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shows the connection of the building. Being built, it says, upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. That is, the apostles and the prophets are the foundation. And he places first the apostles who were last in time; that is, showing and saying this, that both these and 62.44 those are the foundation, and the whole is one building and one root. Consider the Greeks having the patriarchs as a foundation. Here he rather speaks of the more essential thing, than when he speaks of grafting; there he rather touches upon it. Then he adds, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone; showing that Christ is the one who holds everything together. For the cornerstone holds together both the walls and the foundations. In whom all the building. See how he has joined it; and shows Him at one time holding together and organizing the whole body from above, at another time upholding the building from below, and being the root. But by saying, He created in Himself one new man, through this he showed that through Himself he joined both walls, and again that in Him it was created. And, Firstborn, it says, of all creation; that is, He Himself upholds all things. In whom all the building fitly framed together. Whether you speak of the roof, or the walls, or anything else, He Himself upholds the whole. And elsewhere he calls Him a foundation; For other foundation, it says, can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. In whom all the building, it says, fitly framed together. Here he shows the exactness, and points out that it is not possible to be placed otherwise, unless one has lived with great exactness. For it grows, it says, into a holy temple in whom you also, it says, are built together. He says it more continuously, Into a holy temple, for a habitation of God in the Spirit. What then does the building mean? That God may dwell in this temple. For each of you is a temple, and all of you together, and He dwells as in the body of Christ, and dwells as in a spiritual temple. For this reason he did not say, approach, but, access; for we did not come of ourselves, but were brought by Him; For no one, He says, comes to the Father, except through me; and again, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. You are built together into a holy temple. Again he returns to the former example, and joins them to the saints, nowhere letting them be detached from Christ. Therefore this building is until the coming; therefore for this reason Paul said, As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation; and again here, Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ. Do you see that the examples are in relation to the subjects, and should not be taken simply? He said this from examples, as when Christ calls the Father a husbandman, and Himself a root. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. He spoke of the great care of Christ; he proceeds then also to his own, which though it be small, and very much nothing in comparison to that, is yet sufficient also to attract. For this reason I also am bound, he says. For if my Master was crucified for you, much more am I bound. Not only was He bound, but He also allows His servants to be bound for you Gentiles. Great is the emphasis; not only do we not abhor you any longer, but we are also bound for your sakes, he says, and I have enjoyed so great a grace. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of 62.45 God which was given me for you. He alludes to the prophecy spoken to Ananias concerning him in Damascus, when He said: Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before Gentiles and kings. He calls the revelation a dispensation of grace; that is, I did not learn it from man; He deemed me, one person, worthy to receive a revelation for your sakes. For He Himself said to me, he says: Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. He rightly called it a dispensation; for it was a great dispensation, to call from above one who was in no way persuadable, and to say: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? and to blind him with that ineffable light. If indeed you have heard, he says, of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given me for you, how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before

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οἰκοδομῆς τὴν συναφὴν δείκνυσιν. Ἐποικοδομηθέντες, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν. Τουτέστι, Θεμέλιος οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται. Καὶ πρῶτον τίθησι τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ὄντας τοῖς χρόνοις· ἤτοι τοῦτο δεικνὺς καὶ λέγων, ὅτι θεμέλιός εἰσι καὶ οὗτοι καὶ 62.44 ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ μία οἰκοδομὴ τὸ πᾶν καὶ ῥίζα μία. Ἐννόησον τοὺς Ἕλληνας θεμέλιον ἔχοντας τοὺς πατριάρχας. Ἐνταῦθα μᾶλλον αὐτὸ τὸ κυριώτερον λέγει, ἢ ὅταν ἐγκεντρισμὸν λέγῃ· μᾶλλον ἐκεῖ καθάπτεται. Εἶτα ἐπάγει, Ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· δηλῶν ὅτι ὁ τὸ πᾶν συνέχων ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός. Ὁ γὰρ λίθος ὁ ἀκρογωνιαῖος καὶ τοὺς τοίχους συνέχει, καὶ τοὺς θεμελίους. Ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα οἰκοδομή. Ὅρα πῶς αὐτὸ συνῆψε· καὶ δείκνυσι ποτὲ μὲν ἄνωθεν κατέχοντα τὸ πᾶν σῶμα καὶ συγκροτοῦντα, ποτὲ δὲ κάτωθεν διαβαστάζοντα τὴν οἰκοδομὴν, καὶ ῥίζαν ὄντα. Τὸ δὲ, Ἔκτισεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰπὼν, διὰ τούτου ἐδήλωσεν, ὅτι δι' ἑαυτοῦ συνῆψεν ἑκατέρους τοὺς τοίχους, καὶ πάλιν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη. Καὶ, Πρωτότοκος, φησὶ, πάσης κτίσεως· τουτέστι, πάντα αὐτὸς διαβαστάζει. Ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα οἰκοδομὴ συναρμολογουμένη. Κἂν τὸν ὄροφον εἴπῃς, κἂν τοὺς τοίχους, κἂν ὁτιοῦν ἕτερον, τὸ πᾶν διαβαστάζει αὐτός. Ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ αὐτὸν θεμέλιον καλεῖ· Θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον, φησὶν, οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα οἰκοδομὴ, φησὶ, συναρμολογουμένη. Ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἐμφαίνει, καὶ δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔνι ἄλλως τεθῆναι, μὴ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀκριβείας βιώσαντα. Αὔξει γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς, φησὶ, συνοικοδομεῖσθε. Συνεχέστερον αὐτὸ λέγει, Εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον, εἰς κατοικητήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Πνεύματι. Τί δὴ βούλεται ἡ οἰκοδομή; Ὥστε τὸν Θεὸν ἐνοικῆσαι ἐν τῷ ναῷ τούτῳ. Ἕκαστος γὰρ ὑμῶν ναός ἐστι, καὶ κοινῇ πάντες, καὶ ὡς ἐν σώματι Χριστοῦ οἰκεῖ, καὶ ὡς ἐν ναῷ πνευματικῷ οἰκεῖ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπε, Πρόσοδον, ἀλλὰ, Προσαγωγήν· οὐ γὰρ ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν προσήλθομεν, ἀλλ' ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προσήχθημεν· Οὐδεὶς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, εἰ μὴ δι' ἐμοῦ· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ ζωή. Εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον συνοικοδομεῖσθε. Πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ πρότερον ἄνεισιν ὑπόδειγμα, καὶ συνάπτει αὐτοὺς τοῖς ἁγίοις, οὐδαμοῦ ἀφεὶς ἀπηρτῆσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἄρα μέχρι τῆς παρουσίας ἡ οἰκοδομὴ αὕτη· ἄρα διὰ τοῦτο Παῦλος ἔλεγεν, Ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα· καὶ πάλιν ἐνταῦθα, Θεμέλιον ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστι Χριστός. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὰ παραδείγματα πρὸς τὰ ὑποκείμενα, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐκλαμβάνειν χρή; Ἀπὸ παραδειγμάτων τοῦτο εἶπεν, ὡς ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς γεωργὸν λέγῃ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ῥίζαν ἑαυτόν. Τούτου χάριν ἐγὼ Παῦλος ὁ δέσμιος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν. Εἶπε τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν κηδεμονίαν τὴν πολλήν· ἐκβαίνει λοιπὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, μικρὰν μὲν οὖσαν, καὶ σφόδρα οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐκείνην, ἱκανὴν δὲ καὶ ταύτην ἐπισπάσασθαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐγὼ δέδεμαι, φησίν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ∆εσπότης ὁ ἐμὸς ἐσταυρώθη δι' ὑμᾶς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐγὼ δέδεμαι. Οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς ἐδέθη, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ δούλους δεσμεῖσθαι συγχωρεῖ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν. Πολλὴ ἡ ἔμφασις· οὐ μόνον ὑμᾶς οὐ βδελυττόμεθα λοιπὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεσμούμεθα δι' ὑμᾶς, φησὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ τοσαύτης ἀπέλαυσα χάριτος. Εἴ γε ἠκούσατε τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ 62.45 Θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς. Τὴν πρόῤῥησιν αἰνίττεται τὴν πρὸς τὸν Ἀνανίαν ῥηθεῖσαν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν ∆αμασκῷ, ἡνίκα ἔλεγε· Πορεύου, ὅτι σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς μοί ἐστιν οὗτος τοῦ βαστάσαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐνώπιον ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλέων. Οἰκονομίαν χάριτός φησι τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν· τουτέστι, Οὐ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου ἔμαθον· κατηξίωσε καὶ ἐμοὶ ἑνὶ ὄντι ἀποκαλύψαι δι' ὑμᾶς. Αὐτὸς γάρ μοι εἶπε, φησί· Πορεύου, ὅτι εἰς ἔθνη μακρὰν ἐξαποστελῶ σε. Τὴν οἰκονομίαν καλῶς οὕτως εἶπεν· οἰκονομία γὰρ ἦν μεγάλη, τὸ μηδαμόθεν πειθόμενον ἄνωθεν καλέσαι, καὶ εἰπεῖν· Σαῦλε, Σαῦλε, τί με διώκεις; καὶ τὸ πηρῶσαι τῷ φωτὶ ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἀποῤῥήτῳ. Εἴ γε ἠκούσατε, φησὶ, τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς δοθείσης μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καθὼς προέγραψα