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believed, that is, You are true, and very true. Blessed therefore forever; for you confirm your promises with your deeds.

INTERPRETATION OF THE 89TH PSALM. 1. "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." Some of the authors

said that the great Moses composed this prayer; while others said its author was the blessed David, but that he attributed it to the divine Moses; however the psalm 80.1600 has a twofold prophecy. For it foretells not only the misfortunes of the Jews, but also teaches the corruptible and perishable nature of all humanity. And it predicts the change for the better for both these and those. [And indeed the present psalm was written by the blessed David, just as all the rest were.] "Lord, you have been our refuge in generation and generation." For he became a refuge for the Jews, not only in Egypt, but also in the desert and in the time of Joshua the son of Nun, and in the time of Gideon, and Barak and Jephthah, and Samson, and Samuel, and David; and through the prophets he deemed them worthy of all care, and when they were ruled by kings he gave them all assistance. But all human nature uses these words, reminding God of all kinds of benefactions, how He translated Enoch, how when all had embraced a beastly life, He preserved the divine Noah as a spark for the race, how having chosen the patriarch Abraham, He promised the blessing to all the nations. For not, as some of the faithless dare to say, did the Lord of all come to the benefaction of the nations out of repentance, but He always continued to provide for all men [the Lord of all, even before His incomprehensible incarnation]. And the prophecy taught us to say this: "Lord, you have been our refuge in generation and generation." For we have always enjoyed your hope, Master. 2. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are." For you pre-exist all created things, both the mountains, and the earth, and the whole world; for you are eternal, without beginning and without end, not limited by any boundary. For to "Before the mountains were brought forth," the phrase "you are" must be connected. 3. "Do not turn man back to humility." I beseech you therefore, the everlasting, the eternal, who have always been our refuge, not to utterly overlook us who are overwhelmed by so many evils. For since He himself condemned Adam to sweat and toils, saying, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, till you return to the ground from which you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return;" fittingly the prophetic word teaches to supplicate, not to be turned back completely to humility and to the allotted misery 80.1601. And indeed the Jews, forced to be slaves, offer this supplication, lamenting their enslavement and bondage. "And you said, Return, you children of men." But Aquila renders it thus: And you will say, Return, you sons of men. Not in vain, he says, do we implore, but knowing clearly that you will receive our supplications, and will work a change for us from our present evils; exhorting to return, and to be freed from former wickedness. 4. "For a thousand years in your sight, O Lord, are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." The meaning of the words is transposed. For this is connected with the former, "Do not turn man back to humility, for a thousand years in your sight, O Lord, are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." And in the middle is placed, "And you said, Return, you children of men." And he says that the life of men is short and very painful; but to you, the everlasting and eternal, the number of a thousand years is compared to a single day, or rather to a small part of a night. For a watch of the night, the fourth part

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στευμένος, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἀληθὴς εἶ, καὶ λίαν ἀληθής. Εὐλογητὸς τοίνυν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· βεβαιοῖς γάρ σου τοῖς ἔργοις τὰς ὑποσχέσεις.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΠΘʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Προσευχὴ τῷ Μωσεῖ ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ." Τινὲς μὲν τῶν συγγραφέων

τὸν μέγαν ἔφασαν Μωσῆν τήνδε ποιῆσαι τὴν προσευχήν· τινὲς δὲ συγ γραφέα αὐτῆς εἶπον τὸν μακάριον ∆αβὶδ εἶναι, προσ αρμόσαι δὲ αὐτὴν Μωσῇ τῷ θεσπεσίῳ· διπλῆν 80.1600 δὲ ὅμως ὁ ψαλμὸς χρησμολογίαν ἔχει. Προθεσπί ζει γὰρ, οὐ μόνας τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὰς συμφορὰς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης τῆς ἀνθρωπείας φύσεως διδάσκει τὸ φθαρτὸν καὶ ἐπίκηρον. Προλέγει δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ τούτων κἀκείνων μεταβολήν. [Ἀκρι βῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ παρὼν ψαλμὸς παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆α βὶδ ἐγράφη, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἅπαντες.] Κύριε, κατα φυγὴ ἐγενήθης ἡμῖν ἐν γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ." Ἰου δαίων μὲν γὰρ ἐγένετο καταφυγὴ, οὐκ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ναυῆ, καὶ ἐπὶ Γεδεὼν, Βαράκ τε καὶ Ἰεφθάε, καὶ Σαμψὼν, καὶ Σαμουὴλ, καὶ ∆αβίδ· καὶ διὰ τῶν προ φητῶν αὐτοὺς πάσης κηδεμονίας ἠξίωσε, καὶ βα σιλευομένοις πάσης ἐπικουρίας μετέδωκε. Πᾶσα δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις τούτοις κέχρηται τοῖς λό γοις, τῶν παντοδαπῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ἀναμιμνήσκουσα τὸν Θεὸν, ὅπως τὸν Ἐνὼχ μετέθηκεν, ὅπως ἁπάν των τὸν θηριώδη βίον ἀσπασαμένων, σπινθῆρα τῷ γένει τὸν θεσπέσιον διεφύλαξε Νῶε, ὅπως τὸν πα τριάρχην Ἀβραὰμ ἐκλεξάμενος, πᾶσιν ὑπέσχετο τὴν εὐλογίαν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. Οὐ γὰρ, ὥς τινες τῶν ἀπί στων τολμῶσι λέγειν, ἐκ μεταμελείας εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἦλθεν εὐεργεσίαν τῶν ὅλων ὁ Κύριος, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων προμηθούμενος διετέλεσε [τῶν ὅλων ὁ Κύριος, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀκαταλήπτου αὐτοῦ ἐνανθρωπήσεως]. Καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς ἡ προφη τεία ἐδίδαξε λέγειν· "Κύριε, καταφυγὴ ἐγενήθης ἡμῖν ἐν γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ." Ἀεὶ γὰρ τῆς σῆς ἐλ πίδος ἀπηλαύσαμεν, ∆έσποτα. βʹ. "Πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη γενηθῆναι, καὶ πλασθῆναι τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως αἰῶνος σὺ εἶ." Τῶν γενητῶν γὰρ προ ϋπάρχεις ἁπάντων, καὶ τῶν ὀρῶν, καὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης· αἰώνιος γὰρ εἶ, ἄναρχός τε καὶ ἀτελεύτητος, οὐδενὶ περιοριζόμενος πέρατι. Τῷ γὰρ, "Πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη γενηθῆναι," τὸ, Σὺ εἶ, συν απτέον. γʹ. "Μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς ἄνθρωπον εἰς ταπείνω σιν." Ἱκετεύω σε τοίνυν τὸν ἀΐδιον, τὸν αἰώνιον, τὸν ἀεὶ καταφυγὴν ἡμῖν γενόμενον, μὴ παντελῶς ἡμᾶς παριδεῖν τοσούτοις περικλυζομένους κακοῖς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτὸς τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοὺς ἱδρῶτας καὶ τοὺς πόνους κατεψηφίσατο εἰρηκὼς, "Ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου φαγῇ τὸν ἄρτον σου, ἕως οὗ ἀπο στρέψῃς εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθης, ὅτι γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ·" ἁρμοδίως ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος ἱκετεύειν διδάσκει, μὴ ἀποστραφῆναι παντάπασιν εἰς ταπείνωσιν καὶ εἰς τὴν συγκληρωθεῖσαν ταλαι 80.1601 πωρίαν. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι δουλεύειν ἠναγ κασμένοι τήνδε τὴν ἱκετείαν προσφέρουσι, τὸν ἀνδρα ποδισμὸν καὶ τὴν δουλείαν ὀλοφυρόμενοι. "Καὶ εἶπας, Ἐπιστρέψατε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων." Ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας οὕτως· Καὶ ἐρεῖς, Ἐπιστράφητε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Οὐ μάτην, φησὶν, ἀντιβολοῦμεν, ἀλλ' εἰδότες σαφῶς, ὡς δέξῃ τὰς ἡμετέρας ἱκετείας, καὶ μεταβολὴν ἡμῖν τῶν παρόντων ἐργάσῃ κακῶν· παραινῶν ἐπιστρέψαι, καὶ τῆς προτέρας πονηρίας ἀπαλλαγῆναι. δʹ. "Ὅτι χίλια ἔτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, Κύριε· ὡς ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς ἥτις διῆλθε, καὶ φυλακὴ ἐν νυκτί." Μεθυπέρβατός ἐστι τῶν ῥημάτων ἡ διάνοια. Τοῦτο γὰρ τῷ προτέρῳ συνήρμοσται, "Μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς ἄνθρωπον εἰς ταπείνωσιν, ὅτι χίλια ἔτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, Κύριε, ὡς ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς, ἥτις διῆλθε, καὶ φυλακὴ ἐν νυκτί." ∆ιὰ μέσου δὲ πρόσκειται τὸ, "Καὶ εἶπας, Ἐπιστρέψατε, υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων." Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι Σμικρά τίς ἐστι καὶ ἀλγεινὴ λίαν ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωή· σοὶ δὲ τῷ ἀϊδίῳ, καὶ αἰωνίῳ, καὶ ὁ τῶν χιλίων ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸς μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ παρεί κασται, μᾶλλον δὲ σμικρῷ μορίῳ νυκτός. Φυλα κὴν γὰρ νυκτερινὴν, τὸ τέταρτον