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therefore a settler, I would not have said: "do not be silent." 13 and a sojourner just as all my fathers. The resident alien and sojourner is he. Paul, for instance, in the epistle to the Hebrews, having made a list of all those who pleased God through faith, called them resident aliens and sojourners. None of them is a settler, none is a native, but a sojourner. He has come from elsewhere to this place, he was not born here. Therefore all the fathers according to virtue were resident aliens on the earth and sojourners, like the patriarchs and others who were born according to divine instruction, such as prophets, teachers, lawgivers. 14 Spare me, that I may be refreshed before I depart and am no more. Here he speaks of a praiseworthy refreshment, equivalent to: "delight in the Lord." "I have found refreshment for myself," says Ephrem. But that refreshment is blameworthy. Therefore one is refreshed in a praiseworthy way when he enjoys virtue, when he "delights in the Lord," when he receives an impression and a concept of the "paradise of delight." Since, therefore, I lack many things—for this reason I send up my prayer, that I may be filled with what I lack; for he also said this at the beginning of the psalm: "Make me know, O Lord, my end, and what is the number of my days, that I may know what I lack." When he knows what he lacks and acquires these things, when he holds these things to be cultivated, he is refreshed. Therefore he says this: spare me to remain in this life, that having been instructed I may be refreshed, before I depart from this life and am no more. He does not say this: "I will not exist," but rather, such as I wish to be; for the soul does not proceed to non-existence, but listen: one must understand words in a way appropriate to those who speak them. If the righteous man says, and the wise man according to God, "I strive in everything that I may become rich," do not understand what is said to be about perceptible wealth. But if it is someone else, either a merchant or a physician . And so this holy man is wise. For he says "to have no other patience than the Lord and sustenance from him." Therefore this wise man, even if he says this: spare me to live, having hoped in this life alone, that I may be refreshed by eating and drinking, according to that which says: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," but one must understand the refreshment and the "spare me" and the "to be no more" as appropriate to the person. The one who speaks is immortal. Therefore if he says: "I will be no more," he does not mean: "I am going to complete destruction, I am ending in non-existence," but: "I no longer exist in the way I pray to exist." Therefore "before I depart" thus, to depart from life, "and I will be no more" as I prayed to become. If a sinner says: "admonish me, instruct me, that I may be no more"—for it is not that he may go to complete destruction.

1-2 For the end; a psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord, and he attended to me. The present psalm could be spoken both by any saint who has lived his life with endurance and magnanimity and by the man of the Lord; for the apostle, taking words from it in the epistle to the Hebrews, has interpreted them as spoken about Christ. This very thing in its entirety: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire," until: "in the chapter of the book it is written concerning me." The psalm has a single persona. The same persona that began recites and sings until the end of the psalm. Therefore he says with thanksgiving to God: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he heard my prayer." The phrase "I waited patiently" has such a meaning as if one were to say: "I healed medically, I wrote grammatically." There are those who wait not patiently, but either from great insensibility or sometimes for the sake of vainglory. For the apostle says: "I will not give my body that I may boast." He who has offered up his body and soul for the sake of praise has not "waited patiently"; for always

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οὖν κάτοικος, οὐκ ἂν εἶπον· "μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς". 13 καὶ παρεπίδημος καθὼς πάντες οἱ πατέρες μου. ὁ πάροικος καὶ παρεπίδημος αὐτός ἐστιν. Παῦλος γοῦν ἐν τῇ κατ' Ἑβραίους ἐπιστολῇ κατάλογον ποιησάμενος πάντων τῶν διὰ πίστεως εὐαρεστησάντων εἶπεν αὐτοὺς παροίκους καὶ παρεπιδήμους. οὐδεὶς ἐκείνων κάτοικος, οὐδεὶς ἔνδημός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ παρεπίδημος. ἄλλοθεν ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, οὐχ ὧδε γεγέννηται. οἱ κατὰ ἀρετὴν πατέρες οὖν πάντες πάροικοι ἦσαν ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ παρεπίδημοι, ὡς οἱ πατριάρχαι κ̣αὶ ἄλλοι γεννήσαντες κατὰ θείαν παίδευσιν, οἷον προφῆται, διδάσκαλοι, νομοθέται. 14 ἄνες μοι, ἵνα ἀναψύξω πρὸ τοῦ με ἀπελθεῖν καὶ οὐκέτι οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξω. ἀνάψυξιν ὧδε ἐπαινετὴν λέγει τὴν ἰσοδυναμοῦσαν τῇ· "κατατρύφησον τοῦ κυρίου". "εὗρον ἀναψυχὴν ἐμαυτῷ", λέγει ὁ Ἐφρέμ. ἐκείνη δὲ ψεκτή ἐστιν ἡ ἀναψυχή. ἀναψύχει οὖν τις ἐπαινετῶς, ὅταν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀπολαύῃ, ὅταν "κατατρυφήσῃ τοῦ κυρίου", ὅταν ἔνφασιν καὶ ἔννοιαν λάβῃ τοῦ "παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς". ἐπεὶ τοίνυν λείπει μοι πολλά-διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ δέησιν ἀναπέμπω, ἵνα τῶν λειπόντων π̣ληρωθῶ· τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ εἶπεν· "γνώρισόν μοι, κύριε, τὸ πέρας μου καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν μου, τίς ἐστιν, ἵνα γνῶ τί ὑστερῶ ἐγώ". ὅταν γνῷ τὰ ὑστεροῦντα καὶ ταῦτα κτήσηται, ταῦτα γεωργήσ̣ιμα σχῇ, ἀναψύχει. τοῦτο οὖν λέγει ὅτι· ἄνες μοι μένειν ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ, ἵνα παιδευθεὶς ἀναψύξω, πρ̣ὶν̣ ἀπέλθω̣ ἐκ τοῦ βίου τούτου καὶ οὐκέτι οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξω. οὐ τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι· "οὐχ ὑπ281 άρξω", ἀλλὰ τοιοῦτος, οἷος βούλομαι εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν χωρεῖ ἡ ψυχή, ἀλλὰ ἄκουε· καταλλήλως τοῖς λέγουσιν ἐκλαμβάνειν δεῖ τοὺς λόγους. ἐὰν ὁ δίκαιος λέγῃ καὶ ὁ σοφὸς κατὰ θεόν· "πάντα σπουδάζω ἵνα πλουτήσω", μὴ περὶ τὸν αἰσθητὸν πλοῦτον ἐκλάμβανε τὸ λεγόμενον. ἐὰν δὲ ἄλλος ᾖ τις ἢ πραγματευτὴς ἢ ἰατρὸς . καὶ οὗτος οὖν ὁ ἅγιος σοφός ἐστιν. λέγει γοῦν "οὐκ ἄλλον ἔχειν ὑπομονὴν ἢ τὸν κύριον καὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν παρ' αὐτοῦ". οὗτος οὖν ὁ σοφὸς κἂν τοῦτο λ̣έγῃ ὅτι· ἄνες με ζῆν ἠλπικότα ἐν ταύτῃ μόνῃ τῇ ζωῇ, ἵνα ἀναψύξω φαγὼν καὶ πιὼν κατὰ τό· "φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκομεν", ἀλλὰ κατάλληλον τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ τὴν ἀναψυχὴν δεῖ λαβεῖν καὶ τὸ "ἄνες μοι" καὶ τὸ "μηκέτι ὑπάρχειν". ἀθάνατός ἐστιν ὁ λέγων. ἐὰν οὖν λέγῃ· "οὐκέτι ὑπάρξω", οὐ τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι· "εἰς τὴν παντελῆ φθορὰν χωρῶ, εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν καταστρέφω", ἀλλά· "οὐκέτι ὑπάρχω οὕτως ὡς εὔχομαι ὑπαρχθῆνα̣ι̣". "πρὸ τοῦ με" οὖν "ἀπελθεῖν" οὕτως, ἀπελθεῖν τοῦ βίου, "καὶ οὐκέτι ὑπάρξω" ὡς ηὐξάμην γενέσθαι. ἐὰν λέγῃ ἁμαρτωλὸς ὅτι· "νουθέτησόν με, παίδευσόν με, ἵνα μηκέτι ὑπάρξω"-μὴ γὰρ ἵνα εἰς τὴν παντελῆ φθορὰν χωρήσῃ.

1-2 εἰς τὸ τέλος· τῷ ∆αυὶδ ψαλμός. ὑπομένων ὑπέμεινα τὸν κύριον, καὶ

προσέσχεν μοι. ὁ προ̣κ̣είμενος ψαλμὸς ῥηθείη ἂν καὶ ὑπὸ παντὸς ἁγίου τοῦ καρτερῶς καὶ μεγαλοψύχως διαγαγόντος τὸν βίον καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ κυριακοῦ· λέξεις γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀπόστολος λαβὼν ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους περὶ Χριστοῦ αὐτὰς ἐξε̣ίληφεν εἰρημένας. αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅλως· "θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας", ἕως· "ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ". ἐστὶν δὲ μονοπρόσωπος ὁ ψαλμός. τὸ αὐτὸ πρόσωπον τὸ ἀρξάμενον μέχρι τοῦ τέλους τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ἀπαγγέλλει καὶ ψάλλει. λέγει οὖν εὐχαριστικῶς πρὸς τὸν θεόν· "ὑπομένων ὑπέμεινα τὸν κύριον, καὶ εἰσήκουσεν τῆς δεήσεώς μου". τὸ "ὑπομένων ὑπέμεινα" τοιαύτην ἔχει διάνοιαν, ὡς εἴ τις λέγοι· "ἰατρικῶς ἰάτρευσα, γραμματικῶς ἔγραψα". εἰσὶν ὑπομένοντες οὐχ ὑπομενητικῶς, ἀλλὰ ἢ ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀναισθησίας ἢ ἐνίοτε διὰ φιλοδοξίαν. λέγει γοῦν ὁ ἀπόστολος· "οὐ μὴ παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου ἵνα καυχήσωμαι". ἕνεκα ἐπαίνου ἐπιπροεὶς ιν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν οὐχ "ὑπομένων ὑπέμεινεν"· ἀεὶ γὰρ