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us, and shamed those who hate us, he passes on to the song for the beloved, so that those who formerly came from the apostate, then becoming victors over the evil one, might through understanding reach the end of the victory; For To the end, for understanding, a song for the beloved. in which we are also taught who it is whose throne from eternity presides over all beings, and what virgin is adorned as a bride for him for cohabitation, not being deemed worthy of this honor in any other way, unless she should receive forgetfulness of her father. and having dedicated this song to the beloved, he again relates a victory song for the sons of Korah, advancing the discourse through the more secret things. For the promise of the psalmody is For the hidden things. in which, having gone through in his discourse the sound of waters and the movement of nations and the calling of kings and the shaking of the earth, and having said that the Lord of all power is with us; through all of which he foretells the Lord's appearance through the flesh, when the nature of the demons sounds forth and is troubled, and mountains are also moved, the earthly mindsets of wickedness, which seemed to the ancients to be immovable and unchangeable. But the river of gladness makes glad the city of God, and the most high sanctifies his own tabernacle, and as many things as belong to this sequence, through which enigmas the word foretells the hidden things. Again the discourse passes on to another victory, at which all the nations clap their hands and exult, because God has gone up with a shout. And the account of the ascension is surely clear to you through the interpretation of Paul, who says it is not possible to have ascended, unless the descending first led the way. who, after exhorting all to sing psalms 5.127 with understanding, passes on in his discourse to a higher state, having made the second day of the sabbath the subject of the song. and if this is considered according to the first constitution of the world, it is the creation of heaven and the firmament and the separation of the super-celestial waters from the terrestrial. But if you should look to the gospel, truly this is what created heaven for us. For if the firmament is named heaven by God, and Paul understands faith in Christ as the firmament, then for us heaven is truly created according to faith, when the gloom of the sabbath has passed away; and the mystery became faithful to us, Of him who was declared the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is in reality a great Lord and greatly to be praised. And as many things as the psalm contains in sequence, that divine city, which he also names a well-rooted mountain and the exultation of all the earth and the mountains of Zion. concerning which he relates especially the most paradoxical thing of all, that what was once the side of the north has now become the city of the great king. and God is known in her towers, clearly revealing through these things in his discourse the wonder concerning the church. For the northern region of the earth is of those that are shadowed and frozen, remaining always unlit and without a share of the sun's rays. For this reason the opposing power is signified by the name of the north. Therefore, this thing that once dwelt in the north and was its side, having been transferred 5.128 from the dark and frozen life, becomes a city of God and a habitation of the kingdom, in whose towers God is known. And by towers he means the outlines of buildings in a square shape, through which he indicates by an enigma the stable and lofty tower-buildings of virtues that are contemplated in the souls of the saints, as God is known only in such lives and the things that follow are in harmony with what has been set forth before. For the kings were gathered in it; for not a concourse of those who serve, but of those who reign, populates that divine city. Who, he says, when they saw, were thus amazed; and he relates the cause of the wonder, because those who formerly inhabited this city unworthily, when it was the side of the north, were troubled and were shaken and trembling seized them, and not only trembling, but also pains imitating the pangs of a woman in labor. all of which things he says against them

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ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοὺς μισοῦν τας ἡμᾶς κατῄσχυνας, μετέρχεται εἰς τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ ᾠδήν, ἵν' οἱ πρότερον ἐκ τοῦ ἀποστάτου γενόμενοι, εἶτα νικηταὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ καταστάντες, διὰ συνέσεως εἰς τὸ τῆς νίκης φθάσωσι τέλος· Εἰς τὸ τέλος γὰρ εἰς σύνεσιν ᾠδὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ. ἐν ᾗ καὶ διδασκόμεθα τίς μέν ἐστιν οὗ ὁ θρόνος ἐξ ἀϊδίου ἐπιστατεῖ τῶν ὄντων, τίς δὲ παρθένος νυμφοστολεῖται αὐτῷ πρὸς συμβίωσιν, οὐκ ἄλλως ἀξιουμένη τῆς τιμῆς ταύτης, εἰ μὴ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς λήθην λάβοι. καὶ ταύτην ἀναθεὶς τῷ ἀγαπητῷ τὴν ᾠδὴν πάλιν ἐπινίκιον ὑπὲρ τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ διέξεισιν διὰ τῶν ἀπορρητοτέρων προάγων τὸν λόγον. Ὑπὲρ γὰρ τῶν κρυφίων ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας ἐπαγγελία. ἐν οἷς ἦχον ὑδάτων καὶ κίνησιν ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλέων κλῆσιν καὶ σάλον γῆς διελθὼν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὸν κύριον πάσης δυνάμεως μεθ' ἡμῶν εἶναι εἰπών· δι' ὧν ἁπάντων τὴν διὰ σαρκὸς προαγορεύει τοῦ κυρίου ἐμφάνειαν, ὅτε ἠχεῖ μὲν καὶ ταράσσεται τῶν δαιμόνων ἡ φύσις, μεταβαίνει δὲ καὶ ὄρη, τὰ γεώδη τῆς κακίας φρονήματα, ἀκίνητα εἶναι δοκοῦντα τοῖς πάλαι καὶ ἀμετάθετα. ὁ δὲ τῆς εὐφροσύνης ποταμὸς εὐφραίνει τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκήνωμα ἁγιάζει ὁ ὕψιστος καὶ ὅσα τῆς ἀκολουθίας ἔχεται ταύτης, δι' ὧν τοῖς αἰνίγμασι τούτοις ὁ λόγος προαγορεύει τὰ κρύφια. πάλιν ἐφ' ἑτέραν μεταβαίνει νίκην ὁ λόγος, ᾗ πάντα ἐπικροτεῖ τὰ ἔθνη καὶ ἐπαγάλλεται, διότι Ἀνέβη ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ. σαφὴς δέ σοι πάντως ἐστὶν ὁ τῆς ἀναβάσεως λόγος διὰ τῆς ἑρμηνείας τοῦ Παύλου, ὅς φησιν μὴ εἶναι δυνατὸν ἀναβῆναι, εἰ μὴ τὸ καταβῆναι προκαθηγήσαιτο. ὃς ψάλλειν 5.127 μετὰ συνέσεως πάντας ἐγκελεύσας μεταβαίνει τῷ λόγῳ πρὸς ὑψηλοτέραν κατάστασιν τὴν δευτέραν τοῦ σαββάτου ὑπόθεσιν τῆς ᾠδῆς ποιησάμενος. αὕτη δὲ εἰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν πρώτην τοῦ κόσμου σύστασιν θεωροῖτο, οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ στερεώματός ἐστι κατασκευὴ καὶ τῶν ἐπουρανίων ὑδάτων ἀπὸ τῶν ἐγγείων διάκρισις. εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον βλέποις, ἀληθῶς αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡμῖν κατασκευάσασα. εἰ γὰρ οὐρανὸς τὸ στερέωμα παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀνομάζεται, ὁ δὲ Παῦλος νοεῖ τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πίστιν τὸ στερέωμα, τότε ἡμῖν ὄντως κατὰ τὴν πίστιν οὐρανὸς δημιουργεῖται, ὅτε παρῆλθεν ἡ τοῦ σαββάτου κατήφεια· καὶ ἐγένετο ἡμῖν πιστὸν τὸ μυστήριον Τοῦ ὁρισθέντος υἱοῦ θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης, ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, ὅς ἐστι τῷ ὄντι μέγας κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα. καὶ ὅσα κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον ὁ ψαλμὸς περιέχει, τὴν θείαν πόλιν ἐκείνην, ἣν καὶ ὄρος εὔριζον ὀνο μάζει καὶ πάσης γῆς ἀγαλλίαμα καὶ Σιὼν ὄρη. ἐφ' ἧς μάλιστα τὸ πάντων παραδοξότατον ἐκδιηγεῖται, ὅτι ἡ ποτὲ οὖσα πλευρὰ τοῦ βορρᾶ νῦν γέγονε πόλις τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου. καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν ταῖς βάρεσιν αὐτῆς γινώσκεται, σαφῶς διὰ τούτων τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν θαῦμα μηνύων τῷ λόγῳ. τὸ γὰρ βόρειον κλῖμα τῆς γῆς τῶν κατεσκιασμένων τε καὶ κατεψυγμένων ἐστίν, ἀλαμπὲς ἀεὶ μένον καὶ τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων ἀμέτοχον. οὗ χάριν ἡ ἀντικειμένη δύναμις ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ βορείου διασημαίνεται. ἡ τοίνυν ἐνοικοῦσά ποτε τῷ βορρᾷ καὶ οὖσα αὐτοῦ πλευρὰ αὕτη μεταταξαμένη 5.128 ἀπὸ τοῦ σκοτεινοῦ τε καὶ κατεψυγμένου βίου θεοῦ πόλις γίνεται καὶ βασιλείας ἐνδιαίτημα, ἧς ἐν ταῖς βάρεσιν ὁ θεὸς γινώσκεται. βάρεις δὲ λέγει τὰς τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων περιγραφὰς ἐν τετραγώνῳ τῷ σχήματι, δι' ὧν τὰς ἑδραίας καὶ ὑψηλὰς τῶν ἀρετῶν πυργοποιΐας τὰς ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων θεωρουμένας παραδηλοῖ δι' αἰνίγματος, ὡς ἐν μόνοις τοῖς τοιούτοις βίοις τοῦ θεοῦ γινωσκομένου καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς συνῳδὰ τοῖς προαποδεδομένοις ἐστίν. συνήχθησαν γὰρ ἐν ταύτῃ οἱ βασιλεῖς· οὐ γὰρ δουλευόντων, ἀλλὰ βασιλευόντων συνδρομὴ τὴν θείαν ἐκείνην συνοικίζει πόλιν. Οἵτινες, φησίν, ἰδόντες, οὕτως ἐθαύμασαν· καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν διηγεῖται τοῦ θαύ ματος, ἐπειδὴ οἱ πρότερον κατοικοῦντες ἀναξίως τὴν πόλιν ταύτην, ὅτε ἦν πλευρὰ τοῦ βορρᾶ, ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν καὶ τρόμος ἐπελάβετο αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ μόνον τρόμος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόνοι μιμούμενοι ὠδῖνας τικτούσης. ἅπερ πάντα φησὶ κατ' αὐτῶν