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who else would be the Lord who 206 made the heaven and fixed it, and established the earth, the one who says, "I am first, and I am forever," and who adds in the following, according to all who have interpreted the divine scripture, the words, "and now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit," or the sacred Word of God, who after the unbegotten beginning of all created things is named the first God, about whom it is also written elsewhere, "he sent his word and healed them;" for he is the one through whom all things were made, both the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, whether visible or invisible; whom the Lord God the Father also sent, and with him also the Holy Spirit to manage the affairs of human salvation? The saying would be fitting for the Jews, teaching that there is another Lord, the creator of all things, besides the God of all, by whom he confesses to have been sent, saying, "and now the Lord has sent me;" He would be the one to whom the Father commanded in the creation of the world, saying, "Let there be light," and "Let there be this and that;" and, "Let us make man in our image;" for in this way it is also recorded in the Psalms, "For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." For it is manifest that one who commands something and speaks commands and orders another besides himself. To examine each word of the passage, however, is not the subject of the present treatise. 207 Ps. 24. Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, O nations. After a long time it shall stand, says the Lord; from my mother's womb he called my name. And he made my mouth like a sharp sword, and under the shadow of his hand he hid me; and he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified." And I said, "I have labored in vain, for nothing and to no purpose have I given my strength." Therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my labor is before my God. And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to gather Jacob to him and Israel. I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God will be my strength. And he said: "It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the diaspora of Israel. Behold, I have made you a covenant of a people, a light to the nations, that you might be for salvation to the end of the earth." Thus says the Lord, who delivered you, the God of Israel, "Sanctify him who despises his own soul, him who is abhorred by the nations, by the servants of the rulers. Kings shall see him, and rulers shall arise, and they shall worship him, for the sake of the Lord. For the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you." Thus says the Lord, "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you, and I formed you, and gave you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to inherit desolate inheritances," saying to those in bonds, "Come forth," and to those in darkness, "Be revealed." And they will be fed on all the 208 roads, and in all the paths shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, nor shall the heat strike them, nor the sun. But he who has mercy on them will comfort them, and through springs of water he will lead them, and I will make every mountain a road, and every path a pasture for them. It is likely that those of the circumcision think that the things in the prophecy were said about them, since it has been said, "and he said to me, 'You are my servant Israel, and in you I will be glorified;'" but in addition to the words not being fitting for them, it is clearly shown also from what follows, that the things said are prophesied about another Israel; for it is written, "and now thus says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant to gather Jacob and Israel to him;" and again he said to me: "it is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob and to restore the diaspora of Israel." But also the saying, "Behold, I have made you a light to the nations, that you might be for salvation to the end of the earth," reveals a certain paradoxical and wondrous person about whom the discourse is; who would this be but our Lord

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δ' ἂν ἄλλος εἴη Κύριος ὁ 206 ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πήξας αὐτὸν, καὶ στερεώσας τὴν γῆν, ὁ λέγων ἐγώ εἰμι πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ἐπιφέρων ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς, κατὰ πάντας τοὺς ἑρμηνεύσαντας τὴν θείαν γραφὴν, τὸ, καὶ νῦν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἀπέσταλκέν με, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, ἢ ὁ ἱερὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ὁ μετὰ τὴν ἀγένητον ἀρχὴν τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων πρῶτος Θεὸς ὀνομαζόμενος, περὶ οὗ καὶ ἀλλαχόσε γέγραπται, ἀπέστειλεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τά τε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴτε ὁρατὰ εἴτε ἀόρατα· ὃν καὶ ἀπέστειλε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα οἰκονομήσοντα τὰ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας; Εἴη δ' ἂν ἁρμόζον ὡς πρὸς Ἰουδαίους τὸ ῥητὸν, διδάσκον ἕτερον εἶναι Κύριον τὸν δημιουργήσαντα τὰ πάντα παρὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν, ὑφ' οὗ ἀπεστάλθαι ὁμολογεῖ, λέγων, καὶ νῦν Κύριος ἀπέσταλκέ με· αὐτὸς δ' ἂν εἴη ᾧ προστάττων ἐν τῇ κοσμοποιΐᾳ φησὶν ὁ Πατὴρ τὸ, γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ γενηθήτω τάδε καὶ τάδε· καὶ τὸ, ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν· ταύτην ῃ γὰρ καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς ἀναγέγραπται τὸ, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν· αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν. Πρόδηλον γὰρ ὡς ὁ ἐντελλόμενός τι καὶ λέγων ἑτέρῳ παρ' ἑαυτὸν ἐντελλεταί τε καὶ προστάττει. Ἑκάστην μέντοι γε λέξιν τῆς περικοπῆς ἐξετάζειν οὐ τῆς παρούσης ἐστὶν πραγματείας. 207 Ψ. Κ∆ʹ. Ἀκούσατέ μου νῆσοι, καὶ προσέχετε ἔθνη, ∆ιὰ χρόνου πολλοῦ στήσεται, λέγει Κύριος· ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου ἐκάλεσα τὸ ὄνομά μου· καὶ ἔθηκεν τὸ στόμα μου ὡς μάχαιραν ὀξεῖαν· καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέν με· καὶ εἶπέν μοι, ∆οῦλός μου εἶ σὺ, Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐν σοὶ δοξασθήσομαι· καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα, Κενῶς ἐκοπίασα, εἰς μάταιον καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν ἔδωκα τὴν ἰσχύν μου· διὰ τοῦτο ἡ κρίσις μου παρὰ Κυρίῳ· καὶ ὁ πόνος μου ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ μου· καὶ νῦν οὕτως λέγει Κύριος, ὁ πλάσας με ἐκ κοιλίας δοῦλον ἑαυτῷ, τοῦ συναγαγεῖν τὸν Ἰακὼβ πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν Ἰσραήλ· συναχθήσομαι καὶ δοξασθήσομαι ἐναντίον Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ Θεός μου ἔσται μοι ἰσχύς· καὶ εἶπεν· Μέγα σοι ἐστὶν τοῦ κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου, τοῦ στῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς Ἰακὼβ, καὶ τὰς διασπορὰς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπιστρέψαι· ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς· οὕτως λέγει Κύριος, ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ, Ἁγιάσατε τὸν φαυλίζοντα τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, τὸν βδελυσσόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν δούλων τῶν ἀρχόντων· βασιλεῖς ὄψονται αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀναστήσονται ἄρχοντες, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ, ἕνεκεν Κυρίου· ὅτι πιστός ἐστιν ὁ ἅγιος Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐξελεξάμην σε. Οὕτως λέγει Κύριος, Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου, καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι, καὶ ἔπλασά σε, καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην ἐθνῶν τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ κληρονομῆσαι ἐρήμους, λέγοντα τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς, Ἐξέλθατε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ σκότει, ἀνακαλυφθῆναι, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς 208 ὁδοῖς βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τρίβοις ἡ νομὴ αὐτῶν· οὐ πεινάσουσιν, οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν, οὐδὲ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καύσων, οὐδὲ ὁ ἥλιος· ἀλλ' ὁ ἐλεῶν αὐτοὺς παρακαλέσει αὐτοὺς, καὶ διὰ πηγῶν ὑδάτων ἄξει αὐτοὺς, καὶ θήσω πᾶν ὄρος εἰς ὁδὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν τρίβον εἰς βόσκημα αὐτοῖς. Εἰκὸς τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς οἴεσθαι περὶ ἑαυτῶν εἰρῆσθαι τὰ ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ, ἐπείπερ λέλεκται, καὶ εἶπέν μοι, ∆οῦλός μου εἶ σὺ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐν σοὶ ἐνδοξασθήσομαι· πρὸς δὲ τῷ μὴ ἁρμόζειν αὐτοῖς τὰς λέξεις σαφῶς ἀποδείκνυται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς, ὅτι δὴ περὶ ἑτέρου Ἰσραὴλ τὰ λεγόμενα προφητεύεται· γέγραπται γὰρ, καὶ νῦν οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ πλάσας με ἐκ κοιλίας δοῦλον ἑαυτῷ τοῦ συναγαγεῖν τὸν Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ πάλιν εἶπέν μοι· μέγα σοι ἐστὶν τὸ κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου, τοῦ στῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὰς διασπορὰς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπιστρέψαι. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ, ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, παράδοξόν τινα καὶ θαυμαστὸν ὑποφαίνει τὸν περὶ οὗ ὁ λόγος· τίς δ' ἂν οὗτος εἴη ἢ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν