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walking as if on ground upon the sea; and again, He who is about to subdue the great sea monster. Since, therefore, it is not in keeping with the lofty conception of the God of the universe to suppose that He who fills all things walks upon a sea that contains His so great a magnitude, it remains to understand these things concerning the Word; by whose power, being a type of Him, Jesus the son of Nave spoke to the sun and it stood still over Gibeon, but also at the time of His passion, as if by some divine command, the sun darkened over all the earth. And He it is who stretched out the heaven, who also walked as if on ground upon the sea, when, having become man, He performed the wonders, as is recorded in the Gospels. But if these passages are to be referred entirely to the Word of God, it would follow that not only the sayings we have set forth are to be taken as referring to Him, but also all the things spoken by Job in the pericope. For He alone subdued the great sea monster, having loosed the pains of death, 108 and having truly destroyed the great dragon, the devil, who long ago, having grown strong, devoured the souls of men, in the manner of the sea monster that swallowed Jonah, but being later subdued by the one who wrestled him down, He brought forth again those whom he had long ago swallowed, just as the beast that gave Jonah back unharmed; in this the prophecy being fulfilled which says, "Death, having prevailed, has swallowed them up," and again, "God has wiped away every tear from every face"; which we also say concerning our Savior and Lord who subdued the great sea monster mentioned here. Ps. From Job. 8. The Lord, in his oracle to Job, recounting the works of His own providence and economy, says, "And taking clay from the earth, did you form a living creature, and make it speak upon the earth?" "And have you taken away the light from the ungodly, and broken the arms of the proud?" "And have you come to the spring of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the abyss?" "And do the gates of death open to you in fear, and did the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, cower?" And the Lord says these things to Job about Himself, as no one else but He alone is able to accomplish such great things; for who is it that took earth and formed a living creature? or God who took dust from the earth and formed man? And at the same time we are taught from this, that He who formed man is Himself the one who also descended into the lower parts of the earth, and into what is called its heart, which I now suppose is named the spring of the sea 109; and furthermore, He who walked in the tracks of the sea, for whom alone the gates of death were opened with fear, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it, whom also the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing, cowered, beholding the victory and the sting, and the pains of death being abolished through Him; and perhaps to these gatekeepers of the gates of death mentioned here it was said by certain divine powers, at the time of the passion and the descent of our Savior into Hades, "Lift up your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in." And the gates are called everlasting, as I suppose, because from eternity they were opened for no one else but for this One alone who also rescued and gave life to those who were once swallowed by death; concerning whom it is said here, "And the gates of death open to you in fear, and the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, cowered;" and in the 106th psalm, "For he has broken the gates of bronze," which are none other, as I think, than those of death, "and has broken the bars of iron in sunder;" clearly, those of the aforementioned gates. These things, therefore, have been taken by us as applying to Him, as fitting no one other than Christ; for He it is to whom the Father has given all judgment, so that He might take away the light from the ungodly, and break the arms of the proud; but if anyone should think these things are said concerning the God of the universe, let him consider whether it is pious, concerning the one who says, "Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord," whose throne is heaven, and the earth the footstool of 110 his feet, who contains all things

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περιπατῶν ὡς ἐπὶ ἐδάφους ἐπὶ θαλάσσης· καὶ πάλιν, ὁ μέλλων τὸ μέγα κῆτος χειρώσασθαι. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οὐκ ἔχεται τῆς περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ μεγαλονοίας τὸ ὑπολαμβάνειν αὐτὸν τὰ σύμπαντα πληροῦντα ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ ης περιπατεῖν χωρούσης αὐτοῦ τὸ τοσοῦ ? μέγεθος, λείπεται περὶ τοῦ Λόγου ταῦτα νοεῖν· οὗ τῇ δυνάμει, τύπος αὐτοῦ τυγχάνων, ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ ἔστη κατὰ Γαβαὼν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους αὐτοῦ, ὡσπερεὶ θείᾳ τινὶ προστάξει, ὁ ἥλιος ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἐσκότασεν τὴν γῆν. Αὐτὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τανύσας τὸν οὐρανὸν, ὁ καὶ περιπατήσας ὡς ἐπ' ἐδάφους ἐπὶ θαλάσσης, ὁπηνίκα ἐνανθρωπήσας ἀπετέλει τὰ παράδοξα, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἱστόρηται. Εἰ δ' ὅλως ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον τὰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους ἀναφέροι, τὸ ἑξῆς ἂν εἴη μὴ μόνα ἅπερ ἐξεθέμεθα ῥητὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐκλαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ περικοπῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰὼβ λεγόμενα· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ μέγα κῆτος μόνος αὐτὸς ἐχειρώσατο, λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου, 108 καὶ τὸν μέγαν ὡς ἀληθῶς δράκοντα τὸν διάβολον καταργήσας, ὃς πάλαι μὲν τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς κατέπινεν ἰσχύσας, δίκην τοῦ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν καταπεπωκότος κήτους, χειρωθεὶς δ' ὕστερον ὑπὸ τοῦ καταπαλαίσαντος αὐτὸν, προήγαγεν αὖθις οὓς πάλαι καταπεπώκει, ὁμοίως τῷ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν σῶον ἀποδεδωκότι θηρίῳ· πληρουμένης ἐν τούτῳ προφητείας φασκούσης, Κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας, καὶ πάλιν ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ παντὸς προσώπου· ὃ καὶ λέγομεν διὰ τὸν τὸ λεγόμενον ἐνταῦθα μέγα κῆτος χειρωσάμενον Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν. Ψ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰώβ. Ηʹ. Ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ χρηματισμῷ τὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ προνοίας καὶ οἰκονομίας ἔργα διεξιών φησιν, καὶ συλλαβὼν γῆν πηλὸν, ἔπλασας ζῷον, καὶ λαλητὸν αὐτῷ ἔθου ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Ἀφείλας δὲ ἀπὸ ἀσεβῶν τὸ φῶς, βραχίονας δὲ ὑπερηφάνων συνέτριψας; Ἦλθες δὲ ἐπὶ πηγὴν θαλάσσης, ἐν δὲ ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιεπάτησας; Ἀνοίγονται δέ σοι φόβῳ πύλαι θανάτου, πυλωροὶ δὲ ᾅδου ἰδόντες σε ἔπτηξαν; Ταῦτα δέ φησιν ὁ Κύριος πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, ὡς μηδενὸς ἑτέρου πλὴν αὐτοῦ μόνου δυναμένου τὰ τηλικαῦτα ἐνεργεῖν· τίς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ λαβὼν γῆν καὶ πλάσας ζῷον. ἢ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ λαβὼν χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ πλάσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον; Ἅμα δὲ διδασκόμεθα ἐντεῦθεν, ὡς ἄρα ὁ πλάσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ καὶ εἰς τὰ κατώτερα τῆς γῆς καταβὰς, καὶ εἰς τὴν λεγομένην καρδίαν αὐτῆς, ἥντινα νῦν ὑπολαμβάνω πηγὴν θαλάσσης 109 ὠνομάσθαι· ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὁ ἐν ἴχνεσιν θαλάσσης περιπατήσας, ᾧ μόνῳ μετὰ φόβου ἠνεώχθησαν αἱ τοῦ θανάτου πύλαι, καθ' ὅτι οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ὃν καὶ οἱ πυλωροὶ τοῦ Ἅιδου ἰδόντες ἔπτηξαν, ὁρῶντες τὸ νῖκος καὶ τὸ κέντρον, καὶ τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου δι' αὐτοῦ καθαιρουμένας· τάχα δὲ τούτοις τοῖς πυλωροῖς τῶν ἐνθάδε λεγομένων πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου ὑπό τινων θείων δυνάμεων ἐλέγετο κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Ἅιδην τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καταβάσεως τὸ, ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης· αἰώνιοι δὲ εἴρηνται πύλαι, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνω, διὰ τὸ ἐξ αἰῶνος μηδενὶ ἄλλῳ αὐτὰς ἀνεῖσθαι ἢ τούτῳ μόνῳ τῷ καὶ τοὺς παλαί ποτε καταποθέντας ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου ῥυσαμένῳ καὶ ζωοποιήσαντι· περὶ οὗ ἐνθάδε μὲν εἴρηται τὸ, ἀνοίγονται δέ σοι φόβῳ πύλαι θανάτου, πυλωροὶ δὲ Ἅιδου ἰδόντες σε ἔπτηξαν· ἐν δὲ τῷ ρʹ ψαλμῷ τὸ, ὅτι συνέτριψε πύλας χαλκὰς, οὐκ ἄλλας οὔσας, ὡς οἶμαι, ἢ τὰς τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ μοχλοὺς σιδηροῦς συνέτριψεν· δῆλον δ' ὅτι τοὺς τῶν προειρημένων πυλῶν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ὡς ἂν μηδενὶ ἑτέρῳ ἢ τῷ Χριστῷ ἁρμόζοντα εἰς αὐτὸν ἐξείληπται· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ᾧ πᾶσαν τὴν κρίσιν ἔδωκεν ὁ πατὴρ, ὥστε αὐτὸν ἀφαιρεῖν μὲν ἀπὸ ἀσεβῶν τὸ φῶς, βραχίονας δὲ ὑπερηφάνων συντρίβειν· εἰ δέ τις περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ οἰηθείη ταῦτα λέγεσθαι, ἐπιστησάτω εἰ εὐσεβές ἐστιν τὸν φάσκοντα, οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ λέγει Κύριος, οὗ ὁ οὐρανὸς θρόνος, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν 110 ποδῶν, τὸν ἐμπεριέχοντα τὰ πάντα