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He promises one who will shepherd them and rule them not for a short and brief time, but for eternity. Therefore, let those of the circumcision suppose that the word promises to them that man, the son of Jesse, imagining again a physical kingdom of his, and expecting the promises of God in corruptible and earthly things, and unworthy of the divine promise; but we, persuaded that the things said concerning him are in no way fitting either to the divine promises, nor indeed refer to David himself, should understand them as referring to the one from his seed, born according to the flesh, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, thinking that the prophecies, such as are presented in the sacred scriptures from the person of David, are more fitting to this one than to that David; such as, The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you; and, You will make me the head of nations, said in the 17th psalm; where again it is said as from his person, A people I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me. About whom else is it fitting to suppose that God says, He will call upon me, You are my Father; and, And I will make him the firstborn, than about our Savior, his only-begotten child? For what extraordinary thing had 147 David accomplished, beyond the other prophets and righteous men, that these things should be said about him alone, and that he should be prophesied to rise again as king and shepherd of God's sheep? Considering all these things, then, and paying attention to the prophecy of Isaiah, which proclaimed after the death of David both the other things concerning Christ, and, A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall spring up from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him; and the things following these, we are persuaded that the things here prophesied as about David are rightly said concerning the same one. For Christ alone, of God, being called David according to the transference of the name, has been shown to be the good shepherd, having become the leader and savior of God's flock and church; who is prophesied to be established by the Father as king over all the spiritual Israel after the Lord has restored the captivity of his people. Ps. From Daniel. 42. Daniel is the one who says. And in the days of the kings the God of heaven will raise up another kingdom, which shall be for ages and shall not be destroyed, and this kingdom shall not permit another nation, but it will strike and destroy the kingdoms, and it will stand for ever, just as you saw a stone cut from a mountain without hands, and it ground to powder the clay, the iron, and the bronze, and the silver, and the gold. And these things are declared concerning the kingdom of Christ that will come at the consummation 148 of the ages; for the stone, the one cut from the mountain without hands, would be a symbol of the Word of God, who is also called a stone in other prophecies, as in, Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen, precious; and, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. Therefore the present word says that this one, having cast down and crushed the kingdoms of the world and the principalities and the powers and the world-rulers, will possess the kingdom of the saints for ever. Ps. From the same. 43. Nebuchadnezzar the king, having thrown Ananias and his companions into the furnace of fire, when he saw that they were in no way harmed by the fire, becoming an eyewitness of the paradox, is recorded as having said to his own friends; Did we not throw three men into the midst of the fire? and when they agreed, Behold, he says, I see four men unbound, and walking in the fire, and there is no harm in them, and the appearance of the fourth is the likeness of a son of God; and likewise the Hebrew also contains "likeness of a son of God," and the other interpreters have rendered it similarly; for this reason, therefore, we have noted the passage, as from here also is signified the

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ποιμανοῦντα αὐτοὺς καὶ ἄρξοντα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐπ' ὀλίγον καὶ βραχύν τινα χρόνον ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸν αἰῶνα ὑπισχνεῖται. Οἰέσθωσαν μὲν οὖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκεῖνον τὸν υἱὸν Ἱεσσαὶ κατεπαγγέλλεσθαι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῖς οἱ ἐκ περιτόμης, βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ σωματικὴν αὖθις φανταζόμενοι, καὶ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν φθαρτοῖς καὶ γηΐνοις καὶ θείας ἀναξίοις ἐπαγγελίας καραδοκοῦντες· ἡμεῖς δὲ μηδαμῶς ἁρμόζειν μήτε θείαις ὑποσχέσεσι, μήτε μὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀναφέρεσθαι τὸν ∆αυὶδ, τὰ ὡς περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα πειθόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ τὸν κατὰ σάρκα γενόμενον Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐκλαμβάνωμεν, τὰς προφητείας τούτῳ μᾶλλον ἁρμόζειν ἤπερ ἐκείνῳ τῷ ∆αυὶδ οἰόμενοι, τὰ ὡς ἂν ἐκ προσώπου ∆αυὶδ ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς ἐμφερόμενα· οἷόν ἐστιν τὸ, Κύριος εἶπεν πρός με, Υἱός μου εἶ σύ· ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε· καὶ τὸ, καταστήσεις με εἰς κεφαλὴν ἐθνῶν, λεγόμενον ἐν ιζʹ ψαλμῷ· ἔνθα πάλιν ὡς ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ λέλεκται, τὸ, λαὸς ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων ἐδούλευσέ μοι· εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέ μου. Περὶ τίνος δὲ ἄλλου προσήκειν τὸν Θεὸν φάσκειν ὑπονοεῖν τὸ, αὐτὸς ἐπικαλέσεταί με, Πατήρ μου εἶ σύ· καὶ τὸ, κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτὸν, ἢ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τοῦ μονογενοῦς παιδὸς αὐτοῦ; Τί γὰρ ἐξαίρετον παρὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς προφήτας τε καὶ δικαίους ἄνδρας κατωρθῶτο τῷ 147 ∆αυὶδ, ὡς περὶ μόνου αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λέγεσθαι, καὶ αὐτὸν προφητεύεσθαι αὖθις ἀναστήσεσθαι βασιλέα τε καὶ ποιμένα τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προβάτων; Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα συνορῶντες, ἐφιστάντες τῇ τοῦ Ἠσαίου προφητείᾳ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ∆αυὶδ τελευτὴν ἀνακηρυττούσῃ τά τε ἄλλα περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὸ, Ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται, καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς εἰκότως περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἐνθάδε, ὡς περὶ ∆αυὶδ προφητευόμενα, λέγεσθαι πεπείσμεθα. Μόνος γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὴν μεταφορὰν τῆς προσηγορίας καὶ ∆αυὶδ χρηματίσας, ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς ἀναδέδεικται, ἀρχηγὸς καὶ σωτὴρ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ποίμνης τε καὶ ἐκκλησίας γεγενημένος· ὃς βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ πάντα τὸν νοητὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς κατασταθήσεσθαι μετὰ τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι Κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ προφητεύεται. Ψ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ. ΜΒʹ. ∆ανιήλ ἐστιν ὁ φάσκων. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις τῶν βασιλέων ἀναστήσει ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασιλείαν ἄλλην, ἥτις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἔσται καὶ οὐ φθαρήσεται, καὶ αὕτη ἡ βασιλεία ἄλλο ἔθνος οὐ μὴ ἐάσῃ, πατάξει δὲ καὶ ἀφανίσει τὰς βασιλείας, καὶ αὐτὴ στήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καθάπερ ἑόρακας ἐξ ὄρους τμηθέντα λίθον ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ συνηλόησε τὸ ὄστρακον, τὸν σίδηρον, καὶ τὸν χαλκὸν, καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον, καὶ τὸν χρυσόν. Καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ 148 τῶν αἰώνων γενησομένης τοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείας δηλοῦται· ὁ γάρ τοι λίθος, ὁ ἐξ ὄρους τμηθεὶς ἄνευ χειρῶν, σύμβολον ἂν εἴη τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις προφητείαις λίθου προσαγορευθέντος, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ, ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιῶν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον· καὶ, λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. Τοῦτον οὖν φησὶν ὁ παρὼν λόγος τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας καθελόντα καὶ συντρίψοντα καθέξειν τὴν τῶν ἁγίων βασιλείαν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ΜΓʹ. Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀνανίαν εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς ἐμβάλων, ὡς ἔγνω μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἠδικημένους, αὐτόπτης τοῦ παραδόξου γενόμενος, τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φίλοις εἰρηκὼς ἀναγέγραπται· Οὐχὶ τρεῖς ἄνδρας ἐβάλομεν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πυρός; συμφησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ὁρῶ ἄνδρας τέσσαρας λελυμένους, καὶ περιπατοῦντας ἐν τῷ πυρὶ, καὶ φθορὰ οὐδεμία ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἡ ὅρασις τοῦ τετάρτου ὁμοίωμα υἱοῦ Θεοῦ· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν ὁμοίωμα υἱοῦ Θεοῦ περιέχει, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ ὁμοίως ἐκδεδώκασιν ἑρμηνευταί· τούτου δὴ οὖν ἕνεκα ἐσημειωσάμεθα τὸν τόπον, ὡς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν σημαινομένης τῆς