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I have desired nothing on earth apart from you. He has put it as a question instead of, There is hope for me in heaven. I expected, he says, and I expect you to be gracious to me in heaven and on earth. For neither in heaven do I have any other God and guardian besides you, nor indeed on earth do I rank another with you, but both in heaven and on earth I know you as God. [And these things are especially said from the person of those from the gentiles who have believed in the Savior; and he says that] And I embrace your lordship. 20. "My heart and my flesh have failed." For this reason I long for you, and thirst, both in soul and in body, and I await your help. God of my heart, and my portion, God forever." For I have you both as a portion and an inheritance, and the enjoyment of good things. 27. "For behold, those who remove themselves from you shall perish; you have destroyed everyone who commits fornication against you." But those who put themselves far from your care, and choose to worship idols, will have destruction as the fruit of their apostasy. For here he calls idolatry fornication. So also through Jeremiah God says: "She went up on every high mountain, and under every leafy tree, and committed fornication there; and I said after she committed all these fornications, 'Return to me,' and she did not return." And again: "And she committed adultery with wood and stone;" instead of: Leaving me, the bridegroom, she served those who are not gods. And here, therefore, he called the worship of idols fornication. This, however, he has said not concerning the Babylonians, but concerning those who became captives because of their impiety. For these, having 80.1453 God as their bridegroom, committed fornication, embracing the servitude of demons; but having been taught to be wise by experience, they cry out: 28. "But for me it is good to cling to God, to place my hope in the Lord." For having learned from the events themselves, I will be inseparable from the God who has saved me, and I will be strengthened in my hope in him. "That I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion." For through this hope I have obtained my return, and I recount your wondrous works in Jerusalem. For he named this the daughter of Zion. For just as he calls men "sons of men," so he names Zion "daughter of Zion." For the city had two names; for the same city is called both Zion and Jerusalem by the divine Scripture.

INTERPRETATION OF PSALM 73. 1. "Of understanding, for Asaph." The prophetic word, foretelling the future total destruction of Jerusalem, commands those who encounter the psalm to pay attention and understand its meaning. Some, however, have applied the psalm to the things done by Antiochus Epiphanes, having neither paid attention to the history nor understood the prophecy of the psalm accurately. For the psalm speaks of the burning of the divine temple, and the demolition of houses, and the complete sacking of the city; but we have not learned from history that these things were done by Antiochus. Nor indeed does it fit the siege of the Babylonians; for at that time they had many prophets, Jeremiah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. But the psalm says: "There is no longer a prophet, and he will know us no more." But if it fits neither the Babylonians nor the Macedonians, it is clear that it foretells the total destruction brought upon them by the Romans, after which they obtained no restoration, paying the penalty for their impiety against the Savior. And it is worthy to marvel at the ineffable goodness of the Master; because, even foreknowing their disobedience precisely, he tries to turn them from impiety by the prophecy of the evils to come. Nevertheless, the very prelude of the Psalm shows that the prophecy has this subject. "Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?" For you did not set a seventy-year time for this servitude, as in the case of the Babylonians, nor the seven and a half years, as in the case of Antiochus, according to Daniel's

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σοῦ οὐκ ἠβουλήθην ἐν τῇ γῇ. Ἐρωτηματι κῶς τέθεικεν ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ὑπάρχει μοι ἐλπὶς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. Προσεδόκησα, φησὶ, καὶ προσδοκῶ εὐμενῆ σέ μοι γενέσθαι ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄλλον τινὰ ἔχω Θεὸν καὶ κηδε μόνα πλήν σου, οὔτε μὴν ἐν τῇ γῇ ἕτερόν σοι συντάττω, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ σε οἶδα Θεόν. [Εἴρηται μάλιστα καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ προσ ώπου τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν πεπιστευκότων τῷ Σωτῆρι· λέ γει δὲ, ὅτι] Καὶ τὴν σὴν ἀσπάζομαι δεσποτείαν. κʹ. "Ἐξέλιπεν ἡ καρδία μου, καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου." Τούτου χάριν σὲ ποθῶ, καὶ διψῶ, καὶ κατὰ ψυχὴν καὶ κατὰ σῶμα, καὶ τὴν σὴν προσμένω βοήθειαν. Ὁ Θεὸς τῆς καρδίας μου, καὶ ἡ μερίς μου ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." Σὲ γὰρ ἔχω καὶ μερίδα καὶ κλῆρον, καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν ἀγαθῶν. κζʹ. "Ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ μακρύνοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ σοῦ ἀπολοῦνται, ἐξωλόθρευσας πάντα τὸν πορνεύοντα ἀπὸ σοῦ." Οἱ δὲ πόῤῥω σφᾶς αὐτοὺς τῆς σῆς ποιοῦντες κηδεμονίας, καὶ εἰδώλοις λατρεύειν αἱ ρούμενοι, καρπὸν ἕξουσι τῆς ἀποστάσεως ὄλε θρον. Πορνείαν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν καλεῖ. Οὕτω καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἱερεμίου φησὶν ὁ Θεός· "Ἐπορεύθη ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν, καὶ ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους, καὶ ἐπόρνευσεν ἐκεῖ· καὶ εἶπον μετὰ τὸ πορνεῦσαι αὐτὴν ταῦτα πάντα, Πρός με ἀνάστρεψον, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστρεψε." Καὶ πάλιν· "Καὶ ἐμοίχευσε τὸ ξύλον, καὶ τὸν λίθον·" ἀντὶ τοῦ· Ἐμὲ τὸν νυμφίον καταλιποῦσα, ἐλάτρευσε τοῖς μὴ οὖσι θεοῖς. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν πορνείαν τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων λατρείαν ἐκάλεσε. Τοῦτο μέντοι οὐ περὶ Βαβυλωνίων εἴρηκεν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν αἰχμαλώτων γεγενημένων. Οὗτοι γὰρ τὸν 80.1453 Θεὸν ἐσχηκότες νυμφίον, ἐξεπόρνευσαν, τῶν δαιμό νων ἀσπασάμενοι τὴν δουλείαν· ἀλλὰ τῇ πείρᾳ σω φρονεῖν διδαχθέντες βοῶσιν· κηʹ. "Ἐμοὶ δὲ τὸ προσκολλᾶσθαι τῷ Θεῷ ἀγα θόν ἐστι, τίθεσθαι ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ τὴν ἐλπίδα μου." ∆ι' αὐτῶν γὰρ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν πεῖραν λαβὼν, ἀχώριστος ἔσομαι τοῦ σεσωκότος Θεοῦ, καὶ τῇ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλπίδι βεβαιωθήσομαι. "Τοῦ ἐξαγγεῖλαί με πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις σου, ἐν ταῖς πύλαις τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών." ∆ιὰ ταύτης γὰρ τῆς ἐλπίδος τῆς ἐπανόδου τετύχηκα, καὶ τὰς σὰς ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐξηγοῦμαι θαυματουργίας. Ταύτην γὰρ ὠνόμασε θυγατέρα Σιών. Ὥσπερ γὰρ υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καλεῖ, οὕτω θυγατέρα Σιὼν τὴν Σιὼν ὀνο μάζει. ∆ιώνυμος δὲ ἦν ἡ πόλις· ἡ γὰρ αὐτὴ Σιὼν καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὑπὸ τῆς θείας καλεῖται Γραφῆς.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΟΓʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Συνέσεως τῷ Ἀσάφ." Τὴν ἐσομένην τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πανωλεθρίαν ὁ

προφητικὸς προθεσπί ζων λόγος, ἐπιστῆναι καὶ συνιέναι κελεύει τοῖς ἐν τυγχάνουσι τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν. Τινὲς μέντοι τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Ἐπιφανοῦς γεγενημένοις προσ-ήρμοσαν τὸν ψαλμὸν, οὔτε τῇ ἱστορίᾳ προσεσχηκό τες, οὔτε τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τὴν προφητείαν ἀκριβῶς νε νοηκότες. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ψαλμὸς ἐμπρησμὸν λέγει τοῦ θείου νεὼ, καὶ κατάλυσιν οἰκιῶν, καὶ πόρθησιν τῆς πόλεως παντελῆ· ταῦτα δὲ ὑπὸ Ἀντιόχου γεγε νῆσθαι παρὰ τῆς ἱστορίας οὐ μεμαθήκαμεν. Οὔτε μὴν τῇ Βαβυλωνίων ἁρμόττει πολιορκίᾳ· προφήτας γὰρ εἶχον τηνικαῦτα πολλοὺς, τὸν Ἱερεμίαν, Οὐρίαν τὸν Σαμαίου, τὸν Ἰεζεκιὴλ, ∆ανιήλ. Ὁ δὲ ψαλμός φησιν· "Οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι προφήτης, καὶ ἡμᾶς οὐ γνώ σεται ἔτι." Εἰ δὲ μήτε Βαβυλωνίοις, μήτε Μακεδό σιν ἁρμόττει, δῆλον ὅτι τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἐπ ενεχθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς πανωλεθρίαν προαγορεύει, μεθ' ἣν οὐδεμιᾶς ἀνακλήσεως ἔτυχον, τῆς κατὰ τοῦ Σω τῆρος ἀσεβείας τίνοντες δίκας. Θαυμάσαι δὲ ἄξιον τὴν ἄῤῥητον ἀγαθότητα τοῦ ∆εσπότου· ὅτι καὶ προειδὼς αὐτῶν ἀκριβῶς τὴν ἀπείθειαν, τῇ προ φητείᾳ τῶν ἐσομένων κακῶν ἀποτρέπειν τῆς ἀσε βείας πειρᾶται. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὅμως καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ Ψαλμοῦ τὸ προοίμιον, ὡς ταύτην ἡ πρόῤῥησις τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἔχει. "Ἱνατί, ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπώσω εἰς τέλος;" Οὔτε γὰρ, ὡς ἐπὶ Βαβυλωνίων, τῇ δουλείᾳ τὸν ἑβδομηκον τούτην ὥρισας χρόνον, οὔτε ὡς ἐπὶ Ἀντιόχου, τὰ ἑπτὰ ἥμισυ ἔτη, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ