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above me." But Symmachus, Not even in excellent things above me. Instead of, I measured myself, and I did not attempt those things which surpassed my worth. 80.1904 2. "If I were not humble-minded, but lifted up my soul, as a weaned child upon its mother, so will you repay upon my soul." But Symmachus, If I did not make equal and liken my soul to one weaned from its mother, so may it be repaid to my soul. If not similarly, he says, to an infant just taken from the breast, and fearing its mother, I feared you, and I subjected myself to you, but had a lofty mind, I ask to receive the same recompense. 3. "Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth, and forever." The prophetic word showed for whose sake he made the narration of the accomplishments. For not exalting themselves do they recount their own virtue, but rousing others to the same zeal. Therefore they exhorted all of Israel to hold to the same hope, and to have it perpetually, and to gather the fruits that grow from it.

INTERPRETATION OF PSALM 131. 1. "A song of ascents." This psalm has much in common with the eighty-

eighth affinity. For both here and there the captives in Babylon beseech the God of all, offering as supplication the promises made by him to the great David, and asking to receive forgiveness. It also contains a prophecy of the one who sprang according to the flesh from the line of David, the Savior of the world. "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness." Since we, having sinned much, are deprived of all boldness, we beseech you, Master, to remember David, and his meekness and piety. And of this the preceding psalm made mention, and it clearly taught the moderation of his mind. 2-5. "As he swore to the Lord, he vowed to the God of Jacob. If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall go up to the bed of my couch. If I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids. And rest to my temples until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." The history of the Chronicles teaches these things more clearly. For first he himself besought to build the divine temple. But since God forbad it through the prophet Nathan, and foretold the building that would be done by Solomon, he postponed the building, but did not embrace ease; but he gathered gold, and silver, and iron, and bronze, and wood, and stones. And all these things, as I said, that book teaches those who wish to read it. 80.1905 6. "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the fields of the wood." He besought to build a temple to God; but the only-begotten Word of God promised to build for himself a living and rational temple from the fruit of his loins. Therefore the prophecy says: "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the fields of the wood." And Ephrathah was the name of what is now called Bethlehem. For there the Lord Christ was born, who showed his own body to the Jews and said: "Destroy this temple." And he calls the fields of the wood the place of the temple in Jerusalem, it being desolate and having no building. For there the great David, having stopped the destroying angel through supplication to God, both set up an altar, and offered a sacrifice, and consecrated it for the building of the temple. And since there were two tabernacles, the one of stones and wood, the other of body and soul, and the one was built in Jerusalem by Solomon, while the other the grace of the most holy Spirit wove in Bethlehem; and the pious of that time saw the one, but expected the other; reasonably the prophetic word said: "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah," that is, that it would be born of the Holy Spirit. "We found it in the fields of the wood," that by the

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ὑπὲρ ἐμέ." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Οὐδὲ ἐν ὑπερβάλλουσιν ὑπὲρ ἐμέ. Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἐμαυτὸν ἐμέτρουν, καὶ τοῖς ὑπερβάλλουσί μου τὴν ἀξίαν οὐκ ἐπεχείρησα. 80.1904 βʹ. "Εἰ μὴ ἐταπεινοφρόνουν, ἀλλὰ ὕψωσα τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὡς τὸ ἀπογεγαλακτισμένον ἐπὶ τὴν μητέρα αὑτοῦ, ὣς ἀνταποδώσεις ἐπὶ τὴν ψυχήν μου." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Εἰ μὴ ἐξίσωσα, καὶ ὡμοίω σα τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπογαλακτισθέντι πρὸς μητέρα αὑτοῦ, οὕτως ἀνταποδοθείη τῇ ψυχῇ μου. Εἰ μὴ παραπλησίως, φησὶ, βρέφει νῦν ἀπαλ λαγέντι θηλῆς, καὶ τὴν μητέρα δειμαίνοντι, ἔδεισά σε, καὶ ἐμαυτόν σοι ὑπέταξα, ἀλλὰ ὑψηλὴν ἔσχον διάνοιαν, τῆς αὐτῆς ἀντιδόσεως τυχεῖν ἀξιῶ. γʹ. "Ἐλπισάτω Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος." Ἔδειξεν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος, τίνος χάριν ἐποιήσατο τὴν τῶν κατορθωμάτων διήγησιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς σεμνύνοντες τὴν οἰκείαν διεξίασιν ἀρετὴν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἄλλους εἰς τὸν ἴσον δι εγείραντες ζῆλον. ∆ιὸ πάντα τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐλπίδος ἔχεσθαι παρεκάλεσαν, καὶ διηνεκῶς ταύτην ἔχειν, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ ταύτης φυομένους συλλέγειν καρπούς.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΡΛΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν." Πολλὴν ὁ ψαλμὸς οὗτος πρὸς τὸν ὀγδοηκοστὸν

ὄγδοον ἔχει συγγένειαν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα κἀκεῖ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ἱκετεύου σιν οἱ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι δορυάλωτοι, τὰς πρὸς τὸν μέγαν ∆αβὶδ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγενημένας ὑποσχέσεις ἀνθ' ἱκετη ρίας προσφέροντες, καὶ τυχεῖν ἀξιοῦντες συγγνώμης. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ πρόῤῥησιν τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσαν τος ἐκ γένους ∆αβὶδ τῆς οἰκουμένης Σωτῆρος. "Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, τοῦ ∆αβὶδ, καὶ πάσης τῆς πραό τητος αὐτοῦ." Ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ πεπλημμεληκότες ἡμεῖς πάσης ἐστερήμεθα παῤῥησίας, ἱκετεύομέν σε, ∆έσποτα, τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἀναμνησθῆναι, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου πραότητός τε καὶ εὐσεβείας. Ταύτης δὲ καὶ ὁ προτε ταγμένος ψαλμὸς ἐμνημόνευσε, καὶ σαφῶς ἐδίδαξε τὴν τοῦ φρονήματος αὐτοῦ μετριότητα. βʹ-εʹ. "Ὡς ὤμοσε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ηὔξατο τῷ Θεῷ Ἰακώβ. Εἰ εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς σκήνωμα οἴκου μου, εἰ ἀναβήσομαι ἐπὶ κλίνης στρωμνῆς μου. Εἰ δώσω ὕπνον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, καὶ τοῖς βλεφάροις μου νυσταγμόν. Καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν τοῖς κροτάφοις μου ἕως οὗ εὕρω τόπον τῷ Κυρίῳ, σκήνωμα τῷ Θεῷ Ἰακώβ." Ταῦτα σαφέστερον ἡ τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἱστορία διδάσκει. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἱκέτευσεν αὐτὸς τὸν θεῖον οἰκοδομῆσαι νεών. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Νάθαν ἐκώλυσεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σολο μῶντος ἐσομένην οἰκοδομίαν προείρηκεν, ἀνεβάλετο μὲν τὴν οἰκοδομίαν, οὐκ ἠσπάσατο δὲ ῥᾳστώνην· ἀλλὰ καὶ χρυσὸν, καὶ ἄργυρον, καὶ σίδηρον, καὶ χαλκὸν, καὶ ξύλα, καὶ λίθους συνήγαγε. Καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς ἔφην, ἅπαντα ἡ βίβλος ἐκείνη διδάσκει τοὺς ἐντυχεῖν βουλομένους. 80.1905 ʹ. "Ἰδοὺ ἠκούσαμεν αὐτὴν ἐν Ἐφραθὰ, εὕρομεν αὐτὴν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις. τοῦ δρυμοῦ." Ἱκέτευεν οἰκοδομῆσαι ναὸν τῷ Θεῷ· ὁ δὲ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ νεὼν ἑαυτῷ ἔμψυχόν τε καὶ λογικὸν οἰκοδομήσειν ὑπέσχετο. ∆ιό φησιν ἡ προφητεία· "Ἰδοὺ ἠκούσαμεν αὐτὴν ἐν Ἐφραθὰ, εὕρομεν αὐτὴν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις τοῦ δρυμοῦ." Ἐφραθὰ δὲ ἡ νῦν καλουμένη Βηθλεὲμ ὠνομάζετο. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ ὁ ∆εσπότης ἐτέχθη Χριστὸς, ὃς τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τὸ οἰκεῖον σῶμα ὑποδείξας ἔφησε· "Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον." ∆ρυμοῦ δὲ πεδία καλεῖ τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ναοῦ τὸν τόπον, ἔρημον ὄντα, καὶ οἰκοδομίαν οὐκ ἔχοντα. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ τὸν ὀλοθρευτὴν ἄγγελον διὰ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἱκετείας ἐπισχὼν ὁ μέγας ∆αβὶδ, καὶ βωμὸν ἔστησε, καὶ θυσίαν προσήνεγκε, καὶ εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ νεὼ ἀφιέρωσεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ δύο σκηναὶ, ἡ μὲν ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων, ἡ δὲ ἐκ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς, καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ὑπὸ Σολομῶντος ἐγένετο, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῇ Βηθλεὲμ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος ἡ χάρις ἐξύφηνεν· οἱ τηνικαῦτα δὲ εὐσεβεῖς τὴν μὲν ἑώρων, τὴν δὲ προσεδόκων· εἰκότως ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος ἔφη· "Ἰδοὺ ἠκούσαμεν αὐτὴν ἐν Ἐφραθὰ," τουτέστιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου γενησομένην. "Εὕρομεν αὐτὴν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις τοῦ δρυμοῦ," τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ