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having been established from it was cast off, and was silenced; so that for this reason it was said, in the morning the king of Israel was silenced; the prophecy naming the epiphany and the first dawning of the divine word to all men at that time as 'in the morning'; it is also possible for the prophecy 'the king of Israel was silenced' to be foretold concerning Herod 113; as because of the deception, which he suffered from the magi at the birth of our Savior, which things also happened on account of the Father's love for his own child, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also called Israel in other prophecies and here; whom at the right time He arranged to depart for Egypt with Joseph and his mother, when necessity also called for the king who plotted against him, clearly Herod, to be silenced; and again when this one died He calls him back, in accordance with the prophecy at hand. But if anyone should refer these things to the Jewish people, saying that these things were said about the people of Israel of the circumcision, let him pay attention to the sequence of the text; for he says these things, having said before, as also to Jerusalem itself, the words, 'and destruction shall rise up among your people; and all your walled cities shall be gone'; and as he says such a ruler suffered during the war that came upon him, in which they dashed a mother upon her children, I will do similar things also to you yourselves because of your evils, O house of Israel, who also were cast off along with their king, and have suffered all these things; because, he says, 'Israel is a child and I loved him; and out of Egypt I have called my son.' For what sequence does the text have, let whoever wishes demonstrate; but just as in countless other prophecies Christ is called Jacob and Israel, in the same way also now; since therefore, he says, this one, having become obedient to me 114, has taken the form of a servant and become a child beloved by me, having fulfilled all my will, for this reason I have called him back as a genuine and beloved son from the spiritual Egypt, into which he came down having become man, but you to whom the word is addressed, along with your kingdom, I will give over to ruin and destruction. These things the prophecy; but it is manifest how from the times of our Savior, when Jerusalem was besieged, the kingdom of the Jews, which had been established until then, was both overthrown and completely cast off, so that along with the others this prophecy too has been fulfilled. Ps. From the same, Hosea. 12. I will not give up Ephraim to be blotted out; because I am God, and not man, the holy one in you, and I will not enter into a city. I will go after the Lord. The same one who said, 'because I am God,' adds, saying, 'I will go after the Lord.' Who else would be God going after the Lord, than the Word of God following the will of the Father? Who also teaches not to think that he, on account of the incarnation, has become some mere man similar to one of the righteous and holy ones of old. And he says he will not enter into a city, showing that he does not engage in a common and human way of life, which thing he also teaches his disciples to do, saying, 'Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans.' 115 Ps. From Joel, nothing clear. Ps. From Amos. 13. I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a brand plucked from the fire, and not even so did you return to me, says the Lord. And here the Lord himself says as if concerning another, 'as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah'; and in Genesis the divine scripture has preserved the two persons, saying, 'And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord'; from which things the orthodoxy of the ecclesiastical faith concerning the Father and the Son is manifest. Ps. Of the same. 14. Prepare to call upon your God, O Israel. For, behold, he who establishes thunder, and creates spirit, and declares to men his Christ, who makes the morning and the mist, and who walks upon the high places of the earth, the Lord the God Almighty is his name. And through

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συστᾶσα ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπερρίφη, καὶ κατεσιωπήθη· ὡς διὰ τοῦτο εἰρῆσθαι τὸ, ἐν ὄρθρῳ κατεσιωπήθη βασιλεὺς Ἰσραήλ· ὄρθρον τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν καὶ τὴν τότε πρώτην εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἀνατολὴν τοῦ θείου λόγου τῆς προφητείας ὀνομαζούσης ἐν ὄρθρῳ· δύναται καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἡρώδου 113 προθεσπίζεσθαι τὸ, κατεσιωπήθη βασιλεὺς Ἰσραήλ· ὡς διὰ τὸν παραλογισμὸν, ὃν πέπονθεν ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν γενέσει, ἃ καὶ συμβέβηκεν διὰ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς περὶ τὸν ἴδιον παῖδα τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀγάπην, ὡς καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις προφητείαις Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐνταῦθα προσαγορευόμενον· ὃν κατὰ καιρὸν μὲν ᾠκονομήσατο ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἅμα τῷ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ ἀπᾶραι, ὅτε καὶ χρεία ἐκάλει τὸν ἐπιβουλεύοντα αὐτῷ βασιλέα, δῆλον ὅτι τὸν Ἡρώδην, κατασιωπηθῆναι· αὖθις δ' αὐτὸν τούτου τελευτήσαντος ἀνακαλεῖται ἀκολούθως τῇ μετὰ χεῖρας προφητείᾳ. Εἰ δ' ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν ταῦτά τις ἀναφέροι φάσκων περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ ἐκ περιτομῆς ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαι, ἐπιστησάτω τῇ τοῦ λόγου ἀκολουθίᾳ· ταῦτα γὰρ λέγει προειπὼν, ὡς καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τὸ, καὶ ἐξαναστήσεται ἀπώλεια ἐν τῷ λαῷ σου· καὶ πάντα τὰ περιτετειχισμένα σου οἰχήσεται· καὶ ἅπερ φησὶν ὁ τοιόσδε ἄρχων πέπονθε κατὰ τὸν ἐπελθόντα αὐτῷ πόλεμον, ἐν ᾧ μητέρα ἐπὶ τέκνοις ἠδάφισαν, τὰ παραπλήσια καὶ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ποιήσω διὰ τὰς κακίας ὑμῶν, ὦ οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, οἳ καὶ ἀπερρίφησαν σὺν καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ αὐτῶν, καὶ ταῦτά γε πάντα πεπόνθασι· διότι παῖς φησὶν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐγὼ ἠγάπησα αὐτόν· καὶ ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου. Ποίαν γὰρ ἔχει ἀκολουθίαν ἡ λέξις ὁ βουλόμενος παραστησάτω· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ κατὰ μυρίας ἄλλας προφητείας Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ Χριστὸς προσαγορεύεται, τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον καὶ νῦν· ἐπεὶ οὖν, φησὶν, οὗτος ὑπήκοός μοι 114 γεγενημένος μορφὴν δούλου εἴληφεν καὶ γέγονεν παιδίον ἀγαπητὸν ἐμοὶ, πᾶσαν τὴν ἐμὴν ἐκτελέσας βουλὴν, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς νοητῆς Αἰγύπτου, εἰς ἣν ἐνανθρωπήσας κατελήλυθεν, οἷα γνήσιον καὶ ἀγαπητὸν υἱὸν ἀνεκαλεσάμην, ὑμᾶς δὲ τοὺς πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος σὺν καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ ὑμῶν ὀλέθρῳ καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ παραδώσω. Ταῦτα μὲν ἡ προφητεία· πρόδηλον δ' ὅπως ἀπὸ τῶν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν χρόνων πολιορκηθείσης τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καθῃρέθη τε καὶ εἰς τὸ παντελὲς ἀπερρίφη ἡ μέχρι τότε συστᾶσα τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεία, ὡς μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ ταύτην πεπληρῶσθαι τὴν προφητείαν. Ψ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ὠσηέ. ΙΒʹ. Οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλείπω τοῦ ἐξαλειφθῆναι τὸν Ἐφραίμ· διότι Θεὸς ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ἐν σοι ἅγιος, καὶ οὐκ εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς πόλιν. Ὀπίσω Κυρίου πορεύσομαι. Ὁ αὐτὸς εἰπὼν, διότι Θεὸς ἐγώ εἰμι, ἐπιφέρει λέγων, Ὀπίσω Κυρίου πορεύσομαι. Τίς δ' ἂν ἄλλος εἴη Θεὸς ὀπίσω Κυρίου πορευόμενος, ἢ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος τῷ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἑπόμενος βουλήματι; Ὃς καὶ διδάσκει μὴ δοκεῖν αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν ψιλόν τινα ἄνδρα τῶν πάλαι δικαίων καὶ ἁγίων τινὶ παραπλήσιον γεγονέναι. Φησὶ δὲ μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθαι εἰς πόλιν, δηλῶν τὸ μὴ κοινῇ καὶ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κεχρῆσθαι πολιτείᾳ, ὅπερ ποιεῖν καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ παιδεύει λέγων, Εἰς ὁδὸν ἐθνῶν μὴ ἀπέλθητε, καὶ εἰς πόλιν Σαμαρειτῶν μὴ εἰσέλθητε. 115 Ψ. Τοῦ Ἰωὴλ σαφὲς οὐδέν. Ψ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀμῶς. ΙΓʹ. Κατέστρεψα ὑμᾶς, καθὼς κατέστρεψεν ὁ Θεὸς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα, καὶ ἐγένεσθε ὡς δαλὸς ἐξεσπασμένος ἐκ πυρὸς, καὶ οὐδ' ὣς ἐπεστρέψατε πρὸς μὲ, λέγει Κύριος. Καὶ ἐνθάδε αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος φησὶν ὡς περὶ ἑτέρου τὸ, καθὼς κατέστρεψεν ὁ Θεὸς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα· καὶ ἐν τῇ Γενέσει δὲ τετήρηκεν ἡ θεία γραφὴ τὰ δύο πρόσωπα φήσασα, Καὶ ἔβρεξε Κύριος ἐπὶ Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα θεῖον καὶ πῦρ παρὰ Κυρίου· ἐξ ὧν καταφανὴς ἡ περὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ τυγχάνει τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς πίστεως ὀρθοδοξία. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ι∆ʹ. Ἑτοιμάζου ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸν Θεόν σου Ἰσραήλ. ∆ιότι, ἰδοὺ, στερεῶν βροντὴν, καὶ κτίζων πνεῦμα, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλων εἰς ἀνθρώπους τὸν χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ποιῶν ὄρθρον καὶ ὁμίχλην, καὶ ἐπιβαίνων ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ τῆς γῆς, Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Καὶ διὰ