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he says these things. But instead of the 2213 face of the ruler, Symmachus and Theodotion rendered it the face of darkness, thus indicating the lightless and darkness-filled region of death. Then, therefore, when the saints shall reign with Christ, death, which swallows all, will be swallowed up. And the cause is the anointing, on account of which they will no longer serve death. Having benefited from these things, the divine Apostle said: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption," and the things that follow. When also every reproach will be taken away. For it was a reproach to men made in the image of God to fall away from eternal life. 9.12. 9And they will say on that day: Behold our God, in whom we hoped. And we rejoiced, God will give rest upon this mountain. And the Moabitess will be trodden down, in the way they tread a threshing floor with wagons9, etc. When death is swallowed up at the time of the resurrection, the sons of the new age will sing a song of thanksgiving, beholding their own Savior, saying: Behold our God in whom we hoped; seeing now the one in whom we formerly hoped, we rejoice, having endured the grievous things that came for his sake. In return for which, on the mountain of the kingdom, they will enjoy the promised goods. But the Moabitess, or Moab according to the Hebrew, will suffer the penalty for impiety. And instead of "will be threshed," Symmachus rendered "we will thresh." And who are the ones threshing, he adds next, saying: And the feet of the meek and the steps of the humble will tread upon him. But understand Moab as the demon honored among the Moabites, who was lifted up against God, but crushed those under him, and made Israel itself to be initiated to Baal-Peor; and in this vision concerning Moab he said, that your alliance was taken away, and the ruler who treads upon the earth perished. Concerning whom Jeremiah also says: "And Chemosh will go forth into captivity." And again: "And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh." And what he was like, he declares, saying: "The day of Moab is near, and his evil is very swift." And again: "See how the glorious staff was broken." And again: "The horn of Moab was broken, and his forearm was crushed, says the Lord. Bind him, because he magnified himself against the Lord." And again: "And he himself will also be a laughingstock, since Israel was a mockery to you." And next: "I have heard, he says, the insolence of Moab; he was exceedingly insolent in his height and arrogance." Since, therefore, he was considered fearsome to the Jews, he presents his judgment in the future. And instead of, And the height of the refuge of your house he will bring low, Symmachus says, And the fortress of the height of your walls will bow down. And wall and fortress were his powers, with which he was fortified. And you will understand through one, what things the demons who deceived 2216 the rest of the nations will also suffer. For the prophet left this for us. CHAP. 20. 1-8. 9On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judea, saying: Behold a strong city, and he will set our salvation as a wall and a bulwark. Open the gates, let the people who keep righteousness enter9, etc. And after their destruction, when Christ is reigning over those under him in the heavenly Jerusalem, which he calls Judea, indicating the breadth of that city; and the commonwealth of the saints in it, the city of God, in correspondence with the country of the earthly Jerusalem, at once hinting at the truth and at the same time comforting the Jews [and] exhorting them to the hope of the things set before them, who, having obtained the promises, will sing the heavenly song. And the song is: Behold a strong city, our salvation. For the one below on earth is not strong, having been captured many times. But the one above is both strong and salvation, which the Hebrew tongue said is Jesus. For he himself is the Savior of the blessed, a city, and a wall, and a bulwark. And by its gates, we will understand the various entrances of the dwelling-places there, which he says are opened not to Jews, or to Israel, or simply to whomever, but only to those who keep righteousness, and truth, and peace. Concerning which every lover of God will say: "Open to me the gates of righteousness; having entered into them, I will give thanks to the Lord." And they are opened to them, because they hoped in you even to the age, who
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ταῦτά φησιν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ 2213 προσώπου τοῦ ἐξουσιαστοῦ, τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς σκοτίας Σύμμαχός τε καὶ Θεοδοτίων ἐξέδωκαν, οὕτω δηλοῦντες τὸ ἀφεγγές τε καὶ σκότους πλῆρες τοῦ θανάτου χωρίον. Τότε τοίνυν, ὅτεπερ οἱ ἅγιοι συμβασιλεύσωσι τῷ Χριστῷ, ὁ πάντας καταπίνων καταποθήσεται θάνατος. Τὸ δὲ αἴτιον ἡ χρίσις, δι' ἣν οὐκ ἔτι θανάτῳ δουλεύσουσιν. Ἅπερ ὠφελημένος ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἔφασκε· "∆εῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν," καὶ τὰ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Ὅτε καὶ πᾶν ὄνειδος ἀφαιρεθήσεται. Ὄνειδος γὰρ ἦν τοῖς κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ πεποιημένοις ἀνθρώποις, τὸ ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. θʹιβʹ. 9Καὶ ἐροῦσι τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ· Ἰδοὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ἐφ' ὃν ἠλπίζομεν. Καὶ ἠγαλλιώμεθα, ἀνάπαυσιν δώσει ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τοῦτο. Καὶ καταπατηθήσεται ἡ Μωαβῖτις, ὃν τρόπον πατοῦσιν ἅλωνα ἐν ἁμάξαισ9, κ.τ.λ. Καταποθέντος τοῦ θανάτου κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως, οἱ τοῦ νέου αἰῶνος υἱοὶ χαριστήριον ᾄσουσιν ᾠδὴν τὸν ἑαυτῶν Σωτῆρα θεώμενοι λέγοντες· Ἰδοὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐφ' ᾧ ἠλπίζομεν, τὸν πρὶν ἐλπισθέντα νῦν ὁρῶντες ἡδόμεθα, τὰ ἐπιόντα λυπηρὰ δι' αὐτὸν καρτερήσαντες. Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐν τῷ τῆς βασιλείας ὄρει, τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσουσι. Ἡ δὲ Μωαβῖτις, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑβραΐδα Μωὰβ, τῆς ἀσεβείας ὑφέξει τὴν δίκην. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀλοηθήσεται, Σύμμαχος ἐξέδωκεν ἁλοήσομεν. Τίνες δὲ οἱ ἁλοῶντες, ἑξῆς ἐπιφέρει λέγων· Καὶ πατήσουσιν αὐτὸν πόδες πραέων καὶ ταπεινῶν βήματα. Νόει δὲ Μωὰβ, τὸν παρὰ Μωαβίταις τιμώμενον δαίμονα κατὰ Θεοῦ μὲν ἐπαρθέντα, συντρίψαντα δὲ τοὺς ὑφ' ἑαυτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τῷ Βεελφεγὼρ τελεσθῆναι ποιήσαντα· καὶ ἐν τῇδε περὶ Μωὰβ ἔλεγεν ὁράσει, ὅτι ἤρθη ἡ συμμαχία σου, καὶ ὁ ἄρχων ἀπώλετο ὁ καταπατῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας φησί· "Καὶ ἐξελεύσεται Χαμὼς ἐν ἀποικίᾳ." Καὶ πάλιν· "Καὶ καταισχυνθήσεται Μωὰβ ἀπὸ Χαμώς." Οἷος δὲ ἦν, δηλοῖ λέγων· "Ἐγγὺς ἡμέρα Μωὰβ, καὶ πονηρία αὐτοῦ ταχεῖα σφόδρα." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἴδετε πῶς συνετρίβη βακτηρία εὐκλεής." Καὶ πάλιν· "Κατεάχθη κέρας Μωὰβ, καὶ τὸ ἐπίχειρον αὐτοῦ συνετρίβη, φησὶ Κύριος. ∆ήσατε αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἐπὶ Κύριον ἐμεγάλυνεν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Καὶ ἔσται εἰς γέλωτα καὶ αὐτὸς, ἐπειδὴ εἰς γελοιασμὸν ἦν σοι Ἰσραήλ." Καὶ ἑξῆς· "Ἤκουσα, φησὶν, ὕβριν Μωὰβ, ὕβρισεν σφόδρα τὸ ὕψος καὶ ὑπερηφανία." Ἐπειδὴ οὖν φοβερὸς Ἰουδαίοις νενόμιστο, παρίστησιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι κρίσιν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Καὶ τὸ ὕψος τῆς καταφυγῆς τοῦ οἴκου σου ταπεινώσει, Σύμμαχος, Καὶ τὸ ὀχύρωμα τοῦ ὕψους τῶν τειχῶν σου κύψει, φησί. Τεῖχος δὲ καὶ ὀχύρωμα αἱ δυνάμεις ἦσαν αὐτοῦ, αἷς ὠχύρωτο. Νοήσεις δὲ δι' ἑνὸς, οἷα πείσονται καὶ οἱ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀπατήσαν 2216 τες δαίμονες. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ προφήτης κατέλιπεν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κʹ. αʹηʹ. 9Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ᾄσονται τὸ ᾆσμα τοῦτο ἐπὶ γῆς τῆς Ἰουδαίας, λέγοντες· Ἰδοὺ πόλις ὀχυρὰ, καὶ σωτήριον ἡμῶν θήσει τὸ τεῖχος, καὶ περίτειχος. Ἀνοίξατε πύλας, εἰσελθέτω λαὸς φυλάσσων δικαιοσύνην9, κ.τ.λ. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν τούτων ἀπώλειαν Χριστοῦ βασιλεύοντος τῶν ὑφ' αὑτῷ κατὰ τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἣν Ἰουδαίαν καλεῖ τὸ πλάτος ἐκείνης μηνύων τῆς πόλεως· τὸ δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν ἁγίων πολίτευμα, πόλιν Θεοῦ, ἀκολούθως τῇ χώρᾳ τῆς ἐπὶ γῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, ἄμα μὲν ὑποδηλῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἅμα δὲ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους παραμυθούμενος [καὶ] εἰς τὴν τῶν προκειμένων ἐλπίδα προτρέπων, οἳ τυχόντες τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν ᾄσουσιν ᾆσμα τὸ ἐπουράνιον. Τὸ δὲ ᾆσμα· Ἰδοὺ πόλις ὀχυρὰ τὸ σωτήριον ἡμῶν. Ἡ κάτω γὰρ ἐπὶ γῆς οὐκ ὀχυρὰ πολλάκις ἁλοῦσα. Ἡ δὲ ἄνω, καὶ ὀχυρὰ, καὶ σωτήριον, ὅπερ Ἰησοῦς ἡ τῶν Ἑβραίων ἔφη φωνή. Αὐτὸς γὰρ τῶν μακαρίων Σωτὴρ, πόλις, τεῖχός τε, καὶ περίτειχος. Ταύτης δὲ πύλας, τὰς διαφόρους τῶν αὐτόθι μονῶν εἰσόδους νοήσομεν, ἃς ἀνοιγῆναί φησιν οὐκ Ἰουδαίοις, ἢ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, ἢ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν ἀπλῶς, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἀλήθειαν, καὶ εἰρήνην φυλάττουσι. Περὶ ὧν πᾶς ἐρεῖ θεοφιλής· "Ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης· εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ." Ἀνοίγονται δὲ αὐτοῖς, ἐπειδήπερ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισαν ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος, ὃς