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let them glorify God for the repentance and salvation of those mentioned, alluding by 'mountains' to the lofty and exalted souls, by 'hills' to those more moderate than these, and by 'trees' to the fruit-bearing ones. But also in another way he commands the whole world and its parts to praise God, adding: because God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified, or according to the other interpreters: and in Israel he will be glorified. This very thing was fulfilled in deeds in the case of those among the former people who were helped by the teaching of the prophetic words and changed from the error of idolatry to piety according to God. 2.27 Having set forth beforehand a refutation of idolatry through the preceding words, as if idolatry would cease, the word makes promises to those helped by the prophetic teaching of a return from the Babylonian captivity; for since they were delivered to the Babylonians for practicing idolatry, and Jerusalem itself endured a siege and complete destruction in the time of the Assyrians on account of the things dared by its inhabitants, he proclaims to those who have suffered these things freedom from evils, if they would cease from their error. These things were fulfilled in the times of Cyrus, who first reigned over the Persians; wherefore he also mentions him by name, 'Cyrus,' most wondrously, who came to be somewhere near two hundred years later and freed the people of the Jews from captivity, and commanded the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Therefore, as if at such a promise of good things, through the preceding words he cried out to the heavens and the foundations of the earth, and to the mountains and the hills and all the trees to praise and glorify God, in accordance with which he also adds the things at hand, saying: Thus says the Lord, who redeems you and forms you from the womb. And who it is that forms from the womb, the writing of Jeremiah will teach, in which it is said: ‘And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the matrix I hallowed you,’ the prophet clearly having supposed the word of the Lord to be this one teaches that he is the former of bodies conceived in the womb. Then, since he was hinting at their return from captivity, he opportunely named him 'redeemer'. But since those to whom these things were said were more carnal, he fittingly reminds them that it was he who formed them from the womb. And he adds: I am the Lord who accomplishes all things, or according to the other interpreters: who made all things. And first he says, I alone stretched out the heaven, then I made firm the earth; for 'all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.' And he alone stretched out the heaven and made firm the earth by the nod and will of the Father; for 'he himself spoke, and they were made; he himself commanded, and they were created.' Therefore in Proverbs it is said from his own person: 'When he prepared the heaven, I was with him'; for while the Father was 'preparing' by willing and commanding, he 'was with him', but as the Father was bringing things into effect, he served by accomplishing in deeds what was determined by the Father. Therefore he says: I alone stretched out the heaven and made firm the earth. The earth, therefore, being solid and firm, so as to be established immovably for the whole age, is fittingly said to be made firm; while the heaven, since it is spread out, to be stretched out through all. Wherefore it is also said in other places: 'stretching out the heaven like a curtain.' And what are the things that so great a Lord teaches, he adds in order, saying: Who else will frustrate the signs of ventriloquists and divinations from the heart? And he signifies that there will be a time after these things, in which all the divinations and oracles of the gods formerly believed in will be frustrated by his power. But also 'the' wise men considered to be 'of this age,' he says, 'I will turn back,' showing 'their' supposed 'wisdom' to be 'foolish.' These things, therefore, I will so dispose; 'but of my

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δοξαζέτωσαν τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν εἰρημένων μετανοίᾳ τε καὶ σωτηρίᾳ, ὄρη μὲν τὰς ἐπηρμένας καὶ μετεώρους ψυχὰς αἰνισσόμενος, βουνοὺς δὲ τὰς τούτων μετριωτέρας, ξύλα δὲ τὰς καρποφόρους. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλως δὲ πάντα τὸν κόσμον καὶ τὰ τούτου μέρη τὸν θεὸν ὑμνεῖν προστάττει ἐπιλέγων· ὅτι ἐλυτρώσατο ὁ θεὸς τὸν Ἰακώβ, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ δοξασθήσεται, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς· καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ δοξασθήσεται. ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸ ἔργοις ἐπληροῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ ἐκ τῆς τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων διδασκαλίας ὠφελημένων καὶ μεταβαλόντων ἐκ τῆς εἰδωλολάτρου πλάνης ἐπὶ τὴν κατὰ θεὸν εὐσέβειαν. 2.27 Ἔλεγχον εἰδωλολατρίας προεκθέμενος ὁ λόγος διὰ τῶν προκειμένων ὡς ἂν παυσομένης τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας τοῖς ὠφελημένοις ἐκ τῆς προφητικῆς διδασκαλίας ἐπαγγελίας ποιεῖται ἐπανόδου τῆς ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος αἰχμαλωσίας· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰδωλολατροῦντες τοῖς Βαβυλωνίοις παρεδόθησαν, αὐτή τε ἡ Ἰερουσαλὴμ πολιορκίαν ὑπέμεινε καὶ παντελῆ καταστροφὴν κατὰ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίων χρόνους διὰ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ τετολμημένα τοῖς οἰκήτορσι θεσπίζει τοῖς ταῦτα πεπονθόσιν ἐλευθερίαν κακῶν, εἰ παύσαιντο τῆς πλάνης. ἐπληροῦτο δὲ ταῦτα κατὰ τοὺς Κύρου τοῦ πρώτου Περσῶν βασιλεύσαντος χρόνους· διόπερ καὶ αὐτοῦ μέμνηται ὀνομαστὶ τοῦ «Κύρου» σφόδρα θαυμασίως ἐγγύς που διακοσίοις ὕστερον ἔτεσι γενομένου καὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἐλευθερώσαντος τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαόν, τόν τε νεὼν προστάξαντος τὸν ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἀνεγεῖραι. διόπερ ὡς ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγελίᾳ διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεφώνει τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τοῖς θεμελίοις τῆς γῆς, τοῖς τε ὄρεσι καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ξύλοις ὑμνεῖν καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν θεόν, οἷς ἀκολούθως καὶ τὰ διὰ τῶν ἐν χερσὶν ἐπιφέρει λέγων· Οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ λυτρούμενός σε καὶ πλάσσων σε ἐκ κοιλίας. τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ πλάσσων ἐκ κοιλίας, διδάξει ἡ τοῦ Ἰερεμίου γραφή, ἐν ᾗ εἴρηται· «καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων· πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίακά σε», λόγον κυρίου σαφῶς ὁ προφήτης ὑποστησάμενος τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν τῶν κατὰ γαστρὸς κυουμένων σωμάτων πλάστην διδάσκει. εἶτ' ἐπειδήπερ ἐπάνοδον αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ᾐνίττετο, λυτρούμενον αὐτὸν εὐκαίρως ὠνόμασεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ σωματικώτεροι ἦσαν, οἷς ταῦτ' ἐλέγετο, εἰκότως αὐτοὺς ὑπομιμνῄσκει, ὡς ἄρα αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ ἐκ κοιλίας αὐτοὺς πλάσας. καὶ ἐπιλέγει· Ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ συντελῶν πάντα, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς· ὁ ποιήσας πάντα. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὸν οὐρανόν φησι μόνος ἐξέτεινα, ἔπειτα ἐστερέωσα τὴν γῆν· «πάντα» γὰρ «δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν». ἐξέτεινε δὲ τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος καὶ ἐστερέωσε τὴν γῆν νεύματι καὶ βουλῇ τοῦ πατρός· «αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶπε, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο, καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν». διὸ ἐν Παροιμίαις εἴρηται ἐξ αὐτοῦ προσώπου· «ἡνίκα ἡτοίμαζε τὸν οὐρανόν, συμπαρήμην αὐτῷ»· «ἑτοιμάζοντι» μὲν γὰρ τῷ πατρὶ διὰ τοῦ βούλεσθαι καὶ διατάττειν «συμπαρῆν», εἰς ἔργα δὲ προάγοντι διηκονεῖτο ἔργοις ἐπιτελῶν τὸ πρὸς τοῦ πατρὸς ὡρισμένα. διό φησιν· ἐξέτεινα τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος καὶ ἐστερέωσα τὴν γῆν. ἡ μὲν οὖν γῆ ναστὴ οὖσα καὶ στερέμνιος, ὡς ἡδράσθαι ἀκινήτως τὸν σύμπαντα αἰῶνα, εἰκότως ἐστερεῶσθαι λέγεται· ὁ δὲ οὐρανὸς ἅτε ἐξηπλωμένος δι' ὅλου ἐκτετάσθαι. διὸ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις εἴρηται· «ἐκτείνας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ δέρριν». Τίνα δέ ἐστιν ἅπερ ὁ τοσοῦτος διδάσκει κύριος, ἑξῆς ἐπιφέρει λέγων· τίς ἕτερος διασκεδάσει σημεῖα ἐγγαστριμύθων καὶ μαντείας ἀπὸ καρδίας; σημαίνει δὲ ὡς ἔσται τις μετὰ ταῦτα καιρός, ἐν ᾧ πᾶσαι αἱ μαντεῖαι καὶ τὰ χρηστήρια τῶν πάλαι νομιζομένων θεῶν διασκεδασθήσεται τῇ αὐτοῦ δυνάμει. ἀλλὰ καὶ «τοὺς» νομιζομένους «τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου» φρονίμους ἀποστρέψω φησὶν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω «μωρὰν» ἀποδεικνὺς «τὴν» νομιζομένην «αὐτῶν σοφίαν». ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὕτω διαθήσομαι· «τοῦ δὲ ἐμοῦ