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but to the Gentiles, foolishness. But to those who trust in the Lord and do not subject the simplicity of the proclamation to logical proofs, nor test the truth through signs, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 8.216 Then shall be manifest those who seal the law, so as not to learn. And he will say: I will wait for God, who has turned His face away from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in Him. The discourse is connected to the sequence of what precedes. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us. And again, going on, he says: God is with us; know, O nations, and be defeated. Then he directs the discourse to those who do not accept the message proclaimed by Emmanuel, but who shrink from the laboriousness of the things ordained by Him. Then (he says) shall be manifest those who seal the law, so as not to learn. For while the word of teaching is sown among all, some raise up their hearts for the reception of the teachings; and they are like fertile soil, those who receive the word and root it deeply and do not choke it with thorns, nor keep it unguarded, so as to be easily snatched away by the devil, but bear fruit, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold. But there are also those who completely shut off their soul so as not to receive the word, but as it were bind themselves up and seal themselves, so that the word of truth may not enter. They are said to be sealed who have made themselves like the form of the adversary and do not accept Christ to be formed in them, who have debased the image of the heavenly one, and rejoice only in the image of the earthy one. But the law has been sealed by obscurity and by not being easy for the ordinary person to grasp, because of the exercise of the law that is necessarily sought. He therefore who does not give himself to study, nor desires to loose the bond of ignorance, is said to seal the law, which will be revealed on the day of revelation. For they will be manifest who seal the law, so as not to learn. How then do the Jews seal the law, of whom it is said that you have taken away the keys, and you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are able to enter? He seals, so as not to learn, who, on the pretext of observing according to the letter, does not reveal the mysteries in its depth, and consider what he says, if the voices are not plainly Jewish. I will wait for God, who has turned His face away from the house of Jacob. The Jews say these things: I do not believe in God; I do not accept Emmanuel; even if I am now forsaken, yet I will await some time the visitation of God, who has turned His face away from the house of Jacob. 8.217 Behold, I and the children whom God has given me. And there will be signs and wonders in the house of Jacob, from the Lord of Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount Zion. After the disobedient have been convicted, then at last the Lord Himself speaks in His own person. Those, therefore (he says), disobey the strong hand, and the way of the path of this people, and they pretend to await the Lord, who has turned His face away from the house of Jacob. But I, having received those who have believed in me, newly reborn, in putting off the old man and taking up the new, as if newborn children, gentle in manner and inexperienced in evil, and weaned at last from the introductory words, and advancing to the more perfect food of the mysteries, taking them and cherishing them in the bosom of compassion, I bring them to the Father. For through me is the way of the knowledge of Him. But that the words are from the person of Christ, no one who remembers the Epistle to the Hebrews will deny. For it was fitting (he says) for Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies (he says) and those who are sanctified, are from

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ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρίαν. Τοῖς δὲ πεποιθόσιν ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον καὶ μὴ ἀποδείξεσι λο γικαῖς ὑποβάλλουσι τοῦ κηρύγματος τὴν ἁπλότητα, μήτε διὰ σημείων ἐκπειράζουσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, Χριστός ἐστι Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία. 8.216 Τότε φανεροὶ ἔσονται οἱ σφραγιζόμενοι τὸν νόμον, τοῦ μὴ μαθεῖν. Καὶ ἐρεῖ· Μενῶ τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν ἀποστρέψαντα τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰακὼβ, καὶ πεποιθὼς ἔσομαι ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκολουθίας τῶν προαγόντων ὁ λόγος ἤρτηται. Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερ μηνευόμενον, μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ πάλιν ὑποβὰς λέγει· Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· γνῶτε, ἔθνη, καὶ ἡττᾶσθε. Εἶτα πρὸς τοὺς μὴ καταδεχομένους τὸ καταγγελλόμενον παρὰ τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐπίπονον τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ διατεταγ μένων ἐκκλίνοντας ἀποτείνει τὸν λόγον. Τότε (φησὶ) φα νεροὶ ἔσονται οἱ σφραγιζόμενοι τὸν νόμον, τοῦ μὴ μαθεῖν. Τοῦ γὰρ λόγου τῆς διδασκαλίας κατασπειρομένου εἰς πάντας, οἱ μὲν ἀνορθοῦσιν ἑαυτῶν τὰς καρδίας εἰς ὑποδοχὴν τῶν διδαγμάτων· καί εἰσιν ὥσπερ γῆ εὔκαρπος, οἱ δεχόμενοι τὸν λόγον καὶ εἰς βάθος ῥιζοῦντες καὶ μὴ καταπνίγοντες ὑπὸ ἀκανθῶν, μήτε ἀφύλακτον ἔχοντες, ὡς εὐδιάρπαστον εἶναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, ἀλλὰ καρποφοροῦντες ἐν τριάκοντα καὶ ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ πάντη ἀποκλείοντες ἑαυτῶν τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς τὸ μὴ παραδέξασθαι τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' οἱονεὶ ἀποδεσμοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ σφραγιζόμενοι, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἐπεισελθεῖν τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας. Σφραγίζεσθαι δὲ λέγονται οἱ τῇ μορφῇ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ἑαυτοὺς ὁμοιώ σαντες καὶ μὴ καταδεχόμενοι ἐν αὐτοῖς μορφωθῆναι Χρι στὸν, οἱ παραχαράξαντες τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου, καὶ μόνῃ χαίροντες τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ χοϊκοῦ. Ἐσφράγισται δὲ ὁ νόμος ἀσαφείᾳ καὶ τῷ μὴ εὔληπτος εἶναι τοῖς τυχοῦσι, διὰ τὴν ἀναγκαίως ἐπιζητουμένην τοῦ νόμου γυμνασίαν. Ὁ τοίνυν μὴ ἐπιδιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν τῇ μελέτῃ, μηδὲ λύειν τὸν τῆς ἀγνοίας δεσμὸν ἐπιθυμῶν, σφραγίζειν τὸν νόμον λέγεται, ὃς φανερωθήσεται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως. Φανεροὶ γὰρ ἔσονται οἱ σφραγίζοντες τὸν νόμον, τοῦ μὴ μαθεῖν. Πῶς οὖν σφραγίζουσι τὸν νόμον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται, ὅτι ἤρατε τὰς κλεῖς, καὶ οὔτε αὐτοὶ εἰσέρχεσθε, καὶ τοὺς δυναμένους εἰσελθεῖν κωλύετε; Σφραγίζει, τοῦ μὴ μαθεῖν, ὁ, ἐπὶ προφάσει δὴ τῆς κατὰ τὸ γράμμα τηρήσεως, μὴ ἀποκαλύπτων τὰ ἐν τῷ βάθει μυστήρια, καὶ τί λέγει, σκόπει, εἰ μὴ ἄντικρυς Ἰουδαϊκαὶ αἱ φωναί. Μενῶ τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν ἀποστρέψαντα τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰακώβ. Ταῦτα λέγουσιν Ἰουδαῖοι· οὐ πιστεύω εἰς τὸν Θεόν· οὐ δέχομαι τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ· εἰ καὶ νῦν ἐγκαταλέλειμμαι, ἀλλὰ μενῶ ποτε τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ ἀποστρέψαντος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰακώβ. 8.217 Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία, ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ἔσται σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακὼβ, παρὰ Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ, ὃς κατοικεῖ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιών. Μετὰ τὸ ἐλεγχθῆναι τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας, τότε λοιπὸν αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου προσώπου διαλέγεται. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν (φησὶν) ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ ἰσχυρᾷ χειρὶ, καὶ τῇ πορείᾳ τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ προσποιοῦνται ἀναμένειν τὸν Κύριον, τὸν ἀποστρέψαντα τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰακώβ. Ἐγὼ δὲ τοὺς εἰς ἐμὲ πεπιστευκότας, ἄρτι ἀναγεννηθέντας, ἐν τῷ ἀποθέσθαι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἀναλαβεῖν τὸν νέον, οἱονεὶ παῖδας ἀρτιγενεῖς, ἁπαλοὺς τὸν τρόπον καὶ ἀπειρο κάκους, καὶ ἀπογεγαλακτισμένους λοιπὸν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰσαγω γικῶν λόγων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν τελειοτέραν τροφὴν τῶν μυστη ρίων χωροῦντας, τούτους προσλαβόμενος καὶ θάλπων τῷ κόλπῳ τῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας, προσάγω τῷ Πατρί. ∆ι' ἐμοῦ γὰρ ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιγνώσεως. Ὅτι δὲ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι, οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ τῶν μεμνημέ νων τῆς πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῆς. Ἔπρεπε γὰρ (φησὶ)δι' ὃν τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα, πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας διὰ παθημάτων τε λειῶσαι. Ὅ τε γὰρ ἁγιάζων (φησὶ) καὶ οἱ ἁγιαζόμενοι, ἐξ