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to men, he who fills heaven and earth? Or is it neither possible nor holy to think this, but more pious and at the same time possible to conceive of the divine Word, being the servant of the Father's will, since when he was Lord, Jacob became his portion and Israel the line of his inheritance, as one who cares for a portion and an inheritance, emptying himself and diminishing his connatural greatness for the salvation of men, 33 and condescending to them even before the incarnation? For if we were to consider it judiciously, we would find him at one time attributing the commandments to his own person, as when he says, "You shall not appear before me empty"; and "An altar of earth you shall make for me"; and "I will come to you and I will bless you"; and at another time speaking as if about another Lord, namely his God and Father, as in the Decalogue when he says, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"; and "The seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God"; and "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth"; and "The Lord blessed the seventh day"; and again, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the land, which the Lord your God gives you." For how could it not become manifest that the Lord himself, not through an angel, spoke these things reliably in the Decalogue through himself, teaching the people about the piety due to his own most high Father and God of all? 11. Behold, I send my angel before your face, to guard you on the way, so that he may bring you into the land which I have prepared for you. Pay attention to him and listen to him, do not disobey him, for he will not spare you; for my name is upon him. These things, along with the rest of the ordinances, the Lord commanded the people. If, then, after the death of Moses, the same Lord who gave oracles in the desert was not with the people, but 34 some one of the angels led them, there would be nothing to investigate in these passages; but since it appears from the history that even after the death of Moses, the same Lord was giving oracles to Joshua, and saying clearly in the oracles to him, "As I was with Moses, so will I be with you, and I will not forsake you, nor will I overlook you." Be strong and courageous; for you will divide to this people the land which I swore to your fathers to give to them; and throughout the whole scripture, no angel at all appears present or giving oracles to Joshua, but the Lord himself, who is also designated by the tetragrammaton in the time of Moses, who also seems to me to be the same one who appeared once to Joshua in the form of a man. For just as he is recorded as having appeared to Abraham and to Jacob, so also now, in order to teach his servant not to consider himself to be the first and unbegotten God, he reveals himself as the captain of that one's host. If, then, throughout the whole book of Joshua, an angel is not named at all as being present, but the Lord himself who is designated throughout all the legislation of Moses; for the scripture clearly testifies, saying, "And the Lord was with Joshua"; of whom could it be said, "Behold, I send my angel before your face, that he may lead you into the land which I have prepared for you"? It seems, then, that by these words he indicates not another, but Joshua himself; for he himself led the people into the land of promise, as also the words of God to him indicate, saying, "Be strong and courageous; for you will divide to this people the land 35 which I swore to your fathers concerning him." Therefore he commands the people beforehand, saying, "Pay attention to him, and listen to him; do not disobey him." And one should not be surprised that he called him an angel, since the prophecy also calls John by this name, saying, "Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare my way before you." But if the preceding things refer to Joshua the son of Nave at all, see how the Lord says concerning him, "for my name has been called upon him." But what name then

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ἀνθρώποις, ὁ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν πληρῶν; ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὔτε δυνατὸν, οὔθ' ὅσιον ἐννοεῖν, εὐσεβέστερον δὲ ἅμα καὶ δυνατὸν τὸν θεῖον ὑπολαμβάνειν Λόγον, διάκονον ὄντα τοῦ πατρικοῦ βουλήματος, ἐπείπερ αὐτοῦ κυρίου ὄντος ἐγενήθη μερὶς Ἰακὼβ καὶ σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, οἷα ὑπὲρ μερίδος καὶ κληρονομίας φροντίζειν, κενοῦντά τε ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοῦ συμφυοῦς μεγέθους σμικρύνοντα τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων 33 καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως συμπεριφέρεσθαι σωτηρίᾳ; Εἰ γ' οὖν εὐγνωμόνως ἐπιστήσαιμεν, εὕροιμεν αὐτὸν ποτὲ μὲν εἰς ἴδιον πρόσωπον ἀναφέροντα τὰς παρακελεύσεις, ὡς ὅτ' ἂν λέγῃ, οὐκ ὀφθήσῃ ἐνώπιόν μου κενός· καὶ θυσιαστήριον ἐκ γῆς ποιήσεταί μοι· καὶ ἥξω πρός σε καὶ εὐλογήσω σε· ποτὲ δὲ ὡς περὶ ἑτέρου Κυρίου, τοῦ Θεοῦ δηλαδὴ καὶ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, διαλεγόμενον, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς δεκαλόγου ὅταν φάσκῃ, οὐ λήψῃ τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου ἐπὶ ματαίῳ· καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου· καὶ γὰρ ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν Κύριος τόν τε οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ εὐλόγησε Κύριος τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην· καὶ αὖθις· τίμα τὸν πατέρα σοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα σοῦ, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται, καὶ ἔσῃ μακροχρόνιος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἧς Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσίν σοι. Ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ δι' ἀγγέλου, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Κύριος πεπιστευμένως ἐν τοῖς δεκαλόγοις εἰρηκέναι πῶς οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο πρόδηλος, παιδεύων τὸν λαὸν τὰ περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν ἀνωτάτω Πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ καὶ Θεὸν τῶν ὅλων εὐσεβείας; ΙΑʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ἵνα φυλάξῃ σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, ὅπως εἰσαγάγῃ σε εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἡτοίμασά σοι. Πρόσεχε αὐτῷ καὶ εἰσάκουε αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀπείθει ἐν αὐτῷ, οὐ γὰρ μὴ ὑποστείληταί σε· τὸ γὰρ ὄνομά μου ἐστὶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Ταῦτα μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν δικαιωμάτων ὁ Κύριος τῷ λαῷ διαστέλλεται. Εἰ μὲν οὖν μετὰ τὴν Μωσέως τελευτὴν μὴ ὁ αὐτὸς κύριος ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου χρηματίζων συμπαρῆν τῷ λαῷ, ἀλλ' 34 ἀγγέλων τὶς αὐτῶν προηγεῖτο, οὐδὲν ἂν εἰς τοὺς τόπους ζητούμενον ἦν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας φαίνεται καὶ μετὰ τὴν Μωσέως τελευτὴν ὁ αὐτὸς κύριος τῷ Ἰησοῦ χρηματίζων καὶ σαφῶς ἐν τοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν χρησμοῖς λέγων, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἤμην μετὰ Μωσῇ, οὕτως ἔσομαι μετὰ σοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψω σε, οὐδ' ὑπερόψομαί σε. Ἴσχυε καὶ ἀνδρίζου· σὺ γὰρ ἀποδιαστελεῖς τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ τὴν γῆν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν δοῦναι αὐτοῖς· καὶ δι' ὅλης τῆς γραφῆς ἄγγελος μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἐπιπαρὼν ἢ χρηματίζων τῷ Ἰησοῦ φαίνεται, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ὁ καὶ παρὰ Μωσεῖ διὰ τοῦ τετραγράμμου δηλούμενος, ὃς καὶ δοκεῖ μοι ὁ αὐτὸς εἶναι τῷ ἐν ἀνδρὸς σχήματι εἰς ἅπαξ μόνον παραφανέντι τῷ Ἰησοῦ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπιφανεὶς τῷ Ἁβραὰμκαὶ τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἀναγέγραπται, οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῷ παιδεῦσαι τὸν θεράποντα μὴ αὐτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν πρῶτον καὶ ἀγένητον εἶναι Θεὸν, ἀλλ' ἀρχιστράτηγον τῆς ἐκείνου δυνάμεως ἀποφαίνεται. Εἰ δὴ οὖν διὰ πάσης τῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γραφῆς ἄγγελος μὲν οὐδ' ὅλως παρὼν ὀνομάζεται, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ διὰ πάσης τῆς παρὰ Μωσεῖ νομοθεσίας δηλούμενος κύριος· μαρτυρεῖ γ' οὖν σαφῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγουσα, Καὶ ἦν Κύριος μετὰ Ἰησοῦ· τίνος ἂν λέγοιτο, Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὅπως ἀγάγῃ σε εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἡτοίμασά σοι; Ἔοικεν οὖν διὰ τούτων οὐκ ἄλλον ἀλλ' αὐτὸν δηλοῦν τὸν Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ εἰσήγαγεν τὸν λαὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ὡς καὶ αἱ πρὸς αὐτὸν δηλοῦσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ φωναὶ λέγοντος, Ἴσχυε καὶ ἀνδρίζου· σὺ γὰρ ἀποδιαστελεῖς τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ τὴν γῆν, 35 ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἆρα προδιατάσσεται τῷ λαῷ λέγων, Πρόσεχε αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰσάκουσον αὐτοῦ· μὴ ἀπείθει ἐν αὐτῷ. Οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν εἰ ἄγγελον αὐτὸν ἐπωνόμασεν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἰωάννην τούτῳ καλεῖ τῷ προσρήματι ἡ φάσκουσα προφητεία, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν μου ἔμπροσθέν σου. Εἰ δ' ὅλως εἰς Ἰησοῦν ἀναφέροιτο τὸν τοῦ Ναυῆ τὰ προεκτεθέντα, ὅρα πῶς περὶ αὐτοῦ φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, τὸ γὰρ ὄνομά μου ἐπικέκληται ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Ποῖον δὲ ἆρα ὄνομα