250

A besieger spirit of the Lord, was marked in him. But nowhere in these things is the wrath of the Lord mentioned, nor anger; therefore the spirit of the Lord will come as a violent river, that those from the west and those from the east of the sun may fear him; for because of these things the spirit of the Lord is said to come. And we shall understand how it is said that it will come as a violent river when we observe the outcome of the word, which was fulfilled in the Acts of the Apostles, when being gathered “together, suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Thus then it is said that the spirit of the Lord will come as a violent river, but he also says a sign to himself. And this was the sign of the ascension of our Savior, just as he himself taught, saying: “If I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come,” and again: “when I depart, I will send you the Spirit of truth.” Then next it is said: And the deliverer will come for the sake of Zion, but according to Symmachus: and he will come to Zion as a kinsman-redeemer, and according to Aquila: and he will come to Zion as a kinsman-redeemer. And the Savior himself also showed this, saying: “I came not but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And again, here also the pious commonwealth is signified through Zion, which was shown in various ways to be the church of God. For the sake of this city of God, then, the deliverer or the kinsman-redeemer is said to come. And what will he do? He will forgive the iniquities of those who come to him. Therefore it has been said: He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, that is, for those from Jacob who are converting. But if they should not convert, they blame themselves, because they did not partake of grace equally with the Gentiles, although they were called first. And this, he says, will be my covenant with them; and which this is, he adds next: my spirit, which is upon you; This spirit, at least, was the covenant, wherefore the Savior and our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, gave the spirit to his disciples, saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven him.” This new covenant, then, and the sum of the mystery would be the Holy Spirit. Therefore it has been said: And this is my covenant with them, said the Lord: My spirit, which is in you. And he addresses these things to the kinsman-redeemer and the deliverer and the one who forgives sins; Of this spirit, then, he also imparted to his disciples so that they too might impart it to the worthy. And my words, he says, which I have given into your mouth, those to be delivered through the new covenant, they too would be my covenant; for my spirit and the words which I have given into your mouth, these are now your covenant, which shall not depart from your mouth and from your seed, said the Lord, from now and forever; for these words remain both in the present age and in the one to come, as the Savior himself taught, saying in the Gospels: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” 2.50 Having announced the first coming of Christ, the prophet exhorts Jerusalem to partake of the light, that is, the whole nation of the Jews who formerly adhered to Jerusalem. Since, therefore, the Christ of God was himself “the light” and “the truth and the life” and “the light that enlightens every man coming into the world,” the word fittingly addressed Jerusalem to enjoy his coming, saying: Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come; and he says the light is hers because the promises concerning Christ were proclaimed to her by the prophets. If, then, being persuaded by the command, she had partaken of the light by accepting the Christ of God, she would have remained in peace until the end. For the light formerly announced to you, he says, through the prophets, behold now

250

πολιορκητὴς πνεῦμα κυρίου, ἐσημειώθη ἐν αὐτῷ. οὐδαμοῦ δὲ ἐν τούτοις ὀργὴ κυρίου εἴρηται, οὐδὲ θυμός· οὐκοῦν τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου ἥξει ὡς ποταμὸς βίαιος, ἵνα φοβηθῶσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου· διὰ γὰρ ταῦτα ἥξειν εἴρηται τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου. νοήσομεν δὲ πῶς εἴρηται ὡς ποταμὸς βίαιος ἥξειν τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα τοῦ λόγου θεασάμενοι, ὅπερ ἐπληροῦτο ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν Ἀποστόλων, ὅτε συνηγμένων «ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας καὶ ἐπλήρωσε τὸν οἶκον ὅλον οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι, καὶ ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός, καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐφ' ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπληρώθησαν ἅπαντες πνεύματος ἁγίου». οὕτως οὖν εἴρηται ἥξειν ὡς ποταμὸν βίαιον τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου, ἀλλὰ καὶ σημεῖόν φησιν ἑαυτῷ. τοῦτο δὲ ἦν τὸ σημεῖον τῆς ἀναλήψεως τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἐδίδασκεν αὐτὸς λέγων· «ἐὰν μὴ ἀπέλθω, ὁ παράκλητος οὐκ ἔρχεται», καὶ πάλιν· «ὅταν ἀπέλθω, ἀποστείλω ὑμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας». Εἶθ' ἑξῆς εἴρηται· καὶ ἥξει ἕνεκεν Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· καὶ ἥξει τῇ Σιὼν ἀγχιστεύων, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· καὶ ἐλεύσεται τῇ Σιὼν ἀγχιστεύων. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἐδήλου λέγων· «οὐκ ἦλθον εἰ μὴ εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ». πάλιν δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ θεοσεβὲς πολίτευμα σημαίνεται διὰ τῆς Σιών, ἥτις διαφόρως ἀπεδείκνυτο οὖσα ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ. ταύτης οὖν ἕνεκεν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως ἥξειν λέγεται ὁ ῥυόμενος ἢ ὁ ἀγχιστεύων. καὶ τί ποιήσει; συγχωρήσει τὰς ἀδικίας τοῖς προσιοῦσιν αὐτῷ. διὸ λέλεκται· ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ, δηλονότι τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἐπιστρέφουσιν. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐπιστρέφοιεν ἑαυτοῖς μέμφονται, ὅτι μὴ τῆς χάριτος ὁμοίως τοῖς ἔθνεσι μετέσχον καίπερ πρῶτοι κεκλημένοι. Καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς φησιν ἔσται ἡ παρ' ἐμοῦ διαθήκη· ποία δὲ αὕτη ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐμόν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ σοί· τοῦτο γοῦν τὸ πνεῦμα ἡ διαθήκη ἐτύγχανε, διόπερ ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἐδίδου τὸ πνεῦμα λέγων· «λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον. ἐάν τινος ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀφίεται αὐτῷ». αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον εἴη ἄν. διὸ λέλεκται· καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρ' ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, εἶπε κύριος· τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐμόν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν σοί. προσφωνεῖ δὲ ταῦτα τῷ ἀγχιστεῖ καὶ τῷ ῥυομένῳ καὶ ἀφιέντι τὰς ἁμαρτίας· τούτου δὴ οὖν τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μετεδίδου μαθηταῖς εἰς τὸ καὶ αὐτοὺς μεταδιδόναι τοῖς ἀξίοις. καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μού φησιν, ἃ ἔδωκα εἰς τὸ στόμα σου, τὰ διὰ τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης παραδοθησόμενα, γένοιτ' ἂν καὶ αὐτὰ ἐμὴ διαθήκη· τὸ πνεῦμα γὰρ τὸ ἐμὸν καὶ τὰ ῥήματα, ἃ ἔδωκα εἰς τὸ στόμα σου, ταῦτα ἤδη διαθήκη σού εἰσιν, ἥτις οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματός σου, εἶπε κύριος, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· μένει γὰρ καὶ εἰς τὸν παρόντα αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα, ὡς ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ εἰπὼν ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις· «ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται, οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρέλθωσι». 2.50 Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν εὐαγγελισάμενος ὁ προφήτης πρώτην παρακελεύεται τοῦ φωτὸς μεταλαγχάνειν τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ, δηλαδὴ τῷ παντὶ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει τῷ πάλαι προσκειμένῳ τῇ Ἰερουσαλήμ. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτὸς «ἦν τὸ φῶς» καὶ «ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ» καὶ «τὸ φῶς τὸ φωτίζον πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον», εἰκότως τῆς τούτου παρουσίας ἀπολαύειν ὁ λόγος τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ προσεφώνει λέγων· Φωτίζου φωτίζου, Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἥκει γάρ σου τὸ φῶς· αὐτῆς δὲ εἶναι φάσκει τὸ φῶς διὰ τὸ αὐτῇ τὰς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπαγγελίας ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν κεκηρύχθαι. εἰ μὲν οὖν πεισθεῖσα τῷ παραγγέλματι τοῦ φωτὸς μετειλήφει τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ παραδεξαμένη, διέμεινεν ἂν ἐν εἰρήνῃ μέχρι τέλους. τὸ γὰρ πάλαι σοί φησι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν κατηγγελμένον φῶς ἰδοὺ νῦν