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what was about to happen to them. For how could those not present, but how those who receive the primacy I expect here, but also to know the future righteous judgment of God concerning all men, and that they might have comfort for the things that would happen to them as being about to be avenged, but as the word is about to make a partial threat against Babylon, it sets forth a prophecy about the universal judgment of God, teaching, what things those who have ruled impiously and arrogantly throughout the whole world will suffer in the righteous court of God. And after this universal teaching, it proceeds to the partial threat concerning Babylon. Upon a level mountain lift up a standard, raise your voice to them, beckon with the hand, Open, you rulers. I give the command, and I bring them; giants are coming to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing and at the same time insolent. These things the divine spirit in the prophet utters from the person of the word of God. He himself, therefore, is the one commanding the angels around him to open closed doors and to command those within to come forth, to come and hasten to the punishment of the impious. But I think that through these things it is shown that there is a certain region set apart for opposing powers, in which they happen to be confined as in a prison. And perhaps this is the so-called "abyss," which the word that says "dragons and all abysses" teaches is filled with "dragons"? whence also the demons "were begging" the savior not to send them "into the abyss," when it said: "have you come to torment us before the time?"; for they were not ignorant that there would be a certain time for them of confinement "into the abyss." Therefore, the opposing powers, being either souls of giants or of the "angels" who came down from heaven, from whom "the giants were born," of whom also the writing of Moses makes mention, saying: "And the angels of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took to themselves wives from all whom they chose." Then next he says that "those born" from them were "the giants renowned from of old," whether then the souls of these, or the spirits of those who begot them, or certain other apostate powers cast out from the heavenly portion, it is likely they have been delivered to darkness and "bonds" until the time "of judgment." But when the righteous court of God arrives and the universal judgment, in which the Christ of God will judge every race of men "sitting on the throne of his glory," when, as he taught: "he will send his angels and they will gather all the nations with a great trumpet from one end of heaven to the other end of it." He will accomplish the resurrection of the dead and the leading of all the nations to the tribunal of God through his angels who attend his throne; "for he will send," he says, "his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of heaven to their ends," but the punishments, as if through public executioners, he will bring upon those to be punished through the opposing powers. He commands, therefore, through the preceding words, his own angels to raise a standard on a level mountain, calling the earthly place and every habitation of men a level mountain here. where he commands to provide the sign of the impending judgment of God, but also to raise the voice, summoning to the tribunal those who are to be judged. Then next he says: beckon with the hand; open, you rulers, instead of which Symmachus says: move your hand and let them come forth from the doors; for he commands the aforesaid powers to come forth from "the outer darkness" in which they had been shut up. Wherefore he adds: open the doors; which would never have been opened otherwise than by me, the judge, commanding, and you, my angels, ministering. By my nod

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μέλλοντα αὐτοῖς συμβήσεσθαι. πῶς γὰρ οἱ μὴ παρόντες, ἀλλ' ὅπως οἱ τὴν πρωτείαν ὑποδεχόμενοι προσδοκῶ ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἐσομένην δικαιοκρισίαν εἰδέναι, ἔχοιέν τε παραμυθίαν τῶν αὐτοῖς συμβησομένων ὡς ἐκδικηθησόμενος, μέλλων δὲ ὁ λόγος μερικὴν ποιεῖσθαι ἀπειλὴν κατὰ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος προεκτίθεται προφητείαν περὶ τῆς καθολικῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσεως διδάσκων, ὁποῖα πείσονται ἐν τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωτηρίῳ οἱ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀσεβῶς καὶ ὑπερηφανῶς ἄρξαντες. μετὰ δὲ τὴν καθολικὴν ταύτην διδασκαλίαν διαβαίνει ἐπὶ τὴν μερικὴν περὶ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος ἀπειλήν. Ἐπ' ὄρους πεδινοῦ ἄρατε σημεῖον, ὑψώσατε τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῖς, παρακαλεῖτε τῇ χειρί Ἀνοίξατε, οἱ ἄρχοντες. ἐγὼ συντάσσω, καὶ ἐγὼ ἄγω αὐτούς· γίγαντες ἔρχονται πληρῶσαι τὸν θυμόν μου χαίροντες ἅμα καὶ ὑβρίζοντες. ταῦτα δὲ τὸ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ θεῖον πνεῦμα ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου προφέρεται. αὐτὸς τοίνυν ἐστὶν ὁ παρακελευόμενος τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν ἀγγέλοις ἀνοῖξαι θύρας κεκλεισμένας καὶ παρακελεύσασθαι τοῖς ἔνδον οὖσι προϊέναι, ἥκειν τε καὶ σπεύδειν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν τιμωρίαν. οἶμαι δὲ διὰ τούτων δηλοῦσθαι εἶναί τινα χώραν ἀφωρισμένην δυνάμεσιν ἀντικειμέναις, ἐν ᾗ ὥσπερ ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ καθειργμέναι τυγχάνουσι. καὶ μήποτε αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ καλουμένη «ἄβυσσος», ἣν πεπληρῶσθαι «δρακόντων» διδάσκει ὁ φάσκων λόγος· «δράκοντες καὶ πᾶσαι ἄβυσσοι»; ὅθεν καὶ τὸν σωτῆρα «παρεκάλουν» οἱ δαίμονες, μὴ πέμψαι αὐτοὺς «εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον», ὁπηνίκα ἔλεγε τό· «ἦλθες πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς»· οὐ γὰρ ἠγνόουν καιρόν τινα ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖς τῆς «εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον» καθείρξεως. τὰς μὲν οὖν δυνάμεις τὰς ἀντικειμένας ἤτοι γιγάντων οὔσας ψυχὰς ἢ τῶν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατελθόντων «ἀγγέλων», ἐξ ὧν «οἱ γίγαντες ἐγεννήθησαν», ὧν καὶ ἡ Μωσέως μνημονεύει γραφὴ λέγουσα· «ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι καλαί εἰσιν, ἔλαβον ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας ἀπὸ πασῶν, ὧν ἐξελέξαντο». εἶθ' ἑξῆς «τοὺς γεννηθέντας» ἐξ αὐτῶν αὐτοὺς εἶναί φησι «τοὺς γίγαντας τοὺς ὀνομαστοὺς ἀπ' αἰῶνος», εἴτε οὖν τούτων τὰς ψυχάς, εἴτε τῶν τούτους γεγεννηκότων τὰ πνεύματα, εἴτε ἑτέρας τινὰς ἀποστατικὰς δυνάμεις ἐκριφείσας τῆς οὐρανίου λήξεως εἰκὸς σκότῳ καὶ «δεσμοῖς» παραδεδόσθαι μέχρι τοῦ «τῆς κρίσεως» καιροῦ. ἐπειδὰν δὲ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωτήριον ἐπιστῇ καὶ ἡ καθολικὴ κρίσις, ἐν ᾗ κρινεῖ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων «καθίσας ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ», ὅτε καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν· «ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ καὶ συνάξουσι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μετὰ σάλπιγγος μεγάλης ἀπ' ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἕως ἄκρου αὐτοῦ». τὴν μὲν ἀνάστασιν τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κριτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ παραγωγὴν διὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ ποιήσεται τῶν τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ περιπολούντων· «ἀποστελεῖ γάρ» φησι «τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος μεγάλης καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσι τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ' ἄκρων οὐρανοῦ ἕως ἄκρων αὐτῶν», τὰς δὲ κολάσεις ὥσπερ διὰ δημίων ἐπάξει τοῖς κολασθησομένοις διὰ τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων. παρακελεύεται τοίνυν διὰ τῶν προκειμένων τοῖς οἰκείοις ἀγγέλοις ἐπ' ὄρους πεδινοῦ σημεῖον αἴρειν, ὄρος πεδινὸν ἐνταῦθα ὀνομάζων τὸν περίγειον τόπον καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκητήριον. ἔνθα τὸ σημεῖον παρασχεῖν τῆς μελλούσης ἐπιστήσεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσεως παρακελεύεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑψῶσαι τὴν φωνὴν συγκαλοῦντας ἐπὶ τὸ κριτήριον τοὺς κριθησομένους. εἶθ' ἑξῆς φησι· παρακαλεῖτε τῇ χειρί· ἀνοίξατε, οἱ ἄρχοντες, ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ Σύμμαχός φησι· κινήσατε χεῖρα καὶ ἐξελθέτωσαν θύρας· ἀπὸ γὰρ «τοῦ ἐξωτάτου σκότους», ἐν ᾧ ἦσαν ἀποκεκλεισμένοι προελθεῖν τὰς προλεχθείσας δυνάμεις προστάττει. διὸ ἐπιλέγει· ἀνοίξατε θύρας· οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἄλλως ἀνοιχθείσας ἢ ἐμοῦ τοῦ κριτοῦ προστάξαντος καὶ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐμῶν ἀγγέλων διακονουμένων. τῷ ἐμῷ νεύματι