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he called 60.562 Hosea as a witness, crying out and saying: I will call them My people, which were not My people. For who were not the people? The Gentiles, clearly. And who was she that was not beloved? The same again. But nevertheless He said they would be both a People and Beloved, and would be sons of God. For there, he says, they will be called sons of the living God. But if they should say that this was said concerning those from the Jews who believed, even so the argument stands. For if such a great change happened for those who were ungrateful after many benefactions, and had become alienated, and had lost their status as a people, what prevented those who were not alienated after being made kindred, but were aliens from the beginning, from being called and, upon obeying, being deemed worthy of the same things? Having therefore brought forward Hosea, he is not content with him alone, but also brings in Isaiah after him, speaking in harmony with him. For Isaiah, he says, cries out concerning Israel; that is, he cries out with boldness, and does not hold back. Why then do you accuse us, when they proclaim these things beforehand more clearly than a trumpet? What then does Isaiah cry out? Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant will be saved. Do you see that he too says not that all will be saved, but those who are worthy to be saved? For I am not ashamed of the multitude, he says, nor am I awed by the race, so widespread, but I save only those who present themselves as worthy. And he did not simply mention the sand of the sea, but reminded them of the ancient promise, of which they had rendered themselves unworthy. Why then are you disturbed, as if the promise has failed, when all the prophets declare that not all are to be saved? Then he also speaks of the manner of salvation. Did you see the prophetic accuracy, and apostolic understanding, what sort of testimony he adduced, how very suitable? For it not only shows us that some are saved and not all, but it also adds how they will be saved. How then will they be saved? And how will God deem them worthy of His benefaction? Finishing the work and cutting it short, he says, in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth. What he says is this: There is no need for a period of time and labors and hardships from the works of the law, but salvation will be with great brevity. For such is faith; in a few words it holds salvation. For if you confess with your mouth, he says, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10. Did you see what it is, The Lord will make a short work upon the earth? And the wondrous thing is that this short word brought not only salvation, but also righteousness. And as Isaiah said before, Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah. Again here he shows something else, that not even the few were saved by their own means. For these too would have perished and suffered the fate of Sodom, that is, they would have undergone utter destruction. For they too were all destroyed root and branch, and did not leave even a chance seed of them; and these, he says, would have become like them, if God had not used His great goodness, and preserved them through faith. And this also happened in the case of the physical captivity; for the majority were led away 60.563 and perished, but a few only were saved. What then shall we say? he says. That Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. The clearest solution is here, then. For since he has shown from the facts: For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; and from the ancestors Jacob and Esau, and from the prophets, he brings forward the most decisive solution from Hosea and Isaiah, having first amplified the difficulty. For there are two questions: that the Gentiles attained, and that they attained without pursuing, that is, without striving. And again, concerning the Jews, likewise two difficulties: that Israel did not attain, and striving, did not attain. Wherefore also with more emphatic words
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τὸν 60.562 Ὠσηὲ ἐκάλεσε μάρτυρα, βοῶντα καὶ λέγοντα· Καλέσω τὸν οὐ λαόν μου, λαόν μου. Τίς γὰρ ἦν ὁ οὐ λαός; Τὰ ἔθνη δῆλον. Καὶ τίς ἡ οὐκ ἠγαπημένη; Τὰ αὐτὰ πάλιν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔφησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ Λαὸν καὶ Ἠγαπημένην, καὶ υἱοὺς Θεοῦ ἔσεσθαι. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ κληθήσονται, φησὶν, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Εἰ δὲ λέγοιεν περὶ τῶν ἐξ Ἰουδαίων πιστευσάντων τοῦτο εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ οὕτως ὁ λόγος ἵσταται. Εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγνωμονησάντων μετὰ πολλὰς εὐεργεσίας, καὶ ἀλλοτριωθέντων, καὶ τὸ λαὸς εἶναι ἀπολωλεκότων τοσαύτη γέγονεν ἡ μεταβολὴ, τί ἐκώλυσε καὶ τοὺς οὐ μετὰ τὴν οἰκείωσιν ἀλλοτριωθέντας, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀλλοτρίους ὄντας, κληθῆναι, καὶ ὑπακούσαντας τῶν αὐτῶν ἀξιωθῆναι; Παραγαγὼν τοίνυν τὸν Ὠσηὲ, οὐκ ἀρκεῖται τούτῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν μετ' ἐκεῖνον εἰσάγει συνῳδὰ τούτῳ φθεγγόμενον. Ἡσαΐας γὰρ κράζει, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· τουτέστι, μετὰ παῤῥησίας ἀναφωνεῖ, καὶ οὐχ ὑποστέλλεται. Τί τοίνυν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλεῖτε, ὅταν ἐκεῖνοι σάλπιγγος λαμπρότερον ταῦτα προαναφωνῶσι; Τί οὖν κράζει ὁ Ἡσαΐας; Ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, ὡσεὶ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάττης, τὸ ἐγκατάλειμμα σωθήσεται. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι καὶ ἐκεῖνος οὐχὶ πάντας λέγει σώσεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀξίους σωθῆναι; Οὐ γὰρ αἰδοῦμαι τὸ πλῆθος, φησὶν, οὐδὲ δυσωπεῖ με τὸ γένος, οὕτως ἐκκεχυμένον, ἀλλ' ἐκείνους σώζω μόνον τοὺς ἀξίους ἑαυτοὺς παρέχοντας. Καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἄμμου θαλάσσης ἐμνημόνευσεν, ἀλλ' ἀναμιμνήσκων αὐτοὺς παλαιᾶς ἐπαγγελίας, ἧς ἀναξίους ἑαυτοὺς κατέστησαν. Τί τοίνυν θορυβεῖσθε, ὡς τῆς ὑποσχέσεως διαπεσούσης, τῶν προφητῶν ἁπάντων δηλούντων, οὐ πάντας εἶναι τοὺς σωζομένους; Εἶτα καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς σωτηρίας λέγει. Εἶδες ἀκρίβειαν προφητικὴν, καὶ σύνεσιν ἀποστολικὴν, οἵαν μαρτυρίαν ἐπήγαγε, πῶς σφόδρα ἐπιτηδείαν; Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὅτι τινές εἰσιν οἱ σωζόμενοι καὶ οὐχὶ πάντες, δείκνυσιν ἡμῖν αὕτη, ἀλλὰ καὶ πῶς σωθήσονται προστίθησι. Πῶς οὖν σωθήσονται; καὶ πῶς αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς ἀξιώσει τῆς εὐεργεσίας; Λόγον συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων, φησὶν, ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ὅτι λόγον συντετμημένον ποιήσει Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὐ περιόδου χρεία καὶ πόνων καὶ ταλαιπωρίας τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων τῶν νομίμων, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς συντομίας ἔσται ἡ σωτηρία. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ πίστις· ἐν βραχέσι ῥήμασιν ἔχει τὴν σωτηρίαν. Ἐὰν γὰρ ὁμολογήσῃς, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ στόματί σου Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ. ιʹ. Εἶδες τί ἐστι, Λόγον συντετμημένον ποιήσει Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Καὶ τὸ δὴ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι ὁ βραχὺς οὗτος λόγος οὐ σωτηρίαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐκόμισε. Καὶ καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἡσαΐας, Εἰ μὴ Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν, καὶ ὡς Γόμοῤῥα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν. Πάλιν ἐνταῦθα ἄλλο τι δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐδ' αὐτοὶ οἱ ὀλίγοι οἴκοθεν διεσώθησαν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι ἀπώλοντο ἂν καὶ τὰ Σοδόμων ἔπαθον, τουτέστι, πανωλεθρίαν ὑπέμειναν ἄν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐκεῖνοι πρόῤῥιζοι πάντες ἀπώλοντο, καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ τυχὸν σπέρμα αὐτῶν κατέλιπον· καὶ οὗτοι γοῦν, φησὶν, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ἂν ἐγένοντο, εἰ μὴ πολλῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἐχρήσατο τῇ ἀγαθότητι, καὶ διετήρησε διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτούς. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς γέγονεν αἰχμαλωσίας· οἱ μὲν γὰρ πλείους ἀπήχθησαν 60.563 καὶ ἀπώλοντο, ὀλίγοι δὲ διεσώθησαν μόνοι. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν, φησίν; Ὅτι ἔθνη τὰ μὴ διώκοντα δικαιοσύνην κατέλαβε δικαιοσύνην, δικαιοσύνην δὲ τὴν ἐκ πίστεως· Ἰσραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόμον δικαιοσύνης, εἰς νόμον δικαιοσύνης οὐκ ἔφθασεν. Ἡ σαφεστάτη λύσις ἐνταῦθα λοιπόν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔδειξεν· Οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προγόνων τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ τὴν κυριωτάτην ἐπάγει λύσιν ἐκ τοῦ Ὠσηὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου, πρότερον τὴν ἀπορίαν αὐξήσας. Καὶ γὰρ δύο ἐστὶ τὰ ζητούμενα, ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπέτυχε, καὶ μὴ διώκοντα ἐπέτυχε, τουτέστι, μὴ σπουδάσαντα. Καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁμοίως τὰ δύο ἄπορα, ὅτι καὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐπέτυχε, καὶ σπουδάζων οὐκ ἐπέτυχε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ταῖς λέξεσιν ἐμφαντικώτερον