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For he is the lawgiver; he is also the one who enlightens and the one who teaches; he is also the early rain, he is also the example, using these names for each concept of the powers in him, from whom those weeping in the valley, having received blessings, will go, completing their journey, and being strengthened daily; so as to always advance, progressing from a lesser power to a greater power, and from glory to glory, as the divine Apostle says, being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Wherefore Symmachus also interpreted, saying: They shall go from strength to strength. The God of gods shall be seen in Zion. O Lord, God of powers, hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob. Having said, "The lawgiver will give blessings," he consequently teaches how he will give the blessings to those in the valley. How then, he says, will he give them, but by having deigned to be seen upon the earth? And having very consistently prophesied that there would be many winepresses of God throughout the whole world and many tabernacles and more courts, and many altars, the word introduces the cause for which all these things were to be established on earth. And what was the cause, he teaches, saying: "The God of gods shall be seen in Zion;" clearly teaching the presence of God among men and his manifestation. 23.1013 And the Word of God is named God of gods, with gods being understood by us as the blessed and God-loving men, to whom the word of God came; to whom it was also said: "I said: You are gods;" and, "God stood in the assembly of gods;" and, "The Lord, God of gods, has spoken, and called the earth." For in these passages, God of gods is proclaimed to be none other than the Word who was in the beginning with God; who indeed made them gods through his own provision and participation in his Spirit. For he says that those are gods to whom the Word of God came. Consequently, he next mentions Christ by name, saying in a prayer: "And look upon the face of your Christ." And instead of, "The God of gods shall be seen in Zion," Aquila says, "A mighty God shall be seen in Zion." But who this one would be who is to be visible and seen by eyes, he teaches as he proceeds, saying: "Give ear, O God of Jacob." For this was that very Word of God, who long ago appeared to Jacob in the form of a man, and said to him: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have prevailed with God, and you are mighty with men." At which the God-loving one, perceiving that it was God who spoke with him, says: "I have seen God face to face, and my soul was saved." Therefore, that same God who appeared to Jacob will appear again, he says, in Zion, in this manner expressly signifying the epiphany of the Word of God to men. So, invoking this very God of Jacob, he beseeches him to hasten his coming. Our defender, behold, O God. And whom does he say to behold, but those who are weary in the valley of weeping? And he adds next: "And look upon the face of your Christ," praying that the coming of the Word of God into his Christ, whom he put on from the seed of David, might be hastened. For which reason Aquila also says, "Our shield, behold, O God, and turn the face of your anointed;" and Symmachus, "Our defender, behold, O God, and look upon the face of your Christ." And those who say the entire psalm pray these things; and these were the prophets of God, who were saved from the spiritual enemies, and changed from war to peace, foreseeing now by the divine Spirit the tabernacles of God, and longing for his courts and his altars. Who also beseech the Word of God, who became their defender in time of war, to look upon the face of his Christ, so that, when he has appeared and the Christ according to the flesh from the seed of David

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Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νομοθετῶν· αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ φωτίζων καὶ ὁ διδάσκων· αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ πρώϊμος, αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ ὑποδείκτης, καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπίνοιαν τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεων ταύταις χρώμενος ταῖς ἐπωνυμίαις, παρ' οὗ οἱ ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι κλαίοντες, μεταλαβόντες εὐλογίας, πορεύσονται τὴν ἑαυτῶν πορείαν διανύοντες, καὶ δυναμούμενοι ὁσημέραι· ὡς ἀεὶ προκόπτειν ἐπιδιδόναι ἐκ δυνάμεως βραχυτέρας ἐπὶ δύναμιν μείζονα, καὶ ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος λέγων, τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μεταμορφούμενοι ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν εἰπών· Ὁδεύσουσιν ἐκ δυνάμεως εἰς δύναμιν. Ὀφθήσεται ὁ Θεὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐν Σιών. Κύριε, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων, εἰσάκουσον τῆς προσευχῆς μου, ἐνώτισαι, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ. Εἰπὼν, Εὐλογίας δώσει ὁ νομοθετῶν, ἀκολούθως διδάσκει ὅπως δώσει τοῖς ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι τὰς εὐλογίας. Πῶς οὖν, φησὶ, δώσει, ἀλλ' ἢ καταξιώσας ὀφθῆναι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Σφόδρα δὲ ἀκολούθως θεσπίσας ὁ λόγος ληνοὺς Θεοῦ πλείστας μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι καθ' ὅλης οἰκουμένης καὶ σκηνώματα πλεῖστα καὶ αὐλὰς πλείους, καὶ θυσιαστήρια πλεῖστα, ἐπάγει τὴν αἰτίαν, δι' ἣν ἤμελλε ταῦτα πάντα ἐπὶ γῆς συνίστασθαι. Τίς δὲ ἦν ἡ αἰτία διδάσκει λέγων· Ὀφθήσεται ὁ Θεὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐν Σιών· σαφῶς παρουσίαν εἰς ἀνθρώπους Θεοῦ καὶ φανέρωσιν αὐτοῦ διδά 23.1013 σκων. Θεὸς δὲ θεῶν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ὠνόμασται, νοουμένων ἡμῖν θεῶν τῶν μακαρίων καὶ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν, πρὸς οὓς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο· οἷς καὶ εἴρηται· Ἐγὼ εἶπον· Θεοί ἐστε· καὶ, Ὁ Θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν· καὶ, Θεὸς θεῶν Κύριος ἐλάλησε, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὴν γῆν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις Θεὸς θεῶν οὐδὲ ἄλλος ἢ μόνος ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Λόγος ἀνηγόρευται· ὁ δὴ καὶ θεοὺς αὐτοὺς διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ χορηγίας καὶ μετοχῆς τοῦ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος ἀπεργασάμενος. Θεοὺς γὰρ εἶναί φησιν ἐκείνους, πρὸς οὓς ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο. Ἑξῆς δ' οὖν καὶ ὀνομαστὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μνημονεύει, λέγων ἐν εὐχῇ· Καὶ ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Ὀφθήσεται ὁ Θεὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐν Σιὼν, ὁ Ἀκύλας φησὶν, Ὀφθήσεται ἰσχυρὸς Θεὸς ἐν Σιών. Τίς δ' ἂν εἴη οὗτος ὁ μέλλων ὁρατὸς καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς θεατὸς ἔσεσθαι, διδάσκει προϊὼν καὶ λέγων· Ἐνώτισαι, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ. Οὗτος γὰρ ἦν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ὁ πάλαι καὶ τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἐν ἀνθρώπου σχήματι ὀφθεὶς, φήσας τε πρὸς αὐτόν· Οὐκ ἔτι κληθήσεται τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἰακὼβ, ἀλλ' Ἰσραὴλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου· ὅτι ἐνίσχυσας μετὰ Θεοῦ, καὶ μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δυνατός. Ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ ὁ θεοφιλὴς, συναισθόμενος τοῦ χρηματίζοντος αὐτοῦ Θεοῦ φησι· Εἶδον Θεὸν πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, καὶ ἐσώθη μου ἡ ψυχή. Αὐτὸς οὖν ἐκεῖνος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ τῷ Ἰακὼβ ὀφθεὶς αὖθις ὀφθήσεται, φησὶν, ἐν Σιὼν, διαῤῥήδην τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιφανείας τοῦτον σημαινομένης τὸν τρόπον. Αὐτὸν δὴ οὖν τοῦτον τὸν Θεὸν Ἰακὼβ ἐπικαλούμενος, ἐπισπεῦσαι τὴν παρουσίαν αὐτοῦ ἱκετεύει. Ὑπερασπιστὰ ἡμῶν, ἰδὲ, ὁ Θεός. Τίνας δέ φησιν ἰδὲ, ἀλλ' ἢ τοὺς ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι τοῦ κλαυθμῶνος καταπονουμένους; Ἐπιλέγει δὲ ἑξῆς· Καὶ ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου, εὐχόμενος ἐπιταχῆναι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ὃν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ ἐνεδύσατο, παρουσίαν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας φησὶ, Θυρεὲ ἡμῶν, ἴδε, Θεὲ, καὶ ἐπίστρεψον πρόσωπον ἠλειμμένου σου· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Ὑπερασπιστὰ ἡμῶν, ἰδὲ, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πρόσβλεψον τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου. Ταῦτα δὲ εὔχονται οἱ τὸν πάντα ψαλμὸν λέγοντες· οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ προφῆται, οἱ διασωθέντες ἀπὸ τῶν νοητῶν πολεμίων, καὶ μεταβαλόντες ἀπὸ πολέμου εἰς εἰρήνην, τά τε σκηνώματα τοῦ Θεοῦ λοιπὸν τῷ θείῳ Πνεύματι προορῶντες, καὶ τὰς αὐλὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια ποθοῦντες. Οἳ καὶ παρακαλοῦσι τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον, τὸν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῶν πολέμων ὑπερασπιστὴν αὐτῶν γενόμενον, ἐπιβλέψαι ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἵν', ἐπιφανέντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ κατὰ σάρκα Χριστὸν