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in other judgments concerning contracts and partnerships, one must not look at persons; so also among those who deliberate, one must not look to office and wealth, but to an articulate mind and one possessing a good conscience. It must be undertaken to understand, if possible, concerning the Jews the things set forth, as they hasten to put to shame the counsel of the Savior, by considering him to be some poor man, and not the richness of divinity. For they always both contradict his teaching and slander his wondrous powers, as not having come about by divine power, but from some other source. Who will give from Sion the salvation of Israel? When the Lord restores the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice, and Israel will be glad. Since all had turned aside and at the same time become worthless, it was time to turn the discourse to prayer, so as to speak in the manner of an entreaty: Who will give from Sion the salvation of Israel? For there is need of him henceforth, the one who grants remission of sins, the cause of eternal salvation. This salvation, which according to the flesh came from the seed of David, has been given from Sion; For the deliverer shall come out of Sion, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. To this you will take: From Sion is the comeliness of his beauty, it is possible to understand; that the salvation has also come from the heavenly Sion; since in it Christ is said to have his kingdom. Wherefore also our aim and the hope of the high calling is the kingdom of heaven. Then next he presents the freedom from evils that is to be brought about for all men through this salvation. And see in what manner, when some are redeemed, he says others rejoice: for when the captivity of the Lord's people has been set free, Jacob, he says, will rejoice, and Israel will be glad. Therefore, when the souls long ago held captive by demonic deceit are about to obtain freedom through the salvation of God, and when from all the nations they are about to turn to the Lord, the righteous and prophets who long ago rested with God, being themselves the true Israel and the true Jacob, will rejoice and be glad, because their prophecies concerning us are fulfilled, and because they rejoice with our salvation. Wherefore also Simeon, having said concerning the Savior, that he will be a light for revelation to the Gentiles, added, and the glory of your people Israel. TO THE END. A PSALM OF DAVID. 14. Lord, who shall sojourn in your tabernacle? And who shall dwell in your holy mountain? Proceeding from what is near at hand, he describes the 23.149 perfect man. A sojourning is a temporary way of life in hope of something better. Wherefore David also says: I am a sojourner and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were. For Abraham was a sojourner, not possessing even a footstep of land, but with difficulty purchasing a tomb. This indeed is a symbol that it is fitting for one living in the flesh to be a sojourner, but when passing from it, to rest in one's own places. And he calls him blessed who sojourns among foreigners, not being attached to the things on earth as if they were his own. The tabernacle of God is the flesh given by him to the soul of man for a dwelling. Who then, using it as something not his own, will deliver it up fruitful to the one who gave it, so that it might also become a tabernacle of God who dwells in the saints? Then he proceeds to the greater question: And who shall dwell in your holy mountain? Not in the earthly Sion, as it seems to the Jews, but that about which Paul says: You have come to the mountain of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore, one who has passed beyond this flesh and has put to death his members that are on the earth, having achieved sanctification, will dwell in the holy city; for which David, desiring it, said: I will pass through in the place of the wonderful tabernacle even to the house of
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τοῖς ἄλλοις κρίμασι τοῖς γινομένοις περὶ συναλλάγματα καὶ κοινωνίας οὐκ εἰς πρόσωπα βλέπειν δεῖ· οὕτως ἐν τοῖς βουλευομένοις οὐκ εἰς ἀρχὴν καὶ περιουσίαν σκοπητέον· ἀλλ' εἰς νοῦν διηρθρωμένον καὶ τὸ εὐσυνείδητον ἔχοντα. Ἐπιστατέον ἐκλαβεῖν, εἰ δυνατὸν, περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὰ προκείμενα, τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος βουλὴν καταισχῦναι σπευδόντων, τῷ ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτὸν πτωχόν τινα εἶναι, καὶ μὴ πλοῦτον θεότητος. Ἀεὶ γοῦν καὶ ἀντιλέγουσι τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰς τεραστίους δυνάμεις κακολογοῦσιν, ὡς μὴ θεϊκῇ δυνάμει, ἀλλ' ἄλλοθέν ποθεν γεγενημένας. Τίς δώσει ἐκ Σιὼν τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; ἐν τῷ ἐπιστρέψαι Κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀγαλλιάσεται Ἰακὼβ, καὶ εὐφρανθήσεται Ἰσραήλ. Πάντων ἐκκλινάντων καὶ ἅμα ἀχρειωθέντων καιρὸς ἦν εἰς εὐχὴν τρέψαι τὸν λόγον, ὡς πρεσβείας τρόπῳ φάναι· Τίς δώσει ἐκ Σιὼν τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; Αὐτοῦ γὰρ χρεία λοιπὸν, τοῦ ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτημάτων παρέχοντος, τοῦ αἰτίου τῆς αἰωνίου σωτηρίας. Τοῦτο τὸ σωτήριον τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ γεγονὸς, ἐκ τῆς Σιὼν δέδοται· Ἥξει γὰρ ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ. Εἰς τοῦτο λήψῃ τό· Ἐκ Σιὼν ἡ εὐπρέπεια τῆς ὡραιότητος αὐτοῦ, δυνατὸν ἐκλαβεῖν· ὡς καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιὼν ἐλήλυθε τὸ σωτήριον· ἐπείπερ ἐν αὐτῇ εἴρηται τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχειν ὁ Χριστός. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ σκοπὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν τυγχάνει. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις προξενεῖσθαι ἀπὸ κακῶν ἐλευθερίαν διὰ τοῦ σωτηρίου παρίστησι. Καὶ θέα τίνα τρόπον, ἑτέρων λυτρουμένων, ἑτέρους φησὶν ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι· ἐν τῷ γὰρ ἠλευθερῶσθαι τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ Κυρίου, Ἀγαλλιάσεται, φησὶν, Ἰακὼβ, καὶ εὐφρανθήσεται Ἰσραήλ. Τῶν οὖν πάλαι ᾐχμαλωτισμένων ὑπὸ τῆς δαιμονικῆς πλάνης ψυχῶν, μελλουσῶν διὰ τοῦ σωτηρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐλευθερίας τυγχάνειν, καὶ ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν μελλόντων ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, οἱ πάλαι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ ἀναπεπαυμένοι δίκαιοι καὶ προφῆται, αὐτοὶ ὄντες ὁ ἀληθῶς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ὁ ἀληθῶς Ἰακὼβ, ἀγαλλιάσονται καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται, διὰ τὸ πληροῦσθαι αὐτῶν τὰς περὶ ἡμῶν προφητείας, καὶ διὰ τὸ συγχαίρειν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ σωτηρίᾳ. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Συμεὼν, εἰπὼν περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὅτι Φῶς ἔσται εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν, ἐπήγαγε, καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ. ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ Ι∆ʹ. Κύριε, τίς παροικήσει ἐν τῷ σκηνώματί σου; καὶ τίς κατασκηνώσει ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ σου; Ἀπὸ τῶν προσεχεστέρων προβαίνων διαγράφει τὸν 23.149 τέλειον. Παροικία δέ ἐστι διαγωγὴ πρόσκαιρος ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τῆς κρείττονος. ∆ιό φησι καὶ ∆αυΐδ· Πάροικός εἰμι καὶ παρεπίδημος, καθὼς πάντες οἱ πατέρες μου. Πάροικος γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ, μηδὲ βῆμα κεκτημένος ποδὸς, μόλις δὲ τάφον πριάμενος. Ὃ δὴ σύμβολον τοῦ ζῶντα μὲν ἐν σαρκὶ πάροικον εἶναι προσήκειν, μεταβαίνοντα δὲ ταύτης, τοῖς οἰκείοις τόποις ἀναπαύεσθαι. Καὶ μακάριόν φησιν ἐν ἀλλοφύλοις παροικοῦντα, μὴ ὡς οἰκείοις προστετηκέναι τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ. Σκήνωμα δὲ Θεοῦ ἡ παρ' αὐτοῦ δεδομένη σὰρξ τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχῇ πρὸς ἐνοίκησιν. Τίς οὖν, ὡς ἀλλοτρίᾳ κεχρημένος, ἔγκαρπον αὐτὴν παραδώσει τῷ δεδωκότι, ὡς ἂν γένηται καὶ σκήνωμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐνοικοῦντος; Εἶτα πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον προσκόπτει· Καὶ τίς κατασκηνώσει ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ σου; Οὐκ ἐν τῇ γηΐνῃ Σιὼν, ὅπερ Ἰουδαίοις δοκεῖ, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἧς ὁ Παῦλός φησι· Προσεληλύθατε ὄρει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ. Παρελθὼν οὖν τις τὴν σάρκα ταύτην καὶ νεκρώσας αὐτοῦ τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸν ἁγιασμὸν κατορθώσας, ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ κατασκηνώσει πόλει· ἧς ἐπιθυμῶν ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἔλεγε· ∆ιελεύσομαι ἐν τόπῳ σκηνῆς θαυμαστῆς ἕως τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ