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Of what law does he speak and of what word? Of the law given through Moses? But how is this from Sion, let them show. For Moses did not enter into the land of possession, but Sion is in Judea. Therefore, according to them, the Scripture is mistaken, saying one name instead of another; for instead of Sinai or Horeb, it has said Sion. But it speaks of a holy law. Of what sort? Given when? Written where? And a word from Jerusalem. He means the prophetic one. But it has come to be everywhere in Judea, not in Jerusalem alone, and throughout Israel; but also in captivity, and in Nineveh, and in many places of the earth. Let them then be choked by the truth and accept the Lord’s legislation, coming from the watchtower, from the God-bearing Flesh, from which He oversaw the affairs of men. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. For beginning from there the proclamation was sown into all the world. 2.73 And He shall judge between the nations. God, standing in an assembly of gods, distinguishes gods; but among the nations, He will judge between the nations. For to the Saints it is fitting to be distinguished for the recognition of their worth; but for those who have lived in vain, to be judged. But perhaps from this it is shown that the punishment of the nations outside of piety is different, and not one and the same; for in that they have fallen away from the knowledge of God, all are worthy of torments and punishments; but in that their pursuits in life are different, both in the passions of dishonor and in wickedness toward their neighbors, there is need of a judgment against the nations that distinguishes concerning those things sinned against their neighbors. And He will rebuke many people. That He might show us the just and irrefutable nature of the just judgment, He added, And He will rebuke many people. For I will rebuke you (He says) and set [your sins] before your face. Here, therefore, the accuser brings forward witnesses for the conviction of the crimes of the accused, but in the tribunal of secret things, the deeds themselves stand before us in their own form, each sin standing before those who have sinned. There, then, rebuke is taken for the establishment of just judgment, but here for the correction of those things for which one is rebuked. For which the Apostle exhorts Timothy to make use of it. Every rebuke, however, clearly laying hold of the one being rebuked, torments him severely, setting forth the shame of the sin, so that it greatly benefits the one who is insensible to his own faults, leading him to awareness and true repentance. For what bodily wound produces such sharp pain, as the torment a striking word produces in the soul, reaching the conscience of those held fast by the shame of their evil deeds? 2.74 And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. This is the useful end of rebukes, to change the warlike and turbulent toward a peaceful state. And it is clear to everyone that the law and word of Christ, having the peaceful and conciliatory, preached peace to those far off and to those near; so that both the Jews and those from the nations, laying aside their instruments of war, both those for close combat in hand-to-hand struggles (which he called a sword) and those prepared for defense from a distance (which he says are spears and lances); these the word from Jerusalem transforms into the tools of agriculture; so that the destructive sword is preparatory for life-giving seeds, which are engendered by wisdom in rational souls; becoming a plowshare, softening the hardened parts, overturning thorns, making a place for the protection of heavenly grace. And the lance, which strikes down and repels from afar, [becomes] that which gathers from up close and binds together fellowship. For such are the pruning hooks, gathering the scattered things and binding the ears of grain into the community of a sheaf. There is therefore also something rational

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περὶ ποίου νόμου λέγει καὶ ποίου λό γου; Τοῦ διὰ Μωϋσέως δοθέντος νόμου; Ἀλλὰ πῶς οὗτος ἀπὸ Σιὼν, δεικνύτωσαν. Μωϋσῆς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς κατασχέσεως, τὸ δὲ Σιὼν ἐν τῇ Ἰου δαίᾳ. Ἔσφαλται οὖν κατ' αὐτοὺς ἡ Γραφὴ, ἀντὶ ἄλλου ὀνόματος ἄλλο λέγουσα· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ Σινὰ ἢ τοῦ Χωρὴβ, τὸ Σιὼν εἴρηκεν. Ἀλλὰ περὶ ἁγίου νόμου λέγει. Ποίου; τοῦ πότε δοθέντος; τοῦ ποῦ γεγραμμένου; Καὶ λόγον ἐκ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ. Τὸν προφητικὸν λέγει. Ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ τῆς Ἰουδαίας γεγένηται, οὐκ ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ δὲ μόνον, καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἰσραήλ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, καὶ ἐν Νινευῇ, καὶ πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς. Ἀγχέσθωσαν οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ καταδεχέσθωσαν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου νομοθεσίαν, ἀπὸ τοῦ σκοπευτηρίου γινομένην, ἀπὸ τῆς Σαρκὸς τῆς θεο φόρου, ἀφ' ἧς ἐπεσκόπει τὰ κατὰ ἀνθρώπους πράγματα. Καὶ λόγος Κυρίου ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἀρξάμενον εἰς πάντα τὸν κόσμον ἐπεσπάρη τὸ κήρυγμα. 2.73 Καὶ κρινεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν. Ὁ Θεὸς ἐν μὲν συναγωγῇ θεῶν στὰς, θεοὺς διακρινεῖ· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἔθνεσι Κρινεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ Ἁγίοις τὸ διακρίνεσθαι πρέπει εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀξίας αὐτοῦ ἐπίγνωσιν· τοῖς δὲ μάτην βεβιωκόσι τὸ κρίνεσθαι. Μήποτε δὲ ἐντεῦθεν δείκνυται τὸ διάφορον εἶναι τῶν ἔξω τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐθνῶν τὴν κόλασιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτήν· καθ' ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἐκπε πτώκασι τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, πάντες βασάνων καὶ κο λάσεων ἄξιοι· καθ' ὃ δὲ διάφορα αὐτῶν τὰ κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐπιτηδεύματα, ἔν τε τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς ἀτιμίας καὶ ἐν ταῖς εἰς τοὺς πλησίον πονηρίαις, δεῖται κρίσεως κατὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῆς διαλαμβανούσης περὶ τῶν εἰς τοὺς πέλας πεπλημμε λημένων. Καὶ ἐλέγξει λαὸν πολύν. Ἵνα δείξῃ ἡμῖν τὸ δίκαιον καὶ ἀναντίῤῥητον τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως, ἐπήγαγε τὸ Καὶ ἐλέγ ξει λαὸν πολύν. Ἐλέγξω γάρ σε (φησὶ) καὶ παραστήσω κατὰ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν μάρτυρας παριστᾷ ὁ κατήγορος εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν ἐγκλημάτων τοῦ κατηγορουμέ νου, ἐν δὲ τῷ τῶν κρυπτῶν δικαστηρίῳ αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα ἡμῖν παρίσταται ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ σχήματι, ἑκάστης ἁμαρτίας παρισταμένης τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν. Ἐκεῖ μὲν οὖν ἔλεγχος εἰς σύστασιν τῆς δικαιοκρισίας παραλαμβάνεται, ἐνταῦθα δὲ εἰς διόρθωσιν τῶν ἐφ' οἷς ἐλέγχεται. Ἐφ' ᾧ τὸν Τιμόθεον χρῆσθαι ὁ Ἀπόστολος παραινεῖ. Πᾶς μέντοι ἔλεγχος, ἐναρ γῶς καθαπτόμενος τοῦ ἐλεγχομένου, ἰσχυρῶς αὐτὸν βασα νίζει, παριστὰς τὸ αἶσχος τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος, ὥστε μεγάλα εὐεργετεῖν τὸν ἀναισθητοῦντα τῶν ἰδίων πταισμάτων εἰς τὴν συναίσθησιν ἄγων καὶ μεταμέλειαν ἀληθινήν. Ποῖον γὰρ τραῦμα σωματικὸν οὕτω δριμεῖαν ἐμποιεῖ τὴν ὀδύνην, ὁποίαν βάσανον ἐμποιεῖ τῇ ψυχῇ λόγος πληκτικὸς, καθι κνούμενος τοῦ συνειδότος τῶν ἐνεχομένων τῇ αἰσχύνῃ τῶν κακῶς πεπραγμένων; 2.74 Καὶ συγκόψουσι τὰς μαχαίρας αὐτῶν εἰς ἄροτρα καὶ τὰς ζιβύνας αὐτῶν εἰς δρέπανα. Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ εὔχρηστον τέλος τῶν ἐλέγχων, μεταβαλεῖν πρὸς εἰρηνικὴν κατάστασιν τοὺς φιλοπολέμους καὶ ταραχώ δεις. ∆ῆλον δὲ παντὶ, ὅτι ὁ Χριστοῦ νόμος καὶ λόγος, τὸ εἰρη νικὸν καὶ συμβατικὸν ἔχων, εἰρήνην ἐκήρυξε τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ τοῖς ἐγγύς· ὥστε καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν κατα θεμένους τὰ πολεμιστήρια, τά τε πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς ἐν τοῖς συστάδην γινομένοις ἀγῶσι συμπλοκὴν (ἅτινα εἶπε μά χαιραν) καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἄμυναν τὴν διὰ μακροῦ παρεσκευασμένα (ἅτινα εἶναι δόρατα καὶ ζιβύνας φησί)· ταῦτα δὲ εἰς τὰ τῆς γεωργίας ἐργαλεῖα μετασκευάζειν τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἱε ρουσαλήμ· ὥστε τὴν φθαρτικὴν μάχαιραν σπερμάτων ζωο ποιῶν, τῶν ἐκ τῆς σοφίας ἐγγινομένων ταῖς λογικαῖς ψυχαῖς, εἶναι παρασκευαστικήν· ἄροτρον γενομένην ἁπαλῦνον τὰ πεπωρωμένα, ἀκάνθας ἀνατρέπον, οὐρανίας χάριτος φυλα κτηρίων ποιητικόν. Ἡ δὲ ζιβύνη, τὸ πόῤῥωθεν κατακοντίζον καὶ ἀπωθού μενον, εἰς τὸ συνακτικὸν ἐκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς καὶ κοινωνίας συνδετικόν. Τοιαῦται γὰρ αἱ δρεπάναι συνάγουσαι τὰ διε σκορπισμένα καὶ εἰς κοινωνίαν δράγματος συνδέουσαι τοὺς ἀστάχυας. Ἔστιν οὖν τι καὶ λογικὸν