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is high. And the flesh (of the Lord), being earth according to its common nature, was exalted through its conjunction with God. And the house of God, on the tops of the mountains, is the Church according to the voice of the Apostle. For he says to know how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, whose foundations are in the holy mountains; for it is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. One of the mountains was also Peter, upon which rock the Lord promised to build His Church. For lofty and elevated thoughts, risen above earthly things, are fittingly called mountains. The soul of the blessed Peter was called a high rock because of its being firmly rooted in the faith, and holding fast firmly and unyieldingly against the blows brought on by temptations. Therefore, all who contain the knowledge of the divinity, on account of the greatness of their mind and of the actions from their mind, perfected in a sound life, are the tops of the mountains, on which the house of God is built. 2.67 And it shall be exalted above the hills. And the hills are certain mounds of earth, having a clearly defined rising from the earth, surpassing the lowlands, but falling short of the highest peaks. Since, therefore, the excellence of the Lord according to his humanity is incomparable with all those together who have been distinguished in any achievements whatsoever, for this reason it was said that the mountain of the Lord which will be made manifest is above the hills. For he has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. And how much greater than Abraham? Abraham (he says) rejoiced to see the day of the incarnation; and he saw it and was glad. And Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek; and Melchizedek was a type of the Lord. These things, that we might represent the bodily pre-eminence. For may it not be that we glorify the divinity from its pre-eminence over servants. For the economy according to what is human is above the righteous among men; for he alone committed no sin; and the magnificence of the divinity was lifted up above the heavens. And all the nations shall come unto it. As the discourse proceeds, it reveals the prophecy more plainly, indicating the future flocking of the nations to the knowledge of Christ. For all the nations, having been called through the preaching to the faith, will come; For this Gospel will be preached in the whole world; and the evangelical sound of the Apostles went out into all the earth. 2.68 And many nations (he says) shall go. Do not pass by the precision of the phrase unexamined. How is it that in "shall come," "all" is said, but in "shall go," no longer "all" but "many"? Because "shall come" is appointed for believing; but "to go" is for living one's life. Since therefore we all confess the faith, but we do not all live our lives according to the Commandments, for this reason all the nations shall come, but many shall go. That "to go" is taken to mean living according to the law; Blessed (he says) are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. But how, when the Lord said that few are they who find the way, do we say that many nations shall go? Because all the nations according to their own number of nations are easily counted; but the people within the nations are many. Here, therefore, the text says that many nations accept to live according to the Gospel, not all, even if all name themselves by the name of Christ. However, because many nations are numbered, it does not mean that also the individual men, who are included in the common designation of the nation, necessarily follow the number. For it is possible for nations to be numbered, that of the Cappadocians and Galatians and Armenians, or Syrians, or Egyptians, so that it is said that there are so many nations that walk in the law of the Lord; but not that within each nation the people included therein unanimously accept the aim of that way of life. So then, with respect to the seventy-two nations (or

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ἐστιν ὑψηλή. Καὶ ἡ σὰρξ δὲ (ἡ τοῦ Κυρίου) γῆ κατὰ τὴν κοινὴν φύσιν ὑπάρχουσα, διὰ τῆς συναφείας τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν, ἀνυψώθη. Καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων, ἡ Ἐκκλη σία ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου φωνήν. Εἰδέναι γάρ φησι, πῶς δεῖ ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος, ἧς οἱ θεμέλιοί εἰσιν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις· ᾠκοδόμηται γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν Ἀποστό λων καὶ Προφητῶν. Ἓν τῶν ὀρέων ἦν καὶ ὁ Πέτρος, ἐφ' ἧς καὶ πέτρας ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ Κύριος οἰκοδομήσειν αὐτοῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Τὰ γὰρ ὑψηλὰ καὶ διηρμένα φρονήματα καὶ ὑπερανεστηκότα τῶν γηΐνων, εἰκότως ὄρη προσαγορεύεται. Πέτρα δὲ ὑψηλὴ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ μακαρίου Πέτρου ὠνόμασται, διὰ τὸ παγίως ἐνεῤῥιζῶσθαι τῇ πίστει, καὶ στεῤῥῶς καὶ ἀνεν δότως ἔχειν πρὸς τὰς ἐκ πειρασμῶν ἐπαγομένας πληγάς. Πάντες οὖν οἱ χωροῦντες τὴν τῆς θεότητος γνῶσιν διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ νοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ νοῦ πράξεων, τετελειω μένοι τῷ ὑγιεῖ βίῳ, τὰ ἄκρα εἰσὶ τῶν ὀρέων, ἐφ' ὧν οἰκοδο μεῖται ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἶκος. 2.67 Καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν. Καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ γήλοφοί τινές εἰσιν, εὐπερίγραπτον ἔχοντες τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐπανάστασιν, τῶν μὲν ταπεινῶν ὑπερέχοντες, τῶν δὲ ὑψηλοτάτων ἀπολειπόμενοι. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀσυνείκαστος ἡ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τοῦ Κυρίου ὑπεροχὴ, πρὸς πάντας ὁμοῦ τοὺς ἐν οἵοις δήποτε διαφανέντας κατορθώμασι, διὰ τοῦτο ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν εἶναι τὸ ἐμφανὲς γενησόμενον τοῦ Κυρίου ὄρος, ἐλέχθη. Μείζονος γὰρ δόξης παρὰ Μωϋσῆν ἠξίωται, καθό σον μείζονα τιμὴν ἔχει τοῦ οἴκου, ὁ κατασκευάσας αὐτόν. Ὅσον δὲ μείζων τοῦ Ἀβραάμ; Ἀβραὰμ (φησὶν) ἠγαλλιάσατο, ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως· καὶ εἶδε καὶ ἐχάρη. Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ μὲν δεκάτην ἔδωκε τῷ Μελχισεδέχ· Μελχισεδὲχ δὲ τύπος ἦν τοῦ Κυρίου. Ταῦτα, ἵνα τὴν σω ματικὴν ὑπεροχὴν παραστήσωμεν. Μὴ γένοιτο γὰρ ἡμᾶς τὴν θεότητα ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὰ δοῦλα ὑπεροχῆς δοξάζειν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον οἰκονομία, ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐν ἀνθρώποις δικαίους· ἁμαρτίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἐποίησε μόνος· τῆς δὲ θεότητος ἐπήρθη ἡ μεγαλοπρέπεια ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν. Καὶ ἥξουσιν ἐπ' αὐτὸ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Προϊὼν ὁ λόγος γυμνοτέραν ἐκφαίνει τὴν προφητείαν, τὴν συνδρομὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν τὴν ἐσομένην ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπο φαίνων. Ἥξουσι γὰρ κληθέντα διὰ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἐπὶ τὴν πίστιν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη· Κηρυχθήσεται γὰρ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ· καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς φθόγγος τῶν Ἀποστόλων. 2.68 Καὶ πορεύσονται (φησὶ) ἔθνη πολλά. Τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς λέξεως μὴ παραδράμῃς ἀβασανίστως. Πῶς ἐν μὲν τῷ Ἥξουσι πάντα εἴρηται, ἐν δὲ τῷ Πορεύσον ται, οὐκέτι πάντα, ἀλλὰ πολλά; Ὅτι τὸ μὲν Ἥξουσιν, ἐπὶ τοῦ πιστεύειν τέτακται· τὸ δὲ πορεύεσθαι, ἐπὶ τοῦ πολιτεύεσθαι. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὴν μὲν πίστιν ὁμολογοῦμεν πάντες, οὐκέτι δὲ πάντες κατὰ τὰς Ἐντολὰς πολιτευόμεθα, διὰ τοῦτο ἥξουσι μὲν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, πορεύσονται δὲ πολλά. Ὅτι δὲ τὸ πο ρεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τοῦ βιοῦν κατὰ τὸν νόμον λαμβάνεται· Μακά ριοι (φησὶν) οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ, οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ Κυ ρίου. Ἀλλὰ πῶς τοῦ Κυρίου εἰπόντος, ὅτι ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες τὴν ὁδὸν, ἡμεῖς λέγομεν ἔθνη πολλὰ πορευθήσε σθαι; Ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐθ νῶν εὐαρίθμητα· οἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἄνθρωποι, πολλοί. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν ὁ λόγος φησὶν, ὅτι πολλὰ μὲν ἔθνη κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον βιοῦν καταδέχεται, οὐχὶ πάντα, κἂν πάντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὀνομάζωσιν. Οὐ μὴν ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ ἀριθμεῖται τὰ ἔθνη, ἤδη καὶ οἱ καθ' ἕνα ἄν θρωποι, ὅσοι τῇ κοινῇ προσηγορίᾳ τοῦ ἔθνους συμπεριλαμ βάνονται, πάντως ἀκολουθοῦσι τῷ ἀριθμῷ. ∆ύναται μὲν γὰρ ἔθνη ἀριθμεῖσθαι, τὸ Καππαδοκῶν καὶ Γαλατῶν καὶ Ἀρμενίων, ἢ Σύρων, ἢ Αἰγυπτίων, ὥστε λέγεσθαι τοσάδε εἶναι ἔθνη τὰ πορευόμενα ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Κυρίου· οὐ μὴν καθ' ἕκαστον ἔθνος τοὺς ἐμπεριεχομένους ἀνθρώπους συμφώ νως τὸν τῆς πολιτείας σκοπὸν καταδέχεσθαι. Ὡς μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα δύο ἔθνη (ἢ