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to fulfill; for being all-powerful they will water, they will plow the earth and do all that agricultural activity will accomplish, so that after this, having taken root, the things of piety and of the other virtues may yield the most complete fruits. For truly these words are so powerful as to break open minds that have become thick and stony, so that having penetrated them through compunction they may take root, from which, as from a secure root, the fruit of the best actions and thoughts will be yielded. And another reading is reported thus: Their judges were swallowed up near the rock. And these are they who, through examination and division of the words they employ, supposedly judge matters; who, being none other than the mighty ones, are swallowed up when they are near the rock, while the heralds of the truth are not swallowed up but stand upon it and are exalted (For He set my feet upon a rock, and He has exalted me on a rock) and in addition, also drinking from it; For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And the bones of the soul must be called the powers of the soul, as has been said. if these were accomplished rightly, praising God it will say, Lord, Lord, who is like you? but if they should sin and be perverted through acting according to wickedness, they lose all harmony and unity and are scattered, not just anywhere, but to the place of deadened souls. But even if this has happened through carelessness, it is yet possible to lift the eyes of the soul to the Lord who is able to gather into one the interpreted bones scattered beside Hades, so that each to each, and as the scripture said, 'Each one to the other,' to restore them to their proper harmony. And it is also well to speak in the plural concerning the scattering (For our bones have been scattered), while that which brings salvation is spoken of in the singular; for it does not say, Because to you, Lord, Lord, are our eyes, but, My eyes. For at one time the turning to the Lord is the unity of those who look to him, but at another time wickedness and the scattering of the bones is a multitude, as those who have suffered these things say. you will compare with these also the first commandment of God to Adam, which has the singular in the command, but the plural in the prohibition; For it says, And the Lord God commanded Adam, You shall eat freely of every tree in paradise, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die, he said. But if in the decalogue both the commands and the prohibitions were delivered in the singular, what was just said is not nullified; for these things too will receive their own explanation in due time. 1232 Ps 140,8b.9 To you, O Lord, I have lifted my eyes, having hoped in you; therefore do not take away my soul, so that it falls completely. For even if the bones of each of us have been scattered beside Hades, yet I hope that gathering them you will restore them to their proper accord and harmony; which when it happens by your goodness, not only will my soul not be taken away but it will also be saved, you guarding me from the snare they have set for me. And not from this alone but also from the stumbling blocks of those who work iniquity will you guard me. And perhaps the snare set for me by the wicked is the deceit according to false opinion, and the stumbling block of those who work iniquity is moral wickedness, of the one who is unstable being scandalized, when he sees many practicing lawlessness; a testimony to this is: Because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold, proof that the snare deceitfully set is the falsely-named knowledge from: They strengthened for themselves an evil purpose, they talked of hiding snares. 1233 Ps 140,10 If it were said concerning the devil, the explanation will be of this sort: the enemy of our race has a net woven from his various thoughts, all of which are terrible for deceiving, with which he surrounds men through sin and brings them to a fall, so that immediately them

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ἀποπληροῦν· παντοδύναμα γὰρ οντα ἀρδεύσει, ἀροτριάσει τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα ποιήσει οσα ἐνέργεια γεωργικὴ πράξει, ινα μετὰ τοῦτο ῥιζώσαντα τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ἀρετῆς πληρέστατα ἀποδῷ γενήματα. ἀληθῶς γὰρ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα ουτως ἐστὶ δυνατὰ ὡς τὰς παχυνθείσας καὶ λιθωθείσας διανοίας διαρρηγνῦναι ἐπὶ τῷ διαδύντα διὰ κατανύξεως ῥιζῶσαι, ἀφ' ης ὡς ἀπὸ ἀσφαλοῦς ῥίζης ἀποδοθήσεται ὁ διὰ πράξεων καὶ νοημάτων ἀρίστων καρπός. Φέρεται δὲ καὶ ἑτέρα γραφὴ ουτως εχουσα· Κατεπόθησαν ἐχόμενα πέτρας οἱ κριταὶ αὐτῶν. ουτοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ δι' ἐξετάσεως καὶ διαιρέσεως ων μετέρχονται λόγων κρίνοντες δῆθεν τὰ πράγματα· οιτινες οὐχ ετεροι τῶν κραταιῶν οντες ἐχόμενα τῆς πέτρας γινόμενοι καταπίνονται, τῶν κηρύκων τῆς ἀληθείας οὐ καταπινομένων ἀλλ' ἑστηκότων ἐπ' αὐτῆς καὶ ὑψουμένων ( Εστησε γὰρ ἐπὶ πέτραν τοὺς πόδας μου, καὶ ̓Εν πέτρᾳ υψωσέ με) καὶ προσέτι καὶ πινόντων ἀπ' αὐτῆς· Επινον γὰρ ἐκ πνευματικῆς ἀκολουθούσης πέτρας, ἡ δὲ πέτρα ην ὁ Χριστός. ̓Οστᾶ δὲ ψυχῆς ῥητέον τὰς ψυχῆς δυνάμεις καθὰ ειρηται. ταῦτα εἰ μὲν κατωρθωμένως ἐπιτελοῖντο ὑμνοῦντα θεὸν ἐρεῖ Κύριε κύριε τίς ομοιός σοι; εἰ δ' ἁμαρτάνοιεν καὶ διαστρέφοιντο δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ κατὰ κακίαν ἐνεργεῖν, πᾶσαν συμφωνίαν καὶ ἑνότητα ἀποβάλλουσαι διασκεδάννυνται οὐχ οπου ετυχεν ἀλλ' ενθα τὸ χωρίον τῶν νεκρωθεισῶν ψυχῶν. ἀλλ' ουν εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ ἀπροσεξίας ὑπῆρκται, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυνατὸν τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοὺς αραι πρὸς τὸν κύριον τὸν δυνάμενον εἰς ταὐτὸν συναγαγεῖν τὰ διασκορπισθέντα παρὰ τὸν ᾳδην ἡρμηνευμένα ὀστᾶ ωστε εκαστον ἑκάστῳ, καὶ ὡς ἡ γραφὴ ειπεν ̔Εκάτερον ἑκατέρῳ, ἀποδοῦναι τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἁρμονίᾳ. Ευ δὲ καὶ τὸ πληθυντικῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ διασκορπισμοῦ φάναι (∆ιεσκορπίσθη γὰρ τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν), ἑνικῶς εἰρημένου τοῦ σωτηριώδους· οὐ γὰρ ειρηται Οτι πρὸς σέ, κύριε κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου. ὁτὲ γὰρ πρὸς κύριον τὸ νεῦμα ἑνότης τῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁρώντων, ὁτὲ δὲ κακία καὶ τῶν ὀστῶν διασκορπισμὸς πλῆθος, λέγοντες οἱ ταῦτα παθόντες. παραβαλεῖς τούτοις καὶ τὴν πρώτην πρὸς τὸν ̓Αδὰμ θεοῦ ἐντολήν, ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς προστάξεως τὸ ἑνικόν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἀπαγορεύσεως τὸ πληθυντικὸν εχουσαν· Καὶ ἐνετείλατο γάρ φησι κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἀδάμ ̓Απὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φάγῃ, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν οὐ φάγετε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· ῃ δ' αν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε, ειπεν. εἰ δὲ ἐν τῇ δεκαλόγῳ καὶ αἱ προστάξεις καὶ ἀπαγορεύσεις ἑνικῶς ἐξηνέχθησαν, οὐκ ἀθετεῖται τὰ εναγχος ῥηθέντα· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ οἰκείας ἐξηγήσεως κατὰ καιρὸν τεύξεται. 1232 Ps 140,8b.9 Πρὸς σέ, ω κύριε, ηρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, ἐλπίσας ἐπὶ σέ· διὸ μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὡς τέλεον αὐτὴν ἐκπεσεῖν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάστου ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾳδην, ἀλλ' ουν ἐλπίζω οτι συνάξας ἀποκαταστήσεις αὐτὰ τῇ οἰκείᾳ συμφωνίᾳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ· ου γενομένου τῇ σῇ ἀγαθότητι, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀναιρεθήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου ἀλλὰ καὶ σωθήσεται, σου φυλάττοντός με ἀφ' ης συνεστήσαντό μοι παγίδος. οὐκ ἐκ μόνης δὲ ταύτης ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν φυλάξεις με. Καὶ τάχα παγὶς μὲν συνισταμένη μοι πρὸς τῶν πονηρῶν ἡ κατὰ ψευδοδοξίαν ἀπάτη ἐστί, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν σκάνδαλον ἡ ἠθικὴ κακία, τοῦ ἀβεβαίου σκανδαλιζομένου, οταν πλείονας ὁρᾷ ἀνομοῦντας· τούτου μαρτύριον τὸ ∆ιὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ἀνομίαν φυγήσεται ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν πολλῶν, ἀπόδειξις τοῦ καὶ τὴν συσταθεῖσαν ἀπατηλῶς παγίδα τὴν ψευδώνυμον ειναι γνῶσιν ἐκ τοῦ ̓Εκραταίωσαν ἑαυτοῖς λόγον πονηρόν, διηγήσαντο τοῦ κρύψαι παγίδας. 1233 Ps 140,10 Εἰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου λέγοιτο, ἐξήγησις εσται τοιαύτη· ἀμφίβληστρον εχει ὁ ἐχθρὸς τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν πεπλεγμένον ἐκ τῶν ποικίλων αὐτοῦ νοημάτων πάντων τυγχανόντων δεινῶν πρὸς τὸ ἀπατῆσαι, ῳ περιβάλλων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δι' ἁμαρτίας εἰς πτῶμα φέρει, ὡς εὐθὺς αὐτοὺς