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leading to disbelief in our Savior and Lord. But it prophesies that such things are about to happen to them. But for those who are about to run to the Christ of God and to receive salvation through him, it preaches the good news, saying next: “You have given those who fear you a sign, to flee from the face of the bow.” But according to Aquila: “You have given,” he says, “to those who fear you a standard, to be marked from the face of steadfastness;” and according to Symmachus: “You have given to those who fear you a sign, to escape from the face of an arrow.” If, then, those indicated previously also had this sign, they would not have been cast off, nor would they have been deposed, nor would they have been delivered to wrath; but since they did not wish to accept the saving sign, they have reasonably fallen into these things. But those who fear the Lord (for so the Word is accustomed to call those from the Gentiles who believe, as we have often shown through many examples), having received the sign and used it, and being sealed upon their faces, found flight from the face of the bow, since no intelligible and invisible enemy dared to strike them because of the sign placed upon them, which was also given to the ancients. For Moses commanded the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites to be marked with the blood of the Paschal lamb as a protection against the destroyer; and in Ezekiel, when the city was about to be destroyed, it is written that God said to the one clothed in the long robe, whoever he was: “Go through the midst of the city 23.561 Jerusalem, and put the signs on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are done in their midst.” Then it was said to others: “Go into the city after him, and strike; do not let your eyes spare, and do not have pity on elder or young man, or infant or virgin, and kill women to their extermination; but do not approach any upon whom is the sign, and begin from my holy ones.” Do you see how some perished, while those bearing the sign on their forehead were saved? Such were also those whom the present inscription presents, saying: “You have given to those who fear you a sign, to flee from the face of the bow;” for you have not given it, he says, to Israel, but to those who fear you. And that it is the custom in prophecy to call those who fear the Lord those from the Gentiles who take refuge in God, we have often proved, as has been said before. Just as, then, those in Egypt once escaped the plagues from the face of the destroyer by using the sign of the blood, in the same way, for the averting of the enemy and foe of human souls, who is accustomed to shoot and cast them down into the error of idolatry, the sign spoken of here has been given to those who fear the Lord. “That your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and hear me.” These things and what follows them to the end the 107th psalm also contains. But in the preceding, the things said before signified the rejection of Israel; those of the 107th before this, “that your beloved may be delivered,” and of what follows, prophesies a clear calling of the nations. For the word, having said before in the 107th, “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp, I will awake early,” adds: “I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing praises to you among the nations; for your mercy is great above the heavens, and your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and your glory over all the earth.” Then it adds the words at hand that are set forth: “That your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and hear me,” and the rest in agreement with what is set forth. And I greatly marveled at the economy of the Holy Spirit; for from two inscriptions

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ἄγοντα τῆς εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν ἀπιστίας. Ἀλλ' ἐκείνοις μὲν τοιαῦτα μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι θεσπίζει. Τοὺς δὲ μέλλοντας προστρέχειν τῷ Χριστῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν δι' αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν παραδέχεσθαι, εὐαγγελίζεται ἑξῆς λέγων· «Ἔδωκας τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε σημείωσιν τοῦ φυγεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τόξου.» Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· «Ἔδωκας, φησὶ, τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε σύσσημον, τοῦ σημειοῦσθαι ἀπὸ προσώπου βεβαιότητος·» κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «Ἔδωκας τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε σημεῖον, εἰς τὸ ἐκφυγεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοξεύματος.» Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἦσαν καὶ οἱ διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν δεδηλωμένοι τῷ σημείῳ τούτῳ, οὐκ ἂν ἀπώσθησαν, οὐδ' ἂν καθῃρέθησαν, οὐδ' ἂν τῇ ὀργῇ παρεδόθησαν· ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ μὴ ἠβουλήθησαν καταδέξασθαι τὸ σωτήριον σημεῖον, εἰκότως τούτοις περιπεπτώκασιν. Οἱ δέ γε φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον (οὕτω δὲ εἴωθε καλεῖν ὁ λόγος τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν πιστεύοντας, ὡς πολλάκις διὰ πλειόνων ἐδείξαμεν), λαβόντες τὸ σημεῖον χρησάμενοί τε αὐτῷ, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ προσώπου σφραγιζόμενοι, εὕραντο φυγὴν ἀπὸ προσώπου τόξου, μηδενὸς νοητοῦ καὶ ἀοράτου πολεμίου βάλλειν αὐτοὺς τολμῶντος διὰ τὸ ἐπικείμενον αὐτοῖς σημεῖον καὶ τοῖς παλαιοῖς δεδομένον. Μωϋσῆς μὲν γὰρ τὰς φλιὰς τῶν οἴκων τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν αἵματι τοῦ προβάτου τοῦ Πάσχα κατασημαίνεσθαι διετάξατο εἰς ἀποτροπὴν τοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ· καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἐζεκιὴλ δὲ, μελλούσης ἀφανίζεσθαι τῆς πόλεως, ἀναγέγραπται ὁ Θεὸς εἰρηκὼς πρὸς τὸν ἐνδεδυμένον τὸν ποδήρη, ὅστις ποτ' ἦν· «∆ίελθε μέσην τὴν πόλιν 23.561 τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ δὸς τὰ σημεῖα ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν καταστεναζόντων καὶ τῶν κατοδυνωμένων ἐπὶ πάσαις ταῖς ἀνομίαις ταῖς γινομέναις ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.» Εἶθ' ἑτέροις ἐλέχθη· «Πορεύεσθε εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, καὶ κόπτετε· μὴ φείδεσθε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν, καὶ μὴ ἐλεήσητε πρεσβύτερον καὶ νεανίσκον, καὶ νήπια καὶ παρθένον, καὶ γυναῖκας ἀποκτείνατε εἰς ἐξάλειψιν· ἐπὶ δὲ πάντας ἐφ' οὕς ἐστι τὸ σημεῖον μὴ ἐγγίσητε, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου ἄρξασθε.» Ὁρᾷς ὅπως οἱ μὲν ἀπώλοντο· οἱ δὲ τὸ σημεῖον ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου φέροντες διεσώζοντο; τοιοῦτοί τινες ἦσαν καὶ οὓς ἡ παροῦσα στηλογραφία παρίστησι λέγουσα· «Ἔδωκας τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε σημείωσιν τοῦ φυγεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τόξου·» οὐ γὰρ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, φησὶν, ἔδωκας, ἀλλὰ τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε. Ὅτι δὲ ἔθος ἐστὶ τῇ προφητείᾳ φοβουμένους τὸν Κύριον καλεῖν τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν καταφεύγοντας, πολλάκις ἀπεδείξαμεν, καθὼς προείρηται. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ διέφυγόν ποτε οἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τὰς πληγὰς, χρήσαντες τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ αἵματος, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον εἰς ἀποτροπιασμὸν τοῦ πολεμίου καὶ ἐχθροῦ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν, τοῦ τοξεύειν καὶ καταβάλλειν αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας πλάνην εἰωθότος, δέδοται τὸ λεγόμενον ἐνταῦθα σημεῖον τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν Κύριον. «Ὅπως ἂν ῥυσθῶσιν οἱ ἀγαπητοί σου, σῶσον τῇ δεξιᾷ σου, καὶ ἐπάκουσόν μου.» Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα μέχρι τοῦ τέλους καὶ ὁ ρζʹ περιέχει ψαλμός. Ἀλλ' ἐν μὲν τοῖς προκειμένοις τὰ προλεχθέντα ἀποβολὴν ἐδήλου τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· τοῦ ρζʹ τὰ πρὸ τούτου, «ὅπως ἂν ῥυσθῶσιν οἱ ἀγαπητοί σου» καὶ τῶν ἐπιφερομένων, σαφῆ κλῆσιν ἐθνῶν θεσπίζει. Προειπὼν γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἐν τῷ ρζʹ, «Ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου, ὁ Θεὸς, ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου· ᾄσομαι καὶ ψαλῶ. Ἐξεγέρθητι, ἡ δόξα μου, ἐξεγέρθητι, ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάρα, ἐξεγερθήσομαι ὄρθρου,» ἐπιφέρει· «Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν λαοῖς, Κύριε, ψαλῶ σοι ἐν ἔθνεσιν· ὅτι μέγα ἐπάνω τῶν οὐρανῶν τὸ ἔλεός σου, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου ἕως τῶν νεφελῶν. Ὑψώθητι ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἡ δόξα σου.» Εἶτ' ἐπιλέγει τὰ ἐν τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας προκείμενα λόγῳ· «Ὅπως ἂν ῥυσθῶσιν οἱ ἀγαπητοί σου, σῶσον τῇ δεξιᾷ σου, καὶ ἐπάκουσόν μου,» καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ συμφώνως τοῖς προκειμένοις, Σφόδρα δὲ ἐθαύμασα τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος τὴν οἰκονομίαν· ἀπὸ γὰρ δύο στηλογραφιῶν