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to them, mocking the things said by them. Therefore he says: "And in strength you disciplined them, and in sport;" showing that at the same time they brought painful things to the saints, but they themselves considered what was happening a child's game, and sport. 5. Because of these, he says, these evil shepherds I scattered my sheep, and they became food for all the beasts of the field. Again he called the beasts tropically, since in the same manner he also addressed the sheep. And he calls intelligible beasts the demons, the avengers of souls, and sensible beasts the enemies who came upon them from all sides. 6. And my sheep were scattered and went astray on every mountain, and on every high hill, and on the face of all the earth my sheep were scattered, and there was no one seeking, nor turning them back. -Mountains and hills and the other things he has mentioned, he called the worship of idols that took place in them; for on mountains and hills, and in every place they established precincts of idols, with neither kings nor indeed priests hindering the impiety. For which reason he said: "And there was no one seeking, nor turning them back." Thus having made the accusation, he threatens the shepherds with punishment, and says: Since through both ease and neglect my sheep have become prey to beasts, and have enjoyed no care or providence from you; for you cared only for your own luxury, and the attendance of the body; 9, 10. For this reason, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will make them cease from shepherding my sheep, and the shepherds shall no longer shepherd them; and I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, and they will no longer be for them to devour. Through these words he prefigured both the cessation of the kingdom of the Jews, and of the high priesthood. 81.1156 For I will free, he says, my sheep from their evil oversight, who never deemed them worthy of any providence, but only continued to devour them. Then he promises salvation through our Lord and Savior. 11, 12. Because thus says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I will seek out my sheep, and I will visit them. As the shepherd visits his flock on a day when there is darkness and a cloud in the midst of his separated sheep; so I will seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered there on a day of cloud and darkness. - And here he called cloud and darkness the gloom of ignorance, which was poured out over the inhabited world before the incarnation of our God and Savior. He says, therefore, that like a diligent shepherd who takes especially greater care of his own sheep when he sees an impending mist, which provides security for both wolves and thieves, I too will care for my own sheep, and I will gather them having been scattered, and I will make the separated ones one flock; and such is the Church gathered from Jews and from Gentiles. Then he makes the prophecy twofold. For the apparent part applies to the Jews alone; but the mystical and hidden part, to all people, especially since the things that happened to the Jews are a type of our own; for with their recall, and their release from captivity, happens also our return from the devil to God, and freedom from that tyrannical slavery. 13, 14. And I will bring them out from the nations, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land, and I will shepherd them upon the mountains of Israel, and in the valleys, and in every dwelling place of the land. I will pasture them in a good pasture. And yet the law is good, and the commandment according to the Apostle is holy, and just, and good, but he promises them another pasture; for they had the pasture of the law. What then is this good pasture beyond that of the law? Is it not clear that he alludes to the teaching of the divine Gospels, in which the sheep of God, being pastured, are nourished and fattened, and enjoy salvation? And declaring this more clearly: "In the

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αὐτοῖς, κωμῳδοῦντες τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν λεγόμενα. ∆ιό φησι· "Καὶ ἐν κράτει ἐπαιδεύσατε αὐτὰ, καὶ ἐν παιγνίῳ·" δεικνὺς, ὅτι κατὰ ταὐτὸν τοῖς μὲν ἁγίοις τὰ λυπηρὰ προσέφερον, αὐτοὶ δὲ παιδιὰν ἡγοῦντο, καὶ παίγνια τὰ γινόμενα. εʹ. ∆ιὰ τούτους, φησὶ, τοὺς κακοὺς ποιμένας διέσπειρα τὰ πρόβατά μου, καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς κα τάβρωμα πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Τροπικῶς πάλιν ἐκάλεσε τὰ θηρία, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ ταὐτὸν τὸν λόγον καὶ τὰ πρόβατα προσηγόρευσε. Καλεῖ δὲ θηρία νοητὰ μὲν τοὺς δαίμονας, τῶν ψυχῶν τοὺς ἀλάστο ρας, αἰσθητὰ δὲ τοὺς πανταχόθεν ἐπελθόντας αὐτοῖς πολεμίους. ʹ. Καὶ διεσπάρη καὶ ἐπλανήθη τὰ πρόβατά μου ἐν παντὶ ὄρει, καὶ ἐπὶ παντὶ βουνῷ ὑψηλῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ προσώπου πάσης τῆς γῆς διεσπάρη τὰ πρόβατά μου, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐκζητῶν, οὐδὲ ἐπι στρέφων. -Ὄρη καὶ βουνοὺς καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα εἴρηκε, τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς γενομένην τῶν εἰδώλων λα τρείαν ἐκάλεσεν· ἐν ὄρεσι γὰρ καὶ γηλόφοις, καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων ἱδρύσαντο τεμένη, οὔτε βασιλέων, οὔτε μὴν ἱερέων τὴν ἀσέβειαν κωλυόντων. Οὗ χάριν ἔφη· "Καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐκζητῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ ἀπο στρέφων." Οὕτω τὴν κατηγορίαν ποιησάμενος, ἀπειλεῖ τοῖς ποιμέσι τὴν τιμωρίαν, καί φησιν· Ἐπεὶ διὰ ῥᾳστώνην τε καὶ ἀμέλειαν θηριάλωτα τὰ πρόβατά μου γέγονε, καὶ οὐδεμιᾶς παρ' ὑμῶν ἐπιμελείας ἢ προνοίας ἀπήλαυσε· μόνης γὰρ τῆς οἰκείας τρυφῆς, καὶ σωματικῆς ἐφροντίσατε θεραπείας· θʹ, ιʹ. Τούτου χάριν, ὦ ποιμένες, ἀκούσατε λόγον Κυρίου. Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιμένας, καὶ ἐκζητήσω τὰ πρόβατά μου ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ καταπαύσω αὐ τοὺς τοῦ ποιμαίνειν τὰ πρόβατά μου, καὶ οὐ μὴ ποιμανοῦσιν αὐτὰ ἔτι οἱ ποιμένες· καὶ ἐξ ελοῦμαι τὰ πρόβατά μου ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκέτι ἔσται αὐτοῖς εἰς κατάβρωμα. ∆ιὰ τούτων προεδήλωσε τῶν λόγων, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης τὴν παῦ 81.1156 λαν. Ἐλευθερώσω γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰ πρόβατά μου τῆς κακῆς τούτων ἐπιστασίας, οἳ προνοίας μὲν οὐδεμιᾶς ἠξίωσαν αὐτὰ πώποτε, μόνον δὲ κατεσθίοντες αὐτὰ διετέλουν. Εἶτα διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ὑπισχνεῖται σωτηρίαν. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. ∆ιότι τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐκζητήσω τὰ πρόβατά μου, καὶ ἐπισκέψομαι αὐτά. Ὥσπερ ἐπισκέπτεται ὁ ποιμὴν τὸ ποίμ νιον αὑτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὅταν ᾗ γνόφος καὶ νε φέλη ἐν μέσῳ προβάτων αὐτοῦ διακεχωρισμέ νων· οὕτως ἐκζητήσω τὰ πρόβατά μου, καὶ ῥύ σομαι αὐτὰ ἐκ παντὸς τόπου, οὗ διεσπάρη σαν ἐκεῖ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ νεφέλης καὶ γνόφου. - Νεφέλην δὲ καὶ γνόφον ἐνταῦθα τὸν τῆς ἀγνοίας ἐκάλεσε ζόφον, ὃς κατὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκέχυτο πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνανθρωπήσεως. Λέγει τοίνυν, ὅτι ∆ίκην ποιμένος ἐπιμελοῦς πλείονα μάλιστα πρόνοιαν ποιουμένου τῶν οἰκείων προβάτων, ὅταν ἐπικειμένην ὁμίχλην θεάσηται, ἥτις ἄδειαν καὶ λύκοις παρέχει, καὶ κλέπταις, φροντιῶ κἀγὼ τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ προβάτων, καὶ συνάξω αὐτὰ διασκορπι σθέντα, καὶ τὰ κεχωρισμένα μίαν ποίμνην ποιήσω· τοιαύτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἐξ Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἐξ ἐθνῶν συν αχθεῖσα Ἐκκλησία. Εἶτα διπλῆν ποιεῖται τὴν προ φητείαν. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ φαινόμενον αὐτοῖς μόνοις Ἰουδαίοις ἁρμόττει· τὸ δὲ μυστικόν τε καὶ κεκρυμ μένον, πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, ἄλλως τε καὶ τύπος τῶν ἡμετέρων τὰ εἰς Ἰουδαίους γεγενημένα· συμβαίνει γὰρ τῇ ἐκείνων ἀνακλήσει, καὶ τῇ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἀπαλλαγῇ, καὶ ἡ ἡμετέρα ἀπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου πρὸς Θεὸν ἐπάνοδος, καὶ τῆς τυραννικῆς ἐκείνης δουλείας ἡ ἐλευθερία. ιγʹ, ιδʹ. Καὶ ἐξάξω αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ συνάξω αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν χωρῶν, καὶ εἰσάξω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν, καὶ ποιμανῶ αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς φάραγξι, καὶ ἐν πάσῃ κατοικίᾳ τῆς γῆς. Ἐν νομῇ ἀγαθῇ βοσκήσω αὐτούς. Καὶ μὴν ἀγαθὸς ὁ νόμος, καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον ἁγία, καὶ δι καία, καὶ ἀγαθὴ, ἀλλ' ἑτέραν αὐτοῖς ὑπισχνεῖται νομήν· τὴν γὰρ νομικὴν εἶχον. Τίς δὲ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὲρ τὴν νομικὴν ἀγαθὴ νομή; ἦ δῆλον ὡς τὴν τῶν θείων Εὐαγγελίων διδασκαλίαν αἰνίττεται, ἐν ᾗ νεμόμενα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ πρόβατα τρέφεται καὶ πιαίνεται, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀπολαύει; Καὶ τοῦτο σαφέστερον δηλῶν· "Ἐν τῷ