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having travailed, was brought forth, and it has become a dwelling place for the living things on earth. But before these things came to be thus, and indeed before the foundation of the world, you, he says, you are, God. And well indeed not "you were," he says, but, "you are;" for you are the same, and were, and are, and will be; or rather, you are the same who is always, and you are, according to the theology which says: "But you are the same, and your years will not fail." For it is not right to say of him "you were," or "he was," or "he will be;" for the one indicates past time, and the other future time; neither of which is fitting for the divine appellation; for only "to be always" is fitting for it. Therefore it is said very precisely both here: "From everlasting to everlasting you are, God;" and in other places, "But you are the same, and your years will not fail." It must be observed that in "Lord, you have been our refuge," the "Lord" is not rendered by the Tetragrammaton among the Hebrews, but by the common and customary letters which are written, which are also used for the human appellation, whenever we call a master among men, "lord." For in the same way also in the present case "Adonai" is interpreted as "Lord," the Tetragrammaton name, which signifies the ineffable theology of God, not being present in the current passage, but rather the master being most opportunely named, to represent that he cares for and provides for his own servants, for whom he is also a refuge. And see whether the present teaching does not refer to God the Word; for the passage saying here is not far from it: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, you are, God;" from the one in Solomon spoken in the person of wisdom, "Before the mountains were settled, before all the hills, he begets me;" by which he seems to allude to the incorporeal and angelic powers, before whom the Word of God and the wisdom of God pre-existed, this wisdom teaches. Turn not man away to humiliation; and you said, "Return, you sons of men." For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Their contemptible things will be years. In the morning it would pass away like grass, in the morning it would flourish and pass away, in the evening it would fall, be hardened and wither; because we have failed in your anger, and in your wrath we have been troubled. Since the inscription teaches that the present words belong to Moses, attempting to apply them to the person of Moses, I consider, whether the word through these delivers a hidden prophecy of Moses. For it does not seem to me to be a psalm, but as the inscription teaches, a prayer of 23.1129 Moses. But I ask at what time, then, Moses used this prayer, and whether it is fitting for him, or rather for the people, whether it should be applied to the generation of his time, and to the people with him, or to the succession after them. That it is not fitting, therefore, to refer the preceding things to him, I think anyone at all would agree. For how can Moses the man of God say about himself, "For we have failed in your anger;" or according to Symmachus, "For we have been consumed in your anger, and in your wrath we have been troubled." "You have set our iniquities before you;" and again: "Our days have failed in your anger;" and again: "Who knows the power of your anger, and from the fear of you your wrath?" But that these things would not be referred to Moses, is clear not only from everything having been said about the anger of God, but also from what was said having been brought forth in the plural. It is likely, therefore, for someone to refer these things to the people with him in the wilderness. But the text does not allow one to think this either. For what does it say? "In the morning it would pass away like grass, in the morning it would flourish and pass away; in the evening it would fall, be hardened and wither; because we have failed in your anger"? Therefore he does not say that they failed in the morning, but "In the morning it would pass away like grass;" and again, not, "In the morning

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ὠδινηθεῖσα ἀπετέχθη, καὶ γέγονεν οἰκητήριον τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ζώων. Ἀλλὰ πρὸ τοῦ ταῦθ' οὕτω γενέσθαι, καὶ πρό γε τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως, σὺ, φησὶν, αὐτὸς εἶ, ὁ Θεός. Καὶ καλῶς γε οὐ σὺ ἦσθα, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ, σὺ εἶ· ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς καὶ ἦς, καὶ εἶ, καὶ ἔσῃ· μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀεὶ ὢν τυγχάνεις, καὶ αὐτὸς εἶ, κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν θεολογίαν· Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ θέμις ἐπ' αὐτοῦ φάναι τὸ, ἦς, ἢ τὸ, ἦν, ἢ τὸ, ἔσται· τὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ παρῳχηκότος, τὰ δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἔσεσθαι χρόνου δηλωτικὰ τυγχάνει· ὧν οὐδὲν ἁρμόζει τῇ θείᾳ προσηγορίᾳ· μόνον γὰρ αὐτῇ τὸ ἀεὶ εἶναι ἁρμόττει. ∆ιὸ σφόδρα ἀκριβῶς ἐνταῦθά τε εἴρηται· Ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος σὺ εἶ, ὁ Θεός· καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις τὸ, Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν. Τηρητέον δὲ, ὅτι ἐν τῷ, Κύριε, καταφυγὴ ἐγενήθης ἡμῖν, τὸ, Κύριε. οὐ διὰ τοῦ τετραγράμμου φέρεται παρ' Ἑβραίοις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν κοινῶν καὶ συνήθων γραφομένων στοιχείων, τῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης προσηγορίας ταττομένων, εἴποτε τὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποις δεσπότην, κύριον καλοῖμεν. Κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τὸ Ἀδωναῒ ἡρμήνευται εἰς τὸν Κύριον, τοῦ τετραγράμμου ὀνόματος, ὃ τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον τοῦ Θεοῦ θεολογίαν σημαίνει, μὴ κειμένου κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν λέξιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ δεσπότου μάλιστα εὐκαίρως ὠνομασμένου, εἰς παράστασιν τοῦ κήδεσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ φροντίζειν τῶν αὑτοῦ οἰκετῶν, ὧν καὶ καταφυγὴ τυγχάνει. Καὶ ὅρα μήποτε ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ἀναφέρεται ἡ παροῦσα διδασκαλία· οὐδὲ γὰρ μακρὰν ἀπᾴδει ἡ ἐνταῦθα φήσασα λέξις· Πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη γενηθῆναι καὶ πλασθῆναι τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην σὺ εἶ, ὁ Θεός· τῆς παρὰ Σολομῶνι ἐκ προσώπου τῆς σοφίας φασκούσης, Πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη ἑδρασθῆναι, πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με· δι' ὧν ἔοικεν αἰνίττεσθαι τὰς ἀσωμάτους καὶ ἀγγελικὰς δυνάμεις, ὧν προϋπάρχειν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον καὶ τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, αὕτη ἡ σοφία διδάσκει. Μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς ἄνθρωπον εἰς ταπείνωσιν· καὶ εἶπας, Ἐπιστρέψατε, οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ὅτι χίλια ἔτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς, ἥτις διῆλθε, καὶ φυλακὴ ἐν νυκτί. Τὰ ἐξουδενώματα αὐτῶν, ἔτη ἔσονται. Τὸ πρωῒ ὡς ἡ χλόη παρέλθοι, τὸ πρωῒ ἀνθήσαι καὶ παρέλθοι, τὸ ἑσπέρας ἀποπέσοι, σκληρυνθείη καὶ ξηρανθείη· ὅτι ἐξελίπομεν ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου, καὶ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐταράχθημεν. Ἐπειδὴ Μωσέως ὑπάρχειν τὰς παρούσας φωνὰς ἡ προγραφὴ διδάσκει, πειρώμενος αὐτὰς ἐφαρμόσαι τῷ Μωσέως προσώπῳ, ἐφίστημι, μήποτε λανθάνουσαν διὰ τούτων ὁ λόγος παραδίδωσι προφητείαν Μωσέως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ψαλμὸς εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ, ἀλλ' ὡς ἡ προγραφὴ διδάσκει, προσευχὴ τοῦ 23.1129 Μωϋσῇ. Ζητῶ δὲ κατὰ ποῖον ἄρα καιρὸν ταύτῃ κέχρηται τῇ προσευχῇ Μωϋσῆς, καὶ εἴπερ αὐτῷ, ἢ μᾶλλον τῷ λαῷ κατάλληλος τυγχάνει, πότερον τῇ γενεᾷ τῇ κατ' αὐτὸν, καὶ τῷ συνόντι αὐτῷ λαῷ, ἢ τῇ μετ' ἐκείνους διαδοχῇ ἐφαρμοστέον αὐτήν. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἰς αὐτὸν προσήκει τὰ προκείμενα ἀναφέρειν, οἶμαι πάνθ' ὁντινοῦν ὁμολογήσειν. Πῶς γὰρ δύναται Μωϋσῆς ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ, περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγειν, Ὅτι ἐξελίπομεν ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Ὅτι ἀνηλώθημεν ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου, καὶ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐταράχθημεν. Ἔθου τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν ἐναντίον σου· καὶ πάλιν· Αἱ ἡμέραι ἡμῶν ἐξέλιπον ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου· καὶ πάλιν· Τίς γινώσκει τὸ κράτος τῆς ὀργῆς σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου σου τὸν θυμόν σου; Ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν ταῦτα οὐκ ἂν εἰς τὸν Μωϋσέα ἀναφέροιτο, οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ τοῦ πάντα περὶ ὀργῆς Θεοῦ εἰρῆσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πληθυντικῶς προενηνέχθαι τὰ εἰρημένα, δῆλόν ἐστιν. Εἰκὸς οὖν τινα ἐπὶ τὸν συνόντα αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον λαὸν ταῦτα ἀναφέρειν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦτο συγχωρεῖ νοεῖν ὁ λόγος. Τί γὰρ καί φησι· Τὸ πρωῒ ὡς ἡ χλόη παρέλθοι, τὸ πρωῒ ἀνθήσαι καὶ παρέλθοι· τὸ ἑσπέρας ἀποπέσοι, σκληρυνθείη καὶ ξηρανθείη· ὅτι ἐξελίπομεν ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου; Οὐκοῦν οὐ τῷ πρωΐ φησιν ἐκλελοιπέναι, ἀλλὰ Τὸ μὲν πρωῒ ὡς ἡ χλόη παρέλθοι· καὶ πάλιν, οὐ, Κατὰ τὸ πρωῒ