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all children, so it was fitting that our Savior said to the Jews who boasted of being from the seed of Abraham: I know that you are the seed of Abraham; and again: If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham; as some are children of Abraham through imitation, who are also called chosen; but some are only his seed, and for this reason are not chosen. For the seed was not called chosen, but the sons. But the seed, his servants. Since, therefore, the disciples of the Savior, who became preachers to the nations, were both, being both servants and chosen; whence it was said to them: Seed of Abraham his servants, sons of Jacob his chosen ones. And regarding, His chosen ones, you will cite, These twelve Jesus chose, and named them apostles; and, Did I not choose you, the twelve? We shall understand the distinction of the chosen from: Many are called, but few are chosen. He is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth. It must not be ignored, he says, that he is the Lord our God, who by providence governs the entire world with divine judgments, so that nothing happens without judgment, nor without the providence of God. He remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which he made 23.1305 with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; and he established it to Jacob for a decree, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying: To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance. When they were few in number, very few and sojourners in it. And they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. He allowed no man to wrong them, and he rebuked kings for their sake. Do not touch my anointed ones, and do no evil to my prophets. Having considered carefully what the word was that he commanded, reaching to many generations—for it signifies not a number of years, but perpetuity and multitude, as in the sevenfold, The barren has borne seven, that is, many, and, A righteous man will fall seven times and rise again— you will find it spoken thus to Abraham, And in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And, In your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, and multiplying I will multiply your seed. You would find similar things both promised and sworn to Isaac concerning both the land and the multiplication of the seed. And these things, after a very great many generations, were fulfilled through the appearance of Christ from the seed of Abraham, who became our Savior. And even now the promise is active and remains, until the fullness of the nations comes in. He, therefore, after a long age, and after very many generations—for he has taken the thousands in place of the many—fulfilled also these promises to the patriarchs, having bestowed the blessing of Abraham on all the nations through our Savior Jesus and through his teaching. And he called a famine upon the land, he broke every staff of bread. In these things the word also teaches something else that is hidden from the many. For it presents the reason for the famine being called upon the land like a living creature—I mean the active power of the famine—and for every staff of bread being broken, so that even if bread should appear somewhere, it would not strengthen those who are filled with it, according to, Bread strengthens man's heart. For this is what especially happens in famines, occurring by the wrath of God, that even those who eat are not strengthened. He sent a man before them, Joseph was sold as a slave. They humbled his feet in fetters, iron entered his soul, until his word came to pass. He endured all these things until his word came to pass, which he saw in visions and spoke to his father and his brothers, saying that he had seen his sheaves and his brothers likewise binding sheaves, and then that theirs had bowed down to his sheaf; likewise also the sun, and the moon, and the

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πάντες τέκνα, εἰκότως μὲν ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν τοῖς ἐκ σπέρματος εἶναι Ἀβραὰμ αὐχοῦσιν Ἰουδαίοις ἔλεγεν· Οἶδα, ὅτι σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐστε· καὶ πάλιν· Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ποιεῖτε· ὥς τινων τέκνα μὲν ὄντων τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ μιμήσεως, οἳ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ εἴρηνται· τινῶν δὲ σπέρμα μόνον ὄντων αὐτοῦ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλεκτῶν οὐκ ὄντων. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ σπέρμα ἐκλεκτὸν ἐλέχθη, ἀλλ' οἱ υἱοί. Τὸ δὲ σπέρμα δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οἱ τοῦ Σωτῆρος μαθηταὶ, οἱ τῶν ἐθνῶν γενόμενοι κήρυκες, ἀμφότερα εἶχον, ἅτε καὶ δοῦλοι ὄντες καὶ ἐκλεκτοί· ὅθεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέλεκται· Σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ, υἱοὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐκλεκτοὶ αὐτοῦ. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ, Ἐκλεκτοὶ αὐτοῦ, παραθήσεις τὸ, Τούτους τοὺς δώδεκα ἐξελέξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασε· καὶ τὸ, Οὐκ ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς τοὺς δώδεκα ἐξελεξάμην; Τὸ δὲ ἐξαίρετον τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν νοήσομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ· Πολλοὶ κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί. Αὐτὸς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ. Οὐκ ἀγνοητέον, φησὶν, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὃς προνοίᾳ τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον θείοις κρίμασι διοικεῖ, ὡς μηδὲν ἀκρίτως, μηδὲ ἄνευ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας γίγνεσθαι. Ἐμνήσθη εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα διαθήκης αὑτοῦ, λόγου οὗ ἐνετείλατο εἰς χιλίας γενεὰς, ὃν διέθετο 23.1305 τῷ Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ τοῦ ὅρκου αὐτοῦ τῷ Ἰσαάκ· καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν τῷ Ἰακὼβ εἰς πρόσταγμα, καὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς διαθήκην αἰώνιον, λέγων· Σοὶ δώσω τὴν γῆν Χαναὰν, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας ὑμῶν. Ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀριθμῷ βραχεῖς, ὀλιγοστοὺς καὶ παροίκους ἐν αὐτῇ. Καὶ διῆλθον ἐξ ἔθνους εἰς ἔθνος, καὶ ἐκ βασιλείας εἰς λαὸν ἕτερον. Οὐκ ἀφῆκεν ἄνθρωπον ἀδικῆσαι αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἤλεγξεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν βασιλεῖς. Μὴ ἅπτεσθε τῶν χριστῶν μου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μου μὴ πονηρεύεσθε. Ἐπιστήσας ἀκριβῶς τίς ἦν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἐνετείλατο εἰς πολλὰς γενεὰς ἐξικνούμενον, οὐ γὰρ ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ διηνεκὲς αἰνίττεται καὶ τὸ πλῆθος, ὡς τὸ ἑπτάκις, Στεῖρα ἔτεκεν ἑπτὰ, τουτέστι πολλὰ, καὶ, Ἑπτάκις πεσεῖται ὁ δίκαιος, καὶ ἀναστήσεται· εὑρήσεις αὐτὸν εἰρημένον οὕτως πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ, Καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς. Καὶ, Ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου. Εὕροις δ' ἂν τὰ παραπλήσια καὶ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπηγγελμένα καὶ ὀμοσθέντα περί τε τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ πληθυσμοῦ τοῦ σπέρματος. Ταῦτα δὲ μετὰ πλείστας ὅσας γενεὰς ἐπληροῦτο διὰ τῆς ἐπιφανείας Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἐκ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ, γενομένου Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν. Εἰσέτι τε νῦν ἐνεργεῖ καὶ διαμένει ἡ ἐπαγγελία, μέχρις οὗ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ. Οὗτος οὖν μετὰ μακρὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ μετὰ πλείστας σφόδρα γενεὰς, τὰς γὰρ χιλιάδας ἀντὶ τῶν πολλῶν παρείληφε, καὶ ταύτας ἐπλήρου τὰς πρὸς τοὺς πατριάρχας ἐπαγγελίας, διὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ εὐλογίαν δεδωρημένος. Καὶ ἐκάλεσε λιμὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, πᾶν στήριγμα ἄρτου συνέτριψεν. Ἐν τούτοις ὁ λόγος καὶ ἄλλο τι λεληθὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς διδάσκει. Τὴν γὰρ αἰτίαν τοῦ κληθῆναι δίκην ἐμψύχου ζώου τὸν λιμὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, λέγω δὴ τὴν ἐνεργητικὴν δύναμιν τοῦ λιμοῦ, καὶ τοῦ συντριβῆναι πᾶν στήριγμα ἄρτου, παρίστησιν, ἵνα καὶ φανιεῖ που ἄρτος μὴ στηρίζοι τοὺς ἐμπιπλαμένους ἐξ αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸ, Ἄρτος στηρίζει καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὃ μάλιστα συμβαίνει ἐν τοῖς λιμοῖς, κατ' ὀργὴν Θεοῦ γιγνόμενον, τὸ καὶ τοὺς ἐσθίοντας μὴ στηρίζεσθαι. Ἀπέστειλεν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν ἄνθρωπον, εἰς δοῦλον ἐπράθη Ἰωσήφ. Ἐταπείνωσαν ἐν πέδαις τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, σίδηρον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, μέχρι τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. Πάντα ταῦτα ὑπέμεινε μέχρι τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, ὃν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁράμασιν ἰδὼν ἐξεῖπε τῷ ἑαυτοῦ πατρὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς φήσας, ἑωρακέναι αὐτὸν δράγματα καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὁμοίως ἀναλέγοντας, ἔπειτα τὰ ἐκείνων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ προσκεκυνηκέναι δράγμα· ὁμοίως δὲ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ τὴν σελήνην, καὶ τοὺς