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they say was spoken to the Jews, but the phrase, having been strong, you are defeated, is to the Jews; for they prevailed over Christ, in what pertained to them, by delivering him to the cross. But they planned a plan which they could not possibly establish. For how could they have encompassed with death the author of life? Therefore, he says, you are defeated now after so great and fruitless an audacity. And if you again resist those who proclaim the Gospel, you will again be defeated, paying penalties to the Judge who now punishes. For after Christ was taken up, they plotted against the apostles themselves, saying, "With a strict command we commanded you to say nothing in this name." And: "Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." And by beating them they thought they were prevailing again, but the disciples were victorious, saying: Because God is with us. For which things they paid the penalty, being defeated by the Romans. 115. 9Thus says the Lord: With a strong hand they disobey the course of the way of this people, saying: Do not say it is harsh. For whatever 1984 this people says is harsh. But do not fear its fear, nor be troubled9, etc. He says the present word is to the disobedient; according to some, the Jews; according to others, the Gentiles; and the strong hand is the creative power of all existing things, the one through whom all things were made, the Son of God, who also abolished death, and crushed Satan, and plundered Hades, and is renewing the race unto incorruption, whom the Jews resisted, though they were called, and did not receive Emmanuel. And furthermore, as many of the Gentiles as remained incompatible with the faith. For we are led to the knowledge of God in two ways, either by using natural concepts, knowing the Creator through his creations, or through the teaching of the law given to us; but these followed neither the works of the strong hand, concerning which it is said, Your right hand, O Lord, has been glorified in strength, and, I with my hand have established the heaven; nor the way. But he himself says: I am the way. Or he says the course is the legal way of life, with the Lord addressing the teachers of the law as blind guides. And it is said: "And in the way of your testimonies I have delighted." And: "In your way I will live." And: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way." These things, then, are rightly said to the Greeks. But if to the Jews, or, it is by ellipsis: so that it would be, and to those walking the course of the way that is not straight and of the Lord. That is, when this people disobeyed, he says, whose persona he just took up and said, God is with us; so that he means the evangelical course of the shadow overlooked in the law. But the edition of Symmachus testifies to the interpretation by ellipsis. For it says this: The Lord spoke to me as with a strong hand and turned me away from walking in the way of this people, saying: You shall not say, "conspiracy." All that this people shall say is a conspiracy. And he says that the Lord, taking hold with his own hand, turned me, his own prophet, away from walking the same way as this unbelieving people, who did not believe the prophecy of calling Emmanuel. For these consider your departure from them a conspiracy. But you will not say this. But according to the Seventy: Do not say, he says, that the word is harsh, as these people think concerning the necessity of departing from the course of this people; and if they should plot against you as apostates, fear them not at all, but fear God alone. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Through which all fear from men is driven out. And then it will be for you a sanctuary, no longer needing any bodily sanctuary. For so they called the temple that stood among them, and its innermost parts. The Lord himself, therefore, will sanctify you, if you trust 1985 in him; but according to those who understood the people spoken of to be the faithful and the one ranked with the prophet, who said, God is with us; one must understand the phrase, "Do not say it is harsh," because the word of the holy apostles seemed harsh to the Jews, who could not bear to remain in the shadow of the law. He therefore exhorts the apostles not to fear the fear of those under the law, but to be only God-fearing. That is, because those who fear

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Ἰουδαίους εἰρῆσθαί φασιν, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ, ἰσχυκότες, ἡττᾶσθε, πρὸς Ἰουδαίους· κατίσχυσαν γὰρ τό γε ἧκον εἰς αὐτοὺς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, παραδόντες σταυρῷ. Ἀλλ' ἐβουλεύσαντο βουλὴν ἣν οὐ μὴ δύνωνται στῆσαι. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν θανάτῳ περιέβαλον τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς; ∆ιά φησιν, ἡττᾶσθε λοιπὸν μετὰ τοσοῦτον ἀνόνητον τόλμημα. Εἰ δὲ πάλιν ἀντιστῆτε τοῖς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον καταγγέλλουσιν, πάλιν ἡττηθήσεσθε κολάζοντι λοιπὸν τῷ κριτῇ δίκας ὑπέχοντες. Χριστοῦ γὰρ ἀναληφθέντος, καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐπεβούλευον τοῖς ἀποστόλοις· "Παραγγελίᾳ, λέγοντες, παρηγγείλαμεν μηδὲν λαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ." Καί· "Ἰδοὺ πεπληρώκατε τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῆς διδαχῆς ὑμῶν." Καὶ τύπτοντες ἐδόκουν πάλιν ἰσχύειν, ἀλλ' ἐνίκων οἱ μαθηταὶ λέγοντες· ∆ιότι μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Ἀνθ' ὧν ἔτισαν δίκας ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἡττώμενοι. ιαιεʹ. 9Οὕτω λέγει Κύριος· Τῇ ἰσχυρᾷ χειρὶ ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ πορείᾳ τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου λέγοντες· Μή ποτε εἴπητε σκληρόν. Πᾶν γὰρ ὃ 1984 ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ λαὸς οὗτος σκληρὸν ἐστί. Τὸ δὲ φόβον αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ φοβηθῆτε, οὐδὲ μὴ ταραχθῆτε9, κ.τ.λ. Τὸν παρόντα λόγον πρὸς τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντάς φησιν· κατὰ μέν τινας, Ἰουδαίους· κατὰ δέ τινας, ἐθνικούς· χεὶρ δὲ ἰσχυρὰ, ἡ δημιουργικὴ τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων δύναμις, ὁ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα γέγονεν, Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ καὶ καταργήσας τὸν θάνατον, συντρίψας τε τὸν Σατανᾶν, καὶ σκυλεύσας τὸν ᾅδην, καὶ πρὸς ἀφθαρσίαν ἀνακαινίζων τὸ γένος, ᾧπερ ἀντέστησαν Ἰουδαῖοι κληθέντες καὶ μὴ δεξάμενοι τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὅσοι τῶν ἐθνῶν παρέμειναν πρὸς τὴν πίστιν ἀσύμβατοι. ∆ιχῶς γὰρ ἐπὶ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν ἀγόμεθα, ἢ φυσικαῖς ἐννοίαις χρησάμενοι, διὰ τῶν κτισμάτων γινώσκοντες τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν, ἢ διὰ τῆς τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν νόμου διδασκαλίας· οὗτοι δὲ οὔτε τοῖς ποιήμασι τῆς ἰσχυρᾶς χειρὸς ἠκολούθησαν, περὶ ἧς εἴρηται, Ἡ δεξιά σου, Κύριε, δεδόξασται ἐν ἰσχύϊ, καὶ, Ἐγὼ τῇ χειρί μου ἐστερέωσα τὸν οὐρανόν· οὔτε τῇ ὁδῷ. Αὐτὸς δέ φησιν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός. Ἢ πορείαν λέγει τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ βίου τὴν νομικὴν, τοῦ Κυρίου τυφλοὺς ὁδηγοὺς τοὺς διδασκάλους τοῦ νόμου προσαγορεύοντος. Εἴρηται δέ· "Καὶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τῶν μαρτυρίων σου ἐτέρφθην." Καί· "Ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ σου ζήσομαι." Καί· "Μακάριοι οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ." Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὀρθῶς πρὸς Ἕλληνας εἴρηται. Εἰ δὲ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἢ, κατ' ἔλλειψίν ἐστιν· ἵνα ᾖ, καὶ τοῖς βαδίζουσιν ὁδοῦ πορείαν οὐ τὴν εὐθεῖαν καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἀπειθήσαντος ἤγουν τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, φησὶν, οὗ τὸ πρόσωπον ἀναλαβὼν ἀρτίως ἔφασκεν, μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· ἵνα πορείαν λέγει τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν τῆς ἐν νόμῳ παρεωραμένης σκιᾶς. Ἡ Συμμάχου δὲ ἔκδοσις τῇ ἐξηγήσει τῇ κατ' ἔλλειψιν μαρτυρεῖ. Φησὶ γὰρ τάδε· Εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς μὲ ὡς ἐν κράτει τῆς χειρὸς καὶ ἀπέστησέν με μὴ πορεύεσθαι τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, λέγων· Οὐκ ἐρεῖτε, ἄνταρσις. Πᾶν ὃ ἐὰν εἴποι ὁ λαὸς οὖτος, ἄνταρσις. Φησὶ δὲ, ὡς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ χειρὶ Κύριος ἐπιλαβόμενος ἀπέστησε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ προφήτην ἐμὲ, τοῦ μὴ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν βαδίζειν τῷ ἀπίστῳ τούτῳ λαῷ, μὴ πιστεύσαντι τῇ προφητείᾳ τοῦ ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ. Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἄνταρσιν ἡγοῦνται τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀναχώρησιν. Ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐρεῖτε τοῦτο. Κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα· Μὴ εἴπητε, φησὶ, σκληρὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον, ὥσπερ οὗτοι νομίζουσιν τὸν περὶ τοῦ δεῖν ἀποστῆναι τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου πορείας· κἂν ἐπιβουλεύοιεν ὡς ἀποστάντες ὑμῖν, αὐτοὺς μὲν μηδαμῶς, τὸν Θεὸν δὲ μόνον φοβεῖσθε. Ἀρχὴ γὰρ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου. ∆ι' οὗ πᾶς ὁ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐλαύνεται φόβος. Καὶ τότε λοιπὸν ἔσται σοι εἰς ἁγίασμα μηκέτι δεομένῳ σωματικοῦ τινος ἁγιάσματος. Οὕτω δὲ τὸν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐκάλουν συνεστῶτα νεὼν, καὶ τούτου τὰ ἐνδοτάτω. Αὐτὸς οὖν ἁγιάσει σε Κύριος, ἐὰν ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς 1985 ἐπ' αὐτῷ, κατὰ δὲ τοὺς νοήσαντας λαὸν λέγεσθαι τὸν πιστὸν καὶ μετὰ τοῦ προφήτου ταττόμενον, ὅγε ἔλεγεν, μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· νοητέον τὸ, μήποτε εἴπητε σκληρὸν, ὅτι σκληρὸς Ἰουδαίοις ἐδόκει τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων ὁ λόγος, μὴ ἀνεχομένων ἐμμένειν τῇ τοῦ νόμου σκιᾷ. Τοῖς οὖν ἀποστόλοις παρακελεύεται μὴ δεδιέναι τῶν ἐν νόμῳ τὸν φόβον, εἶναι δὲ μόνον θεοσεβεῖς. Ἤγουν ὅτι φοβουμένων