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and one ruler shall be king for all of them, and they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms.” 4.139 And after other things: “And I will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And my servant David shall be ruler in their midst, and there shall be one shepherd for all, for they shall walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them. And they shall dwell upon their land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.” 4.140 And after a little: “And my servant David shall be their ruler forever. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, an everlasting covenant it shall be with them; and I will set my holy things in their midst forever. And my dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, when my holy things are in their midst forever.” 4.141 Since the agreement of the prophetic riddle has been shown with the division of the one rule into two kingdoms and of their restoration into one rule according to the prophecy of Hosea, it is fitting after the history to understand in an elevated sense the things concerning the two rods which the son of man took for himself. 4.142 For through them must be understood the callings of the two peoples, the one from the nations and the one from the circumcision, bound together into one royal scepter, according to the meaning of the apostolic writing, which is as follows: “He himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of the partition, that he might create in himself one new man from the two,” the Greek and the Jew. 4.143 For when the one lived as a Jew and the other as a Greek, there were two rods and two men, divided by their different religions, so as not to be under one king. But when the true leader shone forth, to whom the saints say: “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all ages,” then all men were shown to be one people, called under one God and king, “who preached peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near,” so that in spirit both might be established as one kingdom, being under the one God and king. 4.144 And the people called from the nations is the rod on which was written Judah the confessor, while the one from the circumcision is the scepter dedicated to Joseph. Each of the things in the riddle of the two rods might be clarified in detail and by themselves in the works on Ezekiel, if God in His own goodness should call us to speak on them also, but for the present need we speak allegorically. 4.145 The two rules having become one rod, one was raised by the Father, the one according to the flesh from David raised by God, who, having become an eternal shepherd and king according to the incarnation, appearing as the author of a peaceful and eternal covenant, will rule stably and peacefully without end for all ages, his kingdom never ending. 4.146 It is fitting to such a peaceful state that the holy things of God, being mysteries of the kingdom, be given in the midst of the ruled by the great Giver himself, who tabernacles in the midst of those who are being saved and sanctified, so great and so good a thing being fulfilled at the time of the incarnation, when the Word, having become flesh, tabernacled among His own acquaintances, so that, having advanced yet more, they might behold “his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 4.147 Not unseasonably, as far as possible, have the things concerning the two scepters which the son of man took for himself been clarified with a digression, so that having bound and fastened them together he might show them to be one rod. 4.148 But this good will be perfectly realized when, “the fullness of the Gentiles having come in” to the highest blessedness, “all Israel will be saved.” 4.149 Zach. XI, 15-16: And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself yet the implements of an unskilled shepherd. For

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καὶ ἄρχων εἷς ἔσται πάντων αὐτῶν εἰς βασιλέα, καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται ἔτι εἰς δύο ἔθνη οὐδὲ μὴ διαιρεθῶσιν οὐκέτι εἰς δύο βασιλείας.» 4.139 Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· «Καὶ καθαριῶ αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν. Καὶ ὁ δοῦλός μου ∆αυὶδ ἄρχων ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, καὶ ποιμὴν εἷς ἔσται πάντων, ὅτι ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασίν μου πορεύσονται καὶ τὰ κρίματά μου φυλάξονται καὶ ποιήσουσιν αὐτά. Καὶ κατοικήσουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς αὐτῶν, ἣν ἐγὼ ἔδωκα τῷ δούλῳ μου Ἰακώβ.» 4.140 Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «Καὶ ∆αυὶδ ὁ δοῦλός μου ἄρχων αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Καὶ διαθήσομαι αὐτοῖς διαθήκην εἰρήνης, διαθήκη αἰωνία ἔσται μετ' αὐτῶν· καὶ θήσω τὰ ἅγιά μου ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ κατασκήνωσίς μου ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς Θεός, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μου λαός. Καὶ γνώσονται τὰ ἔθνη ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ εἶναι τὰ ἅγιά μου ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.» 4.141 Φανείσης τῆς συμφωνίας τοῦ προφητικοῦ αἰνίγματος πρὸς τὴν διαίρεσιν τῆς μιᾶς ἀρχῆς εἰς δύο βασιλείας καὶ τῆς τούτων εἰς μίαν ἀρχὴν ἀποκαταστάσεως κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ὠσῆε προφητείαν, ἀκόλουθον μετὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀνηγμένως νοῆσαι τὰ περὶ τῶν δύο ῥάβδων ὧν ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου υἱός. 4.142 Σημαίνεσθαι γὰρ δι' αὐτῶν ἡγητέον τὰς κλήσεις τῶν δύο λαῶν, τοῦ τε ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς, συνδεθεισῶν εἰς ἓν σκῆπτρον βασιλείας, κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν τῆς ἀποστολικῆς γραφῆς, οὕτως ἐχούσης· «Αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιῶν τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον», τὸν ἕλληνα καὶ ἰουδαῖον. 4.143 Ὅτε μὲν γὰρ ὃ μὲν ἰουδάϊζεν ὃ δὲ ἡλλήνιζεν, δύο ῥάβδοι καὶ δύο ἄνθρωποι ὑπῆρχον ἐκ τῆς διαφόρου θρησκείας διῃρημένοι, ὡς μὴ ὑπὸ ἕνα βασιλέα εἶναι. Ἡνίκα δὲ ἐπέλαμψεν ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἡγούμενος πρὸς ὃν οἱ ἅγιοί φασιν· «Ἡ βασιλεία σου βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων», τὸ τηνικάδε εἷς λαὸς οἱ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἀπεδείχθησαν, ὑπὸ ἕνα Θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα κληθέντες «εὐαγγελισάμενον εἰρήνην τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην τοῖς ἐγγύς», ἵν' ἐν πνεύματι ἀμφότεροι μία βασιλεία κατασκευασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τὸν ἕνα Θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα ὑπάρχοντες. 4.144 Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν κληθεὶς λαὸς ῥάβδος ἐστὶν ἐφ' ᾗ ἐγράφη Ἰούδας ὁ ἐξομολογούμενος, ὁ δὲ ἐκ περιτομῆς τὸ σκῆπτρόν ἐστιν τὸ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἀνακείμενον. Ἕκαστα τῶν ἐν τῷ αἰνίγματι τῶν δύο ῥάβδων λεπτομερῶς καὶ καθ' αὑτὰ σαφηνισθείη ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὸν Ἰεζεκιήλ, εἰ καλέσοι Θεὸς ἀγαθότητι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ εἰπεῖν, ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν χρείαν φαμὲν πρὸς ἀλληγορίαν. 4.145 Τῶν δύο γεναμένων εἰς μίαν ῥάβδον ἀρχῶν, εἷς ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἠγέρθη ὁ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ τοῦ ∆αυὶδ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἐγερθείς, ὅστις αἰώνιος ποιμὴν καὶ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν γεγονώς, διαθήκης εἰρηνικῆς καὶ αἰωνίου πρύτανις ὀφθείς, εὐσταθῶς καὶ εἰρηνικῶς ἀτελευτήτως ἄρξει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, οὐ τελευτώσης ποτὲ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ. 4.146 Ἁρμόζει τῇ οὕτως εἰρηνικῇ καταστάσει ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀρχομένων δοθῆναι τὰ ἅγια τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας ὄντα μυστήρια ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ μεγαλοδώρου κατασκηνοῦντος ἐν μέσῳ τῶν σῳζομένων τε καὶ ἁγιαζομένων, τοῦ τοσούτου καὶ τηλικούτου ἀγαθοῦ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως καιρὸν πληρωθησομένου, ὁπηνίκα ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ γεγονὼς ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις γνωρίμοις, ἵν' ἔτι μᾶλλον προκόψαντες θεάσωνται «τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ Πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας». 4.147 Οὐκ ἀκαίρως ὡς οἷόν τε σεσαφήνισται μετὰ παρεκβάσεως τὰ περὶ τῶν δύο σκήπτρων ὧν ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου υἱός, ἵνα συνδήσας καὶ συσφίγξας αὐτὰ μίαν ῥάβδον ἀποδείξῃ. 4.148 Τελείως δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὑπάρξεται ὅταν «εἰσελθόντος τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν ἐθνῶν» εἰς τὴν ἀκροτάτην μακαριότητα «ὁ πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθῇ». 4.149 Zach. XΙ, 15-16: Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρός με· Ἔτι λαβὲ σεαυτῷ σκεύη ποιμενικὰ ποιμένος ἀπείρου. ∆ιότι