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the virtue of wisdom, revealing the truth that will be manifested after it according to the economy, which exists before it according to cause.

QUESTION 42.

The second book of Chronicles says concerning Uzziah that "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and he was seeking the Lord in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the fear of the Lord, and the Lord made him prosper. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, and at the corner gate, and at the corner [Sgxt. gate] of the valley, and at the corners; and he became strong, and he built towers in the desert, and hewed out many cisterns, because he had many (433) cattle in Shephelah and in the plain; and vine-dressers in the hill country and in Carmel, for he was a farmer." What are the towers, and what is the corner gate, and what is the valley, and its corner; and what again are the corners, and what are the towers in the desert; and what are the hewn cisterns, and what are the cattle? and what is Shephelah and the plain, and who are the vine-dressers, and what is the hill country and Carmel? and what does, "For he was a farmer" mean?

Response. Come, all-praised Word of God; give us the fitting revelation of your own words; and removing the thickness of the veils, show us the beauty, O Christ, of the things understood. Take our right hand; I mean, of the intellectual power within us, and guide us in the way of your commandments, and lead us to the place of your wondrous tabernacle, to the house of God with a voice of exultation and confession of a festive sound, so that we also, through the confession according to practice and the exultation according to contemplation, having been deemed worthy to come to your ineffable place of feasting, may feast together with those who celebrate there spiritually, chanting the knowledge of unspeakable things with the unceasing voices of the mind.

And forgive me, O Christ, and be merciful, on account of the command of your worthy servants, for daring things beyond my power; and illumine for the contemplation of the things set forth my unillumined mind, so that you may be glorified the more, giving sight to the blind, and making the tongue of the mute clear.

I think, therefore, that just as Solomon was up to a certain point a type of Christ our God, so also Uzziah was up to a certain point a type of the Savior; for the name Uzziah, translated into the Greek tongue, means "strength of God"; and the natural strength and enhypostatic power of God the Father is our Lord Jesus Christ, the stone that became the head of the corner, I mean, of the Church. The corner brings about a connection of two walls to each other through itself; thus the Church of God becomes the union of two peoples, both from the Gentiles and from the Jews, having Christ as the bond, who builds the towers in Jerusalem (I mean, the vision of peace), the divine and indestructible primary accounts of the dogmas concerning the divinity, that is, fortifications; and at the corner gate, the accounts of the dogmas concerning the incarnation; for the gate and door of the Church is again he himself, who says: I am the door; the gate which has the towers, that is, the fortifications of the divine dogmas concerning the incarnation; through which those who wish to believe rightly must make their entrance, being guarded, into the corner, I mean the Church. For he who is armed with the towers of the divine dogmas as with fortifications of truth, does not fear abusive arguments and demons.

(436) And at the corner of the valley. The valley is the flesh. And its corner is the union with the soul according to the connection in spirit; upon which the towers, that is, the fortifications of the commandments, are built; and the things upon them according to the

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σοφίας ἡ ἀρετή, μηνύουσα τήν μετ᾿ αὐτήν κατ᾿ οἰκονομίαν φανησομένην ἀλήθειαν, πρό αὐτῆς κατ᾿ αἰτίαν ὑπάρχουσαν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΜΚ΄.

Περί τοῦ Ὀζίου φησίν ἡ δευτέρα τῶν Παραλειπομένων, ὅτι " Ἐποίησε τό εὐθές ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καί ἦν ἐκζητῶν τόν Κύριον ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ζαχαρίου τοῦ συνιέντος ἐν φόβῳ Κυρίου, καί εὐώδωσεν ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ Κύριος. Καί ᾠκοδόμησεν Ὀζίας πύργους ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καί ἐπί τήν πύλην τῆς γωνίας, καί ἐπί τήν γωνίαν [Sgxt. πύλην] τῆς φάραγγος, καί ἐπί τῶν γωνιῶν· καί κατίσχυσεν, καί ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργους ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καί ἐλατόμησεν λάκκους πολλούς, ὅτι κτήνη (433) πολλά ὑπῆρχεν αὐτῷ ἐν Σεφιλᾷ, καί ἐν τῇ πεδεινῇ· καί ἀμπελουργοί ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, καί ἐν τῷ Καρμήλῳ, ὅτι γεωργός ἦν." Τίνες οἱ πύργοι, καί τίς ἡ πύλη τῆς γωνίας, καί τίς ἡ φάραγξ, καί ἡ γωνία αὐτῆς· καί τίνες πάλιν αἱ γωνίαι, τίνες τε οἱ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ πύργοι· καί τίνες οἱ λελατομμένοι λάκκοι, τίνα τε τά κτήνη; καί τίς ἡ Σεφιλά καί ἡ πεδεινή, τίνες τε οἱ ἀμπελουργοί, καί τίς ἡ ὀρεινή καί ὁ Κάρμηλος; καί τί, " Ὅτι γεωργός ἦν;"

Ἀπόκρισις. Ἐλθέ, Λόγε Θεοῦ πανύμνητε· δός τῶν οἰκείων λόγων τήν σύμμετρον ἡμῖν

ἀποκάλυψιν· καί περιελών τήν τῶν ἐπικαλυμμάτων παχύτητα, δεῖξον ἡμῖν τό κάλλος, Χριστέ, τῶν νοουμένων. Λαβοῦ τῆς χειρός ἡμῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς· τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν λέγω νοερᾶς δυνάμεως, καί ὁδήγησον ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τῶν ἐντολῶν σου, καί εἰς τόπον ἄγαγε τῆς θαυμαστῆς σου σκηνῆς, ἕως τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν φωνῇ ἀγαλλιάσεως καί ἐξομολογήσεως ἤχου ἑορτάζοντος, ὅπως καί ἡμεῖς διά τῆς κατά τήν πρᾶξιν ἐξομολογήσεως, καί τῆς κατά τήν θεωρίαν ἀγαλλιάσεως, πρός τόν σόν τῆς εὐωχίας ἄφραστον τόπον ἐλθεῖν ἀξιωθέντες, συνευωχήσωμεν τοῖς ἐκεῖσε πνευματικῶς ἑορτάζουσι, τήν τῶν ἀλαλήτων γνῶσιν ἀσιγήτοις νοῦ φωναῖς ἀναμέλποντες.

Καί μοι σύγνωθι, Χριστέ, καί ἵλαθι, διά τήν τῶν ἀξίων σου δούλων ἐπιταγήν, κατατολμῶντι τῶν ὑπέρ δύναμιν· καί φώτισον πρός τήν τῶν προκειμένων θεωρίαν, τήν ἀφώτιστόν μου διάνοιαν, ἵνα πλέον δοξασθῇς, τυφλοῖς τό βλέπειν διδούς, καί μογιλάλοις τρανήν τήν γλῶσσαν ποιούμενος.

Οἶμαι τοίνυν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἕως τινός Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τύπος ὑπῆρχεν ὁ Σολομών, οὕτω καί ὁ Ὀζίας ἕως τινός τύπος ἦν τοῦ Σωτῆρος· ἰσχύν γάρ Θεοῦ πρός τήν Ἑλλάδα φωνήν μεταφερόμενον σημαίνει Ὀζίου τόν ὄνομα· ἰσχύς δέ φυσική καί δύναμις ἐνυπόστατος τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστός· ὁ εἰς κεφαλήν γωνίας γενόμενος λίθος· λέγω δέ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Ἡ γωνία δύο τειχῶν ποιεῖται δι᾿ ἑαυτῆς πρός ἀλλήλους συνάφειαν· οὕτως ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία τῶν δύο λαῶν, τοῦ τε ἐξ ἐθνῶν, καί τοῦ ἐξ Ἰουδαίων ἕνωσις γίνεται, τόν Χριστόν ἔχουσα σύνδεσμον, τόν οἰκοδομοῦντα τούς πύργους ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλήμ (τήν ὅρασιν λέγω τῆς εἰρήνης), τούς θείους καί ἀκαθαιρέτους πρώτους τῶν περί θεότητος δογμάτων λόγους, ἤγουν ὀχυρώματα· καί ἐπί τήν πύλη τῆς γωνίας, τούς τῶν περί σαρκώσεως δογμάτων λόγου· πύλη γάρ καί θύρα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, αὐτός ἐστι πάλιν, ὁ λέγων· Ἐγώ εἰμί ἡ θύρα· ἡ τούς πύργους ἔχουσα, τουτέστι, τά ὀχυρώματα τῶν περί σαρκώσεως θείων δογμάτων, πύλη· δι᾿ ὧν φρουρουμένους, εἰς τήν γωνίαν, τήν Ἐκκλησίας έγω, ποιεῖσθαι δεῖ τούς καλῶς πιστεύειν βουλομένους τήν εἴσοδον. Ὁ γάρ τοῖς πύργοις τῶν θείων δογμάτων ὡς ἀληθείας ὀχυρώμασι καθωπλισμένος, τούς ἐπηρεαστάς οὐ φοβεῖται λόγους καί δαίμονας.

(436) Καί ἐπί τήν γωνίαν τῆς φάραγγος. Φάραγξ ἐστίν ἡ σάρξ. Γωνία δέ ταύτης ἐστίν ἡ πρός τήν ψυχήν κατά τήν ἐν πνεύματι συνάφειαν ἕνωσις· ἐφ᾿ ἧς οἱ πύργοι, ἤγουν τά ὀχυρώματα τῶν ἐντολῶν οἰκοδομοῦνται· καί τά ἐπ᾿ αὐταῖς κατά τήν