149
I think thoughts are called tropically; for these receive gladness. And if one should take the divine promise to apply to the bones, he would not miss the mark of the prophecy's purpose; for through gladness in the soul the body is also fattened; for it says, "A glad heart makes a cheerful face." And you shall be as a watered garden and as a spring of water whose water has not failed. Through these images he showed the promise of good things more clearly. 12And your eternal desolate places shall be built up, and your foundations shall be eternal, you will raise them up for generations of generations. Here he calls the building not the perceptible one but the spiritual one; for how could a perceptible building become eternal, when all things that are seen are changed at the time of the consummation? And the word *you will raise up* hints at this; for this building is shown after the resurrection. Thus also the divine apostle said: "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is." And you shall be called a builder of fences or according to the Other Interpreters, "of breach." And you will restore the paths between. For one who blocks the paths of error and walls off such breaches and walls and fences himself on all sides is fittingly called a builder of fences. 13If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and call the sabbaths a delight, holy to God, glorious, and shall glorify it, not lifting your foot for your own work nor speaking a word in anger from your mouth, |174 a| 14and you shall trust in the Lord. Here we learn of the contentious and argumentative disposition of the Jews. For when they ought to have kept the law, they transgressed it fearlessly. And the word of prophecy rebukes this; for as they do not honor the sabbath with rest, it commands them to do this. But now that the law has been abrogated, they contentiously keep the law, as if both transgressing and keeping it for this reason, that they might provoke God. For this reason God says through Ezekiel: "But the house of Israel is contentious," and through Hosea: "Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves contention," that is, argumentative, contentious, not accepting the yoke. Yet he calls the sabbaths a delight as being free from bodily labors. And he also teaches the manner of the rest; for he says, You will not speak a word in anger from your mouth and you will trust in the Lord; so that he commands the sabbath to be honored by rest from evil things, but to attend to the working of good things. For which reason he also imposes a double labor on the priests; for they offered double sacrifices; and it was necessary to sacrifice the victims and to wash the meat and to offer it at the altar and to light a fire and to give the nourishment of the wood to the fire. And the reading of the divine oracles and the psalmody and the prayer also became more frequent. And through all things it is shown that the law, leading them away from perceptible things, brought them to spiritual things on the day of the sabbath; for they were not able to do this continuously, living more carnally and being devoted to the care of the body. And he will bring you up to the good things of the earth and will feed you with the blessing of Jacob your father. And the confirmation of what was said: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. He who promised, he says, is not false; he will certainly give you a share of the good things, and you will enjoy ancestral providence. 591Is not the hand of the Lord strong enough to save, or has his ear become heavy that it cannot hear? What does he say, do you suppose me to be weak or harsh? Am I not able to help or am I not willing? 2But your sins separate you from God, and because of your sins he has turned his face away from you, so as not to have mercy. Your lawless life does not allow you to enjoy the divine providence. Then he teaches the kinds of this: 3For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with
149
λογισμοὺς τροπικῶς ἡγοῦμαι κεκλῆσθαι· οὗτοι γὰρ δέχονται τὴν εὐφροσύνην. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀστῶν λάβοι τις τὴν θείαν ὑπόσχεσιν, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τοῦ τῆς προφητείας σκοποῦ· διὰ γὰρ τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν εὐφροσύνης καὶ τὸ σῶμα πιαίνεται· «Καρδία» γάρ φησιν «εὐφραινομένη θάλλει πρόσωπον.» Καὶ ἔσῃ ὡς κῆπος μεθύων καὶ ὡς πηγὴ ὕδατος ἣ<ν> μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ. Ἔδειξε διὰ τῶν εἰκόνων σαφέστερον τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν. 12Καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσονταί σου αἱ ἔρημοι αἰώνιοι, καὶ ἔσται τὰ θεμέλιά σου αἰώνια, γενεαῖς γενεῶν ἀναστήσεις. Οἰκοδομίαν οὐ τὴν αἰσθητὴν ἐνταῦθα καλεῖ ἀλλὰ τὴν πνευματικήν· πῶς γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο αἰσθητὴ οἰκοδομία αἰώνιος, τῶν ὁρωμένων μεταβαλλομένων ἁπάντων κατὰ τὸν τῆς συντελείας καιρόν; Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀναστήσεις αἰνίττεται· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ οἰκοδομία μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν δείκνυται. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος ἔφη· «Εἰ δέ τι ἐποικοδομεῖ ἐπὶ τὸν θεμέλιον τοῦτον, χρυσὸν ἄργυρον λίθους τιμίους ξύλα χόρτον καλάμην, ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον φανερὸν γενήσεται· ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα δηλώσει, ὅτι ἐν πυρὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται, καὶ ἑκάστου τὸ ἔργον ὁποῖόν ἐστι τὸ πῦρ δοκιμάσει.» Καὶ κληθήσῃ οἰκοδόμος φραγμῶν ἢ κατὰ τοὺς Λοιποὺς Ἑρμηνευτὰς «διακοπῆς». Καὶ τὰς τρίβους τὰς ἀνὰ μέσον παύσεις. Ὁ γὰρ τῆς πλάνης τὰς ἀτραποὺς ἀποφράττων καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἀποτειχίζων διακοπὰς καὶ πάντοθεν ἑαυτὸν τειχίζων καὶ περιφράττων εἰκότως οἰκοδόμος φραγμῶν ὀνομάζεται. 13Ἐὰν ἀποστρέψῃς ἀπὸ τῶν σαββάτων τὸν πόδα ςου τοῦ μὴ ποιεῖν τὰ θελήματά σου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἁγίᾳ καὶ καλέσῃς τὰ σάββατα τρυφερά, ἅγια τοῦ θεοῦ, δεδοξαςμένα καὶ δοξάσῃς αὐτά, οὐκ ἀρεῖς τὸν πόδα σου ἐπ' ἔργῳ σου οὐδὲ λαλήσεις λόγον ἐν ὀργῇ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου |174 a| 14καὶ ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ κύριον. Τὸ φιλόνεικον καὶ ἐριστικὸν τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων γν ώμης ἐνταῦθα μανθάνομεν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἔδει φυλάττειν τὸν νόμον, ἀδεῶς τοῦτον παρέβαινον. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐλέγχει τῆς προφητείας ὁ λόγος· ὡς γὰρ μὴ τιμῶσιν ἀργίᾳ τὸ σάββατον τοῦτο κελεύει ποιεῖν. Νῦν δὲ τοῦ νόμου λυθέντος φυλάττειν φιλονεικοῦσι τὸν νόμον, ὥσπερ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ παραβαίνοντες καὶ φυλάττοντες, ἵνα παροξύνωσι τὸν θεόν. Τούτου χάριν διὰ μὲν τοῦ Ἰεζεκιήλ φησιν ὁ θεός· «Ὁ δὲ οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ φιλόνεικοί εἰσιν», διὰ δὲ τοῦ Ὠσηέ· «Ἐφραὶμ δάμαλις δεδιδαγμένη ἀγαπᾶν νεῖκος», τουτέστιν ἐρι στική, φιλόνεικος, τὸν ζυγὸν οὐ δεχομένη. Τρυφερὰ μέντοι καλεῖ τὰ σάββατα ὡς σωματικῶν πόνων ἀπηλλαγμένα. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀργίας τὸν τρόπον· Οὐ λαλήσεις γάρ φησι λόγον ἐν ὀργῇ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου καὶ ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ κύριον· ὥστε τῇ τῶν κακῶν ἀργίᾳ τιμᾶσθαι κελεύει τὸ σάββατον, προςέχειν δὲ τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐργασίᾳ. Οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι διπλάσιον ἐπιτίθησι πόνον· διπλᾶ γὰρ προσέφερον τὰ θύματα· ἀνάγκη δὲ ἦν καὶ θύειν τὰ ἱερεῖα καὶ πλύνειν τὰ κρέα καὶ τῷ βωμῷ προσφέρειν καὶ πῦρ ἅπτειν καὶ τῷ πυρὶ ὀρέγειν τὴν τῶν ξύλων τροφήν. Καὶ ἡ ἀνάγνωσις δὲ τῶν θείων λογίων πλεῖον ἐγίγνετο καὶ ἡ ὑμνῳδία καὶ ἡ προσευχή. Καὶ δι' ἁπάντων δείκνυται ὡς τῶν αἰσθητῶν αὐτοὺς ἀπάγων ὁ νόμος τοῖς πνευματικοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν σαββάτων προσῆγεν· οὐ γὰρ ἠδύναντο τοῦτο διηνεκῶς δρᾶν σαρκικώτερον ζῶντες καὶ τῇ τοῦ σώματος θεραπείᾳ προστετηκότες. Καὶ ἀναβιβάςει σε ἐπὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς καὶ ψωμιεῖ σε τὴν εὐλογίαν Ἰακὼβ τοῦ πατρός σου. Καὶ ἡ βεβαίωσις τῶν εἰρημένων · Τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. Ἀψευδής φησιν ὁ ὑποσχόμενος· δώσει σοι πάντως τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν μ ετάληψιν , καὶ τῆς προγονικῆς ἀπολαύσῃ προνοίας. 591Μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ κυρίου τοῦ ῥύσασθαι, ἢ ἐβάρυνε τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι; Τί φησιν ὑπολαμ βάνετε ἀσθενῆ με εἶναι ἢ ἀπηνῆ; Οὐ δύναμαι ἐπαμῦναι ἢ οὐ βεβούλ ημαι; 2Ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφ' ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι. Ὁ παράνομος ὑμῶν βίος οὐκ ἐᾷ τῆς θείας ὑμᾶς ἀπολαῦσαι προνοίας. Εἶτα τούτου διδάσκει τὰ εἴδη· 3Αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν μεμολυσμέναι αἵματι, καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν