291
it adds grim words to the end of the whole speech: Render to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, with which they have reproached you, O Lord. But we are your people and the sheep of your pasture; we will give thanks to you forever. To all generations we will declare your praise. For these are clearly the voices of the righteous. 8. The eighth prophecy of Asaph signifies many things at once through its inscription; for it is, "for the end," and, "for those who shall be changed," and, "a psalm;" in addition to all these, it is observed that this is also a "testimony," being the only one of those in the whole book that is so inscribed. Therefore, "for the end" refers to prophesying the future; "for those who shall be changed," because of the change of the things being revealed through the prophecy; and it is called a "testimony" because it testifies concerning the man proclaimed in it and the one called the Son of man. For it introduces a certain son of man and calls him the man of God's right hand. First, then, it represents the journey of the Jewish nation from Egypt and their settlement in the land of the Palestinians in an allegorical manner, saying: You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it, and what follows this; then it reveals their coming desolation, saying: Why have you broken down its hedge, so that all who pass by the way pluck its fruit? And it also teaches about the besiegers, saying: The boar out of the wood has ravaged it, and a wild solitary beast has devoured it. By which it signifies that there will be two besiegers of the nation; which indeed happened also in the times of the Babylonians; for first the Assyrian came and led the ten tribes of Israel away captive; then after him the Babylonian subdued the rest, burning Jerusalem along with the temple. Which the word prophesies, saying: It is burned with fire and dug up; and it happened also under the Roman empire, first when Titus besieged them and burned the temple after what they had dared to do against our Savior; then when Hadrian decreed that the city itself be off-limits to Jews. But since it prophesied these things about the siege of the nation, going on it sends up a prayer concerning the saving theophany, saying: Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, and upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself. And in these words it calls for the man of God's right hand to be seen on earth. For through him, it says, we who have received him will not depart from you, but you will also give us life through him; for which reason we also beseech, saying: O Lord of hosts, restore us, and make your face shine, through the man who has been revealed, and we shall be saved.9. Very consistently with what has been said before, the prophecy at hand is inscribed "for the winepresses," and refers to the end. And by these it names as winepresses the Churches of God throughout the whole world, in which the harvest of the holy vine has been gathered. But it is paradoxically inscribed, "for the winepresses," after the destruction of the former vine. For after that one was ravaged by the wild boar and its hedge was broken down, here the word mentions many winepresses and no longer one. And Isaiah also indicated the first single winepress, saying: And I built a tower, and dug a wine vat in it, that is, in the vineyard. But since in those words he revealed the fall of the former tower, and the destruction of the wine vat, and the desolation of the whole vineyard; fittingly, through the present psalm he proclaims the calling of all the nations, having inscribed the prophecy "for the winepresses." Therefore he summons those who are evangelized to joy and gladness, saying: Rejoice in God our helper; shout aloud to the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring the timbrel,
291
σκυθρωπὰ ἐπισυνάπτει τῷ τέλει τοῦ παντὸς λόγου· Ἀπόδος τοῖς γείτοσιν ἡμῶν ἑπταπλασίονα εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτῶν, τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτῶν, ὃν ὠνείδισάν σε, Κύριε. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, λαός σου καὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου, ἀνθομολογησόμεθά σοι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν ἐξαγγελοῦμεν τὴν αἴνεσίν σου. Αὗται γὰρ σαφῶς δικαίων τυγχάνουσι φωναί. Ηʹ. Ἡ ὀγδόη προφητεία τοῦ Ἀσὰφ πολλὰ σημαίνει κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ διὰ τῆς προγραφῆς· ἔστι γὰρ, εἰς τὸ τέλος, καὶ, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων, καὶ, ψαλμός· πρὸς τούτοις ἅπασιν ἐπιτετήρηται ὡς καὶ μαρτύριον εἴη μόνος οὗτος τῶν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ βίβλῳ φερομένων οὕτως ἐπιγεγραμμένος. Εἰς μὲν οὖν τὸ τέλος ἀναπέμπει διὰ τὸ θεσπίζειν τὸ μέλλον· ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων, διὰ τὴν μεταβολὴν τῶν διὰ τῆς προφητείας δηλουμένων· μαρτύριον δὲ εἴρηται διὰ τὸ μαρτύρεσθαι περὶ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ προαναφωνουμένου ἀνδρὸς καὶ τοῦ καλουμένου Υἱοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Υἱὸν γάρ τινα ἀνθρώπου εἰσάγει καὶ ἄνδρα δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦτον ὀνομάζει. Πρῶτον μὲν οὖν τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους τὴν ἀπὸ Αἰγύπτου πορείαν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς Παλαιστινῶν γῆς οἴκησιν παρίστησιν ἐν ἀλληγορίας τρόπῳ φάσκων· Ἄμπελον ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετῆρας, ἐξέβαλες ἔθνη καὶ κατεφύτευσας αὐτὴν, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα· εἶτα δηλοῖ τὴν ἐσομένην ἐρημίαν αὐτῶν φάσκων· Ἵνα τί καθεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτῆς, καὶ τρυγῶσιν αὐτὴν πάντες οἱ παραπορευόμενοι τὴν ὁδόν; Καὶ περὶ τῶν πολιορκησάντων δὲ διδάσκει λέγων· Ἐλυμῄνατο αὐτὴν ὗς ἐκ δρυμοῦ, καὶ μονιὸς ἄγριος κατενεμήσατο αὐτήν. ∆ι' ὧν δύο πολιορκητὰς ἔσεσθαι τοῦ ἔθνους σημαίνει· ὃ δὴ γέγονε μὲν καὶ κατὰ τοὺς τῶν Βαβυλωνίων χρόνους· πρῶτος γὰρ ὁ Ἀσσύριος ἐπελθὼν τὰς δέκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ αἰχμαλώτους ἀπήγαγεν· εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτον ὁ Βαβυλώνιος τοὺς ὑπολοίπους ἐχειρώσατο, τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ σὺν τῷ ναῷ πυρπολήσας. Ὃ δὴ θεσπίζει φάσκων ὁ λόγος· Ἐμπεπυρισμένη ἐν πυρὶ καὶ ἀνεσκαμμένη· γέγονε δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων βασιλείας, πρῶτον μὲν πολιορκήσαντος αὐτοὺς Τίτου τοῦ καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν πυρπολήσαντος μετὰ τὰ τολμηθέντα αὐτοῖς κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν· ἔπειτα Ἀδριανοῦ τοῦ τὴν πόλιν αὐτὴν ἄβατον Ἰουδαίοις εἶναι νομοθετήσαντος. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα περὶ τῆς πολιορκίας ἐθέσπισε τοῦ ἔθνους, προϊὼν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίου θεοφανείας εὐχὴν ἀναπέμπει λέγων· Γενηθήτω ἡ χείρ σου ἐπ' ἄνδρα δεξιᾶς σου, καὶ ἐπὶ Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου ὃν ἐκραταίωσας σεαυτῷ. Παρακαλεῖ δὲ ἐν τούτοις τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀφθῆναι ἐπὶ γῆς. ∆ι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡμεῖς οἱ παραδεξάμενοι αὐτὸν οὐ μὴ ἀποστῶμεν ἀπὸ σοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζωώσεις ἡμᾶς δι' αὐτοῦ· δι' ὃ καὶ ἱκετεύομεν λέγοντες· Κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων, ἐπίστρεψον ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, διὰ τοῦ δηλωθέντος ἀνδρὸς, καὶ σωθησόμεθα.Θʹ. Σφόδρα ἀκολούθως τοῖς προλεχθεῖσιν ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας προφητεία ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν προγέγραπται, καὶ εἰς τὸ τέλος ἀναπέμπει. Ληνοὺς δὲ διὰ τούτων ὀνομάζει τὰς καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν οἷς ὁ τρυγητὸς τῆς ἁγίας ἀμπέλου συνῆκται. Παραδόξως δὲ προγέγραπται, ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν, μετὰ τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῆς προτέρας ἀμπέλου. Ἐκείνης γὰρ λυμανθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγρίου συὸς, τοῦ τε φραγμοῦ αὐτῆς καθαιρεθέντος, ἐνταῦθα πολλῶν ληνῶν καὶ οὐκέτι μιᾶς ὁ λόγος μνημονεύει. Ληνὸν δὲ μίαν τὴν πρώτην ἐδήλου καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας λέγων· Καὶ ᾠκοδόμησα πύργον, καὶ προλήνιον ὤρυξα ἐν αὐτῷ, δηλαδὴ τῷ ἀμπελῶνι. Ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ τὴν πτῶσιν ἐδήλου τοῦ προτέρου πύργου, καὶ τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τοῦ προληνίου, τήν τε τοῦ παντὸς ἀμπελῶνος ἐρημίαν ἐν ἐκείνοις· εἰκότως διὰ τοῦ παρόντος τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων τὴν κλῆσιν εὐαγγελίζεται, ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν ἐπιγράψας τὴν προφητείαν. ∆ιὸ ἐπὶ χαρὰν καὶ εὐφροσύνην προκαλεῖται τοὺς εὐαγγελιζομένους φάσκων· Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε τῷ Θεῷ τῷ βοηθῷ ἡμῶν· ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Θεῷ Ἰακώβ. Λάβετε ψαλμὸν, καὶ δότε τύμπανον,