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Let us hear God Himself speaking through Isaiah the prophet: "Behold, I lay in Zion a precious stone, a cornerstone, honored, chosen, for its foundations, and everyone who 81.1301 believes in him will not be put to shame." Let us also hear the blessed David prophesying and crying out: "The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner." And the Master Christ Himself also brought this testimony to the Jews in the holy Gospels, "Have you not read, he said, 'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?'" And the blessed Peter, speaking publicly among the Jews and bringing forward the Lord's prophecy, says: "This is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner." And the blessed Paul says: "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone." And elsewhere he says: "For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." And again: "'They drank,' he says, 'from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.'" Therefore, we are taught by the Old and New Testament that our Lord Jesus Christ is called a stone. For he was cut from a mountain without hands, having been born of a Virgin without marital union; and the divine Scripture often knows to call a birth contrary to nature a 'quarrying'. For Isaiah, reminding the Jews of the childbirth that happened to Abraham contrary to nature, said, "Look to the solid rock from which you were quarried." Therefore, the tribe of David is the mountain, and Christ is the stone according to his humanity, not cut according to the law of nature; and he, though long appearing small because of the nature he wore, was suddenly shown to be a very great mountain, having filled the whole world. "For the whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." He will strike the image on its feet of clay and iron, that is, he will also bring the last kingdom to an end, and he will make it vanish and disappear. For another kingdom will not succeed it, but he will lay bare his own, and will show it to all; and of all those kingdoms he will wipe out even the memory itself like dust, which is produced from the threshing floor, but scattered by the wind. Having thus told the whole dream to the king, he added: 36, 37. "This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings." He did not say this 81.1304 out of flattery, but using the customary address; for he held power over all the rulers of nations, who were called kings. "You, he says, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a mighty and strong and honorable kingdom in every place." For not by human strength, he says, have you overcome all, but God, who has the heavenly kingdom, has given you this authority, so that you might lead and reign over the men who are in every place, wherever the sons of men dwell. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air he has given into your hand, and has made you lord of all. And he calls beasts the barbarians who live in a more beastly manner, but birds those who are adorned with understanding, and are superior to other men, and winged in their intellect. Of all these, he says, he has declared you king. "You, therefore, are the head of gold;" that is, your kingdom. For he does not speak concerning the person, but concerning the kingdom itself. For after his death, Evil-Merodach reigned over the Babylonians, and after him Belshazzar. But if he spoke concerning his person, that "You are the head of gold," how shall we understand this: "After you another kingdom will arise, inferior to you?" For it does not signify the kingdom of his sons, but the Persian one. Therefore the head of gold is not Nebuchadnezzar himself, but the whole [kingdom] of the

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ἀκούσωμεν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· "Ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἔντι μον, ἐκλεκτὸν, εἰς τὰ θεμέλια αὐτῆς, καὶ πᾶς ὁ 81.1301 πιστεύων ἐπ' αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ." Ἀκού σωμεν δὲ καὶ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αβὶδ προθεσπίζοντος, καὶ βοῶντος· "Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδο μοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας." Ταύ την δὲ τὴν μαρτυρίαν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις Ἰουδαίοις προσήνεγκεν, "Οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε, λέγων· Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. Παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη, καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν;" Καὶ ὁ μακάριος δὲ Πέτρος ἐν Ἰουδαίοις δημηγορῶν, καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν προφη τείαν εἰς μέσον παραγαγὼν, φησίν· "Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ λίθος ὁ ἐξουθενηθεὶς παρ' ὑμῶν τῶν οἰκοδο μούντων, ὃς ἐγένετο εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας." Καὶ ὁ μα κάριος δὲ Παῦλός φησιν· "Ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ." Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησι· "Θεμέλιον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἔπινον, φησὶν, ἐκ πνευματικῆς ἀκολουθούσης πέτρας, ἡ δὲ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός." Οὐκοῦν ὑπὸ Παλαιᾶς καὶ Νέας ∆ιαθήκης διδασκόμεθα τὸν Κύ ριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν προσηγορεῦ[σ]θαι λί θον. Οὗτος γὰρ ἐτμήθη ἀπὸ ὄρους ἄνευ χειρῶν, γεννηθεὶς ἐκ Παρθένου γαμικῆς κοινωνίας χωρίς· οἶδε δὲ πολλάκις καὶ τὴν παρὰ φύσιν γέννησιν λα τομίαν ἡ θεία προσαγορεύειν Γραφή. Ἰουδαίους γὰρ Ἡσαΐας, τῆς παρὰ φύσιν γενομένης τῷ Ἀβραὰμ παιδογονίας ἀναμιμνήσκων, "Ἐμβλέψατε, ἔλεγεν, εἰς τὴν στερεὰν πέτραν, ἐξ ἧς ἐλατομή θητε." Οὐκοῦν ὄρος μὲν ἡ ∆αβιδικὴ φυλὴ, λίθος δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, οὐ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς φύσεως τμηθείς· οὗτος δὲ πάλαι σμικρὸς φαινό μενος, δι' ἣν περιέκειτο φύσιν, ἀθρόον ἐδείχθη ὄρος μέγιστον, πᾶσαν πληρώσας τὴν οἰκουμένην. "Ἐπλη ρώθη γὰρ ἡ σύμπασα γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν Κύριον, ὡς ὕδωρ πολὺ κατακαλύψαι θαλάσσας" Οὗτος πατά ξει τὴν εἰκόνα ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας τοὺς ὀστρακίνους καὶ σιδηροῦς, τουτέστι, καὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην καταπαύσει βασιλείαν, φροῦδόν τε καὶ ἀφανῆ ποιήσει. Οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρα ταύτην διαδέξεται βασιλεία, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκείαν γυμνώσει, καὶ πᾶσι ταύτην ὑποδείξει· ἐκείνων δὲ τῶν βασιλειῶν ἁπασῶν καὶ αὐτὴν ἀφανιεῖ τὴν μνήμην κονιορτοῦ δίκην, ἐξ ἅλωνος μὲν τικτομένου, ὑπὸ δὲ πνεύματος σκεδαννυμένου. Οὕτω τὸ ἐνύπνιον ἅπαν εἰρηκὼς τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἐπήγαγε· λ ϛʹ, λζʹ. "Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἐνύπνιον, καὶ τὴν σύγκρι σιν αὐτοῦ ἐροῦμεν ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως. Σὺ βασιλεῦ, βασιλεὺς βασιλέων." Οὐ κολακεύων τοῦτο 81.1304 εἴρηκεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ συνήθει προσηγορίᾳ χρησάμενος· κατὰ γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἐθναρχούντων, βασιλέων ὀνο μαζομένων, εἶχε τὸ κράτος. "Σὺ, φησὶ, βασιλεῦ, βασιλεὺς βασιλέων, ᾧ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασι λείαν κραταιὰν καὶ ἰσχυρὰν καὶ ἔντιμον ἔδωκεν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ." Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ ἰσχύος, φησὶν, ἀνθρω πίνης πάντων περιγεγένησαι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ τὴν ἐπουράνιον ἔχοντος βασιλείαν, ταύτην σοι δεδω κότος τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὥστε τῶν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ὄντων ἀνθρώπων ἡγεμονεύειν τε καὶ βασιλεύειν, ὅπου κατοικοῦσιν υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Θηρία τε ἀγροῦ καὶ πετεινὰ οὐρανοῦ δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρί σου, καὶ κατ έστησέ σε κύριον πάντων. Καὶ θηρία μὲν καλεῖ τοὺς θηριωδέστερον ζῶντας βαρβάρους, πετεινὰ δὲ τοὺς συνέσει κεκοσμημένους, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώ πων ὑπερτέρους, καὶ πτηνοὺς τὴν διάνοιαν. Τούτων, φησὶν, ἁπάντων ἀπέφηνέ σε βασιλέα. "Σὺ τοίνυν εἶ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἡ χρυσῆ·" τουτέστιν, ἡ σὴ βασιλεία. Οὔτε γὰρ περὶ τοῦ προσώπου λέγει, ἀλλὰ περὶ αὐ τῆς τῆς βασιλείας. Καὶ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν αὐ τοῦ, Εὐϊλὰδ Μαρωδὰχ ἐβασίλευσε τῶν Βαβυλωνίων, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον Βαλτάσαρ. Εἰ δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ προσώπου ἔφη, ὅτι "Σὺ εἶ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἡ χρυσῆ," πῶς νοήσομεν τό· "Ὀπίσω σου ἀναστήσεται βασιλεία ἑτέρα ἥττων σου;" Οὔτε γὰρ τὴν τῶν υἱέων αὐ τοῦ βασιλείαν μηνύει, ἀλλὰ τὴν Περσικήν. Οὐκοῦν κεφαλὴ ἡ χρυσῆ οὐκ αὐτὸς ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ἀλλὰ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν