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With these things the apostolic word agrees, saying: But then indeed, not knowing God, you were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods, but now having known God, or rather having been known by God. For when they did not know God, they were not known by him, but having known him, they were known by him. But perhaps it might seem to some to be superfluous, the saying At the hearing of the ear he obeyed me, since everyone who obeys, obeys with the ear. But it is not superfluously nor redundantly added, "the ear" to "everyone who obeys," because God does not use a human and mortal hearing but a divine ear which comes to the one who has it by addition; For He has added an ear for me to hear. Alien sons have grown old, and what follows. Being the beginning and source of good things, God becomes Father of those who do good, and insofar as they are engaged in doing what is right, these are proper sons of God, partaking of His only-begotten Son. But if, having become careless, they partake of the opposites (and these are evil things), they would be alienated from God, which will be followed by growing old. For communing with virtue, with bright and unfading and ageless wisdom, they were always young, but having fallen away into vice, they would be made old, worn out (so to speak) by their own corruption. And further, since the verse is about the Jews, and they adhere to the oldness of the letter, not enduring in any way to follow the newness of the spirit, they have become alien sons and grown old. And these, having become waverers and double-minded, are said to limp from their own paths. For Elijah called wavering "limping," saying: How long will you limp on both your hams? If he is the Lord, go after him. And perhaps everyone who has accepted the divine scripture, but does not understand it as he ought, is said to limp in it, as opposed to the one who has not accepted it, neither walking nor limping in it. 148 Ps 17,47a God is said to live, not by partaking of life but by providing it. And indeed he himself often says about himself, As I live, says the Lord. But also the Savior, saying As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, shows that he lives not by communion of life; for he himself is life, from which it is deduced that the Son is consubstantial with the Father. For if the Son is life, not by participation in life but himself making alive those who partake of him, and the Father also lives, granting life in the same ways as the Son, with the same energy being rendered by Father and Son, the substance of the Father and of the Son would be the same. And this very text shows this: The living Father, he says, and I live because of the Father, as if he were saying, because of having such a Father who lives according to substance, he himself also exists as living. This living God is also blessed, having blessed the saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He might be called blessed because every blessing is about him. For everything said and thought about him is both said and thought with blessing. 149 Ps 17,47b The God of my salvation is exalted, as I gain a sense of his greatness; for whose works are great, they themselves are also great. Since, therefore, the salvation of the rational creature is a high work, it is necessary that its cause be high. But God is exalted not by changing from a low place to a high one, but by our having resolved to think great things about him. 150 Ps 17,50 For either, giving thanks for their progress and salvation, he confesses, or, having taken their sins upon himself, he becomes an intercessor for their repentance; for the phrase I will confess to you signifies both. But the Son also sings psalms in the name of the Father, working all things according to the will of the Father. 151 Ps 17,51a The Father, magnifying the salvations of Christ the king, not those by which the king himself is saved but those which he provides to those being saved by him. And the king belongs to God, not as ruling over God himself but over those who are dedicated to God. For we say that the ruler at one time belongs to the ruled, as their leader, and at another time that the ruler belongs to the king according to

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τούτοις συνᾴδει τὸ ἀποστολικὸν φάσκον· ̓Αλλὰ τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ ουσιν θεοῖς, νῦν δὲ γνόντες θεόν, μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ. οτε γὰρ ἠγνόουν θεόν, ἠγνοοῦντο ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, γνόντες δὲ αὐτὸν ἐγνώσθησαν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Ισως δὲ δόξειέν τισιν παρέλκον ειναι τὸ εἰρημένον Εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέν μοι, τῷ πάντα τὸν ὑπακούοντα ὠτίῳ ὑπακούειν. οὐ παρελκόντως δὲ οὐδὲ περιττῶς πρόσκειται τὸ ὠτίον τῷ πάντα τὸν ὑπακούοντα, τῷ θεῷ μὴ ἀνθρωπίνῃ καὶ θνητῇ ἀκοῇ χρᾶσθαι ἀλλ' ὠτίῳ θείῳ ἐκ προσθήκης τῷ εχοντι παραγινομένῳ· Προσέθηκεν γάρ μοι ὠτίον ἀκούειν. Υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι ἐπαλαιώθησαν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀρχὴ καὶ πηγὴ τυγχάνων ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ γίνεται τῶν ἀγαθοεργούντων, καὶ οσον ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν τὰ δέοντα τυγχάνουσιν ουτοι ιδιοι υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ μετέχοντες τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. εἰ δὲ ἀπροσεκτήσαντες τῶν ἐναντίων μεθέξουσιν (ταῦτα δ' ἐστὶν τὰ κακὰ), ἀλλοτριωθεῖεν θεοῦ, οις ἀκολουθήσει καὶ τὸ παλαιωθῆναι. κοινωνοῦντες γὰρ τῇ ἀρετῇ, λαμπρᾷ καὶ ἀμαράντῳ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀγήρῳ, ἀεὶ νεάζοντες ἐτύγχανον, μεταπεσόντες δὲ εἰς τὴν κακίαν παλαιωθεῖεν ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς αὐτῶν (ιν' ουτως ειπω) τριβακούμενοι. Καὶ ετι ἐπεὶ περὶ ̓Ιουδαίων ἐστὶν ὁ στίχος, ουτοι δὲ παρακάθηνται τῇ παλαιότητι τοῦ γράμματος οὐδὲ κατὰ ποσὸν επεσθαι τῇ καινότητι τοῦ πνεύματος ἀνεχόμενοι, Υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι καὶ πεπαλαιωμένοι γεγένηνται· ουτοι δὲ καὶ ἐπαμφοτερισταὶ καὶ δίψυχοι γεγενημένοι χωλεύειν ἀπὸ τῶν σφῶν τριβῶν λέγονται. τὸ γὰρ ἐπαμφοτερίζειν χωλεύειν ̓Ηλίας ειπεν φάσκων· Εως πότε χωλανεῖτε ἐπαμφοτέραις ταῖς ἰγνύαις; εἰ εστιν κύριος, πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ. καὶ τάχα πᾶς ὁ τὴν θείαν γραφὴν προσηκάμενος, μὴ ὡς δεῖ διανοούμενος αὐτήν, χωλεύειν ἐν αὐτῇ λέγεται τοῦ μὴ παραδεξαμένου αὐτήν, μήτε βαδίζοντος μήτε χωλεύοντος ἐν αὐτῇ. 148 Ps 17,47a Λέγεται ζῆν ὁ θεός, οὐ ζωῆς μεταλαμβάνων ἀλλὰ ταύτην παρέχων. καὶ αὐτὸς γοῦν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ πολλάκις τὸ Ζῶ ἐγώ, λέγει κύριος, φησίν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ φάσκων Καθὼς ἀπέστειλέν με ὁ ζῶν πατήρ, κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα, παρίστησιν, οτι ζῇ οὐ κοινωνίᾳ ζωῆς· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ζωή, ἐξ ου συνάγεται ὁμοούσιον ειναι τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱόν· εἰ γὰρ ζωὴ ὁ υἱὸς οὐ μετουσίᾳ ζωῆς ἀλλὰ ζωοποιῶν αὐτὸς τοὺς μετέχοντας αὐτοῦ, ζῇ δὲ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ χορηγῶν ζωὴν κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ υἱῷ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐνεργείας ἀποδιδομένης πρὸς πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ, ἡ αὐτὴ ειη πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ οὐσία. καὶ αυτη δὲ ἡ λέξις τοῦτο παρίστησιν· Ζῶν, φησίν, ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα, ὡσεὶ ελεγεν, διὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον εχειν πατέρα ος κατ' οὐσίαν ζῇ καὶ αὐτὸς ζῶν ὑπάρχει. Αὐτὸς ὁ ζῶν θεὸς καὶ εὐλογητός ἐστιν, εὐλογήσας τοὺς ἁγίους ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις. ῥηθείη αν εὐλογητὸς τῷ πᾶσαν εὐλογίαν περὶ αὐτὸν ειναι. πᾶν γὰρ τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγόμενον καὶ φρονούμενον καὶ εὐλόγως λέγεται καὶ φρονεῖται. 149 Ps 17,47b ̔Ο τῆς σωτηρίας μου θεὸς ὑψοῦται, αισθησίν μου λαβόντος τοῦ μεγέθους αὐτοῦ· ων γὰρ μεγάλα τὰ εργα, καὶ αὐτοὶ μεγάλοι. ἐπεὶ ουν ὑψηλὸν εργον ἡ σωτηρία τοῦ λογικοῦ ζῴου, ἀνάγκη ὑψηλὸν ειναι τὸν ταύτης αιτιον. ̔Υψοῦται δὲ θεὸς οὐκ ἐκ ταπεινοῦ τόπου εἰς ὑψηλὸν μεταβάλλων, ἀλλ' ἡμῶν μεγάλα περὶ αὐτοῦ φρονεῖν διεγνωκότων. 150 Ps 17,50 Ητοι γὰρ εὐχαριστῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς τούτων προκοπῆς καὶ σωτηρίας ἐξομολογεῖται, η τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναδεξάμενος τῆς μετανοίας αὐτῶν πρεσβευτὴς γινόμενος· ἀμφότερα γὰρ σημαίνει ἡ ̓Εξομολογήσομαί σοι φωνή. ἀλλὰ καὶ ψάλλει ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ υἱός, πάντα ἐργαζόμενος κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός. 151 Ps 17,51a Τὰς σωτηρίας τοῦ βασιλέως Χριστοῦ μεγαλύνων ὁ πατήρ, οὐχ ας αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς σῴζεται ἀλλ' ας παρέχει τοῖς πρὸς αὐτοῦ σῳζομένοις. θεοῦ δ' ἐστὶν ὁ βασιλεύς, οὐχ ὡς αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλεύων ἀλλὰ τῶν τῷ θεῷ ἀνακειμένων. καὶ γὰρ τὸν αρχοντα ὁτὲ μὲν τῶν ἀρχομένων ειναι λέγομεν ὡς ἡγούμενον αὐτῶν, ὁτὲ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως αρχοντα κατὰ