401

the throne of David his father; then adding in sequence, And he will reign forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And these things were fulfilled in deeds, in our Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, who, having been born of the seed of David, rules and makes laws and reigns over the whole inhabited world of men, not humanly, but by divine power; and his seed truly remains forever; that is, his succession which through his apostles and disciples fills the entire world; or the spiritual seed of his heavenly teaching. But also his throne shines like the sun, illuminating and enlightening the souls of men. And all these things were deemed worthy of fulfillment, and are still now being fulfilled in accordance with what God swore to David. But since the promises were not fulfilled humanly, nor in the customary way for kings according to man in the successors of David, nor indeed did they reach fulfillment corporeally in our Savior himself, since his kingdom was not of this world, nor did he sit on the perceptible throne of David; but the opposite occurred because of the passion that happened to him 23.1113; it is fitting that the divine and prophetic Spirit also presented these very things, stirring us to a search for the results of the oracles of God; wherefore he says: But now you have cast off and despised, Lord, you have rejected your Christ; you have overturned the covenant of your servant, and the things following these; through which the Word, having clearly mentioned the Christ by name, shows that nothing escaped him concerning the succession of David, and his corporeal kingdom, and the things that happened concerning the passion to the Christ of God. Therefore, it taught to expect these things to happen concerning his succession, and concerning his kingdom, and concerning the one who would come from the seed of David. For even if very many glorious things were said about him through the preceding verses, that he will be exalted, and will stretch out his hand in the sea and in the rivers, and will call God Father, and in turn will be proclaimed Firstborn by him, and will be the highest of kings, and will have a faithful covenant; and a seed remaining forever and ever, and a throne enduring for the days of heaven, and like the sun and the moon; but nevertheless, it also foretells that these sorrowful things will happen to him, and the divine Spirit necessarily prophesies and teaches these things beforehand, so that if ever the deeds should correspond to the words concerning both the Christ of God and the succession of David, those who had long ago received from their ancestors that these things were going to happen might not be troubled; knowing well that he prophesied that these things would happen to him, both the sorrowful and the better things; to whom, therefore, the same word also decrees that contrary things will happen concerning one and the same person, which indeed we have received in the deeds themselves. For during the time of the passion of our Savior, the more sorrowful things were fulfilled in him; but in the time after these, the promises of better things were again perfected in him by deeds. Therefore, the things that happened to him concerning the passion were clearly shown through this: But you have cast off, and despised, you have rejected your Christ. Instead of which, Aquila says, You have transgressed with your anointed one; and Symmachus, You were angered at your Christ. At that time also the things of his Covenant with the apostles were scattered, when they also denied him, and his sanctuary, that is, the body from the holy Virgin, was profaned upon the earth; but also then God removed all his fences; that is, the angels who fenced him in, as it were, and guarded and attended him; and not only that but also his strongholds. And these were his apostles and his disciples, who fell into cowardice, so as even to deny him and to abandon him and flee. And then he also became a reproach to those

401

τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ· εἶθ' ἑξῆς ἐπαγαγὼν, Καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος. Ταῦτα δὲ τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπληροῦτο, εἰς τὸν ἡμέτερον Σωτῆρα Ἰησοῦν, τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ γεγονὼς κρατεῖ καὶ νομοθετεῖ καὶ βασιλεύει καθ' ὅλης τῆς ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένης, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνως, ἀλλὰ θεϊκῇ δυνάμει· καὶ τό τε σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἀληθῶς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει· ἤτοι τὸ τῆς διαδοχῆς αὐτοῦ τῆς διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθητῶν τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον πληρούσης· ἢ τὸ λογικὸν σπέρμα τῆς οὐρανίου διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐκλάμπει, φωτίζων καὶ καταυγάζων τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα τέλους ἠξιοῦτο, καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν πληροῦται ἀκολούθως οἷς ὤμοσεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ ∆αυΐδ. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἀνθρωπίνως, μηδὲ συνήθως τοῖς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον βασιλεῦσιν εἰς τοὺς διαδόχους τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἐπληροῦτο τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸν ἡμέτερον Σωτῆρα σωματικῶς τέλους ἐτύγχανεν, ἐπεὶ μὴ γέγονεν αὐτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, μηδ' ἐπὶ τὸν αἰσθητὸν θρόνον ἐκαθέσθη ∆αυΐδ· τοὐναντίον δὲ ἀπέβη διὰ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς περὶ αὐτὸν 23.1113 πάθος· εἰκότως καὶ ταῦτα αὐτὰ τὸ θεῖον καὶ προφητικὸν Πνεῦμα παρίστη, διεγεῖρον ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ ζήτησιν τῶν ἀποτελεσμάτων τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ λογίων· διό φησι· Νυνὶ δὲ ἀπώσω καὶ ἐξουδένωσας, Κύριε, ἀπεβάλου τὸν Χριστόν σου· κατέστρεψας τὴν διαθήκην τοῦ δούλου σου, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς· δι' ὧν σαφῶς ὀνομαστὶ μνημονεύσας τὸν Χριστὸν ὁ λόγος, παρίστη ὅτι μηδὲν αὐτὸν ἔλαθε τῶν καὶ περὶ τὴν διαδοχὴν τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, καὶ τὴν σωματικὴν αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν, τῶν τε περὶ τὸ πάθος τῷ Χριστῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ συμβεβηκότων. Ταῦτα γοῦν ἐδίδασκε προσδοκᾷν ἔσεσθαι καὶ περὶ τὴν διαδοχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ περὶ τὴν βασιλείαν, περί τε τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος τοῦ ∆αυῒδ προελευσόμενον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα πλεῖστα ὅσα διὰ τῶν ἀνωτέρω ἔνδοξα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέλεκτο, ὅτι τε ὑψωθήσεται, καὶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ καὶ ἐν ποταμοῖς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐκτενεῖ, ἐπικαλέσεταί τε τὸν Θεὸν Πατέρα, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ πάλιν Πρωτότοκος ἀναγορευθήσεται, ἔσται τε ἀνώτατος τῶν βασιλέων, καὶ διαθήκην ἕξει πιστήν· καὶ σπέρμα διαμένον εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, καὶ θρόνον διαρκοῦντα κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην· ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ τάδε τὰ σκυθρωπὰ περὶ αὐτὸν συμβήσεσθαι προλέγει, προφητεύει τε καὶ ταῦτα καὶ προδιδάσκει ἀναγκαίως τὸ θεῖον Πνεῦμα, ἵν' εἴ ποτε τοῖς λόγοις ἀκόλουθα ἀπαντήσειε τὰ ἔργα περί τε τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ περὶ τὴν τοῦ ∆αυῒδ διαδοχὴν, μὴ ταράττοιντο οἱ πάλαι ταῦτα καὶ ἐκ προγόνων μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι παρειληφότες· εὖ εἰδότες ὅτι ταῦτα γενήσεσθαι περὶ αὐτὸν προεφητεύσατο, τά τε σκυθρωπὰ καὶ χρηστότερα· οἷς γοῦν καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος τἀναντία περὶ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι θεσπίζει, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἔργοις αὐτοῖς παρειλήφαμεν. Κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸν χρόνον τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπληροῦτο εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ σκυθρωπότερα· κατὰ δὲ τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα αἱ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπαγγελίαι ἔργοις πάλιν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐτελειοῦντο. Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτῷ συμβάντα ἀκριβῶς ἐδηλοῦτο διὰ τοῦ· Σὺ δὲ ἀπώσω, καὶ ἐξουδένωσας, ἀνεβάλου τὸν Χριστόν σου. Ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας φησὶν, Ὑπερηθέτησας μετὰ ἠλειμμένου σου· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Ἐχολώθης πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν σου. Τηνικαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τῆς ∆ιαθήκης αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστόλους διεσκεδάσθη, ὅτε καὶ ἠρνήσαντο αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου, εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐβεβηλώθη· ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς φραγμοὺς αὐτοῦ τότε περιεῖλεν ὁ Θεός· δηλαδὴ τοὺς περιφράττοντας, ὥσπερ καὶ δορυφοροῦντας αὐτὸν καὶ περιέποντας ἀγγέλους· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὀχυρώματα αὐτοῦ. Ἦσαν δὲ οὗτοι οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, οἳ ἐγένοντο εἰς δειλίαν, ὡς καὶ ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτὸν καὶ καταλιπόντας φυγεῖν. Τότε δὲ καὶ ἐγενήθη εἰς ὄνειδος τοῖς