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And the apostles from this time already at his first coming, using as trumpets the loud voices of the Holy Spirit, were calling back all those whose souls were deadened to the life in God; Moses, delivering the symbols of these things, established the law for the feast of trumpets. Therefore it has been said: He set it for a testimony in Joseph. What was the command? The one concerning the trumpets; but from one tribe, that of Joseph, he signified the whole nation. Why in these things did he name the whole nation Joseph? Because on account of Joseph they had all gone down to Egypt. When did he set the law concerning the trumpets as a testimony for the people, if not at that time when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, when he heard a language that he did not know? For while they were in the desert, they were counted worthy of the voice of God, as he proclaimed the Decalogue audibly to them. At that time they were freed from the slavery and hardship among the Egyptians. Therefore it has been said: He removed his back from burdens; his hands served the basket; but according to Symmachus: I took his shoulder away from the burden, his hands were freed from the basket. For when they were serving Pharaoh, they were working with clay and brick-making, building cities for him, at that time their hands were worn out with baskets, and their shoulders with burdens. But nevertheless they were made free from all these things when his visitation came upon them. Therefore he says: He removed his back from burdens. Who removed it, 23.977 but God who freed them? He counted them worthy of these things, because they called upon him in affliction; and this the Scripture of Moses also presents, saying: And the children of Israel groaned, and cried out to the Lord, and their cry went up to God. Following these things, the present oracle also says: In affliction you called upon me, and I delivered you; I heard you in the secret place of the tempest, I tested you at the water of contradiction. But instead of: I heard you in the secret place of the tempest, Aquila has: I will hear you in the secret place of thunder; and the fifth edition similarly. Then he adds: I tested you at the water of contradiction. Which the Scripture of Moses also clearly presents, saying: But there was no water for the people to drink. And the people reviled Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. But he said: Why do you revile me, or why do you test the Lord? And what follows: Moses said to the Lord, saying: What shall I do with this people? Yet a little while, and they will stone me. Then the Lord says to him: Behold, I am standing there before you on the rock in Horeb. And I will strike the rock, and water will come out, and the people will drink. And Moses did so. And he named the name of that place Temptation and Reviling, because of the reviling of the children of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not? All these things the prophecy at hand teaches the people from the nations, so that you might learn what things the first people obtained, and to what sort of end they came, and might be corrected by the example. Therefore to the things said before it necessarily adds what follows, in which it is said: Hear, my people, and I will testify to you; Israel, if you will hear me, there shall be no new god in you, nor shall you worship a foreign god. For I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not hear my voice, and Israel paid no attention to me. So I sent them away according to the practices of their hearts; they will walk in their own practices. The things given by me, he says, to the people were such as the account has described; but the things from them to me were not similar, nor worthy of what they received from me. For I, the provider of so many good things to them, this one thing to them, which is indeed the chief point of the laws, I mean, not to worship idols, but me alone
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καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι δὲ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη κατὰ τὴν πρώτην αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν σάλπιγξι χρώμενοι, ταῖς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μεγαλοφωνίαις πάντας ἀνεκαλοῦντο τοὺς ψυχὰς νενεκρωμένους ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Θεῷ ζωήν· ὧν τὰ σύμβολα Μωσῆς παραδιδοὺς, τὴν περὶ σαλπίγγων ἐνομοθέτει ἑορτήν. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Μαρτύριον ἐν τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἔθετο αὐτό. Τί δὲ αὐτὸ ἦν τὸ πρόσταγμα; τὸ περὶ τῶν σαλπίγγων· ἀπὸ μιᾶς δὲ φυλῆς τῆς τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸ πᾶν ἐδήλου ἔθνος. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ἐν τούτοις τὸ πᾶν ἔθνος Ἰωσὴφ ὠνόμασεν; Ἐπειδήπερ προφάσει τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ οἱ πάντες κατεληλύθεισαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Πότε δὲ μαρτύριον τὸν περὶ σαλπίγγων νόμον ἔθετο τῷ λαῷ, ἢ κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον, καθ' ὃν ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ὁπηνίκα γλῶσσαν ἣν οὐκ ἔγνω ἤκουσεν; Ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου γὰρ διατρίβοντες, φωνῆς Θεοῦ κατηξιώθησαν, τὴν ∆εκάλογον αὐτοῖς ἐξάκουστον διαταττομένου. Κατ' ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ καὶ τῆς παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις δουλείας τε καὶ κακοπαθείας ἠλευθεροῦντο. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Ἀπέστησεν ἀπὸ ἄρσεων τὸν νῶτον αὐτοῦ· αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κοφίνῳ ἐδούλευσαν· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· Παρεῖλον ἀπὸ βασταγμοῦ τὸν ὦμον αὐτοῦ, αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ κοφίνου ἀπηλλάγησαν. Ὅτε γὰρ ἐδούλευον τῷ Φαραὼ, πηλῷ τε καὶ πλινθείᾳ κατειργάζοντο, οἰκοδομοῦντες αὐτῷ τὰς πόλεις, τὸ τηνικαῦτα κοφίνοις μὲν τὰς χεῖρας, βαστάγμασι δὲ τοὺς ὤμους κατεπονοῦντο. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ τούτων ἁπάντων ἐλεύθεροι κατέστησαν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτοῖς γενομένης. ∆ιό φησιν· Ἀπέστησεν ἀπὸ ἄρσεων τὸν νῶτον αὐτοῦ. Τίς δὲ ἀπέστησεν, 23.977 ἀλλ' ἢ ὁ ἐλευθερώσας αὐτοὺς Θεός; Τούτων δὲ αὐτοὺς ἠξίου, ἐπειδήπερ ἐν θλίψει αὐτὸν ἐπεκαλοῦντο· καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἡ Μωσέως παρίστησι Γραφὴ λέγουσα· Καὶ κατεστέναξαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἀνεβόησαν πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ ἀνέβη βοὴ αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Οἷς ἀκολούθως καὶ τὸ παρόν φησι λόγιον· Ἐν θλίψει ἐπεκαλέσω με, καὶ ἐῤῥυσάμην σε· ἐπήκουσά σου ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ καταιγίδος, ἐδοκίμασά σε ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· Ἐπήκουσά σου ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ καταιγίδος, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας· Ἐπακούσω σου ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ βροντῆς· καὶ ἡ πέμπτη ἔκδοσις ὁμοίως. Εἶτα ἐπιλέγει· Ἐδοκίμασά σε ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας. Ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸ σαφῶς ἡ Μωσέως παρίστησι Γραφὴ λέγουσα· Οὐκ ἦν δὲ ὕδωρ πιεῖν τῷ λαῷ· καὶ ἐλοιδορεῖτο ὁ λαὸς πρὸς Μωσῆν, καὶ ἔλεγον· ∆ὸς ἡμῖν ὕδωρ, ἵνα πίωμεν. Ὁ δὲ ἔλεγε· Τί λοιδορεῖσθέ μοι, ἢ τί πειράζετε Κύριον; Καὶ ἑξῆς· Εἶπε Μωσῆς πρὸς Κύριον λέγων· Τί ποιήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ; ἔτι μικρὸν, καὶ λιθοβολήσουσί με. Εἶθ' ὁ Κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν φησιν· Ὅδε ἐγὼ ἕστηκα πρὸ τοῦ σὲ ἐκεῖ, ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας ἐν Χωρήβ. Καὶ πατάξω τὴν πέτραν, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ὕδωρ, καὶ πίεται ὁ λαός. Καὶ ἐποίησεν οὕτως Μωσῆς. Καὶ ἐπωνόμασε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Πειρασμὸς καὶ Λοιδόρησις, διὰ τὴν λοιδορίαν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ διὰ τοῦ πειράζειν αὐτοὺς Κύριον, λέγοντας· Εἰ ἔστι Κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν, ἢ οὔ; Ταῦτα πάντα τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν λαὸν διδάσκει ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας προφητεία, ὡς ἂν μάθοιο ποίων ἔτυχεν ὁ πρῶτος λαὸς, καὶ εἰς οἷον ἐλήλυθε τέλος, σωφρονίζοιτό τε ἐκ τοῦ παραδείγματος. ∆ιὸ τοῖς προλεχθεῖσιν ἐπισυνάπτει τὰ ἑξῆς ἀναγκαίως, ἐν οἷς εἴρηται· Ἄκουσον, λαός μου, καὶ διαμαρτυροῦμαί σοι· Ἰσραὴλ, ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς μου, οὐκ ἔσται σοι Θεὸς πρόσφατος, οὐδὲ προσκυνήσεις Θεῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ. Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου ὁ ἀναγαγών σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου· πλάτυνον τὸ στόμα σου, καὶ πληρώσω αὐτό. Καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσεν ὁ λαός μου τῆς φωνῆς μου, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐ προσέσχε μοι. Καὶ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν· πορεύσονται ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν αὐτῶν. Τὰ μὲν παρ' ἐμοῦ, φησὶ, δεδωρημένα τῷ λαῷ τοιαῦτα ἦν, ὁποῖα διεξῆλθεν ὁ λόγος· τὰ δ' ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμὲ οὐχ ὅμοια, οὐδὲ ἄξια ὧν ἔτυχον παρ' ἐμοῦ. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὁ τῶν τοσούτων αὐτοῖς χορηγὸς ἀγαθῶν, ἓν τοῦτ' αὐτοῖς, τὸ δὴ τῶν νόμων κεφάλαιον, λέγω δὲ τὸ μὴ εἰδωλολατρεῖν, ἐμὲ δὲ μόνον