374

will present to us some other reasonings for the cause of the things being investigated. But what has come to our attention concerning both the order of the Sons of Korah, and about the Prayer of David that is placed before the psalm at hand 23.1044, and inserted in the middle of the Sons of Korah, is set forth for those who wish to encounter what we have said before. Let these things, therefore, be preliminarily treated by us in this way. But since the text in the psalm begins indefinitely, saying, “His foundations are in the holy mountains;” one might reasonably ask, whose “his.” So one might readily say that God is meant, since it says next, “the city of God.” But I, having paid attention to the sequence of the psalm, and having found it said next: “Shall not Zion say, ‘A man and a man was born in her, and he himself has founded her’?”; for which Aquila has rendered: “And to Zion it shall be said, ‘A man and a man was born in her, and he himself will establish her’”; and Symmachus: “But concerning Zion it shall be said, ‘For every man he himself was born there; and he himself has established her’”; I think it is said very consistently, “His foundations are in the mountains,” and that “of God” is not prefixed; so that, seeking whose “his” is, we might find from what follows the man who is said to have founded Zion, the one who was also born there. For it says, “A man was born in her, and he himself has founded her,” or also, “he himself has established her.” Therefore, when it says, “His foundations,” let us understand it to mean of the man who founded her; clearly, the city of God. But to consider the city of God to be the metropolis of the Jews that formerly existed in Palestine is not only lowly, but also impious. For to think that what is said about the city in Judea now inhabited by foreign nations is: “The Lord loves the gates of Zion,” which are now desolate and vanished; and, “Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God;” and again elsewhere, “The streams of the river make glad the city of God;” and again, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain;” and to think all these things are said about a city which Greeks and foreigners and idolaters now inhabit, seems to me to be of a very lowly and mean-spirited mind. But if one should understand how the divine and prophetic voices are accustomed to call the godly polity the city of God, he will see in what way throughout the whole world our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, of God, has founded and established this God-loving and godly polity and city. Wherefore also he is variously proclaimed by the prophets in what is said about him, and this: “This man will build my city.” For the city of God, that is, the polity according to God and the godly commonwealth throughout the whole inhabited world, he alone, having been born in it, established and firmly fixed through his Catholic Church, which exists in every place and every country and city; about which it is fitting to be persuaded that it is said, “Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God,” and, “The streams of the river make glad the city of God,” and whatever other such things are found in the divine Scriptures. 23.1045 Therefore, of this greatest and God-befitting city, I mean of the Church of God, and of the godly polity that is manifested in it, the foundations are in the holy mountains. And the Apostle interprets the saying when he states: “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone.” And in another way, his foundations are not here below and with us, but somewhere above and in what are called the holy mountains. Wherefore it has been said, “His foundations are in the holy mountains.” And these mountains would be the heavens of heavens, where the great commonwealth of the heavenly Zion and of the truly great city of God is established. But this saying is not mine, but also of the one who said

374

ἡμᾶς ἑτέρους τινὰς λογισμοὺς παραστήσει τῆς τῶν ἐζητημένων αἰτίας Τά γε μὴν ἡμῖν ὑποπεσόντα εἴς τε τὴν τάξιν Τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ, καὶ περὶ τῆς Προσευχῆς τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τῆς πρὸ τοῦ μετὰ χεῖρας 23.1044 ψαλμοῦ κειμένης, καὶ μέσης Τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ παρεμβεβλημένης, πρόκειται τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν ἐντυγχάνειν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἡμῖν ἔμπροσθεν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ὧδέ πη προγεγυμνάσθω. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀορίστως ἀρχόμενος ὁ λόγος ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ φησιν· Οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις· εἰκότως ἄν τις ζητήσειε, τίνος αὐτοῦ. Προχείρως μὲν οὖν εἴποι τις ἂν νοεῖσθαι τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐπειδὴ ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγεται, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐγὼ δὲ, ἐπιστήσας τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, καὶ εὑρὼν ἑξῆς εἰρημένον τό· Μὴ τῇ Σιὼν ἐρεῖ· Ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεννήθη ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτήν· ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ Ἀκύλας πεποίηκε· Καὶ τῇ Σιὼν λεχθήσεται· Ἀνὴρ καὶ ἀνὴρ ἐτέχθη ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑδράσει αὐτήν· Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Περὶ δὲ Σιὼν λεχθήσεται· Καθ' ἕκαστον ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸς ἐτέχθη ἐκεῖ· αὐτὸς δὲ ἥδρασεν αὐτήν· ἡγοῦμαι σφόδρα ἀκολούθως εἰρῆσθαι τό· Οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι, καὶ μὴ προκεῖσθαι τὸ, τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἵν', ἐπιζητήσαντες τίνος αὐτοῦ, εὕρωμεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς τὸν λεγόμενον τεθεμελιωκέναι τὴν Σιὼν ἄνδρα, τὸν καὶ γεννηθέντα ἐκεῖ· Ἄνθρωπος, γάρ φησιν, ἐτέχθη ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτήν· ἢ καὶ αὐτὸς ἥδρασεν αὐτήν. Λεγομένου τοιγαροῦν τοῦ· Οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ, προσυπακούσωμεν ἡμεῖς τὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τοῦ θεμελιώσαντος αὐτήν· δῆλον δ' ὅτι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ πόλιν. Πόλιν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ νομίζειν τὴν κατὰ Παλαιστίνην τὸ πάλαι συνεστῶσαν Ἰουδαίων μητρόπολιν οὐ μόνον ταπεινὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυσσεβές. Τὸ γὰρ περὶ τῆς νῦν ὑπὸ ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν οἰκουμένης ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ πόλεως λέγεσθαι νομίζειν τό· Ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος τὰς πύλας Σιὼν, τὰς νῦν ἐρήμους καὶ ἠφανισμένας· καὶ τό· ∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ· Τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ ὁρμήματα εὐφραίνουσι τὴν πόλιν τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ πάλιν· Μέγας Κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα ἐν πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ταῦτα πάντα νομίζειν λέγεσθαι περὶ πόλεως ἣν ἄνδρες οἰκοῦσι νῦν Ἕλληνες καὶ ἀλλόφυλοι καὶ εἰδωλολάτραι, σφόδρα μοι δοκεῖ ταπεινῆς εἶναι, καὶ μικροπρεποῦς διανοίας. Εἰ δέ τις νοήσειεν ὅπως εἰώθασιν αἱ θεῖαι καὶ προφητικαὶ φωναὶ πόλιν Θεοῦ καλεῖν τὸ θεοσεβὲς πολίτευμα, ὄψεται τίνα τρόπον καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης τὴν θεοφιλῆ ταύτην καὶ θεοσεβῆ πολιτείαν τε καὶ πόλιν ὁ Σωτὴρ καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐθεμελίωσέ τε καὶ ἥδρασε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ποικίλως κηρύττεται ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν ἐν οἷς λέγεται περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τό· Οὗτος οἰκοδομήσει τὴν πόλιν μου. Τὴν γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ πόλιν, δηλαδὴ τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείαν καὶ τὸ θεοσεβὲς πολίτευμα καθ' ὅλης τῆς ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένης μόνος αὐτὸς γεννηθεὶς ἐν αὐτῇ ἱδρύσατο, καὶ κατεπήξατο διὰ τῆς ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ καὶ πάσῃ χώρᾳ καὶ πόλει συνεστώσης αὐτοῦ καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας· περὶ ἧς πεπεῖσθαι προσήκει λέγεσθαι τό· ∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τό· Τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ ὁρμήματα εὐφραίνουσι τὴν πόλιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἐν ταῖς θείαις φέρεται Γραφαῖς. 23.1045 Τῆς οὖν μεγίστης ταύτης καὶ θεοπρεποῦς πόλεως, λέγω δὲ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τοῦ κατ' αὐτὴν ἐμφαινομένου θεοσεβοῦς πολιτεύματος, οἱ θεμέλιοι τυγχάνουσιν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις. Ἑρμηνεύει δὲ τὸν λόγον ὁ Ἀπόστολος φάσκων· Ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐνταῦθα κάτω καὶ παρ' ἡμᾶς τυγχάνουσιν, ἀλλ' ἄνω που καὶ ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις ἁγίοις ὄρεσι. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις. Εἶεν δ' ἂν ταῦτα τὰ ὄρη οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἔνθα τὸ μέγα πολίτευμα τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιὼν, καὶ τῆς ἀληθῶς μεγάλης τοῦ Θεοῦ πόλεως συνέστηκεν. Οὐκ ἐμὸς δὲ οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ φήσαντος