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of him, as a flower of the field, so he will flourish; for a wind has passed through it, and it will not exist, and its place will be known no more.” And it is possible to find countless other such things in the divine Scripture, repressing human pride. And here therefore the prophetic word wonders, crying out: “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you visit him?” For not only have you brought him into being, but you have also gifted him with well-being, and you are continually mindful, and you visit him when he is in a bad state. 6. "You have made him a little lower than the angels." Here he mentioned the sentence after the transgression. For by being mortal he is made lower than the angels. "You have crowned him with glory and honor. [7.] And you have set him over the works of your hands.” But these things our nature received after the incarnation of our God and Savior. “For by grace you have been saved,” as the divine Apostle says, “and he raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” 8, 9. "You have put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field. The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, that pass through the paths of the seas.” And this, he says, is an accurate proof of your philanthropy and power, that you filled the humble nature of men with so much wisdom as to rule not only over land animals, but also over birds, and swimming creatures, and amphibians, and to hunt the higher and deeper things by their contrivances; and to have under their control the things that pass through the air and are covered by the waters. Of these things, therefore, you have gifted all men with a common dominion. But the divine Word, having taken up our first-fruits, and having declared it his own temple, and having called it his own flesh, and having worked the ineffable union, sat down above every rule, and authority, 80.920 and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come; and subjected all things under his feet; not all sheep and oxen, but all creation, visible and invisible. And of these things the divine Apostle is a witness, crying out plainly: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.” And a little above: “For,” he says, “you have subjected all things under his feet.” And in the one to the Corinthians, “But when,” he says, “it says that all things have been put in subjection, it is plain that this is except for him who put all things in subjection to him.” For only the uncreated nature is separated from this subjection as free. But that which has received its being from this, of whatever kind it might be, whether visible or invisible, is subject to the Lord Christ both as God and as man. Such great honor has the nature of men received from the God of all. Therefore, he has again placed the introduction itself as the conclusion: 10. "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth."

INTERPRETATION OF THE 9TH PSALM. 1. "To the end, for the hidden things of the son, a psalm of David." Indeed the

Symmachus, a victory ode concerning the death of the son; and Aquila, to the victor of the youth of the son, and Theodotion, for the prime of the son. Therefore, since all have mentioned the son in agreement, they teach us that this psalm also contains a prophecy of the victory of the Lord Christ over death. For having conquered sin manfully and youthfully, and having given no occasion for death to take hold, he destroyed its power. But the Seventy called this mystery hidden, since it was hidden from all others, and from the apostles themselves. And the evangelist is a witness; for though the Lord had often said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to be crucified, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised;” the evangelist added: "And this was hidden from the

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αὐτοῦ, ὡσεὶ ἄνθος τοῦ ἀγροῦ οὕτως ἐξανθήσει· ὅτι πνεῦμα διῆλθεν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐχ ὑπάρξει, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκεται ἔτι ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ." Καὶ ἕτερα δὲ μυρία τοιαῦτα ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, τὸν ἀνθρώπειον καταστέλλοντα τύφον. Καὶ ἐν ταῦθα τοίνυν ὁ προφητικὸς θαυμάζει λόγος βοῶν· "Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν;" Οὐ γὰρ μόνον εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρήγαγες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι δεδώρησαι, καὶ μεμνημένος διατελεῖς, καὶ κακῶς διακείμενον ἐπισκέπτῃ. ϛʹ. "Ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέ λους." Ἐνταῦθα τῆς μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐμνημό νευσεν ἀποφάσεως. Τῷ θνητῷ γὰρ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἠλάττωται. "∆όξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτόν. [ζʹ.] Καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου." Ταῦτα δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σω τῆρος ἡμῶν ἡ ἡμετέρα ἐδέξατο φύσις. "Χάριτι γάρ ἐστε σεσωσμένοι," ᾗ φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστο λος, "καὶ συνήγειρεν, καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ." ηʹ, θʹ. "Πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐ τοῦ· πρόβατα καὶ βόας ἁπάσας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ κτήνη τοῦ πεδίου. Τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας τῆς θαλάσσης, τὰ διαπορευόμενα τρίβους θαλασ σῶν." Καὶ αὕτη δέ φησι τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας τε καὶ δυνάμεως ἀπόδειξις ἀκριβὴς, τὸ τὴν εὐτελῆ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσιν τοσαύτης ἐμπλῆσαι σοφίας, ὥστε μὴ μόνον τῶν χερσαίων ζώων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πτηνῶν, καὶ νηκτῶν, καὶ ἀμφιβίων κρατεῖν, καὶ τὰ ὑψηλότερα καὶ βαθύτερα ταῖς ἐπινοίαις θηρεύειν· καὶ τὰ τὸν ἀέρα διαπερῶντα, καὶ τοῖς ὕδασι κα λυπτόμενα ὑποχείρια ἔχειν. Τούτων μὲν οὖν κοι νὴν ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις τὴν δεσποτείαν δεδώρησαι. Τὴν δὲ ἡμετέραν ἀπαρχὴν ὁ θεῖος Λόγος ἀνειλη φὼς, καὶ ναὸν ἀποφήνας οἰκεῖον, καὶ σάρκα οἰκείαν προσαγορεύσας, καὶ τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον ἐργασάμενος ἕνωσιν, ἐκάθισεν ἐπάνω πάσης ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐξουσίας, 80.920 καὶ κυριότητος, καὶ παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου, οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλ λοντι· καὶ πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· οὐ πρόβατα καὶ βόας ἁπάσας, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ὁρω μένην καὶ ἀόρατον κτίσιν. Καὶ τούτων μάρτυς ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος διαῤῥήδην βοῶν· "Τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἰησοῦν, διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφα νωμένον." Καὶ μικρὸν ἀνωτέρω· "Πάντα γὰρ, φη σὶν, ὑπέταξας ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ." Καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους, "Ὅταν δὲ, φησὶν, εἴπῃ, ὅτι πάντα ὑποτέτακται, δῆλον ὅτι ἐκτὸς τοῦ ὑποτάξαντος αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα." Μόνη γὰρ ἡ ἄκτιστος φύσις τῆς ὑποταγῆς ταύτης ὡς ἐλευθέρα κεχώρισται. Ἡ δέ γε παρὰ ταύτης τὸ εἶναι δεξαμένη, ὁποία ἂν εἴη, εἴτε ὁρατὴ, εἴτε ἀόρατος, καὶ ὡς Θεῷ, καὶ ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ὑπόκειται τῷ ∆εσπότῃ Χριστῷ. Τοσαύτην ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσις παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐδέξατο τὴν τιμήν. ∆ιὸ πάλιν αὐτὸ τὸ προοίμιον ἀκροτε λεύτιον τέθεικεν· ιʹ. "Κύριε ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, ὡς θαυμαστὸν τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ."

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ Θʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων τοῦ υἱοῦ, ψαλμὸς τῷ ∆αβίδ." Ὁ μὲν

Σύμμαχος, ἐπινίκιον περὶ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ· ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας, τῷ νικοποιῷ νεανεότητος τοῦ υἱοῦ, καὶ ὁ Θεοδο τίων, ὑπὲρ ἀκμῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ. Συμφώνως τοίνυν ἅπαντες τοῦ υἱοῦ μνημονεύσαντες, διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς, ὡς προφητείαν καὶ οὗτος ὁ ψαλμὸς περιέχει τῆς κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου νίκης τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χρι στοῦ. Ἀνδρικῶς γὰρ καὶ νεανικῶς νικήσας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ λαβῆς ἀφορμὴν οὐδεμίαν δεδωκὼς τῷ θανάτῳ, κατέλυσεν αὐτοῦ τὸ κράτος. Κρύφιον δὲ τοῦτο τὸ μυστήριον οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα προσηγό ρευσαν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας, καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐλάνθανε. Καὶ μάρτυς ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· τοῦ γὰρ Κυρίου πολλάκις αὐτοῖς εἰρηκότος, "Ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθήσεται εἰς τὸ σταυ ρωθῆναι, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθήσεται·" ἐπήγαγεν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· "Καὶ ἦν τοῦτο κεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν