381

with me an abomination to them, guarded and not coming forth. Then indeed the disciples also denied him, when he was being guarded in the house of Caiaphas the 23.1061 high priest. My eyes have grown weak from poverty. I have cried to you, O Lord, all the day long; I have stretched out my hands to you. Symmachus rendered these things more clearly, saying: My eye has streamed forth from affliction; I called upon you each day; I stretched out my hands to you. For he always wept over the miseries of men, and he wore out his eyes with tears, mourning the perdition of those who did not accept him. And as he wept for Jerusalem, so it was fitting that, as a lover of mankind and son of an all-good Father, he should also weep for the fall of the apostle who betrayed him, and the rejection of the whole nation of the Jews, and the destruction of the rest who were perishing; through which he both stretched out his hands and sent up his voice, crying out in his prayers to the Father, interceding with the Father with unutterable groanings. And otherwise, you would not err in saying his weakened eye or eyes are the apostles, if indeed all his people are his body, as he who said taught: But you are all the body of Christ, and members in part; and his hands, the deeds which he performed for the glory of the Father, he spread out, extending them to the only one who could see them; but also in his constant prayers and in his passion he stretched out his hands for the world, whose sin he was taking away, propitiating the Father. But what were the things for which he prayed to the Father stretching out his hands, and what he had cried to his Father on that indicated day, he proceeds to teach in these words: Will you perform wonders for the dead, or will physicians raise them up and confess to you? Diapsalma. Will any declare in the grave your mercy, and your truth in destruction? Will your wonders be known in darkness, and your righteousness in a forgotten land? Instead of, "Will you perform wonders among the dead?" Symmachus says, "Will you then perform portents for the dead?" And through all the following verses, in which it is said, "Will any declare in the grave?" and again, "Will it be known in darkness?" Symmachus rendered, "Or will it be declared, or will it be known?" For he did not utter these words despairing of what was said, on that day, namely that of the passion; but being convinced of these things by the Father alone, he taught the reasons for his descent into death, saying: Will you then perform portents for the dead? Or will you do these things, or these things? For you would not otherwise have willed, O Father, that I should proceed to this point, and be in death, and in the lowest pit, unless you had certainly wished to provide wonders even among the dead, so that what physicians cannot do, your power might accomplish; that is, so that those who have been in death, having been raised up, will confess to you. For it was not for physicians to be able to effect these things, but for your divine magnificent work. Was it therefore for these reasons that you willed me to undergo death, so that in the tombs your mercy might be declared, and in destruction your truth 23.1064 might be made known; and in the darkness your wonders might be preached, and in the forgotten land your righteousness might be remembered? But if anyone would apply his mind to the wonders accomplished among us concerning the tomb and the testimony of our Savior, he will truly know how the prophecies have been fulfilled in deeds. See through these things how he interprets the region of death in different ways. First, clearly calling them the dead, second, those in the tomb, third, those in destruction, fourth, those in darkness, fifth, those in the forgotten land. For all these things he relates concerning the same people, to whom the philanthropic and good God was about to show and provide wonders; that is, his mercy and the truth and the righteousness of God

381

με βδελυκτὸν αὐτοῖς, φρουρούμενον καὶ μὴ προερχόμενον. Τότε γοῦν αὐτὸν καὶ ἠρνήσαντο οἱ μαθηταὶ, ἡνίκα ἐφρουρεῖτο ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ Καϊάφα τοῦ ἀρ 23.1061 χιερέως. Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ἠσθένησαν ἀπὸ πτωχείας. Ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, διεπέτασα πρὸς σὲ τὰς χεῖράς μου. Σαφέστερον καὶ ταῦτα ὁ Σύμμαχος ἐξέδωκεν εἰπών· Ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐξέῤῥευσεν ἀπὸ τῆς κακώσεως· ἐπεκαλεσάμην σε καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, διεπέτασα πρὸς σὲ τὰς χεῖράς μου. Ἀπεκλᾴετο γὰρ ἀεὶ τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ταλαιπωρίας, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑαυτοῦ κατεπόνει. δάκρυσι πενθῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν μὴ καταδεξαμένων αὐτόν. Καὶ ὡς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀπεκλαύσατο, οὕτως εἰκὸς ἦν καὶ τοῦ προδεδωκότος αὐτὸν ἀποστόλου τὴν ἀπόπτωσιν καὶ τοῦ παντὸς Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους τὴν ἀποβολὴν, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν ἀπολλυμένων τὸν ὄλεθρον, οἷα φιλάνθρωπον καὶ παναγάθου Πατρὸς υἱὸν ἀποκλαύσασθαι· δι' οὗ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐξήπλου καὶ φωνὰς ἀνέπεμπε, βοῶν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα προσευχαῖς, στεναγμοῖς ἀλαλήτοις ὑπερεντυγχάνων τῷ Πατρί. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ ὀφθαλμὸν αὐτοῦ ἢ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀσθενήσαντας οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοις εἶναι εἰπὼν τοὺς ἀποστόλους, εἰ δὴ σῶμα αὐτοῦ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς αὐτοῦ τυγχάνει, ὡς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ εἰπών· Ὑμεῖς δὲ πάντες σῶμα Χριστοῦ, καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους· χεῖρας δὲ αὐτοῦ, τὰς πράξεις ἃς ἐνήργει εἰς δόξαν τοῦ Πατρὸς, διεπετάννυεν, ἐξαπλῶν αὐτὰς τῷ μόνῳ θεάσασθαι αὐτὰς δυναμένῳ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς συνεχέσιν εὐχαῖς ἔν τε τῷ πάθει τὰς χεῖρας διεπέτασεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου, οὗ περιῄρει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, τὸν Πατέρα ἱλασκόμενος. Τίνα δὲ ἦν ἅπερ τὰς χεῖρας ἐξαπλῶν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα προσηύχετο, καὶ κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν δηλουμένην ἡμέραν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα αὐτοῦ βεβοημένα, προϊὼν διδάσκει ἐν τούτοις· Μὴ τοῖς νεκροῖς ποιήσεις θαυμάσια, ἢ ἰατροὶ ἀναστήσουσι καὶ ἐξομολογήσονταί σοι; ∆ιάψαλμα. Μὴ διηγήσεταί τις ἐν τάφῳ τὸ ἔλεός σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ; Μὴ γνωσθήσεται ἐν τῷ σκότει τὰ θαυμάσιά σου, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου ἐν γῇ ἐπιλελησμένῃ; Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Μὴ ἐν νεκροῖς ποιήσεις θαυμάσια; φησὶν ὁ Σύμμαχος, Ἆρα νεκροῖς ποιήσεις τεράστια; Καὶ δι' ὅλων τῶν ἑξῆς, ἐν οἷς λέγεται, Μὴ διηγήσεταί τις ἐν τάφῳ; καὶ πάλιν, Μὴ γνωσθήσεται ἐν τῷ σκότει; ὁ Σύμμαχος, Ἢ διηγήσεται, ἢ γνωσθήσεται; ἐξέδωκεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπογινώσκων τὰ λεγόμενα, ταύτας προέφερε τὰς φωνὰς, κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν δηλαδὴ τὴν τοῦ πάθους· τῷ Πατρὶ δὲ μόνῳ δύναται εἶναι ταῦτα πεπεισμένος, τὰς αἰτίας τῆς εἰς θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκε καθόδου λέγων· Ἆρα νεκροῖς ποιήσεις τεράστια; Ἢ τάδε, ἢ τάδε ποιήσεις; Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως ἠθέλησας, ὦ Πάτερ, μέχρι τούτου με προελθεῖν, καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ τῷ κατωτάτῳ, εἰ μὴ πάντως που καὶ ἐν τοῖς νεκροῖς θαυμάσια παρέχειν ἐβουλήθης, ἵν' ἅπερ μὴ δύνανται ἰατροὶ, ταῦτα ἡ σὴ δύναμις κατεργάσηται· τουτέστιν, ὅπως οἱ ἐν θανάτῳ γενόμενοι, ἀναστάντες, ἐξομολογήσονταί σοι. Οὐ γὰρ ἰατρῶν ἦν ταῦτα δύνασθαι ἐνεργεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῆς σῆς ἐνθέου μεγαλουργίας. Ἄρ' οὖν διὰ ταῦτα ὑπελθεῖν με τὸν θάνατον ἐβουλήθης, ἵν' ἐν μὲν τοῖς τάφοις τὸ ἔλεός σου διηγηθῇ, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ ἡ ἀλήθειά σου 23.1064 γνωσθῇ· ἐν δὲ τῷ σκότει τὰ θαυμάσιά σου κηρυχθῇ, ἔν τε τῇ ἐπιλελησμένῃ γῇ ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου μνημονευθῇ. Εἰ δέ τις τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστήσειε τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀμφὶ τὸ μνῆμα, καὶ τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιτελεσθεῖσι θαυμασίοις, ἀληθῶς εἴσεται ὅπως πεπλήρωται ἔργοις τὰ τεθεσπισμένα. Θέα δὲ διὰ τούτων ὅπως τὴν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ χώραν διαφόρως ἑρμηνεύει. Πρῶτον μὲν νεκροὺς σαφῶς ἀποκαλῶν, δεύτερον τοὺς ἐν τάφῳ, τρίτον τοὺς ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ, τέταρτον τοὺς ἐν σκότῳ, πέμπτον τοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐπιλελησμένῃ γῇ. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν διεξέρχεται, οἷς ἤμελλεν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἀγαθὸς Θεὸς δεικνύναι τε καὶ παρέχειν θαυμάσια· τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ δηλαδὴ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην τοῦ Θεοῦ