who dwell in it. These lions, therefore, are a symbol of the kings of Jerusalem in a tang

 to those before us I mean those outside the flesh. For besides having its own historical account, such as that which occurred among us men, it also h

 The Egyptians must be punished from the first to the last. All who inhabit Egypt, or rather, who are, will be punished in it.

Theodotion have placed alongside, preserving, as I think, the Hebrew word; for I do not think that among the Greeks the word 'kasto' means to have a writer's tablet upon his loins. But one of the Hebrews said that what is called a pen-case, that is 'kasto'. And give a sign. The Seventy say that the one clothed in the linen robe was commanded by the glory of the Lord to give a sign upon the foreheads of those who were groaning and in pain; but Aquila and Theodotion say: The mark of the Tau upon the foreheads of those who groan and are in pain. And when we inquired of the Hebrews if they had any ancestral teaching to say about the Tau, we heard these things: one said that the Tau is the last of the 22 letters among the Hebrews according to their order of letters. Therefore the last letter is taken to represent the 13.801 perfection of those who, on account of the virtue in them, groan and are in pain over the sins committed among the people, and who suffer with the transgressors. A second one said that the Tau is a symbol of those who have kept the law; since the law among the Hebrews is called Torah, and its first letter is the Tau; and it is a symbol of those who have lived according to the law. And a third one, saying, of those who had also believed in Christ, said that the ancient letters have the Tau resembling the character of the cross, and that it prophesies concerning the sign made upon the forehead among Christians; which all who have believed do when beginning any matter whatsoever, and especially either of prayers or of holy readings. That the land was filled with many peoples. Instead of 'peoples,' the others have put 'bloods'; and it is clear with them, of all those sinning unto death being filled with blood, because of the multitude of those sinning unto death. And if it is as in the Seventy, that the land was filled with peoples, it would mean the many and foreign doctrines, alien to the divinity, that arise in us, not one people, but many discordant peoples. Perhaps it is sins, that the land, which ought to be filled with fruits, being different from the city, should be empty of these, but have a people, or even cities, who abandon the city. And the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah has been magnified more exceedingly by the city also being filled with iniquity and uncleanness. And we have in ourselves both land which must be cultivated, and a city which must be built, if indeed we are God's husbandry, God's building. But of those things for which he does not care, but only has peoples and iniquity, of these the iniquity has been greatly magnified only; but of those for which it has not yet been magnified, it needs something else to be magnified; likewise also concerning uncleanness. But the cause of these things having happened is the assumption that Providence does not reach the things on the earth. For he said, The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see. CHAP. 10. A likeness of a throne upon them. Not a throne, but a likeness of a throne the prophet sees; just as also in the things above he says he sees not the glory of the Lord, but a likeness of the glory of the Lord, saying: This is the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And it is not surprising if those who are not yet able to comprehend things face to face see likenesses of all those things, when they are deemed worthy to behold them. And I think that also Daniel, seeing dreams about the kingdoms until the consummation and the resurrection, was in an apparition, likenesses being shown to him. Thus someone seeing while awake, his governing faculty being shaped by the prophetic Spirit, imagines certain likenesses, symbolic of the true things; the soul, mixed with a thick and earthy body, not permitting to behold anything more clearly and more plainly 13.804. But it should be noted now, that the man was not clothed in a linen robe, but a tunic. For since he was about to hear, Go in between the wheels under the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire, it was necessary for him to be more brightly clothed, being about to purify the city which, as he said in the preceding, was filled with men. CHAP. 11. Those who say; Not recently

Θεοδοτίων παρατεθείκασι, τὴν Ἑβραϊκὴν, ὡς οἶμαι, λέξιν τη ρήσαντες· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι παρ' Ἕλλησι σημαίνε σθαι διὰ τῆς κάστω φωνῆς πινακίδιον γραφέως ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ. Τῶν δὲ Ἑβραίων τις ἔλεγε, τὸ καλούμενον καλαμάριον, τουτέστι κάστω. Καὶ δὸς σημεῖον. Οἱ μὲν Ἑβδομήκοντα τῷ ἐν δεδυμένῳ φασὶ τὸν ποδήρη προστετάχθαι ὑπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Κυρίου, σημεῖον δοῦναι ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν καταστεναζόντων καὶ ὀδυνωμένων· ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας καὶ Θεοδοτίων φασί· Σημείωσις τοῦ Θαῦ ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν στεναζόντων καὶ τῶν κατο δυνωμένων. Πυνθανομένων δὲ τῶν Ἑβραίων εἴ τι πάτριον περὶ τοῦ Θαῦ ἔχοιεν λέγειν μάθημα, ταῦτα ἠκούσαμεν· τινὸς μὲν φάσκοντος, ὅτι τὸ Θαῦ ἐν τοῖς παρ' Ἑβραίοις κβʹ στοιχείοις ἐστὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ὡς πρὸς τὴν παρ' αὐτοῖς τάξιν γραμμάτων. Τὸ τελευ ταῖον οὖν εἴληπται στοιχεῖον εἰς παράστασιν τῆς τε 13.801 λειότητος τῶν διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀρετὴν στεναζόντων καὶ ὀδυνωμένων ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις ἐν τῷ λαῷ, καὶ συμπασχόντων τοῖς παρανομοῦσι. ∆εύτερος δὲ ἔλεγε σύμβολον εἶναι τὸ Θαῦ τῶν τὸν νόμον τετηρη κότων· ἐπείπερ ὁ νόμος παρ' Ἑβραίοις Θωρὰ καλεῖ ται, καὶ τὸ πρῶτον αὐτοῦ στοιχεῖόν ἐστι τὸ Θαῦ· καὶ σύμβολον εἶναι τῶν κατὰ τὸν νόμον βεβιωκότων. Τρίτος δέ τις φάσκων, τῶν καὶ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πε πιστευκότων, ἔλεγε τὰ ἀρχαῖα στοιχεῖα ἐμφερὲς ἔχειν τὸ Θαῦ τῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ χαρακτῆρι, καὶ προφητεύε σθαι περὶ τοῦ γενομένου ἐν Χριστιανοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ μετ ώπου σημείου· ὅπερ ποιοῦσιν οἱ πεπιστευκότες πάντες οὑτινοσοῦν προκαταρχόμενοι πράγματος, καὶ μάλιστα ἢ εὐχῶν ἢ ἁγίων ἀναγνωσμάτων. Ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ λαῶν πολλῶν. Ἀντὶ τοῦ λαῶν, αἱμάτων οἱ λοιποὶ πεποιήκασι· καὶ ἔστι παρ' αὐτοῖς σαφὲς, πάντων τῶν πρὸς θάνατον ἁμαρτα νόντων πληρουμένων αἱμάτων, διὰ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν πρὸς θάνατον ἁμαρτανόντων. Καὶ ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ τὸ παρὰ τοῖς Ἑβδομήκοντα, ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ λαῶν, ἐρεῖ τὰ πολλὰ καὶ ἀλλόφυλα καὶ ξένα τῆς θεότητος ἐγγι νόμενα ἡμῖν δόγματα εἶναι, οὐ λαὸν, ἀλλὰ πολλοὺς ἀσυμφώνους λαούς. Μήποτε δὲ ἁμαρτήματά ἐστι, τὸ τὴν γῆν δέον πεπληρῶσθαι καρπῶν, ἑτέραν οὖσαν παρὰ τὴν πόλιν, τούτων μὲν εἶναι κενὴν, ἔχειν δὲ τοὺς καταλείποντας τὴν πόλιν λαὸν ἢ καὶ τὰς πόλεις. Μεμεγάλυνται δὲ σφοδρότερον ἡ ἀδικία ἔθνους Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδα τῷ καὶ τὴν πόλιν πεπληρῶσθαι ἀδικίας καὶ ἀκαθαρσίας. Ἔχομεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ γῆν ἣν χρὴ γεωργεῖν, καὶ πόλιν ἣν δεῖ οἰκοδομεῖν, εἴπερ ἐσμὲν Θεοῦ γεωργία, Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή. Ὧν δὲ οὐκ ἐπιμέλεται, ἀλλὰ μόνον ἔχει λαοὺς καὶ ἀδικίαν, τού των ἡ ἀδικία μεμεγάλυνται σφόδρα μόνον· ὧν δὲ οὔπω μεμεγάλυνται, ἄλλο δέει ἐπὶ τὸ μεγαλύνεσθαι· ὁμοίως καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας. Πλὴν αἰτία τοῦ ταῦτα γεγονέναι ἐστὶ τὸ ὑπολαμβάνειν, ὅτι οὐ φθάνει ἡ Πρόνοια ἐπὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ. Εἶπε γὰρ, Ἐγκαταλέλοιπε Κύριος τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἐφορᾷ ὁ Κύριος. ΚΕΦ. Ιʹ. Ὁμοίωμα θρόνου ἐπ' αὐτῶν. Οὐ θρόνον δὲ, ἀλλ' ὁμοίωμα θρόνου ὁρᾷ ὁ προφήτης· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω φησὶν οὐ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου ὁρᾷν, ἀλλ' ὁμοίωμα δόξης Κυρίου, λέγων· Αὕτη ἡ ὅρασις ὁμοίωμα τῆς δόξης Κυρίου. Καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ οἱ μηδέπω προσώπῳ πρὸς πρόσωπον τὰ πράγματα κατανοεῖν δυνάμενοι πάντων ἐκείνων ὁμοιώματα βλέ πουσιν, ὅτε ἀξιοῦνται τοῦ θεωρεῖν. Νομίζω δὲ, ὅτι καὶ ἐνύπνια περὶ τῶν βασιλειῶν μέχρι τῆς συντε λείας καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως βλέπων ∆ανιὴλ ἐν φαν τασίᾳ ἐγίνετο δεικνυμένων ὁμοιωμάτων αὐτῷ. Οὕτω κατὰ ὕπαρ τις βλέπων, τυπουμένου αὐτῷ τοῦ ἡγεμο νικοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ Πνεύματος, ὁμοιώματά τινα φαντάζεται, συμβολικὰ τῶν ἀληθινῶν· μὴ συγ χωρούσης τῆς ἀνακεκραμένης πάχει καὶ γεώδει σώ ματι ψυχῆς τρανέστερον καὶ σαφέστερόν τι θεωρῆ 13.804 σαι. Σημειωτέον δὲ νῦν, ὅτι ὁ ἀνὴρ οὐκ ἀνενδέδυτο ποδήρη, ἀλλὰ στολήν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ἀκούειν, Εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ μέσον τῶν τροχῶν ὑποκάτω τῶν χερουβὶμ, καὶ πλῆσον τὰς χεῖράς σου ἀνθράκων πυρὸς, ἔδει αὐτὸν ἱλαρώτερον ἀμφιέννυσθαι, κα θαίρειν μέλλοντα τὴν, καθὼς εἶπεν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τού του, πεπληρωμένην πόλιν ἀνδρῶν. ΚΕΦ. ΙΑʹ. Οἱ λέγοντες· Οὐχὶ προσφάτως