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bosom of the Father, he has declared him. And this is the ineffable treasure of the Paternal divinity and the fullness of all good things, from which he gives gifts to those who are worthy of him. Since, therefore, from the midst of the bosom he bestows gifts on the worthy, extending his right hand to them, but from the unworthy he turns away his right hand, bestowing none of the good things stored up in the aforementioned bosom; he rightly asks, saying: Why do you turn away your hand and your right hand from the midst of your bosom forever? And again he adds, "forever," signifying that the turning away of God's right hand will be forever for them. And through the question he rouses us to seek the cause, so that we might seek what the cause has been for them to be cast off forever. For if one were to blame sins and transgressions, yet we have known them to have done such things long ago and not to have been cast off forever; 23.861 for the prophetic words recount their countless lawless acts of both adultery and idolatry, and the murders of prophets; but they were never abandoned forever. And the prophets were with them, even though they did such things; and there were among them manifestations of angels, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. What, then, is the strange thing, and what so great has been dared by them, that they should be cast off forever, and that the right hand of God should be turned away from them forever? But in saying these things, he hints silently at the audacious deed done by them against the Christ of God. But God our king before the age has worked salvation in the midst of the earth. Having gone through what was said before, he resumes the arguments concerning providence, and presents the mighty works of God's power, opportunely uttering pious words, so that no one might suppose that what was said before came to be because he does not watch over or superintend all things. Wherefore he says: Even if these things were done in this manner, yet we are persuaded that you, our God, whom we also acknowledge to be our king, manage all things with royal and divine judgment for the salvation of the whole; For our God, our king before the age, has worked salvation in the midst of the earth. So that even if you have permitted such things to be done in one corner of the earth because of the inhabitants of the place, yet we are persuaded that you will deem the people dwelling throughout the whole inhabited world worthy of salvation, having raised up your own Christ as a Savior for all people. And it seems to me that through this one verse at hand he makes a sort of requital for the things that have been questioned; for in place of the things that have happened concerning the specified place, God, he says, will work salvation in the midst of the earth. And as is customary, now too he prophesies future things as past. Then he teaches in order what wonders God already wrought long ago, saying: You established the sea by your power. But instead of, You established, Symmachus translated, You scattered the sea with your strength. And it seems to me that by these things he signifies, with respect to the history, the passage of the people through the Red Sea that happened in the time of Moses. Wherefore according to Symmachus it is said, You scattered the sea with your strength; but according to Theodotion, You divided the sea by your power. Then it seems to me he alludes to the Egyptians and Pharaoh, saying: You crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water; you shattered the heads of the dragon; alluding to Pharaoh as the dragon, and his rulers under him as his heads; or calling the Egyptians dragons, and their chief officers and leaders their heads. As for, You gave him as food for the Ethiopian peoples, one might say that their dead bodies, cast out of the sea, became prey for the birds of the sky. But instead of, for the Ethiopian peoples, Aquila has, for those who shall go forth, and Theodotion, for the last, and the

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κόλπον τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο. Καὶ ἔστιν ἀπόῤῥητος οὗτος τῆς Πατρικῆς θεότητος θησαυρὸς καὶ πλήρωμα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁπάντων, ἐξ ὧν δίδωσι τὰ χαρίσματα τοῖς ἀξίοις αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἐκ μέσου τοῦ κόλπου τὰ χαρίσματα τοῖς ἀξίοις δωρεῖται ἐκτείνων εἰς αὐτοὺς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δεξιὰν, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν μὴ ἀξίων ἀποστρέφει τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν, μηδὲν αὐτῶν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ δηλωθέντι κόλπῳ τεταμιευμένων ἀγαθῶν δωρούμενος· εἰκότως πυνθάνεται λέγων· Ἱνατί ἀποστρέφεις τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ τὴν δεξιάν σου ἐκ μέσου τοῦ κόλπου σου εἰς τέλος; Καὶ πάλιν προστίθησι τὸ, εἰς τέλος, σημαίνων, ὡς ἀποστροφὴ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δεξιᾶς εἰς τέλος ἔσται αὐτοῖς. ∆ιὰ δὲ τῆς ἐρωτήσεως ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν τῆς αἰτίας ἡμᾶς διεγείρει, ὡς ἂν ζητήσαιμεν τί τὸ αἴτιον γεγένηται τοῦ εἰς τέλος αὐτοὺς ἀποβληθῆναι. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτίας καὶ παρανομίας αἰτιάσαιτό τις, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλαι τοιαῦτα πράξαντας αὐτοὺς ἔγνωμεν καὶ μὴ ἀπωσθέντας εἰς τέλος· 23.861 μυρίους γὰρ ἀθεμίτους πράξεις μοιχείας τε καὶ εἰδωλολατρείας, προφητῶν τε ἀναιρέσεις καταλέγουσιν αὐτῶν οἱ προφητικοὶ λόγοι· ἀλλ' οὐ πώποτε ἐγκατελείφθησαν εἰς τέλος. Συνῆσαν δὲ αὐτοῖς, καίπερ τοιαῦτα πράττουσιν, οἱ προφῆται· ἐγίγνοντο δὲ παρ' αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀγγέλων ἐπιφάνειαι, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου παρουσία. Τί τοίνυν τὸ ξένον, καὶ τί τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς τετόλμηται, ὡς εἰς τέλος αὐτοὺς ἀπωσθῆναι, καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποστραφῆναι αὐτοὺς εἰς τέλος; Λέγων δὲ ταῦτα, αἰνίττεται σεσιωπημένως τὸ πραχθὲν αὐτοῖς κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τόλμημα. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰῶνος εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς. ∆ιελθὼν τὰ προλελεγμένα, ἐπαναλαμβάνει τοὺς περὶ τῆς προνοίας λόγους, καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ Θεοῦ παρίστησι τὰς μεγαλουργίας, εὐκαίρως εὐσεβεῖς προϊέμενος φωνὰς, ὡς ἂν μή τις νομίσειε, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐφορᾷν αὐτὸν, μηδὲ ἐπιστατεῖν τοῖς πᾶσι τὰ προλεχθέντα γεγενῆσθαι. ∆ιό φησιν· Εἰ καὶ ταῦτα τοῦτον ἐπράχθη τὸν τρόπον· ἀλλ' ὅμως πεπείσμεθα, ὅτι σὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὃν καὶ βασιλέα ἡμῶν εἶναι γνωρίζομεν, κρίσει βασιλικῇ καὶ θείᾳ πάντα οἰκονομεῖς ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ὅλων· Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰῶνος εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς. Ὥστ' εἰ καὶ ἐν μιᾷ γωνίᾳ γῆς τοιαῦτα πραχθῆναι συγκεχώρηκας διὰ τοὺς οἰκήτορας τοῦ τόπου· ἀλλ' ὅμως πεπείσμεθα, ὅτι τοὺς καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης οἰκοῦντας ἀνθρώπους σωτηρίας ἀξιώσεις, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Χριστὸν ἐγείρας ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις Σωτῆρα. Καί μοι δοκεῖ δι' ἑνὸς τοῦ μετὰ χεῖρας στίχου ὥσπερ ἀνταπόδοσιν ποιεῖσθαι τῶν ἐπηπορημένων· ἀντὶ γὰρ τῶν συμβεβηκότων κατὰ τοῦ δηλωθέντος τόπου, ἐργάσεται, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς. Συνήθως δὲ καὶ νῦν τὰ ἐσόμενα ὡς παρῳχηκότα θεσπίζει. Εἶτα διδάσκει ἑξῆς ὁποίας ἤδη πάλαι πρότερον ὁ Θεὸς κατειργάσατο θαυματουργίας λέγων· Σὺ ἐκραταίωσας ἐν τῇ δυνάμει σου τὴν θάλασσαν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Σὺ δὲ ἐκραταίωσας, ὁ Σύμμαχος, Σὺ διεσκέδασας τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου τὴν θάλασσαν, ἡρμήνευσε. Καί μοι δοκεῖ διὰ τούτων ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἱστορίαν σημαίνειν τὴν ἐπὶ Μωσέως γενομένην δίοδον τοῦ λαοῦ διὰ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης. ∆ιὸ κατὰ μὲν τὸν Σύμμαχον εἴρηται, Σὺ διεσκέδασας τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου τὴν θάλασσαν· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα, Σὺ διέστησας ἐν τῇ δυνάμει σου τὴν θάλασσαν. Εἶτα τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους καὶ τὸν Φαραὼ αἰνίττεσθαί μοι δοκεῖ φάσκων· Σὺ συνέτριψας τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν δρακόντων ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος· σὺ συνέθλασας τὰς κεφαλὰς τοῦ δράκοντος· δράκοντα μὲν τὸν Φαραὼ, κεφαλὰς δὲ αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἄρχοντας αἰνιττόμενος· ἢ δράκοντας τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, κεφαλὰς δὲ αὐτῶν τοὺς τριστάτας καὶ τοὺς ἡγουμένους αὐτῶν ὀνομάζων. Τὸ δὲ, Ἔδωκας αὐτὸν βρῶμα λαοῖς τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, εἴποι ἄν τις τὰ νεκρὰ σώματα αὐτῶν, ἐκβρασθέντα τῆς θαλάσσης, βορὰν γεγονέναι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας, τοῖς ἐξελευσομένοις, ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, τῷ ἐσχάτῳ, καὶ ἡ