122

sign, do not touch." Through Noah he indicates those who please him through faith; and through Daniel, the wise and discerning. And through Job, those who are steadfast in all things. And having escaped destruction, they will glorify the one who saved them. But the water of the sea, he says, will be troubled, alluding to the multitude of the nations; as also David the great says: "This great and wide sea," and what follows. For he does not wish to speak of the differences of fish; nor of a dragon swimming in the waters, with which he says God plays. But rather he indicates the agitation of the affairs of life, through which the spiritual dragon roams and moves. You might also call the cities islands, or the souls of men that rise above the brine of the passions, in which is the glory of the Lord, as the prophecy already turns its discourse to Christ. For when the earth was laid waste from idols and the evils in it, and men were disciplined by various calamities, the glory of Christ the Savior has dawned upon those on earth who were left from idolatry, whom the hopes concerning the good things to come gladden through divine baptism, because indeed they will be with 2193 Christ, who shares in the glory of the Father. Then also, the water of the sea is troubled, as the apostles preach newer things everywhere in the world, and disturb the hearers with the strangeness of what is heard. And God was glorified in the holy islands, with the word indicating the Churches. For these have risen above the waves of life, through Christ conquering those who afflict them. For having called the nations the sea, he reasonably called these islands. And those who inhabit these, together with the glory of the Lord, say to the God of Israel: From the wings of the earth we have heard wonders, having believed that there is hope for the pious; calling the apostles themselves the wings of the earth, who gave them wings with the divine words, so that they forsook the earth, and thought on heavenly things, henceforth having their citizenship in heaven. And having received these strange doctrines of theirs, they say, we are confirmed by the hope through faith concerning the good things to come. But they lament for those who did not receive the law of faith, and rather also that through Moses. For he also wrote about him, that is, Christ. And if they had believed Moses, they would have believed Christ also. But those who received the faith admonish the unbelievers, holding over them the fear from punishment, threatening them with every kind of evil. For this is the fear, and the pit, and the snare. For if one escapes one, he will be caught by the others. And after the cross of the Savior, the Jews have suffered these things, being seized by countless evils. And introducing the cause of these things, he says that windows were opened from heaven. That is, the Lord visited the earth with a visitation; For when God is long-suffering, so as not even to seem to watch over, heaven is said in a way to be closed, so that sinners transgress with impunity. But when he proceeds against sins, all things are full of tumult and fear, and as if from drunkenness men are cast about to every kind of evil, shaken like a lodge in a garden. For God bears with tolerable sins. But when sin prevails, he punishes those who commit it. A splendid achievement of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten is the scattering of the impiety of those who worshiped creation rather than the creator, into which the Jews also have fallen. "Whose women, according to Jeremiah, knead dough to make cakes for the host of heaven, while the sons gather wood, and the Fathers kindle the fire." And another prophet says: "You took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan." Therefore the hand brought upon them indicates the scattering of those who worship these and such things. You might also say the host of heaven, and the one about whom it is said: "How has the morning star, that rises early, fallen from heaven," and the kings of the earth, the world-rulers of this age. For they have ruled the earth, having appointed their own worshipers in it, whom indeed Christ sent down to the prison of punishment, who also begged that he not command 2196 them into the

122

σημεῖον, μὴ ἐγγίσητε." ∆ηλοῖ διὰ μὲν Νῶε τοὺς εὐαρεστοῦντας αὐτῷ διὰ πίστεως· τοὺς δὲ σοφούς τε καὶ διορατικοὺς διὰ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ. ∆ιὰ δὲ τοῦ Ἰὼβ, τοὺς καρτεροῦντας ἐν ἅπασι. ∆ιαφυγόντες δὲ τὸν ὄλεθρον τὸν σεσωκότα δοξάσουσι. Τὸ δὲ τῆς θαλάττης ὕδωρ, φησὶ, ταραχθήσεται, τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐθνῶν αἰνιττόμενος· ὡς καὶ ∆αβὶδ ὁ μέγας· "Αὕτη, λέγων, ἡ θάλασσα ἡ μεγάλη καὶ εὐρύχωρος," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Οὐ γὰρ ἰχθύων ἐθέλει λέγειν διαφοράς· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ δράκοντα τοῖς ὕδασιν ἐννηχόμενον, ᾧ Θεὸν ἐμπαίζειν φησί. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ μᾶλλον τῶν τοῦ βίου πραγμάτων τὸν σάλον, δι' ὧν ὁ νοητὸς δράκων μεταφοιτᾷ καὶ χωρεῖ. Λέγοις δ' ἂν καὶ νήσους τὰς πόλεις, ἢ τὰς τῆς ἅλμης τῶν παθῶν ὑπερανεχούσας ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς, ἐν αἷς ἐστι δόξα Κυρίου, τῆς προφητείας ἐπὶ Χριστὸν ἤδη μεταγούσης τὸν λόγον. Τῆς γὰρ γῆς ἐκ τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ κακῶν ἐρημωθείσης τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ διαφόροις συμφοραῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων πεπαιδευμένων, ἡ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος δόξα τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνατέταλκε τοῖς ἐκ τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας καταλειφθεῖσιν, οὓς διὰ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος αἱ περὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδες εὐφραίνουσιν, ὅτι δὴ τῷ 2193 Χριστῷ συνέσονται δόξῃ τυγχάνοντι τοῦ Πατρός. Τότε καὶ τὸ, ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάττης ταράττεται, τῶν ἀποστόλων πανταχοῦ τοῦ βίου κηρυττόντων καινότερα, καὶ ταραττόντων τῷ ξένῳ τῆς ἀκοῆς τοὺς ἀκούοντας. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἐν ταῖς ἁγίαις ἐδοξάζετο νήσοις τοῦ λόγου τὰς Ἐκκλησίας δηλώσαντος. Αὗται γὰρ τῶν τοῦ βίου κυμάτων διανεστήκασι διὰ Χριστοῦ νικῶσαι τοὺς θλίβοντας. Θάλασσαν γὰρ εἰπὼν τὰ ἔθνη, νήσους ταύτας εἰκότως ἐκάλεσεν. Οἱ δὲ ταύτας οἰκοῦντες ἅμα τῇ δόξῃ Κυρίου, φασὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Ἰσραήλ· Ἐκ τῶν πτερύγων τῆς γῆς τέρατα ἠκούσαμεν, πεπιστευκότες ὡς ἔστι τοῖς εὐσεβοῦσιν ἐλπίς· πτέρυγας καλοῦντες τῆς γῆς, τοὺς τοῖς θείοις λόγοις αὐτοὺς ἀποστόλους ἀναπτερώσαντας, ὡς ἀφεῖναι τὴν γῆν, καὶ φρονεῖν ἐπουράνια, τὸ πολίτευμα λοιπὸν ἐσχηκότας ἐν οὐρανῷ. Τὰ δὲ τούτων φασὶ ξένα δεξάμενοι δόγματα, ἐλπίδι τῇ διὰ πίστεως περὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν βεβαιούμεθα. Τοὺς δὲ μὴ δεξαμένους τὸν τῆς πίστεως ὀδύρονται νόμον, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τὸν διὰ Μωσέως. Περὶ αὐτοῦ γὰρ κἀκεῖνος ἔγραψε, δηλονότι Χριστοῦ. Καὶ εἰ ἐπίστευον Μωσεῖ, ἐπίστευον ἂν καὶ Χριστῷ. Νουθετοῦσι δὲ τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας οἱ τὴν πίστιν δεξάμενοι τὸν ἐκ τῆς κολάσεως αὐτοῖς ἐπανατείνοντες φόβον, πᾶν εἶδος αὐτοῖς κακῶν ἀπειλούμενοι. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὅ τε φόβος, καὶ ὁ βόθυνος, καὶ παγίς. Κἂν γὰρ ἕν τις διαφύγῃ, τοῖς ἑτέροις ἁλώσεται. Ταῦτα δὲ μετὰ τὸν τοῦ Σωτῆρος σταυρὸν μυρίοις ἁλόντες κακοῖς Ἰουδαῖοι πεπόνθασιν. Καὶ τὴν τούτων αἰτίαν ἐπάγων φησὶν, ὅτι θυρίδες ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀνεῴχθησαν. Τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ἐπισκοπῇ τὴν γῆν ἐπεσκέψατο Κύριος· Θεοῦ γὰρ ἀνεξικακοῦντος, ὡς μηδὲ δοκεῖν ἐφορᾷν, κεκλεῖσθαι λέγεταί πως ὁ οὐρανὸς, ὡς τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἐπ' ἀδείας παρανομεῖν. Ἐπεξίοντος δὲ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι, θορύβου πάντα καὶ δέους ἀνάμεστα, καὶ ὡς ἐκ μέθης πρὸς πᾶν εἶδος ἄνθρωποι διαῤῥίπτονται κακῶν ὡς ὀπωροφυλάκιον σαλευόμενοι. Φορητῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἁμαρτημάτων ἀνέχεται. Κατισχυούσης δὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κολάζει τοὺς δράσαντας. Λαμπρὸν δὲ κατόρθωμα τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὸ διασκεδασθῆναι τῶν τῇ κτίσει λατρευσάντων παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα τὴν ἀσέβειαν, ᾗπερ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι περιπεπτώκασιν. "Ὧν αἱ γυναῖκες, κατὰ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν, τρίβουσι σταῖς τοῦ ποιῆσαι χαυῶνας τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῶν υἱῶν συλλεγόντων τὰ ξύλα, καὶ τῶν Πατέρων καιόντων τὸ πῦρ." Καὶ ἄλλος δὲ προφήτης φησίν· "Ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολὸχ, καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑμῶν Ῥαιφάν." Ἡ οὖν τούτοις ἐπαγομένη χεὶρ διασκεδασμὸν τῶν ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα προσκυνούντων δηλοῖ. Εἴποις δ' ἂν καὶ κόσμον οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τὸν περὶ οὖ εἴρηται· "Πῶς ἐξέπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὁ ἑωσφόρος ὁ πρωῒ ἀνατέλλων," καὶ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. Βεβασιλεύκασι γὰρ τῆς γῆς, ἰδίους ἐν αὐτῇ προσκυνητὰς ἀποφήναντες, οὓς δὴ κατέπεμψεν ὁ Χριστὸς εἰς τὸ τῆς κολάσεως δεσμωτήριον, οἳ καὶ παρεκάλουν, ἵνα μὴ προστάξῃ 2196 αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν