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in affliction we remembered you; in a little affliction your discipline was upon us. And as a woman in travail draws near to give birth, and in her pangs she cries out, so have we become for your beloved9, etc. As if seeing the universal judgment present, and standing at the tribunal of God, the prophet at one time confesses, at another supplicates, at another gives thanks. And at one time he recounts the rewards from God for the good, and at another he recounts the punishments against them, teaching us all things that he himself was taught by the Spirit. He says, therefore, that when it was time, traveling the narrow and afflicted way for the struggles of piety, we were strengthened by the memory of you, so as to say, "afflicted, but not crushed; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." For affliction disciplined us, knowing that "the Lord 2224 disciplines the one he loves." For because of our longing for you, every affliction was considered small by us, reckoning that "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Therefore, enduring every affliction, we were like a woman in labor, and about to give birth at any moment. For having your beloved and only-begotten Word within, and the fear of your piety sown in us, we long endured bravely, fearing to miscarry your beloved being conceived in us, and your fear. Therefore we were not disappointed in our hope, having acquired as the end of both the salvation of our spirit. For having brought this forth, we made it manifest to those on earth, so that they might emulate and become similar. For not having received this fear, nor having brought forth the spirit of salvation, but remaining barren and fruitless, they will fall from the hope that is from you. But those who are of your portion, even if they contend against sin unto death, will never fall away from the life that is with you. For the dead will rise; or according to Aquila, "your dead shall live." Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, "your dead shall live." But who would his dead be, if not his holy martyrs, being other than the dead mentioned above? But the dead will not see life, as having sinned unto death. But the dead of the Lord are those who endured all things for his sake (concerning whom the others rendered them not as dead, but as having fallen asleep); according to the first, "you who are in the tombs will be awakened"; and according to the second, "they will rejoice," or "they will praise" according to Aquila, or "they will shout for joy" according to Theodotion. For the death of the saints is called sleep. The cause of their resurrection is the dew from you, that is, your only-begotten Word, who, having sprinkled his life-giving drops upon his dead, will at once provide healing for the sins they humanly committed, and at the same time the resurrection of the bodies sown on the earth, just as the perceptible dew, descending to the earth by day, causes the seeds lying within to be nourished and to grow. But such are not the things of the impious. For their land will fall. Therefore, as fallen from God, they will be handed over to punishment in their bodies and souls. But some have interpreted the saying thus: The prophet, moved by great love of God against the audacious acts of the Jews, and having said, "Add evils to them, O Lord," though it was necessary to beseech God on their behalf, if indeed he suffered with them, brought forth the useful aspect of afflictions for a defense, as it is by nature to work the remembrance of God in all, just as prosperous circumstances are known to produce forgetfulness. For in a little 2225 affliction we are disciplined, God mixing his wrath gently for all. From love, therefore, was the saying, "Add evils to them," he said. For to a fruitless will, necessity is profitably applied. Such is the saying, "With bit and bridle you will restrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you." But we, he says, were not disposed like them toward your beloved Son; but rather like a woman in travail, we cried out against those who dared these things, being pained in our soul. Such was Isaiah crying out: "But you, draw near here, you lawless sons, seed of adulterers and a prostitute. In what

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θλίψει ἐμνήσθημέν σου· ἐν θλίψει μικρᾷ ἡ παιδεία σου ἡμῖν. Καὶ ὡσεὶ ὠδίνουσα ἐγγίζει τοῦ τεκεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ὠδῖνι αὐτῆς ἐκέκραξεν, οὕτως ἐγενήθημεν τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου9, κ.τ.λ. Ὡσανεὶ παροῦσαν τὴν καθόλου κρίσιν ὁ προφήτης ὁρῶν, καὶ τῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ παριστάμενος βήματι, ποτὲ μὲν ἐξομολογεῖται, ποτὲ δὲ ἱκετεύει, ποτὲ δὲ εὐχαριστεῖ. Καὶ ποτὲ μὲν καταλέγει τὰς ἐκ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀμοιβὰς, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς κατ' αὐτῶν καταλέγει τιμωρίας, πάντα παιδεύων ἠμᾶς ἅπερ αὐτὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπαιδεύετο. Φησὶν οὖν ὡς ὅτε καιρὸς ἦν, τὴν στενὴν καὶ τεθλιμμένην ὑπὲρ τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγώνων ὁδεύοντες, ὑπὸ τῆς σῆς ἐδυναμούμεθα μνήμης, ὥς τε λέγειν, θλιβόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι. ∆ιωκόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι. Καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι. Ἐπαίδευεν γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἡ θλίψις, εἰδότας ὅτι ὃν ἀγαπᾷ 2224 Κύριος παιδεύει. Τῷ γὰρ σῷ πόθῳ πᾶσα θλίψις μικρά τις ἡμῖν ἐνομίζετο λογιζομένοις, ὡς Οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι εἰς ἡμᾶς. ∆ιὸ πᾶσαν ὑπομένοντες θλίψιν, ἐῴκειμεν κυούσῃ γυναικὶ, καὶ ὅσον οὔπω μελλούσῃ τεκεῖν. Καὶ τὸν γὰρ ἀγαπητόν σου καὶ μονογενῆ Λόγον ἔχοντες ἔνδον, καὶ τὸν ἡμῖν κατασπαρέντα φόβον τῆς σῆς εὐσεβείας πάλαι ἐκαρτεροῦμεν γενναίως, δεδιότες ἐξαμβλῶναι τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγαπητόν σου κυούμενον, καὶ τὸν φόβον τὸν σόν. Τοιγαροῦν οὐκ ἐσφάλημεν τῆς ἐλπίδος, τέλος ἀμφοῖν τὴν σωτηρίαν τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἡμετέρου κτησάμενοι. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἀπογεννήσαντες φανερὸν τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς κατεστήσαμεν, ὡς ἂν ζηλοῦντες γένοιντο παραπλήσιοι. Μὴ λαβόντες γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν φόβον, μηδὲ τεκόντες τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς σωτηρίας, ἄγονοι δὲ καὶ ἄκαρποι μείναντες, ἐλπίδος ἐκπεσοῦνται τῆς παρὰ σοῦ. Οἱ δὲ τῆς σῆς ὄντες μερίδος, εἰ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διαγωνίσαιντο, τῆς παρὰ σοὶ ζωῆς οὐκ ἀποπεσοῦνταί ποτε. Ἀναστήσονται γὰρ οἱ νεκροί· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, ζήσονται οἱ τεθνεῶτές σου. Ἢ κατὰ Σύμμαχον καὶ Θεοδοτίωνα, ζήσονται οἱ νεκροί σου Νεκροὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ τίνες ἂν εἶεν, ἢ οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ μάρτυρες ἕτεροι ὄντες παρὰ τοὺς ἄνω λεχθέντας νεκροὺς; Οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ ζωὴν οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν, ὡς ἡμαρτηκότες πρὸς θάνατον. Νεκροὶ δὲ Κυρίου, οἱ πάντα δι' αὐτὸν ὑπομείναντες (περὶ ὧν οὐ τεθνηκότων, ἀλλ' ὡς κοιμηθέντων ἐξέδωκαν οἱ λοιποὶ) κατὰ μὲν τὸ πρῶτον, ἐξυπνίσεσθε οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις· κατὰ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον, Ἀγαλλιάσονται, ἢ αἰνέσουσιν κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, ἢ ἀλαλάξουσι, κατὰ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα. Κοίμησις γὰρ ὀνομάζεται τῶν ἁγίων ὁ θάνατος. Αἰτία δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῖς ἡ παρὰ σοῦ δρόσος, ὁ μονογενής σου Λόγος δηλαδὴ, ὃς ἐπιστάξας τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ζωοποιοὺς σταγόνας τοῖς αὐτοῦ νεκροῖς, ὁμοῦ μὲν ἴασιν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνως αὐτοῖς ἡμαρτημένων παρέξει, ὁμοῦ δὲ ἀνάστασιν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐσπαρμένων σωμάτων, ὡς ἡ δρόσος ἡ αἰσθητὴ ἡμέρα κατιοῦσα πρὸς γῆν, ἐκτρέφειν καὶ αὔξειν ποιεῖ τὰ ἐναποκείμενα σπέρματα. Ἀλλ' οὐ τὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν τοιαῦτα. Πεσεῖται γὰρ αὐτῶν ἡ γῆ. Ὡς οὖν ἐκπεσόντες Θεοῦ, αὐτοῖς σώμασι καὶ ψυχαῖς εἰς τιμωρίαν παραδοθήσονται. Τινὲς δὲ τὴν ῥῆσιν οὕτως ἑρμήνευσαν· Ἐκ πολλῆς ὁ προφήτης φιλοθεΐας κατὰ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν τολμημάτων κινηθεὶς, καὶ φήσας, Πρόσθες αὐτοῖς κακὰ, Κύριε· δέον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν παρακαλεῖν τὸν Θεὸν, εἴγε τούτοις συνέπασχε, τὸ τῶν κακωτικῶν θλίψεων πρὸς ἀπολογίαν ἐπήνεγκε χρήσιμον, ὡς Θεοῦ μνήμην πέφυκε πᾶσιν ἐργάζεσθαι, ὥσπερ οὖν λήθην οἶδε ποιεῖν εὐροοῦντα τὰ πράγματα. Ἐν θλίψει γὰρ 2225 μικρᾷ παιδευόμεθα, Θεοῦ τὴν ὀργὴν συγκεραννύντος πᾶσιν ἡμέρως. Ἐξ ἀγάπης ἄρα τὸ, Πρόσθες αὐτοῖς, ἔφη, κακά. Προαιρέσει γὰρ ἀκάρπῳ λυσιτελούντως ἀνάγκη προσφέρεται. Τοιοῦτον τό· "Ἐν κημῷ καὶ χαλινῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν ἄγξεις τῶν μὴ ἐγγιζόντων πρὸς σέ." Ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡμεῖς, φησὶ, κατ' ἐκείνους ἐπὶ τῷ ἀγαπητῷ σου διετέθημεν υἱῷ· δίκην δὲ μᾶλλον ὠδινούσης γυναικὸς, τῶν ταῦτα τολμώντων κατεβοήσαμεν τὴν ψυχὴν ὀδυνώμενοι. Τοιοῦτος Ἡσαΐας βοῶν· "Ὑμεῖς δὲ προσαγάγετεὧδε, υἱοὶ ἄνομοι, σπέρμα μοιχῶν καὶ πόρνης. Ἐν τίνι