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above all the sons of men9, etc. 2520 Therefore he adds: Lord, who has believed our report? For he was marveling at both, the unbelief of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles. And to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? And to whom, he has shown through the preceding words, saying: and the Lord God will reveal his holy arm before all the nations, that is, the Only-Begotten. For they, just as to Christ, so also of old to the prophets proclaiming him, they used to say: But speak to us and announce to us another delusion. As Jeremiah also says: I have neither helped, nor has anyone helped me. And the prophetic chorus, saying, "We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed; let us forsake her." Calling Jerusalem Babylon, as differing in nothing from the impiety of the Gentiles, and taking no thought for the law. The prophet, therefore, marveling at these things, then presents narratively the coming to humanity of the aforementioned child, saying: We have announced him as a child before him, as a root in a thirsty land. But according to Aquila: And he will come up as one being nursed in his presence, and as a root from an impassable land. For in his presence (I mean of the aforementioned arm) he will come up as one being nursed, which was the one born of the Virgin, concerning whom he said: "Behold, the Virgin will conceive in the womb," which he also calls an impassable land, as she is a virgin. And he says that root, concerning which he said: "A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will spring up from the root. And there too is the "he will spring up," but from a root, as here, from the impassable one. But Symmachus: He came up as a branch before him, and as a root from a thirsty land, he says, having called the impassable land thirsty; but Theodotion rendered it, he will come up as a suckling. For this was he concerning whom it was said before: "Before the child knows good or evil, he refuses wickedness." And again: "Before the child knows good or evil, he will take the power of Damascus." And again: "For a child is born to us and is given." And having spoken of the birth of the Savior, he relates his sojourn on earth. For he had, he says, no glorious form. Therefore Symmachus says: He has no form, nor dignity, that we should see him. Nor appearance, that we should desire him. Despised, and least of men. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and knowing how to bear sickness, yet not softened. But he endured these things, hiding the face of his divinity. For this is the "he turned away his face." For according to Aquila as his face was hidden. But according to Theodotion, the "he was not esteemed." We did not esteem him. But according to the others, Despised. Therefore we did not esteem him. And through love for mankind the prophet 2521 also substituted his own person for those who rejected Christ. We ought to have considered, he says, that this one was indeed the Savior of our souls, bearing our sins, and grieving for us. But Symmachus says: Truly he himself took up our sins, and endured our sorrows. But we considered him to be in affliction, smitten by God, and humbled. With which the others rendered it in agreement. We therefore, as infants, have thought these things concerning him. But he suffered for us, delivering humanity from the punishment owed for its sins. But Aquila: He, he says, was profaned for our transgressions. For he was truly profaned, because he became a curse for us, according to the Apostle, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. So he did not have a god-befitting beauty, but an unhonored one. For compared to the divine splendor, everything human is unhonored. At any rate, it has been said: "Beautiful in fairness above the sons of men." And in another way, being born of a poor mother, he journeyed through all humble things, that he might exalt the humble, and being Lord and King of all, what need would he have of splendor among men? And perhaps they saw the Savior's face downcast and troubled before the cross, as he says: "Now my soul is troubled, and my soul is sorrowful even to death." For being without suffering

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παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων9, κ.τ.λ. 2520 ∆ιόπερ ἐπάγει· Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; ἄμφω γὰρ ἐθαύμαζον, καὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν ἀπιστίαν, καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὴν ἐπιστροφήν. Καὶ τίνι ὁ βραχίων ἀπεκαλύφθη Κυρίου; τίνι δὲ, διὰ τῶν προλαβόντων ἐδήλωσε, λέγων· καὶ ἀποκαλύψει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν βραχίονα τὸν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, δηλαδὴ τὸν Μονογενῆ. Ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ, ὡς τῷ Χριστῷ, οὕτω καὶ πάλαι τοῖς προφήται αὐτὸν προκηρύττουσιν ἔλεγον· Ἀλλὰ ἡμῖν λαλεῖτε καὶ ἀναγγέλλετε ἡμῖν ἑτέραν πλάνησιν. Ὡς καὶ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν λέγειν· Οὔτε ὠφέλησα, οὔτε ὠφέλησέ με οὐδείς. Καὶ τὸν προφητικὸν δὲ χορὸν, "Ἰατρεύσαμεν, λέγειν, τὴν Βαβυλῶνα, καὶ οὐκ ἰάθη· ἐγκαταλίπωμεν αὐτήν." Τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καλέσαντα Βαβυλῶνα, ὡς τῆς ἐθνῶν ἀσεβείας μηδὲν διαφέρουσαν, μηδὲ τοῦ νόμου ποιουμένην φροντίδα. Ταῦτα τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης ἀποθαυμάσας, διηγηματικῶς λοιπὸν τοῦ προλεχθέντος παιδίου τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους παρίστησι πάροδον λέγων· Ἀνηγγείλαμεν ὡς παιδίον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· Καὶ ἀναβήσεται ὡς τιθηνιζόμενον εἰς πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὡς ῥίζα ἀπὸ γῆς ἀβάτου. Εἰς πρόσωπον γὰρ αὐτοῦ (λέγω δὲ τοῦ προλεχθέντος βραχίονος) ἀναβήσεται ὡς τιθηνιζόμενον, ὅπερ ἦν τὸ ἐκ τῆς Παρθένου γεγεννημένον, περὶ οὗ ἔλεγεν· "Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται," ἣν καὶ ἄβατον γῆν, ὡς παρθένον καλεῖ. Ῥίζαν δέ φησιν ἐκείνην, περὶ ἧς ἔλεγεν· "Ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται. Κἀκεῖ δὲ τὸ ἀναβήσεται, ἀλλ' ἐκ ῥίζης, ὡς ἐνταῦθα, ἐκ τῆς ἀβάτου. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Ἀνέβη ὡς κλάδος ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὡς ῥίζα ἀπὸ γῆς διψώσης, φησὶ, διψῶσαν τὴν ἄβατον γῆν εἰρηκώς· ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, ἀναβήσεται ὡς θηλάζον, ἐξέδωκε. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν περὶ οὗ καὶ πρόσθεν ἐλέγετο· "Πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι τὸ παιδίον ἀγαθὸν, ἢ κακὸν, ἀπειθεῖ πονηρίᾳ." Καὶ πάλιν· "Πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι τὸ παιδίον ἀγαθὸν, ἢ κακὸν λήψεται δύναμιν ∆αμασκοῦ." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν καὶ ἐδόθη." Τὴν δὲ γένεσιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος εἰπὼν, τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς αὐτοῦ διηγεῖται διατριβήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ, φησὶν, ἔνδοξον εἶδος. ∆ιὸ Σύμμαχός φησιν· Οὐκ εἶδος αὐτῷ, οὐδὲ ἀξιῶν, ἵνα εἴδωμεν αὐτό. Οὐδὲ θεωρία, ἵνα ἐπιθυμήσωμεν αὐτόν. Ἐξουδενωμένος, καὶ ἐλάχιστος ἀνδρῶν. Ἀνὴρ ἐπίπονος, καὶ γνωστὸς νόσῳ, καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, οὐ μὴν μεμαλακισμένος. Ταῦτα δὲ ὑπέμεινεν ἀποκρύψας τὸ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ, ἀπέστρεψε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Κατὰ γὰρ τὸν Ἀκύλαν ὡς ἀποκεκρυμμένον πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Κατὰ δὲ Θεοδοτίωνα, τὸ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη. Οὐκ ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτόν. Κατὰ δὲ τοὺς λοιποὺς, Ἐξουδενωμένος. ∆ιὸ οὐκ ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτόν. ∆ιὰ φιλανθρωπίαν δὲ καὶ τὸ 2521 ἴδιον ὁ προφήτης ὑπέβαλλε πρόσωπον τοῖς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀθετήσασιν. Ἐχρῆν δὲ σκοπεῖν ἡμᾶς, φησὶν, ὡς οὗτος ἦν ἄρα τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν ὁ Σωτὴρ, τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρων, καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνώμενος. Σύμμαχος δέ φησιν· Ὄντως τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνέλαβε, καὶ τοὺς πόνους ὑπέμεινεν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν ἐν ἁφῇ ὄντα, πεπληγότα ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, καὶ τεταπεινωμένον. Ὧ συμφώνως ἐξέδωκαν οἱ λοιποί. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, οἷα νήπιοι, ταῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ πεφρονήκαμεν. Ἔπασχε δὲ δι' ἡμᾶς, ἀπαλλάττων τιμωρίας τῆς ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὀφειλομένης τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα. Ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας· Αὐτὸς, φησὶ, βεβηλωμένος ἐπὶ ἀθεσιῶν ἡμῶν. Ἦν γὰρ ἀληθῶς βεβηλωμένος, ὅτι γέγονεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, ὅτι γέγραπται· Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου. Οὐκ ἅρα κάλλος εἶχε τὸ θεοπρεπὲς, ἀλλ' ἄτιμον. Πρὸς γὰρ τὴν θείαν λαμπρότητα πᾶν ἀνθρώπινον ἄτιμον. Εἴρηται γοῦν· "Ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων." Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ γεγονὼς ἐκ πτωχῆς μητρὸς, διὰ πάντων ὥδευσε τῶν ταπεινῶν, ἵν' ὑψώσῃ τὸ ταπεινὸν, καὶ Κύριος δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς ὑπάρχων τῶν ὅλων, ποίας ἂν ἐδεήθη τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις λαμπρότητος; κατηφὲς δὲ ἴσως τὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος τεθέανται πρόσωπον καὶ τεταραγμένον πρὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ὡς λέγειν· "Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται καὶ περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου." Ἀπαθὴς γὰρ