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of ancient nobility and of God's care for them, and a reproof of their present wickedness, and a threat of the terrible things to be brought upon them. And yet, neither do those things recall the disobedient people to their own worth, nor are these things able to restrain and make them more sober. 5.140 He begins with the praises of the ancient nobility. A vineyard came to be for the beloved in a horn, in a fertile place. He calls the vineyard the people of Israel. For a vine (he says) you brought out of Egypt. And in Jeremiah the people are reproached through the same image: But I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true. How have you turned to bitterness, the strange vine? In a horn, in a fertile place. He speaks concerning the land possessed by Israel, given to their fathers according to the promise of God. In a horn, in a fertile place. A great encomium in brief. The horn is higher than the whole body and stronger, at once providing an ornament to the head, and at the same time being a defensive weapon. But it is dry and without moisture. For this reason also the offspring of horned animals does not rush to the mother's horn, but untaught it seeks the teat, the moist and fertile place. The word therefore, showing that the land of the Jews is sufficient for both things, both protection from enemies and to nourish its inhabitants, joined both: In a horn, in a fertile place; that is, in a strong and nourishing land. And some now touch upon even a deeper meaning in the interpretation of this saying. That just as the head of horned animals emerges first at birth, but is completed last and late receives its own ornament through the sprouting of the horns, so also Israel, called first of all the nations to be God's own (For the Lord's people (he says) became his portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance), is destined to be deemed worthy of perfection after all others; for when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved. 5.141 And there is also a certain account such as this, preserved in the Church according to unwritten memory, that Judea first had Adam as an inhabitant, being established in it after he was cast out of paradise, as a consolation for what he was deprived of. Therefore it was the first to also receive a dead man, Adam having fulfilled the sentence there. It seemed, then, to be a new sight to those of that time, the bone of a head, the flesh having wasted away, and placing the skull in that place, they named it the place of a skull. And it is likely that not even Noah, the progenitor of all men, was ignorant of the tomb, so that after the flood the report was spread abroad from him. Therefore the Lord, having sought out the origins of human death, received the Passion in the so-called place of a skull, so that in what place the corruption of men had its beginning, from there the life of the kingdom might begin; and just as death prevailed in Adam, so it might be made weak in the death of Christ. For this reason also, In a horn, as having the cross of Christ as a defense against the enemy; and Fertile, as being deemed worthy of the first place after paradise throughout all the world under the sun. 5.142 And I placed a hedge around it and I trenched it, and I planted a Sorek vine; and I built a tower in its midst and I dug a winepress in it. The sequence of the wording does not entirely follow the nature of the things. For planting is prior to staking; if indeed the stakes are a help to the vine for holding up the fruits from the earth. Or perhaps the provident farmer, having prepared everything beforehand during the initial preparation, later begins the planting? For this reason first he hedges, then he stakes, then he plants a vine, not any ordinary one, but Sorek, which Symmachus rendered "choice." What then is the hedge, if not evidently the commandments, which he gave to the people before leading them into the land of possession? Then power was given to them by God to prevail over their adversaries and to destroy the nations that dwelt there before. Which he called stakes, because of making them high and conspicuous, raising the fruits from the

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ἀρχαίας εὐγε νείας καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιμελείας καὶ ἔλεγ χον τῆς παρούσης κακίας, καὶ ἀπειλὴν τῶν ἐπαχθησομένων δεινῶν. Καὶ ὅμως τὸν ἀπειθῆ λαὸν οὔτε ἐκεῖνα πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀξίαν ἀνακαλεῖται, οὔτε ταῦτα συστεῖλαι καὶ σωφρο νέστερον ποιῆσαι δύναται. 5.140 Ἄρχεται δὲ τῶν ἐγκωμίων τῆς παλαιᾶς εὐγενείας. Ἀμπελὼν ἐγενήθη τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ἐν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι. Ἀμπελῶνα λέγει τὸν λαὸν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἄμπελονγὰρ (φησὶ) ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετῆρας. Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς εἰκόνος ὀνειδίζεται ὁ λαός· Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐφύτευσά σε ἄμπελον καρποφόρον, πᾶσαν ἀληθινήν. Πῶς ἐστράφης εἰς πικρίαν, ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀλλοτρία; Ἐν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι. Περὶ τῆς γῆς λέγει τῆς κατασχεθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, κατ' ἐπαγγελίαν Θεοῦ τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν δεδομένης. Ἐν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι. Μέγα ἐγκώμιον ἐν βραχεῖ. Τὸ κέρας ὑψηλότερόν ἐστι τοῦ παντὸς σώματος καὶ στεῤῥότερον, ὁμοῦ μὲν κόσμον παρέχον τῇ κεφαλῇ, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ ὅπλον ὑπάρχον ἀμυντήριον. Ἀλλὰ ξηρόν ἐστι καὶ ἄνικμον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ γεννώμενα ὑπὸ τῶν κερασφόρων ζώων, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ κέρας ὁρμᾶ τῆς μητρὸς, ἀλλὰ τὴν θηλὴν ἀδιδάκτως ἐπιζητεῖ, τὸν ὑγρὸν τόπον καὶ πίονα. ∆εικνὺς οὖν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ἡ χώρα τῶν Ἰουδαίων πρὸς ἀμφότερά ἐστιν αὐτάρκης, καὶ φυλακὴν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ διαθρέψαι τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας, ἀμφότερα συνῆψεν· Ἐν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι· τουτέστιν ἐν στεῤῥᾷ καὶ τροφίμῃ. Ἅπτονται δὲ ἤδη τινὲς καὶ βαθυτέρου λόγου ἐν τῇ ἐξη γήσει τοῦ ῥητοῦ τούτου. Ὅτι ὥσπερ ἡ κεφαλὴ τῶν κε ρασφόρων ζώων πρώτη προκύπτει κατὰ τὴν γένησιν, τελευ ταία δὲ πληροῦται καὶ ὀψέ ποτε τὸν ἴδιον κόσμον ἀπολαμ βάνει κατὰ τὴν ἔκφυσιν τῶν κεράτων, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἰσραὴλ πρῶτος πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰς οἰκείωσιν Θεοῦ κληθεὶς (Ἐγενήθη γὰρ (φησὶ) λαὸς Κυρίου, μερὶς αὐτοῦ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραὴλ) μετὰ πάντας μέλλει τῆς τε λειώσεως ἀξιοῦσθαι· ὅταν γὰρ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, τότε πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται. 5.141 Λόγος δέ τίς ἐστι καὶ τοιόσδε κατὰ τὴν ἄγραφον μνήμην ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ διασωζόμενος, ὡς ἄρα πρῶτον ἡ Ἰουδαία ἔσχεν οἰκήτορα τὸν Ἀδὰμ, μετὰ τὸ ἐκβληθῆναι τοῦ παραδείσου ἐν ταύτῃ καθιδρυθέντα, εἰς παραμυθίαν ὧν ἐστερήθη. Πρώτη οὖν καὶ νεκρὸν ἐδέξατο ἄνθρωπον, ἐκεῖ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τὴν καταδίκην πληρώσαντος. Καινὸν οὖν ἐδόκει εἶναι τοῖς τότε θέαμα, ὀστέον κεφαλῆς, τῆς σαρκὸς περιῤ ῥυείσης, καὶ ἀποθέμενοι τὸ κρανίον ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, κρανίου τόπον ὠνόμασαν. Εἰκὸς δὲ μηδὲ τοῦ Νῶε τοῦ ἀρχηγοῦ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνοῆσαι τὸν τάφον, ὡς μετὰ τὸν κατα κλυσμὸν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ διαδοθῆναι τὴν φήμην. ∆ιόπερ ὁ Κύριος τὰς ἀρχὰς τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου θανάτου ἐρευνήσας, εἰς τὸν λε γόμενον κρανίου τόπον τὸ Πάθος ἐδέξατο, ἵνα ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ ἡ φθορὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔλαβεν, ἐκεῖθεν ἡ ζωὴ τῆς βασιλείας ἄρξηται· καὶ ὥσπερ ἴσχυσεν ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ ὁ θάνατος, οὕτως ἀσθενήσῃ ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ Χριστοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Ἐν κέρατι, ὡς κατὰ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἀμυντήριον ἔχοντι τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ Πίονι, ὡς μετὰ τὸν παράδεισον τῶν κατὰ πάσης τῆς ὑφ' ἡλίῳ τῶν πρωτείων ἠξιωμένῳ. 5.142 Καὶ φραγμὸν περιέθηκα καὶ ἐχαράκωσα, καὶ ἐφύ τευσα ἄμπελον σωρήχ· καὶ ᾠκοδόμησα πύργον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς καὶ προλήνιον ὤρυξα ἐν αὐτῇ. Οὐ πάνυ τι ἡ ἀκολουθία τῆς λέξεως τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγ μάτων ἕπεται. Πρότερον γάρ ἐστι τὸ φυτεῦσαι τοῦ χαρα κῶσαι· εἴπερ οἱ χάρακές εἰσι βοήθεια τῇ ἀμπέλῳ πρὸς τὸ ἀνέχειν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τοὺς καρπούς. Ἢ μήποτε ὁ προνοητικὸς γεωργὸς παρὰ τὴν πρώτην κατασκευὴν πάντα προευτρεπί σας, ὕστερον ἄρχεται τῆς φυτείας; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρῶτον περι φράσσει, εἶτα χαρακοῖ, εἶτα φυτεύει ἄμπελον, οὐ τὴν τυ χοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ σωρὴχ, ὅπερ Σύμμαχος ἐποίησεν ἐκλεκτήν. Τίς οὖν ὁ φραγμὸς, ἢ δηλονότι αἱ ἐντολαί, ἃς πρὸ τοῦ ἀγαγεῖν εἰς τὴν γῆς τῆς κατασχέσεως ἔδωκε τῷ λαῷ; Εἶτα δύναμις αὐτοῖς ἐδόθη παρὰ Θεοῦ κρατεῖν τῶν ὑπεναντίων καὶ ἐξολοθρεύειν τὰ προενοικήσαντα ἔθνη. Ὅπερ χάρακας εἶπε, διὰ τὸ ὑψηλοὺς ποιεῖν καὶ περιφανεῖς, τοὺς καρποὺς ἐγείροντας ἀπὸ τοῦ