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but that the being of God is not limited by the old age of men. 80.1769 For if the prophet says concerning heaven and earth, "They will perish, but you remain;" and again; "But you are the same, and your years will not fail;" much more, while men both grow old and die, does the Lord of all remain. This resembles that apostolic saying: "For he must reign, until he has put all his enemies under his feet." For here too, the "until" does not indicate a time; for what reason would it have for him to reign while some still oppose, but after the subjection of all, for the kingdom to be taken away? And indeed Daniel the prophet, after the destruction of the beasts, said that he reigns forever, and that of his kingdom there will be no end. And how do the saints reign with him, or with whom do they reign, if he who promised the kingdom lays aside the kingdom? Therefore the "until" does not indicate time, but is used according to the idiom of the divine Scripture. b. "The Lord will send forth from Zion the rod of your power." The rod from Jesse is from Bethlehem; "For a rod," he says, "shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him." And the following things also show the power of the rod of the saving cross. For through it he subjected every phalanx of the adversaries; and in Zion it was fixed. "And rule in the midst of your enemies." For the heralds of the divine Gospels were not carried by favorable winds, but being besieged by Greeks and barbarians, and being overwhelmed by the streams of impiety, they prevailed over their foes, and converted the majority, and like certain captives they brought them to the king, and prepared them to embrace his service. c. "With you is the dominion in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints." You have imperishable power; and you will show this preeminently on the day of judgment, on which you will reveal the saints as bright and glorious. For he called the day of power the second coming of the Savior, on which he will come with the angels in the glory of the Father. Then also the saints will shine forth like the sun, according to the voice of the Lord himself. "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you." 80.1772 Here he also revealed the majesty of his divinity. And the Lord who said to him, "Sit at my right hand," confesses that he is of the same substance, and proclaims the sameness of nature. For "Before the morning star" indicates that he is before time and before the ages. But "From the womb" teaches the sameness of substance. For not from elsewhere, he says, but from my own nature have you been begotten; the womb obviously being understood parabolically. For just as men give birth from the womb, and those who are born have the same nature as those who begot them; so you have been begotten from me, and you show in yourself the substance of the one who begot. d. "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." The divine Apostle interpreted these things accurately in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and showed the unending nature of this high priesthood, because the Levitical priesthood did not receive the promises with an oath, but this one was confirmed by an oath. For this reason indeed he added "he will not repent"; since the God of all, having often arranged many things, allowed them to fall into changes. Thus he both made and put an end to the priesthood of the Jews. Thus he both established and destroyed that kingdom; thus he both allowed the kingdom of the Assyrians, and Babylonians, and Macedonians to come into being, and ordered it to be dissolved. However, wishing this priesthood to be eternal, he says that he has sworn that he will not repent. But he has said these things in a human manner; for the Divine is uninitiated into passion, and repentance is a passion. And Melchizedek was a priest not of the Jews, but of the nations. So also the Lord Christ offered himself to God not for the Jews only, but also for all men. And he begins his priesthood in the night, with

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δὲ ὅτι οὐ συμπερι ορίζεται τὸ εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ γήρει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 80.1769 Εἰ γὰρ περὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, "Αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις·" καὶ πάλιν· "Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσι·" πολλῷ μᾶλλον, ἀνθρώπων καὶ γηρώντων καὶ τελευ τώντων, διαμένει τῶν ὅλων ὁ ∆εσπότης. Τοῦτο ἔοικε τῷ ἀποστολικῷ ἐκείνῳ ῥητῷ· "∆εῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν, ἄχρις οὗ ἂν θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὑτοῦ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ." Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἄχρις οὗ χρόνου δηλωτικόν· ποῖον γὰρ ἂν ἔχοι λόγον, ἔτι μέν τινων ἀντιλεγόντων βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν, μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἁπάντων ὑποταγὴν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν; Καὶ μὲν ∆ανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης, μετὰ τὴν τῶν θηρίων ἀναίρεσιν, αὐτὸν ἔφη βασιλεύειν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ μὴ ἔσεσθαι τέλος. Πῶς δὲ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι συμβασιλεύουσιν, ἢ τίνι συμβασιλεύουσι, τοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν ὑποσχομένου ἀποτιθεμένου τὴν βασιλείαν; Οὐκ οὖν τὸ ἕως οὗ χρόνου δηλωτικὸν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἰδίωμα τῆς θείας κεῖται Γραφῆς. βʹ. "Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ σοι Κύριος ἐκ Σιών." Ἡ μὲν ἐξ Ἰεσσαὶ ῥάβδος ἐκ Βηθλεέμ· "Ἐξελεύσεται γὰρ, φησὶ, ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται, καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ." Καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς δὲ τοῦ σωτηρίου σταυροῦ τῆς ῥάβδου τὸ κράτος δηλοῖ. ∆ι' ἐκείνου γὰρ πᾶσαν ὑπέταξε τῶν ἀντιπάλων τὴν φάλαγγα· ἐν δὲ τῇ Σιὼν οὗτος ἐπάγη. "Καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου." Οὐ γὰρ ἐξ οὐρίων ἐφέροντο τῶν θείων Εὐαγ γελίων οἱ κήρυκες, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβά ρων πολιορκούμενοι, καὶ τοῖς τῆς δυσσεβείας περικλυζόμενοι ῥεύμασιν, ἐκράτουν τῶν δυσμενῶν, καὶ τοὺς πλείστους μετέβαλλον, καὶ οἷόν τινας αἰχ μαλώτους προσῆγον τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ τούτου δουλείαν ἀσπάζεσθαι παρεσκεύαζον. γʹ. "Μετὰ σοῦ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δυνά μεώς σου, ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων σου." Ἀνώλεθρον ἔχεις τὸ κράτος· διαφερόντως δὲ τοῦτο δεικνύσεις ἐν τῇ τῆς κρίσεως ἡμέρᾳ, καθ' ἣν λαμπροὺς καὶ περιφανεῖς τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποφανεῖς. Ἡμέραν γὰρ δυνάμεως τὴν δευτέραν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐκάλεσεν ἐπιφάνειαν, καθ' ἣν ἥξει μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέ λων ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρός. Τότε δὲ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν. "Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε." 80.1772 Ἐνταῦθα καὶ τῆς θεότητος αὑτοῦ τὸ μεγαλοπρεπὲς ἀπεκάλυψε. Καὶ ὁ εἰρηκὼς αὐτῷ Κύριος· "Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου," τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὁμολογεῖ, καὶ τὸ ταυ τὸν κηρύττει τῆς φύσεως. Τὸ μὲν γάρ· "Πρὸ ἑωσφό ρου," τὸ πρὸ χρόνων αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων εἶναι δηλοῖ. Τὸ δέ· "Ἐκ γαστρὸς," τὸ ταυτὸν τῆς οὐσίας διδάσκει. Οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς γεγένησαι φύσεως· τῆς γαστρὸς δηλονότι παραβολικῶς νοουμένης. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐκ γαστρὸς τίκτουσιν ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὰ τικτόμενα τοῖς γεννή σασι τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει φύσιν· οὕτως ἐξ ἐμοῦ γεγένη σαι, καὶ τοῦ γεγεννηκότος ἐν σεαυτῷ τὴν οὐσίαν δεικνύεις. δʹ. "Ὤμοσε Κύριος, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται. Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ." Ἀκριβῶς ταῦτα ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῇ, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ταύτης ἀπέραντον ἔδειξε, τῷ τὴν μὲν Λευϊ τικὴν ἱερωσύνην οὐ μεθ' ὅρκου τὰς ἐπαγγελίας δεδέχθαι, ταύτην δὲ ὅρκῳ βεβαιωθῆναι. Τούτου δὴ χάριν καὶ τὸ "οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται" προστέθεικεν· ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ πολλάκις οἰκονομήσας ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, μεταβολαῖς ταῦτα περιπεσεῖν συνεχώρησεν. Οὕτω τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἱερωσύνην καὶ πεποίηκε, καὶ κατ έπαυσεν. Οὕτω τὴν βασιλείαν ἐκείνην καὶ κατέστησε, καὶ κατέλυσεν· οὕτω τὴν Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ Βαβυλωνίων, καὶ Μακεδόνων βασιλείαν καὶ γενέσθαι συνεχώρησε, καὶ λυθῆναι προσέταξε. Ταύτην μέντοι τὴν ἱερωσύνην αἰώνιον εἶναι βουλόμενος, ὠμωμοκέναι φησὶν, ὡς οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται. Ἀνθρωπίνως δὲ ταῦτα εἴρηκε· τοῦ πάθους γὰρ τὸ Θεῖον ἀμύητον, πάθος δὲ καὶ ἡ μεταμέλεια. Ὁ δὲ Μελχισεδὲκ, οὐκ Ἰουδαίων, ἀλλ' ἐθνῶν ἱερεύς. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς, οὐχ ὑπὲρ Ἰουδαίων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἀν θρώπων ἑαυτὸν προσενήνοχε τῷ Θεῷ. Ἄρχεται δὲ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ, μεθ'