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the Savior was about to spend his time among men (for he was taken up into the heavens after the resurrection), he will say concerning human life, which is not lasting nor fixed, being like a shadow as it fades, 'I was taken up, being shaken off like a locust'; for just as locusts, on account of the weakness of their nature, are quickly shaken off when driven away, so I also, having taken up a weak life for the sake of men to be crucified out of weakness, was quickly driven out, being taken up after the resurrection. He can also say concerning all the disciples, as concerning himself, 'I was shaken off like locusts', since being persecuted and shaken off by those who wish them ill, they are not brought low but flying are carried aloft. And so all the martyrs, having been shaken off like locusts, leaving the things below, pursue the prize of the upward call. 1037 Ps 108,30.31 And giving the reason for confessing and praising him, he added, Because he stood at the right hand of the poor man; of me, that is, who for the sake of all became poor, so that by my poverty they might become rich. And he stands at the right hand of the one who does and thinks all things rightly. Again, giving the reason for God standing at his right hand, he says, To save my soul.

1038 Ps 109,1bc To the Son, who is Lord, who had fulfilled the economy and risen from the dead and been taken up into heaven, the Lord said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet, that is, the Father. Paul, at any rate, knows that this voice was spoken after the ascension, by his saying, Having made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; and next, For to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand? The Father, therefore, being Lord of all things that have come to be from him, says to the Lord of creation, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. But the Father speaks to the Son as a father might speak to a son and a son to a father, for he does not converse with the Son using uttered speech; for he himself is his understanding and truth and wisdom and word. And the Lord sits at the right hand of the Lord. It is not in a spatial sense, nor did the one who said these things have a body, for us to seek the right hand in a place. Therefore, those who partake of him inasmuch as he is God and holy and good are at the right hand of God; of whom no one else will take the lead than he who reigns together with the Father. For 'Sit at my right hand' signifies the Son's reigning together with the Father. Then concerning rational beings: those who have wisdom and the purest virtue are a throne of God; and sitting in these, the Savior sits at the right hand of God. But those who have driven toward vice and false opinion are enemies of the Word and of the truth. But the Father wishes to draw these also through repentance and place them under the path and the feet of the Word, so that having become his footstool, as far as is possible, they may touch his feet; after which touch, becoming more moved toward virtue and wisdom, from a footstool they too will be a throne. Wherefore Paul says, For he must reign, until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And here, therefore, God says, Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. For he sits at the right hand of the Father reigning, as long as the enemies resist. But when he has subjected them and made them a footstool for himself, having placed in them a beginning of benefit, stretching out a hand he leads them up, so that they too might be numbered among those on the right, since wickedness, on account of which they happened to be on the left, no longer exists then, so that finally the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, to be one, and all the rational beings, having been perfected, become one with the Father and the Son, God being all in all. 1039 Ps 109,3ab You will also understand it thus: the name of 'rule' here signifies the kingdom which is with the Savior in the day of his power, or after the resurrection, when he rose from the dead; for if he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives by

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ἀνθρώποις ημελλεν ὁ σωτὴρ διάγειν (ἀνελήφθη γοῦν μετὰ ἀνάστασιν εἰς οὐρανούς), ἐρεῖ περὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς οὐ μονίμου οὐδ' ἑστηκυίας ουσης ὡς σκιὰ ἐν τῷ ἐκλείπειν ̓Αντανῃρέθης μου ἐκτιναχθέντος ὡς ἀκρίδος· ὡς γὰρ αἱ ἀκρίδες δι' ἀσθένειαν φύσεως θᾶττον ἐκτινάσσονται σοβούμεναι, ουτω κἀγὼ ἀσθενῆ ζωὴν δι' ἀνθρώπους ἀναλαβὼν ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρωθῆναι ἐξ ἀσθενείας ταχέως ἐξεδιώχθην μετὰ ἀνάστασιν ἀναληφθείς. ∆ύναται καὶ περὶ πάντων τῶν μαθητῶν ὡς περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγειν τὸ ̓Εξετινάχθην ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες, ἐπείπερ διωκόμενοι καὶ ἐκτινασσόμενοι πρὸς τῶν κακοῦν θελόντων οὐ ταπεινοῦνται ἀλλ' ἱπτάμενοι μετάρσιοι φέρονται. καὶ πάντες ουν οἱ μάρτυρες ἐκτιναχθέντες ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες, ἐάσαντες τὰ κάτω, διώκουσι τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ανω κλήσεως. 1037 Ps 108,30.31 ̓Αποδιδοὺς δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι καὶ αἰνεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπήγαγεν Οτι παρέστη ἐκ δεξιῶν πένητος· ἐμοῦ δηλονότι τοῦ ὑπὲρ πάντων πτωχεύσαντος, οπως τῇ ἐμῇ πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσωσι. παρίσταται δὲ ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πάντα δεξιῶς πράττοντός τε καὶ φρονοῦντος. πάλιν δὲ τοῦ ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ παρεστάναι τὸν θεὸν τὴν πρόφασιν τιθεὶς λέγει Τοῦ σῶσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου.

1038 Ps 109,1bc Πληρώσαντι τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἐκ νεκρῶν τε ἀναστάντι καὶ εἰς

οὐρανὸν ἀναληφθέντι τῷ υἱῷ κυρίῳ οντι ειπεν ὁ κύριος Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, εως αν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου, τουτέστιν ὁ πατήρ. Παῦλος γοῦν οιδε μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν ταύτην εἰρῆσθαι τὴν φωνὴν διὰ τοῦ φάναι Καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς· καὶ ἑξῆς Τίνι γὰρ τῶν ἀγγέλων ειρηκέ ποτε Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου; κύριος τοίνυν ων ὁ πατὴρ τῶν πρὸς αὐτοῦ γεγενημένων ἁπάντων λέγει τῷ κυρίῳ τῆς κτίσεως Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, εως αν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. Λέγει δὲ ὁ πατὴρ τῷ υἱῷ ὡς αν ειποι πατὴρ υἱῷ καὶ υἱὸς πατρί, οὐ γὰρ προφορᾷ χρώμενος διαλέγεται τῷ υἱῷ· αὐτὸς γὰρ αὐτοῦ νόησις ἀλήθειά τε καὶ σοφία καὶ λόγος. κάθηται δὲ ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς ὁ κύριος τοῦ κυρίου. οὐ τοπικῶς η σῶμα ην η ειχεν ὁ ταῦτα λέγων, καν ἐν τόπῳ τὸ δεξιὸν ἐζητοῦμεν. δεξιοῖ τοιγαροῦν τοῦ θεοῦ οἱ μετέχοντες αὐτοῦ καθὸ θεὸς καὶ αγιος καὶ ἀγαθός ἐστιν· ων οὐκ αλλος ἡγήσεται η αμα τῷ πατρὶ βασιλεύων. τὸ γὰρ Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν συμβασιλεύειν τοῦ υἱοῦ δηλοῖ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. Ειτ' ἐπὶ τῶν λογικῶν· οἱ μὲν σοφίαν καὶ ἀκραιφνεστάτην ἀρετὴν εχοντες θρόνος εἰσὶ τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ἐν τούτοις καθήμενος ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ κάθηται. οἱ δὲ πρὸς κακίαν καὶ κακοδοξίαν ἑλάσαντες ἐχθροὶ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας εἰσί. βούλεται δὲ καὶ τούτους ὁ πατὴρ διὰ μετανοίας ελκων ὑπὸ τὴν πορείαν καὶ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ λόγου ποιῆσαι, ιν' ὑποπόδιον αὐτοῦ γεγενημένοι κατὰ τὸ ἐγχωροῦν απτωνται τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ· μεθ' ην ἁφὴν πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ σοφίαν εὐκινητότεροι γινόμενοι ἐξ ὑποποδίου καὶ αὐτοὶ θρόνος εσονται. διό φησιν ὁ Παῦλος ∆εῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν, αχρις ου θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐνταῦθα ουν ὁ θεός φησιν Εως αν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. κάθηται μὲν γὰρ ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρὸς βασιλεύων εἰς οσον οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἀντιτείνουσιν. οταν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὑποτάξῃ καὶ ὑποπόδιον ἑαυτοῦ ποιῆσαι ἀρχὴν ὠφελείας ἐν αὐτοῖς τεθεικώς, ὀρέγων χεῖρα ἀνάγει αὐτούς, οπως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν δεξιοῖς ἀριθμηθεῖεν, οὐκέτι ουσης κακίας τότε δι' ην ἐτύγχανον ἀριστεροί, ὡς λοιπὸν τὸν πατέρα ἐν υἱῷ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἐν πατρὶ εν ειναι καὶ πάντας τελειωθέντας τοὺς λογικοὺς εν γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι γινομένου. 1039 Ps 109,3ab Νοήσεις καὶ ουτως· τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ονομα βασιλείαν ἐνταῦθα σημαίνει ουσαν μετὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ η μετὰ ἀνάστασιν ην ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν· εἰ γὰρ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ