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has been established, as the Theologian says to those to whom he addresses his epistle: "By grace you have been saved, and this is not from us, it is the gift of God." 1.313Zach. IV, 8-9: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall finish it, and you will know that the Lord almighty has sent me to you. 1.314 The prophecy is not spoken about the sensible construction of a visible house. For it has already been said that this prophet, while still in Babylon, when the seventieth year of the captivity had already arrived, was initiated into the revelations set forth. But the sensible house was built not in Babylon, but in Jerusalem and after the captivity. Therefore the present utterance is not about it; for it is spoken of demonstratively, as if the temple were present and already existing: "This house". But the house erected in Jerusalem after the return from the captivity is not subject to the sight of one who is in Babylon. 1.315 But even if these things are not said about the sensible building, yet by them is indicated the prototype of the visible, being a certain intelligible one and, as it were, an idea of that which was constructed in its likeness. And it has been said before that just as the tabernacle and the vessels in it were constructed according to the pattern of an invisible tabernacle that appeared on the mountain, that is, of the height of the archetype, so the bodily house erected from sensible stones is an imitation and image of that shown to Zechariah the prophet in the manner of a vision, but not by an impression of sense. 1.316 The hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the symbol of this archetype and his active powers will complete it. When this happens, you will know, as the one to whom the promise is made, that "the Lord almighty has sent me to you," so that you may be enlightened and contemplate with knowledge the things decreed through a vision of God. 1.317 And the present prophet might say the same things that Paul, speaking in Christ, wrote, which are as follows: "I will come to revelations and visions of the Lord." In agreement with God speaking in revelations to those who are discerning according to the inner man, the psalmist [says] in the Psalms: "Then you spoke in a vision to your sons," not in ears nor with a voice does the Word of God speak to those who have the spirit of adoption. 1.318 For being the true light, he enlightens the mind of those whom he wishes to receive his divine discourses; he speaks in vision rather than in ears. Accordingly, when God speaks thus to Isaiah with: "The vision that Isaiah saw," not visible things, but words are brought forward. 1.319 For how is this visible: "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me." Equivalently also concerning the fifth of the Twelve Prophets. For after saying, "The vision of Obadiah," no sensible sight, but words are brought forward, which are as follows: "Thus says the Lord to Idumea: I have heard a report from the Lord, and I have sent a summons to the nations; you are greatly despised," and so on. 1.320Zach. IV, 10: For who has despised the day of small things? And they will rejoice, and they will see the tin stone in the hand of Zerubbabel; these seven are the eyes that look upon all the earth. 1.321 For who is it that despises the small days? These are the ones after which the restoration occurs, of those who had been in Babylon by the law of captivity, taking a return to their own fatherland. And small days happen to be those few in number, and especially also the shortened ones, the sun not remaining for long in the hemisphere above the earth; the former should rather be understood, because the revelations were shown to the prophet in the seventieth year of the captivity, as the prophet himself said to God: "How long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which you have overlooked this seventieth year?" 1.322 It is in harmony with the

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ὑπῆρκται, ὡς ὁ θεολόγος οἷς προσφωνεῖ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἑαυτοῦ λέγει· «Χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ἡμῶν, Θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον.» 1.313Zach. IV, 8-9: Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με λέγων· Αἱ χεῖρες Ζοροβάβελ ἐθεμελίωσαν τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐπιτελέσουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπιγνώσῃ διότι Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐξαπέσταλκέν με πρὸς σέ. 1.314 Οὐ περὶ αἰσθητῆς οἰκοδομῆς ὁρατοῦ οἴκου λέγεται ἡ προφητεία. Εἴρηται γὰρ ἤδη ὅτι ὁ προφήτης οὗτος ἔτι ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι τυγχάνων, ἐνεστηκότος ἤδη τοῦ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ ἔτους τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, ἐμυσταγωγήθη τὰς ἐκκειμένας ἀποκαλύψεις. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ᾠκοδόμητο ὁ αἰσθητὸς οἶκος. ∆ιὸ οὐ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἡ προκειμένη φωνὴ τυγχάνει· ὡς γὰρ περὶ παρόντος καὶ ἐνεστηκότος ἤδη τοῦ ναοῦ, δεικτικῶς λέγεται περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Ὁ οἶκος οὗτος». Οὐχ ὑπόκειται δὲ ὄψει τοῦ ὄντος ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ὁ ἐγερθεὶς οἶκος ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ μετὰ τὴν κάθοδον τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας. 1.315 Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ μὴ περὶ τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ οἰκοδομήματος λέγεται ταῦτα, ἀλλά γε δηλοῦται ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὁ πρωτότυπος τοῦ ὁρατοῦ, νοητός τις ὑπάρχων καὶ ὡσανεὶ ἰδέα τοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὁμοιότητα αὐτοῦ κατεσκευασμένου. Εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον ὅτ̣ι ὥσπερ ἡ σκηνὴ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ σκεύη κατὰ τύπον ἀοράτ̣ου σκηνῆς φανείσης ἐν τῷ ὄρει, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τοῦ ὕψους τῆς ἀρχετυ´̣που, κατεσκευάσθη, οὕτω ὁ σωματικὸς οἶκος ὁ ἐξ αἰσθη̣τ̣ω῀̣ν λίθων ἐγερθεὶς μίμημα καὶ εἰκὼν τυγχάνει του῀̣ δειχθέντος Ζαχαρίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ ὀπτασίας τρόπῳ, ἀλλ' οὐ προσβολῇ αἰσθήσεως. 1.316 Τούτου τοῦ ἀρχετύπου τὸ σύμβολον αἱ χεῖρες Ζοροβάβελ ἐθεμελίωσαν καὶ αἱ δραστήριοι δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ ἐπιτελέσουσιν. Οὗ γενομένου, γνώσει, ὡς πρὸς ὃν ἡ ἐπαγγελία, ὅτι «Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἀπέστειλέν με πρὸς σέ», ὅπως φωτισθῇς καὶ ἐπιστημονικῶς θεωρήσῃς τὰ θεσπισθέντα διὰ θεοπτίας. 1.317 Εἴποι δ' ἂν καὶ ὁ προκείμενος προφήτης τὰ αὐτὰ οἷς ἔγραψεν ὁ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλῶν Παῦλος οὕτως ἔχοντα· «Ἐλεύσομαι εἰς ἀποκαλύψεις καὶ ὀπτασίας Κυρίου.» Συμφώνως τῷ ἐν ἀποκαλύψεσιν ὁμιλεῖν τὸν Θεὸν τοῖς διορατικοῖς οὖσιν κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς ἐν Ψαλμοῖς· «Τότε ἐλάλησας ἐν ὁράσει τοῖς υἱοῖς σου», οὐκ ἐν ὠσὶ οὐδὲ φωνῇ τοῖς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἔχουσιν λαλοῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου. 1.318 Ὢν γὰρ φῶς ἀληθινόν, φωτίζει τὴν διάνοιαν ὧν θέλει δέξασθαι αὐτοῦ τὰς θείας ὁμιλίας· ἐν ὁράσει μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ὠσὶ λαλεῖ. Αὐτίκα γοῦν καὶ τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ οὕτω λαλοῦντος Θεοῦ, τῷ· «Ὅρασις ἣν εἶδεν Ἠσαΐας», οὐχ ὁρατά, ἀλλὰ λόγοι ἐπιφέρονται. Πῶς γὰρ ὁρατὸν τό· «Ἄκουε, οὐρανέ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησεν· Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὑτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν.» 1.319 Ἰσοδυναμούντως καὶ περὶ τοῦ πέμπτου τῶν ∆ώδεκα Προφητῶν. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸ φάναι· «Ὅρασις Ἀβδίου», οὐδὲν θέαμα αἰσθητόν, ἀλλὰ λόγοι ἐπιφέρονται, οὕτως ἔχοντες· «Τάδε λέγει Κύριος τῇ Ἰδουμαίᾳ· Ἀκοὴν ἤκουσα παρὰ Κυρίου, καὶ περιοχὴν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἀπέστειλα· ἠτιμωμένος σὺ εἶ σφο´̣δρα», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 1.320Zach. IV, 10: ∆ιότι τίς ἐξουδένωσεν εἰς ἡμέρας μικράς; Καὶ χαρήσονται, καὶ ὄψονται τὸν λίθον τὸν κασσιτέρινον ἐν χειρὶ Ζοροβάβελ· ε῾̣πτὰ οὗτοι ὀφθαλμοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐπιβλέποντες ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν. 1.321 ∆̣ιότι τίς ε᾿̣στιν ὁ ἐξουθενῶν τὰς ἡμέρας τὰς μικράς; Αὗται δέ εἰσιν μεθ' ἃς ἡ ἀποκατάστασις γίνεται, τῶν εἰς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα γεναμένων αἰχμαλωσίας νόμῳ κάθοδον λαμβανόντων εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πατρίδα. Ἡμέραι δὲ μικραὶ τυγχάνουσιν αἱ ὀλίγαι τῷ ἀριθμῷ, μάλιστα καὶ αἱ συντετμημέναι, οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦ ἡλίου μένοντος ἐν τῷ ὑπὲρ γῆν ἡμισφαιρίῳ· τὸ πρότερον μᾶλλον ἐκλημπτέον, διὰ τὸ τὰς ἀποκαλύψεις δεδεῖχθαι τῷ προφήτῃ ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ ἔτει τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν προφήτην πρὸς Θεὸν εἰπεῖν· «Ἕως τίνος οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσεις τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὰς πόλεις Ἰούδα, ἃς ὑπερεῖδες τοῦτο ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἔτος;» 1.322 Συνᾴδει τῇ