35. You know the words, Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is One; would that you knew them aright! As you interpret them, I seek in vain for their sense. It is said in the Psalms, God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee218    Ps. xlv. 7 (xliv. 8).. Impress upon the reader’s mind the distinction between the Anointer and the Anointed; discriminate between the Thee and the Thy: make it clear to Whom and of Whom the words are spoken. For this definite confession is the conclusion of the preceding passage, which runs thus; Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. And then he continues, Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee. Thus the God of the eternal kingdom, in reward for His love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity, is anointed by His God. Surely some broad difference is drawn, some gap too wide for our mental span, between these names? No; the distinction of Persons is indicated by Thee and Thy, but nothing suggests a difference of nature. Thy points to the Author, Thee to Him Who is the Author’s offspring. For He is God from God, as these same words of the prophet declare, God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee. And His own words bear witness that there is no God anterior to God the Un-originate; Be ye My witnesses, and I am witness, saith the Lord God, and My Servant Whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe and understand that I am, and before Me there is no other God, nor shall be after Me219    Is. xliii. 10.. Thus the majesty of Him that has no beginning is declared, and the glory of Him that is from the Unoriginate is safeguarded; for God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee. That word Thy declares His birth, yet does not contradict His nature220    His human nature also; cf. next §, and Book xi. § 18.; Thy God means that the Son was born from Him to share the Godhead. But the fact that the Father is God is no obstacle to the Son’s being God also, for God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee. Mention is made both of Father and of Son; the one title of God conveys the assurance that in character and majesty They are One.

35. Qui propheta Filium et Deum doceat, et a Patre secernat. Filii cur pater Deus sit.---Tenes dictum: Audi, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus unus est: atque utinam recte teneres. Sed secundum sensum tuum dicti prophetici quaero rationem. Ait enim in psalmis: Unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus (Psal. XLIV, 8). Discerne 0122A ad legentis intelligentiam unctum et ungentem: distingue te et tuus: ad quem et de quo sit sermo, demonstra. Superioribus enim dictis hic confessionis ordo subjectus est. Dixerat namque: Sedes tua, Deus, in saeculum saeculi, virga directionis tuae, virga regni tui; dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem (Ibid., 7). Nunc quoque his adjecit: Propterea unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus. Deus ergo regni aeterni, ob meritum dilectae justitiae et perosae iniquitatis, a Deo suo unctus est. Numquid intelligentiam nostram aliqua saltem nominum intervalla confundunt? Nam discretio tantum personae in te et tuus posita est, in nullo tamen naturae distincta confessione. Tuus enim relatum est ad auctorem, te vero ad ejus qui ex auctore est significationem. Est enim Deus ex Deo, 0122B propheta eodem ordine confitente: Unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus. Non est autem ante innascibilem Deum Deus ullus, ipso dicente: Estote mihi testes, et ego testis, dicit Dominus Deus, et puer meus quem elegi, ut sciatis et credatis et intelligatis quoniam ego sum, et ante me non est alius Deus, et post me non erit (Esa. XLIII, 10). Ejus igitur, qui sine initio est, demonstrata est dignitas; et ejus qui ex innascibili est, honor conservatus est: Unxit te, enim Deus, Deus tuus. Id enim, quod ait tuus, ad nativitatem refertur, caeterum non perimit naturam (Vide lib. XI, n. 18, etc.). Et idcirco Deus ejus est, quia ex eo natus in Deum est. Non tamen per id, quod Pater Deus est, non et Filius Deus est: Unxit enim te, Deus Deus tuus: designata videlicet et auctoris, et ex eo 0122C geniti significatione, uno eodemque dicto utrumque illum in naturae ejusdem et dignitatis nuncupatione constituit.