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Aquila more clearly, And you established her who was weary. For you kept her, who was tired from the persecutions, steadfast. 11. "Your creatures dwell in it." He calls the holy apostles the creatures of God; mounted upon whom He drove out error, and converted men to the knowledge of God. Thus He also says concerning Paul: "For this man is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel." For this reason, the divine Habakkuk called them horses: "For you have ridden," he says, "your horses into the sea, churning up many waters." The prophetic word decreed that these would dwell in the inheritance of God, that is, among the nations. And they dwell to this very day, not only sanctifying those who draw near by the reliquaries of their bodies; but also converting the souls of men by the teaching of their writings. "You have prepared in your goodness for the poor, O God." These things, he says, you have gifted to the poor nature of men through your goodness. 12. "The Lord will give a word to those who proclaim the good news with great power." Those whom he called creatures above, he here calls evangelists. And since they were fishermen, 80.1384 and tax collectors, and shoemakers, but were ordained teachers of philosophers, and sophists, and orators, and of those who prided themselves on their eloquence, he rightly teaches from where, drawing the streams of teaching, they offer irrigation. 13. "The king of the powers of the beloved, to divide the spoils in the beauty of your house." But Symmachus has it thus: The Lord gave sayings to those who preach the good news with a great army. The kings of the armies were loved; they became beloved, and the beauty of the house distributes the spoils. He calls the believers a great army; thus indeed also the Apostle writing to Timothy says: "Wage the good warfare." And: "No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the affairs of this life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him." And he called their teachers kings of armies; whom he says are loved and called beloved. Thus the Lord also calls them: "You are my friends. I will no longer call you slaves, but friends." Thus also the divine Apostle says: "For the love of God constrains us." And: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" He calls spoils those who had formerly made their own members slaves of sin, and had given them over to the devil for slavery. And these He distributed to the holy apostles; appointing one teacher of the Romans, another of the Greeks; and declaring some to be preachers to the Indians, others to the Egyptians. These spoils the beauty of the house distributed to the holy apostles. And the house of God, according to the divine Apostle, is the believers. And the beauty of the house is the grace of the Holy Spirit, which beautifies and illumines it with the manifold generosity of gifts. And He taught this more clearly through the following verses. 14. "If you sleep among the lots, the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her back with the pale color of gold." He calls the wings of a dove, the grace of the Spirit. For in the form of a dove it came upon the streams of the Jordan. He says that its wings are covered with silver, and its back is adorned with gold. For He offers the simpler and easier things to the simpler people; but to the more perfect, the deeper things. "For my mysteries are for me and for mine." And some, as being imperfect, He gives milk to drink; 80.1385 but to others He offers solid food. He calls the two testaments "lots." He says therefore in each teaching, Come and you will see the manifold grace of the Holy Spirit. He commanded, however, not simply to approach, but also to attend continually. For this he called to sleep; as one who is sleeping remains motionless. 15. "When the heavenly One scatters kings upon it, they will be snowed upon in Salmon." And above he called the apostles kings, as heirs of the kingdom of heaven; just as in the 44th psalm he called them rulers; For you will make them, he says, rulers over all the earth.

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Ἀκύλας σαφέστερον, Καὶ μεμοχθηκυῖαν σὺ ἥδρασας. Καμοῦσαν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς δι ωγμοῖς ἀτρεμῆ διεφύλαξας. ιαʹ. "Τὰ ζῶά σου κατοικοῦσιν ἐν αὐτῇ." Ζῶα Θεοῦ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀποστόλους καλεῖ· ὧν ἐπιβὰς τὴν πλάνην ἐξήλασε, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς θεογνω σίαν ἐπέστρεψεν. Οὕτω καὶ περὶ τοῦ Παύλου φησίν· "Ὅτι σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς μοί ἐστιν οὗτος, τοῦ βαστά σαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐνώπιον ἐθνῶν, καὶ βασιλέων, υἱῶν τε Ἰσραήλ." Τούτου χάριν ἵππους αὐτοὺς ὁ θεῖος ὠνόμασεν Ἀβακούμ· "Ἐπεβίβασας γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς θάλασσαν τοὺς ἵππους σου, ταράσσοντας ὕδατα πολλά." Τούτους οἰκεῖν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ κλη ρονομίᾳ, τουτέστιν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὁ προφητικὸς ἐθέσπισε λόγος. Οἰκοῦσι δὲ μέχρι καὶ τήμερον, οὐ μόνον ταῖς θήκαις τῶν σωμάτων ἁγιάζοντες τοὺς πελάζοντας· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν συγγραμ μάτων τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς ἐπιστρέφοντες. "Ἡτοίμασας ἐν τῇ χρηστότητί σου τῷ πτωχῷ ὁ Θεός." Ταῦτα δὲ, φησὶ, τῇ πτωχῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσει διὰ τὴν σὴν ἐδωρήσω χρηστότητα. ιβʹ. "Κύριος δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ." Οὓς ἄνω ζῶα προσηγόρευσεν, εὐαγ γελιστὰς ἐνταῦθα καλεῖ. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἁλιεῖς ἦσαν, 80.1384 καὶ τελῶναι, καὶ σκυτοτόμοι, ἐχειροτονήθησαν δὲ φιλοσόφων, καὶ σοφιστῶν, καὶ ῥητόρων, καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ εὐγλωττίᾳ βρενθυομένων διδάσκαλοι, εἰκότως διδάσκει πόθεν ἀρυόμενοι τῆς διδασκαλίας τὰ νάμα τα, τὴν ἀρδείαν προσφέρουσιν. ιγʹ. "Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ, τῇ ὡραιότητι τοῦ οἴκου σου διελέσθαι σκῦλα." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως· Κύριος ἔδωκε ῥήσεις τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις στρατιᾷ πολλῇ. Βασιλεῖς τῶν στρατιῶν ἠγαπήθησαν· ἀγαπητοὶ ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἡ δίαιτα τοῦ οἴκου διανεμεῖ λάφυρα. Καλεῖ δὲ στρατιὰν πολλὴν, τοὺς πεπιστευκότας· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος Τιμοθέῳ γράφων λέγει· "Στρατεύου τὴν καλὴν στρατείαν." Καί· "Οὐδεὶς στρατευόμενος ἐμπλέκεται ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγμα τείαις, ἵνα τῷ στρατολογήσαντι ἀρέσῃ." Βασιλεῖς δὲ στρατιῶν, τοὺς τούτων διδασκάλους ὠνόμασεν· οὓς ἠγαπῆσθαι, καὶ ἀγαπητοὺς ὀνομάζεσθαί φησιν. Οὕτω δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ ὁ Κύριος καλεῖ· "Ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε. Οὐκ ἔτι καλέσω ὑμᾶς δούλους, ἀλλὰ φί λους." Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος λέγει· "Ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ συνέχει ἡμᾶς." Καί· "Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ;" Λάφυρα δὲ καλεῖ, τοὺς πάλαι μέλη τὰ οἰκεῖα δοῦλα τῆς ἁμαρτίας πεποιηκότας, καὶ τῷ διαβόλῳ ταῦτα εἰς δουλείαν ἐκδεδωκότας. Τούτους δὲ τοῖς ἱεροῖς διένειμεν ἀποστόλοις· τὸν μὲν Ῥωμαίων, τὸν δὲ Ἑλλήνων διδάσκαλον προστησάμενος· καὶ τοὺς μὲν Ἰν δῶν, τοὺς δὲ Αἰγυπτίων κήρυκας ἀποφήνας. Ταῦτα τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις τὰ λάφυρα ἡ τοῦ οἴκου ὡραιό της διένειμεν. Οἶκος δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, οἱ πεπιστευκότες. Ὡραιότης δὲ τοῦ οἴκου, ἡ χάρις τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ἡ τοῦτον ὡραΐζουσά τε καὶ λαμπρύνουσα τῇ παντοδαπῇ φιλο τιμίᾳ τῶν δωρεῶν. Καὶ τοῦτο σαφέστερον διὰ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐδίδαξεν. ιδʹ. "Ἐὰν κοιμηθῆτε ἀναμέσον τῶν κλήρων, πτέρυγες περιστερᾶς περιηργυρωμέναι, καὶ τὰ με τάφρενα αὐτῆς, ἐν χλωρότητι χρυσίου." Πτέρυγας δὲ καλεῖ περιστερᾶς, τὴν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἐν εἴδει γὰρ περιστερᾶς παρὰ τὰ Ἰορδάνεια ἐπεφοίτησε ῥεῖθρα. Ταύτης δὲ τὰς μὲν πτέρυγας, περιηργυ ρῶσθαί φησι· τὰ δὲ μετάφρενα κεκοσμῆσθαι χρυ σίῳ. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλούστερα, καὶ εὐκολώτερα, τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις προσφέρει· τοῖς δὲ τελειοτέροις, τὰ βαθύτερα. "Τὰ γὰρ μυστήριά μου ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς." Καὶ τοὺς μὲν, ὡς ἀτελεῖς, γάλα ποτίζει· 80.1385 τοῖς δὲ τὴν στερεὰν προσφέρει τροφήν. Κλήρους δὲ καλεῖ τὰς δύο διαθήκας. Λέγει τοίνυν ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ διδασκαλίᾳ, Προσέλθετε καὶ ὄψεσθε τὴν παντοδαπὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος χάριν. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς μέντοι προσελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διηνεκῶς προσεδρεῦσαι προσ έταξε. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκάλεσε κοιμηθῆναι· ὡς τοῦ καθεύδοντος ἀκινήτου μένοντος. ιεʹ. "Ἐν τῷ διαστέλλειν τὸν ἐπουράνιον βασι λεῖς ἐπ' αὐτῆς, χιονωθήσονται ἐν Σελμών." Καὶ ἄνω βασιλεῖς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐκάλεσεν, ὡς κλη ρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν· ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ μδʹ ψαλμῷ ἄρχοντας προσηγόρευσε· Καταστή σεις γὰρ αὐτοὺς, φησὶν, ἄρχοντας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν.