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that is, of those who are perishing, about whom it was said: they will be consumed together; for some who are left from these very ones will accept my sign and the calling of the nations who are about to see my glory. Therefore it has been said: I will leave a sign upon them and I will send forth from them those who are saved. And these were "the remnant according to the election of grace," about which it was said: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed." This very "seed" then, saved from those very ones who were perishing, I will send forth, he says, to the foreign and alien nations, to Tarshish and Phud and Lud and Mosoch and Thobel and to Greece and to the islands far away, who have not heard my name nor have they seen my glory. And in what was said before: "that those to whom it was not announced concerning him will see, and those who have not heard will understand," and again: "I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me, I was found by those who did not seek me; I said, 'Behold, I am here,' to those who did not call upon my name." The present words happen to be akin to these, through which he promises to send his own apostles to the nations foreign to Israel that are farthest from Judea and to the islands, in which no one has ever heard the name of a prophet, and he says his own apostles will visit these, bringing a sign. And what is this but the sign of salvation, by which, being bold, they proclaimed "the glory of the only-begotten God" to all the nations, among whom, having liberated those formerly enslaved by the error of idolatry, they will lead them, and having shown them to be their own brothers, they will bring a gift to God. And for a time they will do these things, but at the time of the consummation they will lead them to "the city of God and the heavenly Jerusalem," having advanced this good end for them, when they will also be taken up like "Elijah on chariots," carried by angelic ones, while heavenly light flashes around them. Therefore it has been said: with horses and chariots, in litters of mules with sunshades, into the holy city Jerusalem, and they will bring your brothers from all the nations. And you will understand the horses and the chariots to be angelic, by paying attention to the prophecy of Zechariah, in which the word, having described certain "dappled and varied and white horses and chariots," alluded to angelic powers. And the litters of mules seem to signify the bodies of the resurrection, upon which the souls, being carried, will be taken up into the heavenly city. And they are well called litters because of the glory shining forth in them. And instead of: in litters of mules with sunshades, Symmachus translated: on horses and in chariots and in palanquins and in coaches and in litters. And all these things were said so crudely and corporeally, suitably for Jewish ears, but according to the meaning, it signifies their lofty journey through the air leading to the heavens, which the divine Apostle, interpreting more clearly, said: "we will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord." So they will enter into the heavenly city of God, so will those who are saved from all the nations come to the heavenly Jerusalem, just as the sons of Israel once went up and brought their sacrifices on the earth, which indeed he signifies by saying: as the sons of Israel would bring their sacrifices to me with psalms into the house of the Lord, and according to Symmachus: as the sons of Israel would bring the offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. Just as then according to the corporeal law those performing the worship did these things in the earthly Jerusalem, in the same way according to the earthly example, those who are ascending to the heavenly Jerusalem will come with their own fruits, and with the gifts which each one carries in his soul from the fruitfulness of the virtues. Then he adds: and from them I will take; but from which ones
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δηλαδὴ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων, περὶ ὧν ἐλέγετο· ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἀναλωθήσονται· ἐξ αὐτῶν γὰρ τούτων περιλειφθέντες τινὲς τὸ ἐμὸν καταδέξονται σημεῖον καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν κλῆσιν τῶν μελλόντων ὄψεσθαι τὴν δόξαν μου. διὸ λέλεκται· καταλείψω ἐπ' αὐτῶν σημεῖον καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐξ αὐτῶν σεσῳσμένους. οὗτοι δ' ἦσαν «τὸ λεῖμμα τὸ κατ' ἐκλογὴν χάριτος», περὶ οὗ λέλεκτο· «εἰ μὴ κύριος σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα». τοῦτο δὴ οὖν «τὸ σπέρμα» τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀπολλυμένων διασωθὲν ἐξαποστελῶ φησιν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἀλλογενῆ καὶ ἀλλόφυλα, εἰς Θαρσεῖς καὶ Φοὺδ καὶ Λοὺδ καὶ Μοσὸχ καὶ Θοβὲλ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους τὰς πόρρω, οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι τὸ ὄνομά μου οὐδὲ ἑωράκασι τὴν δόξαν μου. καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐλέγετο· «ὅτι οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι, συνήσουσι», καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν· εἶπα Ἰδού εἰμι τοῖς μὴ ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά μου». τούτων ἀδελφὰ τυγχάνει τὰ προκείμενα, δι' ὧν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἀποστόλους ἐπαγγέλλεται ἀποστέλλειν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀλλότρια τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἔθνη τὰ πορρωτάτω τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς νήσους, ἐν αἷς οὐδεὶς πώποτε προφήτου ὄνομα ἀκήκοε, τούτοις δὲ ἐπιδημήσειν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἀποστόλους φησὶ σημεῖον ἐπικομιζομένους. ποῖον δὲ τοῦτο ἢ τὸ σωτήριον σημεῖον, ᾧ θαρσοῦντες «τὴν δόξαν τοῦ μονογενοῦς θεοῦ» πᾶσι κατήγγελον τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ἐν οἷς ὡς καὶ τοὺς πάλαι πλάνῃ εἰδωλολατρίας δεδουλωμένους ἐλευθερώσαντες ἄξουσιν, ἀδελφούς τε αὐτοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀποδείξαντες δῶρον προσάξουσι τῷ θεῷ. καὶ τέως μὲν ταῦτα πράξουσι, κατὰ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς συντελείας ἐπὶ «τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πόλιν καὶ τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλὴμ» ἄξουσιν αὐτοὺς τέλος ἀγαθὸν αὐτοῖς τοῦτο προχωρήσαντες, ὅτε καὶ ἀναληφθήσονται ὁμοίως «τῷ Ἠλίᾳ ἐφ' ἁρμάτων» ἀγγελικῶν ὀχούμενοι φωτὸς ἐπουρανίου περιαστράπτοντος αὐτούς. διὸ λέλεκται· μεθ' ἵππων καὶ ἁρμάτων ἐν λαμπήναις ἡμιόνων μετὰ σκιαδίων εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἄξουσι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὑμῶν τοὺς ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν. νοήσεις δὲ τοὺς ἵππους καὶ τὰ ἅρματα τὰ ἀγγελικά, ἐπιστήσας τῇ Ζαχαρίου προφητείᾳ, παρ' ᾧ «ἵππους ψαροὺς καὶ ποικίλους καὶ λευκοὺς καὶ ἅρματά» τινα διαγράψας ὁ λόγος ἀγγελικὰς ᾐνίττετο δυνάμεις. λαμπῆναι δὲ ἡμιόνων σημαίνειν ἐοίκασι τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως σώματα, οἷς ἐποχούμεναι αἱ ψυχαὶ εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον ἀναληφθήσονται πόλιν. εὖ δὲ εἴρηνται λαμπῆναι διὰ τὴν ἐκλάμπουσαν ἐν αὐταῖς δόξαν. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· ἐν λαμπήναις ἡμιόνων μετὰ σκιαδίων, ὁ Σύμμαχος ἐφ' ἵπποις καὶ ἐν ἅρμασι καὶ ἐν λεκτίσι καὶ ἐν καρούχαις καὶ ἐν φορείοις ἡρμήνευσε. πάντα δὲ ταῦτα παχέως οὕτως καὶ σωματικῶς καταλλήλως ταῖς Ἰουδαϊκαῖς ἀκοαῖς ἐλέγετο, κατὰ δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν τὴν δι' ἀέρος μετάρσιον αὐτῶν πορείαν τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς φέρουσαν σημαίνει, ἣν ἑρμηνεύων ἐπὶ τὸ σαφέστερον ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· «ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα». οὕτω δὲ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ θεοῦ πόλιν, οὕτω δὲ ἥξουσιν οἱ ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν σῳζόμενοι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὥσπερ ποτὲ ἀνῄεσαν καὶ ἀνέφερον οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὰς θυσίας αὐτῶν, ὃ δὴ σημαίνει λέγων· ὡς ἂν ἐνέγκαισαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὰς θυσίας αὐτῶν ἐμοὶ μετὰ ψαλμῶν εἰς τὸν οἶκον κυρίου, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· ὡσπερεὶ ἐνέγκαισαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν προσφορὰν ἐν σκεύει καθαρῷ εἰς οἶκον κυρίου. ὥσπερ οὖν τότε κατὰ τὸν σωματικὸν νόμον ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπιγείου Ἰερουσαλὴμ ταῦτ' ἔπραττον οἱ τὴν λατρείαν ἐπιτελοῦντες, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον κατὰ τὸ ἐπὶ γῆς παράδειγμα οἱ εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἀνιόντες ἥξουσι μετὰ τῶν οἰκείων καρπῶν, καὶ ὧν ἕκαστος ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἐπικομίζεται δώρων ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν καρποφορίας. Εἶτ' ἐπιλέγει· καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν λήψομαι· ποίων δὲ