104

a voice from heaven clearly proclaimed, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 192 Ps. 13. Hear the words of the Lord, afflicted men, and rulers of this people who are in Jerusalem; Because you said, We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if a rushing tempest should pass by, it shall not come upon us; we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be covered; therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord; behold, I am laying in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, chosen, a cornerstone, honorable, for its foundations, and he who believes in it shall not be put to shame; and I will make judgment for a hope, and my mercy for weights. And how is not the supposition of those who carnally expect that some stone, one of those indeed considered precious and costly, will be cast by the Lord himself into the foundations of the carnal Zion, truly foolish and utterly ridiculous, a stone on which he who has believed is prophesied that he will by no means be put to shame? Therefore, having shaken off the foolish and Jewish tales, and the old wives' fables which the apostle named, let us receive the divinely inspired prophecies in a manner worthy of God; therefore, for this reason, he says, behold, I am laying a stone in the foundations of Zion. And for what reason is this, if not because the rulers of the former people had made agreements with death, and because they had abandoned the covenant of God, and instead of this had made a covenant with Hades, and because of these things they supposed that they would suffer no evil; but also for this reason, that they had placed 193 their hope on a lie and thought they would be covered by a lie; for indeed, on account of these things, as they had fallen away from the hope in God, he promises to lay the very precious stone for those who believe. And to those who have said, we have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if a rushing tempest should pass by, it shall not come upon us, we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be covered, the word, descending, says, you who trust in vain falsehood, a tempest shall not pass you by, nor shall it take away your covenant of death, and your hope toward Hades shall not remain; if a rushing tempest should come, you shall be for it a trampling-place; which also it is manifest how it was fulfilled for that people at the coming of our Savior. Accordingly, therefore, we do not consider the chosen stone signified here to be other than the holy Word of God, being something wonderful and paradoxical, such that those who have believed in him will not be put to shame, upon whom, as upon a firm foundation, the spiritual and heavenly Zion has been built, being none other than the church of God; For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ; and concerning this it is also said in the Psalms, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner, and it has been named the cornerstone; and Daniel also interprets this stone in reference to the kingdom of Christ, where he says, and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and struck or even filled the whole 194 earth. Those, therefore, who were building the building according to the letter of the law, rejected this stone; but he, having been rejected by them no less, has been shown to be the head of the corner of the church of the Gentiles, according to what was said somewhere, you will make me the head of nations. Therefore, he who believes on this stone will not be put to shame, this prophecy concerning him also being proved true. Ps. 14. Behold, the name of the Lord comes after a long time, burning anger, with glory the word of his lips, a word full of wrath, and the wrath of his anger will devour like fire. And what could the so-called name of the Lord be other than God the Word, through whom all things were made? Therefore, I think that this prophecy also alludes to the things concerning his second and glorious coming. Ps. 15. Thus says

104

οὐρανοῦ φωνὴ σαφῶς ἀνεκήρυξε φήσασα, Οὗτος ἐστὶν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα. 192 Ψ. ΙΓʹ. Ἀκούσατε λόγων Κυρίου, ἄνδρες τεθλιμμένοι, καὶ ἄρχοντες τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου οἱ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ· Ὅτι εἴπατε, Ἐποιήσαμεν διαθήκην μετὰ τοῦ Ἅιδου, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ θανάτου συνθήκας· καταιγὶς φερομένη ἐὰν παρέλθῃ, οὐ μὴ ἔλθῃ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς· ἐθήκαμεν ψεῦδος τὴν ἐλπίδα ἡμῶν, καὶ τῷ ψεύδει σκεπασθησόμεθα· διὰ τοῦτο οὕτως λέγει Κύριος Κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβάλλω εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἐκλεκτὸν, ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἔντιμον εἰς τὰ θεμέλια αὐτῆς, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ' αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ· καὶ θήσω κρίσιν εἰς ἐλπίδα, ἡ δὲ ἐλεημοσύνη μου εἰς σταθμούς. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἠλίθιος καὶ κομιδῇ καταγέλαστος ἡ τῶν σωματικῶς καραδοκούντων λίθον τινὰ τούτων δὴ τῶν πολυτελῶν καὶ πολυτίμων εἶναι νομιζομένων εἰς τὰ θεμέλια τῆς σωματικῆς Σιὼν ἐμβληθήσεσθαι πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ὑπόληψις, ἐφ' ὃν λίθον ὁ πιστεύσας οὐδαμῶς καταισχυνθήσεσθαι προφητεύεται· τὰς μωρὰς τοιγαροῦν καὶ Ἰουδαϊκὰς διηγήσεις, τούς τε γραώδεις οὓς ὠνόμασεν ὁ ἀπόστολος μύθους ἀποσεισάμενοι, Θεοῦ ἀξίως τὰς θεοπνεύστους παραδεχώμεθα προφητείας· φησὶν οὖν διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβάλλω εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον. ∆ιὰ ποῖον δὲ τοῦτο, ἢ διὰ τὸ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ πεποιηκέναι συνθήκας μετὰ τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ διὰ τὸ καταλεῖψαι μὲν αὐτοὺς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ διαθήκην, ἀντὶ δὲ ταύτης διαθήκην πρὸς τὸν Αἵδην πεποιηκέναι, ὑπολαμβάνειν δὲ διὰ ταῦτα μηδὲν κακὸν ἑαυτοὺς πείσεσθαι· ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τεθεικέναι 193 μὲν ἐπὶ ψεῦδος τὴν ἐλπίδα αὐτῶν καὶ οἴεσθαι τῷ ψεύδει σκεπασθήσεσθαι· διὰ γάρ τοι ταῦτα, ὡς ἂν ἀποπεπτωκότων ἐκείνων ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπίδος, τὸν πολυτίμητον λίθον τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται θήσειν. Πρὸς ἐκείνους δὲ τοὺς εἰρηκότας, ἐποιήσαμεν διαθήκην μετὰ τοῦ Αἵδου, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ θανάτου συνθήκας· καταιγὶς φερομένη ἐὰν παρέλθῃ οὐ μὴ ἔλθῃ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, ἐθήκαμεν ψεῦδος τὴν ἐλπίδα ἡμῶν, καὶ τῷ ψεύδει σκεπασθησόμεθα, ὑποκαταβὰς ὁ λόγος φησὶν, οἱ πεποιθότες μάτην ψευδεῖ οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ὑμᾶς καταιγὶς, μὴ καὶ ἀφελῇ ὑμῶν τὴν διαθήκην τοῦ θανάτου καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν Αἵδην οὐ μὴ ἐμμείνῃ· καταιγὶς φερομένη ἐὰν ἐπέλθῃ ἔσεσθε αὐτῇ εἰς καταπάτημα· ἃ καὶ πρόδηλον ὅπως ἐπὶ τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰς ἐκεῖνον πεπλήρωται τὸν λαόν. Ἀκολούθως ἄρα ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἄλλον ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τὸν δηλούμενον ἐνταῦθα λίθον ἐκλεκτὸν θαυμαστὸν τινὰ ὄντα καὶ παράδοξον, ὡς τοὺς πιστεύσαντας εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ καταισχυνθήσεσθαι τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, ἐφ' ὃν ὡς ἐπὶ θεμέλιον ἑδραῖον ἡ πνευματικὴ καὶ ἐπουράνιος Σιὼν ᾠκοδόμηται, οὐκ ἄλλη τις οὖσα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας· Θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· περὶ τούτου δὲ καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς εἴρηται, Λίθον, ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας, καὶ ἀκρογωνιαῖος ὠνόμασται· τοῦτον δὲ καὶ ∆ανιὴλ τὸν λίθον ἑρμηνεύει ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείαν, ἔνθα λέγει, καὶ ὁ λίθος ὁ πατάξας τὴν εἰκόνα ἐγένετο ὄρος μέγα, καὶ ἐπάταξεν ἢ καὶ ἐπλήρωσε πᾶσαν τὴν 194 γῆν. Οἱ μὲν οὖν οἰκοδομοῦντες τὴν κατὰ τὸ γράμμα τοῦ νόμου οἰκοδομὴν, τοῦτον ἀπεδοκίμασαν τὸν λίθον· αὐτὸς δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον ὑπ' ἐκείνων ἀποδοκιμασθεὶς, κεφαλὴ γωνίας τῆς τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίας ἀναδέδεικται κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ποῦ, καταστήσεις με εἰς κεφαλὴν ἐθνῶν. Ἐπὶ τοῦτον τοιγαροῦν τὸν λίθον ὁ πιστεύων οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται, ἐπαληθευούσης καὶ ταύτης τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείας. Ψ. Ι∆ʹ. Ἰδοὺ τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου ἔρχεται διὰ πολλοῦ χρόνου, καιόμενος θυμὸς, μετὰ δόξης τὸ λόγιον τῶν χειλέων αὐτοῦ, τὸ λόγιον ὀργῆς πλῆρες, καὶ ὀργὴ τοῦ θυμοῦ ὡς πῦρ ἔδεται. Καὶ τί ἂν εἴη τὸ λεγόμενον ὄνομα Κυρίου ἢ ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος, δι' οὗ τὰ σύμπαντα γεγένηται; Τὰ περὶ τῆς δευτέρας τοίνυν καὶ ἐνδόξου αὐτοῦ παρουσίας νομίζω καὶ ταύτην αἰνίττεσθαι τὴν προφητείαν. Ψ. ΙΕʹ. Τάδε λέγει