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and there is no more besides me. These things have been said by us, in such a context as this, because we wished to establish that, indeed, indisputably it was neither the God of all, nor any angelic power, that was speaking to Moses, but the divine Word Himself, whom we have precisely believed to be, after the Father and Lord of all, the second God and Lord of all things; just as indeed the evangelist John teaches us more clearly, saying, In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God; but it would be a matter of much and not of the present 46 leisure to clarify what the place and the rock might be concerning which the Lord said, Behold, a place by me, and you shall stand upon the rock; but the apostle indicated the rock, saying, and the rock was Christ. And I suppose the place to be none other than the rock, being the same as that which Jacob came upon, where it is written, And Jacob went out from the well of the oath, and went toward Haran. And he came upon a place where, also seeing in a vision the ladder and the lord established upon it, upon awakening he says, that the Lord is in this place; and again he said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; and this is the gate of heaven. But also, what is the face of God the Word, which Moses, the law, being human and more corporeal, is not able to see; and what are His back parts, which alone the law, being typical and symbolic of intelligible things, was able to contain; and how was it said, I will cover you with my hand, a veil and covering being placed upon the law, so that through this veil one can see the things behind, but no longer the things that precede and are superior; he who cares to investigate these things will know by paying attention to them privately in due season. Ψ. From Numbers, the 3rd prophecy of Balaam. 13. A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall have dominion over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased; God led him out of Egypt; his is as the glory of a unicorn; he shall devour the nations 47 of his enemies, and shall drain out their marrow, and with his arrows he will shoot down the enemy. Lying down, he rested as a lion, and as a cub; who shall rouse him? They that bless you, are blessed; and they that curse you, are cursed. Christ is the one born according to the flesh from the seed of Israel, and who has had dominion over many nations; for what nation has there been that did not know of servitude under him, as the word of his disciples went forth into all the earth, and their words to the peoples of the inhabited world? Indeed, among most even of the barbarians, it is possible to see many who through faith in him have come to the knowledge of the one God, and for their piety toward him have endured all kinds of punishments, even up to death. This prophecy, therefore, is clearly shown to have its fulfillment in our Savior; or let someone else come forward and show to whom these things might be referred; but to us it is manifest that the spiritual kingdom and dominion of our Savior also increases daily among the souls that have received his word; and at his advent the kingdom of Gog was also exalted, which some have supposed to be the Roman empire, but others, tropologically, the heavenly citizenship according to the gospel, and the contemplation of spiritual doctrines, and for this reason they have taken Gog, which is interpreted as 'rooftops', to signify this; but also 'God led him out of Egypt', literally when Joseph, having been warned, returned from Egypt, taking Mary along with the child Jesus, to the land of Israel, 48 fulfilling both the present prophecy and the one in Hosea according to the Hebrew and the interpretation of Aquila, which says, Out of Egypt I called my son; and spiritually, when the Father led him, taking him from the spiritual Egypt and the places here below up to the heavens; and the so-called glory of unicorns in the Savior alludes to the divinity of the paternal monarchy in him. After this it is said, he shall devour the nations

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καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι πλῆν ἐμοῦ. Ταῦτα δ' ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν τηλικούτοις εἴρηται παραστῆσαι βουλομένοις, ὅτι δὴ ἀναμφιλέκτως οὔτε ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, οὔτε ἀγγελική τις δύναμις ἦν ἡ χρηματίζουσα τῷ Μωσεῖ, αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεῖος Λόγος, ὃν ἀκριβῶς πεπιστεύκαμεν μετὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Πατέρα καὶ Κύριον δεύτερον εἶναι τῶν ἁπάντων Θεόν τε καὶ Κύριον· ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης σαφέστερον ἡμᾶς παιδεύει λέγων, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος· καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· πολλῆς δ' ἂν γένοιτο καὶ οὐχὶ τῆς 46 παρούσης σχολῆς σαφηνίζειν τίς ἄρ' εἴη ὁ τόπος καὶ ἡ πέτρα περὶ ὧν εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, Ἰδοὺ τόπος παρ' ἐμοὶ καὶ στήσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας· ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἀπόστολος τὴν πέτραν ἐδήλωσεν εἰπὼν, ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός. Οὐκ ἄλλον δὲ τῆς πέτρας ὄντα καὶ τὸν τόπον ὑπολαμβάνω τὸν αὐτὸν τυγχάνοντα τῷ ἀπαντήσαντι τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἔνθα γέγραπται, Ἐξῆλθεν δὲ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἀπὸ τοῦφρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου, καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Χαρράν. Καὶ ἀπήντησεν τόπῳ ἔνθα καὶ ἰδὼν ἐν ὁράματι τὴν κλίμακα καὶ τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐστηριγμένον κύριον, διυπνισθεὶς φησὶν, ὅτι ἔστιν Κύριος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ· καὶ πάλιν εἶπεν, ὡς φοβερὸς ὁ τόπος οὗτος, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἄλλ' ἢ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ πύλη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τί τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, ὃ μὴ δύναται Μωσῆς ὁ νόμος, ἅτε ἀνθρώπινος καὶ σωματικώτερος ὢν, θεωρεῖν· τίνα τε τὰ ὀπίσθια αὐτοῦ, ἃ μόνον χωρεῖν οἷός τε ἦν ὁ τυπικὸς καὶ τῶν νοητῶν συμβολικῶς κὸς νόμος· πῶς τε εἴρηται τὸ, σκεπάσω τῇ χειρί μου ἐπὶ σὲ, καλύμματος καὶ σκέπης ἐπιτιθεμένου τῷ νόμῳ, ὡς διὰ τοῦτο τὸ καλύμμα τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω δύνασθαι ὁρᾶν, οὐκέτι δὲ τὰ προηγούμενα καὶ διαφέροντα· ἰδίᾳ κατὰ καιρὸν, ᾧ μέλει τῆς τούτων ἐρεύνης, ἐπιστήσας εἴσεται. Ψ. Ἐκ τῶν ἀριθμῶν τῆς Γʹ τοῦ Βαλαὰμ προφητείας. ΙΓʹ. Ἐξελεύσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ κυριεύσει ἐθνῶν πολλῶν· καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ἡ Γὼγ βασιλεία, καὶ αὐξηθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ· Θεὸς ὡδήγησεν αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, ὡς δόξαν μονοκέρωτος αὐτῷ· ἔδεται ἔθνη 47 ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ πάχη αὐτῶν ἐκμυελιεῖ, καὶ ταῖς βολίσιν αὐτοῦ κατατοξεύει ἐχθρόν. Κατακλιθεὶς ἀνεπαύσατο ὡς λέων, καὶ ὡς σκύμνος· τίς ἀναστήσει αὐτόν; οἱ εὐλογοῦντές σε, ηὐλόγηνται· καὶ οἱ καταρώμενοί σε, κεκατήρανται. Χριστός ἐστιν ὁ ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰσραὴλ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα γεννηθεὶς, καὶ κυριεύσας ἐθνῶν πολλῶν· ποῖον γὰρ ὑπῆρξεν ἔθνος ἀγνοῆσαν τὴν ὑπ' αὐτὸν δουλείαν, εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξελθόντος τοῦ λόγου τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὰ σπέρματα τῆς οἰκουμένης τῶν ῥημάτων αὐτῶν; Παρὰ γ' οὖν πλείστοις καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν βαρβάρων πολλούς ἐστιν ἰδεῖν διὰ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς Θεοῦ γνῶσιν ἐληλυθότας, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐσεβείας παντοίας μέχρι καὶ θανάτου κολάσεις ὑπομείναντας. Πέρας ἔχουσα τοίνυν καὶ αὕτη σαφῶς ἡ προφητεία ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Σωτῆρος ἀποδείκνυται· ἢ παραστήτω τίς ἄλλος ἐπιδεικνὺς ἐπί τινα ἂν ταῦτα ἀναφέροιτο· καθ' ἡμᾶς δὲ πρόδηλον, ὡς καὶ αὔξεται ὁσημέραι τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἡ νοητὴ βασιλεία τε καὶ δεσποτεία παρὰ ταῖς ὑποδεξαμέναις τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ψυχαῖς· ὑψώθη δὲ κατὰ τὴν παρουσίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ Γὼγ βασιλεία, ἣν ὑπειλήφασί τινες εἶναι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν, ἄλλοι δὲ τροπικῶς τὴν κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐπουράνιον πολιτείαν, καὶ τὴν τῶν νοητῶν δογμάτων θεωρίαν, διὰ τοῦτο Γὼγ, ὅπερ ἐρμηνεύεται δώματα, σημαίνεσθαι ἐξειλήφασιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ὡδήγησεν αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, ῥητῶς μὲν ὅτε χρηματισθεὶς ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου παραλαβὼν τὴν Μαριὰμ ἅμα τῷ παιδὶ Ἰησοῦ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς γῆν Ἰσραὴλ 48 πληρουμένης τῆς τε νῦν καὶ τῆς ἐν Ὡσηὲ κατὰ τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν καὶ τὴν Ἀκύλου ἑρμηνείαν προφητείας φασκούσης, Ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου· καὶ κατὰ διάνοιαν δὲ, ὁπηνίκα ἐκ τῆς νοητῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῶν τῇδε τόπων ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἅμα λαμβάνων αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ ὡδήγησεν· ἡ δὲ λεγομένη δόξα μονοκερώτων ἐν τῷ Σωτῆρι τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ θεότητα τῆς πατρικῆς αἰνίττεται μοναρχίας. Μετὰ ταῦτα εἴρηται, ἔδεται ἔθνη