outcome is uncertain. But for an allegorical interpretation, it must be said that 〚Jesus formerly walked openly among the Jews through the prophets, but now no longer. For there is not in them

the word of God, but has departed from them into the wilderness, about which it is said that〛 “many are the “children of the desolate one more than of her who has a husband”; near Ephraim, which is interpreted as “fruitfulness”; being the brother of Manasseh the elder, who is “from forgetfulness,” for after the people “from forgetfulness” the “fruitfulness” from the Gentiles has been born. And there he remained with his disciples; for he is present with “fruitfulness.” And at the birth of Ephraim, our Lord, the giver of grain who begat him, would say, he who humbled himself and became obedient unto death; “God has made me fruitful in the land of my “humiliation.” 87 He who follows him, by following him serves him. He who serves him is his servant; and because of this, where the Word is, he is also. The promise is not to be understood bodily and locally. But if, as in bodily places, there is a place of the aether in the purest and most translucent regions by the subtlety of light, one would not err that those who are preeminent among those in the body, receiving according to their worth in the resurrection a body of exceeding and excelling glory, come to be in those regions as being most suitable for the study of the theorems of the Word of God. And in concept it is one thing for his servant to be where the Word of God is, but in reality it is the same thing as to be honored by the Father. For by the honor from the Father, the one being honored comes to be where the Word of God is. 88 All the powers of Satan together with their leader campaigned against the Savior at the time of the saving passion; seeing them, the soul of the Savior was troubled in a human way, not fearing death, although this too is human, but so as not to be defeated. For Christ allowed it to suffer at times its own affections, and since he was about to become the cause of eternal salvation for those who obey him, for this reason his soul was grieved and troubled concerning these things, not, as one might suppose, being overcome by the disturbance, but momentarily; for this is what "now" signifies; for as soon as it began it also ceased, and, so to speak, it was a point in time. See whether he himself also prays for the struggle against the evil powers warring against him to happen not in an extension of time but in the "now," which was sufficient for the soul of Jesus for the entire power of the evil one to be conquered. 89 His passion on the cross was the judgment of this whole world, since “having made peace through the blood of his cross, “whether things on earth or things in heaven,” after triumphing on the wood, having disarmed the principalities and powers, he sat down in the heavenly places, restoring all things to the end that is fitting and proper for each. Since, therefore, the economy on the cross contained the judgment concerning each of the beings, for this reason, when the time of his passion approached, he said, “Now is the judgment of this world.” 90 Since the passion of our Savior occurred for the purification of the foreknown in whom the world was to be judged, for this reason it has been said, “Now is the judgment of this world,” as if he were saying: The time is at hand for the manifestation of those who judge the world; or since at the time of the saving passion the tyrant was about to be cast down, it has been said, “Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out,” or perhaps into the outer darkness. They convict him of ignorance concerning the prophets and show their own inaccurate knowledge of what is written. For they have taken the fact that the Christ remains forever from such sayings; but the mystery of his death happening in between and the temporary separation of the soul from the body they did not understand nor examine accurately. They should have known the reason, that of the two prophesied comings of Christ, the crowd of the Jews hoped for the more glorious one which would be at the consummation of the age, but the one before it they did not understand at all. Therefore their house is left desolate. 91 Since as

ἐκβάσεως ἄδηλον. πρὸς δὲ ἀναγωγὴν ῥητέον ὅτι 〚Ἰησοῦς πάλαι μὲν παρρησίᾳ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις περιεπάτει διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, νῦν δὲ οὐκέτι. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς

λόγος θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἀπῆλθεν ἀπ' αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, περὶ ἧς λέγεται ὅτι〛 «πολλὰ τὰ «τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα»· ἐγγὺς Ἐφραίμ, ἥτις ἑρμηνεύεται «καρποφορία»· ἀδελφὸς ὢν Μανασσῆ πρεσβυτέρου τοῦ «ἀπὸ λήθης», μετὰ γὰρ τὸν «ἀπὸ λήθης» λαὸν γεγέννηται ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν «καρποφορία». κἀκεῖ ἔμεινεν μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν· πάρεστι γὰρ τῇ «καρποφορίᾳ». καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει μὲν τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ εἴποι ἂν ὁ γεν νήσας αὐτὸν σιτομέτρης ἡμῶν κύριος, ὁ ταπεινώσας ἑαυτὸν καὶ γε νόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου· «Ηὔξησέ με ὁ θεὸς ἐν γῇ τῆς τα «πεινώσεώς μου». 87 Ὁ ἑπόμενος αὐτῷ τῷ ἕπεσθαι αὐτῷ διακονεῖ αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ διακο νῶν αὐτῷ διάκονος αὐτοῦ ἐστι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὅπου ἔστιν ὁ λόγος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔστιν. οὐ σωματικῶς δὲ καὶ τοπικῶς τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν νοητέον. εἰ δὲ ὡς ἐν σωματικοῖς τόποις ἔστι τις τόπος τοῦ αἰθέρος ἐν τοῖς καθαρωτάτοις καὶ λεπτότητι φωτὸς διαυγεστέροις, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τις τῶν ἐν σώματι τοὺς διαφέροντας ἀπολαμβάνοντας κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει σῶμα δόξης ὑπερεχούσης καὶ διαφερούσης ἐν ἐκείνοις γίνεσθαι τοῖς χωρίοις ὡς ἐπιτηδειοτάτοις πρὸς τὴν σχο λὴν τῶν θεωρημάτων τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. καὶ τῇ μὲν ἐπινοίᾳ ἕτερόν ἐστι τὸ ὅπου ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἐκεῖ εἶναι τὸν διάκονον αὐτοῦ, τῷ δὲ πράγματι ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ τιμᾶσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός. τῇ γὰρ τιμῇ τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ τιμώμενον γίνεται ὅπου ὁ θεὸς λόγος. 88 Πᾶσαι αἱ τοῦ Σατανᾶ δυνάμεις ἅμα τοῦ αὐτῆς ἡγεμόνος κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἐπεστράτευσε τῷ σωτῆρι· ἃς ὁρῶσα ἡ τοῦ σωτῆρος ψυχὴ ἀνθρωπίνως ἐταράττετο, οὐ τὸν θάνατον δει λιῶσα, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἀνθρώπινον, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ ἡττηθῆναι. ἐνεδίδου γὰρ αὐτῇ ὁ χριστὸς καὶ πάσχειν ἔσθ' ὅτε τὰ ἴδια, καὶ ἐπείπερ ἔμελλε τοῖς ὑπακούουσιν αὐτῷ αἴτιος σωτηρίας αἰωνίου γίνεσθαι, διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τούτων ἐλυπεῖτο αὐτοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ ἐταράττετο, οὐχ ὡς ἄν τις νομίσειεν ὑπὸ τῆς ταραχῆς κατακρατούμενος ἀλλ' ἀκαριαίως· τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ νῦν· ἅμα γὰρ τῷ ἄρξασθαι καὶ ἐπαύσατο, καὶ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν σημεῖον ἦν χρόνου. ὅρα δὲ μήποτε καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς τὰς στρατευομένας κατ' αὐτοῦ δυνάμεις πονηρὰς ἀγῶνα εὔχεται γενέσθαι οὐκ ἐν παρατάσει χρόνου ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ νῦν, ὃ τῇ Ἰησοῦ ψυχῇ ἤρκει πρὸς τὸ νικηθῆναι πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ πονηροῦ. 89 Τὸ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ πάθημα αὐτοῦ κρίσις ἦν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου παντός, ἐπείπερ «εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ «εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς εἴτε τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς», μετὰ θριαμβεύσεως ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ, ἃς ἀπεξεδύσατο ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐξουσίας, ἐκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρα νίοις, ἀποκαθιστὰς πάντα ἐπὶ τὸ ἑκάστῳ ἁρμόζον καὶ πρέπον τέλος. ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ συνέχον τὴν περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ὄντων κρίσιν ἡ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ οἰκονομία ἦν, διὰ τοῦτο, ἐγγίσαντος τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ πάθος καιροῦ, εἶπεν τὸ «Νῦν ἡ κρίσις ἐστὶ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου». 90 Ἐπεὶ τὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πάθος ἐπὶ καθαρισμῷ τῶν προ εγνωσμένων ἐγίνετο ἐν οἷς ὁ κόσμος κρίνεσθαι ἔμελλε, διὰ τοῦτο λέ λεκται τὸ «Νῦν κρίσις ἐστὶ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου», ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν· Ἐνέστη καιρὸς ἀναδείξεως τῶν κρινούντων τὸν κόσμον· ἢ ἐπεὶ τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἔμελλεν ὁ τύραννος καθαιρεθήσεσθαι, λέλεκται τὸ «Νῦν ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου ἐκβληθήσεται» ἢ τάχα κατὰ τὸ ἐξώ τερον σκότος. Ἄγνοιαν δὲ αὐτῷ ἐλέγχουσι τὴν περὶ τοὺς προφήτας καὶ τὴν οὐκ ἀκριβῆ γνῶσιν τῶν γεγραμμένων ὑποδεικνύουσιν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένειν τὸν χριστὸν ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων εἰλήφασι φω νῶν· τὸ δὲ τοῦ θανάτου μυστήριον μεταξὺ γινόμενον καὶ τὴν πρὸς ὀλίγον διάλυσιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος οὐ συνίεσαν οὐδὲ ἐξη κρίβουν. τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν αὐτοὺς ἔδει εἰδέναι ὅτι δύο προφητευομένων Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημιῶν, τὴν μὲν ἐνδοξοτέραν καὶ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ ἐσομένην τοῦ αἰῶνος ὁ ὄχλος τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἤλπιζε, τὴν δὲ πρὸ αὐτῆς οὐ πάνυ τι συνίει. διὸ καταλείπεται ὁ οἶκος αὐτῶν. 91 Ἐπείπερ ὡς