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he adds: "and he swore to them, saying, 'We will not seek evil for you and for your friends.' And they trusted him, and he seized sixty men from among them, and he killed them in one day according to the word of Asaph which he wrote: 'They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of your holy ones to the beasts of the earth, they have poured out their blood around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.'" 10.1.13 These things having been thus foretold and fulfilled, it is not surprising if in the same manner the previously set forth sayings of the fortieth psalm also signify the things that were to be at the time of the plot against our Savior; which not all men understood, how, being the Word of God and wisdom and life and true light, and possessing all the wealth of good things, "for our sakes he became poor" by taking on flesh, and was made like mortal and poor men, having taken on the "form of a servant" and a poor man, and especially at the time when he was fulfilling the prophecy from the psalm, reasonably, at the beginning of the psalm, he who understands these things about him is called blessed, receiving the promise that has been written. Then, next, from the person of the poor and needy one, that is, of our Savior who became poor for our sakes, it is said: "I said, Lord, have mercy on me." And that the things in the psalm are uttered from the person of the Savior, the evangelist John happens to be a sufficient witness. 10.1.14 For he relates that Jesus, once having taken a towel, girded himself, and having washed the feet of his disciples, said, "I know whom I have chosen. But that the scripture might be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.'" 10.1.15 For what scripture did he show to be fulfilled in these things other than that of the psalm at hand, in which it is said: "For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who eats my bread, has magnified a heel-strike against me"? Therefore he says at the beginning: "I said, Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you," and throughout the whole psalm. 10.1.16 which Symmachus rendered more clearly in this manner: "While I was saying, Lord have pity on me; heal my soul, even if I have sinned against you. My enemies spoke evil things concerning me, When will he die and his name perish? And coming in to visit, he spoke vain things; his heart gathered iniquity to itself, and going out he spoke against me. With one accord all who hate me whispered against me, devising evil things for me. 10.1.17 A lawless word was poured out within them, and having fallen he will rise no more. But also the man who was at peace with me, in whom I trusted, eating my bread with me, was magnified against me accordingly. But you, Lord, have pity on me and raise me up, that I may repay them. By this I will know that you are pleased, if my enemy does not speak against me. And you have helped me on account of my simplicity, and will set me before you forever." 10.1.18 And the version of Aquila is equivalent to that of Symmachus. First, then, concerning what seems to be incongruous spoken from the person of our Savior, namely, "heal my soul, for I have sinned against you," you will observe that with Symmachus it is not so, but "heal my soul, even if I have sinned against you." And he says this thus, since he makes our sins common to himself. 10.1.19 Wherefore it has been said: 10.1.19 "and the Lord delivered him for our sins," and "he himself bears our sins." 10.1.20 He has therefore become "a curse for us," "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," whom also, "though he knew no sin, God made to be sin for us," giving him up as a ransom for us all, "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." But since also being "in the likeness of sinful flesh" he "condemned sin in the flesh," it is reasonable that the present words are uttered. 10.1.21 And that he says these things, making our sins his own through his love and philanthropy towards us, going down further in the psalm itself

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ἐπιλέγει· «καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτοῖς λέγων, οὐκ ἐκζητήσομεν ὑμῖν κακὸν καὶ τοῖς φίλοις ὑμῶν. καὶ ἐνεπίστευσαν αὐτῷ, καὶ συνέλαβεν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἑξήκοντα ἄνδρας, καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ κατὰ τὸν λόγον Ἀσὰφ ὃν ἔγραψεν· ἔδωκαν τὰ θνησιμαῖα τῶν δούλων σου βρώματα τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, σάρκας ὁσίων σου τοῖς ζῴοις τῆς γῆς, αἵματα αὐτῶν ἐξέχεαν κύκλῳ Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ θάπτων». 10.1.13 Τούτων οὕτως προρρηθέντων καὶ ἀποτελεσθέντων, οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τὰ προεκτεθέντα τοῦ τεσσαρακοστοῦ ψαλμοῦ λόγια σημαίνει τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιβουλῆς· ἅπερ μὴ πάντων ἀνθρώπων συνιέντων, ὅπως λόγος ὢν θεοῦ καὶ σοφία καὶ ζωὴ καὶ φῶς ἀληθινόν, καὶ πάντα πλοῦτον ἀγαθῶν κεκτημένος, «δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσεν» σάρκα λαβών, καὶ τοῖς τὸ γένος θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ πτωχοῖς ὁμοιωθείς, «μορφήν» τε «δούλου» καὶ πένητος ἀνειληφώς, καὶ μάλιστα καθ' ὃν καιρὸν ἐπλήρου τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προφητείαν, εἰκότως ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ μακαρίζεται ὁ ταῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ συνιείς, ἐπαγγελίας τυγχάνων τῆς ἀναγεγραμμένης. εἶθ' ἑξῆς ἐκ προσώπου λοιπὸν δὴ τοῦ πένητος καὶ πτωχοῦ, αὐτοῦ δηλαδὴ τοῦ δι' ἡμᾶς πτωχεύσαντος σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἐπιλέγεται· «ἐγὼ εἶπα, κύριε ἐλέησόν με». ὅτι δὲ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σωτῆρος τὰ ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ θεσπίζεται, αὐτάρκης μάρτυς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης τυγχάνει. 10.1.14 ἱστορεῖ γάρ, ὅτι λαβὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποτε λέντιον περιεζώσατο, καὶ νίψας τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν, «ἐγὼ οἶδα οὓς ἐξελεξάμην. ἀλλ' ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ, ὁ τρώγων μετ' ἐμοῦ τὸν ἄρτον ἐπῆρεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ τὴν πτέρναν αὐτοῦ». 10.1.15 ποίαν γὰρ πεπληρῶσθαι γραφὴν ἐν τούτοις ἐδήλου ἀλλ' ἢ τὴν τοῦ μετὰ χεῖρας ψαλμοῦ, ἐν ᾧ εἴρηται· «καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς εἰρήνης μου, ἐφ' ὃν ἤλπισα, ὁ ἐσθίων ἄρτους μου, ἐμεγάλυνεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πτερνισμόν»; φησὶν οὖν ἀρχόμενος· «ἐγὼ εἶπα, κύριε, ἐλέησόν με· ἴασαι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὅτι ἥμαρτόν σοι», καὶ δι' ὅλου τοῦ ψαλμοῦ. 10.1.16 ἅπερ σαφέστερον ὁ Σύμμαχος τοῦτον ἐξέδωκε τὸν τρόπον· «ἐμοῦ λέγοντος, κύριε οἰκτείρησόν με· ἴασαι τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ εἰ ἥμαρτόν σοι. οἱ ἐχθροί μου ἔλεγον περὶ ἐμοῦ κακά, πότε ἀποθάνῃ καὶ ἀπολεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ; καὶ εἰσερχόμενος ἐπισκέψασθαι, μάταια ἐλάλει· ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ ἤθροιζεν ἀδικίαν ἑαυτῇ, ἐξερχόμενος δὲ ἔξω κατελάλει. ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐψιθύριζον κατ' ἐμοῦ πάντες οἱ μισοῦντές με, περὶ ἐμοῦ ἐννοοῦντες κακά μοι. 10.1.17 λόγος παράνομος ἐκκέχυτο ἔνδον αὐτῶν, καὶ πεσὼν οὐκέτι ἀναστήσεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ὃς εἰρήνευέν μοι, ᾧ ἐπεποίθειν, συνέσθων μοι ἄρτον ἐμόν, κατεμεγαλύνθη μου ἀκολούθως. σὺ δέ, κύριε, οἴκτειρόν με καὶ ἀνέγειρόν με, ἵνα ἀνταποδώσω αὐτοῖς. διὰ τοῦτο γνώσομαι ὅτι θελήσεις, ἐὰν μὴ καταλαλήσῃ ὁ ἐχθρός μου. ἐμοῦ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἁπλότητα ἀντέσχου, καὶ παραστήσεις με ἔμπροσθέν σου δι' αἰῶνος.» 10.1.18 ἰσοδυναμεῖ δὲ τοῖς τοῦ Συμμάχου καὶ τὰ Ἀκύλου. Πρῶτον οὖν περὶ τοῦ δοκεῖν ἀπεμφαίνειν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὸ εἰρημένον, τὸ «ἴασαι τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὅτι ἥμαρτόν σοι», τηρήσεις τὸ παρὰ τῷ Συμμάχῳ μὴ οὕτως ἔχον, ἀλλὰ «ἴασαι τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ εἰ ἥμαρτόν σοι». καὶ οὕτως δὲ τοῦτό φησιν, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἡμετέρας κοινοποιεῖ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἁμαρτίας. 10.1.19 διὸ λέλεκται· 10.1.19 «καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν», καὶ «αὐτὸς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει». 10.1.20 γέγονε γοῦν «ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα» «ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου», ὃν καὶ «μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν ὁ θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν», ἀντίψυχον ὑπὲρ πάντων ἡμῶν προέμενος αὐτόν, «ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ». ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ καὶ «ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας» γενόμενος «κατέκρινεν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί», εἰκότως προφέρεται τὰ ἐκκείμενα. 10.1.21 ὅτι δὲ τὰς ἡμετέρας ἁμαρτίας ἐξοικειούμενος διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ταῦτά φησιν, ἑξῆς ὑποκαταβὰς ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ψαλμῷ