Chapter 4

Chapter Three

¹ O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and was afraid; I considered your works, and was amazed.[1] The wonderful prophet, having shaped the structure of his discourse into question and answer, and having inquired why God does not chastise the despisers, and having learned that this would not be forever, but that he would punish the Jews through the Babylonians, and the Babylonians through the Persians, now changes his discourse into a hymn-singing, at once praying, and praising, and standing astonished at the justice of God and at his unutterable dispensations. In the form of a prayer and supplication he foretells the things to come. He says, then: Having heard the things which you said—both concerning those who transgress in Jerusalem, that they shall be handed over to the Babylonian, and concerning this same impious one, that he shall be given over to the Persians—I was afraid at how you hand over those who sin to utter destruction. Nothing that is done by you is done without reason; I am amazed at the justice of the verdict. He might say these things also concerning the mystery according to Christ; for since he had made mention of the overthrow of the Babylonians, which Cyrus wrought when he set the Israelites free, he now passes on to that more universal and more mystical freedom, which our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished, having freed us from the authority of Satan; and he says to the Father: O Lord and Father, I heard you mystically revealing to me the incarnation of your only-begotten Son, and I was afraid how the earth would receive him who is nowhere contained. And having considered more finely and more exactly your works, which you are about to do—having framed for him a body out of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit, and the other signs, which he himself will do in your name—I was amazed. But it may be said also to the Son: I have heard the report concerning you. For he said above: What shall he speak in me, namely the Spirit. And I considered the works, by which you will work out salvation for human nature—among the rest, both the cross, and the death, and the resurrection, and the ascension—and I was amazed how the contraries should come together: a body to the bodiless, death to life, resurrection to death, how a body should be in the heavens. For these things are truly full of amazement.

² In the midst of two you shall be known. Two lives there are, the present and the one to come, in the midst of which the righteous Judge is made manifest—chastising or glorifying some even here, and storing up for others the unmixed punishments or rests from beyond. But some have understood not “lives,” but “living creatures,” to be spoken of here: the Cherubim of glory, which overshadowed the mercy-seat, the one on the right, the other on the left; and from the midst of them a divine voice, going forth, made known to the high priest the counsel of God, when he entered into the holy of holies. Since, then, the Lord Jesus also, having borne flesh, became our mercy-seat, as the Apostle testifies, inasmuch as he laid down his soul for us, and reconciled us to God and the Father—yet he remains God all the same, attended as by a bodyguard by the Cherubim—he says: You shall be known, O Master, that you are truly our mercy-seat. For the legal mercy-seat, standing in the midst of the two Cherubim, prefigured you. But others have understood the two living creatures to be the Babylonians and the Jews, in the midst of whom he was known, doing acts of righteousness. And we know of other interpretations too, from which we shall refrain for the sake of brevity.

³ When the years draw near, you shall be recognized; when the time is at hand, you shall be made manifest. And you shall be made manifest to all, that you are just and true. But he speaks also concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, namely: The years of the consummation draw near, and the time foreordained for your incarnation is at hand. And this was when wickedness had come to its crest, and nothing was left undared by the devil, but all had sinned, and came short of the glory of God, and there was none righteous, no, not one—then you shall be recognized and made manifest, who are now proclaimed beforehand in shadows and types.

⁴ When my soul is troubled in wrath, you shall remember mercy. The prophet, putting on the person of humanity, says: When the soul of a man is troubled by your wrath, as he is being chastised by you, then again you remember mercy; just as you also again had mercy upon the Israelites who had been handed over to the Babylonians. But human nature too suffered trouble, when God was angered against it on account of the disobedience, and it became mortal, as David also says: But when you turn away your face, they shall be troubled, and shall return to their dust. Yet again you had mercy upon it, and showed it incorruptible and immortal in you, as the same one again says: You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

⁵ God shall come from Teman, and the Holy One from a shady, thickly-wooded mountain. The word “Teman” some have interpreted as “south,” others as “southwest.” And the prophet foretells that Christ shall come from Bethlehem, which lies toward the southern and southwesterly quarter of Jerusalem. And by “shady mountain” he calls Jerusalem herself—“thickly-wooded,” as luxuriant with all manner of divine graces and with the virtues of the holy ones within her; and “shady,” because the cloud and the divine grace overshadow within her, and because she lodges as it were under the covering of heaven. And the Theotokos too is a “thickly-wooded mountain,” inasmuch as no iron went up upon her—no reasoning bearing the filthy rust—nor any hand of human deed, that it might cut her virginity; and “shady,” because the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.

⁶ Selah.[2]

⁷ His excellence covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. Even if the Only-begotten became man, he says, and in this respect seems to have been made lower than the angels—yet nonetheless his excellence, that is, his glory and his majesty, is beyond the heavens, that is, beyond the angels in the heavens. For to which of these did he say: You are my Son, sit at my right hand, or that he is more radiant even than the heavenly light? But also, all the earth then the more recognized him as Lord and Master, when he was made flesh, and praises him as the only-begotten and consubstantial Son of the Father. But also, when with the flesh he was ascending upon a cloud, he covered the heavens; and from that time the more did the earth recognize him as God.

⁸ And his brightness shall be as the light. The brightness, he says, which Christ will show to us, bringing in both the knowledge of God and a life pleasing to God, shall be as the light—that is, not dim nor weak, such as the Mosaic light was (for that had a shadow), but unmixed and unalloyed light; and so the prophet also said: Be enlightened, O Jerusalem; for your light has come; and, The people that sat in darkness saw a great light. But also the brightness of his flesh shall be as the light of the Godhead on Mount Tabor. For in the flesh the Godhead shone forth.

⁹ Horns are in his hands, and he set a mighty love of his strength. Not only, he says, did he, using the light of teaching, point out the truth that is in life and in doctrines; but he also displayed very many powers in working wonders. And “horn” is everywhere put for power, since horns are weapons to the living creatures that have them. And last of all he died also on our behalf, which is a sign of his greatest power, that through death he abolished death; and both these he did, making evident his mighty and great love toward us. For greater love than this no one has, than that he lay down his soul for his friends. And since “horns” is taken also with reference to a king, as in: He shall exalt the horn of his Anointed; and with reference to haughtiness, as in: Lift not up your horn on high; some say that the prophet means that the kingdoms of the demons, and the acts of haughtiness, came to be in his hands—that is, under his authority—just as also: In your hands are my lots; that is, in your authority. And since he routed these at that very time, when he said: Now is the judgment of the world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; laying down his soul on our behalf, he showed his mighty love toward us. And this love was not of weakness, but of strength. For he suffered not as one weak, but willingly; he who, even while being crucified, displayed his own power, darkening the sun, shaking the earth, opening the tombs.

¹⁰ Before his face a word shall go. He is not without witness, he says, but has as a sure witness the prophetic word; for before his fleshly dispensation the prophetic word proclaimed him. But also the word of John, who says: There comes one mightier than I after me. But also, as soon as he was born the Magi came, and there was much talk about him; and afterward his fame went out into all Syria. But also in all the things done by the Lord a word goes before, and nothing is without reason. And since the fearful visitation of the Lord is also called the “face” of the Lord, as in: The face of the Lord is against those who do evil; you will understand that he bears witness against us and points out beforehand the things to be done, then comes upon us, rendering to each his due. For if I had not come and spoken to them, he says, they would not have sin.

¹¹ And he shall go forth unto instruction at his feet. Having first sent forth the word unto the instruction of men, he says, then he himself also came at the feet of the prophetic word. Or, as I said, having first borne witness, he then disciplines us when we have not heard. But some have read it thus: His feet shall go forth into plains. Writing “plains” with the bare epsilon and the iota, and understanding that all things are passable for the incarnate God, like flat plains fit for riding, and nothing is impossible to him. [3] And the lowly in heart too might be understood as “plains,” who, receiving the seed from heaven, bear fruit a hundredfold, and sixtyfold, and thirtyfold; concerning whom David also says: And your plains shall be filled with fatness, and the valleys shall abound in corn. Then, showing that he speaks of rational plains and valleys, he says: They shall cry aloud; yea, they shall sing hymns.

¹² He stood, and the earth was shaken. He looked, and the nations melted; the mountains were violently shattered, the everlasting hills melted away; they saw his everlasting goings instead of toils. He shows the all-powerfulness of God, and that he is irresistible. For at once he stands and the earth is shaken; and at once he looks, and whole nations melt like wax; and the mountains are shattered by his violence and power; and the hills are “everlasting,” that is, renowned of old, on account of their height and greatness; and his “goings” and ways, which from of old he makes, moving each time against his enemies—those who saw them saw them not bearable, but burdensome; so fearful were they. And you will understand also that he stood on the cross, and the earth was shaken; and the mountains, that is, the rocks, were shattered. And the nations of the demons melted, and the hills receptive of idolatry were dissolved. And these his “goings” and motions and operations, which before the ages he foreordained, those who crucified him saw as toils instead of the toils that came about on the cross. For he truly labored and toiled on our behalf in being crucified, and was made weak for our sins. But also the earth—that is, the nature of men that dwells on the earth—stood in him and was shaken. For being formerly shaken by the drunkenness of the passions, it stood firm, so as to be shaken no more for the rest. And it was “shaken” as being moved away from its standing in evil. And the opposing powers, the hard and high-minded, were shattered; and the hills melted too—the dignities of the chief priests and Scribes and Pharisees, renowned from of old; who saw the “goings” of the Lord, which he made in Judea, being everlasting—that is, to be remembered until the consummation of the age—or the commandments which he gave, being everlasting and indissoluble (for “goings” are commandments, according to: I ran the way of your commandments)—they saw as toils; that is, they reckoned them burdensome; and that though he said, Take my yoke upon you; for my yoke is good, and my burden is light; and, Come, and I will give you rest, you who are weary and burdened with the petty niceties of the Law; whose yoke not even their fathers were able to bear.

¹³ The tents of the Ethiopians shall be dismayed; the tabernacles of the land of Midian. After the saving Passion the tents of the spiritual Ethiopians, those who have a gloomy purpose—the souls of men, I mean, in which they encamped—were dismayed, and were bowed down before the word of the Gospel; and the tabernacles of the land of Midian, the toil-loving and pleasure-loving dispositions. For Israel committed fornication among the Midianite women, when Phinehas stood up and made atonement, and the slaughter was stayed. And “Midianite” is interpreted “condemned.” And fittingly has he said tents and tabernacles. For both the souls of men were temporary dwellings for the demons, and the workings of pleasure are easily dissolved and passing, like tents. But also, in a perceptible sense, the apostles both saw Ethiopia and visited the Midianite country, proclaiming the divine word.

¹⁴ Were you angered against the rivers, or was your wrath against the rivers, or your onset against the sea? For you shall mount upon your horses, and your horsemanship is salvation; bending you shall bend your bow against scepters. Since he said above that, standing on the cross, he crushes the mountains and melts the nations, now he says: You do these things, O Lord, not as being angered at men, nor as bringing utter destruction upon them (for by “rivers” and “seas” he called the assemblies of men and the various nations); but rather, providing for the common salvation, you accepted these sufferings. Therefore, riding as it were upon the apostles as horses, you shall ride through all the earth, not that you may chastise, but that you may save; for you did not come that you might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through you. But to those who believe your horsemanship shall be salvation; while your bow you shall bend, bending it, against the unbelieving tribes of Israel. For these he called “scepters.” And that the apostles are horses bearing Christ is plain from what Ananias heard concerning Paul, that This man is a vessel of election unto me, to bear my name before nations and kings and the sons of Israel; and the phrase “bending you shall bend your bow” resembles those of David: Bend, and prosper; and, The arrows, sharpened in the heart of the king’s enemies. But some have understood “Were you angered against the rivers” thus: The prophet’s aim, he says, is to show that the things done in the New Covenant are far more befitting to God than those in the Old; and so he also says: Not as in the Old, when you turned rivers into blood and dried up seas, that you might free your people from perceptible enemies, will you do so now also; but you shall mount upon the horses, the apostles, that you may pull down the scepters of the demons.

¹⁵ The earth shall be cleft with rivers. Just as the husbandmen divide the rivers into ditches and channels, contriving irrigation for the land, so also you, he says, O Lord, will prepare the earth for the reception of the spiritual rivers, the apostles; so that the saying is: For the sake of the rivers the earth shall be cleft. Some, however, have understood the “land of rivers,” in the perceptible sense, to be Mesopotamia, which lies in the midst of the two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris; and in the spiritual sense, sin, which is in the midst of the moist and dissolute life. Mesopotamia, then, shall be “cleft”—that is, cast down, or shall fall—being as it were a wall of the power of the Babylonians; and sin too shall be cleft by the sword, which the Lord came to cast upon the earth. Jerusalem too shall be cleft, inasmuch as she had for a time many holy ones, whom he named “rivers.” For as the Lord, being the true light, made the apostles by participation the light of the world, so too the holy ones are and are called “rivers.” He says, then, that the land which formerly had rivers watering it shall now be cleft like the thirsting earth, inasmuch as it received not the prophetic word, nor believed. For if you believed Moses, he says, you would believe me.

¹⁶ The peoples shall see you and be in travail. This has a twofold meaning. For either you will understand this, that the peoples who have believed shall see your light and be in travail—that is, they shall have a vehement longing and desire to behold your kingdom, and shall travail with your word, that they may bring forth a spirit of salvation; or, that the unbelieving peoples shall see the glory of your preaching, and shall have pangs and pains from envy, such as were those who said: Behold, the world is gone after him.

¹⁷ Scattering the waters of his going. The “waters of his going” are the graces of the spiritual and evangelical word. For the water of the going of the Only-begotten toward us is the Spirit, which he gave to those who would believe in him. Since, then, the modes of spiritual teaching are various, the one water becomes many, and is scattered and divided to each according to his capacity, since we also learn that there is a division of gifts, but the same Spirit. But also the Lord, journeying into villages and cities, scattered the water of teaching, to those to whom he said: If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Many have waters of the word, but they are not “of going,” but stagnant, reeking with the stench of envy. For these have the good in themselves, not pouring it out upon others; and they resemble the one who buried his talent. But he who pours out the good upon others also, this one has “waters of going,” and resembles the one who put his talent with the bankers, and made his master richer.

¹⁸ The abyss uttered its voice, the height of its imagination. He continued in the figure, and kept the sequence of his ideas. For having called the sacred apostles “rivers,” he names the nations a “sea,” held fast by the bitterness of impiety. As, then, when rivers empty into the open sea, much noise and din is produced, the sea-waves holding them back and checking their inrush; so, when the divine apostles went round about among the nations and ferried across the saving proclamation, tumults and seditions were stirred up against them, the unbelievers gainsaying and attempting to quench the proclamation, as in Ephesus the silversmith Demetrius did, and in Corinth others, and in Jerusalem the Jews, when they also handed Paul over to the Romans. The abyss of the nations, then, gave a voice of confusion, and the height of imagination and exaltation of its proclamations; but some understood the multitude of those who had believed to be the “abyss,” as composed of the rivers and waters spoken of above. This “abyss,” then, and “the height of its imagination”—that is, the lofty ones in it, who have an imagination of wealth and glory—gave a voice, confessing the Lord Jesus Christ with their mouth.

¹⁹ The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order, for light. The Sun of righteousness was lifted up on the cross, and it became night, when the moon has its order to shine. Or, that when the Lord was crucified, the Church from among the nations shone forth, and stood in its order, for light—that is, it became full-shining, keeping the order of its own orbit. For the centurion too, being a Gentile, confessed the crucified one to be the Son of God, and those who were with him. And the Lord himself said: When I am lifted up, I will draw all to myself. And if the Gospel is a “sun,” and its rays were spread abroad, then the moon too—that is, the Law—stood for light. For then the Law appeared spiritual, when the Spirit interpreted it. Thus Hagar and Sarah appeared as allegorized; thus the saying, You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain, appeared to have been laid down concerning the teachers; thus circumcision was shown to be of the heart, not of a bodily member. And this order the Law had even before; but it was hidden, inasmuch as there was a shadow about it. But when the light came, then it too stood in its order.

²⁰ Your darts shall go forth, unto the brightness of the lightning of your weapons. He calls the sacred apostles “darts,” who went forth as though sent from some strong and mighty hand, so as to be fixed in the heart of the king’s enemies, the demons, just as David also says: As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of those who have been shaken out. For the Jews were shaken out and cast away from before the face of God; but the sons of these became arrows of the mighty Christ, the power of God. And these went forth unto the brightness of the lightning of the weapons of Christ. For the weapons of Christ are those which Paul clothes us with, saying: Put on the whole armor of God, which is the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. And these weapons are splendid and flashing; for virtue makes radiant the one who has put it on, even if he be hidden. For let your light shine, he says, before men. The apostles, then, went forth making disciples of all the nations, to show to all the brightness of the lightning of the weapons.

²¹ In threatening you shall diminish the earth, and in wrath you shall bring down nations. The Jewish land, he says, you shall cause to be made desolate by the Romans, since those in it acted impiously against you; and you shall “bring down”—that is, you shall humble the Israelites, who imitated the savagery of the nations toward you. Or, that you shall diminish the deeds of the earthly mind through your darts, the apostles; and the heathen minds you shall humble and subject.

²² You went forth for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed ones. Having said, You shall diminish the Jewish land, he as it were makes a defense: And yet you went forth for the salvation of this your people. For you came not save unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Therefore you were also called Jesus, and came here, that you might save those anointed by your blood and by your Holy Spirit. But they would not; therefore them you diminished, but you gained for yourself another people, who also became “anointed ones” through baptism, being baptized into your death, and anointed with the oil of gladness, the Spirit. Or he adds the cause of the diminishing of the earthly mind. For on this account, he says, you shall diminish the earth, because for this you went forth, that you might save. And otherwise it was not possible to be saved, unless the earthly deeds were diminished.

²³ You cast death upon the heads of the lawless. Those who believed, he says, and became anointed ones and partakers, you saved; but upon the heads of the lawless Jews—that is, the rulers and chief men—you cast death, destroying them utterly through the Romans.

²⁴ You raised up bonds as far as the neck unto the end. That is, You bound them with the chains of their own sins, not partly constricted, but as it were throughout the whole body, even as far as the neck. For their sins, being raised up against them when God so willed, bound them, and made them subject to the Romans, so that their lifted-up neck was humbled and brought to an end. For this is what “unto the end” signifies. There are also bonds of love, which the Lord, casting upon those who believe, brings their neck under his own yoke. Christ raised up other bonds too against Judas, which this man, having placed about his own neck, found his end by strangling.

²⁵ You cut through in ecstasy the heads of the mighty; they shall be shaken at it. They shall open their bridles, as a poor man eating in secret. An ecstasy, he says, the mighty ones of Israel suffered, standing out of their right mind, and raging and going mad against you. For this cause, then, you cut them off from your familiarity, though formerly they were your portion. Or, that you scattered one here, another there. This David also says: Scatter them in their life. And fittingly were their heads, the part that has room for the mind, cut off from their familiarity with the Word, because they did not think according to reason, but rather rose up against reason. Or, that when you have done signs, they shall be in ecstasy, and shall suffer a shaking, being troubled, and shall be cut through—some saying, He deceives the multitude; and others, Never did a man speak as this man speaks. Yet in secret the “heads,” the rulers, shall murmur against you, opening their lips and their teeth, which are a “bridle” of the mouth, like a poor man not daring openly to partake of food, but, with his mouth closed, mincing it small within himself. For they feared the multitude that was disposed toward Jesus on account of the miracles. And the apostles too, who formerly did not dare to speak, but were shut up in an upper room, and in secret ate the salvation of those who believed them, like horses opening the bridles of their mouth—that is, casting off human fears—shall preach with boldness. And perhaps the prophet says also to God, that: Being come into a certain ecstasy and an angry disposition, O Lord, you cut them through; for in truth, even if God chastises, yet we chastise ourselves; and he bears witness who said: God did not make death; and again another: God tempts no one; but each is tempted by his own desire.

²⁶ And you mounted your horses upon the sea, troubling many waters. Again the discourse has kept its own figure in the trope. For having made mention of bridles, he now names the apostles “horses,” whom the Lord mounted upon the sea of life—the nations, which are “waters” on account of their moist and dissolute life—“troubling” them, in teaching them that there shall be a judgment, and a requital of the works done in the present life. Thus, then, Paul also troubled the Athenians, saying: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all everywhere to repent, because he has set a day in which he is about to judge the world. And the apostles troubled also in another way, in that they set the races at variance one with another on account of the word, which the Lord also said: I came not to cast peace, but a sword. And “many waters,” the nations, since with respect to Israel they are one nation. In the beginning, then, the Lord said: Go not into the way of the nations; but when he was lifted up on the cross and rose again, Make disciples, he says, of all the nations.

²⁷ I watched, and my heart was dismayed at the voice of the prayer of my lips. And trembling entered into my bones, and beneath me my frame was troubled. I shall rest in the day of my affliction, that I may go up unto the people of my sojourning. The prophets call a “watch” the keeping and attention according to the mind which they practice, whenever the Spirit sounds into them the knowledge of things to come; just as this very one also said above: I will stand upon my watch. He says, then: As I watched my mind from earthly cares, praying to you, you revealed to me what those of Israel who disbelieved shall suffer, and on this account my heart has fallen; for being compassionate, he grieves over his kinsmen. For what you revealed to me as I prayed, I “watched”—that is, I marked off and kept by myself, the things which I also uttered afterward as I prayed. And on this account my heart was dismayed, and trembling seized my bones, and from beneath and from the depth all the frame and condition of my soul was troubled. Then straightway, being sounded into by the Spirit, he says: I shall not see these things which shall befall the Israelites. For then, when the day of the bringing-on of evils shall come—which is to me a day of affliction—I shall rest; that is, I shall end my life (for death is a rest to a man), and I shall go up into the city above, where is the people of the holy ones, who reckoned the life here as a sojourning, which I too have so reckoned. So David also: I am a sojourner, he says, and a stranger, as all my fathers were, hinting surely at the patriarchs, and the holy ones after them. But some of the copies have: Unto the temple of my sojourning; and you will understand that I shall go up unto the heavenly temple from this my sojourning, and, longing for the dissolution, he says, I shall rest. For since, foreknowing what should befall his race, he grieved, he says: Then I shall rest from the affliction, if I depart from my sojourning; so let this be.

²⁸ For the fig tree shall not bear fruit, and there shall be no produce on the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the plains shall yield no food. He sets forth the cause of the affliction, on account of which he was also troubled, and says: For this I grieve, that the fig tree shall no longer bear fruit—that is, Jerusalem. For indeed Christ, having come to her, found no fruit in her, but leaves only—that is, the outward show and hypocrisy of piety; as again he said in parables: A certain man had a fig tree, which on account of its barrenness he wished to cut down. But the husbandman besought that a little time be granted, so that it might either bear fruit, or be cut down by the roots. But neither shall the vineyard bear fruit. And the “vineyard” is the people, as also Isaiah: And the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is a beloved new plant. And by “olive” he names the Pharisees and Sadducees, who, priding themselves on the name of righteousness, were destitute of its fruits. And that the olive is taken as an image of the righteous man, David also testifies, saying: I am like a fruitful olive tree. And the whole Synagogue too is an “olive,” as Jeremiah says: The Lord called your name a fair, shady olive tree. This olive, then, belied its labor; for being trained as by a tutor toward Christ through both the Law and the prophets, they did not receive him. For this cause also their branches were broken off; and the Gentiles, of the wild olive, were grafted in. But also the plains shall yield no food—the lowlier of the people, to whom it is said: Break up for yourselves fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. These, then, became so blighted by the wind, having cultivated no divine fruit, that they did not cultivate even what would suffice for food.

²⁹ The sheep failed for lack of food. The simpler and more guileless, that is, the more innocent, and worthy to be shepherded by the more prudent, failed for lack of having food; for there was no one to set food before them, as the prophet also said: I will bring a famine upon the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord.

³⁰ And there shall be no oxen at the mangers. The “oxen” are the teachers of the Law, the Levites, priests, and chief priests. For the Apostle also took the saying, You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain, as referring to the teachers. For these were stirred to strip bare the corn of knowledge, hidden by the wrappings of the obscurity of the letter, and to set it before others plain and easy to understand. They have, however, themselves too the offerings that come from the people—the firstfruits, I mean, and the tithes, and those from the sacrifices, as things brought to mangers and altars—yet neither mangers nor altars shall there be, nor such oxen. And since certain of the copies have written in addition the phrase “from their healing,” you will understand that their healing was Christ; but since they did not receive him, it befell them from Christ to fail. For he himself handed them over to utter destruction. But some have understood that, since the prophet had made mention of departing, he is now relating concerning the condition there, that the condition in the life to come has nothing of the things here.

³¹ But I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Savior. I have grieved, he says, on account of my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are about to experience such and so great evils. Yet, considering the glory of God which shall be recognized by all men, I rejoice and exult—that is, I leap for joy. For “to exult” is “to leap,” which is an intensifying of joy. And understand that the discourse is as from the person of those justified in faith. For he says all but this: Those of Israel, expecting to be justified by works, were thus thrust away; but I the Gentile, saved not by the works in righteousness which I did, but according to his mercy and in his grace, will exult in him. It is like the saying of the Apostle, that The nations found righteousness by faith. But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain it; because it was not by faith, but as by works of the law; and again, And that the nations should glorify God for his mercy.

³² The Lord my God is my strength. Weak indeed is human nature, he says; but having united it to himself, the Lord and my God renders it strong. So Paul also: I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me; and David: For you are the boast of their strength.

³³ And he will set my feet unto completion. That is, He will set my feet in security, so that I stand firm in the faith, able to tread upon serpents and scorpions. For “completion” the others have interpreted as “security.” And it seems that he says this also as of some runner. I run a race, he says; God, then, will set my feet to complete the race, so that I may say with Paul: I have finished the course. Many run, but disorderly; such as are those who contend, yet not lawfully. God, then, sets the feet, when we run not contrary to his laws, neither teaching contrary to the Scriptures, nor pursuing virtue contrary to his commandments; such as those who abhor marriage and the creatures.

³⁴ He sets me up upon the high places, to move me in his ode. He makes me higher than the earth, he says, and teaches me to be minded of the high things, that from the higher places I may overcome the enemies. For standing below, and cleaving to the earth, how shall I conquer the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places? And having conquered, then shall I be worthy to sing to him. For praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner. He, then, who has conquered the principalities and the powers, he shall sing to God a more spiritual ode, and one more like the flute, without the joint utterance of the instrument, conversing with God by the mind alone, and speaking mouth to mouth. And whether this comes to pass in this life, those who are counted worthy of it would know how it comes to pass; but in the age to come it shall surely be, when there shall be no flesh nor fleshly things, when God shall be all in all. So also Moses, when the Egyptians were drowned, himself sings with the men; but Miriam strikes the timbrel. For still more bodily are the hymns of those who do not play the man in all things, and which need the instrument that accompanies it. Or he does not say this—that After conquering I will make the ode—but, In this very thing, in singing, and glorifying him, and calling upon his name, I shall conquer. For in the name, he says, of the Lord our God shall we be magnified; just as, then, the apostles, working the powers in the name of the Lord, were magnified by the people, and conquered their enemies. It must be known, however, that some, understanding the prayer of Habakkuk historically, said that the prophet spoke these things concerning the return from Babylon; and we shall not differ with them, since Paul said that these things happened to those men as types, but were written for us in very truth. For unless the shadow-sketch goes before, the image would not be brought to completion. Nevertheless many of the things said in the prayer are incompatible with the things that came to pass historically. But concerning these let whoever wishes judge as he will; this, however, is plain to all, that the Spirit of God which spoke the Scriptures wills that all be profited through all things—both through the things said historically, and through the things understood spiritually. For our things are not once-for-all like those of the Greeks, that the allegory should have the dignity, while the literal sense should be undignified and full of unseemliness; but here the literal sense too is holy and profitable to the soul, at least to those who hear it well. Among whom may we ourselves also be, in the Holy Spirit, who both spoke the things that appear, and uncovers the hidden things of the meanings, and through both sanctifies; to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.