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yours above the heavens. Therefore, 'Be exalted' means 'Be shown to be high and above all, and let all the earth learn your glory.' That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and hear me. For he asks that grace may quickly come, and that he who is exalted in the heavens may manifest his glory over all the earth, so that they may be delivered who are able to say: Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the beloved of God are those men saved through his love toward our race, whom also, having been exalted to heaven, he delivered from the ancient captivity, as Paul says: Having ascended on high, you led captivity captive, you received gifts among men. And by the right hand of God he means the good energy, or the Holy Spirit; since it is also called the finger of God, as the Trinity has one substance, power, and energy. Therefore the prophet beseeches that we may be saved and heard by the Spirit, so that we may become spiritual and partakers of divine grace. God has spoken in his sanctuary: I will be exalted and divide Shechem, and I will measure out the valley of the tents. What the prophet asked, he received, and since he said, 'Be exalted,' the Master answers, saying, 'I will be exalted,' and he shows the manner: 'I will divide Shechem.' This is a city given specially to Joseph. But also the valley that had become desolate, and had received the tents of shepherds from above, I will fill with inhabitants, and I will prepare it to be distributed to those who return. By these names he describes the gift of the Spirit; the valley of the tents, 55.674 being manifestly the Churches, since they possess the gathering of the spiritual waters (I mean of baptism) in this valley by the gift of the Spirit, concerning which David says elsewhere: And the valleys will abound with grain; since the fruit of our salvation abounds in the pools of baptism. But Shechem is interpreted as 'shoulder,' that is, pre-eminence; for this is what the shoulder signifies in the divine Scripture. Hence, concerning Saul: 'Taller from the shoulders and upward.' What is higher than the Spirit? or what pre-eminence is found in the gift from thence, which Christ, being exalted, divides, but indeed also measures out, that is, divides according to measure? For to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of my head, Judah is my king. For I will make my own not only Manasseh, but also his country. For Gilead is the name of a place, and Manasseh the name of a tribe. But also to Ephraim I will restore his former power. And I will prepare Judah to reign over all the tribes. For after the return the tribes have remained undivided; and Zerubbabel was the leader of these and those; but properly and truly the Master Christ, who sprang from Judah according to the flesh, reigns over all creation. Moab is the cauldron of my hope; over Edom I will cast my shoe, to me the foreigners were subjected. And I will provide such strength to my people, that they will rule over the foreigners, and take the Moabites and Edomites as subjects. But these things are said more precisely in the fifty-ninth psalm. Aquila and the fifth edition have interpreted it more clearly and plainly, where it is said: Moab is the cauldron of my washing, that is, the vessel of my bath. But I know, having heard a word delivered in secret by a certain Hebrew: for he said that through the preceding was mystically declared the birth of Christ according to the flesh from the race of Moab, taken on account of Ruth the Moabitess, from whom comes David the king, from whose seed Christ was born according to the flesh. But it seems to me that God through

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σου ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τὸ οὖν, Ὑψώθητι, ἀντὶ τοῦ, δείχθητι ὑψηλὸς καὶ πάντων ὑπέρτερος, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τὴν σὴν μαθέτω δόξαν. Ὅπως ἂν ῥυσθῶσιν οἱ ἀγαπητοί σου· σῶσον τῇ δεξιᾷ σου, καὶ ἐπάκου σόν μου. Αἰτεῖ γὰρ ταχέως ἐπιστῆναι τὴν χάριν, καὶ τὸν ὑψούμενον ἐν οὐρανοῖς φανερῶσαι τὴν δόξαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, ὅπως ἂν ῥυσθῶσιν οἱ δυνάμενοι λέγειν· Καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κό σμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, προορίσας εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν. Ἀγαπητοὶ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιν οἱ σωθέντες διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς τὸ γένος τὸ ἡμέτερον ἄνθρωποι, οὕσπερ καὶ ὑψωθεὶς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχαίας αἰχμαλωσίας ἐῤῥύσατο, καθά φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσας αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώποις. ∆εξιὰν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγει τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἢ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· ἐπειδὴ καὶ Θεοῦ δάκτυλος ὀνομάζεται, ὡς τῆς Τριάδος μίαν ἐχούσης οὐσίαν, δύναμίν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν. Σωθῆναι τοίνυν ἡμᾶς ὁ προφήτης καὶ ἐπακουσθῆναι παρακαλεῖ τῷ Πνεύματι, ἵνα πνευματικοὶ γενώμεθα καὶ τῆς θείας χάριτος μέτοχοι. Ὁ Θεὸς ἐλάλησεν ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ· ὑψωθήσομαι καὶ διαμεριῶ Σίκιμα, καὶ τὴν κοιλάδα τῶν σκηνῶν διαμετρήσω. Οὗπερ ᾔτησεν ὁ προφήτης ἀπέλαυσε, καὶ ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν, Ὑψώθηθι, ἀποκρίνεται λέγων ὁ ∆εσπότης, Ὑψωθήσομαι δείκνυσι καὶ τὸν τρόπον· ∆ιαμεριῶ Σίκιμα. Πόλις δὲ αὕτη κατ' ἐξαίρετον τῷ Ἰωσὴφ δεδομένη. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν κοιλάδα τὴν ἔρημον γενομένην, καὶ ποιμένων δεξαμένην σκηνὰς ἄνωθεν, οἰκητόρων πληρώσω, καὶ διανεμηθῆναι τοῖς ἐπανελθοῦσι παρασκευάσω. Τούτοις τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὴν δωρεὰν χαρακτηρίζει τοῦ Πνεύματος· κοιλάδα μὲν τῶν σκηνῶν, 55.674 τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν δηλονότι τυγχάνουσαν, ἐπειδὴ τὴν τῶν νοητῶν ὑδάτων συναγωγὴν (φημὶ δὲ τοῦ βαπτίσματος) ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι ταύτῃ τῇ χορηγίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος κέκτηνται, περὶ ἧς ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· Καὶ αἱ κοιλάδες πληθυνοῦσι σῖτον· ἐπειδὴ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας ὁ καρπὸς ἐν ταῖς κολυμβήθραις πληθύνεται τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Σίκιμα δὲ, ὠμίασις ἑρμηνεύεται, τουτέστιν, ἐξοχή· τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ ὦμος παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ δηλοῖ. Ὅθεν περὶ τοῦ Σαούλ· Ὑψηλὸς ὑπὲρ ὠμίας καὶ ἐπάνω. Τί δὲ τοῦ Πνεύματος ὑψηλότερον; ἢ ποία ὑπεροχὴ κατὰ τὴν δωρεὰν τὴν ἐκεῖθεν εὑρίσκεται, ἣν ὑψούμενος ὁ Χριστὸς διαμερίζει, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ διαμετρεῖ, τουτέστι, πρὸς μέτρον διαιρεῖ; Ἑκάστῳ γὰρ ἡ φανέρωσις τοῦ Πνεύματος πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον δίδοται. Ἐμός ἐστι Γαλαὰδ, καὶ ἐμός ἐστι Μανασσῆς· καὶ Ἐφραῒμ ἀντίληψις τῆς κεφαλῆς μου, Ἰούδας βασιλεύς μου. Οἰκειώσομαι γὰρ οὐ μόνον τὸν Μανασσῆ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου χώραν. Γαλαὰδ γὰρ ὄνομα τόπου, Μανασσῆς δὲ προσηγορία φυλῆς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ Ἐφραῒμ τὴν προτέραν ἀποδώσω δύναμιν. Τὸν μέντοι Ἰούδαν πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν βασιλεύειν παρασκευάσω. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἀδιαίρετοι μεμενήκασιν αἱ φυλαί· ὁ δὲ Ζοροβάβελ καὶ τούτων κἀκείνων ἡγεῖτο· κυρίως δὲ καὶ ἀληθῶς ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς, ὁ ἐξ Ἰούδα κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσας, πάσης βασιλεύει τῆς κτίσεως. Μωὰβ λέβης τῆς ἐλπίδος μου· ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν ἐπιβαλῶ τὸ ὑπόδημά μου, ἐμοὶ ἀλλόφυλοι ὑπετάγησαν. Τοσαύτην δὲ τῷ ἐμῷ λαῷ παρέξω ἰσχὺν, ὥστε καὶ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων κρατῆσαι, καὶ Μωαβίτας καὶ Ἰδουμαίους ὑπηκόους λαβεῖν. Ἀκριβέστερον δὲ ταῦτα ἐν τῷ πεντηκοστῷ καὶ ἐννάτῳ ψαλμῷ εἴρηται. Λευκότερον καὶ σαφέστερον ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ Ἀκύλας καὶ ἡ πέμπτη ἔκδοσις, παρ' οἷς εἴρηται· Μωὰβ λέβης τοῦ λουτροῦ μου, τουτέστι, δοχεῖον τοῦ λουτροῦ μου. Οἶδα δ' ἐγὼ ἀκούσας λόγον ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ παραδεδομένον ὑπό τινος Ἑβραίου· μυστικῶς γὰρ ἔφασκε δηλοῦσθαι διὰ τῶν προκειμένων τὴν κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ Χριστοῦ γέννησιν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους τοῦ Μωὰβ, παραληφθεῖσαν διὰ τὴν Μωαβῖτιν Ῥοὺθ, ἀφ' ἧς γίνεται ∆αυῒδ ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὗ ἐκ σπέρματος τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ὁ Χριστὸς γεγέννηται. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς διὰ