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in the Septuagint, has a significant meaning, in keeping with the sequence of what has been previously stated. For these are gathered like a terebinth, and like an oak, in becoming a holy Seed in their standing and stability. Consistently with what is stated in many places in Scripture, here too is shown the good end of those who are chastised for their benefit. For I will strike (he says) and I will heal. And He causes pain and again restores. Therefore those who previously heard hearing and did not understand, and did the things that followed, to such an extent, until the cities were not inhabited and they were in the diaspora, so that scarcely the one-tenth of the people was saved, these again will be multiplied and again will bear fruit, like a terebinth and an oak, bearing a holy Seed, in standing firm and not being moved and being rooted in love.

7.t CHAPTER 7

7.192 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up against Jerusalem to war against it, and they were not able to besiege it. And it was reported to the house of David, saying: Aram has conspired with Ephraim. And his soul was distraught, and the soul of his people, as a tree in a wood is shaken by the wind. The sense of the text is this: Two kings, the king of Syria and the king of Israel went up against Jerusalem to war, and were not able to besiege it. The name of the king of Syria was Rezin, and the name of the king of Israel was Pekah. And messengers came, reporting to the royal house the alliance of the kings, both of the Syrian and of Israel. For the Syrian is called Aram in the dialect of the Hebrews; and Israel is named Ephraim, because the one who made the apostasy from the beginning, Jeroboam, had sprung from that tribe. Therefore, both the king and all the people were terrified at the report, and were so shaken and troubled, that their agitation was likened to a tree of the forest, being shaken by a most violent gust of wind. This, then, is the simple narration of the words. But if one were to examine the saying, he would find some relevance to us and the building up of the Church from what is recounted. Who then are the kings who conspired with one another, let us examine to the best of our ability. I think, then, that the reasoning which is lifted up by the wisdom of this age against the knowledge of God is signified by Aram; for Aram is interpreted as 'lofty'. Such is the reasoning of the rulers of this age, paying attention to astronomies and motions of stars and conjunctions and formations, and from there saying that the causes of human affairs are suspended. Lofty also because of its conceit and its arrogant pride, which the Holy One alone knows how to pull down with the words of truth, casting down by the power of the Spirit every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. But we consider that the knowledge, established by the reception of the divine Scriptures, but turned away from the straight path and falsely named, is addressed as Ephraim. Since from it sprang Jeroboam, the first to tear away the ten tribes from the seed of David, who also once became a fugitive from Solomon, went to Egypt, and took the sister of Thekemina, Pharaoh's wife, in marriage. Who also fashioned the golden calves, and established feasts from his own heart. When, therefore, the pagan reasoning, which thinks highly of dialectical arguments, is entwined with the heretical and perverted, Aram is said to conspire with Ephraim, having a desire to tear down the buildings of David and to sack the place of true worship. However, he does not achieve his purpose. Not

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παρὰ τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα, ἀξιόλογον νοῦν, ὡς πρὸς τὴν τῶν προαποδεδομένων ἀκο λουθίαν ἔχον. Συνάγονται γὰρ οὗτοι ὡς τερέβινθος, καὶ ὡς βάλανος, ἐν τῷ γενέσθαι Σπέρμα ἅγιον ἐν τῇ στάσει καὶ βεβαιότητι ἑαυτῶν. Ἀκολούθως δὲ τοῖς πολλαχοῦ παρὰ τῇ Γραφῇ κειμένοις καὶ ἐνταῦθα φαίνεται τὸ χρηστὸν τέλος τῶν ἐπ' εὐεργεσίᾳ κολαζομένων. Πατάξω γὰρ (φησὶ) κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἀλγεῖν ποιεῖ καὶ πάλιν ἀποκαθίστησιν. Οἱ οὖν πρότερον ἀκοῇ ἀκούοντες καὶ μὴ συνιέντες, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ποιοῦντες, μέχρι τοσούτου, ἕως τοῦ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι πόλεις καὶ ἐν τῇ διασπορᾷ γενόμενοι, ὡς μόλις τὸ ἐπι δέκατον τοῦ λαοῦ περισωθῆναι, οὗτοι πάλιν πληθυνθή σονται καὶ πάλιν καρποφορήσουσι, παραπλησίως τερεβίνθῳ καὶ βαλάνῳ, Σπέρμα ἅγιον φέροντες, ἐν τῷ ἑστηκέναι ἑδραῖοι καὶ μὴ μετακινούμενοι καὶ ἐῤῥιζῶσθαι ἐν ἀγάπῃ.

7.t ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ζʹ

7.192 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἀχὰζ τοῦ Ἰωάθαμ, τοῦ υἱοῦ Ὀζίου, βασιλέως Ἰούδα, ἀνέβη Ῥασὶν, βασιλεὺςἈρὰμ, καὶ Φακεὲ, υἱὸς Ῥομελίου, βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ἐπὶἹερουσαλὴμ, πολεμῆσαι αὐτὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν πολιορ κῆσαι αὐτήν. Καὶ ἀνηγγέλη εἰς τὸν οἶκον ∆αβὶδ, λέγοντες· Συνεφώνησεν Ἀρὰμ πρὸς τὸν Ἐφραΐμ. Καὶ ἐξέστη ἡψυχὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὃν τρόπον ἐν δρυμῷ ξύλον ὑπὸ πνεύματος σαλευθῇ. Ὁ τῆς λέξεως νοῦς τοιοῦτός ἐστι· ∆ύο βασιλεῖς, ὁ τῆς Συρίας καὶ ὁ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύναντο πολιορκῆσαι αὐτήν. Ὄνομα δὲ τῷ μὲν βασιλεῖ Συρίας, Ῥασὶν, τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ Ἰσραὴλ, Φακεέ. Ἦλθον δὲ ἄγγελοι, καταμηνύοντες τῷ βασιλικῷ οἴκῳ τὴν συμφωνίαν τῶν βασιλέων, τοῦ τε Σύρου καὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ὁ γὰρ Σύρος, Ἀρὰμ κατὰ τὴν διάλεκτον τῶν Ἑβραίων καλεῖται· ὁ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ, Ἐφραῒμ ὀνομάζεται, διὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς ἐκείνης ὡρμῆσθαι τὸν τὴν ἀποστασίαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πε ποιηκότα, Ἱεροβοάμ. Κατεπλάγη οὖν ὅ τε βασιλεὺς καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἅπας ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκοῇ, καὶ οὕτως ἐσείσθη καὶ ἐταράχθη, ὥστε ὁμοιωθῆναι τὸν κλόνον αὐτῶν ξύλῳ δρυμοῦ, ἀπὸ σφο δροτάτου πνεύματος ἀνέμων σαλευομένῳ. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἁπλῆ διήγησις τῶν ῥημάτων αὕτη. Βα σανίζων δ' ἄν τις τὸ ῥητὸν, εὕροι τινὰ οἰκειότητα πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκ τῶν ἱστορου μένων. Τίνες οὖν εἰσιν οἱ συμφωνήσαντες ἀλλήλοις βασιλεῖς, κατὰ δύναμιν ἐξετάσωμεν. Ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν τὸν μὲν ἐπαι ρόμενον τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον δηλοῦσθαι διὰ τὸν Ἀράμ· ἑρμηνεύεται γὰρ ὁ Ἀρὰμ, μετέωρος. Τοιοῦτος δὲ ὁ λόγος τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, ἀστρονομίαις προσέχων καὶ κινήσεσιν ἀστέ ρων καὶ συμπλοκαῖς καὶ σχήμασι, κἀκεῖθεν τῶν ἀνθρω πίνων πραγμάτων τὰς αἰτίας ἠρτῆσθαι λέγων. Μετέωρος δὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν οἴησιν καὶ τὸ ἀλαζονικὸν αὐτοῦ ἔπαρμα, ὃ μόνος οἶδε καθαιρεῖν τοῖς λόγοις τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ Ἅγιος, τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος καταβάλλων πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρό μενον, κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τὴν δὲ κατὰ παραδοχὴν τῶν θείων Γραφῶν συστᾶσαν, ἐκτετραμμένην τῆς εὐθείας καὶ ψευδώνυμον γνῶσιν, Ἐφραῒμ ἡγούμεθα προσαγορεύεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὥρμητο Ἱεροβοὰμ, ὁ πρῶτος ἀποσχίσας τοῦ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ τὰς δέκα φυλὰς, ὃς καὶ δραπέτης ποτὲ τοῦ Σολομῶντος γενόμενος, εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀπῆλθε, καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Θεκεμίνας, τῆς γυναικὸς Φαραὼ, πρὸς γάμον ἔλαβεν. Ὃς καὶ τὰς χρυσᾶς δαμάλεις ἀνέπλασε, καὶ ἑορτὰς ἀνέπεμψεν ἀπὸ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ. Ὅταν οὖν ὁ ἐθνικὸς λόγος, ὁ μέγα φρονῶν ἐπὶ διαλεκτικαῖς ἐπιχειρήσεσιν, ἐπιπλακῇ τῷ αἱρετικῷ καὶ παρατετραμμένῳ, συμφωνεῖν λέγεται ὁ Ἀρὰμ πρὸς τὸν Ἐφραῒμ, ἐπιθυμίαν ἔχων καθελεῖν τὰ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ οἰκοδομήματα καὶ ἐκπορθῆσαι τὸν τόπον τῆς ἀληθινῆς λατρείας. Οὐ μήν γε περιγίνεται τοῦ σκοποῦ. Οὐ