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we have been taught. 6.7.4 And it also hints at his descent even to death, which happened for those who had reached this point, and it sets forth the reason for his arrival, showing the redemption of those who would be saved through him. For he alone saved those who had reached "unto the gates of death"; and these he also "delivered," healing them "from their destructions"; and he accomplished these things in no other way than by shattering the so-called "gates of bronze" of death and breaking the "iron bars." 6.7.5 And indeed after this it consequently prophesies the desolate state of those who did not receive him when he came; for it says, "He turned rivers into a desert, and water-springs into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it." These things you will also understand by recalling the nation of the Jews to the formerly renowned Jerusalem, and its glory, and its fruitfulness in God, of which it is now deprived of the holy and God-loving men who lived in it. 6.7.6 For after the coming of Christ it has become truly fruitless and waterless and completely desolate and, as the prophecy says, "into a salt waste because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it." To these things it adds very consistently, hinting in a prophetic manner, at the change to piety and the fruitfulness in divine words of what was formerly desert and thirsty, that is, of every human soul or of the church from the Gentiles. 6.7.7 which it also clearly hints at, saying: "He turned a desert into pools of water," and what follows; which only one who is wise with God could understand, according to the inference stated at the end of the psalm: "Who is wise and will keep these things?" and what follows. 6.8.1 From Psalm 117. "Praise the Lord, all you nations, and let all the peoples praise him; for his mercy has been strong upon us," and what follows; "O Lord, save now, O Lord, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. God is the Lord and has appeared to us." 6.8.2 And the sacred writing of the gospel mentions this, its fulfillment having happened when our savior and Lord, Christ himself, was entering Jerusalem, and a great multitude of men and children went before him, shouting with joy: "Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest." For instead of "O Lord, save now," which is in the psalm, they shouted "Hosanna," speaking in a more Hebrew manner, and this is interpreted "save now." 6.8.3 And "blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" clarifies the oracle that says next: "God is the Lord and has appeared to us." Therefore, one and the same was he who appeared to us, "God the Lord," that is, the Word of God, who is also for this reason "blessed," because he made his coming to men "in the name of the Lord," the Father who sent him. Therefore, rebuking those of the circumcision who disbelieved him, he said to them: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him." Fittingly, therefore, the Holy Spirit no longer addresses the people of the Jews, but all the nations, in the beginning of the psalm. 6.9.1 From Psalm 143. "Lord, what is man that you are known to him, or the son of man that you take account of him? Lord, bow your heavens and come down, touch the mountains and they will smoke," and continuing, he adds: "O God, I will sing a new song to you." I consider these things also to belong to the present subject. For marveling at the knowledge of the Word of God among men, he is utterly astonished at the philanthropy through which, descending from his divinity and making himself small from his connate greatness, he deemed the human race worthy of the knowledge of himself. 6.9.2 Here, then, he prays, saying: "Lord, bow your heavens and come down," but in the seventeenth psalm it is said: "And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet. And he mounted upon the Cherubim and flew, he flew upon the wings of the winds." 6.9.3 through which the things of the ascent, which from earth to

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πεπαιδεύμεθα. 6.7.4 αἰνίττεται δὲ καὶ τὴν μέχρι θανάτου κάθοδον αὐτοῦ διὰ τοὺς ἐφθακότας εἰς τοῦτον γεγενημένην, καὶ τήν γε αἰτίαν τῆς ἀφίξεως αὐτοῦ παρίστησιν, τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν ἐμφαίνων τῶν δι' αὐτοῦ σωθησομένων. τοὺς γὰρ ἐφθακότας «ἕως τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου» ἔσωσεν μόνος αὐτός· τούτους δὲ καὶ «ἐρρύσατο» ἰασάμενος «ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν»· καὶ διεπράξατό γε ταῦτα οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ τοῦ θανάτου τὰς λεγομένας «πύλας χαλκᾶς» συντρίψας καὶ τοὺς «σιδηροῦς μοχλοὺς» συγκλάσας. 6.7.5 καὶ δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀκολούθως προφητεύει τὴν εἰς ἔρημον κατάστασιν τῶν μὴ ἐλθόντα παραδεξαμένων αὐτόν· «ἔθετο», γάρ φησιν, «ποταμοὺς εἰς ἔρημον, καὶ διεξόδους ὑδάτων εἰς δίψος, γῆν καρποφόρον εἰς ἅλμην, ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν αὐτῇ.» ἃ καὶ νοήσεις ἀναδραμὼν τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἐπὶ τὴν πάλαι βοωμένην Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῆς, καὶ τὴν ἐν θεῷ καρποφορίαν, τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ πολιτευομένων ἁγίων καὶ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐστερημένην. 6.7.6 μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν γέγονεν ἀληθῶς ἄκαρπος καὶ ἄνυδρος καὶ παντελῶς ἔρημος καί, ὥς φησιν ἡ προφητεία, «εἰς ἅλμην ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν». τούτοις ἐπισυνάπτει σφόδρα ἀκολούθως, προφητικῷ τρόπῳ αἰνιττόμενος, τῆς πάλαι ἐρήμου καὶ διψάδος, ἤτοι πάσης ἀνθρώπου ψυχῆς ἢ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίας, τὴν εἰς εὐσέβειαν μεταβολὴν τήν τε ἐν θείοις λόγοις καρποφορίαν. 6.7.7 ἃ καὶ προδήλως αἰνίττεται λέγων· «ἔθετο ἔρημον εἰς λίμνας ὑδάτων», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ἅπερ νοῆσαι μόνου τοῦ παρὰ θεῷ γένοιτ' ἂν σοφοῦ, κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ ψαλμοῦ φήσασαν ἐπαγωγήν· «τίς σοφὸς καὶ φυλάξει ταῦτα;» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 6.8.1 Ἀπὸ Ψαλμοῦ ριζʹ. «Αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐπαινεσάτωσαν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ λαοί· ὅτι ἐκραταιώθη ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· «ὦ κύριε, σῶσον δή, ὦ κύριε, εὐόδωσον δή. εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου. θεὸς κύριος καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν». 6.8.2 Καὶ τούτου μέμνηται ἡ ἱερὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου γραφή, τέλους τετυχηκότος ὁπηνίκα ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς εἰσῄει εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα, πολύ τε πλῆθος ἀνδρῶν καὶ παίδων προῆγεν αὐτὸν μετ' εὐφροσύνης ἐπιβοώντων· «ὡς ἀννὰ τῷ υἱῷ ∆αβίδ, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, ὡς ἀννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις». ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ «ὦ κύριε, σῶσον δή» κειμένου ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τὸ «ὡς ἀννά» ἑβραϊκώτερον φάσκοντες ἐπεβόων, ἑρμηνεύεται δὲ τοῦτο «σῶσον δή». 6.8.3 καὶ τὸ «εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου» διασαφεῖ τὸ λόγιον ἑξῆς φάσκον· «θεὸς κύριος καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν». οὐκοῦν εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ ἐπιφανεὶς ἡμῖν «θεὸς κύριος», ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ δηλαδὴ λόγος, ὁ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο «εὐλογημένος», ὅτι δὴ «ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου» τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτὸν πατρὸς τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν ἐποιήσατο. ἐλέγχων γοῦν τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας αὐτῷ τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς ἔλεγεν πρὸς αὐτούς· «ἐγὼ ἦλθον ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετέ με. ἄλλος ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τῷ ἰδίῳ, ἐκεῖνον λήψεσθε». εἰκότως οὖν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐκέτι τῷ Ἰουδαίων λαῷ ἀλλὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προσφωνεῖ. 6.9.1 Ἀπὸ Ψαλμοῦ ρμγʹ. «Κύριε, τί ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπος ὅτι ἐγνώσθης αὐτῷ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ὅτι λογίζῃ αὐτόν; κύριε, κλῖνον οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατάβηθι, ἅψαι τῶν ὀρέων καὶ καπνισθήσονται», καὶ ὑποβὰς ἐπιλέγει· «ὁ θεός, ᾠδὴν καινὴν ᾄσομαί σοι». Ἔχεσθαι καὶ ταῦτα τῆς προκειμένης ὑποθέσεως ἡγοῦμαι. τὴν γὰρ εἰς ἀνθρώπους γνῶσιν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου θαυμάζων, ὑπερεκπλήττεται τῆς φιλανθρωπίας, δι' ἧς τῆς θεότητος ὑποβὰς καὶ τοῦ συμφυοῦς μεγέθους ἑαυτὸν σμικρύνας ἠξίωσεν τῆς ἰδίας γνώσεως τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος. 6.9.2 ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν εὔχεται λέγων· «κύριε, κλῖνον οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατάβηθι», ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ ψαλμῷ εἴρηται· «καὶ ἔκλινεν οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατέβη, καὶ γνόφος ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐπέβη ἐπὶ Χερουβὶμ καὶ ἐπετάσθη, ἐπετάσθη ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων». 6.9.3 δι' ὧν τὰ τῆς ἀνόδου, ἣν ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς