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to happen, as if many suns shone above the heaven, or if there were continuous lightnings; or rather whatever I might say, striving to represent that beauty, I will not be able to speak worthily. For all these examples are corporeal; but the splendor, and the glory, that is then to shine forth there, will shine out beyond all such beauty. For the bodies will not only be incorruptible, nor immortal, but 55.275 will then also be clothed in unspeakable glory. In the splendors of the saints. So that he might not show him to be only fearsome, he shows also his gentleness and beneficence, saying: In the splendors of the saints. And this is of his power, to make them so splendid; which Paul also, making it clear, said: Who will transform the body of our lowliness to be conformed to the body of his glory. 7. Then, since he had said something great and ineffable, he added: According to the working by which he is able to subject all things to himself. Do not seek how, he says, and in what manner. For all things are possible for him, whatever he wishes. For what reason did he not say, In the splendor of the saints, but, In the splendors? Because the rewards are many and various. For there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For star differs from star in glory; so also, he says, will be the resurrection of the dead. And Christ: In my Father’s house are many mansions. For this reason that splendor has no end. For it does not yield to night, nor give way to darkness, but being ineffable and great, and far surpassing this visible one, it also has this greatest quality, that it does not admit an end, which is a mark of the ineffable power of the king, to bring corruptible and mortal bodies to such strength and power. Then, since he had said some great things, and had given wings to the hearer's hopes, he shows that these things happen with good reason, since so great is the one who accomplishes them. And who is the one who accomplishes them? The one consubstantial with the Father. For indicating this, he added: From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. But those who twist what is said to their own opinion say that these things were said about the birth according to the flesh. How then, Before the morning star? Tell me. He meant the night, in which he was being born, that he was born before dawn. But this was not what he sought to say, nor was he speaking for the sake of history; besides, they are unable to show that what the evangelists taught, the prophets, who spoke mostly in shadows, would have said. Here, therefore, the phrase, Before the morning star, does not mean before the rising of the morning star, but before its nature, before the morning star came to be. For Scripture knows how to distinguish these things, when it speaks of 'before nature,' and when 'before activity'; for example, when it says: One must come before the dawn to give you thanks, and meet you before the rising of the light. For here it means the dawn. For it did not say, Before the sun, but, Before the rising; not, Before the nature; for nothing came into being before the nature of the sun; but, Before the rising of the sun, in order to signify the dawn. But elsewhere, when it speaks of 'before its nature,' it does not say, Before the rising, but, Before the sun; as when it says: His name endures before the sun. And before the moon, for generations of generations. Just as, therefore, Before the sun is one thing, and Before the rising of the sun is another; for the one signifies the activity of the sun, and the dawn, while the other signifies its nature; so also here, if he had wished to signify the night, he would not have said, Before the morning star, but, Before the rising of the morning star. Besides, Christ also took this psalm not for the economy according to the flesh, but for the 55.276 generation according to the Spirit. For having said to the Jews, What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? when they said, David's, he brought forward the psalm, saying: How then does David say, The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand? If then he is his Lord, how do you say that he is his son

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συμβαίνειν, οἷον εἰ πολλοὶ ἥλιοι ὑπὲρ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔλαμψαν, ἢ εἰ συνεχεῖς ἀστραπαί· μᾶλλον δὲ ὅπερ ἂν εἴπω, φιλονεικῶν παραστῆσαι τὸ κάλλος ἐκεῖνο, οὐ δυνήσομαι κατ' ἀξίαν εἰπεῖν. Τὰ γὰρ παραδείγματα ἅπαντα ταῦτα σωματικά· ἡ δὲ λαμπρότης, καὶ ἡ δόξα, ἡ τότε μέλλουσα ἐκλάμπειν ἐκεῖ, ὑπὲρ ἅπαν τοιοῦτον κάλλος διαλάμψει. Οὐ γὰρ ἄφθαρτα ἔσται τὰ σώματα μόνον, οὐδὲ ἀθάνατα, ἀλλὰ 55.275 καὶ δόξαν ἄῤῥητον ἐνδύσεται τότε. Ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων. Ἵνα μὴ φοβερὸν ὄντα δείξῃ μόνον, δείκνυσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἥμερον καὶ τὸ εὐεργετικὸν, λέγων· Ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων. Καὶ τοῦτο τῆς ἐκείνου δυνάμεώς ἐστι, τὸ λαμπροὺς οὕτως ἐκείνους ποιῆσαι· ὅπερ καὶ Παῦλος δηλῶν ἔλεγεν· Ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι συμμόρφους τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. ζʹ. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ μέγα εἶπε καὶ ἄφατον, ἐπήγαγε· Κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι αὐτὸν ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα. Μὴ ζήτει πῶς, φησὶ, καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ. ∆υνατὰ γὰρ αὐτῷ πάντα, ὅσα βούλεται. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐν τῇ λαμπρότητι τῶν ἁγίων, ἀλλ', Ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησιν; Ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ διάφορα τὰ βραβεῖα. Ἄλλη γὰρ δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων. Ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ· οὕτως ἔσται, φησὶ, καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν. Καὶ ὁ Χριστός· Ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ Πατρός μου πολλαὶ μοναί εἰσι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ λαμπρότης ἐκείνη τέλος οὐκ ἔχει. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴκει νυκτὶ, οὐδὲ παραχωρεῖ σκότῳ, ἀλλ' ἄφατος οὖσα καὶ μεγάλη, καὶ πολὺ ταύτην τὴν ὁρωμένην ὑπερβαίνουσα, ἔτι καὶ τοῦτο ἔχει μέγιστον, τὸ πέρας μὴ δέχεσθαι, ὅπερ ἀφάτου δυνάμεώς ἐστι τοῦ βασιλέως, τὸ τὰ σώματα τὰ φθαρτὰ καὶ ἐπίκηρα εἰς τοσαύτην ἄγειν ἰσχὺν καὶ δύναμιν. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ μεγάλα τινὰ εἶπε, καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἐπτέρωσε τὸν ἀκροατὴν, δείκνυσιν ὅτι εἰκότως ταῦτα γίνεται, ἐπειδὴ τηλικοῦτος ὁ κατορθῶν. Τίς δὲ ὁ κατορθῶν; Ὁ ὁμοούσιος τῷ Πατρί. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλῶν ἐπήγαγεν· Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε. Ἀλλ' οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῶν γνώμην διαστρέφοντες τὰ εἰρημένα, περὶ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα ταῦτα γεννήσεως εἰρῆσθαί φασι. Πῶς οὖν, Πρὸ ἑωσφόρου; εἰπέ μοι. Τὴν νύκτα οὕτως εἶπε, καθ' ἣν ἐτίκτετο, ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ ὄρθρου ἐτέχθη. Ἀλλ' οὐ τοῦτο ἦν τὸ ζητούμενον εἰπεῖν, οὐδὲ ἱστορίας χάριν ἔλεγεν· ἄλλως δὲ οὐδὲ ἔχουσι δεῖξαι, ὅτι ὅπερ οἱ εὐαγγελισταὶ ἐδίδαξαν, τοῦτο εἶπον ἂν οἱ προφῆται οἱ συνεσκιασμένως τὰ πλείω φθεγγόμενοι. Ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν τὸ, Πρὸ ἑωσφόρου, οὐ πρὸ τῆς ἀνατολῆς λέγει τοῦ ἑωσφόρου, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τῆς φύσεως, πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἑωσφόρον. Οἶδε γὰρ ταῦτα ἡ Γραφὴ διαιρεῖν, ὅταν πρὸ φύσεως λέγῃ, καὶ ὅταν πρὸ ἐνεργείας· οἷον ὅταν λέγῃ· ∆εῖ φθάνειν τὸν ὄρθρον ἐπ' εὐχαριστίαν σου, καὶ πρὸ ἀνατολῆς φωτὸς ἐντυγχάνειν σοι. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ τὸν ὄρθρον λέγει. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, Πρὸ ἡλίου, ἀλλὰ, Πρὸ ἀνατολῆς· οὐ, Πρὸ τῆς φύσεως· οὐδὲν γὰρ πρὸ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ ἡλίου γέγονεν· ἀλλὰ, Πρὸ ἀνατολῆς τοῦ ἡλίου, ἵνα τὸν ὄρθρον ἐμφήνῃ. Ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ ὅτε πρὸ τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ λέγει, οὐ λέγει, Πρὸ ἀνατολῆς, ἀλλὰ, Πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου· ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμένει τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πρὸ τῆς σελήνης γενεὰς γενεῶν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἕτερον τὸ, Πρὸ ἡλίου, καὶ ἕτερον τὸ, Πρὸ ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου· τὸ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ ἡλίου, καὶ τὸν ὄρθρον δηλοῖ, τὸ δὲ τὴν φύσιν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα εἰ ἐβούλετο τὴν νύκτα δηλῶσαι, οὐκ ἂν εἶπε, Πρὸ ἑωσφόρου, ἀλλὰ, Πρὸ ἀνατολῆς ἑωσφόρου. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τὸν ψαλμὸν τοῦτον οὐκ εἰς τὴν κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίαν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν 55.276 κατὰ Πνεῦμα γέννησιν ἔλαβεν. Εἰπὼν γὰρ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τίνος υἱός ἐστιν; ἐπειδὴ εἶπον, Τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, ἐπήγαγε τὸν ψαλμὸν, λέγων· Πῶς οὖν ∆αυΐδ φησιν, Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου; Εἰ οὖν Κύριος αὐτοῦ ἐστι, πῶς ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι υἱὸς αὐτοῦ