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believing the things spoken of him, we should understand them as referring to the Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ, who came from his seed according to the flesh, thinking that the prophecies apply more to this one than to that David, the things that are presented in the sacred writings as if from the person of David; for example, 'The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you;' and 'you will make me the head of the nations,' spoken in the 17th psalm; where again it is spoken as from his person, 'a people I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.' But concerning whom else is it fitting to suppose that God says, 'He will call upon me, You are my Father;' and, 'And I will make him my firstborn,' than concerning our Savior, his only-begotten child? For what exceptional thing was accomplished by 147 David, beyond the other prophets and righteous men, that these things should be said of him alone, and that he himself should be prophesied to rise again as king and shepherd of God's sheep? Considering all these things, then, and attending to the prophecy of Isaiah which, after the death of David, proclaims the other things concerning the Christ, and also, 'A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him;' and the things following these, we are rightly persuaded that the things here prophesied as if concerning David are also spoken about the same one. For the Christ of God alone, also being called David according to the transference of the name, has been shown to be the good shepherd, having become the leader and savior of the flock and church of God; who is prophesied to be appointed king over all the spiritual Israel by the Father after the Lord turns back the captivity of his people. Ps. From Daniel. 42. It is Daniel who says. And in the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom, which shall be for ages and shall not be destroyed, and this kingdom will not leave another nation, but will strike and destroy the kingdoms, and it will stand forever, just as you saw a stone cut from a mountain without hands, and it crushed the clay, the iron, and the bronze, and the silver, and the gold. And these things are revealed concerning the kingdom of Christ that will come at the consummation 148 of the ages; for the stone, the one cut from the mountain without hands, would be a symbol of the Word of God, also called a stone in other prophecies, as in, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen, precious;' and, 'the stone that the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner.' This one, therefore, the present passage says, having cast down and crushed the kingdoms of the world and the principalities and the powers and the world-rulers, will possess the kingdom of the saints forever. Ps. Of the same. 43. King Nebuchadnezzar, having cast Ananias and his companions into the fiery furnace, when he perceived they were in no way harmed by the fire, becoming an eyewitness of the miracle, is recorded to have said to his friends: 'Did we not cast three men into the midst of the fire?' And when they agreed, he says, 'Behold, I see four men unbound, and walking in the fire, and there is no harm in them, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of God;' likewise the Hebrew also has 'like a son of God,' and the other interpreters have rendered it similarly; for this reason, then, we have noted the place, as from here also the name 'son of God' is signified. Ps. Of the same. 44. In the visions Daniel says: I saw in a vision of the night, and behold, upon the clouds of heaven 149 one like a son of man coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was brought before him, and to him was given the authority and the honor and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues will serve him; his authority is an eternal authority, which will not pass away; and his kingdom will not be destroyed. These things are in harmony with the of the same

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αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα πειθόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ τὸν κατὰ σάρκα γενόμενον Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐκλαμβάνωμεν, τὰς προφητείας τούτῳ μᾶλλον ἁρμόζειν ἤπερ ἐκείνῳ τῷ ∆αυὶδ οἰόμενοι, τὰ ὡς ἂν ἐκ προσώπου ∆αυὶδ ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς ἐμφερόμενα· οἷόν ἐστιν τὸ, Κύριος εἶπεν πρός με, Υἱός μου εἶ σύ· ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε· καὶ τὸ, καταστήσεις με εἰς κεφαλὴν ἐθνῶν, λεγόμενον ἐν ιζʹ ψαλμῷ· ἔνθα πάλιν ὡς ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ λέλεκται, τὸ, λαὸς ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων ἐδούλευσέ μοι· εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέ μου. Περὶ τίνος δὲ ἄλλου προσήκειν τὸν Θεὸν φάσκειν ὑπονοεῖν τὸ, αὐτὸς ἐπικαλέσεταί με, Πατήρ μου εἶ σύ· καὶ τὸ, κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτὸν, ἢ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τοῦ μονογενοῦς παιδὸς αὐτοῦ; Τί γὰρ ἐξαίρετον παρὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς προφήτας τε καὶ δικαίους ἄνδρας κατωρθῶτο τῷ 147 ∆αυὶδ, ὡς περὶ μόνου αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λέγεσθαι, καὶ αὐτὸν προφητεύεσθαι αὖθις ἀναστήσεσθαι βασιλέα τε καὶ ποιμένα τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προβάτων; Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα συνορῶντες, ἐφιστάντες τῇ τοῦ Ἠσαίου προφητείᾳ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ∆αυὶδ τελευτὴν ἀνακηρυττούσῃ τά τε ἄλλα περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὸ, Ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται, καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς εἰκότως περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἐνθάδε, ὡς περὶ ∆αυὶδ προφητευόμενα, λέγεσθαι πεπείσμεθα. Μόνος γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὴν μεταφορὰν τῆς προσηγορίας καὶ ∆αυὶδ χρηματίσας, ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς ἀναδέδεικται, ἀρχηγὸς καὶ σωτὴρ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ποίμνης τε καὶ ἐκκλησίας γεγενημένος· ὃς βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ πάντα τὸν νοητὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς κατασταθήσεσθαι μετὰ τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι Κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ προφητεύεται. Ψ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ. ΜΒʹ. ∆ανιήλ ἐστιν ὁ φάσκων. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις τῶν βασιλέων ἀναστήσει ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασιλείαν ἄλλην, ἥτις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἔσται καὶ οὐ φθαρήσεται, καὶ αὕτη ἡ βασιλεία ἄλλο ἔθνος οὐ μὴ ἐάσῃ, πατάξει δὲ καὶ ἀφανίσει τὰς βασιλείας, καὶ αὐτὴ στήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καθάπερ ἑόρακας ἐξ ὄρους τμηθέντα λίθον ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ συνηλόησε τὸ ὄστρακον, τὸν σίδηρον, καὶ τὸν χαλκὸν, καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον, καὶ τὸν χρυσόν. Καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ 148 τῶν αἰώνων γενησομένης τοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείας δηλοῦται· ὁ γάρ τοι λίθος, ὁ ἐξ ὄρους τμηθεὶς ἄνευ χειρῶν, σύμβολον ἂν εἴη τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις προφητείαις λίθου προσαγορευθέντος, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ, ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιῶν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον· καὶ, λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. Τοῦτον οὖν φησὶν ὁ παρὼν λόγος τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας καθελόντα καὶ συντρίψοντα καθέξειν τὴν τῶν ἁγίων βασιλείαν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ΜΓʹ. Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀνανίαν εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς ἐμβάλων, ὡς ἔγνω μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἠδικημένους, αὐτόπτης τοῦ παραδόξου γενόμενος, τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φίλοις εἰρηκὼς ἀναγέγραπται· Οὐχὶ τρεῖς ἄνδρας ἐβάλομεν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πυρός; συμφησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ὁρῶ ἄνδρας τέσσαρας λελυμένους, καὶ περιπατοῦντας ἐν τῷ πυρὶ, καὶ φθορὰ οὐδεμία ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἡ ὅρασις τοῦ τετάρτου ὁμοίωμα υἱοῦ Θεοῦ· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν ὁμοίωμα υἱοῦ Θεοῦ περιέχει, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ ὁμοίως ἐκδεδώκασιν ἑρμηνευταί· τούτου δὴ οὖν ἕνεκα ἐσημειωσάμεθα τὸν τόπον, ὡς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν σημαινομένης τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσηγορίας. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Μ∆ʹ. Ἐν τοῖς ὁράμασιν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ φησίν· Ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς, καὶ ἰδοὺ, ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ 149 ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος καὶ ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασε, καὶ προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία· καὶ πάντες οἱ λαοὶ, φυλαὶ, γλῶσσαι δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ· ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ, ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, ἥτις οὐ παρελεύσεται· καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ οὐ διαφθαρήσεται. Συνᾴδει ταῦτα τῇ τοῦ αὐτοῦ