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706a Ps 68 arg Since from beginning to end it preserves the same person speaking, it is consistent to understand it all with the same train of thought. Since, therefore, the psalm signifies the Lord who came, having changed people by his life and teaching, so that from unbelievers and sinners they became faithful and righteous, the inscription *For those who shall be changed* is most fittingly placed. But also those of the circumcision who believed were changed, living according to the spirit of the law. But if the change also happens in the opposite way, from the better to the worse quality, I say it is also so; it will be no less *for those who shall be changed*, namely the Jews who did not believe in him. But consider also those changed according to the resurrection from the dead, according to *And we shall be changed*. For if the psalm is from the person of Christ, and his passion is signified in it, which is followed by his dying and rising and all being raised, it is not inconsistent to understand the inscription as being also for those who will be thus changed. 707 Ps 68,2.3 It must be known that most things in the psalm are spoken by Jesus from our person, bearing our weaknesses and suffering for us. For he confesses sins of which he has committed none at all. If, therefore, he does not confess for his own, it is clear that he does this for us. For even those who petition a king concerning sinners who have endured exile for what they did, taking upon their own person the sins of those for whom they petition, ask for benefaction and forgiveness of their evil deeds. For the saints are accustomed in their confessions for others to say, *We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly*. If, then, bodyguards of a king and friends of God intercede for others in this way, asking for grace as in their own person, it is not at all strange that he who is the advocate with the Father for the sins of the whole world should, out of surpassing care for us, confess for us, demanding grace and forgiveness for others. So he recounts our sins, of which he has committed none at all. For it is unfitting for the Savior, who is the provider of all good things, to ask for anything. For he takes away the sin of the world, and offers remission of sins to those who come to him. Since, therefore, the Lord did not arrive at that place because of sin but because of the death he undertook for us, he says, *A tempest has sunk me into the depths of the sea*. And "tempest" signifies temptations, just as in *A tempest would pass through the desert*, and in *I waited for the God who saves me from faint-heartedness and from tempest*. ** you might think the present passage is contrary to *No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord*, since he undertook death voluntarily. Since he is said to have given his life not by disease nor, in short, by his own customary end, but by enduring a cross, for this reason he is said to be sunk by a tempest, even though he did not endure this involuntarily, having become obedient to the Father unto death. 708a Ps 68,4.5 This is indicative of the deafness of the Jews. With regard to the need not to grow weary in praying but to cry out day and night to God, consider if he has said he has grown weary in crying out, in accordance with *With a strong cry and tears*. And he who has directed all his expectation to God will say, *My eyes have failed*, clearly meaning those of the heart. But the benefactor of those who do these things is persecuted and hated in vain, as the Savior healed every kind of infirmity among the Jews and raised the dead, on account of which their city became renowned. That those who hate the hated one have multiplied beyond the hairs of his head is spoken hyperbolically. For the mode of hyperbole is also preserved continuously in the Scriptures. *What I did not steal, I then restored*. And if he restored what he did not steal, still he redeemed us, that is, by restoring, wiping away the handwriting against us which we were compelled to pay, being brought against us.

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706a Ps 68 αργ ̓Επεὶ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς μέχρι τέλους πρόσωπον τὸ αὐτὸ λέγον φυλάττει, ἀκόλουθον ολον αὐτῷ εἱρμῷ διανοίας τῆς αὐτῆς ἐκλαβεῖν. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τὸν ἐπιδημήσαντα κύριον σημαίνει ὁ ψαλμὸς ἀλλοιώσαντα βίῳ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὡς ἐξ ἀπίστων καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν πιστοὺς καὶ δικαίους γενέσθαι, ἁρμοδιώτατα ̔Υπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων ἡ ἐπιγραφὴ κεῖται. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πιστεύσαντες ἐκ περιτομῆς ἠλλοιώθησαν κατὰ τὸ πνεῦμα ζῶντες τοῦ νόμου. Εἰ δὲ καὶ εμπαλιν τῆς μεταβολῆς γινομένης ἐκ τῆς κρείττονος ἐπὶ τὴν χείρονα ποιότητα, φημὶ καὶ ουτως· οὐδὲν ηττον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων εσται τῶν μὴ πιστευσάντων αὐτῷ ̓Ιουδαίων. εἰ δὲ καὶ τοὺς κατὰ ἀνάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἠλλοιωμένους κατὰ τὸ Καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα, συνεπίσκεψαι. εἰ γὰρ ἐκ προσώπου Χριστοῦ ἐστιν ὁ ψαλμός, σημαίνεται δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ ῳ επεται ἀποθανόντος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναστάντος καὶ πάντας ἐγείρεσθαι, οὐκ ἀπᾴδει ἐκλαβεῖν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ουτως ἀλλοιωθησομένων τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ειναι. 707 Ps 68,2.3 ̓Ιστέον οτι τὰ πλεῖστα ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ ἐκ προσώπου ἡμετέρου ὑπὸ ̓Ιησοῦ λέγεται τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν φέροντος καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὀδυνωμένου. ουτος γοῦν ἐξομολογεῖται περὶ ἁμαρτημάτων ων οὐδ' ολως τι πεποίηκεν. εἰ τοίνυν μὴ ὑπὲρ ἰδίων ἐξομολογεῖται, δηλονότι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τοῦτο ποιεῖ. καὶ γὰρ οἱ περὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν φυγὴν ὑποστάντων, δι' α επραξεν, βασιλέως δεόμενοι, εἰς ιδιον πρόσωπον τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῶν ὑπὲρ ων δέονται ἀναφέροντες εὐεργεσίαν καὶ συγχώρησιν τῶν κακῶς πραχθέντων αὐτοῖς αἰτοῦνται. εθος γοῦν εχουσιν οἱ αγιοι ἐν ταῖς ἐξομολογήσεσι ταῖς περὶ αλλων λέγειν ̔Ημαρτήκαμεν ἠνομήσαμεν ἠσεβήσαμεν. Εἰ δὴ τοῦτο δορύφοροι βασιλέως καὶ φίλοι θεοῦ ὑπὲρ αλλων παρακαλοῦσιν ὡς ιδιον πρόσωπον χάριν αἰτούμενοι, παράδοξον οὐδὲν δι' ὑπερβάλλουσαν κηδεμονίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐξομολογεῖσθαι χάριν καὶ συγχώρησιν ἀπαιτοῦντα ὑπὲρ αλλων τὸν οντα πρὸς πατέρα παρακλητὸν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτημάτων τοῦ ολου κόσμου. Περὶ γοῦν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἁμαρτημάτων ἐξηγεῖται ων οὐδ' ολως τι πεποίηκεν. ἀνοίκειον γὰρ αἰτεῖσθαί τι τὸν σωτῆρα οντα χορηγὸν πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν. αιρει γοῦν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ αφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν ὀρέγει τοῖς προσερχομένοις. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οὐ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὁ κύριος εἰς τὸν χῶρον ἐκεῖνον εφθασεν ἀλλὰ διὰ θάνατον ον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀνεδέξατο, φησὶ Καταιγίς με εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης κατεπόντισεν. Καταιγίδα δὲ τοὺς πειρασμοὺς δηλοῖ καθάπερ τὸ Καταιγὶς δι' ἐρήμου διέλθοι, καὶ τὸ Προσεδεχόμην τὸν θεὸν τὸν σῴζοντά με ἀπὸ ὀλιγοψυχίας καὶ ἀπὸ καταιγίδος. ** νομίσῃς τὸ προκείμενον τῷ Οὐδεὶς αιρει τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ, αὐθαιρέτως ἀναδεξαμένου τὸν θάνατον. ἐπειδὴ οὐ νόσῳ οὐδ' ἁπαξαπλῶς τῷ εἰθισμένῳ τέλει ἰδίῳ λέγεται τὴν ψυχὴν δεδωκέναι ἀλλ' ὑπομείνας σταυρόν, ταύτῃ λέγεται ὑπὸ καταιγίδος καταποντίζεσθαι, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἀκουσίως ὑπέμεινε τοῦτο ὑπήκοος τῷ πατρὶ μέχρι θανάτου γενόμενος. 708a Ps 68,4.5 Τοῦτο δὲ παραστατικόν ἐστι τῆς τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων κωφώσεως. εἰ γοῦν καὶ πρὸς μὴ δεῖν ἐκκακεῖν προσευχόμενον ἀλλὰ βοᾶν ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτὸς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ειπε κεκοπιακέναι ἐν τῷ κράζειν συμφώνως τῷ Μετὰ κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς καὶ δακρύων, συνεπίσκεψαι. καὶ ὁ πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν προσδοκίαν τείνας εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἐρεῖ τὸ ̓Εξέλιπον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, δῆλον ὡς οἱ τῆς καρδίας. Μάτην δὲ διώκεται καὶ μισεῖται ὁ τῶν ταῦτα ποιούντων εὐεργετικός, ὡς ὁ σωτὴρ πᾶν ειδος ἀσθενείας ἐν ̓Ιουδαίοις ἰώμενος καὶ νεκροὺς ἐγείρων δι' α περίβλεπτος ἡ τούτων ἐγίνετο πόλις. Τὸ ὑπὲρ τὰς τρίχας τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ μισουμένου πεπληθῦνθαι τοὺς μισοῦντας αὐτὸν ὑπερβολικῶς ειρηται. φυλάττεται γὰρ καὶ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς τρόπος συνεχῶς καὶ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς Α οὐχ ηρπασα, τότε ἀπετίννυον. εἰ καὶ ἀπέδωκεν α μὴ ηρπασεν, ἀλλ' ουν ἡμᾶς ἐλυτρώσατο τουτέστιν ἀποτιννύναι ἐξαλείφων τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον ο ἠναγκάσμεθα ἀποτιννύναι ἐπιφερόμενον καθ' ἡμῶν.