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Paul. For they would have even made the books disappear, if they had understood the power of the prophecy concerning Christ. For where they were not ashamed of him when he was present and working miracles and giving complete proof of his own power and of his harmony and concord with the Father, nor did they desist until they had crucified him, they would hardly have spared those who spoke about him, whom they stoned continuously even without this reason. For this reason, lingering on names familiar and well-known to them, they obscure the prophecies with this person. For that the discourse is not about Judea and Jerusalem, we will know what has been said with accuracy by bringing forward each word into the midst. That in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest. See the prophet's accuracy, not only speaking of the events, but also indicating the time. For what Paul says, "But when the fullness of the times had come," and again elsewhere, "For the dispensation of the fullness of the times," this the prophet says, "In the last days." But he calls the Church a mountain, and the unconquerable nature of its doctrines. For just as with mountains, even if countless armies attack them, drawing bows and hurling spears, bringing up siege engines, they will be able to do them no harm, but will depart having exhausted their own strength; so indeed also all those who made war on the Church did not shake it, but were put to shame, having lost their own power, being dissolved in the striking and growing weak in the casting and in their acting being conquered by those who suffered; which is a paradoxical manner of victory and possible not for men, but for God alone. For the wonder of the Church is not that it conquered, but that it conquered in this way. For being driven, persecuted, cut to pieces in countless ways, not only was it not diminished, but it even became greater and it destroyed those who attempted to do these things by the mere act of suffering; which is what a diamond does to iron, by merely being struck it dissolves the strength of the one striking; and goads against those who kick, they themselves becoming no duller from this, but making bloody the feet of those who kick. For this reason he called it a mountain. But if the Jew does not tolerate the metaphor, let him again receive the refutation from his own sources. For this very prophet said that wolves and lambs would share the same pasture, and that God would whistle for flies and for bees, and would bring up a rushing river against the Jews, because they did not wish to have the water of Siloam. Which things, if anyone were to take them literally, contain much that is senseless; but it is necessary † receiving the things signified by these to vary thus the sequence of thoughts. † What then are the things signified by these? Through the wolves and the lambs, the savage and tame manners of men; through the flies, the shamelessness of the Egyptians; through the river, the vehemence of the barbarian's army; through Siloam, the gentleness and reasonableness of the then ruler of the Jewish nation. And no one, not even the most foolish, will contradict us in these matters. For just as those things were signified by other names, so too he hinted at the firmness, the immovability, the loftiness, the invincibility of the Church through the appellation of mountain. For another prophet also compares those who trust in God to a mountain, showing their unconquerable nature. Manifest. This no longer needs interpretation from reason. Thus the very nature of the events sends forth a voice brighter than a trumpet, showing the conspicuousness of the Church. For the sun is not so bright, nor the light from it, as are the affairs of the Church.

2.3 And the house of God upon the tops of the mountains. How would the Jew interpret this? For nowhere did the temple stand on the tops of the mountains; the power of the Church, however, has touched the very heavens. And just as a house situated above the summit of mountains is visible to all, so too and much more has she become conspicuous to all people. And it shall be exalted above the hills. This same thing he has interpreted again,

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Παῦλον. Ἦ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἠφάνισαν τὰ βιβλία, εἰ συνῆκαν τῆς προφητείας τὴν δύναμιν τῆς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὅπου γὰρ παρόντα αὐτὸν καὶ θαυματουργοῦντα καὶ ἐντελῆ τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα συμφωνίας τε καὶ ὁμονοίας παρεχόμενον τὴν ἀπόδειξιν οὐκ ᾐδέσθησαν, οὐδὲ ἀπέστησαν ἕως ἐσταύρωσαν, σχολῇ γε ἂν τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγόντων ἐφείσαντο, οὓς καὶ χωρὶς τούτου κατέλευον συνεχῶς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τοῖς οἰκείοις καὶ γνωρίμοις αὐτοῖς ἐμφιλοχωροῦντες ὀνόμασι, τὰς προφητείας τούτῳ συσκιάζουσι τῷ προσώπῳ. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐ περὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ λόγος, ἑκάστην παράγοντες λέξιν εἰς μέσον μετὰ ἀκριβείας εἰσόμεθα τὰ εἰρημένα. Ὅτι ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου. Ὅρα ἀκρίβειαν προφήτου, οὐ τὰ πράγματα λέγοντος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν χρόνον ἐπισημαινομένου. Ὅπερ γάρ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν καιρῶν, καὶ ἑτέρωθι πάλιν· Εἰς οἰκονομίαν τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν καιρῶν, τοῦτο ὁ προφήτης φησίν· Ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις. Ὄρος δὲ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν καὶ τὸ τῶν δογμάτων ἀκαταγώνιστον καλεῖ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὄρεσι κἂν μυρία προσβάλλῃ στρατόπεδα τόξα τείνοντες καὶ δόρατα ἀφιέντες, μηχανήματα προσάγοντες, ἐκεῖνα μὲν οὐδὲν παραβλάψαι δυνήσονται, τὴν δὲ οἰκείαν καταλύσαντες ἰσχὺν ἀπελεύσονται· οὕτω δὴ καὶ οἱ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πολεμήσαντες ἅπαντες ταύτην μὲν οὐκ ἔσεισαν, τὴν δὲ οἰκείαν ἀπολέσαντες δύναμιν κατῃσχύνθησαν, ἐν τῷ παίειν διαλυόμενοι καὶ ἐν τῷ βάλλειν ἀσθενοῦντες καὶ ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν πασχόντων νικώμενοι· ὅσπερ καὶ παράδοξος νίκης τρόπος ἐστὶ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ Θεῷ μόνῳ δυνατός. Τὸ γὰρ δὴ θαυμαστὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οὐχ ὅτι ἐνίκησεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ οὕτως ἐνίκησεν. Ἐλαυνομένη γάρ, διωκομένη, μυρίοις κατακοπτομένη τρόποις, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἠλαττονοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ μείζων ἐγίνετο καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα ποιεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντας αὐτῷ τῷ πάσχειν μόνον κατέλυεν· ὅπερ ἀδάμας ποιεῖ περὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τῷ παίεσθαι μόνον διαλύων τοῦ παίοντος τὴν ἰσχύν· καὶ κέντρα πρὸς τοὺς λακτίζοντας, αὐτὰ μὲν οὐδὲν ἀμβλύτερα ἐντεῦθεν γινόμενα, τοὺς δὲ λακτίζοντας αἱμάσσοντα πόδας. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο ὄρος ἐκάλεσεν. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῆς μεταφορᾶς ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, οἴκοθεν πάλιν δεχέσθω τὸν ἔλεγχον. Αὐτὸς γὰρ οὗτος ὁ προφήτης λύκους καὶ ἄρνας ἔφησε τῆς αὐτῆς νομῆς κοινωνήσειν καὶ μυίαις τὸν Θεὸν συριεῖν καὶ ταῖς μελίσσαις καὶ ποταμὸν ἀνάγειν ῥαγδαῖον ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, διὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἔχειν τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Σιλωάμ. Ἅπερ εἴ τις ἐπὶ τῶν λέξεων ἐκλάβοι, πολὺ τὸ ἀπερινόητον ἔχει· ἀλλὰ δεῖ † τὰ ἐκ τούτων σημαινόμενα δεχομένους οὕτω ποικίλλειν τῶν νοημάτων τὴν ἀκολουθίαν. † Τί οὖν ἐστι τὰ ἐκ τούτων σημαινόμενα; ∆ιὰ μὲν τῶν λύκων καὶ τῶν ἀρνῶν, οἱ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τρόποι οἱ θηριώδεις καὶ ἥμεροι· διὰ δὲ τῶν μυιῶν, τὸ ἀναίσχυντον τῶν Αἰγυπτίων· διὰ δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, τὸ σφοδρὸν τῆς στρατείας τοῦ βαρβάρου· διὰ δὲ τοῦ Σιλωάμ, τὸ πρᾶον καὶ ἐπιεικὲς τοῦ τότε ἄρχοντος τοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους. Καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ τῶν σφόδρα ἀνοήτων πρὸς ταῦτα ἡμῖν ἀντερεῖ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οὖν ἐκεῖνα ἑτέροις ὀνόμασι παρεδηλώθη, οὕτω καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ στερρόν, τὸ ἀκίνητον, τὸ ὑψηλόν, τὸ ἀχείρωτον διὰ τῆς τοῦ ὄρους ᾐνίξατο προσηγορίας. Καὶ γὰρ ἕτερος προφήτης τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄρει παραβάλλει, τὸ ἀκαταγώνιστον αὐτῶν ἐνδεικνύμενος. Ἐμφανές. Τοῦτο οὐδὲ τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου λοιπὸν ἑρμηνείας δεῖται. Οὕτως αὐτὴ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ φύσις σάλπιγγος λαμπροτέραν φωνὴν ἀφίησι, τὸ περιφανὲς ἐνδεικνυμένη τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἥλιος φανὸς οὐδὲ τὸ ἐκ τούτου φῶς, ὡς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὰ πράγματα.

2.3 Καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων. Πῶς ἂν τοῦτο ἑρμηνεύσειεν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος; Οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὁρέων ὁ ναὸς ἔστη· ἡ μέντοι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δύναμις αὐτῶν ἥψατο τῶν οὐρανῶν. Καὶ ὡσανεὶ οἶκος ὑπὲρ κορυφῆς ὀρῶν κείμενος πᾶσίν ἐστι κατάδηλος, οὕτω καὶ πολλῷ πλέον αὐτὴ περιφανὴς πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις γέγονε. Καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν. Τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πάλιν ἡρμήνευσεν,