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and having said what follows, he adds: "And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they are my people, the house of Israel, says the Lord. And you are my sheep, and the sheep of my flock are men, and I am the Lord your God." These things, then, are for Israel, but now he says that the foreign sheep of Kedar will be gathered, and the rams of Nebaioth. And Kedar is interpreted as dark 2625 ness. And it is said to be around the desert of the Saracens. And Nebaioth is another country foreign to Israel. And by the rams are signified the chiefest of those from the nations who are converting, who even now offer gifts, dedicating themselves to God, and attending to the liturgy of the altar, through whom the Church of God is glorified. But some say that the phrase, "Camels upon camels shall come," means either that they will bring what they have, and honor God with what is at hand; or that they will not come one by one, but in a herd bearing fruit to the glory of God, that is, the fragrance of good works and spiritual wealth. From whom some, having acquired a gospel habit, have also presided over peoples, evangelizing the salvation of the Lord. But they shall come, he says, both the sheep of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth. That is, their sacrifices will also be acceptable as they approach through faith. You would say, he says, that sheep and rams are men abounding in good things and embracing gentleness, through whom the house of God is glorified, not by smoke and blood, like the old temple, but by spiritual worship. And the Savior, remembering this saying, said: "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." Therefore, when it became a house of prayer, then it was glorified. And Scripture, speaking to those of Israel as to infants, purposely presents the promises from things familiar to them, along with signifying something intelligible [in a bodily way]. For it was a great thing for them to see foreign nations bringing gifts. Therefore, it charms them by lisping to them what is dear. For it promises familiar things, as to children, through which you might bear with it, urging toward piety, as we are accustomed to do with children toward instruction. Perhaps it would have met them even in a bodily way, if they had accepted the Christ. Accordingly, some have rendered it thus: Take up again your former light, Jerusalem, which through indifference you extinguished, and by which you were honored above the other darkened ones, so that you might become an example of piety to nations and kings; but since you were unwilling, the light of Christ will pass over to the nations. Therefore, he says, raise your eye to God, and you will see those in the diaspora gathered and escorted by their captors. And it also promises gold and things from the nations to those who are excited about such things, if they would be pious. And these things, they say. But having conversed with the old Jerusalem, with the pious polity, the mother of the new polity according to Christ, he now adds what follows from her person, say 2628 ing: Who are these that fly like clouds? Which Paul made clear, saying: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord," that is, being joined to the choir of those who have achieved righteousness in the former people, who, beholding the flight toward them of those being saved from the nations, marvel at their multitude. But some say it is the person of the Church marveling at the concourse from every land through faith, of those proceeding with a swift course, and as if flying; that is, that having abandoned an earthly and base mindset, like clouds from the sea, they are raised far from worldly turmoil. And he says doves with their young, because the dragnet of the divine proclamation has gathered to the faith not only old men, but also young men, and daughters with their mother. And while the Church is marveling, he who casts the net states the cause of the matter: The islands waited for me, meaning the islanders, and the ships of Tarshish. And Scripture calls the lands of India Tarshish. And they also say that Tarshish is a city of Cyprus. But "waited for" means, "They received my yoke," by which he signifies the concourse of the nations bearing fruit from

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καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς εἰπὼν ἐπιφέρει· "Καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ λαός μου οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, λέγει Κύριος. Καὶ ὑμεῖς πρόβατά μου, καὶ πρόβατα ποιμνίου ἄνθρωποί ἐστε, καὶ ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν." Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Ἰσραὴλ, ἀλλόφυλα δὲ πρόβατα νῦν φησι συναχθήσεσθαι τὰ Κηδὰρ, καὶ κριοὺς Ναβεώθ. Κηδὰρ δὲ μεθερμηνεύεται σκοτα 2625 σμός. Λέγεται δὲ ἀμφὶ τὴν ἔρημον εἶναι τῶν Σαρακηνῶν. Καὶ Ναβεὼθ ἑτέρα χώρα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀλλοτρία. ∆ηλοῦνται δὲ διὰ τῶν κριῶν οἱ ἀρχικώτατοι τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐπιστρεφόντων, οἳ καὶ νῦν δῶρα προσφέρουσιν, ἀφιεροῦντες ἑαυτοὺς τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου προσεδρεύοντες λειτουργίᾳ, δι' ὧν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοξάζεται Ἐκκλησία. Τινὲς δὲ τὸ, Κάμηλοι ἐπὶ καμήλων, φασὶν, ἥξουσιν, ἢ ἅπερ ἔχουσι προσκομίζοντες, καὶ τοὺς κατὰ χεῖρα τιμῶντες Θεόν· ἢ ὅτι οὐ καθ' ἕνα ἥξουσιν, ἀλλ' ἀγεληδὸν καρποφοροῦντες εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ, ἤγουν τὴν ἐξ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν εὐοσμίαν, καὶ πλοῦτον πνευματικόν. Ἐξ ὧν τινες ἕξιν εὐαγγελικὴν ἐσχηκότες προέστησαν καὶ λαῶν, εὐαγγελιζόμενοι τὸ σωτήριον Κυρίου. Ἥξουσι δὲ, φησὶ, καὶ πρόβατα Κηδὰρ, καὶ κριοὶ Ναβεώθ. Τοῦτ' ἔστι, δεκταὶ καὶ τούτων αἱ θυσίαι γενήσονται προσιόντων διὰ πίστεως. Εἴποις δ' ἂν, φησὶ, πρόβατα καὶ κριοὺς, ἄνδρας βρίθοντας καλοῖς, καὶ ἐπιείκειαν ἀσπαζομένους, δι' ὧν ὁ οἷκος δοξάζεται τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐ διὰ καπνοῦ καὶ αἱμάτων, ὡς ὁ πάλαι νεὼς, ἀλλὰ διὰ λατρείας πνευματικῆς. Τούτου δὲ μνησθεὶς τοῦ ῥητοῦ καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἔφασκεν· "Ὁ οἶκός μου, οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν ἐποιήσατε σπήλαιον λῃστῶν." Ὅτε τοίνυν οἶκος γέγονε προσευχῆς, τότε δεδόξασται. Ἐπίτηδες δὲ ἡ Γραφὴ, ὡς νηπιώδεσι, τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ διαλεγομένη, ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῖς συνήθων τὰς ἐπαγγελίας παρέχεται μετὰ τοῦ [σωματικοῦ] δηλοῦν τι καὶ νοητόν. Περὶ πολλοῦ γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῖς ἀλλόφυλα ἔθνη δωροφοροῦντα θεάσασθαι. Θέλγει τοίνυν αὐτοὺς συμψελλιζομένη τὰ φίλα. Καὶ συνήθη γὰρ, ὡς δὴ παισὶν, ἐπαγγέλλεται, δι' ὧν ἀνέξη προτρεπομένη πρὸς θεοσέβειαν, ὡς πρὸς διδασκαλίαν τοὺς παῖδας εἰώθαμεν. Ἴσως δ' ἂν αὐτοῖς ἀπήντηκε καὶ σωματικῶς, εἰ τὸν Χριστὸν παρεδέξαντο. Τοιγαροῦν καὶ οὕτω τινὲς ἀπέδωκαν· Ἀνάλαβέ σου τὸ πρότερον φῶς, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ὃ διὰ ῥᾳθυμίας ἀπέσβεσας, καὶ ᾧ κατ' ἐξαίρετον ἐτιμήθης τῶν ἄλλων ἐσκοτισμένων, ὡς ἂν ἔθνεσι καὶ βασιλεῦσι θεοσεβείας γένῃ παράδειγμα, σοῦ δὲ μὴ βουλομένης ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὸ φῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεταβήσεται. Τὸ σὸν οὖν ὄμμα, φησὶν, ἀνάτεινον πρὸς Θεὸν, καὶ ὄψει τοὺς ἐν τῇ διασπορᾷ συνηγμένους ὑπὸ τῶν κατεχόντων δορυφορουμένους. Ἐπαγγέλλεται δὲ καὶ χρυσὸν, καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τοῖς περὶ ταῦτα ἐπτοημένοις, εἰ θεοσεβεῖν ἐθέλοιεν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὗτοι. Τῇ δὲ παλαιᾷ διαλεχθεὶς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τῷ θεοσεβεῖ πολιτεύματι, τῇ μητέρι τῆς νέας καὶ κατὰ Χριστὸν πολιτείας, ἐκ προσώπου νῦν αὐτῆς ἐπιφέρει τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα λεγού 2628 σης· Τίνες οἵδε; ὡς νεφέλαι πέτονται. Ὃ σαφὲς ὁ Παῦλος κατέστησεν, εἰπών· "Ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις, εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτω πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα," συναφθέντες δηλαδὴ τῷ χορῷ τῶν ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ κατωρθωκότων, οἳ καὶ θεωροῦντες τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀνάπτησιν, τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν σωζομένων ἀποθαυμάζουσι τὸ πλῆθος. Τινὲς δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ πρόσωπον εἶναί φασι θαυμαζούσης τὴν ἐξ ἁπάσης χώρας διὰ πίστεως συνδρομὴν συντόνῳ δρόμῳ χωρούντων, καὶ οἷον ἱπταμένων· ἤγουν, ὅτι τὸ γεῶδες καὶ χθαμαλὸν ἀφέντες φρόνημα, ὡς ἐκ θαλάττης νεφέλαι, θορύβου πόῤῥω κοσμικοῦ μετέωροι γίνονται. Περιστερὰς δὲ λέγει σὺν νεοσσοῖς, ὅτι τοῦ θείου κηρύγματος ἡ σαγήνη οὐ πρεσβύτας μόνους, ἀλλὰ καὶ νέους, καὶ σὺν μητέρι θυγατέρας ἐπὶ τὴν πίστιν συνήγαγεν. Θαυμαζούσης δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὴν τοῦ πράγματος αἰτίαν ὁ σαγηνεύων φησίν· Ἐμὲ νῆσοι ὑπέμειναν, τοὺς νησιώτας λέγων, καὶ πλοῖα Θαρσεῖς. Τὰς Ἰνδικὰς δὲ χώρας Θαρσεῖς ἡ Γραφὴ καλεῖ. Λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τῆς Κύπρου πόλιν εἶναι Θαρσεῖς. Τὸ δὲ ὑπέμειναν, τοῦτ' ἔστι, Τὸν ἐμὸν ζυγὸν ὑπεδέξαντο, δι' ὧν δηλοῖ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν συνδρομὴν καρποφορούντων τὰ παρ'