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the swellings of the sea, the Lord is wonderful in the highest. If the rivers are understood as those who lift up their voice to the glory of the kingdom of the Lord, let other rivers be understood from the opposite as being crushed and lifted up against the knowledge of God, and being disposed in opposition to those who lift up their voice to God. These opposing rivers, therefore, he says, lift up their crushings, that is, they will put aside all pride and all arrogance, and all crushing; and this they will do from the voice of the holy waters. You will understand what has been said by paying attention, that of old there was often among men a profession of the wisdom of this age, and the crushing of human philosophy; in which they were also lifted up, being puffed up and crushed by the mind of their flesh; as though the wise of this age were pursuing some great and wise lessons. But when the churches of God were established throughout all the earth among both Greeks and barbarians, pursuing true wisdom, and sending up doxologies and hymns befitting God like a river and with a greater and bolder cry, and letting out a voice as of many waters on account of the multitude of those who worship God, then the arrogance of those formerly considered wise was taken down, and all their crushing has been humbled, their wisdom having been counted as nothing. And if anyone has ever marveled at the swellings of the sea, that is, the billows and surges of this mortal life which are raised up against the knowledge of God; yet let him know that the Lord in the high places is wonderful above all; so that those who trust in the Lord should no longer reasonably fear the swellings of the sea. And it is likely that the swellings of the sea are the persecutions that rise up against the Church of God; which the dragon who dwells in the sea is accustomed to work, who raises its waves, booming and echoing and disturbing, and all but threatening to utterly overwhelm and destroy the Church of God. You might also, in interpreting these things literally, say that the rivers, these very perceptible ones, raise their voice to God, showing forth the glory of the creator who indeed also fashioned 23.1192 and established them. For just as the author of generation is seen from the magnitude and beauty of created things, in the same way, from the parts of the world, the wonder of the mighty work of God is presented to those able to see. If, then, someone should consider within himself, from where does such a great flow of the rivers come, from where come such great magnitudes and multitudes of the liquid substance, from where come the springs that have never once failed from eternity, which gush forth the ever-flowing and immense rivers; from what abysses do they spring, and from what substance do they flow for all time; if anyone should consider these things, he will see how the mighty work of the creator and fashioner of all things, presented through these very rivers, all but utters a voice, bearing witness to His divinity. So too, one seeing the swellings of the sea, how its waves are raised on high, arching, and how again these, falling together, are broken in themselves, and how it is not able nor dares to transgress the boundary and the law appointed for them, will see also through these things the power of God's magnificence. For he said to it, "Thus far you shall come, and in you your waves will be broken," and He set a boundary for it, and it will not transgress, nor will it return to cover the earth. And otherwise, besides what has been said, one might say the swellings of the sea were wonderful, when the disciples, having come to him, said, "Lord, save us, we are perishing;" when he also rebuked it, and there was a great calm. And another time again, when, by the command of the Lord, having been divided, and having stood apart and withdrawn into itself, it provided a passage for the sons of Israel to pass through

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μετεωρισμοὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, θαυμαστὸς ἐν ὑψίστοις ὁ Κύριος. Εἰ νενόηνται οἱ ποταμοὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῇ δόξῃ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου βασιλείας τὴν αὐτῶν φωνὴν ἐπαίροντες, ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου νοηθήτωσαν ἕτεροι ποταμοὶ ἐπιτριβόμενοι καὶ κατεπαιρόμενοι τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐναντίως δέ τε διακείμενοι τοῖς ἐπαίρουσι τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν τῷ Θεῷ. Οὗτοι δὴ οὖν οἱ ἐναντίοι ποταμοὶ αἴρουσι, φησὶ, τὰς ἐπιτρίψεις αὐτῶν, τουτέστιν ἀποθήσονται πᾶν ἔπαρμα καὶ πάντα τῦφον, καὶ πᾶσαν ἐπιτριβήν· καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς φωνῆς τῶν ἁγίων ὑδάτων. Νοήσεις δὲ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐπιστήσας, ὡς πάλαι μὲν ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολλάκις ἦν ἐπαγγελία σοφίας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἀνθρωπίνης ἐπιτριβή· ἐφ' ᾗ καὶ ἐπήροντο φυσιούμενοι καὶ ἐπιτριβόμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτῶν· ὡς δὴ μεγάλα τινὰ καὶ σοφὰ μαθήματα μετερχόμενοι οἱ σοφοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. Ὅτε γε μὴν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν παρ' Ἕλλησί τε καὶ παρὰ βαρβάροις ἐκκλησίαι Θεοῦ συνέστησαν, τὴν ἀληθῆ σοφίαν μετιοῦσαι, καὶ τὰς πρεπούσας τῷ Θεῷ δοξολογίας τε καὶ ὑμνολογίας ποταμηδὸν καὶ μετὰ μείζονος καὶ πεπαῤῥησιασμένης βοῆς ἀναπέμπουσαι, καὶ ὥσπερ ὑδάτων πολλῶν φωνὴν διὰ τὸ πλῆθος θεοσεβούντων ἀφιεῖσαι, τὸ τηνικαῦτα καθῃρέθη ὁ τῦφος τῶν πάλαι νομιζομένων σοφῶν, καὶ πᾶσα αὐτῶν ἐπιτριβὴ τεταπείνωται, τῆς σοφίας αὐτῶν εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθείσης. Εἰ δέ τις πώποτε ἐθαύμασε καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τοὺς μετεωρισμοὺς, τοῦ βίου δηλαδὴ τοῦ θνητοῦ τὰς τρικυμίας καὶ τοὺς κλύδωνας τοὺς ἐπαιρομένους κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ἴστω, ὅτι ὑπὲρ πάντας θαυμαστός ἐστιν ἐν ὑψηλοῖς ὁ Κύριος· ὡς μηκέτ' εὐλόγως τοὺς μετεωρισμοὺς τῆς θαλάσσης φοβεῖσθαι δεῖν τοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πεποιθότας. Εἰκὸς δὲ θαλάσσης εἶναι μετεωρισμοὺς τοὺς ἐπανισταμένους τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ διωγμούς· οὓς ὁ τὴν θάλασσαν κατοικῶν δράκων ἐνεργεῖν εἴωθεν, ὁ μετεωρίζων κύματα αὐτῆς, βομβῶν τε καὶ ἠχῶν καὶ ταράττων, καὶ μονονουχὶ ἀπειλῶν πᾶσαν ἄρδην κατακλύσειν τε καὶ ἀφανίσειν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἴποις δ' ἂν καὶ ἄλλως πρὸς λέξιν ταῦτα διηγούμενος, ἐπαίρειν τοὺς ποταμοὺς, αὐτοὺς δὴ τούτους τοὺς αἰσθητοὺς, τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν τῷ Θεῷ, τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τοῦ δὴ καὶ κτίσαντος 23.1192 αὐτοὺς καὶ ὑποστησαμένου τὴν δόξαν ἐμφαίνοντας. Ὡς γὰρ ἐκ μεγέθους καὶ καλλονῆς κτισμάτων ὁ γενεσιουργὸς θεωρεῖται, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐκ τῶν μερῶν τοῦ κόσμου τὸ θαῦμα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγαλουργίας τοῖς ὁρᾷν δυναμένοις παρίσταται. Εἰ γοῦν τις παρ' ἑαυτῷ λογίσαιτο, πόθεν ἄρα φέρεται ἡ τοσαύτη τῶν ποταμῶν φορὰ, πόθεν τὰ τοσαῦτα μεγέθη καὶ τὰ πλήθη τῆς ὑγρᾶς οὐσίας, πόθεν αἱ μηδὲ πώποτε ἐξ αἰῶνος διαλείψασαι πηγαὶ, αἱ τοὺς ἀεννάους καὶ παμμεγέθεις βρύουσαι ποταμούς· ἀπὸ ποίων ἆρα βυθῶν ὁρμῶνται, καὶ ἐκ ποίας ὑποστάσεως τὸν σύμπαντα ῥέουσιν αἰῶνα· εἴ τις ταῦτα ἐννοήσειεν, ὄψεται ὡς μονονουχὶ φωνὴν ἀφίησι, καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν ποταμῶν αὐτῶν δὴ τούτων παρισταμένη τοῦ κτίστου καὶ δημιουργοῦ τῶν ὅλων μεγαλουργία, μαρτυροῦσα τῇ αὐτοῦ θεότητι. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τοὺς μετεωρισμοὺς τῆς θαλάσσης ὁρῶν τις, ὡς ἐπαίρεται κυρτούμενα αὐτῆς εἰς ὕψος τὰ κύματα, καὶ ὡς πάλιν ταῦτα συμπίπτοντα ἐν αὐτοῖς θραύεται, καὶ ὡς οὐ δύναται οὐδὲ τολμᾷ τὸν ὅρον καὶ τὸν νόμον ὑπερβῆναι τὸν αὐτοῖς διατεταγμένον, ὄψεται καὶ διὰ τούτων τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγαλοπρεπείας τὴν δύναμιν. Εἶπε γοῦν αὐτῇ, Μέχρι τούτου ἐλεύσῃ, καὶ ἐν σοὶ συντριβήσονταί σου τὰ κύματα, καὶ ὅριον αὐτῇ ἔθετο, καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται, οὐδὲ ἐπιστρέψει καλῦψαι τὴν γῆν. Καὶ ἑτέρως δὲ παρὰ τὰ εἰρημένα εἴποι ἄν τις θαυμαστοὺς εἶναι τοὺς μετεωρισμοὺς τῆς θαλάσσης, ὁπηνίκα προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Κύριε, σῶσον ἡμᾶς, ἀπολλύμεθα· ὅτε καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῇ, καὶ γέγονε γαλήνη μεγάλη. Καὶ ἄλλοτε πάλιν, ὅτε τῷ τοῦ Κυρίου κελεύσματι διαιρεθεῖσα, καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὴν διαστᾶσα καὶ ἀναχωρήσασα, παρέσχε δίοδον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ διελθεῖν