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he wished to learn. For this reason, the unclean mouth received the energy of the All-holy Spirit, and utters what it does not wish; and he cries out, "How shall I curse whom the Lord does not curse? And how shall I execrate whom God does not execrate"? And he foretells the things to come: "Behold, a people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who has accurately counted the seed of Jacob, and who shall number the peoples of Israel"? Then he asks to share their communion: "May my soul die among the souls of the righteous; and may my seed be as the seed of these." But since Balak was displeased, and supposed that seeing the multitude of the Hebrews, he had offered the blessing, he led him away to another place, from which it was possible to see a part of the people, fittingly again the All-holy Spirit says through him: "God is not as a man to be held in suspense, nor as a son of man to be threatened; having said, shall he not do it? shall he speak and not abide by it"? Unchanging, he says, O Balak, and unalterable is the nature of God; he does not have a changeable mind like men. "Behold, I have been commissioned to bless; I will bless, and I will not turn back." 220 XLIII What is, "his glory is as that of a unicorn"? The unicorn is an animal having one horn on its head. Concerning this, the Lord God also said to Job: "Will the unicorn be willing to serve you"? By this teaching both the power of the animal and its unsubduable nature. Some, then, have compared the Lord God to this; but I think this was said concerning the people, that just as the unicorn has one horn, so the pious people worship one God. Wherefore the blessed David also says, "in you we will gore our enemies." How the one God is to be understood, we have often said. And the saying, "There shall be no divination in Jacob nor soothsaying in Israel. In due season it will be told to Jacob, and to Israel, what God will accomplish"; is to be understood thus, that against Israel, neither soothsaying has power, nor the observation of omens. For the Lord God through his own prophets both foretells to him the things to come and suggests what must be done. XLIV What is, "Balaam did not go as he was accustomed, to meet the omens"? Having learned by experience that he gained nothing by using his vain art; for immeasurably more powerful was the one turning his tongue to whatever things he wished; he no longer used his accustomed symbols, but set apart his tongue for the ministry of God. It must be known, however, that it seemed to some that he had said nothing concerning our Savior, who ought to have understood that 221 even to Nebuchadnezzar, who was exceedingly impious, he revealed the coming of our God and Savior. "For he saw a stone cut without hands, that struck the image, and broke in pieces the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the clay, and became a great mountain, and covered the whole earth." Therefore, he who foretold those things through that one, also foretold through this one the salvation of the world; so that such prophecies might also be preserved among the nations. And the outcome of events bears witness to the prophecy. For he who sprang from Judah according to the flesh, despoiled not only the rulers of Moab, but also all the sons of Seth; and the sons of Seth are all men. For Noah was a descendant of Seth; and from Noah, the whole nature of men. He also foretold the victory of the Macedonians over the Persians: "For," he says, "ships shall come from the hand of the Chittim and shall afflict Asshur and shall afflict the Hebrews." For Alexander destroyed the kingdom of the Persians; and Antiochus, having marched against the Jews, both captured their metropolis, and rendered the divine temple desolate. These prophecies, however, were not of false soothsaying, but of the energy of the All-holy Spirit. For he who commanded the donkey, contrary to nature, to use a human voice, this one also foretold the things to come through the tongue of the seer. "For," it says, "the Spirit of God was upon him." This also happened in the case of the lawless Saul; whence, on account of the paradox, the proverb also arose, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" However, having received so much experience of God, the false seer, other

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ἠβουλήθη μαθεῖν. τούτου χάριν τὸ ἀκάθαρτον στόμα τοῦ παναγίου πνεύματος ἐδέξατο τὴν ἐνέρ γειαν, καὶ φθέγγεται ἃ μὴ βούλεται· καὶ βοᾷ " τί ἀράσομαι ὃν μὴ ἀρᾶται Κύριος; καὶ τί καταράσομαι ὃν μὴ κα ταρᾶται Θεός "; καὶ προαγορεύει τὰ ἐσόμενα· " ἰδοὺ λαὸς μόνος κατοικήσει, καὶ ἐν ἔθνεσιν οὐ συλλογισ θήσεται. τίς ἐξηκριβώσατο σπέρμα Ἰακώβ, καὶ τίς ἐξαριθμήσεται δήμους Ἰσραήλ "; εἶτα αἰτεῖ τῆς ἐκείνων μετασχεῖν κοινωνίας· " ἀποθάνοι ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν ψυ χαῖς δικαίων· καὶ γένοιτο τὸ σπέρμα μου ὡς τὸ σπέρμα τούτων ". ἐπειδὴ δὲ δυσχεράνας ὁ Βαλάκ, καὶ τοπάσας ὅτι τῶν ἑβραίων τὸ πλῆθος ἰδών, τὴν εὐλογίαν προσήνεγκεν, εἰς ἕτερον αὐτὸν ἀπήγαγε τόπον, ἐξ οὗ μέρος οἷόν τε ἦν ἰδεῖν τοῦ λαοῦ, εἰκότως πάλιν τὸ πανάγιον πνεῦμα δι' ἐκείνου φησίν· " οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρω πος ὁ Θεὸς διαρτηθῆναι, οὐδὲ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀπειληθῆναι· αὐτὸς εἰπὼν οὐχὶ ποιήσει; λα λήσει καὶ οὐκ ἐμμενεῖ "; ἄτρεπτος, φησίν, ὦ Βαλάκ, καὶ ἀναλ λοίωτος ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσις· οὐκ ἔχει γνώμην τρεπτὴν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρα πλησίως. " ἰδοὺ εὐλογεῖν παρείλημμαι· εὐλογήσω, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀποστραφῶ ". 220 XLIII Τί ἐστιν, " ὡς δόξα μονοκέρωτος αὐτῷ "; Ὁ μονόκερως ζῷόν ἐστιν ἓν ἔχων κέρας ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ. περὶ τούτου καὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ ὁ δεσπότης ἔφη Θεός· " βουλήσεται δέ σοι μο νόκερως δουλεῦσαι "; διὰ τούτου διδάσκων καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τὸ ἀδούλωτον. τινὲς μὲν οὖν τούτῳ ἀπείκασαν τὸν δεσ πότην Θεόν· ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦτο εἰρῆσθαι, ὅτι καθάπερ ὁ μονόκερως ἓν ἔχει κέρας, οὕτως ὁ εὐσεβὴς λαὸς ἕνα προσκυνεῖ Θεόν. διὸ καὶ ∆αβὶδ ὁ μακάριος λέγει, " ἐν σοὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν κερατιοῦμεν ". πῶς δὲ νοητέον τὸν ἕνα Θεόν, πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν. τὸ δὲ " οὐκ ἔσται οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ἰακὼβ οὐδὲ μαν τεία ἐν Ἰσραήλ. κατὰ καιρὸν ῥηθήσεται τῷ Ἰακώβ, καὶ τῷ Ἰσραήλ, τί ἐπιτελέσει ὁ Θεός "· οὕτω νοητέον, ὅτι κατὰ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, οὔτε μαντεία ἰσχύει, οὔτε οἰωνῶν παρα τήρησις. ὁ γὰρ δεσπότης Θεὸς διὰ τῶν οἰκείων προφητῶν καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα αὐτῷ προλέγει καὶ ὑποτίθεται τὸ πρακτέον. XLIV Τί ἐστιν, " οὐκ ἐπορεύθη Βαλαὰμ κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς εἰς συνάντησιν τοῖς οἰωνοῖς "; Τῇ πείρᾳ μαθών, ὡς οὐδὲν ὀνίνησι τῇ ματαίᾳ χρώμενος τέχνῃ· ἀπείρῳ γὰρ τῷ μέτρῳ δυνατώτερος ὁ μεταφέρων αὐτοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν εἰς ἅπερ ἐθέλει· οὐκέτι τοῖς συνήθεσι συμβόλοις ἐχρήσατο, ἀλλ' εἰς ὑπουργίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν ἀφώρισεν. ἰστέον μέντοι, ὥς τισιν ἔδοξε μηδὲν αὐτὸν περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν προειρηκέναι, οὓς ἐχρῆν συνιδεῖν, ὅτι 221 καὶ τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἄγαν ὄντι δυσσεβεῖ, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀπεκάλυψε παρουσίαν. " εἶδε γὰρ λίθον τμηθέντα ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ πατάξαντα τὴν εἰκόνα, καὶ συντρί ψαντα τὸν χρυσόν, τὸν ἄργυρον, τὸν χαλκόν, τὸν σίδηρον, τὸ ὄστρακον, καὶ γενόμενον ὄρος μέγα, καὶ καλύψαντα πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ". ὁ τοίνυν ἐκεῖνα δι' ἐκείνου προαγορεύσας καὶ διὰ τούτου προείρηκε τῆς οἰκουμένης τὴν σωτηρίαν· ἵνα καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν αἱ τοιαῦται προρρήσεις φυλάττων ται. μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ προρρήσει τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ τέλος. ὁ γὰρ ἐξ Ἰού δα κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσας, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς Μωάβ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς Σὴθ προενόμευσεν· υἱοὶ δὲ τοῦ Σὴθ ἅπαντες ἄνθρωποι. ἀπόγονος γὰρ ὁ Νῶε τοῦ Σήθ· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Νῶε ἅπασα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις. προεῖπε δὲ καὶ τὴν μακεδόνων κατὰ περσῶν νίκην· " ἐξελεύ σεται, γάρ φησιν, ἐκ χειρὸς Χετιὴμ καὶ κακώσουσιν Ἀσσοὺρ καὶ κακώσουσιν ἑβραίους ". Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν γὰρ τὴν περσῶν κατέλυσε βασιλείαν· Ἀντίοχος δὲ ἰουδαίοις ἐπιστρα τεύσας, καὶ τὴν μητρόπολιν αὐτῶν εἷλε, καὶ τὸν θεῖον νεὼν ἀπέφηνεν ἔρημον. αἱ μέντοι προρρήσεις αὗται οὐ τῆς ψευδοῦς ἦσαν μαντείας, ἀλλὰ τῆς τοῦ παναγίου πνεύματος ἐνεργείας. ὁ γὰρ τὴν ὄνον ἀνθρωπείᾳ χρή σασθαι φωνῇ παρὰ φύσιν κελεύσας, οὗτος καὶ διὰ τῆς γλώττης τοῦ μάν τεως τὰ ἐσόμενα προηγόρευσεν. " ἐγένετο, γάρ φησι, πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ ". τοῦτο γέγονε καὶ ἐν τῷ παρανόμῳ Σαούλ· ὅθεν διὰ τὸ παράδοξον καὶ ἡ παροιμία ἐγένετο, " εἰ καὶ Σαοὺλ ἐν προφήταις "; τοσαύτην μέντοι πεῖραν τοῦ Θεοῦ λαβὼν ὁ ψευδό μαντις, ἑτέρας