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tunics for the high priest and holy robes; but now the prophetic word has likened all their weaving and the teaching constructed by their reasoning, which they put forth through the interweaving and texture of the divine Scriptures, to a spider's web. Therefore it says: They weave a spider's web. And the present psalm, containing the confession from their own person, says: Our years were spent in meditation like a spider's web. For it plainly compared the meditations on the Scriptures in which they are occupied, and the deuteroseis, through which they seem to produce certain fabrics of teaching, to the works of a spider. But they also say that their only life is the temporary one, completed in 70 and 80 years. This they say, despairing of the eternal and future life promised to those who love God. When gentleness has come, we will be instructed. Who knows the power of your anger, and from the fear of you, who can count your wrath? make your right hand known in this way, and those instructed in heart in wisdom. Instead of, "For gentleness has come, and we shall be instructed," Symmachus says: For being cut off suddenly, we are spread out. And the present saying holds to the aforementioned meaning. For our years, he says, those of this temporary life, extend to the number of 70 and 80 years; and this is our hope, after which no other will succeed us; for being cut off suddenly at the end, we are spread out; and after these things what will ever succeed us, who knows? For who is able to interpret, or even to know accurately and declare, what sort of wrath will overtake sinners after these things? Therefore it says: Who knows the power of your anger, and from the fear of you, your wrath? And who is able to count your right hand? But you, O God, make your right hand known to us from this point on, so that we may be able both to understand it and to enumerate its powers. And the sacred words have often taught that the right hand of God is his Christ. Therefore, those who are indicated are taught to pray after their confession to be deemed worthy first of the gentleness of God, so that they may be instructed by it; then of his right hand, that is, of the knowledge of his Christ, 23.1140 and of his wondrous powers, so that they might become better from the knowledge of these things, and so that, having been instructed in mind, they might partake of the wisdom of God; But Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Return, O Lord, how long? And be entreated for your servants. We were filled in the morning with your mercy, and we rejoiced and were glad in all our days. We were made glad for the days in which you humbled us, the years in which we saw evil. And look upon your servants and upon your works, and guide their sons; and let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the works of our hands upon us, and establish the work of our hands. Following the confession delivered through the things proposed, Moses further teaches the prayer to those of Israel who have fallen away after the coming of our Savior, so that they might say in their prayers, along with what has been rendered, the things that are set forth; the meaning of which Symmachus interpreted more clearly, rendering it in this way: Return, O Lord, how long? Be entreated for your servants. Satisfy us with your morning mercy, that we may sleep and be glad in all our days. Make us glad all the days you afflicted us, the years in which we saw evil. Let your works be shown to your servants, and your majesty upon our children; and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and make firm the works of our hands for us, and accomplish the deed of our hands. And through these things he teaches them to ask to obtain the morning mercy, so that they might be deemed worthy of the dawning of the Savior. For the morning

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χιτῶνας τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ καὶ στολὰς ἁγίας· νῦν δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑφὴν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν διὰ τοῦ λόγου κατασκευαζομένην διδασκαλίαν, ἣν διὰ τῆς τῶν θείων Γραφῶν συμπλοκῆς τε καὶ ὑφάνσεως προβάλλονται, ἀράχνης ὑφάσματι παρείκασεν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος. ∆ιό φησιν· Ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ὑφαίνουσι. Καὶ ὁ παρὼν δὲ ψαλμὸς, τὴν ἐκ προσώπου αὐτῶν περιέχων ἐξομολόγησίν, φησί· Τὰ ἔτη ἡμῶν ὡς ἀράχνη ἐμελέτων. Ἄντικρυς γὰρ τὰς μελέτας τῶν Γραφῶν ἐν αἷς κατατρίβονται, καὶ τὰς δευτερώσεις, δι' ὧν ὑφάσματά τινα διδασκαλίας δοκοῦσιν ἀπεργάζεσθαι, ἀράχνης ἀπείκασεν ἔργοις. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ζωὴν αὐτῶν μόνην φασὶν εἶναι τὴν πρόσκαιρον ἐν οʹ καὶ πʹ ἔτεσι συμπεραιουμένην. Τοῦτο δέ φασι τὴν αἰώνιον καὶ μέλλουσαν ζωὴν τὴν τοῖς θεοφιλέσιν ἐπαγγελλομένην ἀπογινώσκοντες. Ὅτε ἐπῆλθε πραΰτης καὶ παιδευθησόμεθα. Τίς γινώσκει τὸ κράτος τῆς ὀργῆς σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου σου τὸν θυμόν σου ἐξαριθμήσασθαι; τὴν δεξιάν σου οὕτω γνώρισον, καὶ τοὺς πεπαιδευμένους τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐν σοφίᾳ. Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ὅτι ἐπῆλθε πραΰτης καὶ παιδευθησόμεθα, ὁ Σύμμαχός φησι· Τμηθέντες γὰρ ἄφνω ἐκπεταννύμεθα. Ἔχεται δὲ τῆς προδηλωθείσης διανοίας καὶ ὁ παρὼν λόγος. Τὰ γὰρ ἔτη ἡμῶν, φησὶ, τὰ τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς εἰς οʹ καὶ πʹ ἀριθμὸν ἐτῶν συντείνει· καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἡμῶν ἐλπὶς, μεθ' ἣν οὐδεμία ἄλλη ἡμᾶς διαδέξεται· τμηθέντες γὰρ ἄφνω κατὰ τὴν τελευτὴν, ἐκπεταννύμεθα· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τί ποτε ἡμᾶς διαδέξεται, τίς οἶδε; Τίς γὰρ ἑρμηνεῦσαι δύναται, ἢ καὶ ἀκριβῶς γνῶναι καὶ ἐξειπεῖν, ὁποία τίς ἐστιν ἡ μετὰ ταῦτα τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς καταληψομένη ὀργή; ∆ιό φησι· Τίς γινώσκει τὸ κράτος τῆς ὀργῆς σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου σου τὸν θυμόν σου; Τίς δὲ οἷός τέ ἐστιν ἐξαριθμήσασθαι τὴν δεξιάν σου; Ἀλλὰ σύ γε ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη γνώρισον τὴν δεξιάν σου, εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς νοεῖν τε αὐτὴν καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις αὐτῆς ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι. ∆εξιὰν δὲ Θεοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ πολλάκις ἐδίδαξαν οἱ ἱεροὶ λόγοι. Παιδεύονται τοίνυν οἱ δηλούμενα μετὰ τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν εὔχεσθαι καταξιωθῆναι πρῶτον μὲν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ πραΰτητος, ὡς ἂν παιδευθεῖεν δι' αὐτῆς· ἔπειτα τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ, δηλαδὴ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, 23.1140 τῶν τε παραδόξων αὐτοῦ δυνάμεων, ὡς ἂν βελτίους αὐτῶν γένοιντο ἀπὸ τῆς τούτων γνώσεως, καὶ ὡς ἂν, παιδευθέντες τὴν διάνοιαν, μετάσχοιεν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας· Χριστὸς δὲ Θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία. Ἐπίστρεψον, Κύριε, ἕως πότε, καὶ παρακλήθητι ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους σου. Ἐνεπλήσθημεν τῷ πρωῒ τοῦ ἐλέους σου, καὶ ἠγαλλιασάμεθα καὶ εὐφράνθημεν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἡμῶν. Εὐφράνθημεν ἀνθ' ὧν ἡμερῶν ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς, ἐτῶν ὧν εἴδομεν κακά. Καὶ ἴδε ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους σου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ ὁδήγησον τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν· καὶ ἔστω ἡ λαμπρότης Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν κατεύθυνον ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὸ ἔργον τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν κατεύθυνον. Ἀκολούθως μετὰ τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν τὴν διὰ τῶν προτεινομένων παραδοθεῖσαν, ἔτι τὴν προσευχὴν ὁ Μωϋσῆς διδάσκει τοὺς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίαν ἀποπεπτωκότας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, εἰς τὸ λέγειν αὐτοὺς προσευχομένους, μετὰ τῶν ἀποδοθέντων καὶ τὰ προκείμενα· ὧν τὴν διάνοιαν σαφέστερον ἑρμήνευσεν ὁ Σύμμαχος, τοῦτον ἀποδοὺς τὸν τρόπον· Ἐπιστράφηθι, Κύριε, ἕως πότε· παρακλήθητι ὑπὲρ τῶν δούλων σου. Χόρτασον ἡμᾶς ὀρθρινοῦ ἐλέους σου, ἵνα ὑπνώσωμεν καὶ εὐφρανώμεθα ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἡμῶν. Εὔφρανον ἡμᾶς πάσας ἡμέρας ἃς ἐκάκωσας ἡμᾶς, ἔτη ἐν οἷς εἴδομεν κακά. Φανήτω παρὰ τοῖς δούλοις σου τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ τὸ ἀξιοπρεπὲς ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν· καὶ ἔστω τὸ κάλλος τοῦ Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐπάνω ἡμῶν, καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν ἑδραῖα ποίησον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν ἐπιτέλεσον. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ διὰ τούτων αἰτεῖσθαι τυχεῖν τοῦ ὀρθρινοῦ ἐλέους, ὡς ἂν καταξιωθεῖεν τῆς ἀνατολῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος. Τὸ ὀρθρινὸν γὰρ