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of the circumcised people, one is that which is accused and rebuked, and the other is that to which he has made the present promises. The first, then, happens to be that of those who have fallen away from God on account of their unbelief, while the other is that of those who have obeyed the faith and on account of this have been deemed worthy of saving grace, such as were the disciples and apostles of our Savior, and all the rest who believed in him from the circumcised people, being themselves also of Israel and Jacob. Therefore, following the discourse concerning the nations, the election of the apostles and disciples of our Savior is connected. Wherefore, the prophecy speaks in their person: But you, Israel, my child, Jacob, whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham, whom I have loved. He calls him first "child," then "chosen," then "beloved;" the first as being in the beginning and still being instructed in the fear of bondage, such as was the apostolic choir, having lived their first life "under the tutor," the "law," and he calls the same one "chosen," as having advanced and been deemed worthy of the saving call and election. But what could the "seed of Abraham," being a different order from that of the elect, be, if not the multitude of the Jews, to whom the Savior, speaking, said: "I know that you are the seed of Abraham"? But these were different from the "children of Abraham," concerning whom he taught, saying: "if you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." Abraham, then, was beloved of God and a friend; wherefore it is said: seed of Abraham, whom I have loved, or according to Symmachus: seed of Abraham my friend, and according to Aquila: seed of Abraham my beloved. Yet his seed is no longer said to have been loved in the same way as Abraham; nevertheless, he also calls the seed of Abraham through his chosen ones, saying to them: "go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And since this seed of Abraham was scattered throughout all the earth, for this reason he adds next: whom I took hold of from the end of the earth and from its watchtowers I called you, or according to Symmachus: and from its corners I called you. And through these words he indicates those in the diaspora of the Jewish people, whom he first deemed worthy of his call; just as, then, the apostle Paul also presented to the Jews, saying: "it was necessary for the word to be preached to you first; but since you turn away, we are going to the nations." To those of them, then, who obeyed the call and received the evangelical word, he says this: whom I took hold of from the ends of the earth and from its watchtowers I called you; for there were many in the apostolic times from among the Jews who had received the word of Christ, not only in the land of Judea but also among the other nations. But having mentioned the seed of Abraham up to this point, he returns to the election of the apostolic choir and says to them: You are my child, or according to the other interpreters: You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not forsaken you. Fittingly, then, the divine Apostle also confessed himself to be a "servant," priding himself as on a great dignity in the service of the Savior, since the discourse, proceeding, also presents this, in what it says: "It is a great thing for you to be called my child." And again here it teaches that one first becomes a servant, then is chosen, saying: You are my child, or You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not forsaken you, or I have not rejected you according to Symmachus. He encourages this election to preach the gospel without fear to all the nations, which the Savior himself also made clear in the Gospels, saying: "behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age." Then he adds: do not be afraid, for I am with you, but neither be deceived, he says, for I am your God who has strengthened you and helped you and secured you with my righteous right hand. For see, he says, that you may not think that by your own strength you have been able for so great a proclamation

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περιτομῆς λαοῦ, ἓν μὲν τὸ κατηγορούμενον καὶ ἐπιτιμώμενον, ἕτερον δὲ ᾧ τὰς παρούσας ἐπαγγελίας πεποίηται. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον τὸ τῶν ἐκπεσόντων τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν τυγχάνει, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον τὸ τῶν ὑπακουσάντων τῇ πίστει καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς σωτηρίου χάριτος κατηξιωμένων, ὁποῖοι ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ ἀπόστολοι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, οἵ τε λοιποὶ πάντες οἱ εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότες τοῦ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰακὼβ ὄντες καὶ αὐτοί. ἀκολούθως τοίνυν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν λόγῳ ἡ ἐκλογὴ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ μαθητῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν συνῆπται. διὸ εἰς αὐτῶν πρόσωπόν φησιν ἡ προφητεία· Σὺ δέ, Ἰσραήλ, παῖς μου, Ἰακώβ, ὃν ἐξελεξάμην, σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ, ὃν ἠγάπησα. παῖδα δὲ πρῶτον ὀνομάζει ἔπειτα ἐκλεκτὸν εἶτα ἀγαπητὸν τὸν μὲν ὡς ἐν ἀρχαῖς ὄντα καὶ φόβῳ δουλείας ἔτι παιδαγωγούμενον, οἷος ἦν ὁ ἀποστολικὸς χορός, τὸν πρῶτον βίον «ὑπὸ τὸν παιδαγωγὸν» «νόμον» γεγονώς, τὸν δ' αὐτὸν ἐκλεκτὸν ὀνομάζει, ὡς ἂν προκόψαντα καὶ τῆς σωτηρίου κλήσεώς τε καὶ ἐκλογῆς κατηξιωμένον. σπέρμα δὲ Ἀβραὰμ ἕτερον τάγμα τυγχάνον παρὰ τὸ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν, ποῖον ἂν εἴη ἢ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Ἰουδαίων, πρὸς οὓς διαλεγόμενος ὁ σωτὴρ ἔλεγεν· «Οἶδα ὅτι σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐστε»; ἕτεροι δ' ἦσαν οὗτοι παρὰ τὰ «τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ», περὶ ὧν ἐδίδασκε λέγων· «εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐποιεῖτε». Ἀβραὰμ μὲν οὖν ἀγαπητὸς ἦν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ φίλος· διὸ λέλεκται· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ, ὃν ἠγάπησα, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ φίλου μου, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ ἀγαπητοῦ μου. τό γε μὴν σπέρμα αὐτοῦ οὐκέτι ἠγαπῆσθαι ὁμοίως τῷ Ἀβραὰμ λέλεκται· πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καλεῖ διὰ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ εἰπὼν αὐτοῖς· «πορεύεσθε πρὸς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ». Καὶ ἐπειδήπερ τὸ σπέρμα τοῦτο τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ διεσπαρμένον εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, τούτου χάριν ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· οὗ ἀντελαβόμην ἀπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκ τῶν σκοπιῶν αὐτῆς ἐκάλεσά σε, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγκώνων αὐτῆς ἐκάλεσά σε. σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων τοὺς ἐν τῇ διασπορᾷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λαοῦ, οὓς πρώτους κατηξίου τῆς αὐτοῦ κλήσεως· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος παρίστη πρὸς Ἰουδαίους λέγων· «ὑμῖν ἔδει πρώτοις κηρυχθῆναι τὸν λόγον· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀποστρέφεσθε πορευόμεθα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη». τοῖς οὖν ἐκ τούτων ὑπακούσασι τῇ κλήσει καὶ τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν λόγον παραδεδεγμένοις φησὶ τό· οὗ ἀντελαβόμην ἀπ' ἄκρων τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκ τῶν σκοπιῶν αὐτῆς ἐκάλεσά σε· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἦσαν κατὰ τοὺς ἀποστολικοὺς χρόνους οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων τὸν Χριστοῦ λόγον παραδεδεγμένοι, οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας γῆς ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοῦ σπέρματος τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ μέχρι τούτου μνημονεύσας ἀνατρέχει ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τοῦ χοροῦ τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ καί φησι πρὸς αὐτούς· Παῖς μου εἶ, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς· ∆οῦλός μου εἶ, ἐξελεξάμην σε καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπόν σε. εἰκότως οὖν καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος «δοῦλον» εἶναι ἑαυτὸν ὡμολόγει σεμνυνόμενος ὡς ἐπὶ μεγάλῳ ἀξιώματι τῇ τοῦ σωτῆρος δουλείᾳ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ προϊὼν ὁ λόγος τοῦτο παρίστησιν, ἐν οἷς φησι· «Μέγα σοί ἐστι τὸ κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου». πάλιν δὲ κἀνταῦθα πρῶτον δοῦλον ἑαυτὸν γεγονέναι, ἔπειτα ἐκλελέχθαι διδάσκει λέγων· Παῖς μου εἶ, ἢ ∆οῦλός μου εἶ, ἐξελεξάμην σε καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπόν σε, ἢ οὐκ ἀπεδοκίμασά σε κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον. Ἐπιθαρσύνει τὴν ἐκλογὴν ταύτην πρὸς τὸ ἀδεῶς εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη κηρύξαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδήλου ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ σωτὴρ φάσκων· «ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος». εἶτ' ἐπιλέγει· μὴ φοβοῦ, μετὰ σοῦ γάρ εἰμι, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ πλανῶ φησιν, ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ θεός σου ὁ ἐνισχύσας σε καὶ ἐβοήθησά σοι καὶ ἠσφαλισάμην σε τῇ δεξιᾷ τῇ δικαίᾳ μου. ὅρα γάρ φησι μήποτε διανοηθῇς ὡς τῇ σαυτοῦ ἰσχύι δεδύνησαι τῷ τοσούτῳ κηρύγματι