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the word sinner does not signify a substance but a quality, being a paronym from sin; everyone who partakes of sin must be so named. In a manner fitting to these things, you will also call the gentiles. For just as one who is not locally in heaven, while still walking on earth, is able to be there in citizenship and thought, so one who does not dwell locally in Hades is able to bear the signs of death and of sin itself, so as to inhabit Hades already, though being in the life with a body. And poor is said both of one who is poor because of sin, and of one who is moderate and unpretentious, and of one who needs to receive from God; and every created being is such. In all these ways, the one called poor is remembered by God. And even if for some advantage it seems some forgetting of him occurs, this does not remain completely, and for this reason, He will not be forgotten forever. But how the poor (ptochos) differs from the needy (penes), we will say as we proceed, when the time calls to speak about these things. 63 Ps 9,20 You, Lord, who makes those who are puffed up and insolent to fall from their blameworthy height, opposing the proud; let them not therefore be strengthened, but Let them be judged in your sight; for surpassing benefit will follow them. And Let not man be strengthened might be interpreted as said about the devil, about whom it is said in the parable of the tares that he is an enemy man, but also in the prophecy, This is the man who provokes the earth. And since this man was being strengthened before the coming of the Savior, saying, I will take the whole inhabited world in my hand as a nest and as abandoned eggs I will take them up; there is no one who will escape me or speak against me, the race of men, not bearing his words of pride, brings an embassy to the Savior, saying, Arise, O Master, come down to us, so that the man who is arrogant against us may not be strengthened for long; and the devil is called man not because he is a mortal rational animal, but because he has fallen from divinity in the same way as those to whom God said, I said: You are gods, and all sons of the Most High, but you die like men. 64 Ps 9,22-23 a The prophet as a man asks and inquires of God, saying, Why, O Lord, have you stood far off? And the Word might have said to him in response that The goodness of God leads sinners to repentance. But God has stood far from sinners, with sin itself separating and driving sinners far away according to what is said: Your sins separate between me and you. For otherwise God is always present to all things and fills all things, being everywhere. Wherefore it has been said in the prophecies, I am a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God far off. But with the just being afflicted in the present life and oppressed by the wicked, As if standing far off, you abandon them, he says, O Lord, and you overlook them; wherefore also the pride of the wicked increases, and it sets on fire your needy and poor one, who is zealous with a godly zeal and burning within his soul. 65 Ps 9,24 And especially those who are deprived of divine wealth and wisdom and are not precise concerning the dogmas of piety; for these stumble at the judgments of wise providence, praising the sinner for what he desires, it being manifest that the sinner longs not for what is choice but for what is pleasant and passionate. In addition to this, from the same error, they consider it a blessing for those who have wealth and human and temporary glory, asserting that the unjust are blessed by God; but one ought to suppose that the blessing of God is given to the just. 66 Ps 9,25-27 Even if God seemed to stand far off and to overlook the afflicted because they were troubled by the pride of the wicked man, yet he is greatly indignant against the proud one who caused scandal and (so that I may speak according to scripture) set the poor man on fire and because he made bad use of what he had by the providence of God. For this is shown by the following words; for it is said, He provoked the

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μὴ σημαίνει οὐσίαν ἀλλὰ ποιὸν ἡ ἁμαρτωλὸς φωνή, παρωνυμία ουσα ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, πάντα τὸν μετέχοντα ἁμαρτίας ουτως ὀνομαστέον. καταλλήλως τούτοις καὶ τὰ εθνη ἐκλήψει. ωσπερ δὲ οὐκ ων τις ἐν οὐρανῷ τοπικῶς, ετι ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατῶν, δύναται ἐκεῖ πολιτείᾳ καὶ νοήσει τυγχάνειν, ουτω μὴ διατρίβων τις ἐν ᾳδῃ τοπικῶς δύναται σημεῖα φέρειν νεκρότητος καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν, ὡς οἰκεῖν αὐτὸν τὸν ᾳδην ηδη καίτοι οντα ἐν τῇ μετὰ σώματος ζωῇ. Πτωχὸς δὲ λέγεται καὶ ὁ πτωχεύων δι' ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ ὁ μέτριος καὶ ατυφος, καὶ ὁ χρῄζων δέξασθαι παρὰ θεοῦ· εκαστος δὲ γενητός ἐστι τοιοῦτος. κατὰ πάντας τούτους τοὺς τρόπους ὁ λεγόμενος πτωχὸς μνημονεύεται θεῷ. καν διά τι σύμφερον δόξῃ λήθης τι αὐτοῦ γίνεσθαι, οὐκ εἰς τὸ παντελὲς δὲ παραμένει αυτη, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἐπιληθήσεται. Τίνος δὲ διοίσει πτωχὸς πένητος, προϊόντες ἐροῦμεν οτ' αν καιρὸς καλέσῃ εἰπεῖν περὶ τούτων. 63 Ps 9,20 Σύ, κύριε, ὁ τοὺς ὀγκυλλομένους καὶ ἀπαυθαδιζομένους πίπτειν ποιῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ψεκτοῦ υψους, ἀντιταττόμενος τοῖς ὑπερηφάνοις· μὴ τοίνυν κραταιούσθωσαν, ἀλλὰ Κριτήθωσαν ἐνώπιόν σου· εψεται γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὑπερβάλλουσα ὠφέλεια. ̔Ερμηνευθείη δὲ τὸ Μὴ κραταιούσθω ανθρωπος ὡς λεχθὲν περὶ διαβόλου, περὶ ου ειρηται ἐν τῇ παραβολῇ τῶν ζιζανίων ὡς οντος ἀνθρώπου ἐχθροῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ Ουτος ὁ ανθρωπος ὁ παροξύνων τὴν γῆν. καὶ ἐπεὶ ὁ ανθρωπος ουτος ἐκραταιοῦτο πρὸ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος καθόδου λέγων Τὴν οἰκουμένην ολην ἀπολήψομαι τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιὰν καὶ ὡς ᾠὰ καταλελειμμένα ἀρῶ· οὐκ εστιν ος διαφεύξεταί με η ἀντείπῃ μοι, οὐκ ἐνεγκὸν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς μεθ' ὑπερηφανίας αὐτοῦ λόγους πρεσβείαν προσάγει τῷ σωτῆρι λέγον ̓Ανάστηθι, ω δέσποτα, κατάβηθι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ινα μὴ ἐπὶ πολὺ ὁ καθ' ἡμῶν ὑπερηφανευόμενος ανθρωπος κραταιωθῇ· ανθρωπος δὲ ειρηται ὁ διάβολος οὐ τῷ θνητὸν λογικὸν ζῷον ειναι, ἀλλὰ τῷ θεότητος ἀποπεπτωκέναι ὡσαύτως ἐκείνοις πρὸς ους ὁ θεὸς ̓Εγὼ ειπα· θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες, ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ανθρωποι ἀποθνῄσκετε. 64 Ps 9,22-23 α ̔Ο προφήτης ὡς ανθρωπος ἐρωτᾷ καὶ πυνθάνεται τοῦ θεοῦ λέγων Ινα τί, κύριε, ἀφέστηκας μακρόθεν; ειπεν δ' αν ὁ λόγος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποκρινόμενος οτι Τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς μετάνοιαν αγει τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. ἀφέστηκεν δὲ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν μακρὰν ὁ θεός, τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῆς διοριζούσης καὶ μακρὰν ἐλαυνούσης τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένον· Αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν διϊστῶσιν μεταξὺ ἐμοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν. αλλως γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀεὶ τοῖς πᾶσι πάρεστι καὶ τὰ πάντα πληροῖ πανταχοῦ τυγχάνων. διὸ λέλεκται ἐν προφητείαις. Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, λέγει κύριος, καὶ οὐ θεὸς πόρρωθεν. θλιβομένων δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα βίον τῶν δικαίων καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν καταπονουμένων, Ωσπερ μακρὰν ἀφεστώς, καταλείπεις αὐτούς, φησίν, ω κύριε, καὶ ὑπερορᾷς· διὸ καὶ αυξει ἡ ὑπερηφανία τῶν ἀσεβῶν, τὸν δὲ σὸν πένητα καὶ πτωχὸν ἐμπυρίζει ζηλοῦντα τὸν θεοσεβῆ ζῆλον καὶ ενδοθεν φλεγόμενον τὴν ψυχήν. 65 Ps 9,24 Καὶ μάλιστα οἱ θείου πλούτου καὶ σοφίας στερούμενοι καὶ μὴ ἀκριβεῖς οντες περὶ τὰ δόγματα τῆς εὐσεβείας· ουτοι γὰρ τοῖς τῆς σοφῆς προνοίας προσκόπτουσιν κρίμασιν ἐπαινοῦντες τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἐφ' οις ἐπιθυμεῖ, φανεροῦ οντος ὡς οὐ τῶν αἱρετῶν ἀλλὰ τῶν ἡδέων καὶ ἐμπαθῶν ὀρέγεται ὁ ἁμαρτωλός. πρὸς τούτοις ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ σφάλματος εὐλογίαν ἡγοῦνται τοὺς πλοῦτον καὶ δόξαν ἀνθρωπίνην καὶ πρόσκαιρον εχοντας, φάσκοντες τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας πρὸς θεοῦ εὐλογεῖσθαι· εδει δὲ τοπάσαι ὡς ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐλογία δίδοται δικαίοις. 66 Ps 9,25-27 Εἰ καὶ εδοξεν μακρὰν ἀφεστάναι καὶ ὑπερορᾶν θεὸς τοὺς θλιβομένους διὰ τὸ ταράττεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς ὑπερηφανίας, ἀλλ' ουν πάνυ ἀγανακτεῖ κατὰ τοῦ ὑπερηφάνου σκανδαλίσαντος καὶ (ινα κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ειπω) ἐμπυρίσαντος τὸν πτωχὸν καὶ διὰ τὸ κακῶς κεχρῆσθαι τοῖς ὑπάρξασιν αὐτῷ τῇ θεοῦ προνοίᾳ. τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἑξῆς λέξεων παρίσταται· ειρηται γὰρ Παρώξυνε τὸν