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it was being illuminated, but not being burned. And in the life to come, the double action of the fire, being divided, will illuminate the athletes of virtue, but will burn the lovers of wickedness; for this reason He both names it fire, and the punishment of the lawless is called darkness, as its illuminating energy does not appear there. 8. "The voice of the Lord shaking the wilderness, and the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh." But Symmachus said not shaking, but causing to give birth; and indeed Aquila, travailing in birth. Concerning this wilderness Isaiah also foretells: "Be glad, he says, O thirsty wilderness; let the wilderness be glad, and blossom as a lily." And he calls the nations a wilderness, as having long been desolate of God. These things the divine Isaiah said would blossom, but the blessed David said would travail in birth and bring forth. Such also is that which is found elsewhere in Isaiah: "Rejoice, O barren one, who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one are many more than of her who has a husband." The Lord shaking this wilderness; and the shaking declares the epiphany of God; He will prepare it to bring forth salvation, according to the prophecy that says, "Because of Your fear, O Lord, we conceived in the womb, and were in pain, and brought forth a spirit of Your salvation, which You have wrought upon the earth." For this reason he also names it Kadesh, that is, holy. For this is how Kadesh is interpreted. 9. "The voice of the Lord preparing the hinds, and it will uncover the thickets." It is the nature of hinds to despise creeping beasts; and this authority the Lord also gave to the holy apostles: "For I have given you authority," He says, "to tread 80.1069 on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." Strengthened by this word, they drove out the deceiving demons of the world, and stripped bare the weakness of the idols; and the prophetic word foretold this: "The voice of the Lord preparing the hinds, and it will uncover the thickets." For this is the paradox, that He vanquished the multitude of all kinds of beasts through hinds, and He refuted the fruitlessness of the philosophers through the unlearned, and He destroyed the tyranny of the devil through fishermen. And he called the precincts of the idols thickets, as being completely fruitless; for such are the groves, or the thickets, which the best husbandmen are accustomed to cut down, and stripping the land occupied by them, they plant fruitful trees, and cast edible seeds. This the farmers of the world have also done; for having pulled up by the roots the precincts of the idols, they planted the divine Churches in their place. "Therefore in His temple everyone speaks of glory." Being stirred to hymnody by this wondrous great work. 10. "The Lord will inhabit the flood, and the Lord will sit as king forever." For He will build up, and renew, and make a new creation of the world that was submerged in the torrent of lawlessness. Therefore the blessed Paul also cries out, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." Having done this, he says, He will no longer allow impiety to gain ground, but will reign forever. 11. "The Lord will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace." Through these words He foretold both the rebellions of the impious, and the victory of the victorious martyrs, and the peace granted to the churches after these things. The Lord will give strength to His people, that is, in the time of war; and He will bless His people with peace, having brought the long war to an end.

INTERPRETATION OF THE 29TH PSALM. 1. "A psalm of a song for the dedication of the house, for the end, for David." Neither

did the blessed David build the divine temple, nor do the sayings of the psalm fit the one who built it. He calls, therefore, the dedication of the house the renewal of human nature; which the Lord Christ accomplished, having accepted for our sake

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ἐφωτί ζετο μὲν, οὐκ ἐκαίετο δέ. Κἀν τῷ μέλλοντι δὲ βίῳ ἡ διπλῆ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐνέργεια μεριζομένη, φωτίσει μὲν τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθλητὰς, ἐμπρήσει δὲ τῆς κα κίας τοὺς ἐραστάς· οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ πῦρ ὀνομάζει, καὶ σκότος καλεῖται τῶν παρανόμων ἡ κόλασις, ὡς τῆς φωτιστικῆς ἐνεργείας οὐ φαινομένης ἐκεῖ. ηʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου συσσείοντος ἔρημον, καὶ συσ σείσει Κύριος τὴν ἔρημον Κάδης." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὐ συσσείοντος, ἀλλ' ἐκτοκίζοντος εἴρηκεν· καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας, ὠδίνοντος. Περὶ δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ Ἡσαΐας προαγορεύει· "Εὐφράν θητι, λέγων, ἔρημος διψῶσα· εὐφρανθήτω ἡ ἔρη μος, καὶ ἀνθήτω ὡς κρίνον." Ἔρημον δὲ ὀνομάζει τὰ ἔθνη, ὡς ἔρημα πάλαι γεγενημένα Θεοῦ. Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ μὲν θεσπέσιος Ἡσαΐας ἀνθήσειν, ὁ δὲ μακά ριος ∆αβὶδ ὠδινήσειν ἔφη καὶ τέξεσθαι. Τοιοῦτο δέ ἐστι καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ κείμενον ἀλλαχοῦ· "Εὐφράνθητι, στεῖρα, ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα· ῥῆξον, καὶ βόησον, ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα· ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου, ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα." Ταύτην τὴν ἔρημον ὁ ∆εσπότης συσσείων· δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ὁ συσσεισμός· τεκεῖν παρασκευάσει τὴν σωτηρίαν, κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν τὴν λέγουσαν, "∆ιὰ τὸν φόβον σου, Κύριε, ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν, καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν, καὶ ἐτέκομεν πνεῦμα σωτηρίας σου, ὃ ἐποίησας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς." Τούτου χάριν καὶ Κά δης αὐτὴν ὀνομάζει, τουτέστιν ἁγίαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἑρμηνεύεται τὸ Κάδης. θʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου καταρτιζομένη ἐλάφους, καὶ ἀποκαλύψει δρυμούς." Φύσις ταῖς ἐλάφοις τῶν ἑρπυστικῶν θηρίων καταφρονεῖν· ταύτην δὲ τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις ὁ ∆εσπότης δέδωκε· "∆έδωκα γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πα 80.1069 τεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ." Τούτῳ κρατυνθέντες τῷ λόγῳ, τοὺς ἀπατεῶνας τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐξήλασαν δαί μονας, καὶ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐγύμνωσαν τὴν ἀσθένειαν· καὶ τοῦτο ὁ προφητικὸς προηγόρευσε λόγος· "Φωνὴ Κυρίου καταρτιζομένη ἐλάφους, καὶ ἀποκαλύψει δρυμούς." Τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ τὸ παράδοξον, ὅτι τῶν παντοδαπῶν θηρίων τὸ πλῆθος δι' ἐλάφων ἐκερά τισε, καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων τὴν ἀκαρπίαν δι' ἀγραμ μάτων διήλεγξε, καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν τυραννίδα διὰ ἁλιέων κατέλυσε. ∆ρυμοὺς δὲ προσηγόρευσε τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων τεμένη, ὡς ἄκαρπα παντελῶς· τοι οῦτοι γὰρ οἱ δρυμῶνες, ἢ οἱ δρυμοὶ, οὓς ἐκκόπτειν εἰωθότες οἱ ἄριστοι γηπόνοι, καὶ τὴν ὑπ' αὐτῶν νεμομένην γυμνοῦντες γῆν, τὰ κάρπιμα φυτεύουσι δένδρα, καὶ τὰ ἐδώδιμα καταβάλλουσι σπέρματα. Τοῦτο δεδράκασι καὶ οἱ τῆς οἰκουμένης γεωργοί· πρόῤῥιζα γὰρ ἀνασπάσαντες τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων τε μένη, τὰς θείας ἀντ' ἐκείνων Ἐκκλησίας ἐφύτευσαν. "∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ πᾶς τις λέγει δόξαν." Ὑπὸ τῆς παραδόξου ταύτης μεγαλουργίας εἰς ὑμ νῳδίαν διεγειρόμενος. ιʹ. "Κύριος τὸν κατακλυσμὸν κατοικιεῖ, καὶ καθιεῖται Κύριος βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." Τὴν γὰρ τῷ χειμάῤῥῳ τῆς ἀνομίας καταποντισθεῖσαν οἰ κουμένην οἰκοδομήσει, καὶ νεουργήσει, καὶ νέαν κτί σιν ἐργάσεται. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος βοᾷ, "Εἴτις ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις." Τοῦτο δὲ, φησὶ, ποιήσας, οὐκ ἐάσει λοιπὸν χώραν λαβεῖν τὴν ἀσέ βειαν, ἀλλ' εἰς αἰῶνα βασιλεύσει. ιαʹ. "Κύριος ἰσχὺν τῷ λαῷ αὑτοῦ δώσει, Κύριος εὐλογήσει τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ ἐν εἰρήνῃ." ∆ιὰ τούτων δὲ προηγόρευσε καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐπαναστάσεις, καὶ τῶν νικηφόρων μαρτύρων τὴν νίκην, καὶ τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα παρασχεθεῖσαν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις εἰρήνην. Κύ ριος ἰσχὺν τῷ λαῷ αὑτοῦ δώσει, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ τοῦ πολέμου καιρῷ· καὶ εὐλογήσει τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ ἐν εἰρήνῃ, τὸν μακρὸν πόλεμον καταλύσας.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΚΘʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Ψαλμὸς ᾠδῆς τοῦ ἐγκαινισμοῦ τοῦ οἴκου, εἰς τὸ τέλος, τῷ ∆αβίδ." Οὔτε

τὸν θεῖον νεὼν ὁ μακάριος ἐδείματο ∆αβὶδ, οὔτε τῷ δειμαμένῳ ἁρ μόττει τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τὰ ῥητά. Ἐγκαινισμὸν τοί νυν οἴκου καλεῖ τὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως νεουρ γίαν· ἣν ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς ἐπετέλεσε, τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καταδεξάμενος