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Of the Apostle: But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother, and: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. Of this great city of God, therefore, the Church of God on earth would be an image; and its supports and foundations, have been established in the holy mountains given to us; and the entrances and first elements of that very heavenly city happen to be here with us. These entrances and introductions to the godly way of life the word has called the gates of Zion, saying: The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. And the dwellings of Jacob seem to me to refer here to the Judaic traditions and the physical observances according to Moses; more precious than these in God's sight are the gates of Zion, that is, the entrances and introductions to the heavenly kingdom established in the Church. For in this alone is the kingdom of heaven proclaimed, and the entire aim of the saving Gospel looks to that place. Since indeed the saving promises, and the evangelical proclamation, and the whole hope of the way of life according to Christ, see the kingdom of heaven. It is written, at any rate, that the Savior proclaimed, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And He blessed those worthy of His beatitudes, promising them the kingdom of heaven; but He also taught His disciples to pray and to ask for the kingdom of heaven, saying in prayer: Your will be done, Your kingdom come. Rightly, therefore, all such things were called gates of the kingdom of heaven, being certain entrances and introductions to the journey there. Therefore He loves these gates of the heavenly Zion more than the legal and Judaic synagogues, which He called the dwellings of Jacob. For among them nothing is mentioned concerning the heavenly city of God, nor is there any aim for them concerning the kingdom of heaven, but having bent their whole gaze downward, they have their hopes on the earth, and they expect the promises somewhere here; for which reason the previously declared to us 23.1048 gates of the heavenly Zion are more precious in God's sight than the dwellings of Jacob; whose foundations are not somewhere down here on earth, but are in the holy mountains, which were previously contemplated. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know me. And behold, foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians, these were born there. Instead of: I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon, Aquila says: I will call to mind insolence and Babylon; and Symmachus: I will call to mind pride and Babylon. But I think that through Babylon and Tyre and Rahab, and through the foreigners and the people of the Ethiopians, the calling of the nations is being hinted at, of those who have changed and been transformed from their former way of life, and been counted worthy of rebirth in the city of God; whom the Word wishes to remind of their former race. For by saying that foreigners, and Tyre, and peoples of the Ethiopians have been born there, what else is it than the rebirth of the foreign nations in the city of God? And Aquila says: Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia, this one was born there; and similarly Symmachus rendered it, saying: Behold, Philistines and Tyre with Ethiopia, this one was born there. But where does it say the foreigners were born, if not in the city of God, or in its gates that have been understood? For the sequence of the context suggests this understanding. For having said before: Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God, he adds, connecting what follows, that indeed these and those foreigners were born there, and the people of the Ethiopians were born there; clearly in the aforementioned city of God, or in its contemplated gates. Which things indeed having been accomplished in deeds confirm the truth of the words of the

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Ἀποστόλου· Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν, καί· Προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει, καὶ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ταύτης οὖν τῆς μεγάλης πόλεως τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰκὼν μὲν εἴη ἂν ἡ ἐπὶ γῆς Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ· τὰ δὲ στηρίγματα αὐτῆς καὶ θεμέλιοι, οἱ ἐν τοῖς ἀποδεδομένοις ἡμῖν ἁγίοις ὄρεσιν ὑφεστήκασιν· αἱ δὲ εἴσοδοι καὶ αἱ πρῶται στοιχειώσεις αὐτῆς ἐκείνης τῆς οὐρανοπόλεως ἐνταῦθα τυγχάνουσι παρ' ἡμῖν. Ἅσπερ εἰσόδους καὶ εἰσαγωγὰς τοῦ θεοσεβοῦς πολιτεύματος πύλας ὠνόμασε Σιὼν ὁ λόγος φάσκων· Ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος τὰς πύλας Σιὼν ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ σκηνώματα Ἰακώβ. Σκηνώματα δὲ Ἰακὼβ αἱ Ἰουδαικαὶ παραδόσεις, καὶαἱ κατὰ Μωϋσέως σωματικαὶ θρησκεῖαι ἐνταῦθά μοι δοκοῦσι λέγεσθαι· ὧν προτιμότεραι τυγχάνουσι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ αἱ πύλαι τῆς Σιὼν, τουτέστιν αἱ εἴσοδοι καὶ εἰσαγωγαὶ τῆς ἐπουρανίου βασιλείας ἐπὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἱδρυμέναι. Ἐν μόνῃ γὰρ ταύτῃ κηρύσσεται ἡ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεία, καὶ τοῦ σωτηρίου γε Εὐαγγελίου ὁ πᾶς σκοπὸς ἐκεῖσε βλέπει. Ἐπεὶ καὶ αἱ σωτήριοι ἐπαγγελίαι, καὶ τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν κήρυγμα, καὶ ἡ πᾶσα ἐλπὶς τοῦ κατὰ Χριστὸν πολιτεύματος, τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁρᾷ. Γέγραπται γοῦν, ὅτι ἐκήρυξεν ὁ Σωτὴρ λέγων· Ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ἐμακάριζέ τε τοὺς ἀξίους τῶν οἰκείων μακαρισμῶν, ἐπαγγελλόμενος αὐτοῖς βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐδίδασκεν εὔχεσθαι τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς καὶ τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν ἐξαιτεῖσθαι φάσκοντας ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ· Γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου. Εἰκότως τοίνυν πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα πύλαι τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας ὠνομάσθησαν, εἴσοδοί τινες καὶ εἰσαγωγαὶ τυγχάνουσαι τῆς ἐκεῖσε πορείας. Ἀγαπᾷ τοίνυν ταύτας τὰς πύλας τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιὼν ὑπὲρ τὰς νομικὰς καὶ Ἰουδαϊκὰς συναγωγὰς, ἅσπερ ὠνόμασε σκηνώματα Ἰακώβ. Οὐδὲν γοῦν παρ' ἐκείνοις περὶ τῆς ἐπουρανίου πόλεως τοῦ Θεοῦ μνημονεύεται, οὐδέ τις αὐτοῖς σκοπὸς περὶ βασιλείας οὐρανῶν ἔνεστι, κάτω δὲ δι' ὅλου νενευκότες τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐπὶ γῆς ἔχουσι, καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἐνταῦθά που προσδωκῶσι· διὸ προτιμότεραι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ τυγχάνουσι τῶν σκηνωμάτων Ἰακὼβ αἱ προδηλωθεῖσαι ἡμῖν 23.1048 πύλαι τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιών· ἧς οἱ θεμέλιοι οὐκ ἐνταῦθα κάτω που ἐπὶ γῆς, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις ὑπάρχουσι, τοῖς προτεθεωρημένοις. Μνησθήσομαι Ῥαὰβ καὶ Βαβυλῶνος τοῖς γινώσκουσί με. Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀλλόφυλοι καὶ Τύρος καὶ λαὸς Αἰθιόπων, οὗτοι ἐγενήθησαν ἐκεῖ. Ἀντὶ τοῦ· Μνησθήσομαι Ῥαὰβ καὶ Βαβυλῶνος, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας φησίν· Ἀναμνήσω ὁρμήματος καὶ Βαβυλῶνος· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Ἀναμνήσω ὑπερηφανίαν καὶ Βαβυλῶνα. Ἡγοῦμαι δὲ διὰ Βαβυλῶνος καὶ Τύρου καὶ Ῥαὰβ, διά τε τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Αἰθιόπων, τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν αἰνίττεσθαι, τῶν μεταθεμένων καὶ μεταβεβλημένων ἀπὸ τῆς προτέρας ἀγωγῆς, καταξιωθέντων τε ἀναγεννήσεως τῆς ἐν τῇ πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ· οὓς ὁ Λόγος ἀναμιμνήσκειν βούλεται τοῦ προτέρου ἑαυτῶν γένους. Τῷ γὰρ φάσκειν ἀλλοφύλους, καὶ Τύρον καὶ λαοὺς Αἰθιόπων γεγενῆσθαι ἐκεῖ, τί ἕτερον ἢ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν τὴν ἐν τῇ πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναγέννησιν; Καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας δέ φησι· Φυλιστιαία καὶ Τύρος μετὰ Αἰθιοπίας, οὗτος ἐτέχθη ἐκεῖ· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἐξέδωκεν εἰπών· Ἰδοὺ Φυλιστιαῖοι καὶ Τύρος μετὰ Αἰθιοπίας, οὗτος ἐτέχθη ἐκεῖ. Ἐκεῖ δὲ, ποῦ φησι τετέχθαι τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῇ πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ ἐν ταῖς πύλαις αὐτῆς ταῖς νενοημέναις; Τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ἀκολουθία τῆς συμφράσεως ὑποβάλλει νοεῖν. Προειπὼν γάρ· ∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπιλέγει συνάπτων ἑξῆς, ὡς ἄρα οἵδε καὶ οἵδε ἀλλόφυλοι ἐγενήθησαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ ὁ λαὸς Αἰθιόπων ἐτέχθη ἐκεῖ· δηλονότι ἐν τῇ προειρημένῃ πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ ἐν ταῖς ταύτης τεθεωρημέναις πύλαις. Ἃ δὴ καὶ ἔργοις ἐπιτελεσθέντα τὴν τῶν λόγων ἀλήθειαν πιστοῦται τῆς