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sons of youth; and according to this both Aquila and Symmachus translated. And he says that, trusting in God, we shall be not only many, but also powerful, like certain arrows shot by someone mighty; and we who are now weak, and greatly afflicted (for this is what "of those who have been shaken out" signifies), will be exceedingly strong, having enjoyed the turning of the scale from above. 5. "Blessed is he who will fill his desire from them." That is, of the enemies. For not only shall we not be defeated, but we shall also overcome them, and we shall be envied by all. "They will not be ashamed, when they speak with his enemies in the gates." That is, when we converse before the gates with the ambassadors sent by the enemies. And he said this according to the ancient custom; for they did not receive the sent ambassadors inside the gates, but made their replies outside. And through all things he has shown the invincible nature of hope in God.

INTERPRETATION OF PSALM 127. "A Song of Ascents." Having shown how many good things are caused by trusting in God

in the preceding psalm, here he blesses those who with hope have the divine fear, through which the acquisition of virtue also comes about. And a life according to God is necessary for those who have trusted in God; for this is the perfect definition of piety. 1. "Blessed are all they that fear the Lord." The prophetic word did not bless him who is of the race of Abraham, nor him who is of the seed of Israel, but him who is adorned with divine fear. This also blessed Peter says in the Acts: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him." And the prophetic word also indicated the character of the divine fear. For it added: "Who walk in his ways." "For not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven." It is proper, therefore, for those who fear the Lord, not to walk outside the divine ways, but to make their journey continually in them. 80.1896 2. "You shall eat the labors of your fruits." But Symmachus, Eating the labor of your hands; so that it is clear that the Seventy also called fruits not the produce, but the part of the hands. And he says that you will harvest the fruits of the good things sown by you. And this the divine Apostle also said, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he who sows on blessings will also reap on blessings." - "Blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." For not in word only will you be envied and looked upon, but you will also have good fortune in deed. 3. "Your wife, like a fruitful vine in the sides of your house." Since at that time they considered this to be prosperity, the word promises to them also the fruitfulness of wives, so that they are compared to flourishing vines, and heavy with clusters. "Your sons, like young olive plants, round about your table." And in the fifty-first psalm he compared the just man to an olive tree; "For I," he said, "am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." And here he likened the children of him who fears the Lord to young olive plants, as bearing the irrigation of piety, and the ripe fruit, and not shedding their leaves, according to the man blessed in the first psalm. 4. "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed, that fears the Lord." For God is a judge of character, not of race. Thus he deemed Job, who traced his lineage from Esau, worthy of crowns; thus he guided Abimelech to the truth; thus the eunuch, thus Cornelius, thus all the nations. 5. "The Lord bless you out of Zion." According to the opinion prevailing at that time. For God was believed to dwell there. "And may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life." For those who had returned from Babylon longed to see this, and the desolation of the city

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υἱοὶ νεότητος· κατὰ ταύτην δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσαν. Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι Ἐσόμεθα τῷ Θεῷ πε ποιθότες οὐ μόνον πολλοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυνατοὶ, οἷόν τινα βέλη παρὰ δυνατοῦ τινος ἐφιέμενα· καὶ οἱ νῦν ἀσθενεῖς, καὶ σφόδρα ταλαιπωρούμενοι (τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ ἐκτετιναγμένων), ἰσχυροὶ λίαν ἐσόμεθα, τῆς ἄνωθεν ῥοπῆς ἀπολαύσαντες. εʹ. "Μακάριος ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὑ τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν." Τουτέστι τῶν πολεμίων. Οὐ μόνον γὰρ οὐχ ἡττησόμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ περιγενησόμεθα τού των, καὶ ζηλωτοὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἐσόμεθα. "Οὐ καται σχυνθήσονται, ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτοῦ ἐν πύλαις." Τουτέστιν, ἡνίκα ἂν πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν τοῖς παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων πεμπομένοις πρέσβεσι διαλεξό μεθα. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπε κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔθος· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐδέχοντο εἴσω τῶν πυλῶν τοὺς πεμπομένους πρέσβεις, ἀλλ' ἔξω τὰς ὑποκρίσεις ἐποιοῦντο. ∆ιὰ πάντων δὲ τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἐλπίδος τὸ ἄμαχον ἔδειξεν.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΡΚΖʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. "Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν." Ὅσων πρόξενον ἀγαθῶν τὸ πεποιθέναι Θεῷ δείξας

ἐν τῷ προτεταγμένῳ ψαλμῷ, ἐνταῦθα μακαρίζει τοὺς μετὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος τὸν θεῖον ἔχοντας φόβον, δι' ὃν καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡ κτῆσις προσγίνεται. Ἀναγκαῖον δὲ τοῖς τῷ Θεῷ πεπι στευκόσιν ἡ κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτεία· οὗτος γὰρ εὐσε βείας τέλειος ὅρος. αʹ. "Μακάριοι πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον." Οὐ τὸν ἐκ γένους Ἀβραὰμ, οὐδὲ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ προφητικὸς ἐμακάρισε λόγος, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ κοσμούμενον. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι λέγει· "Ἐπ' ἀληθείας καταλαμβάνομαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι προσωπολήπτης ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐργα ζόμενος δικαιοσύνην, δεκτὸς αὐτῷ ἐστιν." Ὑπέ δειξε δὲ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος καὶ τοῦ θείου φόβου τὸν χαρακτῆρα. Ἐπήγαγε γάρ· "Οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ." Οὐ πᾶς γὰρ ὁ λέγων μοι, Κύριε, Κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρα νοῖς." Ἴδιον τοίνυν τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον, τὸ μὴ βαίνειν ἔξω τῶν θείων ὁδῶν, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐταῖς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν διηνεκῶς. 80.1896 βʹ. "Τοὺς πόνους τῶν καρπῶν σου φάγεσαι." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Κόπον χειρῶν σου ἐσθίων· ὡς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι καὶ οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα καρποὺς οὐ τὴν ἐπικαρπίαν ἐκάλεσαν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μόριον τῶν χειρῶν. Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι Τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ σπειρομένων ἀγαθῶν τοὺς καρποὺς τρυγήσεις. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπό στολος ἔφη, "Ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει· καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ' εὐλογίαις, ἐπ' εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει." - "Μακάριος εἶ σὺ, καὶ καλῶς σοι ἔσται." Οὐ γὰρ λόγῳ μόνῳ ἔσῃ ζηλωτὸς καὶ περί βλεπτος· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργῳ ἕξεις τὴν εὐκληρίαν. γʹ. "Ἡ γυνή σου, ὡς ἄμπελος εὐθηνοῦσα ἐν τοῖς κλίτεσι τῆς οἰκίας σου." Ἐπειδὴ κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ταύτην εὐπραξίαν ἐνόμιζον, ὑπισχνεῖται αὐ τοῖς ὁ λόγος καὶ γυναικῶν εὐκαρπίαν, ὥστε ἀμπέ λοις παραβάλλεσθαι τεθηλυίαις, καὶ βριθούσαις τοῖς βότρυσιν. "Οἱ υἱοί σου, ὡς νεόφυτα ἐλαιῶν, κύκλῳ τῆς τραπέζης σου." Καὶ ἐν τῷ πεντηκοστῷ καὶ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ τὸν δίκαιον ἐλαίᾳ παρέβαλεν· "Ἐγὼ γὰρ, ἔφη, ὡσεὶ ἐλαία κατάκαρπος ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ." Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ φοβουμένου τὸν Κύριον τοὺς παῖ δας νεοφύτοις ἐλαιῶν ἀπείκασεν, ὡς τῆς εὐσεβείας τὴν ἀρδείαν, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν τὸν ὥριμον φέροντας, καὶ τὸ φύλλον οὐκ ἀποβάλλοντας, κατὰ τὸν ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ μακαριζόμενον ἄνδρα. δʹ. "Ἰδοὺ οὕτως εὐλογηθήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ὁ φο βούμενος τὸν Κύριον." Τρόπου γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς, οὐ γέ νους κριτής. Οὕτω τὸν Ἰὼβ ἐκ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ τὸ γένος κατάγοντα στεφάνων ἠξίωσεν· οὕτω τὸν Ἀβιμέλεχ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐποδήγησεν· οὕτω τὸν εὐνοῦ χον, οὕτω τὸν Κορνήλιον, οὕτω πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. εʹ. "Εὐλογήσαι σε Κύριος ἐκ Σιών." Κατὰ τὴν τότε κατέχουσαν δόξαν. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἰκεῖν ὁ Θεὸς νενόμιστο. "Καὶ ἴδοις τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πά σας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου." Τοῦτο γὰρ ἰδεῖν ἐπόθουν οἱ ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπανελθόντες, καὶ τῆς πόλεως τὴν ἐρημίαν