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and has commanded the judgements of a schoolmaster. But it seems to me that he here means the laws, those in heaven, those on earth, those in the sea, those under the earth, those under heaven. For not only man has received law, but all visible things: the sea, not to transgress the shores; the mountains, to be fixed; the earth, to stand still; and all things are similarly governed by their own laws. And all these things came to be by a command. Seed of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. It calls the same ones both this and that, as the one being descendants, and the other being called sons. And he called them chosen, as being, beyond all the nations, called the people of God. And this he has also shown through the things that follow. Since not all who are from 55.655 Israel are Israel; nor are all who are the seed of Abraham, children. For the Savior also said: I know that you are the seed of Abraham; and again: If you were the seed of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. For some are only seed; but others are imitators also through their ways, being chosen and being sons; which he did not say concerning the seed, but that they are Servants; but now he said both concerning the disciples; for they were both, servants as seed, and chosen as sons; according to this, These twelve Jesus chose, whom he also named apostles; and this, Did I not choose you, the twelve? And you will understand the special nature of the chosen from, Many are called, but few are chosen. He is the Lord our God; his judgements are in all the earth. For being the same God and Lord of all, and ruling over the whole inhabited world, he called these his own people. Therefore he commanded to declare the judgements of his mouth, because all are subject to his judgements; therefore he deemed not only Jews, but also all people worthy of the call. And another also says that the providence of our God governs the whole world with divine judgements. He remembered his covenant for ever; the word, which he commanded to a thousand generations. Through these things he teaches the lasting and permanent nature of the promises made to Abraham. For the word is not, as some have supposed, hyperbolic, but true and divine. And the God of all promised to bless all the nations in his seed; and his seed is the Lord Christ according to the flesh, who has eternal power and an indestructible kingdom. And the mention of a thousand generations also indicates this. For the word does not signify a number of years, but hints at the lasting and eternal multitude of generations, or also because of its affinity to the unit, as in, Thousands of prospering ones; and again, The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver. Which he made with Abraham; and of his oath to Isaac. And he established it to Jacob for a commandment, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. The divine Moses also remembered this oath. For God said, he says, to Abraham: By myself I have sworn; surely in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and, In your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed. By this oath he also reminds Isaac, and he confirms the covenants also with Jacob. And indeed he also fulfills these, by freeing their descendants from the slavery of the Egyptians through Moses, and by giving the promised land through Joshua the son of Nun, and concluding the end of the promise through the Lord Christ. Saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance. He called the dominion of the land a portion; for it is characteristic of possessors to subject the land to measurement. When they were few in number, very few, and sojourners in it. These things, he says, he promised to the fathers, being few and very easy to count. And through this he shows the power of the one who promises, that he was able to grant dominion over so much land even to so few. For he promised to those around Abraham, instead of their being few,

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καὶ παιδευτοῦ κεκριμένα παρήγγειλε. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι ἐνταῦθα τοὺς νόμους λέγειν, τοὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, τοὺς ἐν γῇ, τοὺς ἐν θαλάττῃ, τοὺς ὑπὸ γῆν, τοὺς ὑπ' οὐρανόν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνος ἄνθρωπος ἔλαβε νόμον, ἀλλὰ τὰ ὁρώμενα πάντα· ἡ θάλαττα, τὸ μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν τοὺς αἰγιαλούς· τὰ ὄρη, τὸ πεπηγέναι· ἡ γῆ, τὸ ἑστάναι· καὶ πάντα ὁμοίως τοῖς οἰκείοις διοικεῖται νόμοις. Καὶ ταῦτα ἅπαντα ἐπιτάγματι γέγονε Σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ, υἱοὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐκλεκτοὶ αὐτοῦ. Τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο καλεῖ, ὡς τοὺς μὲν ἀπογόνους, τοὺς δὲ υἱοὺς χρηματίσαντας. Ἐκλεκτοὺς δὲ προσηγόρευσεν, ὡς, παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη λαὸν κληθέντας Θεοῦ. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐπιφερομένων ἐδήλωσεν. Ἐπεὶ μὴ πάντες οἱ ἐξ 55.655 Ἰσραὴλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ· μηδ' ὅσοι σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ,πάντες τέκνα. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἔλεγεν· Οἶδα ὅτι σπέρμα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστε· καὶ πάλιν· Εἰ σπέρμα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐποιεῖτε. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, σπέρμα μόνον· οἱ δὲ καὶ διὰ τρόπων εἰσὶ μιμηταὶ, τυγχάνοντες ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ υἱοὶ ὄντες· ὅπερ οὐκ ἔφη περὶ τοῦ σπέρματος, ἀλλ' ὅτι ∆οῦλοι· ἑκάτε ρον δὲ νῦν εἶπε περὶ τῶν μαθητῶν· καὶ γὰρ ἦσαν ἀμ φότερα, καὶ δοῦλοι ὡς σπέρμα, καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ ὡς υἱοί· κατὰ τὸ, Τούτους τοὺς δώδεκα ἐξελέξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς, οὒς καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασε· καὶ τὸ, Οὐκ ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς τοὺς δώδεκα ἐξελεξάμην; Τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν νοή σεις ἐξαίρετον ἀπὸ τοῦ, Πολλοὶ κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί. Αὐτὸς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν· ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ. Ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὢν ἁπάντων Θεὸς καὶ Κύριος, καὶ πάσης δεσπόζων τῆς οἰκουμένης, τού τους ἴδιον λαὸν προσηγόρευσε. ∆ιὸ προσέταξεν ἀπαγ γεῖλαι τὰ κρίματα τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὸ πάντας ὑποκεῖσθαι τοῖς αὐτοῦ κρίμασι· διὸ οὐκ Ἰουδαίους μό νον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας ἠξίωσε κλήσεως. Καὶ ἄλλος δέ φησιν, ὡς ἡ πρόνοια τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν τὸν ἅπαντα κόσμον θείοις κρίμασι διοικεῖ. Ἐμνήσθη διὰ τὸν αἰῶνα διαθή κης αὐτοῦ· λόγου, οὗ ἐνετείλατο εἰς χιλίας γενεάς. Τὸ διαρκὲς καὶ μόνιμον τῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ γεγε-νημένων ὑποσχέσεων διὰ τούτων διδάσκει. Οὐ γὰρ, ὥς τινες ὑπέλαβον, ὑπερβολικὸς ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ' ἀληθὴς καὶ θεῖος. Ὑπέσχετο δὲ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐν τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ εὐλογήσειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη· σπέρμα δὲ αὐτοῦ, ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς κατὰ σάρκα, ὃς αἰώνιον ἔχει τὸ κρά τος καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀνώλεθρον. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τῶν χι λίων γενεῶν ἡ μνήμη παραδηλοῖ. Οὐ γὰρ ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸν ὁ λόγος σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ τὸ διαρκὲς καὶ αἰώνιον τῶν γε νεῶν τὸ πλῆθος αἰνίττεται, ἢ καὶ διὰ τὴν πρὸς μονάδα οἰκείωσιν, ὡς κἀν τῷ, Χιλιάδες εὐθηνούντων· καὶ πάλιν, Ἀγαθός μοι ὁ νόμος τοῦ στόματός σου ὑπὲρ χιλιάδας χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου. Ὃν διέθετο τῷ Ἀβραάμ· καὶ τοῦ ὅρκου αὐτοῦ τῷ Ἰσαάκ. Καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν τῷ Ἰακὼβ εἰς πρόσταγμα, καὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς διαθήκην αἰώνιον. Τοῦτον τὸν ὅρκον καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἐμνημόνευσε Μωϋσῆς. Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Ἀβραάμ· Κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὤμοσα· ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε, καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· καὶ, Ἐνευ λογηθήσονται ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς. Τούτῳ τῷ ὅρκῳ καὶ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἀναμιμνή σκει, βεβαιοῖ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἰακὼβ τὰς συνθήκας. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ πληροῖ ταύτας, διὰ μὲν Μωϋσέως τοὺς ἐκεί νων ἐκγόνους τῆς Αἰγυπτίων ἐλευθερώσας δουλείας, διὰ δὲ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην γῆν ἀποδοὺς, τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας διὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου συμπεράνας Χριστοῦ. Λέγων, Σοὶ δώσω τὴν γῆν Χαναὰν, σχοί νισμα κληρονομίας ὑμῶν. Σχοίνισμα τὴν τῆς γῆς ἐκάλεσε δεσποτείαν· τῶν κεκτημένων γὰρ ἴδιον, μέτρῳ τὴν γῆν ὑποβάλλειν. Ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀριθμῷ βραχεῖς, ὀλιγοστοὺς, καὶ παροίκους ἐν αὐτῇ. Ταῦτα δὲ, φησὶν, ὑπέσχετο τοῖς πατράσιν ὀλίγοις οὖσι καὶ σφόδρα εὐαριθμήτοις. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ διὰ τούτου τοῦ ὑπισχνου μένου τὴν δύναμιν, ὅτι καὶ τοῖς οὕτως ὀλίγοις τοσαύτης γῆς δεσποτείαν παρασχεῖν ἠδύνατο. Ἐπηγγείλατο γὰρ τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ἀντὶ μὲν τοῦ ὀλίγους αὐτοὺς εἶναι,