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a delightful psaltery with a lyre. These things, then, are for those worthy of the Gospel, who fill the winepresses from their own fruits. But concerning the nation of the Jews it clearly adds: And my people did not hearken to my voice, and Israel did not attend to me. And I sent them away according to the desires of their heart. And these things have much consistency with the preceding prophecy. For just as there it indicated the destruction of the vine, so also here it convicts the same people of their disobedient and unhearing nature; and as in that one it introduced a man of God’s right hand, and a Son of man made strong, so through the preceding words it connected the prophecy concerning the winepresses, that is, of the Churches of God which the Son of man established. 10. Asaph necessarily introduces gods and God in the midst of gods judging the so-called gods in these verses; for since through the preceding words he was accusing the entire Jewish nation, consequently in the present psalm he specifically convicts their rulers. Then, since in the preceding psalm he named the Christ of God a man of his right hand and a Son of man made strong, signifying his incarnate presence, so that no one might suppose him a mere man and like the many, he speaks of him as God in the verses at hand, saying: God stood in the assembly of gods. And so that no one might be disturbed in the doctrine concerning monarchy, hearing that the Christ of God is God, he reasonably also names several gods, those who are accused in the following verses, as it were, exhorting not to shrink from also calling the Son of God, God. For if the accused rulers of the nation were deemed worthy to be named gods, what danger would there be in confessing as God the man of God’s right hand and the Son of man made strong? Then at the end of it all the Prophet sends up a prayer for the calling of the nations, saying: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you will inherit among all the nations. And the 49th psalm seems to follow this one, in which it was also said: The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken. And so in both "God of gods" is introduced; and again in both he is described as judging. And in the present one it is said: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you will inherit among all the nations; but in the 49th, in close sequence to these things, the word describes how having arisen he judges the earth, saying: The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; and what follows; God will come manifestly, and will not keep silent. A fire will burn before him, and what follows; through which things it details how he is about to judge. And since in the psalm at hand it is said: For you will inherit among all the nations; reasonably in the 49th he overturns the laws from Moses concerning sacrifices, handing down another manner of spiritual sacrifice, the one performed throughout the whole world among all the nations; for which reason it is said: For you will inherit among all the nations. 11. The present discourse, being the last of Asaph, very consequently contains a supplication and an appeal on behalf of the people. For since in the first psalms he prophesied the final siege of the place, then going back in time he placed a second one, that which happened under Antiochus, then upon this one he mentioned a third preceding in time, I mean the one under the rule of the Assyrians and Babylonians; consequently through the preceding words he sends up a prayer and supplication concerning the first siege in time, during which all the neighbors of Judaea extended right hands to the Assyrians against them. Which indeed he signifies, saying: The tents of the Idumaeans and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Agarenes, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, foreigners with the inhabitants of Tyre. For even Assur came with them, they became a help to the sons of Lot. To whom next he describes the end that will befall them

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ψαλτήριον τερπνὸν μετὰ κιθάρας. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τοῖς ἀξίοις τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, τοῖς τὰς ληνοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων καρπῶν πληροῦσι. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους σαφῶς ἐπιλέγει· Καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσεν ὁ λαός μου τῆς φωνῆς μου, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐ προσέσχε μοι. Καὶ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν. Πολλῆς δὲ ἔχεται ἀκολουθίας ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν ἔμπροσθεν προφητείαν. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ τῆς ἀμπέλου τὸν ἀφανισμὸν ἐδήλου, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τῶν αὐτῶν τὸ ἀπειθὲς καὶ ἀνήκοον ἐλέγχει· καὶ ὡς ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἄνδρα δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσήγαγε, καὶ Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου κεκραταιωμένον, οὕτω διὰ τῶν προκειμένων τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν συνῆψε προφητείαν, δηλαδὴ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἃς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου συνεστήσατο. Ιʹ. Θεοὺς εἰσάγει καὶ Θεὸν ἐν μέσῳ θεῶν διακρίνοντα τοὺς ὠνομασμένους θεοὺς ἐν τούτοις ὁ Ἀσὰφ ἀναγκαίως· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ παντὸς Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους κατηγόρει, ἀκολούθως ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῖς ἄρχοντας ἰδίως ἐλέγχει. Εἶτ' ἐπειδὴ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου ἄνδρα ὠνόμασε δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ καὶ Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου κεκραταιωμένον, τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν σημήνας, ἵνα μή τις αὐτὸν ψιλὸν ὑπολάβοι ἄνδρα καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ὅμοιον, θεολογεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς μετὰ χεῖρας φήσας· Ὁ Θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν. Καὶ ὅπως μὴ ταραχθείη τις εἰς τὸν περὶ μοναρχίας λόγον, Θεὸν ἀκούων τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰκότως καὶ πλείονας θεοὺς ὀνομάζει τοὺς διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς κατηγορουμένους, μονονουχὶ παρακελευόμενος μὴ ἀποκνεῖν καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν Θεοῦ Θεὸν ἀποκαλεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ διαβαλλόμενοι τοῦ ἔθνους ἄρχοντες θεοὶ ἠξιώθησαν ὀνομασθῆναι, ποῖος ἂν γένοιτο κίνδυνος τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸν κεκραταιωμένον Θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν; Εἶτ' ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ παντὸς ὁ Προφήτης εὐχὴν ἀναπέμπει ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως φάσκων· Ἀνάστα, ὁ Θεὸς, κρῖνον τὴν γῆν, ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. Ἔοικε δὲ τούτῳ ἀκόλουθος εἶναι ὁ μθʹ ψαλμὸς, ἐν ᾧ καὶ αὐτῷ λέλεκτο· Θεὸς θεῶν Κύριος ἐλάλησε. Καὶ ἐν ἀμφοτέροις δ' οὖν Θεὸς θεῶν εἰσῆκται· καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἀμφοτέροις κρίνων ἀναγέγραπται. Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ παρόντι λέλεκται· Ἀνάστα, ὁ Θεὸς, κρῖνον τὴν γῆν, ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν· ἐν δὲ τῷ μθʹ σφόδρα τούτοις ἀκολούθως ὅπως ἀναστὰς κρίνει τὴν γῆν ὑπογράφει ὁ λόγος φάσκων· Θεὸς θεῶν Κύριος ἐλάλησε, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὴν γῆν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου μέχρι δυσμῶν· καὶ ἑξῆς· Ὁ Θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται. Πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· δι' ὧν ὅπως μέλλει κρίνειν διεξέρχεται. Καὶ ἐπειδήπερ ἐν τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας λέλεκται· Ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν· εἰκότως ἐν τῷ μθʹ τοὺς παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ περὶ θυσιῶν ἀνατρέπει νόμους, ἕτερον τρόπον παραδιδοὺς λογικῆς θυσίας, τὸν καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐπιτελούμενον· δι' ὃ λέλεκται· Ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. ΙΑʹ. Ὁ παρὼν λόγος, τελευταῖος ὢν τοῦ Ἀσὰφ, ἱκετηρίαν περιέχει καὶ παράκλησιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ σφόδρ' ἀκολούθως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις ἐθέσπισε τὴν ἐσχάτην τοῦ τόπου πολιορκίαν, εἶτ' ἀναδραμὼν τῷ χρόνῳ δευτέραν τὴν ὑπ' Ἀντιόχου γενομένην ἔταξεν, εἶτ' ἐπὶ ταύτης τρίτης ἐμνημόνευσε τῆς προαγούσης τοῖς χρόνοις, λέγω δὲ τῆς κατὰ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ Βαβυλωνίων ἀρχῆς· ἀκολούθως διὰ τῶν προκειμένων δέησιν καὶ ἱκετηρίαν ἀναπέμπει ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῖς χρόνοις πρώτης πολιορκίας, καθ' ἣν πάντες οἱ περίοικοι τῆς Ἰουδαίας δεξιὰς τοῖς Ἀσσυρίοις κατ' αὐτῶν ὤρεξαν. Ὃ δὴ σημαίνει λέγων· Τὰ σκηνώματα τῶν Ἰδουμαίων καὶ οἱ Ἰσμαηλῖται, Μωὰβ καὶ οἱ Ἀγαρηνοὶ, Γεβὰλ καὶ Ἀμμὼν καὶ Ἀμαλὴκ,ἀλλόφυλοι μετὰ τῶν κατοικούντων Τύρον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Ἀσσοὺρ συμπαρεγένετο μετ' αὐτῶν, ἐγενήθησαν εἰς ἀντίληψιν τοῖς υἱοῖς Λώτ. Οἷς ἑξῆς τὸ καταληψόμενον αὐτοὺς ὑπογράφει τέλος