122

[Not only to me, he says, but also to all who have trusted in him.] The phrase, "For in many they were with me," indicates that the enemies were many. For so Symmachus also interpreted it: For they became very many against me. 20. "God will hear, and he will humble them; [for he is just and knows how to test heart and reins,] he who exists before the ages." And having received my prayer, the eternal God will clothe with weakness those who plot against me. "For there is no exchange for them, because they did not fear God." Symmachus interpreted this thus: For they do not change, nor do they fear God. 80.1280 [For neither does their wicked mind change, nor do they fear God; wherefore indeed], Seeing, he says, their unrepentant way, he will clothe them with the aforementioned calamities. 21. "He stretched out his hand in repaying." The three interpreted this thus: He stretched out his hand against those who were at peace with him. For Saul did not pursue an enemy, but a benefactor, and a companion, and an acquaintance. Nor did Judas betray an enemy, but a Savior, and a giver of good things. Therefore, "He stretched out his hand in repaying," means this, that having stretched out his hand to pay his dues, he brought forth nothing good; but all things were full of wickedness. [But nevertheless Judas not only stretched out his hand to betray, but also, having returned the thirty pieces of silver, which after his hanging the deicides cast into the treasury.] And the following verses make this plain: "They have profaned his covenant." For though the divine law proclaims to love one's neighbor as oneself, they persecuted their benefactor as an enemy. [And not only this, but they also condemned him to the cross. Wherefore he added:] 22. "They were scattered by the wrath of his countenance, and their hearts drew near." For being enslaved to anger, they blamed some things, but they planned others. For Symmachus interpreted it thus: Their mouths are smoother than butter, but the heart of each of them makes war. And what follows agrees with this. "Their words were softer than oil, and yet they are darts." Such also were the words of Saul, and of Judas. For Saul said to David, "Is it you, my son David?" And Judas, "Is it I, Rabbi?" [And many who suffer from the same things, wearing a supposed cloak of friendship, say to those who are wronged by them: 'Have I wronged you?' And again Judas says the same, 'Hail, Rabbi;'] and he kissed him. And his words indeed were like the smoothness of oil and butter; but his counsels, like the sharpest arrows and spears. [For their darts were rather lances;] for Aquila 80.1281 interpreted darts as lances. Thus the divine David, having gone through these things concerning what had happened to him, and having set forth the plots against the Lord, offers counsel to all men, exhorting them to have hope in God. 23. "Cast your care upon the Lord, and he will sustain you." [Not only, he says, will he glorify you here, but also in the regeneration he will deem you worthy of the vision of God. Therefore] Have God, he says, as your pilot and charioteer; and make your own affairs dependent on that providence; for so you will remain unmoved and unshaken; for he says, "He will not allow the righteous to be shaken for ever." For even if he should ever permit one to fall into temptation, yet he will provide swift help. And this is simply like the apostolic sayings, "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 24. "But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction." For those who dare to plot against the righteous he will deliver to everlasting punishment. For "the pit of destruction" he called the inescapable punishment. For just as it is impossible for one who has fallen into a pit full of some slime and mire to escape destruction; so it is not possible for one who is punished by God to find salvation from another source. [And hear, he says, you wretched ones.] "Men of blood and deceit shall not

122

[Οὐ μόνον δὲ ἐμοὶ, φησὶ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἅπασι τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν πεποιθό σιν.] Τὸ δὲ, "Ἐν πολλοῖς ἦσαν σὺν ἐμοὶ," τὸ πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς πολεμίους δηλοῖ. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσε· Πολλοστοὶ γὰρ ἐγένοντο πρός με. κʹ. "Εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτούς· [δίκαιος γάρ ἐστι καὶ οἶδεν ἐτάζων καρ δίαν καὶ νεφροὺς,] ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων." ∆εξάμενος δέ μου τὴν δέησιν ὁ ἀεὶ Θεὸς, ἀσθε νείᾳ περιβαλεῖ τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας. "Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἀντάλλαγμα, ὅτι οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν τὸν Θεόν." Τοῦτο ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν· Οὐ γὰρ ἀλλάσσονται, οὐδὲ φοβοῦνται τὸν Θεόν. 80.1280 [Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀλλάσσεται αὐτῶν ἡ πονηρὰ γνώμη, οὐδὲ φοβοῦνται τὸν Θεόν· διὸ δὴ], Ὁρῶν αὐτῶν, φη σὶν, τὸν ἀμεταμέλητον τρόπον, ταῖς προειρημέναις συμφοραῖς περιβαλεῖ. καʹ. "Ἐξέτεινε τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἀποδι δόναι." Τοῦτο οἱ τρεῖς οὕτως ἡρμήνευσαν· Ἐξ έτεινε τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ εἰς τοὺς εἰρηνεύοντας ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸς αὐτόν. Οὐ γὰρ πολέμιον ὁ Σαοὺλ ἐδίω κεν, ἀλλ' εὐεργέτην, καὶ συνήθη, καὶ γνώριμον. Οὐδὲ ἐχθρὸν ὁ Ἰούδας προδέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ Σωτῆρα, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγόν. Τὸ τοίνυν, "Ἐξέτεινε τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδόναι," τοῦτο δηλοῖ, ὅτι ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα, ὥστε τὰς ἀντιδόσεις ἐκτί σαι, ἀγαθὸν μὲν οὐδὲν προσενήνοχεν· πάντα δὲ πονηρίας μεστά. [Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ ὁ Ἰούδας οὐ μόνον εἰς τὸ προδοῦναι τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ ἐξέτεινε, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἀποστρέψας τὰ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια, ἃ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου ἀγχόνην ἐνέβαλον οἱ θεοκτόνοι εἰς τὸν κορβανᾶν.] Καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα· "Ἐβεβήλωσαν τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ." Τοῦ γὰρ θείου νόμου διαγορεύοντος ἀγαπᾷν τὸν πλησίον ὡς ἑαυτὸν, τὸν εὐεργέτην ὡς πολέμιον ἐδίωκον. [Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ σταυρῷ κατέκριναν. ∆ιὸ ἐπ ήγαγε·] κβʹ. "∆ιεμερίσθησαν ἀπὸ ὀργῆς τοῦ προσώπου αὐτῶν καὶ ἤγγισαν αἱ καρδίαι αὐτῶν." Ὀργῇ γὰρ δουλεύσαντες, ἕτερα μὲν ἐμέμφοντο, ἕτερα δὲ ἐβουλεύοντο. Οὕτω γὰρ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρ μήνευσε· Λειότερα βουτύρου τὰ στόματα αὐτῶν· πολεμεῖ δὲ ἡ καρδία ἑκάστου αὐτῶν. Τούτῳ δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπαγόμενον συμφωνεῖ. "Ἡπαλύνθησαν οἱ λόγοι αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον, καὶ αὐτοί εἰσι βολίδες." Τοιαῦτα δὲ ἦν καὶ τοῦ Σαοὺλ, καὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα τὰ ῥήματα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Σαοὺλ, πρὸς τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἔλεγεν, "Εἰ σὺ εἶ τέκνον ∆αβίδ." Ὁ δὲ Ἰούδας, "Μή τι ἐγώ εἰμι, Ῥαββί;" [Καὶ πολλοὶ τὰ αὐτὰ νοσοῦντες φιλίας δῆθεν περικείμενοι ἐπικάλυμμα πρὸς τοὺς παρ' αὐτῶν ἀδικουμένους φασίν· Μή τι ἐγώ σε ἠδίκηκα; Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ πάλιν ὁ Ἰούδας, Χαῖρε, λέγει, Ῥαββί·]καὶ κατεφίλησεν αὐτόν. Καὶ ἐῴκει μὲν τὰ ῥήματα ἐλαίου καὶ βουτύρου λειότητι· τὰ δὲ βουλεύματα, βέλεσι καὶ δόρασιν ὀξυτάτοις. [Λόγχαι γὰρ μᾶλλον ὑπῆρχον αἱ βολίδες αὐτῶν·] λόγχας γὰρ ὁ Ἀκύλας 80.1281 τὰς βολίδας ἡρμήνευσεν. Οὕτω ταῦτα ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ καὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῷ συμβεβηκότων διεξελθὼν, καὶ τὰς ∆εσποτικὰς προθεὶς ἐπιβουλὰς, συμβουλὴν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις προσφέρει, τὴν εἰς Θεὸν ἔχειν ἐλπίδα παρεγγυῶν. κγʹ. "Ἐπίῤῥιψον ἐπὶ Κύριον τὴν μέριμνάν σου· καὶ αὐτός σε διαθρέψει." [Οὐ μόνον, φησὶ, ἐν ταῦθα δοξάσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ παλιγγενεσίᾳ τῆς θεοπτίας ἀξιώσει. Οὐκοῦν] Κυβερνήτην ἔχε, φησὶ, τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἡνίοχον· καὶ τὰ κατὰ σαυτὸν τῆς προνοίας ἐκείνης ἐξάρτησον· οὕτω γὰρ ἀσάλευτος διαμενεῖς καὶ ἀκλόνητος· καὶ γάρ φησιν, "Οὐ δώσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα σάλον τῷ δικαίῳ." Κἂν γὰρ συγχωρήσῃ ποτὲ περιπεσεῖν πειρασμῷ, ἀλλὰ ταχεῖαν παρέξει βοήθειαν. Ἀτεχνῶς δὲ τοῦτο ἔοικε τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς ῥητοῖς, "Πιστὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὃς οὐκ ἐάσει ὑμᾶς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὃ δύνασθε, ἀλλὰ ποιήσει σὺν τῷ πειρασμῷ καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ δύνασθαι ὑμᾶς ὑπενεγκεῖν." κδʹ. "Σὺ δὲ, ὁ Θεὸς, κατάξεις αὐτοὺς εἰς φρέαρ διαφθορᾶς." Τοὺς γὰρ ἐπιβουλεύειν τῷ δικαίῳ τολμῶντας τιμωρίᾳ παραδώσει διηνεκεῖ. Φρέαρ γὰρ διαφθορᾶς τὴν ἄφυκτον ἐκάλεσε τιμωρίαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸν εἰς φρέαρ ἐμπεπτωκότα, ἰλύος τινὸς καὶ βορβόρου μεστὸν, διαφυγεῖν τὸν ὄλεθρον τῶν ἀδυνά των· οὕτω τὸν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ κολαζόμενον οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἑτέρωθεν σωτηρίαν εὑρεῖν. [Καὶ ἀκούετε, φησὶν, οἱ δείλαιοι.] "Ἄνδρες αἱμάτων καὶ δολιότητος οὐ μὴ