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in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea; and then the waters saw him, and were afraid. But also when he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm, the abysses were troubled, and a multitude of the sound of water. And these things were fulfilled according to the prophecy literally, but according to the sense, the waters, I mean the ecclesiastical multitudes gathered from all the nations, became the beginning of wisdom, having taken up the divine fear according to, The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; but the abysses, being other than the waters, were troubled, so as to produce a sound and a tumult. You might say that the abysses are the orders of unbelieving nations rising up against the Church from time to time, and raising persecutions against it; 23.897 But first the waters feared God, but the abysses mentioned were troubled; and a third order, besides what has been said, is that of the clouds, which indeed gave a voice. And who were the clouds, but those commanded not to rain upon the former vineyard, according to the saying of the oracle: And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it, meaning, clearly, the people of the circumcision? And who would the clouds filled with water, not raining upon the old vineyard, be but the disciples and apostles and evangelists of the Savior, who, having spread the heavenly rain throughout the whole world, gave a voice, so that their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world? Therefore it has been said: The clouds gave a voice; for your arrows pass through. And what are the arrows but the saving and elect ones that wound the souls of those who are being saved, by which the bride of Christ, the Church, confesses to be wounded, saying: For I am wounded by love? And the Savior himself was called an arrow according to the prophet who said: He made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he hid me; But the Father's arrow was his only-begotten Word; and the Son's arrows were the apostles, and his divine and fiery oracles. Therefore it is said in the psalm concerning the beloved: Your arrows are sharpened, peoples will fall under you. So then also here it is said: For your arrows pass through. For the arrows of Christ run about everywhere, passing through, preaching; therefore the clouds gave a voice; but also, The voice of your thunder, it says, is in the wheel; and here thunder alludes to the evangelical preaching. For as the voice of thunder is a heavenly shout, and surpasses all human power, in the same way also the evangelical preaching, being heavenly, did not contain human strength. For it did not spring from mortal counsel; but with divine power it filled the entire world. Therefore the Savior also called his apostles Boanerges, which is interpreted, sons of thunder. Therefore, here also, it is said in accordance with what went before: The voice of your thunder is in the wheel. And wheel signifies the whole of life; since also in Ezekiel the whole life of men is called a wheel within a wheel. The world, then, is a wheel, being spherical, and moving in a circular manner. But here the wheel is the life of men, making an unceasing turn; therefore it is also said, a wheel within a wheel. And according to Aquila, The voice of your thunder in the wheel; and according to Symmachus, The sound of your thunder in the wheel; and according to Theodotion, The voice of your thunder in the wheel. And see how by all the interpreters it has been called a wheel; since the Hebrew word bagelgel also contains it, which is "in the wheel"; and so it has been named also in Ezekiel. Having come to this point, you will note that the divine Scripture also knows the surrounding as a wheel. Therefore they say that the world is spherical. Since also in Esdras, Zerubbabel 23.900 carried off the prize of victory from the king

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τετάρτῃ φυλακῇ τῆς νυκτὸς ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτοὺς περιπατῶν ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης· καὶ τότε εἶδον αὐτὸν ὕδατα, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτε ἐπετίμησε τοῖς ἀνέμοις καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ ἐγένετο γαλήνη μεγάλη, ἐταράχθησαν αἱ ἄβυσσοι, καὶ πλῆθος ἤχους ὕδατος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐτελεῖτο συμφώνως τῇ προφητείᾳ πρὸς λέξιν, πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν, τὰ μὲν ὕδατα, λέγω δὲ τὰ πλήθη τὰ ἐκκλησιαστικὰ ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν συνηγμένα, ἀρχὴ σοφίας γέγονε, τὸν θεῖον ἀναλαβόντα φόβον κατὰ τὸ, Ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου· αἱ δὲ ἄβυσσοι, ἕτεραι οὖσαι παρὰ τὰ ὕδατα ἐταράχθησαν, ὡς ἦχον καὶ θόρυβον παρασχεῖν. Εἴποις δ' ἂν τὰς ἀβύσσους εἶναι τὰ τάγματα τῶν ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν τῶν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ κατὰ καιροὺς ἐπανισταμένων, καὶ τοὺς κατ' αὐτῆς διωγμοὺς ἐπεγειρόντων· 23.897 Ἀλλὰ μὲν πρῶτα ὕδατα ἐφοβεῖτο τὸν Θεὸν, αἱ δὲ δηλωθεῖσαι ἄβυσσοι ἐταράττοντο· τρίτον δὲ τάγμα τυγχάνει παρὰ τὰ λελεγμένα τὸ τῶν νεφελῶν, ὃ δὴ φωνὴν ἔδωκε. Τίνες δὲ ἦσαν αἱ νεφέλαι, ἀλλ' ἢ αἱ κελευσθεῖσαι μὴ βρέχειν ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον ἀμπελῶνα, κατὰ τὸ φῆσαν λόγιον· Καὶ ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐντελοῦμαι τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν, δῆλον δὲ, ὅτι τὸν ἐκ περιτομῆς λαόν; Νεφέλαι δὲ πεπληρωμέναι ὑδάτων μὴ ὕουσαι ἐπὶ τὸν παλαιὸν ἀμπελῶνα τίνες ἂν εἶεν ἢ οἱ τοῦ Σωτῆρος μαθηταὶ καὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ εὐαγγελισταὶ, οἳ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸν ἐπουράνιον ὑετὸν διαδεδωκότες, φωνὴν ἔδωκαν, ὥστε εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξελθεῖν τὸν φθόγγον αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν; ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Φωνὴν ἔδωκαν αἱ νεφέλαι· καὶ γὰρ τὰ βέλη σου διαπορεύονται. Ποῖα δὲ τὰ βέλη ἢ τὰ σωτήρια καὶ τὰ ἐκλεκτὰ τὰ τιτρώσκοντα τὰς τῶν σωζομένων ψυχὰς, δι' ὧν ἡ νύμφη Χριστοῦ ἡ Ἐκκλησία τετρῶσθαι ὁμολογεῖ φάσκουσα· Ὅτι τετρωμένη ἀγάπης ἐγώ; Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Σωτὴρ βέλος ὠνόμαστο κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα προφήτην· Ἔθηκέ με ὡς βέλος ἐκλεκτὸν, καὶ ἐν τῇ φαρέτρᾳ αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέ με· Ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν Πατρὸς βέλος ἦν ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ Λόγος· τοῦ δὲ Υἱοῦ βέλη ἐτύγχανον οἱ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ τὰ θεῖα καὶ πεπυρωμένα αὐτοῦ λόγια. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ ψαλμῷ· Τὰ βέλη σου ἠκονημένα, λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου πεσοῦνται. Οὕτω δ' οὖν καὶ ἐνταῦθα εἴρηται· Καὶ γὰρ τὰ βέλη σου διαπορεύονται. Περιτρέχονται γὰρ ἁπανταχοῦ τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ βέλη διεπορεύετο κηρύττοντα· διὸ φωνὴν ἔδωκαν αἱ νεφέλαι· ἀλλὰ καὶ Φωνὴ τῆς βροντῆς σου, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ τροχῷ· βροντὴν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὸ κήρυγμα τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν αἰνίττεται. Ὡς γὰρ φωνὴ βροντῆς οὐράνιος τυγχάνει βοὴ, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀνθρωπίνην ὑπερβάλλουσα δύναμιν, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα, οὐράνιον τυγχάνον, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην περιεῖχεν ἰσχύν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ θνητῆς βουλῆς ὡρμᾶτο· σὺν θεϊκῇ δὲ δυνάμει τὸν σύμπαντα ἐπλήρου κόσμον. ∆ιὸ καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους αὐτοῦ ὁ Σωτὴρ βοανῆργες ὠνόμαζεν, ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται υἱοὶ βροντῆς. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀκολούθως τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται· Φωνὴ τῆς βροντῆς σου ἐν τῷ τροχῷ. Τροχὸν δὲ σημαίνει τὸν σύμπαντα βίον· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἐζεκιὴλ τροχὸς ἐν τροχῷ λέλεκται ὁ σύμπας τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν τροχὸς ὁ κόσμος σφαιροειδὴς ὢν, κυκλοφορητικῶς τε κινούμενος. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ τροχὸς ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ βίος, ἄπαυστον τὴν στροφὴν ποιούμενος· διὸ καὶ τροχὸς ἐν τῷ τροχῷ εἴρηται. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, Φωνὴ βροντῆς σου ἐν τῷ τροχῷ· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Ἦχος βροντῆς σου ἐν τῷ τροχῷ· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα, Φωνὴ βροντῆς σου ἐν τῷ τροχῷ. Καὶ θέα ὅπως κατὰ πάντας τοὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς τροχὸς ὠνόμασται· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ Ἑβραϊκὴ λέξις βαγελγὲλ περιέχει, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ τροχῷ· οὕτω δὲ ὠνόμασται καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἐζεκιήλ. Ἔνθα γενόμενος, παρασημειώσῃ, ὡς καὶ ἡ θεία Γραφὴ τὸ περιέχον τροχὸς οἶδε. ∆ιὸ σφαιροειδῆ φασιν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἔσδρα ὁ Ζορο 23.900 βάβελ τὰ νικητήρια ἀπηνέγκατο παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ