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For these were once in destruction, who through saving grace have run to the commonwealth of God, whom the church of God, seeing, will marvel, saying: Who has begotten these for me? Astonished at the strangeness of the calling of the nations, she will also confess the childlessness that befell her from the Jewish nation. Wherefore she says: But I am childless and a widow, but who has raised these for me? And I was left alone, but where were these for me? Then, since she was perplexed, God answers her, saying: Behold, I raise my hand to the nations and to the islands I will raise my standard, and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and they shall carry your daughters on their shoulders, teaching that her sons and daughters, about whom she said, 'But where were these for me?', He will gather to her from the election of the nations. And He says, I will raise my hand to the nations and to the islands, that is, the standard of the church. And what is this but the evangelical proclamation of the saving passion and His resurrection from the dead, after which, He says, they will bring your sons, carried in their arms; for thus Aquila and Theodotion have interpreted it; the one saying: and they will bring your sons in their arms, and the other: and they will carry your sons in their arms, and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders. And who will do this but certainly those who guide the infancy of the minds of those being brought into the church of God? Such was Paul when he said to the Corinthians: “I gave you milk to drink.” And next he introduces kings as nurses of the church of God and says that their female rulers will be its nursing mothers. which very thing we have seen fulfilled literally with our own eyes, of those who hold the highest authority carrying the church of God like nurses, and their female rulers, that is, the “principalities and powers” in each nation and in each province, serving the highest kingdom, will in the manner of nursing mothers minister to the needy of the church, supplying them with rations by a royal decree; wherefore they were named its nursing mothers, or according to Symmachus, 'wet-nurses,' who said: and their female rulers your wet-nurses. But who, seeing with his eyes the aforesaid “principalities and powers” in the church of God bending the knee and resting their forehead upon the ground, would not confess that this prophecy also has reached its fulfillment literally and historically, which plainly stated: they will worship you with their face to the ground, and they will lick the dust of your feet. And when these things, He says, have come to pass in deeds, then you will know that I am the Lord, and those who wait for me will not be put to shame; for it is good not to be neglectful nor to despair of the hope of what has been promised before the outcome of the events; for those who wait for him will not be put to shame. Having said these things, He next teaches in what manner the nations subject to the devil were liberated from him through the power of our Savior; for He says: Will anyone take spoils from a giant? meaning by 'giant' the devil and the opposing power. Is it therefore possible, He says, for any ordinary person to fight against a giant and to despoil one who is so strong? And if someone should attempt to take such a one captive, will he be saved if he acts justly? Will he not, being overcome by the giant as by one stronger, be in danger concerning his own salvation? But instead of 'unjustly,' the Hebrew text contains 'justly'; for he who takes a giant captive would do this justly, and likewise he who despoils him. whence Aquila and Theodotion have interpreted it as 'just'; for it is just to despoil and take captive the tyrant and anyone who holds things unjustly, but who is this one who is able to fight against such a one and be saved? Of men, no one, but “what is impossible with men, how it is possible with God,” listen: Thus says the Lord: A giant will both be despoiled, and he who despoils him will be saved. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: But even the captivity of the mighty will be taken, and the prey of the terrible

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ἦσαν γὰρ ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ ποτὲ οὗτοι οἱ διὰ τῆς σωτηρίου χάριτος τῇ πολιτείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ προσδραμόντες, οὓς ὁρῶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποθαυμάσει λέγουσα· Τίς ἐγέννησέ μοι τούτους; τὸ ξένον τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως ἐκπληττομένη, ὁμολογήσει τε τὴν ἐπισυμβᾶσαν αὐτῇ ἐκ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἀτεκνίαν. διό φησιν· ἐγὼ δὲ ἄτεκνος καὶ χήρα, τούτους δὲ τίς ἐξέθρεψέ μοι; ἐγὼ δὲ κατελείφθην μόνη, οὗτοι δέ μοι ποῦ ἦσαν; Εἶτ' ἐπειδήπερ ἠπόρησεν, ἀποκρίνεται πρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς λέγων· Ἰδοὺ αἴρω εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὴν χεῖρά μου καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους ἀρῶ σύσσημόν μου, καὶ ἄξουσι τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν κόλπῳ, τὰς δὲ θυγατέρας σου ἐπ' ὤμων ἀροῦσι, διδάσκων ὅτι υἱοὺς αὐτῆς καὶ θυγατέρας, περὶ ὧν εἶπεν, ὅτι οὗτοι δέ μοι ποῦ ἦσαν; ἐκ τῆς ἐκλογῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν πρὸς αὐτὴν συνάξει. τὴν χεῖρα δέ μού φησιν ἀρῶ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους, δηλαδὴ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸ σύσσημον. ποῖον δὲ τοῦτο ἢ τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους καὶ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα, μεθ' ὃ ἄξουσί φησι τοὺς υἱούς σου βασταζομένους ἐν ἀγκάλαις· οὕτως γὰρ ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων· ὁ μὲν εἰπών· καὶ ἄξουσι τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν ἀγκάλαις, ὁ δέ· καὶ οἴσουσι τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν ἀγκάλαις, τὰς δὲ θυγατέρας σου ἐπ' ὤμων ἀροῦσι. τίνες δὲ τοῦτο πράξουσιν ἢ πάντως που οἱ τοὺς εἰσαγομένους εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ χειραγωγοῦντες αὐτῶν τὴν φρενῶν νηπιότητα; οἷος ἦν Παῦλος λέγων Κορινθίοις· «γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα». Καὶ τιθηνοὺς δὲ ἑξῆς τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλεῖς εἰσάγει καὶ τὰς ἀρχούσας αὐτῶν τῆς αὐτῆς γενήσεσθαι τροφούς φησιν. ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ κατὰ λέξιν πληρούμενον αὐτοῖς εἴδομεν ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν κρατούντων τῆς ἀνωτάτω ἀρχῆς τιθηνῶν τρόπον διαβασταζόντων τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίαν, αἱ δὲ τούτων ἄρχουσαι, δηλαδὴ αἱ καθ' ἕκαστον ἔθνος καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπαρχίαν «ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι» τῇ ἀνωτάτω βασιλείᾳ διακονούμεναι τροφῶν δίκην ἐξυπηρετήσονται τοῖς ἐνδεέσι τῆς ἐκκλησίας νεύματι βασιλικῷ τὰ σιτηρέσια χορηγοῦσαι αὐτοῖς· διὸ τροφοὶ αὐτῆς ὠνομάσθησαν, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον γαλοῦχοι φήσαντα· καὶ ἄρχουσαι αὐτῶν γαλοῦχοί σου. τίς δὲ ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶν «τὰς» εἰρημένας «ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας» ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ γόνυ καμπτούσας καὶ τὸ μέτωπον ἐρειδούσας ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους, οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειε πρὸς λέξιν καὶ πρὸς ἱστορίαν τέλος εἰληφέναι καὶ ταύτην τὴν προφητείαν διαρρήδην φήσασαν· ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σοι καὶ τὸν χοῦν τῶν ποδῶν σου λείξουσιν. ἐπειδὰν δὲ ταῦτά φησι δι' ἔργων χωρήσῃ, τότε γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ ὑπομένοντές με· καλὸν γὰρ τὸ μὴ ὀλιγωρεῖν μηδ' ἀπογινώσκειν τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων πρὸ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως· οὐ γὰρ αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ ὑπομένοντες αὐτόν. Ταῦτ' εἰπὼν ἑξῆς διδάσκει τίνα τρόπον τὰ ὑποχείρια τῷ διαβόλῳ ἔθνη ἠλευθερώθη αὐτοῦ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν δυνάμεως· λέγει γάρ· μὴ λήψεταί τις παρὰ γίγαντος σκῦλα; γίγαντα σημαίνων τὸν διάβολον καὶ τὴν ἀντικειμένην δύναμιν. μήτι οὖν τῷ τυχόντι φησὶ δυνατόν ἐστι γίγαντα παρατάξασθαι καὶ σκυλεῦσαι τὸν οὕτως ἰσχυρόν; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπιχειρήσειέ τις τὸν τοιοῦτον αἰχμαλωτεῦσαι, δικαίως γε ποιῶν ἄρα σωθήσεται; οὐχὶ κρατηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ γίγαντος ὡς ὑπὸ ἰσχυροτέρου κινδυνεύσει περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ σωτηρίας; ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀδίκως ἡ Ἑβραϊκὴ λέξις δικαίως περιέχει· ὁ γὰρ αἰχμαλωτεύων γίγαντα δικαίως τοῦτο ποιήσειε καὶ ὁ σκυλεύων αὐτὸν ὁμοίως. ὅθεν ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων δίκαιον ἡρμήνευσαν· δίκαιον γὰρ τὸν τύραννον καὶ πάντα τὸν ἀδίκως κατέχοντα σκυλεύειν καὶ αἰχμάλωτον ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ τίς οὗτος ὁ δυνατὸς παρατάξασθαι τῷ τοιούτῳ καὶ διασωθῆναι ἀνθρώπων μὲν οὐδείς, «τὸ δὲ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον ὅπως θεῷ δυνατόν ἐστιν», ἐπακούσατε· Οὕτως λέγει κύριος· καὶ γίγας σκυλευθήσεται καὶ ὁ σκυλεύων αὐτὸν σωθήσεται. διὸ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον εἴρηται· ἀλλὰ καὶ αἰχμαλωσία δυνατοῦ ληφθήσεται καὶ λῆψις φοβεροῦ