81

mixed character of the calling; how it brings together things that are separate, calls together those afar, makes the many one through faith in Christ. Mine is Gilead, he says; and mine is Manasseh. And he mentioned Ephraim 29.465, and he took Judah to himself; and he numbered Moab with them. And he threatens to set foot on Idumea; and proclaims the subjection of all together: To me foreigners were subjected. Therefore, God, you have cast us off. You have cast off those who distance themselves from you in proportion to their sins. You have pulled down the systems of our wickedness, [benefitting us through weakness.] You were angry, when we were by nature children of wrath, having no hope, and without God in the world. You had compassion on us, when you set forth your Only-begotten as a propitiation for our sins, that in his blood we might find redemption. Things which we would not have known while being benefited, unless you had given us to drink the Wine of compunction. By wine he means the word that brings the hardened heart to feeling. You have given to those who fear you a sign, to flee from the face of the bow. Moses indeed marked the doorposts of the Israelites with the blood of the sheep; but you gave us a sign, the very blood of the spotless lamb who was slain for the sin of the world. And Ezekiel says that the sign is given upon the foreheads of their faces. For go, he says, after him, and strike; do not spare; nor have pity. Slay old man, and young man, and infant, and virgin, and women to utter destruction; but upon all on whom the sign is, do not draw near. God has spoken in his sanctuary, I will rejoice, and I will divide Shechem. Shechem, the choice portion given to Joseph by Jacob, is a type of the covenant that seemed to have been granted to Israel alone. Therefore, this choice covenant and inheritance of the people I will bring into division, and I will make it common to the rest. Therefore, with the covenant being divided among all, and its benefit becoming common to all those who are benefited by God, then also the valley of the tents will be measured out; that is, the whole inhabited world, as if by certain lots, will be divided into the sojourning communities in each place. Then he will also join together the things that are separate, He who makes peace whether in the things on earth, or the things in heaven; And having broken down the middle wall of the fence, he will make both one. Mine is Gilead, and mine is Manasseh. Gilead was the grandson of Manasseh; that it might show the succession of the patriarchs coming from God, from whom Christ is according to the flesh. And Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my king. He joins together the broken-off parts through con- 29.468 cord. Moab is the cauldron of my hope. Or, A cauldron, he says, of washing, says another of the interpreters; or, A cauldron of freedom from care; that is, the cast-off man, who has the threat of not entering into the Church of the Lord. For a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not enter even to the third and even to the tenth generation, and for ever. Nevertheless, since baptism has remission of sins, and becomes a cause of freedom from care for the indebted, showing the redemption through baptism and reconciliation to God, Moab, he says, is a cauldron of washing, or, A cauldron of freedom from care. Therefore, all the foreigners were subjected, having submitted to the yoke of Christ; for this reason upon Idumea he will cast his shoe. And the shoe of the divinity is the God-bearing flesh, through which he set foot upon men. On this hope, the Prophet, blessing the time of the Lord's sojourn, says: Who will bring me into the fortified city? Perhaps he means the Church; a city, because it is a system lawfully inhabited; fortified, because of the enclosure of the faith. Whence one of the interpreters has published it most clearly, Into a city fenced round about. Who then will grant me to see this great sight, God sojourning among men? This is what was said by the Lord; that Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it.

81

σύμμικτον τῆς κλήσεως· ὅπως τὰ διεστῶτα συνάγει, τὰ μακρὰν συγκαλεῖ, ἕνα ποιεῖ τοὺς πολλοὺς διὰ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως. Ἐμός ἐστι, φησὶ, Γαλαάδ· καὶ ἐμός ἐστι Μανασσῆς. Καὶ τὸν Ἐφραῒμ 29.465 εἶπε, καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν προσελάβετο· καὶ συνηρίθμησε τὸν Μωάβ. Καὶ τῆς Ἰδουμαίας ἐπιβήσεσθαι ἀπειλεῖ· καὶ πάντων ὁμοῦ τὴν ὑποταγὴν εὐαγγελίζεται· Ἐμοὶ ἀλλόφυλοι ὑπετάγησαν. Ὁ Θεὸς οὖν ἀπώσω ἡμᾶς. Τοὺς μακρύνοντας ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ σοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἁμαρτη μάτων ἀπώσω. Τὰ συστήματα τῆς πονηρίας ἡμῶν καθεῖλες, [εὐεργετῶν ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας.] Ὠρ γίσθης, ὅτε ἦμεν φύσει τέκνα ὀργῆς, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχον τες, καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. Ὠκτείρησας ἡμᾶς, ὅτε τὸν Μονογενῆ σου προέθου ἱλαστήριον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν εὕρωμεν. Ἃ οὐκ ἂν ἐγνωρίσαμεν εὐεργετού μενοι, εἰ μὴ ἐπότισας ἡμᾶς Οἶνον κατανύξεως. Οἶνον λέγει τὸν λόγον τὸν τὴν πεπωρωμένην καρδίαν εἰς συναίσθησιν ἄγοντα. Ἔδωκας τοῖς φοβου μένοις σε σημείωσιν, τοῦ φυγεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τόξου. Μωϋσῆς μὲν τὰς φλιὰς τῶν Ἰσραηλι τῶν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ προβάτου κατεσημήνατο· σὺ δὲ ἔδωκας ἡμῖν σημείωσιν, αὐτὸ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀμώμου ἀμνοῦ τοῦ σφαγιασθέντος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁμαρ τίας τοῦ κόσμου. Καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν προσώπων δίδοσθαι λέγει τὸ σημεῖον. Πορεύε σθε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, καὶ κόπτετε· μὴ φείσησθε· μηδὲ ἐλεήσητε. Πρεσβύτερον, καὶ νεανίσκον, καὶ νήπιον, καὶ παρθένον, καὶ γυναῖ κας ἀποκτείνατε εἰς ἐξάλειψιν· ἐπὶ δὲ πάντας, ἐφ' οὕς ἐστι τὸ σημεῖον, μὴ ἐγγίσητε. Ὁ Θεὸς ἐλάλησεν ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ, Ἀγαλλιάσομαι, καὶ διαμεριῶ Σίκιμα. Σίκιμα τὸ ἐξαίρετον χωρίον, τῷ Ἰωσὴφ παρὰ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ δεδομένον, τύπος τῆς διαθήκης τῆς μόνῳ δοκούσης τῷ Ἰσραὴλ δεδωρῆσθαι. Τὴν τοίνυν ἐξαίρετον διαθήκην καὶ κληρονομίαν τοῦ λαοῦ ταύτην εἰς μερισμὸν ἄξω, καὶ κοινὴν ποιήσω πρὸς τοὺς λοιπούς. ∆ιαμερισθείσης οὖν τῆς διαθήκης εἰς πάντας, καὶ τοῦ ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὠφελίμου κοινοῦ πᾶ σι τοῖς εὐεργετουμένοις παρὰ Θεοῦ γινομένου, τότε καὶ ἡ κοιλὰς τῶν σκηνῶν διαμετρηθήσεται· τουτ έστιν, ἡ οἰκουμένη πᾶσα, οἱονεὶ κλήροις τισὶ, ταῖς καθ' ἕκαστον τόπον παροικίαις διαιρεθήσεται. Τότε καὶ τὰ διεστῶτα συνάψει, Ὁ εἰρηνοποιῶν εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· Καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὰ ἀμφό τερα ποιήσει ἕν. Ἐμός ἐστι Γαλαὰδ, καὶ ἐμός ἐστι Μανασ σῆς. Ἔγγονος τοῦ Μανασσῆ ὁ Γαλαάδ· ἵνα δείξῃ τὴν τῶν πατριαρχῶν ἀκολουθίαν παρὰ Θεοῦ καθή κουσαν, ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα. Καὶ Ἐφραῒμ ἀντίληψις τῆς κεφαλῆς μου· Ἰούδας βασιλεύς μου. Τὰ ἀποῤῥαγέντα μέρη συνάπτει διὰ τῆς ὁμο 29.468 νοίας. Ὁ Μωὰβ τῆς ἐλπίδος λέβης. Ἢ, Λέβης, φησὶ, λουτροῦ, ἄλλος τις τῶν ἑρμηνευσάντων· ἢ, Λέβης ἀμεριμνίας· τουτέστιν, ὁ ἀπόβλητος ἄν θρωπος, ὁ ἀπειλὴν ἔχων μὴ εἰσελεύσεσθαι εἰς Ἐκ κλησίαν Κυρίου. Οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται γὰρ Μωαβίτης καὶ Ἀμμανίτης ἕως τρίτης καὶ ἕως δεκάτης γενεᾶς, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον. Ὅμως ἐπειδὴ τὸ βάπτισμα ἄφεσιν ἔχει ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ ἀμεριμνίας πρόξενον γίνεται τοῖς καταχρέοις, τὴν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀπολύτρωσιν καὶ πρὸς Θεὸν οἰκείωσιν ἐνδεικνύμενος, Μωὰβ, φησὶ, λέβης ἐστὶ λουτροῦ, ἢ, Λέβης ἀμερι μνίας. Πάντες οὖν ἀλλόφυλοι ὑπετάγησαν τῷ ζυ γῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑποκύψαντες· διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν ἐπιβαλεῖ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ὑπόδημα. Ὑπόδημα δὲ τῆς θεότητος ἡ σὰρξ ἡ θεοφόρος, δι' ἧς ἐπέβη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ ἐλπίδι μακαρίζων τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἀποδημίας ὁ Προφήτης φησί· Τίς ἀπάξει με εἰς πόλιν περιοχῆς; Τάχα τὴν Ἐκ κλησίαν λέγει· πόλιν μὲν, διὰ τὸ σύστημα εἶναι νο μίμως οἰκούμενον· περιοχῆς δὲ διὰ τὴν τῆς πί στεως περιβολήν. Ὅθεν εὐσημότατά τις τῶν ἑρμη νευσάντων ἐκδέδωκεν, Εἰς πόλιν περιπεφραγμένην. Τίς οὖν δώσει μοι τὸ μέγα τοῦτο θέαμα ἰδεῖν, Θεὸν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιδημοῦντα; Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ εἰρημέ νον παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου· ὅτι Πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε, καὶ οὐκ εἶδον.