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as the Apostle shows us, saying: Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down; or, “Who will descend into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. Since, therefore, the one who descended is also the one who ascended, the sign to the depth and to the height would be said concerning the descent of the Lord; And the one who ascended is himself above all the heavens. 7.200 And Ahaz said: I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. The gift of God is great and rich and abundant. But Ahaz, as one not yet taught to ask for great and heavenly things, refuses to seek a sign, as being something greater than human nature, or as being about to act contrary to the commandment that said: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. But necessarily the words concerning such great matters are addressed to the king who was then reigning, so that through him the things prophesied might be proclaimed to all. For Isaiah might perhaps have been disbelieved (either through the envy of the men of his time, or because of his humble station in life) as not having received the oracle of the coming of Emmanuel from the Lord, but having fashioned the word from his own heart. But Ahaz thus received the prophecy concerning things to come, as did Laban, as Abimelech, as Nebuchadnezzar, as Pharaoh, as Caiaphas at last, not because of the worthiness of his life, but because of the credibility that was his by virtue of his office. For indeed Ahaz did not refuse the request for the sign out of any piety; for if it had not been advantageous for him, God would not have commanded it in the first place. For this reason, what follows contains a censure against Ahaz; for having turned his word to David, Hear then (he says), O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men? And how do you weary the Lord? For through these words he seems to show his displeasure at the disobedience of Ahaz. But another version somehow shows this meaning more clearly, saying: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? But how does a man cause God to struggle, if struggle is fear of failure? But this does not speak of a passion concerning God, but represents the opposition of those who resist his commands, by the term 'struggle'. 7.201 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. And he will give (it), he says, to those who do not ask. And even if he does not find one worthy of its reception, yet, because of the foreordained economy of the birth of the Lord through the flesh, the Lord God himself (he says) will give a sign. For Ahaz should have understood that human affairs admit of no other correction, except through the coming of the Word of God alone to men, and he should have asked for the sign to the depth or to the height. But since he judged himself shameful (being uninstructed in the asking of great and heavenly signs), for this reason he says: The Lord himself will give you a sign, he gives it not through any servant and minister and attendant, but he himself through himself; so that from this the greatness of what is given might be shown. For he ordained the law through angels, in the hand of a Mediator, Moses; but he himself gave the sign to the house of David. And it is given no longer to Ahaz, but to the whole house of David, because the Lord, according to the flesh, is of the seed of David; and for this reason the gospel concerning the coming of Christ pertained to all the kindred of David. 7.202 Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel. The Jews resist the version of the Seventy, saying that in the Hebrew it is not "The virgin," but "The young woman," since a "young woman" can be named as one in the prime of her age, and not a woman who has not known marriage. To whom the response is easy and self-evident. For if a sign is a demonstration of something prodigious and deviating from the common custom of men, what wonder was it, for one of many women, cohabiting with a man, to become the mother of a child? And how would one born of the will of the flesh be called Emmanuel? Therefore, if what is given is a sign,
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ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἡμῖν παρίστησι λέγων· Μὴ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου «Τίς ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν»; τουτέστι Χριστὸν καταγαγεῖν· ἢ «Τίς καταβήσεται εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον» τουτέστι Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναγαγεῖν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν Ὁ καταβὰς, αὐτός ἐστι καὶ Ὁ ἀναβὰς, τὸ εἰς βάθος καὶ εἰς ὕψος σημεῖον περὶ τῆς καθόδου ἂν εἴη λεγόμενον τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου· Καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς, αὐτός ἐστιν ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν. 7.200 Καὶ εἶπεν Ἀχάζ· Οὐ μὴ αἰτήσω, οὐδ' οὐ μὴ πει ράσω Κύριον. Ἡ μὲν τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεὰ μεγάλη καὶ πλουσία καὶ δα ψιλής. Ὁ δὲ Ἀχὰζ, ὡς μήπω δεδιδαγμένος αἰτεῖν τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἐπουράνια, παραιτεῖται ζητῆσαι σημεῖον, ὡς μεῖζον ὑπάρχον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, ἢ ὡς παρὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν μέλλων ποιεῖν, τὴν εἰποῦσαν· Οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις Κύ ριον τὸν Θεόν σου. Ἀναγκαίως δὲ οἱ περὶ τῶν τηλικούτων λόγοι τῷ τότε κεκρατηκότι βασιλεῖ γίνονται, ἵνα δι' αὐτοῦ εἰς πάντας διαλαληθῇ τὰ προφητευόμενα. Ἡσαΐας μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἴσως ἠπιστήθη (ἢ φθόνῳ τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων, ἢ τῇ λοιπῇ περὶ τὸν βίον ταπεινότητι) ὡς μὴ δεξάμενος τῆς ἐπιδημίας τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου χρηματισμὸν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας καρδίας ἀναπλάσας τὸν λόγον. Ἀχὰζ δὲ οὕτως ἐδέξατο τὴν περὶ τῶν ἐσομένων προφη τείαν, ὡς Λάβαν, ὡς Ἀβιμέλεχ, ὡς Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ὡς Φα ραὼ, ὡς Καϊάφας τὸ τελευταῖον, οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ βίου ἀξίαν, ὅσον διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀξιώματος προσοῦσαν αὐτῷ ἀξιοπιστίαν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ εὐλαβείᾳ τινὶ παρῃτεῖτο τὴν αἴτησιν τοῦ σημείου ὁ Ἀχάζ· εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ συμφέρον, οὐδ' ἂν ἐπέταξε τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁ Θεός. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα μέμψιν περιέχει, τὴν εἰς τὸν Ἀχάζ· ἀποστρέψας γὰρ τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὸν ∆αβίδ, Ἀκούσατε δὴ (φησὶν) οἶκος ∆αβίδ· μὴ μικρὸν ὑμῖν παρέχειν ἀνθρώποις ἀγῶνα; καὶ πῶς Κυρίῳ παρέχετε; ∆ιὰ γὰρ τούτων πρὸς τὸ ἀπειθὲς ἔοικε δυσχεραίνειν τοῦ Ἀχάζ. Τρανότερον δέ πως ἐμφαίνει τὴν διάνοιαν ταύτην ἑτέρα ἔκδοσις, εἰποῦσα· Μὴ ὀλίγον ἀφ' ὑμῶν μοχθοῦν ἄνδρας, ὅτι μοχθεῖτε καί γε τὸν Θεόν; Πῶς δὲ Θεῷ ἀγῶνα παρέχει ἄνθρωπος, εἴπερ ἡ ἀγωνία φόβος ἐστὶ διαπτώσεως; Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐχὶ πάθος περὶ τὸν Θεὸν λέγει, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀντιδιά θεσιν τῶν ἀνθισταμένων αὐτοῦ τοῖς προστάγμασι, διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀγῶνος προσηγορίας, παρίστησιν. 7.201 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον. Καὶ μὴ αἰτουμένοις (φησὶ) δώσει. Κἂν μὴ εὑρίσκῃ τὸν τῆς ὑποδοχῆς ἄξιον, ἀλλ' ὅμως, διὰ τὴν προωρισμένην οἰκονομίαν τῆς διὰ σαρκὸς γεννήσεως τοῦ Κυρίου, αὐτὸς (φησὶ) δώσει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς σημεῖον. Ἔδει μὲν γὰρ συνεῖναι τὸν Ἀχὰζ, ὅτι ἄλλην τὰ ἀνθρώπινα διόρθωσιν οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται, εἰ μὴ διὰ μόνης τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιδημίας, καὶ αἰτῆσαι τὸ εἰς βάθος ἢ εἰς ὕψος σημεῖον. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ αἰνάξιον ἔκρινεν ἑαυτὸν (ἀπαιδεύτως ἔχων τῆς τῶν μεγάλων καὶ οὐρανίων σημείων αἰτήσεως) διὰ τοῦτό φησι· ∆ώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον, οὐ διά τινος ὑπηρέτου καὶ διακόνου καὶ λειτουργοῦ δίδωσιν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ· ἵν' ἐκ τούτου δηλωθῇ τοῦ διδομένου τὸ μέγεθος. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ νόμον διετάξατο δι' Ἀγγέλων, ἐν χειρὶ Μεσίτου, Μωϋσέως· τὸ δὲ σημεῖον αὐτὸς ἔδωκε τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αβίδ. ∆ίδοται δὲ οὐκέτι τῷ Ἀχὰζ, ἀλλὰ παντὶ τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αβίδ, διότι ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ, τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ Κύριος· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάσῃ διέφερε τῇ συγγενείᾳ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τὸ περὶ τῆς ἐπιδη μίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ εὐαγγέλιον. 7.202 Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ. Ἀνθίστανται οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῇ ἐκδόσει τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, λέγοντες μὴ κεῖσθαι παρὰ τῷ Ἑβραίῳ τὸ Ἡ παρθένος, ἀλλ' Ἡνεᾶνις, ὡς δυναμένης νεάνιδος ὀνομάζεσθαι τῆς ἀκμαζούσης καθ' ἡλικίαν, οὐχὶ δὲ τῆς ἀπειρογάμου γυναικός. Πρὸς οὓς ῥᾳδία καὶ αὐτόθεν ἡ ἀπάντησις. Εἰ γὰρ σημεῖόν ἐστι τεραστίου τινὸς καὶ παρηλλαγμένου τὴν κοινὴν συνήθειαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπίδειξις, τί θαυμαστὸν ἦν, μίαν τῶν πολ λῶν γυναῖκα, ἀνδρὶ συνοικοῦσαν, μητέρα γενέσθαι παιδίου; Πῶς δ' ἂν καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ θελήματος σαρκὸς γεννηθὲν Ἐμμανουὴλ προσηγορεύετο; Ὥστε, εἰ μὲν σημεῖόν ἐστι τὸ διδό μενον,