152

therefore human nature. For Christ having been raised from the dead, no longer dies, nor is He subject to a curse; or rather, not even before this was He subject, but He took up the curse, that He might deliver you from it. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one. Another, Gird your sword upon your thigh. Another, Place your sword as it were upon your thigh. In your comeliness and your beauty. Another says, Your praise and your dignity. Another, In your glory and your splendor. What is the change, and what is the transition of the words? For while speaking about a teacher—for this is what, Grace is poured out on your lips, means—he suddenly describes for us a king fully armed, and not in the manner of prophecy, but in the manner of supplication. For he did not say, He will gird His sword; but he requests, and says, Gird your sword. Then with this armament he also mixes beauty, now showing Him as a soldier, now as one being beautified; For, In your comeliness, he says, and in your beauty. Then as an archer; For Your arrows, he says, are sharpened, O mighty one. And again as a victor and trophy-bearer; Peoples under you, he says, will fall in the heart of the king's enemies. And this very one he again introduces as being anointed with myrrh, the soldier, and king, and archer, and victor; For myrrh, he says, and stacte, and cassia are from your garments. 5. What fellowship then is there between weapons and myrrh, between anointing and a sword, between teaching and war, between bows and adornment? For some are symbols of peace, others of battle and array. Who then is He who is at once peaceful and warlike? He who drips myrrh, and is fenced with weapons? He who comes forth from ivory palaces, and strikes countless enemies, and works so many slaughters? How shall we solve this difficulty? If we know precisely that these things are also said concerning His Father. For the Prophet also elsewhere introduces Him as armed, as when he says: If you do not turn, He will whet His sword; He has bent His bow, and made it ready, and in it He has prepared instruments of death. And again elsewhere: He will put on righteousness as a breastplate. But see also the same authority. For just as there he says, He will whet His sword, not being commanded by anyone, but Himself of Himself; so also here, The arrows of the mighty one are sharpened, peoples under you 55.190 will fall in the heart of the king's enemies. Then showing that He does all things from His own resources, he says: Your right hand will guide you marvelously. You do not receive energy from another, he says, but you are sufficient for yourself. But hear also the God of peace Himself saying to the disciples: I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword. And again: I came to cast fire on the earth, and what did I wish if it were already kindled? But this one, speaking of Him, says how He will come: He will descend like rain upon a fleece, and as a drop that drips upon the earth. I say these things so that you may be alert, and understanding precisely the things signified by the words, you may resolve even the difficulty for yourselves. For these names are significant of His energies. So then also here when you hear, Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, consider it to be a name for His energy; and so too the bows and the arrows. For just as Scripture says God is angry, not attributing a passion to Him, but by this word representing His punishing energy, and reaching the more obtuse; so also in speaking of weapons it indicates this. For since we punish not by ourselves, but through other instruments, wishing to show His punishing power, He has declared it by names familiar to us, not that we should think of weapons in relation to God, but that we might hear of His punishment more expressively. But many, he says, from this

152

τοίνυν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις. Χριστὸς γὰρ ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκ ἔτι ἀποθνήσκει, οὐδὲ κατάρᾳ ὑπόκειται· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ πρὸ τούτου ὑπέκειτο, ἀλλ' ἀνέλαβε τὴν κατάραν, ἵνα σὲ ταύτης ἀπαλλάξῃ. Περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατέ. Ἄλλος, Ζῶσαι μάχαιράν σου ἐπὶ μηρόν. Ἄλλος, Περίθου ὡς μάχαιράν σου ἐπὶ τοῦ μηροῦ. Τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου. Ἄλλος φησὶ, Τὸν ἔπαινόν σου καὶ τὸ ἀξίωμά σου. Ἄλλος, Ἐπιδοξότητί σου καὶ διαπρεπείᾳ σου. Τίς ἡ μεταβολὴ, καὶ τίς ἡ μετάστασις τῶν ῥημάτων; Περὶ γὰρ διδασκάλου διαλεγόμενος τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ, Ἐξεχύθη χάρις ἐν χείλεσί σου, ἐξαίφνης ἡμῖν βασιλέα καθωπλισμένον ὑπογράφει, καὶ οὐκ ἐν τάξει προφητείας, ἀλλ' ἐν τάξει ἱκετηρίας. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε· Περιζώσεται τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ· ἀλλὰ ἀξιοῖ, καί φησι, Περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου. Εἶτα καὶ τῇ ὁπλίσει ταύτῃ κάλλος ἀναμίγνυσι, νῦν μὲν ὁπλίτην δηλῶν, νῦν δὲ ὡραϊζόμενον· Τῇ γὰρ ὡραιότητί σου, φησὶ, καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου. Εἶτα τοξότην· Τὰ βέλη γάρ σου, φησὶν, ἠκονημένα, δυνατέ. Καὶ πάλιν νικητὴν καὶ τροπαιοῦχον· Λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου, φησὶ, πεσοῦνται ἐν καρδίᾳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ βασιλέως. Καὶ τοῦτον δὲ αὐτὸν πάλιν εἰσάγει μύροις χριόμενον τὸν ὁπλίτην, καὶ βασιλέα, καὶ τοξότην, καὶ νικητήν· Σμύρνα γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ στακτὴ, καὶ κασσία ἀπὸ τῶν ἱματίων σου. εʹ. Τίς οὖν κοινωνία ὅπλοις καὶ μύροις, χρίσματι καὶ ῥομφαίᾳ, διδασκαλίᾳ καὶ πολέμῳ, τόξοις καὶ ὡραϊσμῷ; Τὰ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν εἰρήνης σύμβολα, τὰ δὲ μάχης καὶ παρατάξεως. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ εἰρηνικὸς ὁμοῦ καὶ πολεμικός; ὁ μύρον στάζων, καὶ ὅπλοις φραττόμενος; ὁ προϊὼν ἀπὸ βάρεων ἐλεφαντίνων, καὶ μυρίους βάλλων τῶν ἐχθρῶν, καὶ τοσαύτας ἐργαζόμενος σφαγάς; Πῶς λύσομεν τὴν ἀπορίαν ταύτην; Ἂν γνῶμεν ἀκριβῶς ὅτι καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λέγεται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸν εἰσάγει ὁ Προφήτης ἀλλαχοῦ ὁπλιζόμενον, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιστραφῆτε, τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ στιλβώσει· τὸ τόξον αὐτοῦ ἐνέτεινε, καὶ ἡτοίμασεν αὐτὸ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἡτοίμασε σκεύη θανάτου. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἐνδύσεται θώρακα δικαιοσύνην. Ὅρα δὲ καὶ αὐθεντίαν τὴν αὐτήν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ φησι, Τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ στιλβώσει, οὐ παρά τινος κελευσθεὶς, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, Τὰ βέλη τοῦ δυνατοῦ ἠκονημένα, λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου 55.190 πεσοῦνται ἐν καρδίᾳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ βασιλέως. Εἶτα δεικνὺς, ὅτι οἴκοθεν πάντα ποιεῖ, λέγει· Ὁδηγήσει σε θαυμαστῶς ἡ δεξιά σου. Οὐχ ἑτέρωθεν, φησὶν, ἐνέργειαν δέχῃ, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ἀρκεῖς. Ἄκουε δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος τοῦ τῆς εἰρήνης Θεοῦ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς· Οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν. Καὶ πάλιν· Πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τί ἤθελον εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη; Οὗτος δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγων, πῶς ἥξει φησί· Καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον, καὶ ὡσεὶ σταγὼν ἡ στάζουσα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Ταῦτα λέγω, ἵνα διεγηγερμένοι ἦτε, καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν λέξεων σημαινόμενα μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἐκλαμβάνοντες, λύητε παρ' ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἀπορίαν. Ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ἐνεργειῶν αὐτοῦ ἐστι σημαντικά. Οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὅταν ἀκούσῃς, Περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατὲ, τῆς ἐνεργείας αὐτοῦ εἶναι ὄνομα νόμιζε· καὶ τὰ τόξα καὶ τὰ βέλη. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὀργίζεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν ἡ Γραφὴ λέγει, οὐ πάθος αὐτῷ περιάπτουσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς λέξεως ταύτης τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ τὴν κολαστικὴν παριστῶσα, καὶ τῶν παχυτέρων καθαπτομένη· οὕτω καὶ τὰ ὅπλα λέγουσα τοῦτο δηλοῖ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οὐ δι' ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλὰ δι' ἑτέρων ὀργάνων τιμωρούμεθα, θέλων δεῖξαι τὴν τιμωρητικὴν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν, διὰ τῶν γνωρίμων ἡμῖν ὀνομάτων ἐδήλωσεν, οὐχ ἵνα ὅπλα περὶ Θεὸν νοήσωμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἐμφαντικώτερον τὴν κόλασιν αὐτοῦ ἀκούσωμεν. Ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ, φησὶν, ἐντεῦθεν