31
he used, saying, "With my voice I cried to the Lord," which shows the loud voice and magnanimity of the heavenly doctrines. As the first cry is akin to that from Sodom and Gomorrah. And the name of Jacob was divided into Israel and Judah; and formerly indeed in the time of David, after the death of Saul, into David himself, and the son of Saul; and later when Jeroboam made the ten tribes revolt from Rehoboam. Therefore he now also mentions the two names. But Israel sinned more, whence it was also taken captive sooner. Therefore here also, the thorn-bearing vineyard becomes the house of Israel; but the man of Judah, 1912 no longer a vineyard, but a new plant, not desolate, but beloved. But since the account concerning the husbandmen of the vineyard is passed over in silence in these things; for this reason Christ spoke the present parable to the rulers of the people, as something familiar, and adds the husbandmen, supplying what was lacking; in which he says, Who let out the vineyard and went away. But they killed the servants who came at the proper time to receive the fruits, to whom they later added also the son and heir. Therefore he threatened that he would destroy the wicked husbandmen miserably. Let us pray, then, to be suspended from the true vine, as branches being filled with life-giving richness. For thus through spiritual intimacy we become fruitful. Therefore he says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine; neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit." He therefore makes them fruitful. He places a fence around. And having raised a wall, he will turn away those passing through. For to him, another oracle says, "And your ancient ruins shall be built, and a memorial for generations of generations, and you shall be called a builder of fences, and you will make the paths between to rest." ηʹιηʹ. 9Woe to those who join house to house, and bring field near to field, that they may take something from their neighbor. Will you dwell alone upon the earth? For these things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth9, etc. These can be common precepts for those who are sick with greed and luxury. But it can also be connected with the things above, and recount in part the thorns, which he said the vineyard had produced. And again, the difficult things that will happen to the Jews because of these, which things, while they were about to be, they, making light of, were given to plunder and drunkenness, and this after daring the most terrible things against the Lord. And since each of us bears a field within himself, let us guard against offending God. For then we shall inhabit varied virtue as a secure house, and we shall multiply grain like the valleys. For being blessed, the fruits of our righteousness will increase, according to the divine Apostle. Whom indeed, he says, that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. For even now the prophet laments these men as not being permitted to see the works of the Lord with a sober mind. For being inflamed with wine, they have no end to drinking, the inflammation indicating also the flame raised from the other passions that intensify these things, and from the musical instruments, which are the inventions of Jobal, who is descended from Cain, with which Laban also wished 1913 to send off Jacob, but he fled in order to see the works of the Lord, judging these things an impediment, at the sound of which the tribes of the Babylonians also fell down. But those who fled the Babylonian wine, and the table of that king, neither fell down and worshipped, and they extinguished the power of the fire. One therefore sees through the eyes the works of the Lord. But from these he understands the invisible things. For these things, being understood by the things that are made, are clearly seen. And how could this happen when the mind is darkened by drunkenness, and is not able to see God? but the works of hands, and the expected retribution in hades, fire and a parched tongue, and the rest; whence rising up let us wish to live in a priestly manner. "For wine and strong drink," he says, "you shall not drink" to Aaron and his sons, the
31
ἐκέχρητο λέγων, "Φωνῇ μου πρὸς Κύριον ἐκέκραξα," ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ μεγαλόφωνον καὶ μεγαλοφυὲς τῶν οὐρανίων δογμάτων. Ὡς ἡ πρώτη κραυγὴ συγγενής ἐστιν ἀπὸ Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόῤῥας. ∆ιῃρέθη δὲ ἡ προσηγορία τοῦ Ἰακὼβ εἰς τὸν Ἰσραὴλκαὶ Ἰούδαν· καὶ πρότερον μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ, μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ Σαοὺλ, εἰς αὐτὸν ∆αβὶδ, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Σαούλ· ὕστερον δὲ ἡνίκα τοῦ Ῥοβοὰμ τὰς δέκα φυλὰς ἀπέστησεν Ἱεροβοάμ. ∆ιὸ καὶ νῦν τὰς δύο προσηγορίας φησίν. Πλείονα δὲ ἡμάρτανεν Ἰσραὴλ, ὅθεν καὶ θᾶττον ᾐχμαλωτίσθη. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ὁ μὲν ἀκανθοφόρος ἀμπελὼν οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ γίνεται· ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Ἰούδα, 1912 οὐκέτι ἀμπελὼν, ἀλλὰ νεόφυτον, οὐ κεχερσωμένον, ἀλλ' ἠγαπημένον. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ σεσιώπηται ἐν τούτοις ὁ περὶ τῶν γεωργῶν τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος λόγος· διὰ τοῦτο Χριστὸς τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν προκειμένην, ὡς γνώριμον, ἔφη παραβολὴν, καὶ τοὺς γεωργοὺς προστίθησι, τὸ λεῖπον ἀναπληρῶν· ἐν ᾗ φησιν, Ὃς ἐξέδοτο τὸν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν. Οἱ δὲ τοὺς δούλους κατὰ καιρὸν ἥκοντας ἐπὶ τὸ λαβεῖν τοὺς καρποὺς, ἀπέκτειναν, οἷσπερ ὕστερον καὶ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ κληρονόμον προσέθηκαν. ∆ιὸ κακοὺς κακῶς ἀπολέσειν ἠπείλει τοὺς γεωργούς. Εὐξώμεθα τοίνυν ἀπηρτῆσθαι τῆς ἀληθινῆς ἀμπέλου, οἷα κλήματα τῆς ζωοποιοῦ πιότητος ἐκπληρούμενοι. Οὕτω γὰρ δι' οἰκειότητα πνευματικὴν καρποφόροι γινόμεθα. ∆ιό φησι, "Μείνατε ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν. Καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα οὐ δύναται καρπὸν φέρειν οὐδὲν, ἐὰν μὴ μείνῃ ἐν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ· οὕτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ μείνητε. Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα· ὁ μὲν ὢν ἐν ἐμοὶ, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν." Αὐτὸς οὖν καρποφόρους ποιεῖ. Αὐτὸς φραγμὸν περιτίθησιν. Καὶ ἐγείρας τεῖχος ἀποστήσει τοὺς διοδεύοντας. Πρὸς γὰρ αὐτὸν, λόγιόν φησιν ἕτερον, "Καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσονταί σοι ἔρημοι αἰώνιοι, καὶ μνημόσυνον γενεῶν γενεαῖς καὶ κληθήσῃ οἰκοδόμος φραγμῶν, καὶ τὰς τρίβους τὰς ἀναμέσον παύσεις." ηʹιηʹ. 9Οὐαὶ οἱ συνάπτοντες οἰκίαν πρὸς οἰκίαν, καὶ ἀγρὸν πρὸς ἀγρὸν ἐγγίζοντες, ἵνα τοῦ πλησίον ἀφέλωνταί τι. Μὴ οἰκήσετε μόνοι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἠκούσθη γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὦτα Κυρίου Σαββαὼθ ταῦτα9, κ.τ.λ. ∆ύναται μὲν καὶ κοινὰ ταῦτα εἶναι παραγγέλματα τοῖς πλεονεξίαν καὶ τρυφὴ νενοσηκόσι. ∆ύναται δὲ καὶ συνηρτῆσθαι τῶν ἄνω, καὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας διηγεῖσθαι κατὰ μέρος, ἃς ἔφη τὸν ἀμπελῶνα πεποιηκέναι. Καὶ πάλιν, ἃ διὰ ταύτας Ἰουδαίοις συμβήσεται δυσχερῆ, ὧν ἔσεσθαι μελλόντων ὀλιγωροῦντες, ἀρπαγὲς καὶ μέθαις προσέκειντο, καὶ ταῦτα κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου τολμήσαντες δεινότατα. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν ἕκαστος ἐν ἑαυτῷ φέρει γεώργιον, φυλαξώμεθα τὸ προσκροῦσαι Θεῷ. Τότε γὰρ ὡς οἶκον ἀσφαλῆ τὴν ποικίλην ἀρετὴν κατοικήσομεν, πληθυνοῦμεν δὲ σῖτον ὥσπερ κοιλάδες. Εὐλογούμενα γὰρ αὐξήσει τὰ γεννήματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἡμῶν, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον. Οὓς δὴ καὶ, φησὶν, ὅτι μέθυσοι βασιλείαν Θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομήσουσι. Τούτους γὰρ καὶ νῦν ὁ προφήτης θρηνεῖ μὴ συγχωρουμένους ἰδεῖν τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου νήφοντι λογισμῷ. Συγκαιόμενοι γὰρ οἴνῳ, πρὸς τὸ πίνειν οὐκ ἔχουσι πέρας, τῆς συγκαύσεως δηλούσης καὶ τὴν φλόγα τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων ἐγειρομένην παθῶν ἐπιτεινόντων ταῦτα, καὶ τῶν ὀργάνων τῶν μουσικῶν, ἃ τοῦ Ἰωβάλ ἐστιν εὑρήματα, τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ Κάϊν καταγομένου, οἷς καὶ Λάβαν ἠβούλετο 1913 παραπέμπειν τὸν Ἰακὼβ, ἀλλ' ἀπέδρα πρὸς τὸ ἰδεῖν τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου, ταῦτα κρίνας ἐμπόδιον, ὧν ἀκοῦσαι καὶ αἱ φυλαὶ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων κατέπιπτον. Οἱ δὲ φυγόντες τὸν οἶνον τὸν Βαβυλώνιον, καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκείνου τὴν τράπεζαν, οὔτε πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἔσβεσαν τοῦ πυρός. Βλέπει μὲν οὖν τις δι' ὀφθαλμῶν τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου. Ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων κατανοεῖ τὰ ἀόρατα. Ταῦτα γὰρ τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται. Καὶ πῶς ἂν τοῦτο γένοιτο σκοπουμένου τῇ μέθῃ τοῦ νοῦ, καὶ Θεὸν ὁρᾷν οὐκ ἰσχύοντος; ἔργα δὲ χειρῶν, καὶ ἡ προσδοκωμένη κατὰ τὸν ᾅδην ἀντίδοσις, πῦρ καὶ γλῶττα ξηραινομένη, καὶ τὰ λοιπά· ὅθεν ἀνιστάμενοι ζῇν ἐθελήσωμεν ἱερατικῶς. "Οἶνον γὰρ καὶ σίκερα, φησὶν, οὐ πίεσθε" πρὸς Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ὁ