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he presents, who also, bending the knee in Church, press their forehead to the earth, and, so to speak, longing to lick up the dust through faith. And the forty-fourth psalm says these things to the queen standing at the right hand of Christ, whom it also shows to be from among foreigners. And the seventy-first [psalm says] similar things also concerning the king himself. Therefore, the things said to Jerusalem, which has the glory of Christ, are about the Church in Christ. And when these things happen, he says, you will know that I am the Lord and those who wait for me will not be ashamed. For it is good not to despair of hope before the outcome of the deeds. Then he teaches in what way the nations, formerly under the hand of the devil, were set free by the power of the Savior. Which Christ made clear through the parable: "How," he said, "can someone enter the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?" And now he says, Is it possible for just anyone to take spoils from the devil? whom he called a giant; and even if someone attempts this, doing it justly, will he then be unharmed, and not be in danger of being overcome? For instead of "unjustly," the Hebrew has "justly." For it is just to do this. But who is so powerful? No man, certainly. But he adds that what is impossible with men, is possible with God. But if the saying has "unjustly," according to the Septuagint, he speaks of the devil, showing that having unjustly attacked those who had wronged 2484 him in no way, and taken them captive, he will not be saved. And he says something similar elsewhere: "Just as a garment stained with blood will not be clean, so you also will not be clean. Because you have destroyed my land, and you have killed my people, you shall not remain for all time." And through the parable he alluded to the world as his house, and souls as the goods, which he plundered from it. Having done this, he also transmitted to us the power to conquer. For Paul also, having received this, said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." For this reason we also conquer demons, and we overcome the passions of the soul, having Christ as a weapon of good will, and we plunder him, saving our own souls and those of our neighbors. Therefore he says: If someone takes a giant captive, he will take spoils. And taking them, he will be saved from the strong one. For through Christ we plunder him and are saved, by the one who said: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." For he is the Lord of hosts. For that he himself is the one who has done these things, he makes clear, saying next: But I will judge my judgment. And I will deliver my sons, showing the thing to be possible for himself alone, and declaring his sons to be the spoils. But those deprived of these, being no longer able to eat the flesh of others, will eat their own. And not being able to drink the blood of human souls, they will drink their own blood to drunkenness, when all people who are in the flesh will know that I am the Lord who delivered you, my city. And according to another interpretation, as from another beginning, the discourse is about those who persecuted the Church, that they will pay the ultimate penalties, so that it may be known to all, that the protection of the Church was not of mortal power, but of the God of Jacob. And Jacob, mentioned at this point, directs the thought to the one who appeared to the patriarch in the form of a man, the Son of God. And it can also signify all who supplant the devil, and loosen the snares of sin. But the passage: 'Behold, I lift my hand to the nations,' and what follows, some again have taken historically, concerning those in captivity. For when I will it, you will be gathered together, he says, to be escorted from all sides by your enemies. But this remained only a promise, not becoming a deed, not as if it were false, but because they, through their unworthiness, did not give opportunity to the divine promises; and contending against their evil thoughts, he shows that they became captives not because of his weakness, but because of their own sins. For just as none of the giants considered among you is plundered by a weaker one, unju

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παρίστησιν, οἳ καὶ κλίνοντες ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ γόνυ, τῇ γῇ τὸ μέτωπον προσερείδουσι, καὶ τὸν χοῦν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἐκλαχεῖν διὰ πίστιν ποθοῦντες. Ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τὴν βασίλισσαν τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν Χριστῷ παρισταμένην ὁ τεσσαρακοστὸς τέταρτος λέγει ψαλμὸς, ἣν καὶ ἐξ ἀλλοφύλων οὖσαν δηλοῖ. Ὅμοια δὲ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα ὁ ἑβδομηκοστὸς πρῶτος. Οὐκοῦν περὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ, τὰ λεγόμενα πρὸς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἣ τὴν δόξαν ἔχει τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τούτων δὲ, φησὶ, γιγνομένων, γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ ὑπομένοντές με. Καλὸν γὰρ μὴ ἀπογινώσκειν τὴν ἐλπίδα πρὸ τῆς τῶν ἔργων ἐκβάσεως. Εἶτα διδάσκει, τίνα τρόπον τὰ ὑπὸ χεῖρα τοῦ διαβόλου πρότερον ἔθνη ἠλευθερώθη διὰ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος δυνάμεως. Ὃ διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς ἐδήλωσεν ὁ Χριστός· "Πῶς, λέγων, δύναταί τις εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ, καὶ τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσαι, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον δήσῃ τὸν ἰσχυρόν;" Καὶ νῦν δέ φησι, Μή τι τῷ τυχόντι δυνατὸν παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου σκῦλα λαβεῖν; ὃν ἐκάλεσε γίγαντα· κἂν ἐπιχειρῇ δέ τις τοῦτο δικαίως ποιῶν, ἄρα ἀθῶος γενήσεται, καὶ οὐ κρατηθεὶς κινδυνεύσει; ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ ἀδίκως, τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν δικαίως ἔχει. ∆ίκαιον μὲν γὰρ τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τίς τοσοῦτόν ἐστι δυνατός; ἄνθρωπος μὲν οὐδείς. Ὅπως δὲ τὸ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον, τῷ Θεῷ δυνατὸν ἐπιφέρει. Εἰ δὲ ἀδίκως ἔχει, κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα, τὸ ῥητὸν, περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου φησὶ, δηλῶν ὡς ἀδίκως ἐπιπηδήσας τοῖς ἠδικηκόσι 2484 μηδὲν, καὶ λαβὼν αἰχμαλώτους, οὐ σωθήσεται. Τοιοῦτο δέ φησιν ἀλλαχοῦ· "Ὃν τρόπον ἱμάτιον ἐν αἵματι πεφυρμένον οὐκ ἔσται καθαρὸν, οὕτως οὐδὲ σὺ ἔσῃ καθαρός. ∆ιότι τὴν γῆν μου ἀπώλεσας, καὶ τὸν λαόν μου ἀπέκτεινας, οὐ μὴ μείνῃς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον." Οἰκίαν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸν κόσμον διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς ὑπῃνίξατο, καὶ σκεύη τὰς ψυχὰς, ἃς ἐσκύλευσεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ὃ δὴ ποιήσας, καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς παρέπεμψε τὸ νικᾷν. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ Παῦλος λαβὼν ἔφασκε, "Πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ." ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ δαίμονας νικῶμεν, καὶ παθῶν περιγινόμεθα ψυχικῶν ὅπλον εὐδοκίας ἔχοντες τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ σκυλεύομεν αὐτὸν, τὴν ἡμετέραν σώζοντες, καὶ τῶν πλησίον ψυχάς. ∆ιό φησιν· Ἐάν τις αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ γίγαντα, λήψεται σκῦλα. Λαμβάνων δὲ, παρὰ ἰσχύοντος σωθήσεται. ∆ιὰ Χριστοῦ γὰρ σκυλεύομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ σωζόμεθα, τοῦ εἰπόντος· "Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ." Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ τῶν δυνάμεων Κύριος. Ὅτι γὰρ ὁ ταῦτα πράξας ἐστὶν αὐτὸς δηλοῖ λέγων ἑξῆς· Ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν κρίσιν μου κρινῶ. Καὶ ἐγὼ τοὺς υἱούς μου ῥύσομαι, ἑαυτῷ μόνῳ δυνατὸν τὸ χρῆμα δεικνὺς, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα δηλῶν τοὺς υἱούς. Οἱ δὲ τούτους ἀφαιρεθέντες, οὐκ ἔτι τὰς ἑτέρων σάρκας ἐσθίειν δυνάμενοι, τὰς ἑαυτῶν φάγονται. Οὐ δὲ τὸ αἷμα τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν ἐκπίνειν δυνάμενοι, τὸ ἑαυτῶν αἷμα εἰς μέθην πίονται, ὅτε πάντες οἱ ἐν σαρκὶ τυγχάνοντες ἄνθρωποι γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ πόλιν. Καθ' ἑτέραν δὲ διάνοιαν, ὡς ἐξ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς, περὶ τῶν διωξάντων τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ὁ λόγος, ὅτιπερ ἐσχάτας τίσουσι δίκας, ὡς γνωσθῆναι πᾶσιν, ὅτι μὴ θνητῆς ὑπῆρχε δυνάμεως τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ σκέπη, τοῦ δὲ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. Εἰς καιρὸν δὲ ῥηθεὶς Ἰακὼβ ἀναπέμπει τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐν ἀνθρώπου σχήματι τῷ πατριάρχῃ φανέντα, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. ∆ύναται δὲ καὶ πάντα δηλοῦν πτερνίζοντα τὸν διάβολον, καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἁμαρτίας παραλύοντα βρόχους. Τὸ δέ· Ἰδοὺ αἴρω εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὴν χεῖρά μου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἱστορικῶς τινες πάλιν ἐξέλαβον, περὶ τῶν ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ. Βουλομένου γάρ μου συναχθήσεσθε, φησὶ, πανταχόθεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν δορυφορηθησόμενοι. Τοῦτο δὲ μέχρι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἔστη μὴ γενόμενον ἔργῳ, οὐχ ὡς ψευδὲς, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐκείνων διὰ τὸ ἀνάξιον μὴ δεδωκότων καιρὸν ταῖς θείαις ἐπαγγελίαις· πρὸς δὲ τὰς κακὰς αὐτῶν ἐννοίας μαχόμενος, δείκνυσιν ὡς οὐ διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ γεγόνασιν ἀδυναμίαν αἰχμάλωτοι, διὰ δὲ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτίας. Ὡς γὰρ οὐδεὶς τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν νομιζομένων γιγάντων ὑπὸ ἀσθενεστέρου σκυλεύεται, ἄδι