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to fall to the ground before him. Wherefore it has been said: A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But instead of: At your side, Aquila and Symmachus have rendered it: From your flank; thus the divine Scripture naming the left of the Savior, perhaps because there is nothing ill-omened or left-sided in him. But indeed concerning all the opposing powers at once it is said, But it shall not come near you, and, Only with your eyes shall you behold, and see the reward of the wicked. And all these things, he says, will be about you, because you, O Lord, are my hope; you have made the Most High your refuge. And I suppose that these invisible and opposing powers, those under the whole heaven, were all gathered together against him, being agitated by the voice that came to him, when in the form of a dove the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and the voice from above was heard saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Having heard this voice, then, and having seen the man revealed by the Holy Spirit through the dove, named Son of God, they could neither disbelieve the voice, nor, seeing the man clothed in flesh, believe that this was the beloved of God. Wherefore, seeing a strange and new human nature, they expected that their own activities would be destroyed by a greater power. So then they came against him who had very readily given himself to all the temptations, which he had undertaken for the salvation of men. Being about, then, as I said, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, according to the prophecy concerning him, and to draw away the souls of men 23.1157 from those who had long held them captive, and to free them from the error of idolatry, he necessarily first of all campaigned against those who had tyrannized for a long age. And since he contended against these through endurance of every temptation, for this reason Luke says: And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him. After this he proceeded to the healing of men; whence also the demons shuddered at him, and confessed that they knew who he was, crying out and saying: Ah, what have we to do with you, Son of God? We know who you are, the Holy One of God. For from the voice that came to him they had learned who he was; but also from what he had done at the time of the temptation they knew his power. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And these things might fittingly be said of the man perfected in Christ and of the choir of Christ's martyrs, and of his holy Church, and indeed of the very body of Christ: For if the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them, then of those who have overcome fear and are in a perfect state of virtue of soul, such as is the one who dwells in the help of the Most High, and lodges under the shadow of the Sufficient One; of such ones, therefore, not one angel, but multiple encampments are established as guardians, as many as are the more who plot against the one perfect in God. Thus, then, a multitude of spear-bearing angels also surrounded the prophet Elisha. Wherefore none of the harmful things are said to come upon the one prophesied through the psalm; but not even a scourge is to touch the body of his tabernacle; we understanding "scourge" not as the more commonly spoken of; for by this countless martyrs of the saints of God were scourged, and the bodily tabernacle and flesh of our Savior himself was tormented with scourges at the time of the passion, according to the prophecy that speaks concerning him, I gave my back to scourges, and my cheeks to blows; wherefore "scourge" is now declared to be that from demonic

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αὐτῷ καταπίπτειν χαμαί. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Πεσεῖται ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου χιλιὰς, καὶ μυριὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· Ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου, Ἀκύλας καὶ Σύμμαχος, Ἐκ τοῦ πλαγίου σου, ἐκδεδώκασιν· οὕτω τῆς θεϊκῆς Γραφῆς τὰ ἀριστερὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ὀνομαζούσης, τάχα τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν αὐτῷ σκαιὸν μηδὲ ἀριστερόν. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ περὶ πασῶν ἀθρόως τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων εἴρηται τὸ, Πρὸς σὲ δὲ οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι, καὶ τὸ, Πλὴν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου κατανοήσεις, καὶ ἀνταπόδοσιν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄψει. Καὶ ταῦτα, φησὶ, πάντα ἔσται περὶ σὲ, ἐπειδήπερ σὺ, ὦ Κύριε, ἡ ἐμὴ ἐλπὶς, τὸν Ὕψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου. Ἡγοῦμαι δὲ τὰς ἀοράτους ταύτας καὶ ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις, τὰς ὑπὸ παντὶ τῷ οὐρανῷ συνῆχθαι πάσας ἀθρόως κατ' αὐτοῦ θορυβηθείσας ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεχθείσης πρὸς αὐτὸν φωνῆς, ὅτε ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον κατέβαινεν ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ἥ τε ἄνωθεν φωνὴ ἠκούσθη λέγουσα· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα. Ἀκούσασαι γοῦν τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης, καὶ θεασάμεναι τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος διὰ τῆς περιστερᾶς ἀναδειχθέντα ἄνθρωπον Υἱὸν Θεοῦ ὠνομασμένον, οὔτε τῇ φωνῇ ἀπιστεῖν εἶχον, οὔτε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁρῶσαι σάρκα ἠμφιεσμένον πιστεύειν τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν ἀγαπητὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. ∆ιὸ ξένον τι χρῆμα καὶ καινὴν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν θεώμεναι, τὰς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας δυνάμει κρείττονι καθαιρεθήσεσθαι προσεδόκησαν. ∆ιὸ δὴ ἐπῄεσαν αὐτῷ ἐπιδόντι εὖ μάλα προθύμως ἑαυτὸν εἰς πάντας τοὺς πειρασμοὺς, οὓς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας ἀναδέδεκτο. Μέλλων γοῦν, ὥσπερ ἔφην, κηρύττειν αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν, καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, κατὰ τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείαν, ἀφέλκειν τε τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώ 23.1157 πων ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῶν πάλαι ᾐχμαλωτικότων αὐτὰς, ἐλευθεροῦν τε αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τῆς εἰδωλολάτρου πλάνης, ἀναγκαίως πρῶτον ἁπάντων κατ' αὐτῶν ἐστρατεύετο τῶν τὸν μακρὸν αἰῶνα τετυραννηκότων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τούτοις κατηγωνίσατο δι' ὑπομονῆς παντὸς πειρασμοῦ, διό φησιν ὁ Λουκᾶς· Καὶ συντελέσας πάντα πειρασμὸν ὁ διάβολος ἀπέστη ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων θεραπείαν ἐχώρει· ἔνθεν καὶ ἔφριττον αὐτὸν οἱ δαίμονες, ὡμολόγουν τε αὐτὸν εἰδέναι ὅστις εἴη, βοῶντες καὶ λέγοντες· Ἔα, τί ἡμῖν καί σοι, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ; οἴδαμέν σε τίς εἶ, ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐνεχθείσης φωνῆς μεμαθήκεισαν ὅστις ἦν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀφ' ὧν εἰργάσατο κατὰ τὸν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ καιρὸν ᾔδεσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν. Οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακὰ, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου. Ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου. Ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου. Καὶ ταῦτα τῷ κατὰ Χριστὸν τετελειωμένῳ ἀνδρὶ καὶ τῷ χορῷ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων, τῇ τε ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ δὴ καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστοῦ σώματι ἁρμόσειεν ἂν λέγεσθαι· Εἰ γὰρ παρεμβάλλει ἄγγελος Κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν, καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτοὺς, τῶν ὑπερβεβηκότων τὸν φόβον καὶ ἐν ἕξει τελείᾳ τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀρετῆς τυγχανόντων, ὁποῖός ἐστιν ὁ καθήμενος ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν τοῦ ἱκανοῦ αὐλιζόμενος· τῶν οὖν τοιούτων οὐχ εἷς ἄγγελος, ἀλλὰ παρεμβολαὶ πλείους καθίστανται φύλακες, ὅσαι καὶ πλείους οἱ τῷ κατὰ Θεὸν τελείῳ ἐπιβουλεύοντες. Οὕτω γοῦν καὶ τὸν προφήτην Ἑλισσαῖον ἐκύκλουν πλῆθος δορυφόρων ἀγγέλων. ∆ιὸ οὐδὲν τῶν βλαπτικῶν ἐπελεύσεσθαι λέγεται τῷ διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προφητευομένῳ· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μάστιξ ἐπὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐφάψασθαι τοῦ σκηνώματος αὐτοῦ· μάστιγα νοούντων ἡμῶν οὐ τὴν κοινότερον λεγομένην· ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐμαστίχθησαν μυρίοι τῶν ἁγίων τοῦ Θεοῦ μαρτύρων καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὸ σωματικὸν σκήνωμα καὶ ἡ σὰρξ μάστιξιν ᾐκίσθη κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους, ἀκολούθως τῇ φασκούσῃ περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείᾳ, Τὸν νῶτόν μου ἔδωκα εἰς μάστιγας, τὰς δὲ σιαγόνας μου εἰς ῥαπίσματα· διὸ μάστιγα νῦν δηλοῦσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ δαιμονικῆς