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but above, wishing to show the barrenness of Jerusalem; "For prophesy, son of man, against the forest of the Negeb;" which means the south, as we have said before. κʹ. And I will give a blessing round about my mountain, and I will bring down the rain for you in its season, there shall be rains of blessing. For such are the teachings of the divine apostles, offering an irrigation full of blessing to the souls of believers. For often the divine Scripture calls teaching rain, witness the prophet Isaiah from the person of God threatening the old vineyard, that "It shall not be pruned, nor shall it be hoed; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." κζʹ. And the trees that are in the field will give their fruit, and the earth will give her strength. For both those earthy in soul, that is, those who come from the nations, and the Jews, barren like wild trees, approaching in faith and enjoying such irrigation, will give me the fruit of piety. "And they shall dwell upon their land in the hope of peace." And he did not say in peace, but in the hope of peace; for to those who have believed in him the Lord said: "In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And the divine Apostle also says: "For we were saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he also hope for it? But if we hope for that which we do not see, we wait for it with patience." And again: "And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body." Then the most profitable thing of all: And they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the collars of their yoke, and I will deliver them from the hand of those that had enslaved them. (κηʹ.) And they shall no more be a spoil to the nations; and the beasts of the earth shall no more devour them. And I have already said that the prophecy is twofold; for one part applies to the Jews themselves, and the other to all men; for he both freed the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and delivered us all from the tyranny of the devil. 81.1165 And he called the necessity of slavery the collars of a yoke; and nations and beasts, in the case of the Jews the beast-like enemies, but in our case the various bands of demons, who like wild beasts attack men. Then he also shows the invincible weapon, I mean hope in him. "And they shall dwell in hope, and there shall be none to make them afraid." For it is good to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in man; for he who has this hope cries out: "All nations compassed me about, and in the name of the Lord I repelled them. κθʹ. And I will raise up for them a plant of peace for a name. This the prophet Isaiah also says: "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall come up from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him," and what follows. And again: "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he that rises up to rule the nations; in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be honor." Interpreting this, the Lord said: "I am the true vine, you are the branches." And in the Song of Songs we find the bride saying: "As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my kinsman among the sons." And here therefore he says: "I will raise up for them a plant of peace for a name;" that is, most renowned, glorious, much-talked-of. But perhaps the word also hints at another thing, that they will take their name from the plant; for from Christ all the pious are Christians; "And they shall no longer be few in number in the land." That is, the pious; for they were very few before the coming of Christ. "And they shall no longer be destroyed by famine upon the earth." They shall enjoy, he says, all spiritual food; for here he calls famine the deprivation of the word, which God threatened through the prophets: "For I will bring, he says, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord." -"And they shall no more bear the reproach of the nations." And this again applies both to us and to the Jews; for we having both increased to a multitude, and the

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ἄνω δὲ τὴν ἀκαρπίαν τῆς Ἱερου σαλὴμ δεῖξαι θελήσας· "Προφήτευσον γὰρ, υἱὲ ἀν θρώπου, ἐπὶ τὸν δρυμὸν τὸν Ναγέβ·" δηλοῖ δὲ τὸν νότον, ὡς προειρήκαμεν. κʹ. Καὶ δώσω περικύκλῳ τοῦ ὄρους μου εὐλογίαν, καὶ καταβιβάσω τὸν ὑετὸν ὑμῖν ἐν καιρῷ αὑτοῦ, ὑετοὶ εὐλογίας ἔσονται. Τοι αῦτα γὰρ τὰ τῶν θείων ἀποστόλων διδάγματα, ἀρ δείαν εὐλογίας μεστὴν προσφέροντα ταῖς τῶν πι στευόντων ψυχαῖς. Ὅτι πολλάκις ἡ θεία Γραφὴ ὑετὸν τὴν διδασκαλίαν καλεῖ, μάρτυς ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ παλαιῷ ἀπειλῶν ἀμπελῶνι, ὅτι "Οὐ μὴ τμηθῇ, οὐδὲ μὴ σκαφῇ· καὶ ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐντελοῦμαι τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὑετόν." κζʹ. Καὶ τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ δώσει τὸν καρπὸν αὑτῶν, καὶ ἡ γῆ δώσει τὴν ἰσχὺν αὑτῆς. Οἵ τε γὰρ γήϊνοι τὴν ψυχὴν, τουτέστιν οἱ ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁρμώμενοι, καὶ οἱ δίκην ἀγρίων ξύλων ἄκαρποι Ἰουδαῖοι, τῇ πίστει προσιόντες, καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀρδείας ἀπολαύοντες, δώσουσί μοι τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας καρπόν. "Καὶ κατοικήσουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς αὑτῶν ἐπ' ἐλπίδι εἰρήνης." Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἐν εἰρήνῃ, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐλπίδι εἰρήνης· τούτοις γὰρ εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκόσιν ὁ Κύριος ἔφη· "Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ θλῖψιν ἔχετε, ἀλλὰ θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον." Καὶ ὁ θεῖος δὲ Ἀπόστολός φησιν· "Τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τις, τί καὶ ἐλπίζει; Εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ βλέπομεν ἐλπίζομεν, δι' ὑπομονῆς ἀπεκδεχόμεθα." Καὶ πάλιν· "Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἔχοντες, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς στενάζομεν, υἱοθεσίαν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι, τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν τοῦ σώμα τος ἡμῶν." Εἶτα τὸ πάντων κερδαλεώτατον· Καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος, ἐν τῷ συν τρίψαι με τοὺς κλοιοὺς τοῦ ζυγοῦ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς τῶν καταδουλωσα μένων αὐτούς. (κηʹ.) Καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται ἔτι εἰς προνομὴν τοῖς ἔθνεσι· καὶ τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς οὐκ ἔτι οὐ μὴ φάγῃ αὐτούς. Καὶ ἤδη ἔφην, ὅτι διπλῆ ἡ προφητεία· τὸ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, τὸ δὲ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἁρμόττει· καὶ γὰρ Ἰουδαίους ἀπὸ τῆς Βαβυλωνίων ἠλευθέρωσεν αἰχμαλωσίας, καὶ πάντας ἡμᾶς τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου τυραννίδος ἀπήλλαξε. 81.1165 Κλοιοὺς δὲ ζυγοῦ τὴν τῆς δουλείας ἀνάγκην ἐκά λεσεν· ἔθνη δὲ καὶ θηρία, ἐπὶ μὲν Ἰουδαίων τοὺς θηριώδεις πολεμίους, ἐφ' ἡμῶν δὲ τὰ διάφορα τῶν δαιμόνων τάγματα, οἳ δίκην θηρίων ἀγρίων ἐπιᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Εἶτα καὶ τὸ ἄμαχον δείκνυσιν ὅπλον, τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλπίδα φημί. "Καὶ κατοικήσουσιν ἐπ' ἐλπίδι, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἐκφοβῶν αὐτούς." Ἀγαθὸν γὰρ ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον· ὁ γὰρ ταύτην ἔχων τὴν ἐλπίδα βοᾷ· "Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. κθʹ. Καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτοῖς φυτὸν εἰρήνης εἰς ὄνομα. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας λέγει· "Ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται, καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐ τὸν Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρ- χειν ἐθνῶν· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἀνάπαυσις αὐτοῦ τιμή." Τοῦτο ἑρμηνεύων ὁ Κύριος ἔφη· "Ἐγώ εἰμι ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινὴ, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα." Καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἄσμασι τῶν ᾀσμάτων εὑρί σκομεν τὴν νύμφην λέγουσαν· "Ὡς μῆλον ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῦ δρυμοῦ, οὕτως ὁ ἀδελφιδοῦς μου ἀναμέ σον τῶν υἱῶν." Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν φησίν· "Ἀνα στήσω αὐτοῖς φυτὸν εἰρήνης εἰς ὄνομα·" τουτέστιν ὀνομαστότατον, ἔνδοξον, πολυθρύλλητον. Ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἕτερον ὁ λόγος αἰνίττεται, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ φυτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα λήψονται· ἀπὸ γὰρ Χριστοῦ Χριστιανοὶ πάντες οἱ εὐσεβεῖς· "Καὶ οὐκέτι ἔσονται ὀλίγοι ἐν ἀριθμῷ ἐν τῇ γῇ." Τουτέστιν οἱ εὐσεβεῖς· ὀλίγοι γὰρ λίαν ἦσαν πρὸ τῆς Χριστοῦ παρουσίας. "Καὶ οὐκ ἔτι ἔσονται λιμῷ ἀπολλύμενοι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς." Πάσης, φησὶ, πνευματικῆς ἀπολαύσονται τροφῆς· λιμὸν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου τὴν στέρησιν ὀνομάζει, ὃν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἠπείλησεν ὁ Θεός· "Ἐπάξω γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐ λιμὸν ἄρτου, οὐδὲ δίψαν ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ λιμὸν τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον Κυρίου." -"Καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐνέγ κωσιν ἔτι ὀνειδισμὸν ἐθνῶν." Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πάλιν καὶ ἡμῖν καὶ Ἰουδαίοις ἁρμόττει· ἡμεῖς τε γὰρ εἰς πλῆθος αὐξηθέντες, καὶ τὴν