redeeming the dying through death; to which is also consequently added, "My soul shall live," and the rest.
249 Ps 119,2 This was indeed immediately after the first apostasy of man and
by deceit Cain struck down his brother, but it is also throughout this present age, as is shown in other things and in the present matter. Therefore, being worn down and afflicted by this, the man who looks to God asks for salvation from him. He does not foresee the cessation that will be then, when he will be brought up to the habitation of the city of peace and the community with the good and the evil. 250 Ps 119,5 Another also shows the foreign land in one part, into which Israel, having fallen, sojourned, and that his sojourn extended for a very long time. Prophesying this in lament, he utters it as it pertains also to the present situation; for this is the longest. 251 Ps 119,7 For the good and God-fearing for their part are at peace also with all men, whenever a judicial punishment is not required which God commanded against the Canaanites and Amorites, forbidding friendship with them; but the wicked and those who do not know God would never enter into friendship with the good, but they abominate godliness and do not benevolently accept any good thing from the God-fearing nor are they tamed by their philanthropy.
252 Ps 120,1b-2 Here he calls mountains the invisible and heavenly powers;
and while awaiting help through them, he says the help does not originate from them but from the Creator.
253 Ps 121,1b-4 It is gladness to hear it being said by the angels
that is, of those who speak to prophets and, as it were, leading the Israelite flock, such as the one revealed through Zechariah interceding on behalf of the fallen Jerusalem and speaking of her future habitation. Having heard these things, the psalmist says he was gladdened, and having foreseen the firm habitation in the holy city, and having prophetically perceived the matter as if it were present. For this is, "Our feet were standing in the courts of Jerusalem." And the standing of feet is the immovable habitation which the holy prophets also foretell, the opposite of which was when, according to the history, God shook the foot of Jerusalem from its own land. Therefore the psalmist speaks of a rebuilding of the city, beheld by him just as also by Ezekiel, and the building to be as of a united city, not, that is, according to the custom of walls uniting it, but of the inhabitants being united with one another. For this reason he said not "a city" but "as a city" that has togetherness. For neither does Ezekiel nor Zechariah indicate that it will be inhabited within walls, but without walls, and that the Lord will be its wall, inasmuch as God is the guardian and preserver of the unity of the saints. He explains that the union is through the inhabitants themselves, saying, "For there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, a testimony to Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord." Not because they were surrounded by walls were they united, but because they were through themselves. A testimony to Israel, that is, testifying to the truth of the promises; and "to give thanks to the name of the Lord," because to the one who fulfilled the wondrous promise, a confession of thanks is owed from those who have been benefited. And he says thrones of the house of David were set up in it, since Daniel also prophesies a kingdom for all, not only the rule of someone nor of one, but a common one for the best and
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ἀποθνῄσκον τας διὰ τοῦ θανάτου λυτρούμενος· ᾧ καὶ ἀκολούθως ἐπάγεται τὸ Ζήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.
249 Ps 119,2 Τοῦτο ἦν μὲν εὐθὺς μετὰ πρώτην ἀπόστασιν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ
δόλῳ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὁ Κάϊν κατέβαλεν, ἔστι δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος τοῦ παρόντος, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι πράγματι δείκνυται. τοῦτ' οὖν καταπονούμενος καὶ θλιβόμενος ὁ πρὸς θεὸν ἀφορῶν ἄνθρωπος τὴς ἐξ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν αἰτεῖ. οὐ προορᾷ τὴν παῦλαν ἐσομένην τότε, ἐπειδὰν ἀναβιβασθῇ πρὸς τὴν τῆς εἰρηνικῆς πόλεως οἴκησιν καὶ τὴν σὺν ἀγαθοῖς καὶ κακοῖς πολιτείαν. 250 Ps 119,5 ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ἄλλος καὶ τὴν ἀλλόφυλον χώραν ἐξ ἑνὸς μέρους, εἰς ἣν ἐκπεσὼν παρῴκησεν ὁ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ τό γε ἐπὶ μακρότατον παρατεῖναι τὴν παροικίαν αὐτοῦ. προφητεύων ἐν ὀδυρμῷ τοῦτο ἐκφέρει ὡς ἐφικνεῖσθαι καὶ τῆς νῦν καθεστώσης· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ μακροτάτη. 251 Ps 119,7 Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ καὶ θεοσεβεῖς τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ μετὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἰρηνεύουσιν, ὁπότε μὴ κριτικῆς δέοι τιμωρίας ἣν κατὰ Χαναναίων καὶ Ἀμορραίων ἐπέταττεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν φιλίαν ἀπαγορεύων τὴν πρὸς αὐτούς· οἱ δὲ φαῦλοι καὶ θεὸν ἀγνοοῦντες οὐδέ ποτ' ἂν ἀγαθοῖς εἰς φιλίαν συμβαῖεν, ἀλλὰ βδελύττονται θεοσέβειαν καὶ τὸ χρηστόν τι παρὰ τῶν θεοσεβῶν οὐκ εὐμενῶς ἀποδέχονται οὐδὲ ἡμεροῦνται τῇ παρ' ἐκείνων φιλανθρωπίᾳ.
252 Ps 120,1b-2 Ὄρη λέγει ἐνταῦθα τὰς ἀοράτους καὶ οὐρανίους δυνάμεις·
καὶ τὴν βοήθειαν διὰ τούτων περιμένων, οὐκ ἐκ τούτων ὁρμᾶσθαι τὴν βοήθειαν ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ λέγει.
253 Ps 121,1b-4 Εὐφροσύνη ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων
δηλαδὴ τῶν λαλούντων προφήταις καὶ οἷον ἀγέλης ἐξαρχόντων τῆς Ἰσραηλιτικῆς, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ διὰ Ζαχαρίου δηλούμενος πρεσβεύων τε ὑπὲρ τῆς πεπτωκυίας Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν αὐτῆς λέγων κατοίκησιν. ταῦτα δὴ καὶ ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς ἀκηκοὼς ηὐφρᾶνθαί φησι καὶ προεωρακὼς τὴν βεβαίαν κατοίκησιν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ πόλει καὶ οἱονεὶ παρόντος τοῦ πράγματος αἰσθόμενος προφητικῶς. τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ Ἑστῶτες ἦσαν οἱ πόδες ἡμῶν ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς Ἱερουσαλήμ. στάσις δὲ ποδῶν ἡ ἀμετακίνητός ἐστι κατοίκησις ἣν καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι προφῆται προαγορεύουσιν, οὗ τοὐναντίον ἦν ὅτε κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐσάλευσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν πόδα Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀπὸ γῆς τῆς οἰκείας. ἀνοικοδομίαν οὖν λέγει τῆς πόλεως ὁ ὑμνῳδός, τεθεωρημένην αὐτῷ καθάπερ καὶ τῷ Ἱεζεκιήλ, τὴν δὲ οἰκοδομίαν ὡς πόλεως ἡνωμένης εἶναι, οὐ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες δηλαδὴ περιβόλων αὐτὴν ἑνούντων ἀλλὰ τῶν οἰκητόρων πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡνωμένων. διὸ καὶ οὐ πόλιν εἴρηκεν ἀλλ' ὡς πόλιν συνάφειαν ἔχουσαν ὁμοῦ. οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπὸ τείχεσιν αὐτὴν ὁ Ἱεζεκιὴλ οἰκηθήσεσθαι προδηλοῖ οὐδὲ Ζαχαρίας ἀλλ' ἀτείχιστον, τεῖχος δὲ αὐτῆς τὸν κύριον ἔσεσθαι καθότι τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἑνότητος φύλαξ καὶ συνοχεὺς ὁ θεός. ἑρμηνεύει δὴ τὸ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν οἰκητόρων εἶναι τὴν ἕνωσιν, λέγων Ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀνέβησαν αἱ φυλαί, φυλαὶ κυρίου μαρτύριον τῷ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ ἐξομολογήσασθαι τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου. Οὐχ ὅτι τείχη περιεβάλλοντο, διὰ τοῦτο ἡνώθησαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι αὐτοὶ δι' ἑαυτῶν. μαρτύριον μὲν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, τὴν ἀλήθειαν δηλαδὴ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν μαρτυροῦν, τοῦ ἐξομολογήσασθαι δὲ τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου, ὅτι τῷ πληρώσαντι δηλαδὴ τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐπαγγελίαν ἐξομολόγησις χαρίτων ὀφείλεται παρὰ τῶν εὐεργετουμένων. Θρόνους τε τοῦ οἴκου ∆αυὶδ ἱδρυθῆναι ἐπ' αὐτῆς φησιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ βασιλείαν τὴν πάντων ὁ ∆ανιὴλ προφητεύει, οὐ μόνον ἀρχικήν τινος οὐδὲ ἑνὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀλλὰ κοινὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀρίστων καὶ
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