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only, which they now call Arkadikin. And we have found cherchal instead of kollyris in the books of Kings. But the book signifies that all the psalms are of the all-praised David. For it says thus: "David appointed in the beginning to praise the Lord by the hand of Asaph and his brethren." And they continually performed the liturgies of hymnody, relieving the labor by succession. For now these, now those, offered a hymn to the poet of all things. And it says that also in Gibeon he commanded Zadok the priest to offer the sacrifices, since the 80.812 tabernacle constructed by Moses had been pitched in that city. And when the divinely-sent death was brought upon the people, and he saw the angel bringing the destruction, he built an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan, and offered the sacrifice on behalf of the people; not as transgressing the divine law, which commanded that the sacrifices be offered on the altar before the tabernacle; but because of the punishment of the people, he hastened to propitiate God. For this is also what the history taught. "For the tabernacle, it says, of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offerings, were at that time in Bamah which is in Gibeon; and David was not able to go before it to seek God, because he did not cease from before the face of the sword of the angel of the Lord." Then the place, in which he propitiated God by offering the sacrifice, he consecrated, so that in it the divine temple might be built. "For David said, it says, This is the house of God, and this is the altar for burnt offering for Israel." But that he was not blamed for offering the sacrifice far from the tabernacle, the history teaches. For the victims were consumed not by a man-made fire, but one sent down from heaven. "For David cried out, it says, to the Lord, and the Lord heard him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering." And he commanded that all the proselytes be numbered; and some he appointed stonecutters, and others he ordered to transport the cut stones. And he commanded that the stones be quarried and dressed in the very quarries, and then so be transported. And the statement, "You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth before me," I think was said for the benefit of those who commit murder. For He would not have blamed a king for a just killing, He who called the just killing of Phinehas a sacrifice. And yet Phinehas was a priest who was praised. "For Phinehas, it says, the son of Eleazar, turned away my wrath when he was zealous with my zeal." And the prophet David himself said after many generations: "And Phinehas stood up, and made atonement, and the plague was stayed, and it was counted to him for righteousness, for generation and generation forever." And Moses the lawgiver slew three thousand who were initiated to the calf, using the Levites as ministers; and Samuel the great became the slayer of Agag with his own hand; and Elijah the great killed eight hundred and fifty 80.813 prophets and priests of Baal. Therefore for another reason not he himself, but his son, built the divine temple. For since Christ was about to build churches throughout the whole world, who according to the flesh is the son of David, but as God is also Lord and master of David, He did not allow David to build the Jewish temple; but He commanded his son to do this, whose name prefigured the peace of our Savior. For Solomon is interpreted as "peaceful"; and our Lord is called "peace". And the blessed Paul is a witness, crying out: "He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of the fence." The history, however, teaches the number of the Levites, and how many thousands were commanded to oversee the building, and how many to judge and teach the law, and how many again in turn to be gatekeepers and guard the entrances of the temple, and how many to sing and praise the Lord of all. And it says how he also assigned the descendants of Moses with the Levites; "For Moses, it says, a man

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μόνην, ἣν νῦν καλοῦσιν Ἀρκαδίκιν. Τὸ δὲ χερχὰλ ἀντὶ κολλυρίδα ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις εὑρήκαμεν. Αἰνίττεται δὲ ἡ βίβλος, ὡς τοῦ πανευφήμου ∆αβίδ εἰσιν ἅπαντες οἱ ψαλμοί. Λέγει δὲ οὕτως· "Ἔταξε ∆αβὶδ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ αἰνεῖν τὸν Κύριον ἐν χειρὶ Ἀσὰφ, καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ." ∆ιηνεκῶς δὲ τῆς ὑμ νῳδίας ἐπετέλουν τὰς λειτουργίας, τῇ διαδοχῇ τὸν πόνον συλῶντες. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ οὗτοι, νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνοι, τῷ ποιητῇ τῶν ὅλων ὕμνον προσέφερον. Λέγει δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ Γαβαὼν Σαδοὺκ τὸν ἱερέα προσφέρειν τὰς θυσίας ἐκέλευσεν, ἐπειδήπερ ἡ 80.812 ὑπὸ Μωσῆ κατασκευασθεῖσα σκηνὴ ἐν ἐκείνῃ ἐπε πήγει τῇ πόλει. Ἡνίκα δὲ ὁ θεήλατος θάνατος ἐπ ηνέχθη τῷ λαῷ, καὶ τὸν ἄγγελον ἐπάγοντα τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐθεάσατο, ἐν τῇ ἁλῷ Ὀρνᾶ θυσιαστήριον ᾠκοδόμησεν, καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ θυσίαν προσ ήνεγκεν· οὐχ ὡς τὸν θεῖον παραβαίνων νόμον, ὃς ἐκέλευσεν ἐν τῷ πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς θυσιαστηρίῳ τὰς θυσίας προσφέρειν· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ τιμωρίαν ἠπείχθη τὸν Θεὸν ἱλεώσασθαι. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἡ ἱστο ρία ἐδίδαξε. "Καὶ ἡ σκηνὴ γὰρ, φησὶ, Κυρίου, ἣν ἐποίησε Μωσῆς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἦν ἐν Βαμᾷ τῇ ἐν Γαβαών· καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθη ∆αβὶδ τοῦ πορευθῆναι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῆς τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι οὐ κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ῥομφαίας τοῦ ἀγγέλου Κυρίου." Εἶτα τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ τὸν Θεὸν ἱλεώσατο τὴν θυσίαν προσενεγκὼν, ἀφιέ ρωσεν, ὥστε ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν θεῖον οἰκοδομηθῆναι ναόν. "Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶ, ∆αβὶδ, Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ θυσιαστήριον εἰς ὁλοκαύτωσιν τῷ Ἰσραήλ." Ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἐμέμφθη πόῤῥω τῆς σκηνῆς τὴν θυσίαν προσενεγκὼν, ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει. Τὰ γὰρ ἱερεῖα κατέκαυσεν οὐ χειροποίητον πῦρ, ἀλλ' οὐρανόθεν καταπεμφθέν. "Ἐβόησε γὰρ, φησὶ, ∆αβὶδ πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ Κύριος ἐν πυρὶ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως." Ἐκέλευσε δὲ καὶ πάντας ἀριθμη θῆναι τοὺς προσηλύτους· καὶ τοὺς μὲν λιθοτόμους ἀπέφηνε, τοὺς δὲ μετακομίζειν τοὺς τεμνομένους λίθους προσέταξεν. Ἐνετείλατο δὲ τοὺς λίθους ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς λιθοτομίαις καθαιρεῖσθαι καὶ ἀποξέεσθαι, εἶθ' οὕτω μετακομίζεσθαι. Τὸ δὲ, "Σὺ οὐκ οἰκοδο μήσεις οἶκον τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ὅτι αἵματα πολλὰ ἐξ έχεας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐναντίον μου," εἰρῆσθαι οἶμαι εἰς ὠφέλειαν τῶν τὰς μιαιφονίας ἐργαζομένων. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν δίκαιον φόνον ἐπεμέμψατο βασιλεῖ, ὁ τοῦ Φινεὲς τὸν δίκαιον φόνον θυσίαν προσαγορεύσας. Καίτοι Φινεὲς ἱερεὺς ἦν ἐπαινούμενος. "Φινεὲς γὰρ, φησὶν, υἱὸς Ἐλεάζαρ ἔστησε τὸν θυμόν μου ἐν τῷ ζη λῶσαι αὐτὸν τὸν ζῆλόν μου." Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ προ φήτης ∆αβὶδ μετὰ πολλὰς ἔφη γενεάς· "Καὶ ἔστη Φινεὲς, καὶ ἐξιλάσατο, καὶ ἐκόπασεν ἡ θραῦσις, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος." Καὶ Μωσῆς δὲ ὁ νομοθέτης τρισχι λίους ἀνεῖλε τελεσθέντας τῷ μόσχῳ, τοῖς Λευΐταις χρησάμενος ὑπουργοῖς· καὶ Σαμουὴλ δὲ ὁ μέγας αὐτόχειρ ἐγένετο τοῦ Ἄγαγ· καὶ Ἠλίας ὁ μέγας πεντήκοντα πρὸς τοῖς ὀκτακοσίοις κατέκτεινε τοῦ 80.813 Βάαλ προφήτας καὶ ἱερέας. ∆ι' ἑτέραν τοιγαροῦν αἰ τίαν οὐκ αὐτὸς, ἀλλ' ὁ τούτου παῖς, τὸν θεῖον νεὼν ᾠκοδόμησεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ κατὰ σάρκα μὲν υἱὸς τοῦ ∆αβὶδ, ὡς Θεὸς δὲ, καὶ κύριος τοῦ ∆αβὶδ καὶ δεσπότης, τὰς κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην οἰκοδομήσειν ἐκκλησίας, οὐκ εἴασε τὸν ∆αβὶδ τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν οἰκοδομῆσαι νεών· ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐκείνου υἱὸν τοῦτο δρᾶσαι προσέταξεν, οὗ ἡ προσ ηγορία τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν προετύπου εἰρήνην. Καὶ γὰρ Σολομὼν εἰρηνικὸς ἑρμηνεύεται· καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν εἰρήνη προσαγορεύεται. Καὶ μάρτυς ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος βοῶν· "Αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν, καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας." Ἡ μέντοι ἱστορία διδάσκει τὸν τῶν Λευϊτῶν ἀριθμὸν, καὶ πόσαι μὲν χιλιάδες τῇ οἰκοδομίᾳ ἐπιστατεῖν προσετάγησαν, πόσαι δὲ κρί νειν, καὶ παιδεύειν τὸν νόμον, πόσαι δ' αὖ πάλιν πυλωρεῖν, καὶ φυλάσσειν τοῦ ναοῦ τὰς εἰσόδους, πό σαι δὲ ᾄδειν καὶ τῶν ὅλων τὸν Κύριον ἀνυμνεῖν. Λέγει δὲ ὅπως καὶ τοῦ Μωσέως τοὺς ἀπογόνους τοῖς Λευΐταις συνέταξε· "Μωσῆς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἄνθρωπος