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He will come «with the glory of his Father and with his angels», «to judge the living and the dead». Therefore, he says: Behold, the Lord will come as fire. Instead of: "will come as fire," all the other interpreters have rendered it "will come in fire." And his chariots as a storm; and his chariots are angels and the powers around him, which he says will come like a storm upon those deserving of punishment. And he is said to come in such a manner because of the ungodly, upon whom he is about to unleash his anger; and his anger is usually called the chastising and punitive powers. And his rejection he will release in a flaming fire against them. Instead of: "and the rejection," the other interpreters have rendered it "his scorn." Such, then, will be the anger as stated, but towards those worthy of his kingdom, it will be as has often been revealed through the preceding words, and how he will show «the glory» of his kingdom «to his elders,» and how he will arrive like a «bridegroom» and will take «his own bride,» and all the other things that the word has proclaimed to those who will share in the promises. Then he threatens, saying: For in the fire of the Lord all the earth shall be judged, and with his sword, all flesh; many will be wounded by the Lord. And he speaks of a sword in a more bodily sense, and likewise of wounded, since it was not otherwise possible for them, being Jews, to hear and be able to follow the meaning of the words. But the Apostle clarifies the meaning of the preceding things, saying: «But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of God's righteous judgment, who will repay each one according to his works.» Next, the prophet brings a rebuke to the ungodly Jews of that time, saying: Those who sanctify and purify themselves in the gardens and in the entryways, eating swine's flesh and abominations and the mouse, will be consumed together, says the Lord. Here the word does not denounce them for eating swine's flesh, but for doing these things which he censured in the midst of those eating swine's flesh and the rest. For living among the nations and dwelling among foreigners, they differed in no way from them in their way of life. Therefore, he says, they will perish with them, being handed over to the same punishment as the nations. And he said they were purified in the gardens as no longer being purified according to the law which Moses delivered, «with the ashes of a heifer and sprinklings for seven days» and with the purifications through sacrifices, but instead of these, having gone about among them, they thought it sufficient for themselves to have the cleansing by water, washing themselves with the waters in the gardens and no longer having need of any of the legal ordinances. Or also otherwise, after foul and unclean acts and unlawful shameful deeds, they thought to cleanse their own souls with mere water. Therefore he adds: And I am coming to gather their works and their thought. The discourse shifts to the subject of the universal judgment, saying: I am coming to gather all the nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. And I will leave a sign upon them and I will send out from them those who are saved. But the Savior teaches these things more clearly in the Gospels, saying: «When the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father, and all the angels with him, then they will gather all the nations before him, and he will separate them, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left.» and to the one he will say this, and to the other that. which indeed the prophecy also presents through the words: And I am coming to gather their works and their thought, all the nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. And this again is promised to the nations: to be deemed worthy to see his glory. And so that this may happen and the things of the promise may proceed to a good end for the nations, I choose some, he says, from them; but of which of them, or
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ἥξει «μετὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ», «κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς». διό φησιν· Ἰδοὺ κύριος ὡς πῦρ ἥξει. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· ὡς πῦρ ἥξει, ἐν πυρὶ ἥξει οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες ἑρμηνευταὶ ἐκδεδώκασι. καὶ τὰ ἅρματα αὐτοῦ ὡς καταιγίς· ἅρματα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἄγγελοί εἰσι καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτὸν δυνάμεις, ἃς δίκην καταιγίδος ἐπιστήσεσθαι τοῖς τιμωρίας ἀξίοις φησί. τοιοῦτος δὲ ἥξειν λέγεται διὰ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, οἷς μέλλει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θυμὸν ἐπαφιέναι· θυμὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ αἱ κολαστικαὶ καὶ αἱ τιμωρητικαὶ δυνάμεις εἰώθασιν ὀνομάζεσθαι. καὶ τὸν ἀποσκορακισμὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς κατὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀφήσει. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· καὶ τὸν ἀποσκορακισμόν, τὸν σκορακισμὸν αὐτοῦ οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταὶ ἐκδεδώκασι. τοιοῦτος μὲν οὖν θυμὸς κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ἔσται, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀξίους τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας, ὁποῖος πολλάκις διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν δεδήλωται καὶ ὡς «τὴν δόξαν» τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ «τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις αὐτοῦ» δείξει καὶ ὡς «νυμφίου» δίκην ἐπιστήσεται καὶ «τὴν ἑαυτοῦ νύμφην» ἀπολήψεται καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοῖς τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν μεθέξειν ὁ λόγος εὐηγγελίσατο. Εἶτ' ἀπειλεῖ λέγων· ἐν γὰρ τῷ πυρὶ κυρίου κριθήσεται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ καὶ τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ αὐτοῦ πᾶσα σάρξ· πολλοὶ τραυματίαι ἔσονται ὑπὸ κυρίου. ῥομφαίαν δὲ ὀνομάζει σωματικώτερον καὶ τραυματίας ὡσαύτως, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἄλλως ἦν δυνατὸν ἀκούειν Ἰουδαίους ὄντας καὶ μὴ οἵους τε παρακολουθεῖν τῇ τῶν λόγων διανοίᾳ. ὅ γε μὴν Ἀπόστολος τὸν τῶν προκειμένων νοῦν διασαφεῖ λέγων· «κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ». Ἑξῆς ὁ προφήτης τοῖς κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἀσεβοῦσιν Ἰουδαίοις ἔλεγχον ἐπάγει λέγων· οἱ ἁγνιζόμενοι καὶ καθαριζόμενοι ἐν τοῖς κήποις καὶ ἐν τοῖς προθύροις ἔσθοντες κρέας ὕειον καὶ τὰ βδελύγματα καὶ τὸν μῦν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἀναλωθήσονται, εἶπε κύριος. ἔνθα ὁ λόγος οὐχὶ αὐτοὺς ἐσθίοντας τὸ κρέας τὸ χοίρειον διαβάλλει, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πράττοντας ἅπερ ᾐτιᾶτο ἐν μέσῳ ἐσθιόντων τὸ κρέας τὸ χοίρειον καὶ τὰ λοιπά. μεταξὺ γὰρ τῶν ἐθνῶν ζῶντες καὶ μεταξὺ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων πολιτευόμενοι οὐδὲν αὐτῶν διέφερον κατὰ τὸν βίον. διὸ σὺν αὐτοῖς φησιν ἐκλείψουσι τῇ αὐτῇ τοῖς ἔθνεσι παραδοθέντες τιμωρίᾳ. καθαρίζεσθαι δὲ εἰς τοὺς κήπους εἶπεν αὐτοὺς ὡς μηκέτι κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὃν παρέδωκε Μωϋσῆς καθαριζομένους «σποδιᾷ δαμάλεως καὶ περιρραντηρίοις ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ» καὶ ταῖς διὰ θυσιῶν καθάρσεσιν, ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων ἐν αὐτοῖς περινοστήσαντες τὸ δι' ὕδατος καθάρσιον ἀπαρκεῖν αὐτοῖς ᾤοντο τοῖς κατὰ τοὺς κήπους ὕδασιν ἀπολούεσθαι καὶ μηκέτι μηδενὸς δεῖσθαι τῶν νενομοθετημένων. ἢ καὶ ἄλλως μετὰ μιαρὰς καὶ ἀκαθάρτους πράξεις, ἀθεμίτους τε αἰσχρουργίας ἐνόμιζον ψιλοῖς ὕδασι καθαρίζειν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς. ∆ιὸ ἐπιλέγει· κἀγὼ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν ἔρχομαι συναγαγεῖν. ἐπὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς καθ' ὅλου κρίσεως λόγος μεταβαίνει λέγων· πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰς γλώσσας ἔρχομαι συναγαγεῖν, καὶ ἥξουσι καὶ ὄψονται τὴν δόξαν μου. καὶ καταλείψω ἐπ' αὐτῶν σημεῖον καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐξ αὐτῶν σεσῳσμένους. σαφέστερον δὲ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις ταῦτα διδάσκει λέγων· «ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνάξουσι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀφοριεῖ αὐτούς, ὃν τρόπον ἀφορίζει ὁ ποιμὴν τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων, καὶ στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων». καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἐρεῖ τάδε, τοῖς δὲ τάδε. ὃ δὴ καὶ ἡ προφητεία παρίστησι διὰ τοῦ· καὶ ἐγὼ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν αὐτῶν ἔρχομαι συναγαγεῖν, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰς γλώσσας, καὶ ἥξουσι καὶ ὄψονται τὴν δόξαν μου. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πάλιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται τὸ καταξιωθῆναι θεάσασθαι τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. ἵνα δὲ τοῦτο γένηται καὶ εἰς ἀγαθὸν τέλος τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας προχωρήσῃ, καταλέγω τινάς φησιν ἐξ αὐτῶν· τίνων δὲ αὐτῶν ἢ