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gladness. "His eyes look upon the nations; let not those who provoke be exalted in themselves. Diapsalma." Having obscurely hinted at the calling of the nations through the preceding words, he called the whole earth, but not clearly the nations; but now he mentions the nations and God’s reconciliation most clearly. For concerning those who sin, it is said: "Turn your face from my sins;" and again: "Why do you turn away your face and your right hand?" and again: "But you turned away your face, and I was troubled." But concerning those who have good hopes it has been said: "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer;" and again: "Let your eyes behold the things that are right;" and again: "Let the light of your countenance be signed upon us, O Lord." Great promises, therefore, are given to the nations through the preceding words; already His eyes look upon the nations. And see how nowhere in the preceding words does he mention the Jews, but throughout he proclaims the good tidings to the nations. The philanthropic Savior of the nations, therefore, has extended His eyes, that is, His supervisory powers, over all the nations. And rays of light sent forth from His eyes illuminate their receptive souls. But since not all were going to receive grace, but, as much as was in them, to provoke and to embitter such great philanthropy by not accepting the gift, it has been fittingly added: "Let not those who provoke be exalted in themselves." And through these words he also indicates those among the nations who are disobedient and insubordinate to the word of the Gospel. Therefore it is said in Symmachus: "His eyes watch over the nations; let not the disobedient exalt themselves." And in another way it also signifies those of the circumcision who have set aside grace and despised the calling of the Savior; for which reason the Holy Spirit also spoke to them through Isaiah, saying: "Hearing you will hear, and will not understand, and seeing you will see, and will not perceive." Fittingly, therefore, the present text, rebuking them, puffed up in vain because of their ancestors, and thinking highly of themselves on account of the favor of their forefathers, says: "Let not those who provoke be exalted in themselves." For cease, it says, being arrogant and puffed up in vain, O you, knowing that God does not look upon you more than upon the other nations. At any rate, the eyes of His supervisory power, exercising providence for all men, look upon the nations. Why then do you, as though possessing something special, exalt yourselves in yourselves, and this, being men who are always provoking? That the text alludes to them, the Spirit clearly shows through 23.657 Ezekiel, saying: "Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, the provoking ones, who have provoked me, they and their fathers, to this day;" and what follows: "if then they will hear or be afraid, for they are a provoking house;" and again: "And I will speak my words to them, if then they will hear or be afraid, because they are a provoking house." And in the 105th Psalm it is said: "For they provoked his spirit;" and again: "Many times he delivered them; but they provoked him with their counsel." Yes, indeed, Moses also shows their bitterness, saying: "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their shoot is of Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is a cluster of bitterness." And in Jeremiah it is said to them: "How has the foreign vine turned to bitterness?" Fittingly, therefore, here also they have been called 'provoking.' And the text, having mentioned in parallel the nations and their salvation, has made a comparison with those of the circumcision, saying: "His eyes look upon the nations; let not those who provoke be exalted in themselves. Bless, O nations, the

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εὐφροσύνην. «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσιν, οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. ∆ιάψαλμα.» ∆ιὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεσκιασμένως τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν κλῆσιν αἰνιξάμενος, πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐκάλει· οὐ μὴν σαφῶς τὰ ἔθνη· νυνὶ δὲ λευκότατα τῶν ἐθνῶν μέμνηται καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ διαλλαγῆς. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων εἴρηται· «Ἀπόστρεψον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἵνα τί ἀποστρέφεις τὸ πρόσωπόν σου καὶ τὴν δεξιάν σου;» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἀπέστρεψας δὲ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ ἐγενήθην τεταραγμένος.» Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀγαθὰς ἐλπίδας ἐχόντων λέλεκται· «Ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους, καὶ ὦτα αὐτοῦ εἰς δέησιν αὐτῶν·» καὶ πάλιν· «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ἰδέτωσαν εὐθύτητας·» καὶ αὖθις· «Σημειωθήτω ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, Κύριε.» Μεγάλαι τοίνυν ἐπαγγελίαι διὰ τῶν προκειμένων τοῖς ἔθνεσι δέδονται· ἤδη ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσι. Καὶ θέα ὅπως οὐδαμοῦ τῶν προκειμένων Ἰουδαίων μέμνηται, δι' ὅλου δὲ τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ χρηστὰ εὐαγγελίζεται. Ὁ μὲν οὖν φιλάνθρωπος τῶν ἐθνῶν Σωτὴρ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, τὰς ἐπισκοπικὰς δηλαδὴ δυνάμεις, ἐξήπλωσεν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Φωτὸς δὲ ἀκτῖνες ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ πεμπόμεναι τὰς χωρητικὰς αὐτῶν ψυχὰς καταλάμπουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤμελλον μὴ πάντες τὴν χάριν ὑποδέχεσθαι, παροργίζειν δὲ τὸ ὅσον ἐπ' αὐτοῖς καὶ παραπικραίνειν τὴν τοσαύτην φιλανθρωπίαν, διὰ τὸ μὴ παραδέχεσθαι τὸ δῶρον, εἰκότως ἐπιλέλεκται· «Οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς.» Σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπειθεῖς καὶ ἀνυποτάκτους τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ λόγῳ. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται παρὰ τῷ Συμμάχῳ· «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπισκοπεύουσι· οἱ ἀπειθεῖς μὴ ὑψούτωσαν ἑαυτούς.» Σημαίνει δὲ καὶ ἄλλως τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς ἀθετήσαντας τὴν χάριν καὶ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος κλῆσιν ὑπερφρονήσαντας· διὸ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου ἀπετείνετο φῆσαν· «Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε, καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, καὶ βλέποντες βλέψητε, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε.» Εἰκότως τοιγαροῦν ἐπιῤῥαπίζων αὐτοὺς ὁ παρὼν λόγος, εἰκῆ φυσιουμένους ἐπὶ τοῖς προγόνοις, καὶ μέγα φρονοῦντας ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν προπατόρων εὐδοκιμήσει, φησίν· «Οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς.» Παύσασθε γὰρ, φησὶ, βρενθυνόμενοι καὶ εἰκῇ τυφούμενοι, ὦ οὗτοι, γνόντες, ὅτι οὐ μᾶλλον ὑμῖν ἐπιβλέπει ὁ Θεὸς ἢ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν. Οἱ γοῦν τῆς ἐπισκοπικῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως ὀφθαλμοὶ, πάντων ἀνθρώπων πρόνοιαν ποιούμενοι, ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσι. Τί οὖν ὑμεῖς, ὥσπερ τι ἐξαίρετον κεκτημένοι, ὑψοῦσθε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ταῦτα ἄνδρες ὄντες ἀεὶ παραπικραίνοντες; Ὅτι δὲ αὐτοὺς αἰνίττεται ὁ λόγος, σαφῶς παρίστησι τὸ Πνεῦμα διὰ 23.657 Ἰεζεκιὴλ λέγον· «Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἐξαποστελῶ σε ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ, τοὺς παραπικραίνοντας, οἵτινες παρεπίκρανάν με αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας·» καὶ ἑξῆς· «Ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν, ἢ πτοηθῶσιν, διότι οἶκος παραπικραινόντων ἐστί·» καὶ πάλιν· «Καὶ λαλήσω τοὺς λόγους μου πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἐὰν ἄρα ἀκούσωσιν, ἢ πτοηθῶσιν, ὅτι οἶκος παραπικραινόντων ἐστί.» Καὶ ἐν ρεʹ δὲ ψαλμῷ λέλεκται· «Ὅτι παρεπίκραναν τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ·» καὶ πάλιν· «Πλεονάκις ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτούς· αὐτοὶ δὲ παρεπίκραναν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ αὐτῶν.» Ναὶ μὴν καὶ Μωϋσῆς τὴν πικρίαν αὐτῶν παρίστησι λέγων· «Ἐκ γὰρ ἀμπέλου Σοδόμων ἡ ἄμπελος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ κληματὶς αὐτῶν ἐκ Γομόῤῥας· ἡ σταφυλὴ αὐτῶν σταφυλὴ χολῆς, βότρυς πικρίας αὐτῶν.» Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ δὲ εἴρηται πρὸς τοὺς αὐτούς· «Πῶς ἐστράφη εἰς πικρίαν ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀλλοτρία;» Εἰκότως τοίνυν καὶ ἐνταῦθα παραπικραίνοντες ὠνομάσθησαν. Ἐκ παραλλήλου δὲ μνημονεύσας τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τῆς τούτων σωτηρίας ὁ λόγος, παράθεσιν τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς πεποίηται εἰπών· «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσιν, οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. Εὐλογεῖτε, ἔθνη, τὸν