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then became of God. Moreover, by his divine laws He restrains the powerful, and with the threats of hell He strikes terror, and He prepares them to show some mercy to the poor. For He added this. 80.1437 14. "From usury and from injustice he will redeem their souls." And He called usury covetousness; for so also the old law addresses it, "You shall not take usury and increase;" He will persuade, therefore, he says, those who rejoice in injustice and covetousness to use mercy and philanthropy. "And precious shall be his name in their sight." He will be venerable, he says, among all, and glorious. 15. "And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia." Instead of Arabia, the other interpreters have put Sheba. And both this and that foretell the offerings brought to Him by all, both kings and barbarians. But "he shall live" is put instead of "he shall abide." "And they shall pray for him continually; all the day they shall bless him." They will hymn him perpetually; and they will also hymn his Father, having received from him the occasions for hymnody. For "They shall pray for him" is like that apostolic saying: "I thank my God through Jesus Christ." And again: "Through whom we have access to the Father." Through him, therefore, all will pray to the Father, and will hymn him, for the good things that have come to them from the Son. And they will also hymn him, as having received these things from him. 16. "There shall be a confirmation in the earth upon the tops of the mountains." He himself, he says, will support and sustain those who have believed in him, and will show them to be high and exalted, as standing on the very peaks of the mountains. This is indeed what the Lord said to His disciples: "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." -"Their fruit shall be exalted above Lebanon." Since he mentioned the high mountains, he reasonably also brought in the memory of Lebanon, as being the highest of the mountains in Palestine; and he says that his teaching, and its prophets and preachers, will become higher and more conspicuous than Lebanon. "And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth." Those, therefore, who have believed in him will bring forth such fruit. But the unbelieving Jews will be likened to growing grass that withers immediately. 80.1440 17. "His name shall be blessed for ever: his name shall endure before the sun." "Blessed" is found with none, neither in the Hexapla, nor among the Hebrews. He shows him to be older than the sun and the moon; for he does not simply endure before the sun, but for generations of generations. [And "of generations of generations"] he has applied both to the sun and to the moon. For the sun and moon are of the same age, for they came into being at the same time. "For God said, he says, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven;' and God made the two great lights." If, therefore, before the moon for generations of generations, then also before the sun. "And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed." Here he remembered the promise concerning Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. For to the three patriarchs God promised that they would be blessed, sometimes all the nations of the earth, sometimes the tribes of the earth. And He names all of human nature in different ways. And the blessed Paul, interpreting this, said: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your seed," which is Christ. And indeed also in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels." Concerning him the present psalm also prophesies, saying that through him all the tribes will be blessed. "All nations shall call him blessed." The prophetic word went through some things as concerning a man, and others as concerning God. We find "blessed" also applied to God

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γενομένην τηνικαῦτα Θεοῦ. Ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῖς θείοις αὑτοῦ νόμοις καταστέλλει τοὺς δυνα στεύοντας, καὶ ταῖς τῆς γεέννης ἀπειλαῖς καταπλήτ τει, καὶ παρασκευάζει φειδώ τινα τῶν πενήτων ποιεῖσθαι. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐπήγαγεν. 80.1437 ιδʹ. "Ἐκ τόκου καὶ ἐξ ἀδικίας λυτρώσεται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν." Τόκον δὲ τὴν πλεονεξίαν ἐκάλεσεν· οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς προσαγορεύει νόμος, "Τόκον καὶ πλεονασμὸν οὐ λήψῃ·" πείσει τοίνυν, φησὶ, τοὺς ἀδικίᾳ καὶ πλεονεξίᾳ χαίροντας ἐλέῳ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ κεχρῆσθαι. "Καὶ ἔντιμον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν." Σεβάσμιος, φησὶν, ἔσται παρὰ πᾶσι, καὶ ἔνδοξος. ιεʹ. "Καὶ ζήσεται, καὶ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ χρυσίου τῆς Ἀραβίας." Ἀντὶ τῆς Ἀραβίας, Σαββὰτεθείκασιν οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταί. Καὶ τοῦτο μέντοι κἀκεῖνο τὰ ἀναθήματα προθεσπίζει τὰ παρὰ πάν των αὐτῷ καὶ βασιλέων καὶ βαρβάρων προσκομι ζόμενα. Τὸ δὲ ζήσεται, ἀντὶ τοῦ διαμενεῖ τέθει κεν. "Καὶ προσεύξονται περὶ αὐτοῦ διαπαντὸς, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν εὐλογήσουσιν αὐτόν." Ὑμνήσουσι δὲ αὐτὸν διηνεκῶς· ὑμνήσουσι δὲ καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ Πατέρα, δι' αὐτοῦ λαβόντες τῆς ὑμνῳδίας τὰς ἀφορμάς. Τὸ γὰρ, "Προσεύξονται περὶ αὐτοῦ," ἔοικε τῷ ἀποστολικῷ ἐκείνῳ· "Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ μου διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ." Καὶ πάλιν· "∆ι' οὗ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα." ∆ιὰ τούτου προσεύξονται τοίνυν ἅπαντες τῷ Πα τρὶ, καὶ ὑμνήσουσιν αὐτὸν, ἐπὶ τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ εἰς αὐτοὺς γεγενημένοις ἀγαθοῖς. Ὑμνήσουσι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν, ὡς παρ' αὐτοῦ ταῦτα δεξάμενοι. ιʹ. "Ἔσται στήριγμα ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων." Αὐτὸς, φησὶ, στηρίξει, καὶ ἐρείσει τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότας, καὶ ὑψηλοὺς δείξει καὶ μετεώρους, ὡς ἐν αὐταῖς ἑστῶτας ταῖς τῶν ὀρῶν κορυφαῖς. Τοῦτο δὴ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἔφη τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς· "Οὐ δύναται πόλις κρυβῆναι ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη· οὐδὲ καίουσι λύχνον, καὶ τιθέασιν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, καὶ φαί νει πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ." -"Ὑπεραρθή σεται ὑπὲρ τὸν Λίβανον ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῶν." Ἐπειδὴ τῶν ὑψηλῶν ὀρῶν ἐμνημόνευσεν, εἰκότως καὶ τοῦ Λιβάνου τὴν μνήμην παρήγαγεν, ὡς τῶν κατὰ τὴν Παλαιστίνην ὀρῶν ὑψηλοτάτου· καί φησι, τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ταύτης ὑποφή τας καὶ κήρυκας, ὑψηλοτέρους καὶ περιφανεστέ ρους τοῦ Λιβάνου γενήσεσθαι. "Καὶ ἐξανθή σουσιν ἐκ πόλεως ὡσεὶ χόρτος τῆς γῆς." Οἱ μὲν οὖν πεπιστευκότες αὐτῷ τοιοῦτον βλαστήσουσι καρπόν. Οἱ δὲ ἀπιστήσαντες Ἰουδαῖοι χόρτῳ φυομένῳ, καὶ παραυτίκα φθειρομένῳ, ἀπεικασθήσονται. 80.1440 ιζʹ. "Ἔσται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμενεῖ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ." Τὸ εὐλογημένον παρ' οὐδενὶ κεῖται. οὔτε ἐν τῷ Ἑξαπλῷ, οὔτε παρ' Ἑβραίοις. ∆είκνυσιν αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς πρὸ, τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς σελή νης πρεσβύτερον· οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμένει, ἀλλὰ γενεᾶς γενεῶν. [Τὸ δὲ γενεᾶς γενεῶν] καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης τέθεικεν. Ἥλιος γὰρ καὶ σελήνη ὁμόχρονοι, κατὰ ταυτὸν γὰρ ἐγένοντο. "Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς, Γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ· καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς δύο φωστῆρας τοὺς μεγάλους." Εἰ τοίνυν πρὸ τῆς σελήνης γενεᾶς γενεῶν, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου. "Καὶ ἐνευλογηθή σονται ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς." Ἐνταῦθα τῆς περὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἐπαγγελίας ἐμνημόνευσε. Τοῖς γὰρ τρισὶ πατριάρχαις ὑπέσχετο ὁ Θεὸς εὐλογηθήσεσθαι, ποτὲ μὲν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς φυλὰς τῆς γῆς. ∆ιαφόρως δὲ πᾶσαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν ὀνομάζει. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἑρμηνεύων ἔφη· "Τῷ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ ἐῤῥήθησαν αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι, καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ." Οὐ λέγει. καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν, ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐφ' ἑνὸς, καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου, ὅς ἐστι Χριστός. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῇ· "Οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται." Περὶ τούτου καὶ ὁ προκείμενος προθεσπίζει ψαλμὸς, δι' αὐτοῦ λέγων πάσας εὐλογηθήσεσθαι τὰς φυλάς. "Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μακαριοῦσιν αὐτόν." Τὰ μὲν ὡς περὶ ἀν θρώπου, τὰ δὲ ὡς περὶ Θεοῦ, ὁ προφητικὸς δι εξήλυθε λόγος. Εὑρίσκομεν τὸ μακάριος καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ