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you took hold of me, I became a testimony. Other copies have it thus: _and_ _he_ _took_ _hold_ _of_ _me_,_ _he_ _became_ _a_ _testimony_. So, according to 'you took hold of me,' he speaks as to God, saying: Like some brave man you took hold of me, the small and weak, and as soon as you touched me I became an example to all, that I am punished as if for sin. But according to 'he took hold of me,' he speaks as to his friends about God. And 'he became a testimony' is instead of: God stood against me for a reproof. 16, 8 and my falsehood rose up in me, it answered to my face. And while I was suffering these things, he says, those who bear false witness against me found a pretext to answer shamelessly to my face and to say that I suffer because of sin. 147 It is also possible to understand it this way: falsehood is sin; so some hidden sin, he says, seems to be made manifest and to convict me to my face. What follows can indeed also be understood concerning God; but since the saint is fully assured that he has been handed over by God to the devil and suffers these things from him, it must therefore be heard of them in either way. 16, 9 Using wrath he cast me down, he gnashed his teeth at me. If he speaks about God, it signifies the vehemence of the wrath, that: as those who grind their teeth in anger, so he treated me. But concerning the devil and the demons, the great David also said these things verbatim, having said: they gnashed their teeth at me, Lord, when will you look upon it? For since he goes about as a lion seeking whom he may devour, he is justly said also to gnash like a lion. 16, 9 The arrows of his assailants have fallen upon me. If what is said is about God, it shows the suddenness of the evils that came upon him, so that he might say: the punishments like some assailants have unexpectedly fallen upon me. But if about the devil, he says his assailants are the demons who minister to him. 16, 10 with the points of his eyes he has struck. Points are the iron parts of arrows. As with arrows, therefore, he says, God wounded me against my eyes, instead of: he struck a vital blow. But if the saying is about the devil, with the dreadful darts of his own eyes, he says, he has shot me down as with points. 148 16, 10 Sharply he struck me on the knees. Vehemently, he says, he struck me, so that my knees gave way and I fell, either God or the devil. 16, 10 And with one accord they ran down upon me. Either the punishments of God or the temptations of the devil. 16, 11 For the Lord has delivered me into the hands of the unjust, and has cast me among the impious. He calls the men who plundered his things unjust and impious, but more fittingly the devil and his demons. 16, 12 He scattered me while I was at peace, taking me by the hair he plucked it. By 'hair' he means his adornment and prosperity, so that he might say: he scattered me and, as it were, plucked from me my prosperity and peace. 16, 12-14 He has set me up as a target; they surrounded me with lances, casting at my kidneys without sparing, they poured out my gall on the ground. They cast me down, fall upon fall, the mighty ran upon me. God, he says, having set me up like some target for receiving the casts of all, they shot me down with lances, as it were, against the kidneys, so that he might say: against the hidden and vital parts. And continuing with the metaphor, as one struck in the inward parts, he said, they poured out my gall on the ground. And by 'fall upon fall' he means the successive punishments. And as for 'the mighty ran towards me,' 149 he says this because by God's permission they had the strength to do these things against him, meaning, it is clear, the sinful demons. 16, 15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin. Either he says this, that my skin has been blackened because of the intensity of my sufferings like some sackcloth made of hair, or that just as those who wear sackcloth are worn down in body, I am completely worn down, or that: from splendid and royal clothing, because of extreme poverty, I have put on sackcloth. 16, 15 And my strength has been extinguished in the earth. Instead of: all my power and my prosperity have been extinguished. 16, 16-17 My belly is burned up from weeping, and on my eyelids is a shadow. But there was no injustice in my hands, and my prayer is pure. by belly, the soul

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ἐπελάβου μου, εἰς μαρτύριον ἐγενήθην. ἕτερα ἀντίγραφα οὕτως ἔχει· _κ_α_ὶ_ _ἐ_π_ε_λ_ά_β_ε_τ_ό_ _μ_ο_υ_,_ _ε_ἰ_ς_ _μ_α_ρ_τ_ύ_ρ_ι_ο_ν_ ἐγενήθη. κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐπελάβου μου ὡς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν λέγει ὅτι· οἷά τις ἀνδρεῖος ἐπελάβου μου τοῦ μικροῦ καὶ ἀσθενοῦς, καὶ ἅμα τε ἥψω μου καὶ εἰς παράδειγμα γέγονα πᾶσιν, ὅτι ὡς δι' ἁμαρτίας κολάζομαι. κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἐπελάβετό μου ὡς πρὸς τοὺς φίλους λέγει περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰς μαρτύριον δὲ ἐγενήθη ἀντὶ τοῦ· εἰς ἔλεγχόν μοι ἀντικατέστη ὁ θεός. 16, 8 καὶ ἀνέστη ἐν ἐμοὶ τὸ ψεῦδός μου, κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου ἀνταπεκρίθη. ταῦτα δέ μου, φησίν, πάσχοντος εὗρον πρόφασιν οἱ καταψευδόμενοί μου ὡς καὶ κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου ἀνερυθριάστως ἀνταποκρίνεσθαι καὶ λέγειν, ὅτι δι' ἁμαρτίας πάσχω. 147 ἔστι δὲ καὶ οὕτω νοῆσαι· ψεῦδός ἐστιν ἡ ἁμαρτία· λανθάνουσα οὖν τις, φησίν, ἁμαρτία ἔοικε φανεροῦσθαι καὶ κατὰ πρόσωπόν με ἐλέγχειν. τὰ δὲ ἐφεξῆς δυνατὸν μὲν καὶ περὶ θεοῦ νοεῖσθαι· ὡς δὲ ὁ ἅγιος πληροφορεῖται, ὅτι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τῷ διαβόλῳ παραδέδοται καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ταῦτα πάσχει, ἑκατέρως οὖν οὕτως αὐτῶν ἀκουστέον. 16, 9 ὀργῇ χρησάμενος κατέβαλέ με, ἔβρυξεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ τοὺς ὀδόντας. εἰ μὲν περὶ θεοῦ λέγει, τὸ σφοδρὸν σημαίνει τῆς ὀργῆς ὅτι· ὡς οἱ τρίζοντες τοὺς ὀδόντας ὑπὸ θυμοῦ οὕτως ἐχρήσατό μοι. περὶ δὲ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων αὐτολεξεὶ καὶ ὁ μέγας ∆αυὶδ ταῦτα ἔφησεν εἰρηκώς· ἔβρυξαν ἐπ' ἐμὲ τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτῶν, κύριε, πότε ἐπόψῃ; ἐπειδὴ γὰρ περιέρχεται ὡς λέων ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ, ἐνδίκως ὡς λέων καὶ βρύχεσθαι λέγεται. 16, 9 βέλη πειρατῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἔπεσεν. εἰ μὲν περὶ θεοῦ τὸ λεγόμενον, τὸ ἀθρόον δείκνυσι τῶν ἐπελθόντων αὐτῷ κακῶν, ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι· αἱ τιμωρίαι ὥσπερ τινὲς πειραταὶ ἀδοκήτως ἐπιπεπτώκασί μοι. εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου, πειρατὰς αὐτοῦ φάσκει τοὺς ὑπουργοῦντας αὐτῷ δαίμονας. 16, 10 ἀκίσιν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐνήλατο. ἀκίδες εἰσι τὰ τῶν βελῶν σιδήρια. ὡς βέλεσιν οὖν, φησίν, κατὰ τῶν ἐμῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἔτρωσέ με ὁ θεός, ἀντὶ τοῦ· καιρίως ἔπληξεν. εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου ὁ λόγος, ταῖς βολαῖς, φησίν, ταῖς φοβεραῖς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὀφθαλμῶν ὥσπερ ἀκίσι κατηκόντισέ με. 148 16, 10 ὀξὺς ἔπαισέ με ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατα. σφοδρῶς, φησίν, ἔπληξέ με, ὡς ἐκλυθῆναί μου τὰ γόνατα καὶ καταπεσεῖν, ἢ ὁ θεὸς ἢ ὁ διάβολος. 16, 10 ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ κατέδραμον ἐπ' ἐμέ. ἢ αἱ τοῦ θεοῦ τιμωρίαι ἢ οἱ τοῦ διαβόλου πειρασμοί. 16, 11 παρέδωκε γάρ με ὁ κύριος εἰς χεῖρας ἀδίκων, ἐπὶ δὲ ἀσεβέσιν ἔρριψέ με. ἀδίκους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους λέγει τοὺς τὰ αὐτοῦ διαρπάσαντας, καιριώτερον δὲ τὸν διάβολον καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ δαίμονας. 16, 12 εἰρηνεύοντα διεσκέδασέ με, λαβών με τῆς κόμης διέτιλεν. κόμην τὸν κόσμον καὶ τὴν εὐπραγίαν φησίν, ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι· κατεσκέδασέ με καὶ ὥσπερ διέτιλεν ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὴν εὐπραγίαν καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην. 16, 1214 κατέστησέ με ὥσπερ σκοπόν· ἐκύκλωσάν με λόγχαις βάλλοντες εἰς νεφρούς μου οὐ φειδόμενοι, ἐξέχεαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν χολήν μου. κατέβαλόν με πτῶμα ἐπὶ πτώματι, ἔδραμον ἐπ' ἐμὲ δυνατοί. τοῦ θεοῦ, φησίν, στήσαντός με ὥσπερ τινὰ σκοπὸν ἐπὶ τῷ τὰς ἁπάντων δέχεσθαι βολὰς ὥσπερ τισὶ λόγχαις κατὰ τῶν νεφρῶν με κατηκόντισαν, ἵνα εἴπῃ· κατὰ τῶν ἀποκρύφων καὶ καιρίων. ἐπιμένων δὲ τῇ μεταφορᾷ ὡς κατὰ τῶν σπλάγχνων πληγεὶς τὸ ἐξέχεαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν χολήν μου ἔφη. πτῶμα δὲ ἐπὶ πτώματι τὰς ἀλλεπαλλήλους φησὶ τιμωρίας. τὸ δὲ καὶ ἔδραμον πρός με δυνα 149 τοὶ διὰ τὸ κατὰ θεοῦ συγχώρησιν ἐκείνους ἰσχῦσαι ταῦτα κατ' αὐτοῦ δρᾶσαί φησιν, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τοὺς ἀλιτηρίους δαίμονας. 16, 15 σάκκον ἔρραψα ἐπὶ βύρσῃ μου. ἢ τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι· μεμελάνωταί μου τὸ δέρμα διὰ τὴν τῶν παθῶν ἐπίτασιν ὥσπερ τις ἐκ τριχῶν πεποιημένος σάκκος, ἢ ὅτι ὥσπερ οἱ σάκκον φοροῦντες κατατρύχονται τὸ σῶμα ὅλως κατατετρύχωμαι, ἢ ὅτι· ἐκ λαμπρᾶς καὶ βασιλικῆς ἐσθῆτος ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν πενίας σάκκον περιβέβλημαι. 16, 15 τὸ δὲ σθένος μου ἐν γῇ ἐσβέσθη. ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ εὐπραγία μου πᾶσα ἀπεσβέσθη. 16, 1617 ἡ γαστήρ μου συγκέκαυται ἀπὸ κλαυθμοῦ, ἐπὶ δὲ βλεφάροις μου σκιά. ἄδικον δὲ οὐδὲν ἦν ἐν χερσί μου, εὐχὴ δέ μου καθαρά. γαστέρα τὴν ψυχήν