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the sufferings of a man; wherefore he says: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come in even to my soul. I am stuck in the mud of the deep, and there is no firm ground. I have come into the depths of the sea, and a storm has overwhelmed me.” Therefore, the psalm before this one addressed, saying: “Make a way for him who rides upon the west, the Lord is his name;” then, next, it presents his sojourn with 23.725 men, saying: “and rejoice before him, the father of orphans and judge of widows.” And it also indicated the calling of his disciples and apostles in the words, “The Lord will give a word to those who proclaim the good news with great power.” Then, next, it taught of his descent into death and his departure from thence in the words, “and to the Lord God belong the ways of escape from death;” and in the words, “The Lord said: I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;” and in addition to all these, it indicated his return to heaven through the same, saying: “Sing psalms to God who has mounted upon the heaven of heaven toward the east.” These things, therefore, are in those psalms; but through the present words it expands on what was then said as if in passing, showing how it was said: “and to the Lord God belong the ways of escape from death,” and, “The Lord said: I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.” For it goes through these things at length in the present psalm, saying: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come in even to my soul. I am stuck in the mud of the deep, and there is no firm ground. I have come into the depths of the sea, and a storm has overwhelmed me.” Now, the Word is accustomed to call temptations and persecutions and rebellions of impious men "waters"; Thus, at any rate, it is said elsewhere: “Our soul has passed through the torrent; then our soul has passed through the water that has no firm ground.” And the Savior himself also taught this, saying: “The rain came down, the rivers came, the winds blew, and they beat against that house, and it did not fall; for it was founded on the rock.” And so through the present words, calling the temptations and the plots against him "waters," he teaches that they have entered even to his soul. In the case of Job, therefore, although he was a noble athlete, it is written that God said to the tempter: “Behold, all that he has I give into your hand, only preserve his soul.” But here the tempter tempts the soul itself, whatever this was, which he himself also mentioned, saying: “No one takes my life from me; I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again;” and again: “I lay down my life for my sheep;” and, “Now my soul is troubled;” and, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Wherefore he now also says: “For the waters have come in even to my soul;” but according to Symmachus: “Because waters have come upon me even to my soul.” Then he adds: “I am stuck in the mud of the deep, and there is no firm ground;” but according to Symmachus, he translated it: “I was plunged into endless depths, and there is no standing place,” very consistently. For where there was no standing place for others, because all who went down there fell into a slip and were dragged down by the currents of death, there I myself also came, when I came into the depths of the sea; or, according to Symmachus, “I entered into the depths of the waters, and a current overwhelmed me.” And Jonah the prophet is also recorded as having prayed things similar to these from the belly of the sea monster. 23.728 For he too says: “Water was poured around me even to my soul; the last abyss encircled me. My head went down into the clefts of the mountains, I went down into the earth, whose bars are eternal bolts.” For this reason the Savior used the example of Jonah towards those who asked him for a sign, saying: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah the prophet was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so also will the Son of

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ἀνθρώπου πάθη· διό φησι· «Σῶσόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου. Ἐνεπάγην εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις. Ἦλθον εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ καταιγὶς κατεπόντισέ με.» Ὁ μὲν οὖν πρὸ τούτου ψαλμὸς προσεφώνει φάσκων· «Ὁδοποιήσατε τῷ ἐπιβεβηκότι ἐπὶ δυσμῶν, Κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ·» εἶθ' ἑξῆς τὴν ἅμα ἀνθρώποις διατρι 23.725 βὴν αὐτοῦ παρίστησι λέγων· «Καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὀρφανῶν καὶ κριτοῦ τῶν χηρῶν.» Καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν κλῆσιν ἐδήλου ἐν τῷ, «Κύριος δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ.» Εἶθ' ἑξῆς εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ κάθοδον καὶ τὴν διέξοδον τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐδίδασκεν ἐν τῷ, «Καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου Κυρίου αἱ διέξοδοι τοῦ θανάτου·» καὶ ἐν τῷ, «Εἶπε Κύριος· Ἐκ Βασὰν ἐπιστρέψω, ἐπιστρέψω ἐκ βυθῶν θαλάσσης·» ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἐπάνοδον αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐδήλου λέγων· «Ψάλατε τῷ Θεῷ τῷ ἐπιβεβηκότι ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατ' ἀνατολάς.» Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν ἐκείνοις· διὰ δὲ τῶν προκειμένων τὰ ὡς ἐν παραδρομῇ τότε λελεγμένα πλατύνει, δεικνὺς ὅπως λέλεκτο· «Καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου Κυρίου αἱ διέξοδοι τοῦ θανάτου,» καὶ τὸ, «Εἶπε Κύριος· Ἐκ Βασὰν ἐπιστρέψω, ἐπιστρέψω ἐκ βυθῶν θαλάσσης.» Ταῦτα γὰρ εἰς πλάτος ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος διεξέρχεται λέγων· «Σῶσόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου. Ἐνεπάγην εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις. Ἦλθον εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ καταιγὶς κατεπόντισέ με.» Πειρασμοὺς δὲ καὶ διωγμοὺς καὶ ἐπαναστάσεις ἀσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν ὕδατα καλεῖν εἴωθεν ὁ Λόγος· Οὕτω γοῦν εἴρηται ἀλλαχοῦ· «Τὸν χείμαῤῥον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν· ἄρα διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀνυπόστατον.» Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐδίδασκε τοῦτο λέγων· «Κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ, ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ, ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι, καὶ προσέῤῥηξαν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἔπεσε· τεθεμελίωτο γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν.» Καὶ διὰ τῶν προκειμένων τοίνυν τοὺς πειρασμοὺς καὶ τὰς κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιβουλὰς, ὕδατα ὀνομάζων εἰσεληλυθέναι ἕως τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ διδάσκει. Ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Ἰὼβ, καίπερ ὄντος ἀθλητοῦ γενναίου, γέγραπται εἰρηκὼς ὁ Θεὸς τῷ πειράζοντι· «Ἰδοὺ πάντα ὅσα ὑπάρχει αὐτῷ δίδωμι ἐν τῇ χειρί σου, μόνον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ διαφύλαξον.» Ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτὴν ὁ πειράζων πειράζει, ἥτις ποτὲ ἦν αὕτη, ἧς μέμνητο καὶ αὐτὸς λέγων· «Οὐδεὶς αἴρει τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ· ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχω λαβεῖν αὐτήν·» καὶ πάλιν· «Τὴν ψυχήν μου τίθημι ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων μου·» καὶ, «Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται·» καὶ, «Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου.» Ὅθεν καὶ νῦν φησιν· «Ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου·» κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «Ὅτι ἐπῆλθεν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου.» Εἶτα ἐπιλέγει· «Ἐνεπάγην εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις·» κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «Ἐβαπτίσθην εἰς ἀπεράντους καταδύσεις, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι στάσις,» ἡρμήνευσε· σφόδρα ἀκολούθως. Ἔνθα γὰρ οὐκ ἦν στάσις ἑτέροις, διὰ τὸ πάντας τοὺς αὐτόθι κατελθόντας ὀλίσθῳ περιπεσεῖν καὶ κατασύρεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ θανάτου ῥευμάτων, ἐνταῦθα καὶ αὐτὸς ἦλθον, ὁπηνίκα εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης ἐλήλυθα· ἢ, κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, «Εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὰ βάθη τῶν ὑδάτων, καὶ ῥεῖθρον ἐπέκλυσέ με.» Καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια δὲ τούτοις καὶ Ἰωνᾶς ὁ προφήτης ἀπὸ τῆς 23.728 κοιλίας τοῦ κήτους ἀναγέγραπται ηὐγμένος. Λέγει δ' οὖν καὶ αὐτός· «Περιεχύθη μοι ὕδωρ ἕως ψυχῆς μου· ἄβυσσος ἐκύκλωσέ με ἐσχάτη. Ἔδυ ἡ κεφαλή μου εἰς σχισμὰς ὀρέων, κατέβην εἰς γῆν, ἧς οἱ μοχλοὶ αὐτῆς κάτοχοι αἰώνιοι.» ∆ιόπερ τῷ παραδείγματι τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ κέχρηται ὁ Σωτὴρ πρὸς τοὺς αἰτήσαντας αὐτὸν σημεῖον, εἰπών· «Γενεὰ πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλὶς σημεῖον ἐπιζητεῖ, καὶ σημεῖον οὐ δοθήσεται αὐτῇ εἰ μὴ τὸ σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ τοῦ προφήτου. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐγένετο Ἰωνᾶς ὁ προφήτης ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας, οὕτως ἔσται καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς