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and he gives over for food to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, but that which preserves the perfect fruit he guards with all care. Thus he says it will happen at the time of the harvest; for the superfluous branches of the vine and the useless clusters in it being removed and cut off, and being given over for food to the punishing powers, the good clusters and the fruitful souls will obtain the good hope that is with God. In these things the Savior himself, having said that he himself is "the vine," named the disciples "the branches"; and it is consistent to understand the clusters of the branches as those discipled by the apostles, of whom he teaches that the small clusters which are like corpses, the useless ones and those deprived of vital power, will be cast away at the time of judgment, and likewise also the branches that bear no cluster, such as was the traitor Judas, will be cut off similarly to the useless clusters. But instead of: and he will remove the small clusters and what follows, Symmachus: and its worthless parts will be cut off, he says, and Aquila: and he will cut off its offshoots with sickles and will leave them to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky will be gathered against them and all the beasts of the earth will come against them, that is, the opposing and punishing powers. But such is the end of these, and next, making mention of the fruitful branches and of the strong clusters, he adds: and gifts shall be brought to the Lord Sabaoth from a people afflicted and plucked. And this would be the one traveling "the narrow and afflicted" way "that leads to life." And this same one is also plucked, as though alienated from the common life of men, and he is great and numerous before God. For which reason it has been said: and from a great people. And these gifts will be brought to the Lord Sabaoth from now, he says, and for eternal time; for both in the present life and also in the age to come the people indicated does not cease sending up the rational gifts and the bloodless sacrifices to God. And this is the same people as the nation mentioned above, trampled down and hoping, hoping on account of endurance, about which it has been said: "and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put to shame," but trampled down on account of those who persecuted it and often trampled it down. For which reason, according to Aquila it is said: a nation enduring and trampled together. You see how he named the plucked people enduring. And he adds: which is in a part of a river of his country. Whose "his" but God's? For this nation happened to be in a part of a river of the country of God, since it lived as a citizen in the church of God, so as to say: "we know in part and we prophesy in part." For the indicated country did not contain the whole river, I mean, the word of God. For this reason the indicated nation is said to have become in a part of a river of the country of God. But according to the other interpreters it is said, whose land rivers have plundered. For the enemies and persecutors of this nation of God were once those who plundered the land, when the conspirators against the city of God drove them, oppressing and trampling them, about whom it has been said: "the rivers came, the winds blew," and again: "our soul passed through a torrent; then our soul passed through the irresistible water." But having been freed from all these things, the people once afflicted and plucked and the nation trampled down, but hoping in God, will bring gifts to the Lord Sabaoth. And where is it said that he will bring them but to the place where the name of the Lord Sabaoth is, on Mount Zion; for having been deemed worthy of "the heavenly city," the people who has suffered so much will bring the spiritual sacrifices under the high priest, the Son of God, to the place where the name of the Lord Sabaoth is, to Mount Zion, about which the Apostle says: "we have come to

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καὶ παραδίδωσιν εἰς βρῶσιν τοῖς πετηνοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς, τὰ δὲ τὸν ἐντελῆ διασῴζοντα καρπὸν διὰ πάσης ἐπιμελείας φυλάττει. οὕτω κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ θερισμοῦ γενήσεσθαί φησι· τῶν γὰρ τῆς ἀμπέλου περιττῶν κλημάτων καὶ τῶν ἀχρήστων ἐν αὐτῇ βοτρύων περιαιρουμένων καὶ ἀποκοπτομένων, εἰς βοράν τε ἐκδιδομένων ταῖς κολαστικαῖς δυνάμεσιν, οἱ ἀγαθοὶ βότρυες καὶ αἱ καρποφόροι ψυχαὶ τῆς παρὰ τῷ θεῷ τεύξονται ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος. ἐν τούτοις αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἑαυτὸν εἰπὼν εἶναι «τὴν ἄμπελον», τοὺς μαθητὰς «τὰ κλήματα» ὠνόμασε· βότρυας δὲ τῶν κλημάτων ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν νοεῖν τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις μαθητευομένους, ὧν τὰ ὥσπερ νεκριμαῖα βοτρύδια τὰ ἄχρηστα καὶ ζωτικῆς δυνάμεως ἐστερημένα κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς κρίσεως ἀποβληθήσεσθαι διδάσκει καὶ τὰ κλήματα δὲ ὡσαύτως τὰ μηδένα βότρυν φέροντα, οἷος ἦν ὁ προδότης Ἰούδας ὁμοίως τοῖς ἀχρήστοις βότρυσιν ἀποκοπήσεσθαι. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· καὶ ἀφελεῖ τὰ βοτρύδια τὰ μικρὰ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ὁ Σύμμαχος· καὶ ἀποκοπήσεταί φησι τὰ εὐτελῆ αὐτῆς, ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας· καὶ ἐκκόψει τὰ ἐκβράσματα αὐτῆς, ἐν τοῖς δρεπάνοις καὶ καταλείψει τοῖς πετηνοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς, καὶ συναχθήσεται ἐπ' αὐτοὺς τὰ πετηνὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς ἐπ' αὐτὰ ἥξει, αἱ ἀντικείμεναι καὶ κολαστικαὶ δηλαδὴ δυνάμεις. Ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν τὸ τέλος τοιοῦτον, ἑξῆς δὲ τῶν καρποφόρων κλημάτων καὶ τῶν ἐρρωμένων βοτρύων μνήμην ποιούμενος ἐπιφέρει· καὶ ἀνενεχθήσεται δῶρα κυρίῳ σαβαὼθ ἐκ λαοῦ τεθλιμμένου καὶ τετιλμένου. εἴη δ' ἂν οὗτος ὁ «τὴν στενὴν καὶ τεθλιμμένην» ὁδεύων «τὴν ἀπάγουσαν εἰς τὴν ζωήν». ὁ δ' αὐτὸς καὶ ἐκτετιλμένος ὑπάρχει, ὡς ἂν τῆς κοινῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωῆς ἠλλοτριωμένος καὶ μέγας ἐστὶ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πολύς. διὸ λέλεκται· καὶ ἀπὸ λαοῦ μεγάλου. ταῦτα δὲ τὰ δῶρα ἀνενεχθήσεται τῷ κυρίῳ σαβαὼθ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν φησι καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον· καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι δὲ αἰῶνι τὰ λογικὰ δῶρα καὶ τὰς ἀναίμους τῷ θεῷ θυσίας ἀναπέμπων οὐ διαλιμπάνει ὁ δηλωθεὶς λαός. αὐτὸς δὲ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ λαὸς τὸ ἀνωτέρω εἰρημένον ἔθνος καταπεπατημένον καὶ ἐλπίζον, διὰ μὲν τὴν ὑπομονὴν ἐλπίζον, περὶ ἧς εἴρηται· «ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα· ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει», διὰ δὲ τοὺς διώξαντας αὐτὸν καὶ πολλάκις καταπατήσαντας καταπεπατημένον. διὸ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν εἴρηται· ἔθνος ὑπομένον καὶ συμπεπατημένον. ὁρᾷς ὅπως τὸν λαὸν τὸν τετιλμένον ὑπομένοντα ὠνόμασεν. καὶ ἐπιλέγει· ὅ ἐστιν ἐν μέρει ποταμοῦ τῆς χώρας αὐτοῦ· τίνος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἢ τοῦ θεοῦ; τὸ γὰρ ἔθνος τοῦτο ἐν μέρει ποταμοῦ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ χώρας ἐτύγχανεν, ἅτε ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐμπολιτευόμενον, ὡς λέγειν· «ἐκ μέρους γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν»· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν πάντα ποταμὸν ἐχώρει, λέγω δὲ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, ἡ δηλωθεῖσα χώρα. διὸ ἐν μέρει ποταμοῦ τῆς χώρας τοῦ θεοῦ λέγεται γεγονέναι τὸ δηλωθὲν ἔθνος. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς οὗ διήρπασαν ποταμοὶ τὴν γῆν εἴρηται· τούτου γὰρ τοῦ ἔθνους τοῦ θεοῦ οἱ πολέμιοι καὶ διῶκται ἦσάν ποτε διαρπάσαντες τὴν γῆν, ὅτε αὐτοὺς ἤλαυνον ἐκθλίβοντες καὶ καταπατοῦντες οἱ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως ἐπίβουλοι, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· «ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοί, ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι», καὶ πάλιν· «χείμαρρον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν· ἄρα διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἀνυπόστατον». ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων ἁπάντων ἐλευθερωθεὶς ὁ πάλαι τεθλιμμένος καὶ τετιλμένος λαὸς καὶ τὸ ἔθνος τὸ καταπεπατημένον μέν, ἐλπίζον δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, δῶρα τῷ κυρίῳ σαβαὼθ ἀνοίσει. ποῦ δὲ ἀνοίσειν λέγεται ἢ εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου σαβαώθ, ἐν ὄρει Σιών· καταξιωθεὶς γὰρ «τῆς ἐπουρανίου πόλεως» ὁ τοσαῦτα πεπονθὼς λαὸς τὰς πνευματικὰς ἀνοίσει θυσίας ὑπ' ἀρχιερεῖ τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου σαβαώθ, εἰς ὄρος Σιών, περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «προσεληλύθαμεν