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peoples. Sion is interpreted as a watchtower; and it is the custom of Holy Scripture to so name every godly commonwealth, of those who watch for heavenly things being signified in this way, just as the Apostle was saying: "While we look not at the things which are on earth, but at the things which are in heaven." Among these, therefore, the Lord is great. Let them give praise to your great name, for it is awesome and holy. For now the peoples are angered at the kingdom of our Savior; but there will be a time when they too will give praise to his great name, "When every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father." And the honor of a king loves judgment. The king's honor and virtue, reasonably with judgment, makes his name awesome to some, but holy to others. For if those who transgress his law, by the very act of transgressing dishonor him; those who keep the divine law, by the very act of doing so, honor the king who legislated it, loving the judgment from him, knowing his judgment is just, and that they will obtain divine rewards, according to his will, having lived piously and justly. You prepared uprightness; you have wrought judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and so on. Let no one, he says, think 23.1237 that the Lord who is glorified here is different from the God who gave the law in the wilderness. For you, he says, O Lord, whose kingdom we proclaim, are the very one who also appointed judgment and righteousness for the people of the circumcision according to the law given to them, containing ordinances and judgments. You yourself also prepared uprightness to be given at the time of recompense to those who keep judgment and righteousness. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them; he spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, and the precepts which he gave them. The saying, "If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me," therefore holds the same meaning as what is before us. For this Lord, he says, and no other, who is now being theologized, Moses and Aaron and Samuel, and any other of either the prophets or priests, called upon. And this was the very Word of God, who is now high above all peoples, and glorified among all nations, who also heard them and spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. And those mentioned did not attain such great worth otherwise than because they kept his testimonies, and the precept which he had given them. Thus, therefore, through the New Testament the same one has given us precepts and commandments and testimonies, which if we should keep, we ourselves will also be deemed worthy of the same things. O Lord our God, you heard them; you were merciful to them, and taking vengeance on all their practices. You, he says, our Lord and God, the king of the nations, who is preached by us, you were the one who also heeded Moses and Aaron, and imparted such great confidence to them as they propitiated you on behalf of the provoking people, and deemed them worthy of much good will. For even if they fell into some weaknesses as men, like Moses in his unbelief concerning the water, and Aaron in the making of the calf, you, as the all-good son of an all-good father, were merciful to them, granting pardon to mortal weakness. And taking vengeance on all their practices. Even if they seemed, he says, to sin in some way as men, yet you disciplined them in those things in which they needed discipline. For Aaron was reproved for sinning with the calf, and Moses concerning the water of contradiction. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. Nothing

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λαούς. Σιὼν ἑρμηνεύεται σκοπευτήριον· οὕτω δὲ ὀνομάζειν ἔθος τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν πᾶν τὸ θεοσεβὲς πολίτευμα, τῶν τὰ ἐπουράνια σκοπούντων τοῦτον δηλουμένων τὸν τρόπον ὁποῖος ἦν λέγων ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Σκοπούντων ἡμῶν οὐ τὰ ἐπίγεια, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐπουράνια. Παρὰ τούτοις οὖν μέγας ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος. Ἐξομολογησάσθωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου τῷ μεγάλῳ, ὅτι φοβερὸν καὶ ἅγιόν ἐστι. Νῦν μὲν ὀργίζονται λαοὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν βασιλείᾳ· ἔσται δέ τις καιρὸς ἐν ᾧ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐξομολογήσονται τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ τῷ μεγάλῳ, Ὅτε πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται, ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς εἰς δόξαν Πατρός. Καὶ τιμὴ βασιλέως κρίσιν ἀγαπᾷ. Ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως τιμή τε καὶ ἀρετὴ εἰκότως μετὰ κρίσεως τοῖς μὲν ἐπίφοβον ποιεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, τοῖς δὲ ἅγιον. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ παραβαίνοντες αὐτοῦ τὸν νόμον, δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ παραβαίνειν ἀτιμάζουσιν αὐτόν· οἱ κατορθοῦντες τὸν θεῖον νόμον δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐνεργεῖν κατὰ ταὐτὸν τιμῶσι τὸν νομοθετήσαντα αὐτὸν βασιλέα, ἀγαπῶντες τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ κρίσιν, ἐπιστάμενοι δίκαιον τὸ κρῖμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅτι τεύξονται θείων ἀμοιβῶν, κατὰ τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ, εὐσεβῶς καὶ δικαίως πολιτευσάμενοι. Σὺ ἡτοίμασας εὐθύτητας, κρίσιν καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐν Ἰακὼβ σὺ ἐποίησας. Ὑψοῦτε Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Μηδεὶς, φησὶ, νομίζοιτο 23.1237 ἕτερον εἶναι τὸν ἐνταῦθα δοξολογούμενον Κύριον τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ νομοθετήσαντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Σὺ γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριε, οὗ τὴν βασιλείαν θεσπίζομεν, αὐτὸς ὢν τυγχάνεις, ὁ καὶ τῷ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαῷ κρίσιν καὶ δικαιοσύνην διαταξάμενος κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς νομοθεσίαν, δικαιώματα καὶ κρίματα περιέχουσαν. Σὺ δὲ αὐτὸς καὶ εὐθύτητας ἡτοίμασας κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως καιρὸν ἀποδοθησομένας τοῖς φυλάττουσι τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην. Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν Κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσήκουεν, ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης ἐλάλει πρὸς αὐτούς. Ἐφύλασσον τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ προστάγματα ἃ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς. Τὸ, Εἰ ἐπιστεύσατε Μωϋσῇ, ἐπιστεύσατε ἂν ἐμοί· περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψε, τῆς οὖν αὐτῆς ἔχεται διανοίας καὶ τὰ προκείμενα. Τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ οὐχ ἕτερον, φησὶ, τὸν ἐν τῷ παρόντι θεολογούμενον, καὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ Σαμουὴλ, καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερος εἴτε προφητῶν, εἴτε ἱερέων, ἐπεκαλοῦντο. Καὶ οὗτος ἦν αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς λαοὺς ὑψηλὸς ὑπάρχων, καὶ παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι δοξαζόμενος, ὁ κἀκείνων εἰσακούων καὶ λαλῶν αὐτοῖς ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης. Οὐκ ἄλλως δὲ τῆς τοσαύτης ἀξίας ἔτυχον οἱ δηλωθέντες, εἰ μὴ ὅτι ἐφύλαττον τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ πρόσταγμα ὃ δέδωκεν αὐτοῖς. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης ὁ αὐτὸς προστάγματα καὶ ἐντολὰς, καὶ μαρτύρια ἔδωκεν, ἅπερ εἰ φυλάττοιμεν, τῶν ἴσων καὶ αὐτοὶ καταξιωθησόμεθα. Κύριε Θεὸς ἡμῶν, σὺ ἐπήκουες αὐτῶν, σὺ εὐΐλατος ἐγίνου αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐκδικῶν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν. Σὺ, φησὶν, ὁ ἡμέτερος Κύριος καὶ Θεὸς, ὁ τῶν ἐθνῶν βασιλεὺς, ὁ ὑφ' ἡμῶν κηρυττόμενος, αὐτὸς ἦσθα ὁ καὶ τῶν ἀμφὶ Μωϋσέα καὶ Ἀαρὼν ὑπακούων, καὶ τῆς τοσαύτης ἐκείνοις μεταδιδοὺς παῤῥησίας, ἱλεουμένοις σε ὑπὲρ τοῦ παροργίζοντος λαοῦ, καὶ πολλῆς αὐτοὺς ἀξιῶν εὐμενείας. Εἰ γὰρ καί τισιν ἀσθενείαις περιέπιπτον ὡς ἄνθρωποι, ὡς Μωϋσῆς ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐπὶ τῇ μοσχοποιίᾳ, σὺ, ὡς παναγάθου πατρὸς πανάγαθος υἱὸς, ἵλεως αὐτοῖς ἐγίνου, συγγνώμην νέμων τῇ θνητῇ ἀσθενείᾳ. Καὶ ἐκδικῶν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν. Εἰ καὶ ἔδοξάν τι, φησὶν, ἁμαρτάνειν ὡς ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλ' ἐπαίδευες αὐτοὺς ἐν οἷς παιδείας ἐδέοντο. Ἠλέγχετο γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ μόσχου ἁμαρτήσας Ἀαρὼν, καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ἀντιλογίας. Ὑψοῦτε Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ προσκυνεῖτε εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιος Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν. Μηδὲν