PSALM 67, HOMILY 1
[pp. 138-157; pdf 158-177]

Homilia I in Psalmum LXVII (ed. L. Perrone) [pp 173-199]
Εἰς τὸν ξζʹ ψαλμὸν ὁμιλία αʹ

1. HE is a disciple of the one who said, “Learn from me, because I am gentle and lowly in heart.”¹ While speaking in a more measured way about himself, he ascribes to us better things not belonging to him. As his disciple, training in gentleness, he spoke as one “humble in heart.” For he knew that “everyone humbling himself will be lifted up.”² But I heard what was said, not as referring to things as they already are, but as the fathers heard: Jacob hearing the blessing of Isaac, the twelve patriarchs hearing the blessings of Jacob. For these blessings did not yet exist for the fathers, but they were prophesied of future blessings. As in the instance when you are praying to dedicate [yourselves]³ in the Church, the things spoken about us by the papa⁴ will also be a prophecy. They are a prophecy rather than things that already belong to us. For I know that they have not yet come about.⁵

^{[p. 173]}  1.  Μαθητής ἐστι τοῦ εἰπόντος· μάθετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς  τῇ καρδίᾳ , ὁ τοσαῦτα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ μετριώτερον εἰπὼν καὶ ἡμῖν προσάψας τὰ μὴ προσόντα αὐτῷ μείζονα· καὶ ὡς μαθητὴς ἐκείνου ἀσκήσας τὴν πραΰτητα ἐλάλησεν ὡς ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Οἶδεν γὰρ ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται ⁵ . Ἐγὼ δὲ ἤκουσα τῶν εἰρημένων οὐχ ὡς ἤδη ὄντων, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἤκουσαν οἱ πατέρες· ὁ μὲν Ἰακὼβ τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ Ἰσαάκ, οἱ δὲ δώδεκα πατριάρχαι τῶν εὐλογιῶν τοῦ Ἰακώβ. Ἐκεῖναι γὰρ αἱ εὐλογίαι οὔπω μὲν ἦσαν περὶ τοὺς πατέρας, προεφητεύοντο δὲ ἐσόμεναι. Οὕτω δὴ εὐχομένων ὑμῶν ἐπιδιδόναι ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ προφητεία ἔσται τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπὸ τοῦ πάπα περὶ ¹⁰ ἡμῶν, προφητεία μᾶλλον ἤπερ ὡς ἤδη προσόντα ἡμῖν. Οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὔπω ἐστὶν γεγενημένα.

Since I am persuaded that every logos without Christ’s presence in the speaker is empty and from earth,⁶ but it is impossible for a heavenly logos⁷ to visit us apart from the Father God who sent him,’ therefore selecting one Psalm containing a prayer from those read, I would pray it by itself before the explanation of the appointed Psalm read.⁹ And I would like all of you, praying together, to say it on my behalf, while I am saying it for myself: “God, attend to my assistance. Lord, hasten to assist me. Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and show respect. Let those who first wished evil to me turn around backwards and be disgraced”—not in some future time, but —“right now. Let those be turned around who say to me”—wanting to exult when bad things occur, that they pray may come about for us—“Aha, aha.”¹⁰

     Ἐπεὶ δὲ πείθομαι πάντα λόγον χωρὶς παρουσίας Χριστοῦ τῆς ἐν τῷ λέγοντι κενὸν καὶ ἀπὸ γῆς εἶναι, εἶναι δὲ ἀδύνατον λόγον οὐράνιον ἐπιδημεῖν χωρὶς τοῦ πέμποντος αὐτὸν πατρὸς θεοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο ἕνα τῶν ἀναγνωσθέντων ¹⁵ ἐπιλεξάμενος ψαλμὸν περιέχοντα εὐχήν, εὐξαίμην ἂν κατ’ αὐτὸν πρὸ τῆς διηγήσεως τοῦ προκειμένου καὶ ἀναγνωσθέντος ψαλμοῦ. Καὶ βουλοίμην ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς συνευχομένους μοι εἰπεῖν περὶ ἐμοῦ, ἐμοῦ λέγοντος περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ· ὁ θεός, εἰς τὴν βοήθειάν μου πρόσσχες, κύριε εἰς τὸ βοηθῆσαί μοι ^{[p. 174]} σπεῦσον· αἰσχυνθήτωσαν καὶ ἐντραπήτωσαν οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἀποστραφήτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ καταισχυνθήτωσαν, οἱ καὶ πρότερον βουληθέντες μοι κακὰ ἀποστραφήτωσαν , οὐκ εἰς μέλλοντα χρόνον ἀλλὰ παραυτίκα αἰσχυνόμενοι οἱ λέγοντές μοι, ἐπιχαίρειν βουλόμενοι κακῶν συμβαινόντων, ⁵ ὧν εὔχονται γενέσθαι καθ’ ἡμῶν· εὖγε, εὖγε .

Let these things come about for them.”“ I pray on your behalf that such a logos may be given, as to delight and gladden you. I would therefore say: “Let they be delighted and gladdened’ ¹² on your behalf today through Christ speaking in me,¹³ ‘Let them rejoice and let them be glad, all who seek you, and let them always say, May the Lord be magnified.’“¹⁴ Let them say, “be magnified,” so that both in the logos given to me the Lord may be magnified, and may the Lord also be magnified in works in us and in all of you.¹⁵

     Ταῦτα μὲν ἐκείνοις γενέσθω, περὶ δὲ ὑμῶν εὔχομαι ἵνα τοιοῦτος λόγος δοθῇ, ὥστε ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι ὑμᾶς καὶ εὐφρανθῆναι. Εἴποιμ’ ἂν οὖν· ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν ἐπὶ σοὶ σήμερον διὰ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος ἐν ἐμοί, ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν πάντες οἱ ζητοῦντές σε καὶ λεγέτωσαν διὰ ¹⁰ παντός· μεγαλυνθήτω ὁ κύριος . Λεγέτωσαν  τὸ μεγαλυνθῆναι, ἵνα καὶ ἐν λόγῳ διδομένῳ μοι μεγαλυνθῇ ὁ κύριος, ἵνα καὶ ἐν ἔργοις μεγαλυνθῇ ὁ κύριος, καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν.

Let those “who love your salvation”¹⁶ say this: “As for me, I am aware that I am destitute, that I am poor: ‘God, help me. You are my help and deliverance, Lord. Do not take your time.’“¹⁷ Please pray together, that the one who promises, saying, “When you talk, I will say, ‘I am present,’“¹⁸ even as I am saying these things, he would say, by power and presence, “See, I am present.” This will be a sign that he is speaking, when you recognize by fruits¹⁹ not only human beings, but also logos: if a logos should be given, explaining, “Let God rise up, and let his enemies be scattered, and may those who hate him flee before his face; as smoke vanishes, as wax melts before the face of fire, so may sinners be destroyed before God’s face, and let the just rejoice, let them be glad before God, let them be delighted for joy.”²⁰

     Τοῦτο δὲ λεγέτωσαν οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸ σωτήριόν σου . Ἐγὼ γὰρ σύνοιδα ἐμαυτῷ ὅτι πτωχός εἰμι, ὅτι πένης· ὁ θεός, βοήθησόν μοι, βοηθὸς καὶ ῥύστης ¹⁵ μου εἶ σύ· κύριε, μὴ χρονίσῃς . Παρακαλῶ συνεύξασθαι, ἵνα ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος καὶ εἰπών· ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου, ἐρῶ· ἰδοὺ πάρειμι , ἔτι μου ταῦτα λαλοῦντος καὶ τῇ δυνάμει καὶ παρουσίᾳ εἴπῃ· ἰδοὺ πάρειμι . Τὸ δὲ σημεῖον τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸν ἔσται, ἐπεὶ ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθεοὐ μόνον ἀνθρώπους ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγον, ἐὰν δοθῇ λόγος δὴ διηγούμενος τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεὸς καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ²⁰ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ φυγέτωσαν οἱ μισοῦντες αὐτὸν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ· ὡς ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλιπέτωσαν, ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρός, οὕτως ἀπόλοιντο οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφρανθήτωσαν, ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, τερφθήτωσαν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ ^[p.175]

2. (It must be known first that it is the custom in Scripture often to use imperatives in place of conditional statements.²¹ And this is found often. It suffices to cite the place in the Gospels where, when our Savior is teaching us to pray, he does not teach us that we should order God around, but that we should use imperatives to express a conditional meaning. For it is said: “Our Father, who is in the heavens, let your name be hallowed, let your kingdom come, let your will take place,”²² instead of, “may your name be hallowed, may your kingdom come, may your will take place.”

     2. Πρῶτον εἰδέναι χρὴ ὅτι ἔθος ἐστὶ τῇ γραφῇa πολλαχοῦ τοῖς προστακτικοῖς ἀντὶ εὐκτικῶν χρῆσθαι. Καὶ εὑρήσεται μὲν τοῦτο πολλαχοῦ, ἀρκεῖ δὲ νῦν παραθέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ὅτι διδάσκων ἡμᾶς ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εὔχεσθαι, οὐ διδάσκει ἵνα προστάσσωμεν τῷ θεῷ, ἀλλ’ ἵνα προστακτικαῖς φωναῖς εἴπωμεν τὰ εὐκτικά· λέγεται ⁵ γάρ, φησί, πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σουb, ἀντὶ τοῦ “ἁγιασθείη τὸ ὄνομά σου, ἔλθοι ἡ βασιλεία σου, γένοιτο τὸ θέλημά σου”c.

Thus if these things are said as imperatives, we hear conditional statements instead. For no one gives orders to God; no one says in his case, “Let God rise up,” but prays and says, “lay God rise up, and may his enemies be scattered, and may those who hate him flee before his face; as smoke vanishes, as waxmelts before the face of fire, so may they be destroyed.” But now it actually made a conditional statement openly and clearly: “so may sinners be destroyed before God’s face, and let the just rejoice”—instead of “may they rejoice”—”let them be glad”—instead of “may they be glad”—”before God, let them take”—instead of “may they take”— “their fill of joy.”

     Ἐὰν οὖν λέγηται καὶ ταῦτα προστακτικαῖς φωναῖς, ἀκούωμεν ἀντὶ ¹⁰ εὐκτικῶν. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ προστάσσει τῷ θεῷ, οὐδὲ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεός , ἀλλ’ εὔχεται καί φησιν· “ἀνασταίη ὁ θεὸς καὶ διασκορπισθεῖεν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ φύγοιεν οἱ μισοῦντες αὐτὸν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλείποιεν, ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς οὕτως ἀπόλοιντο”. Ἐχρήσατο δὲ νῦν τῷ εὐκτικῷ ἤδη γυμνῶς καὶ σαφῶς· οὕτως ¹⁵ γοῦν ἀπόλοιντο, φησίν, οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφρανθήτωσαν ἀντὶ τοῦ “εὐφρανθείησαν”, ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἀντὶ τοῦ “ἀγαλλιάσαιντο”, τερφθήτωσαν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ ἀντὶ τοῦ “τερφθείησαν”f.

Someone²⁵ bolder than I am may say that these things may even be spoken as imperatives. For if masters have received a command from Christ speaking in Paul²⁴ “to allow yourselves fairness and equality toward slaves,”²⁵ and the good master allows equality with slaves, why is it inappropriate for someone who has been ordered by God, and has received orders, to be confident about observing those orders with a certain freedom of speech, by giving an order reciprocally when praying to God? And he will encourage such behavior with other statements written about these things and will say: “I make some requests of the Lord our God, trusting the one who says, ‘Everyone who asks, receives.”²⁶ Thus, then, just as we ask from God, God himself is recorded as, of his own accord, not maintaining the dignity of God, as one might ordinarily expect, but as asking something from us, for God is, as it were, if I may use such a term, humble-minded, asking from us what it is written that he asked. But what did he ask? Hear it in, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but that you fear the Lord your God, that you walk in all his ordinances, and that you love him and worship your Lord God from your whole heart and from your whole soul?”²⁷ Thus, since he asks of us, so we also ask from him, receiving freedom of speech to command him, if we keep his commandments.

     Εἴποι δ’ ἄν τις ἐμοῦ τολμηρότερος ὅτι ταῦτα δύναται εἰρῆσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ ²⁰ τῶν προστακτικῶν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐντολὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαλοῦντος ἐν Παύλῳ Χριστοῦg εἰλήφασιν οἱ δεσπόται τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὴν ἰσότητα τοῖς δούλοις παρέχεσθαι h καὶ ὁ καλὸς δεσπότης παρέχει τὴν ἰσότητα τοῖς δούλοις, τί ἄτοπόν ἐστι τὸν ^[p.176] προστασσόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λαμβάνοντα προστάγματα, θαρροῦντα ἐπὶ τῷ τετηρηκέναι τὰ προστάγματα μετά τινος παρρησίας οἱονεὶ ἀντιπροστάξαι τῷ θεῷ εὐχόμενονi; Καὶ παραμυθήσεται τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ ῥητῶν ἑτέρωνj περὶ τούτων γεγραμμένων καὶ ἐρεῖ· “αἰτοῦμαί τινα κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν πειθόμενος τῷ εἰπόντι· πᾶς ὁ αἰ⁵ τῶν λαμβάνει” . Οὕτως οὖν, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς αἰτοῦμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἀναγέγραπται ὡς καὶ αὐτόθεν καὶ κοινότερον ἐμφαινόμενον οὐ τηρῶν τὸ ἀξίωμα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ αἰτῶν τινα ἀφ’ ἡμῶν· οἱονεὶ γάρ, ἵν’ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ταπεινοφρονεῖ ὁ θεὸς ἀφ’ ἡμῶν αἰτῶν ἃ γέγραπται αὐτὸν αἰτεῖν. Τί δὲ αἰτεῖ; Ἄκουε ἐκ τοῦ· καὶ νῦν, Ἰσραήλ, τί κύριος ὁ θεός σου ¹⁰ αἰτεῖ παρὰ σοῦ ἀλλ’ ἢ φοβεῖσθαι κύριον τὸν θεόν σου, πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐντολαῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀγαπᾶν αὐτὸν καὶ λατρεύειν κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου l; Ὡς οὖν αἰτεῖ ἀφ’ ἡμῶν, οὕτως ^[p.177] καὶ ἡμεῖς αἰτοῦμεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ λαμβάνοντες παρρησίαν τοῦ προστάσσειν αὐτῷ, ἐὰν τηρῶμεν αὐτοῦ τὰ προστάγματα.

For commanding God is not a greater thing than becoming his heir. Commanding God is not a greater thing than becoming a joint heir with Christ himself.²⁸ Commanding God is not a greater thing than the eminence of the Son of God, assumed when he came to be in the midst of human beings, not as a diner, but as a waiter,²⁹ one who serves.⁵⁰ Commanding God is not a greater thing than the Son of God’s stripping himself and laying aside his garments and taking a towel and girding himself with it and putting water into a basin and washing the feet of his disci-ples.⁵¹ But it is possible with reference to the one who is washed and who understands that he is cleansed by being washed, and even hopes to receive a portion of him by being cleansed, and speaks in the imperative to him,³² not because we are worthy to give orders, but because God’s charity³³ and the indulgence toward us are great. For let us hear: “Beloved, if the heart does not condemn, we have freedom of speech with God; and whatever we ask, we receive from him,”¹ as John says in the Epistle; only then let our heart not condemn, but let consciousness have freedom of speech towards God.

     Οὐ γάρ ἐστι μεῖζον τὸ προστάξαι τῷ θεῷ τοῦ κληρονόμον αὐτοῦ γενέσθαιm· οὐκ ἔστι μεῖζον τὸ προστάξαι τῷ θεῷ τοῦ συγκληρονόμον αὐτῷ γενέσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦn· ⁵ οὐκ ἔστιν μεῖζον τὸ προστάξαι τῷ θεῷ τοῦ τὸν τηλικοῦτον υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονέναι ἐν μέσῳ  ἀνθρώπων, οὐχ ὡς τὸν ἀνακείμενον ἀλλ’ ὡς τὸν διακείμενον, τὸν διακονοῦνταo· οὐκ ἔστι μεῖζον τὸ προστάξαι τῷ θεῷ τοῦ ἐκδύσασθαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεῖναι τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ λαβεῖν λέντιον καὶ ζώσασθαι καὶ βαλεῖν ‹εἰς› νιπτῆρα [καὶ] ὕδωρ καὶ νίψαι τοὺς ¹⁰ πόδας τῶν μαθητῶνp. Ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν νιπτόμενόν ἐστι καὶ νοήσαντα ὅτι καθαρίζεται ἐκ τοῦ νίπτεσθαι· καὶ προσδοκῶν ὅτι λαμβάνει μερίδα παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ νίπτεσθαι καὶ προστακτικῶς λέγει αὐτῷq, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἄξιοι τοῦ προστάσσειν ἐσμέν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι πολλή ἐστιν ἡ φιλανθρωπία καὶ ἡ χρηστότης τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Ἀκούωμεν γὰρ καὶ τοῦ· ἀγαπητοί, ἐὰν ἡ καρδία μὴ ¹⁵ καταγινώσκῃ, παρρησίαν ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃ ‹ἐὰν› αἰτῶμεν λαμβάνομεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ r, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἰωάννης ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ· μόνον οὖν ἡ καρδία μὴ καταγινωσκέτω, ἀλλ’ ἐχέτω παρρησίαν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸ συνειδόςs. ^[p.178]

And so that we might be still more persuaded about freedom of speech, which God wishes the human being to have toward him, I shall put in evidence the very thing that is, perhaps, a greater thing than giving orders to God, which is that the judge is going to be judged in the same way as I am. Therefore, a human being says: “So that you may be justified in your logoi and you may prevail when you are judged,” ⁵⁵ which those who have not understood have turned into “when I am judged.” What do such persons do to other passages where it is written: “The Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with his rulers”?ss But if this does not yet provide clear evidence that the judge is judged as if with you, hear “Come and let us be rebuked, says the Lord.” ³⁷ The Lord has permitted you to speak with freedom of speech to him, if you imagine that you can rebuke him for being slow about his provision and say such things with freedom of speech. This is clear from “Come and let us be rebuked, says the Lord.” And it is in accord with “the spirit of adoption,” ³⁸ and, “you are no longer a slave, but a son,” s⁹ and your father is God and your brother is the Lord, who said, “I shall pass your name to your brothers,” or rather, “ly brothers, in the midst of the Church I shall hymn yου.”⁴⁰ Is it astounding for a son to have freedom of speech towards his father, not being ashamed of the spirit of adoption, when he is commanded by the father, to command the father in return, thinking that he has a right to do so about the things he wants?

     Καὶ ἵνα ἔτι μᾶλλον πεισθῶμενπερὶ τῆς παρρησίας, ἣν ἔχειν βούλεται τὸν ἄνθρωπον πρὸς αὑτὸν ὁ θεός, παραθήσομαι ὅπερ τάχα μεῖζόν ἐστι τοῦ προστάξαι τῷ θεῷ· τὸ μέλλειν μετ’ ἐμοῦ κρίνεσθαι ὁ κριτής. Διὸ λέγει ἄνθρωπος· ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε , ὅπερ οἱ μὴ νοήσαντες πεποιήκασιν ⁵ “ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί με”. Οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοι τί ποιήσουσι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ῥητῶν ἔνθα γέγραπται· αὐτὸς κύριος εἰς κρίσιν ἥξει μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ ; Ἀλλ’ εἰ τοῦτο οὐδέπω σαφῶς σοι παρίστησιν ὅτι ὁ κριτὴς οἱονεὶ μετὰ σοῦ κρίνεται, ^[p.179] ἄκουε τοῦ· δεῦτε καὶ ἐλεγχθῶμεν, λέγει ὁ κύριος w. Ἐπέτρεψέν σοι ὁ κύριος εἰπεῖν μετὰ παρρησίας πρὸς αὐτόν, καταστήσας ἑαυτόν, ὁποῖα ἔλεγχος εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἐὰν καὶ φαντάζῃ ὅτι δύνασαι αὐτὸν ἐλέγξαι ὡς ῥαθυμήσαντα ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς σὲ προνοίας καὶ εἴπῃς μετὰ παρρησίας τὰ τοιαῦτα. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῦται ἐκ τοῦ δεῦτε καὶ ἐλεγχθῶμεν, λέγει κύριος ⁵ x. Καὶ ἀκόλουθον δέ ἐστι τῷ πνεύματι τῆς υἱοθεσίας y καὶ ‹τῷ› οὐκέτι εἶ δοῦλος, ἀλλὰ υἱός z· καὶ ὁ πατήρ σού ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀδελφός σου ὁ κύριος ὁ λέγων· διηγήσομαι τὸ ὄνομά σου  τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς σου aa, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε ab. Τί παράδοξον υἱὸν παρρησίαν ἔχοντα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, οὐ καταισχύνοντα τὸ ¹⁰ πνεῦμα τῆς υἱοθεσίας, προστασσόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός, ἀντιπροστάξαι τῷ πατρί, ἀξιοῦντα περὶ ὧν βούλεταιac; ^[p.180]

This on account of “Let God rise up.”

 Ταῦτα διὰ τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεός .

3. (For it must be sought when God rises up and when he sleeps. For the divine Scriptures say such things concerning him in ordinary usage, but it must be understood how such things are recorded. Concerning his sleeping, someone says, praying, in the Psalms: “Rise up. Why are you sleeping, Lord? Why have you turned your face away? Have you forgotten our destitution and our oppression?”⁴¹ Concerning his sitting: “Show yourself, seated upon the Cherubim, opposite Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.”⁴² Concerning God’s standing, he himself says to Moses: “But you, stand together with me.”⁴³ And concerning walking, in Genesis it is recorded that, after the transgression, Adam heard “the Lord God walking in the garden in the after-noon.”⁴⁴

     3. Ζητητέον γὰρ ὁ θεὸς πότε μὲν ἀνίσταται, πότε δὲ ὑπνοῖ· τοιαῦτα γάρ τινα ἐν τῇ κοινῇ ἐκδοχῇ λέγουσι περὶ αὐτοῦ αἱ θεῖαι γραφαί, νοῆσαι δὲ δεῖ πῶς ταῦτα ἀναγέγραπται. Περὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ὑπνοῦν αὐτόν φησί τις ἐν ψαλμοῖς εὐχόμενος· ἀνάστηθι , ⁵ ἵνα τί ὑπνοῖς, κύριε; ἵνα τί τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀποστρέφεις; ἐπιλανθάνῃ τῆς πτωχείας ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν ; Περὶ δὲ τοῦ καθέζεσθαι· ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβὶμ ἐμφάνηθι, ἐναντίον Ἐφραῒμ καὶ Βενιαμὶν καὶ Μανασσῆ . Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἑστηκέναι θεόν, αὐτὸς τῷ Μωϋσῇ λέγει· σὺ δὲ αὐτοῦ στῆθι μετ’ ἐμοῦ . Καὶ περὶ τοῦ περιπατεῖν, ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ¹⁰ ἀναγέγραπται, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἤκουσεν  ὁ Ἀδὰμ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ περιπατοῦντος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τὸ δειλινόν . ^[p.181]

But in relation to these passages it must be known that, on the one hand, God, insofar as he is by himself, is inalterable and unchangeable and always the same and holding steady. Therefore, we say about created things, “the heavens will be destroyed,” but about him, “but you remain,” and again, concerning products of craftsmanship, “and all like a mantle they will be worn out, and like a wrap you will roll them up, and like a mantle they will be exchanged”;⁴⁵ but concerning God, who never wears out but always stays new, “but you are the same, and your years do not vanish.” And I trust him who said through the prophet, “I am your God, and I have not changed.”⁴⁶ Inasmuch, then, as, in himself, the God of the Universe is inalterable, unchangeable, and not to be transformed, on account of you, human being, transformations, as it were, may be spoken of regarding him, becoming for each as it is appropriate to become for each.⁴⁷

     Ἀλλὰ πρὸς ταῦτα χρή σε εἰδέναι ὅτι ὁ μὲν θεὸς τὸ ὅσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ ἄτρεπτός ἐστι καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος καὶ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχειf. Διὸ λέγομεν περὶ μὲν τῶν κτισμάτων, οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἀπολοῦνταιg· περὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ, σὺ δὲ διαμενεῖς h· καὶ πάλιν, περὶ μὲν τῶν δημιουργημάτων, καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται καὶ ⁵ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἐλίξεις i αὐτοὺς καὶ ὡς ἱμάτιον ἀλλαγήσονταιj· πρὸς δὲ τὸν θεὸν τὸν μηδέποτε παλαιούμενον ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ μένοντα καινόν, σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν k. Καὶ αὐτῷ δὲ πιστεύω λέγοντι διὰ τοῦ προφήτου· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμα l. Ὅσον οὖν ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ ἄτρεπτος καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος καὶ ἀμετάβλητός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς τῶν ὅλων, ¹⁰ διὰ δὲ σὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἱονεὶ μεταβολὰς λέγεται ἔχειν, γινόμενος ἑκάστῳ ὡς ἄξιον αὐτὸν ἑκάστῳ γενέσθαιm.

Paul, on the one hand, then, as a human being who had become, through love and charity, what the person being benefited needs, says: “I have become a Jew for the Jews, that I might gain the Jews; to those under the law as one under the law, in order to gain those under the law; to those without law like one without law (being not without God’s law, but subject to Christ’s law), that I might gain those without the law; to the weak I have become weak, that I might gain the weak; to all I have become all things, so that by all means I may save some.”⁴⁸ On the other hand, as whose imitator does Paul do this? I am bold and say “of Christ,”⁴⁹ who became weak for the weak, so that he might gain the weak. And “the weakness of God is stronger than human beings”; not only is the weakness of Christ, who was crucified out of weakness, stronger than that of human beings, but the Apostle dared to speak in an entirely extraordinary and risky way; when speaking to hearers who do not know what they are hearing, he says: “The foolish thing of God is wiser than human beings.”⁵⁰

     Παῦλος μὲν οὖν ὡς ἄνθρωπος δι’ ἀγάπην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ἑκάστῳ γενόμενος, οὗ χρῄζει ὁ εὐεργετούμενος, λέγεται · ἐγενόμην τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ^[p.182] ὡς Ἰουδαῖος, ἵνα Ἰουδαίους κερδήσω· τοῖς ὑπὸ νόμον ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον n, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον κερδήσω· τοῖς ἀνόμοις ὡς ἄνομος, μὴ ὢν ἄνομος θεοῦ ἀλλ’ ἔννομος Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κερδήσω τοὺς ἀνόμους· τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν ὡς ἀσθενής, ἵνα τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς κερδήσω· τοῖς πᾶσι γέγονα πάντα, ἵνα πάντως τινὰς σώσω o. Ἀλλὰ τίνος ὢν μιμητὴς ⁵ Παῦλος ταῦτα ποιεῖ; Τολμῶ καὶ λέγω· Χριστοῦ, ὃς ἐγένετο ἀσθενέσιν ἀσθενής, ἵνα τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς κερδήσῃp. Καὶ ἔστι τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων q· οὐ μόνον γὰρ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἰσχυρότερόν ἐστιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ’ ἐτόλμησεν ὁ ἀπόστολος εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων λέγειν τὰ ἀληθῆ καὶ εἰπὼν ὅτι τὸ ἀσθενὲς ¹⁰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων r, παραβόλως πάνυ καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένωςs ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ἀκροατὰς μὴ εἰδότας ἀκούειν· φησὶ γάρ· τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν t.

God’s weakness certainly does not exist in truth, but, because of our weakness, the so-called “weakness of God” releases us from all our weakness. But just as there is not, when it comes to the truth, a foolish thing of God, on account of “the foolish things of the world, which God has chosen,”⁵¹ he says that the foolish thing of God is wiser than human beings. Thus then, as God is in truth inalterable and unchangeable, but on account of us, when he is said to be sitting, he is, as it were, sitting in judgment on someone. For he himself would not be standing before the one being judged!⁵² “Books were opened, and a tribunal sat,” and it sits because it is judging. But for the holy and blessed person, to whom the words “the one believing in me is not judged”⁵³ are fitting, he does not sit, but he has stood up. Therefore, the one who is standing says to the one who is now worthy to stand with God, ‘Vou stand here with me.”⁵⁴ But because for the overseer⁵⁵ unworthy of the providence and love of God, “the one who neither slumbers nor sleeps when he guards Israel”⁵⁶ sleeps, and if that one should have a change of heart, for whom God sleeps, it says, “and the Lord awoke like one who sleeps, like a powerful man and befuddled with wine”;⁵⁷ so he also “rises up.”⁵⁸

     Οὐκοῦν οὐχ ὑπάρχει ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς ἀσθενὲς τοῦ θεοῦ , διὰ δὲ  τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἡμῶν τὸ λεγόμενον ἀσθενὲς θεοῦ v ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάττει πάσης ^[p.183] ἀσθενείας ἀνθρωπίνηςw. Οὕτω δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ x· διὰ δὲ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου, ἃ ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεός y, λέγεται τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων z. Οὕτως οὖν ὡς πρὸς μὲν τὸ ἀληθὲς ἄτρεπτος καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος ὁ θεός· δι’ ἡμᾶς δέ, ὅτε μὲν καθέζεσθαι λέγεται, τῷ δέ τινι καθεζόμενος οἷον τῷ ⁵ κρινομένῳ. Μὴ γὰρ εἴη αὐτὸν ἑστηκέναι τῷ κρινομένῳ!· βίβλοι γὰρ ἠνεῴχθησαν καὶ κριτήριον ἐκάθισεν aa, καὶ καθέζεται ὅτε κρίνει. Τῷ δὲ ἁγίῳ καὶ μακαρίῳ, ᾧ ἁρμόζει τὸ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ κρίνεται ab, οὐ καθέζεται ἀλλὰ ἕστηκεν. Διὸ λέγει ὁ ἑστηκὼς τῷ ἤδη ἀξίῳ ἑστηκέναι μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· σὺ δὲ αὐτοῦ στῆθι μετ’ ἐμοῦ ac. Ὁτὲ δὲ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῷ ἀναξίῳ ¹⁰ προνοίας καὶ χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ “ὁ μὴ νυστάζων, ὁ μὴ ὑπνώττων ὅταν φυλάττῃ τὸν Ἰσραήλ”ad, ὑπνοῖ· κἂν μετανοήσῃ ἐκεῖνος, ᾧ ὑπνοῖ ὁ θεός, ^[p.184] λέγεται· ἐξηγέρθη ὡς ὁ ὑπνῶν κύριος, ὡς δυνατὸς καὶ κεκραιπαληκὼς  ἐξ οἴνουae· οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀνίσταται.

This on account of “Let God rise up.”

 Ταῦτα μὲν διὰ τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεός af.

4. (We also see “Let his enemies be scattered.”⁵⁹ There are two principal gatherings, that of the devil on the one hand and that of God on the other, and it is impossible for both of these gatherings to be gathered together. When the gathering of the devil is gathered, understand the gathering either of the hostile pow-ersó⁰ or of the heterodox, concerning whom it is said, “I have hated the gathering of evildoers.”⁶¹

     4. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὸ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ a. Δύο δὴ συναγωγαί εἰσι γενικαί, καὶ ἡ μέν τις ⁵ τοῦ διαβόλου ἡ δέ τις τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἀμήχανον ταῦτας τὰς συναγωγὰς ἀμφοτέρας ἅμα συνῆχθαι. Συναγομένης μὲν γὰρ τῆς συναγωγῆς τοῦ διαβόλου, εἴτε τῶν δυνάμεων τῶν ἀντικειμένων νόει συναγωγὴν εἴτε τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, περὶ ὧν λέγεται· ἐμίσησα ἐκκλησίαν πονηρευομένων

Whence a logos necessarily emerges about gathering: that those who neglect gathering,⁶² those who do not hear the one who says, “He who does not gather with me, scatters me,”⁶³ those who do not hear, “Do not neglect gathering, as is the custom of some,”⁶⁴ do not commit just one sin, because they scatter when they are not gathered and welded together in common prayers, but they sin a greater sin. For each of those who are not gathered, by so choosing, gathers himself with the gathering of evildoers, as, again, each of those gathered, by his own choice,ó⁵ but gathering as Christ teaches, saying, “He who does not gather with me”—for we should gather with him—each, then, of those so gathered, scatters the gathering of the evil one, and for those so gathered God does not lie down, but rises up. Therefore, it says, “Let God rise up and let his enemies be scattered.”⁶⁶

b.     ¹⁰ Ἐνθάδε δὴ λόγος ἀνακύπτει ἀναγκαίως περὶ συναγωγῆς, ὅτι οἱ ἀμελοῦντες τῆς συναγωγῆς, οἱ μὴ ἀκούοντες τοῦ λέγοντος· ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ’ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει με c, οἱ μὴ ἀκούοντες τοῦ μὴ καταλείποντες τὴν συναγωγὴν καθὼς ἔθος τισίν d, οὐ μόνον ἓν ἁμάρτημα ποιοῦσιν, ὅτι σκορπίζουσι μὴ συναγόμενοι μηδὲ συγκροτούμενοι ἐπὶ τὰς κοινὰς εὐχάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλο ¹⁵ μεῖζον ἁμάρτημα ἁμαρτάνουσιν. Ἕκαστος γὰρ τῶν μὴ συναγομένων τὸ ὅσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ συνάγει τὴν συναγωγὴν τῶν πονηρευομένων, ὡς  πάλιν ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ ἕκαστος τῶν συναγομένων, συναγομένων δὲ ὡς διδάσκει Χριστὸς λέγων· ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ’ ἐμοῦ f – δεῖ γὰρ συνάγεσθαι μετ’ αὐτοῦ –, ἕκαστος οὖν τῶν οὕτω συναγομένων, σκορπίζει τὴν συναγωγὴν τοῦ πονηροῦ· καὶ ἐπὶ ^[p.185] τοὺς οὕτως συναγομένους οὐ κοιμᾶται ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ ἀνίσταται. Διὸ λέγει· ἀναστήτω ὁ θεὸς καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ g.

Someone⁶⁷ hearing will say, ‘You have spoken about two gatherings, but what has been written is not about gatherings, but about God.” Yes, the introduction begins well with God, because, in fact, for a holy gathering to occur, God must rise up, because the gathering of sinners is actually dissolved when God arises, but the gathering of the just is gathered. See, as things have been said concerning sinners, in the same manner it is said also concerning the just, after needing to descend to sinners, when God stands up, the just have the appropriate feelings. For it is written, “and let the just be glad, and let them rejoice before God, let them be delighted for joy.” Each of them is not glad by himself, but gladness is common to all those who are holy, “for the heart and soul of all the believers were one.”⁶⁰

     Ἐρεῖ δέ τις τῶν ἀκουόντων· δύο συναγωγὰς εἴρηκας, τὸ δὲ γεγραμμένον οὐ περὶ συναγωγῶν ἀλλὰ περὶ θεοῦ ἐστιν. Ναί, καλῶς τὸ προοίμιον ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἄρχεται· ἵνα γὰρ γένηται συναγωγὴ ⁵ ἁγία, ἀναστῆναι δεῖ τὸν θεόν, ὅτι δὴ διαλύεται μὲν ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀναστάντος τοῦ θεοῦ, συνάγεται δὲ ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν δικαίων. Ὅρα ὡς εἴρηται τὰ περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, τίνα τρόπον λέγεται καὶ περὶ τῶν δικαίων, μετὰ τὸ δεῖν συμβῆναι τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἀναστάντος τοῦ θεοῦ ἃ δεῖ παθεῖν αὐτούςh. Γέγραπται γάρ· καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι ¹⁰ εὐφρανθήτωσαν, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, τερφθήτωσαν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ . Οὐ  γὰρ ἕκαστος κατ’ ἰδίαν εὐφραίνεται, ἀλλὰ κοινὴ πάντων ἁγίων ἐστὶν ἡ εὐφροσύνη· ἦν γὰρ πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων ἡ καρδία καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ μία j.

Allow this passage, in ordinary usage, to refer to the God of the Universe and, in accord with the leading explanation, let “Let God rise up, and let his enemies be scattered” be restored to him.⁷⁰

     Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν κοινότερονk ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν τῶν ὅλων ἀναφερέσθω καὶ περὶ ¹⁵ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν προτέραν διήγησιν ἀποδεδόσθω τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεὸς καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ l.

5. (Since I know the Savior and my Lord is a god—”In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was near God, and the logos was a god”⁷¹—I say, especially because in Hebrew the first article is not employed,⁷² that it could be read as “Let a god rise up, and let his enemies be scattered.” For before the Savior suffered, “the kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.”⁷⁵ After his rising up, those gathered together were scattered and fled before his face, and they vanished “as smoke vanishes and wax melts before the face of a fire.”⁷⁴ So they were destroyed, defeated first by Christ’s death, second by his rising up⁷⁵ and life.

     5. Ἐπειδὴ οἶδα τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριόν μου ὄντα θεόν – ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγοςa –, φημὶ ὅτι μάλιστα, ἐπεὶ ἐν τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ τὸ πρῶτον [αʹ] ἄρθρον οὐ κεῖταιb, ἀναγνωσθείη ἂν τὸ ²⁰ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεὸς καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ c. Πρὶν μὲν γὰρ τὸ παθεῖν τὸν σωτῆρα, παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ^[p.186] αὐτοῦ · μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ, διεσκορπίσθησαν ἐκεῖνοι οἱ συναχθέντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἔφυγον ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ , καὶ ὡς ἐκλείπει δὲ καπνὸς ἐκλείπουσι καὶ ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρός , οὕτως ἀπολοῦνται οὗτοι, οἱ δὴ νικώμενοι πρότερον μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δεύτερον δὲ καὶ ⁵ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ. ^[p.187]

But someone⁷⁶ hearing, especially someone who is sharp and can search all things, even the deep things of God,⁷⁷ will say, “Did not our Savior, being a god, rise up from the dead especially because he was a god? Very well then, a god died and death could not contain a god.” On the contrary, did he not himself teach that what dies is a human being? For he said to those scheming against him: “Now you seek to kill me, a human being who has spoken the truth to you, which I heard from the Father.”⁷⁸ For he even had known that there was something human present because what they sought to destroy was not the truth, not the life, and not the rising up,⁷⁹ for the rising up will not allow death, but the rising up is the only begotten of God. To say that life died involves a contradiction automatically, for the Lord said, “I am the life.” How, therefore, do you say that “let God rise up” fits the Savior? For if God rises up, see how the logos implies the opposite; it would be a necessity to speak in contradiction to Scripture and say, “If God rises up, God has died.”

     Ἀλλ’ ἐρεῖ τις τῶν ἀκουόντων, καὶ μάλιστα ἐὰν ὀξὺς ᾖ καὶ δύνηται πάντα ἐρευνᾶν, καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦg· ἆρα ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν, θεὸς ὤν, ἀνίσταται ἐκ νεκρῶν; Οὐκοῦν καὶ θεὸς ἀπέθανεν καὶ δύναται χωρῆσαι θεὸν θάνατος. Οὐκ ἄντικρυς αὐτὸς διδάσκει ὅτι τὸ ἀποθνῇσκον ἄνθρωπος ἦν; Φησὶν γοῦν πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτῷ· νῦν δὲ ζητεῖτέ ⁵ με ἀποκτεῖναι ἄνθρωπον, ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα, ἣν ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός h. Καὶ γὰρ ᾔδει ἀνθρώπινόν ^[p.188] τι παρὼν καὶ ὅτι τὸ ζητούμενον ἀναιρεθῆναι οὐχ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἦν οὐδὲ ἡ ζωὴ οὐδὲ ἡ ἀνάστασις· οὐ χωρεῖ γὰρ ἡ ἀνάστασις θάνατον, ἔστιν δὲ ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνάστασις, ἀθάνατός ἐστιν ἡ ἀνάστασις. Τὸ δὲ καὶ λέγειν ζωὴν ἀποθνῄσκειν, αὐτόθεν ἔχει μάχην. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ κύριος· ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή. Πῶς οὖν λέγεις τὸ ἀναστήτω ὁ θεὸς ἁρμόζειν ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα; Εἰ ⁵ γὰρ ἀνίσταται  ὁ θεός, ὅρα τοῦναντίον οἷς βούλεται ὁ λόγος, ἀνάγκη λέγειν καὶ ἐναντιοῦσθαι τῇ γραφῇ καὶ λέγειν· εἰ ἀνίσταται ὁ θεός, τέθνηκεν ὁ θεός. Ἆρα οὖν δυνάμεθα, λαβόντες ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ λόγου, λῦσαι τὸ ἀπορηθὲν καὶ ζητούμενον;

In fact, then, we can, receiving from the Father himself the presence of the logos, solve the puzzle we are seeking to solve. Let us pay careful attention to the things said by the blessed Paul about rising up: “What is sown in corruption does not awaken in corruption, but in incorruptíon; what is sown in dishonor does not awaken in dishonor but in power,” and why is it that “what is sown soulishSO does not awaken soulish, but spiritu-al”?S¹ Why is it marvelous that what died, since a human being is subject to death, was a human being, but what rose up, on the analogy of the soulish rising up as spiritual, was no longer a human being but a god? The one who rises up was a human being, since a human being dies, for he is a mortal animal. Having died, he will be mortal again. But if he is not mortal, but stays deathless—”death no longer lords it over him”ß²—evidently being deathless, he is no longer a human being, but the one who has arisen is a god.

     ¹⁰ Προσέχωμεν γὰρ ἐπιμελῶς τοῖς περὶ ἀναστάσεως ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου λεγομένοις, ὅτι “τὸ σπειρόμενον ἐν φθορᾷ οὐκ ἐγείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ ἀλλ’ ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ, τὸ σπειρόμενον ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ οὐκ ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν δόξῃ”, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις “τὸ σπειρόμενον ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, οὐκ ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἀλλὰ ἐν δυνάμει”· καὶ τί γὰρ ἀλλ’ ἢ “τὸ σπειρόμενον ψυχικὸν οὐκ ¹⁵ ἐγείρεται ψυχικὸν ἀλλὰ πνευματικόν”; Τί θαυμαστόν, εἰ τὸ μὲν ἀποθνῇσκον, ἐπεὶ ἄνθρωπος θανάτου ἐπιδεκτικός, ἄνθρωπος ἦν, τὸ δὲ ἀνιστάμενον ἀνάλογον τῷ μὲν ψυχικῷ ἀνισταμένῳ δὲ πνευματικῷ οὐκέτι ἄνθρωπος ἀλλὰ θεὸς ἦν; Ἐπειδὴ ἀνιστάμενος πάλιν ἄνθρωπος ἦν, ἐπεὶ ἄνθρωπος ἀποθνῄσκει· θνητὸν γάρ ἐστι ζῷον. Ἀποθανών, πάλιν ἔσται θνητός. Εἰ δ’ οὐκ ἔσται θνητός, ²⁰ ἀθάνατος δὲ μένει – θάνατος γὰρ αὐτοῦ οὐκέτι κυριεύει –, δῆλον ὅτι ἀθάνατος ὢν οὐκέτι ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ θεός ἐστιν ἀνιστάμενος.

And why should I say this about the Savior? For these things, indeed, await you, the one believing in God, the one accepting Christ Jesus. You die a human being, but you awake a god. If you no longer die after you have been awakened, you no longer fall; you are no longer tested as you are now tested. If you were a sinner, now it is said to you: “I have said, you are gods and all sons of the Most High, but you die as human beings, and as one of the rulers you fall.”S⁸ Then you will no longer be rebuked with “you die as human beings.” For you remain a god, and it is said to you: “I have said, you are gods and all sons of the Most High.” And the rest will still fit you: you do not die, nor do you fall, but you have stood with him, a god who always stands, when therefore our Savior rises up; when he dies he is a human being, but when he awakes, a god.

     Καὶ τί λέγω ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος; Καὶ γὰρ σέ, τὸν πιστεύοντα εἰς τὸν θεόν, τὸν ἀποδεξάμενον Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ταῦτα περιμένει· ἄνθρωπος μὲν ἀποθνῄσκεις, ἐγείρῃ δὲ θεός. Εἰ δὲ οὐκέτι ἀποθνῄσκεις μετὰ τὸ ἐγερθῆναι, οὐδὲ ²⁵ ἔτι πίπτεις, οὐδὲ ἐλέγχῃ καὶ τότε ὡς νῦν ἐλέγχῃ. Ἐὰν ἁμαρτωλὸς ᾖς, νῦν μὲν γὰρ λέγεταί σοι· ἐγὼ εἶπα, θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες, ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ^[p.189] ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνῄσκετε καὶ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτετε . Τότε δὲ οὐκέτι ἐλεγχθήσεταί σοι· ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνῄσκετε . Μένεις γὰρ θεὸς καὶ λέξεται μέν σοι· ἐγὼ εἶπα· θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες . Καὶ ἔτι δέ σοι ἐφαρμόσει τὰ ἑξῆς· οὐ γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκεις, οὐδὲ πίπτεις, ἀλλ’ ἕστηκας μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἀεὶ ἑστῶτος θεοῦ, ἀνισταμένου ⁵ οὖν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἀποθανόντος μὲν ἀνθρώπου, ἐγειρομένου δὲ θεοῦ.

6. (“His enemies are scattered”:⁸⁴ first, those gathered together against the Lord and against his ChristS⁵ until, second (and now), Christ rises also with each of those rising up, “for we have been buried with Christ through baptism,” ⁸⁶ and we rose up together with him. And when one rises together with the one who died to sin, when one rises together, I say, with Christ, his enemies are scattered, ⁸⁷ those who first were gathered together for their own part no longer are together, for they are scattered.⁸⁸

     6. Διασκορπίζονται οἱ ἐχθροὶ  αὐτοῦ , οἱ πρότερον συναχθέντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ , καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δευτέρου καὶ τοῦ δεῦρο καθ’ ἕνα ἕκαστον τῶν ἀνισταμένων Χριστὸς αὐτῷ συνίσταται· ¹⁰ συνετάφημεν τῷ Χριστῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος καὶ συνανέστημεν αὐτῷ. Καὶ συνανισταμένου τῷ ἀποθανόντι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, συνανισταμένου λέγω τοῦ Χριστοῦ, διασκορπίζονται οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, οἱ πρότερον καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς συνηγμένοι, καὶ οὐκέτι γίνονται ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, διασκορπίζονται γάρ.

And he who once said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their tongue there,” ⁸⁹ and is coming down toward you if you rise up from the dead, now says, “Let us confuse, let us scatter the enemies of the one who accepts death to the cosmos, the one who receives the ability to rise up for God.”

Καὶ ὁ τότε εἰπών· δεῦτε, καταβάντες συγχέωμεν αὐτῶν ἐκεῖ τὴν γλῶσσαν , καὶ νῦν ¹⁵ καταβαίνων, πρὸς σὲ ἐρχόμενος ἐὰν ἀναστῇς ἐκ νεκρῶν, ‹ἐρεῖ·› “συγχέωμεν, διασκορπίσωμεν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ παραδεξαμένου τὸ ἀποθανεῖν τῷ κόσμῳ, τοῦ λαβόντος τὸ ἀναστῆναι σὺν τῷ θεῷ”.

The enemies of God have been scattered twice already, in the first complete⁹⁰ rising up of Christ and in the Savior’s rising up in each, when “we walk in newness of life.”⁹¹ And [I am] saying a third interpretation, for the logos has urged us to give a third interpretation as well, commanding through Solomon to write down God’s letters three times, for he says: “And you shall write them down three times, in counsel and knowledge in order to answer true logoi to those who question you.”⁹² I know another rising up of Christ’s body. ‘Vou are Christ’s body and members partially”⁹⁵ and the head, some of the blessed, cannot say to the feet, other human beings, I do not need you.⁹⁴ But look at, as it was said, the many members of Christ.⁹⁵ I see this body, all those who have fallen asleep, “in the voice of an archangel and in God’s trumpet”⁹⁶ rising up at one turn of the scale so as then to say that the Church rises up, Christ’s mouth and body, and Christ rises up to be in the whole body as at that time he was in that body, so that he will no longer only be the rising up⁹⁷ according to our Father’s earnest,⁹⁸ but a rising up of the dead according to the completion of the gift, when the perfect has come, ⁹⁹ the rising up together of Christ’s whole body. And then Christ comes in the rising up and will be in his own body, not partíally,¹⁰⁰ when Christ thus rises up god in the whole body when it has risen up,¹⁰¹ and then his enemies will be completely scattered, then those who have become enemies will vanish like smoke in chastisement; as smoke vanishes, they will vanish.¹⁰²

     Δὶς δὲ ἤδη διεσκορπίσθησαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ τοῦ θεοῦ· κατὰ τὴν καθολικὴν πρώτην ἀνάστασιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὴν ἐν ἑκάστῳ τοῦ ²⁰ σωτῆρος, ὅταν ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατῶμεν . Καὶ τρίτην εἰπὼν ἑρμηνείαν – ἐπέτρεψε γὰρ ἡμῖν  ὁ λόγος καὶ τρίτην διδόναι ἑρμηνείαν, κελεύσας διὰ Σαλομῶντος ἀπογράψασθαι τὰ γράμματα τοῦ θεοῦ τρισσῶς· φησὶ γάρ· καὶ σὺ ἀπόγραψαι αὐτὰ τρισσῶς ἐν βουλῇ καὶ γνώσει τοῦ ἀποκρίνεσθαι λόγους ^[p.190] ἀληθείας τοῖς προβαλλομένοις σοι –, οἶδα νῦν ἄλλην ἀνάστασιν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους καὶ οὐ δύναται ἡ κεφαλή, τινὲς τῶν μακαρίων, εἰπεῖν τοῖς ποσίν, ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις· χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω. Ἀλλ’ ὅρα τά, ὡς λέγεται, πολλὰ μέλη Χριστοῦ. Τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα βλέπω, πάντας τοὺς ⁵ κεκοιμημένους, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ , ἐν μιᾷ ῥοπῇ ἀνιστάμενον ὡς τότε εἰπεῖν ἂν ὅτι ἀνέστη ἐκκλησία, τὸ στόμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ σῶμα, καὶ ἀνέστη ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν παντὶ σώματι εἶναι μέλλων ὡς τότε ἦν ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ σώματι· οὕτω γὰρ ἔσται οὐκέτι κατὰ τὸν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν μόνος ἀνάστασιςἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τελειότητα τῆς ¹⁰ δωρεᾶς, ὅταν ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, ἐκ νεκρῶν, ὅλου τοῦ Χριστοῦ σώματος ἀθρόα ἀνάστασις. Καὶ τότε ἔρχεται ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει καὶ ἔσται ἐν ὅλῳ  τῷ ἑαυτοῦ σώματι ὁ Χριστός, οὐκ ἐκ μέρους· ὅταν δὲ οὕτως ἀναστῇ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ σώματι ^[p.191] ἀνισταμένῳ θεὸς ὁ Χριστός, τότε τελείως διασκορπίζονται οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, τότε ἐν τῇ κολάσει γενόμενοι ἐχθροὶ ὡς καπνὸς ἐκλείψουσιν, ὡς ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλείψουσιν.

7. (And “as wax melts before the face of fire, so sinners will be destroyed before God’s face, and let the just rejoice”¹⁰³ is made complete in one explanation concerning the smoke and the wax; I do not suppose three interpretations are bestowed; the logos makes an orphan.¹⁰⁴ For sinners are spoken of as smoke, because when there is fire and when there is light, there is smoke, being a byproduct of fire and a byproduct of light; I find the fire in “who makes his angels spirits and his ministers flames of fire,”¹⁰⁵ and the angel appeared to Moses in the fire of a flame.¹⁰⁶ I seek also the light. I trust in the Lord, who says to me: “You are the light of the cosmos.^”107

     7. Πληροῦται δὲ καὶ τὸ ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρός, οὕτως ἀπολοῦνται ⁵ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφρανθήτωσαν · μιᾷ διηγήσει τῇ περὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ κηροῦ τρεῖς ἀποδιδομένας ἑρμηνείας οὐκ οἶμαι, ἀπορφάνιζει ὁ λόγος. Οἱ γὰρ ἁμαρτωλοὶ καπνὸς εἴρηνται. Ἐπεὶ [καπνὸς] πυρὸς ὄντος καὶ φωτὸς ὄντος καπνός ἐστιν, παρακολούθημα ὢν πυρὸς καὶ παρακολούθημα φωτός, εὑρίσκω τὸ πῦρ ἐν τῷ ὁ ¹⁰ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα · καὶ γὰρ ὤφθη ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς ἄγγελος τῷ Μωϋσῇ. Ζητῶ καὶ τὸ φῶς, πιστεύω τῷ κυρίῳ μου λέγοντι· ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου .

Perhaps also the angels themselves, when they chastise, are fire, but when they minister matters of blessedness and salvation, they are, instead, the light of those who hear, “You are the light of the cosmos.^”108 And do not be amazed if the angels are both of these things, when the God of the Universe himself is said to be both light and fire. To sinners our God is fire, devouring all wickedness.¹⁰⁹ But to the just God is no longer fire, but light, “for God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him.”¹¹⁰

Τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι, ὅταν μὲν κολάζωσι, πῦρ εἰσι· ὅταν δὲ διακονῶσι τὰ τῆς μακαριότητος καὶ σωτηρίας φῶς μᾶλλον τῶν ἀκουόντων· ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ ¹⁵ κόσμουεἰσίν. Καὶ μὴ θαύμαζε, εἰ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀμφότερά εἰσιν, ὅπου καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς καὶ φῶς εἶναι καὶ πῦρ λέγεται· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτωλοῖς πῦρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, ἔστι δὲ καταναλίσκον τὴν κακίαν πᾶσαν, τοῖς δὲ δικαίοις ὁ θεὸς οὐκέτι πῦρ ἀλλὰ φῶς. Ὁ θεὸς γὰρ φῶς ἐστι καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ^[p.192] οὐδεμία .

Accordingly God is light and fire; but the angels, it is bestowed that they are fire and light. And how are the just light and fire? It is said in the Gospel that Christ is the genuine light.”“‘ I shall propose that he is also fire. The Savior himself said, “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and I wish that it were already kindled.”¹¹² The just are imitators of Christ. Christ has need of the fire also, so that earthly things may vanish. Accordingly he¹¹⁸ prays, as one who is good, that he should kindle this fire: would that the fire would come concerning which the Savior prayed, saying, “Would that it were already kindled in me,” so that, going forth, this fire might burn all the thorn and burn it entirely, for it knows not to set fire to threshing floors or ears of grain or a plain.¹¹⁴

     Οὐκοῦν ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι καὶ πῦρ, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι δὲ ἀποδέδοται ὅτι εἰσὶ πῦρ καὶ φῶς. Καὶ πῶς οἱ δίκαιοι φῶς εἰσι καὶ πῦρ; Εἴρηται ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ φῶς ὁ Χριστὸς εἶναι ἀληθινόν· παραστήσω ὅτι καὶ πῦρ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ σωτὴρ πῦρ ἦλθον, φησί, βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ⁵ τί θέλω εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη · μιμηταὶ δὲ Χριστοῦ οἱ δίκαιοι. Χρείαν ἔχει Χριστὸς καὶ τοῦ πυρός, ἵνα γήϊνα ἀφανίσῃ. Διὰ τοῦτο εὔχεται ὡς ἀγαθὸς ἀνάψαι τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ, εἴθε ἔλθοι τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ περὶ οὗ εὔξατο ὁ σωτὴρ λέγων· “εἴθε ἤδη ἀνήφθη ἐπ’ ἐμέ” , ἵνα ἐξελθὸν τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ καύσῃ πᾶσαν τὴν  ἄκανθαν καὶ καύσῃ αὐτὴν παντελῶς· οὐ γὰρ οἶδεν ¹⁰ προσεμπρῆσαι ἅλωνας καὶ στάχυς ἢ πεδία. ^[p.193]

Yes, we have light and fire, which smoke accompanies, for the impious and sinners are a byproduct of the just; not according to an essential logos have they been made such. For the essen-dal logos wanted them to be light as well; it meant them, as the logos had been bestowed, to be fire. Because they had fled from being light and they did not want to be fire, for that reason they have become smoke. Therefore, as smoke vanishes, they vanish.

     Οὐκοῦν ἔχομεν τὸ φῶς καὶ τὸ πῦρ, οἷς ἀκολουθεῖ καπνός· παρακολούθημα γάρ ἐστι τῶν δικαίων οἱ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἁμαρτωλοί, οὐ κατὰ προηγούμενον τοιοῦτοι γενόμενοι λόγον. Ὁ γὰρ προηγούμενος λόγος ἤθελεν καὶ αὐτοὺς εἶναι φῶς· ἐβούλετο αὐτούς, ὡς ἀποδέδωκεν ὁ λόγος, εἶναι πῦρ· ἐπειδὴ ⁵ πεφεύγασι τὸ εἶναι φῶς καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν τὸ γενέσθαι πῦρ, διὰ τοῦτο γεγόνασι καπνός· ὡς ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλιπέτωσαν .

8. (The equivalent must be said regarding the wax. For honey is the essential work of bees, and Solomon said: “Go to the bee and learn how she is a worker,”¹¹⁵ and, “Four things are wiser than the wise: the ants, the locust, the bee, and the conies, a nation not strong.^”116 Yes, the bee makes honey as its essential work, but wax is a byproduct of the essential thing, honey.

     8. Τὸ παραπλήσιον δὲ λεκτέον ἐπὶ τοῦ κηροῦ. Προηγούμενον γὰρ ἔργον μελισσῶν μέλι, καί φησι ὁ Σολομῶν· πορεύθητι πρὸς τὴν μέλισσαν καὶ μάθε ὡς ἐργάτις ἐστὶ . Καὶ τέσσαρά ἐστιν σοφώτερα τῶν σοφῶν · οἱ μύρμηκεςκαὶ ἡ ¹⁰ ἀκρίς, ἡ μέλισσά τε καὶ οἱ χοιρογρύλλιοι, ἔθνος οὐκ ἰσχυρόν . Οὐκοῦν ἡ μέλισσα προηγούμενον ἔργον ποιεῖ τὸ μέλι· ἔστιν δὲ παρακολούθημα τοῦ προηγουμένου μέλιτος κηρός.

But I want to understand, says one hearing me, how the bee makes honey and the generation of a honeycomb follows. Our Savior and Lord of all the prophet bees and of all the apostle bees is, as some call him, the essēn, king of bees.¹¹⁷ He is in charge of the supply of honey. And Moses bee, Isaiah bee, Jeremiah bee, or the rest of the prophet bees have made honey under the direction of the essēn, this being the essential work for the king bee and the bees. The just among those hearing the law and the prophets are the honey; the sinners among the hearers have become wax. And when you come to Christ’s appearance and you see the apostolic bees and you understand the gospel writings and you see the presence and teaching of Christ, do not hesitate to say that he has made the Church honey, but a byproduct has come about in the generation of such a great honey, the wax of the heresies, the wax in between the just.’“a

     Ἀλλὰ νοῆσαι θέλω, φησί μοι ὁ ἀκροατής, πῶς ἡ μέλισσα ποιεῖ μέλι καὶ παρακολουθεῖ κηρίου γένεσις. Ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ κύριος, ὁ πασῶν τῶν ¹⁵ μελισσῶν τῶν προφητῶν, ἀπασῶν τῶν μελισσῶν τῶν ἀποστόλων – ὡς ὠνόμασάν τινες – ἐσσήν, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν μελισσῶν, ἡγεῖται τῆς κατασκευῆς ^[p.194] τοῦ μέλιτος. Καὶ μέλι πεποιήκασιν ἡγουμένου τοῦ ἐσσῆνος Μωϋσέως ἡ μέλισσα Ἠσαΐας καὶ Ἱερεμίας καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ προφῆται, αἱ μέλισσαι, τούτου ὄντος τοῦ προηγουμένου ἔργου τῷ ἐσσῆνι καὶ ταῖς μελίσσαις. Οἱ μὲν δίκαιοι τῶν ἀκουσάντων τοῦ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ἦσαν τὸ μέλι, οἱ δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τῶν ἀκουσάντων γεγόνασι κηρός. ⁵ Κἂν ἔλθῃς ἐπὶ τὴν Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν καὶ ἴδῃς μελίσσας ἀποστολικὰς καὶ κατανοήσῃς γραφὰς εὐαγγελικὰς καὶ ἴδῃς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν καὶ διδασκαλίαν, μὴ ὄκνει λέγειν ὅτι μέλι μὲν πεποίηκε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, παρακολούθημα δὲ γέγονε τῇ γενέσει τοῦ τοσούτου καὶ τηλικούτου μέλιτος κηρὸς ὁ τῶν αἱρέσεων καὶ ὁ τῶν μεταξὺ τῶν δικαίων κηρὸς.

And if Christ had not come, there would be neither honey nor wax, the heresies, the sinners among us, those who say, “In your name we have eaten, and in your name we have drunk, and in your name we have thrown out demons,” but he says to them, “Get away from me, I never knew you,”¹¹⁹ for he never knew that wax, the byproduct that was generated with honey, except that ^“as smoke vanishes, they vanish; as wax melts before the face of fire, so may sinners be destroyed before God’s face, and let the just rejoi ce.”¹²⁰

     ¹⁰ Καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐληλύθει Χριστός, οὐτ’ ἂν μέλι οὔτε κηρός, ‹αἱ› αἱρέσεις, ἦσαν, οἱ ἐν ἡμῖν ἁμαρτωλοί, οἵτινες  ἐροῦσι· “τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐφάγομεν καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐπίομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν”. Ἀλλ’ ἐρεῖ πρὸς αὐτούς· “ὑποχωρεῖτε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἔγνων ὑμᾶς , οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἔγνων τὸν κηρὸν ἐκεῖνον, τὸ ἐπισύμβαμα τὸ γενόμενον τῷ μέλιτι· πλήν, ὡς ¹⁵ ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλιπέτωσαν, ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρός, οὕτως ἀπόλοιντο οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφρανθήτωσαν ”.

Still, what I am saying about Christ also applies to the creatures of the God of the Universe. He has made the essential things, but their byproducts have been produced by evil like wax and smoke. Cain was smoke, but Abel was líght.¹²¹ Shem was fire, but Ham and Canaan were smoke. Shem was honey, and Japheth was light. Two are blessed for having become light from the light of Noah and honey from his sweetness. But since sinners vanish like smoke and melt like wax, therefore “cursed be Canaan, he will be a houseboy for his brothers.”¹²² Someone wishing sinners not to be produced effectively says that the just should not have been produced.

     Ἔτι ἃ λέγω περὶ Χριστοῦ, ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων γέγονε τὰ κτίσματα. Καὶ τὰ μὲν προηγούμενα πεποίηκε, τὰ δὲ παρακολουθήσαντα τούτοις ²⁰ ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας γέγονεν ὡσεὶ κηρὸς καὶ καπνός· Κάϊν καπνὸς μὲν καὶ φῶς Ἄβελ· ^[p.195] Σὴμ μὲν πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς Χὰμ καὶ Χαναάν· Σὴμ μέλι καὶ φῶς Ἰάφεθm. Διὸ εὐλογοῦνται γενόμενοι φῶς ὑπὸ φωτὸς τοῦ Νῶε καὶ μέλιτος καὶ τῆς γλυκύτητος αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκλείπουσιν ὡς καπνὸς καὶ ὡς κηρὸς τήκονται οἱ ἁμαρτωλοίn, διὰ τοῦτο ἐπικατάρατος Χαναάν , παῖς οἰκέτης ἔσται τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ o. Ὁ ⁵ βουλόμενος μὴ γεγονέναι τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς, δυνάμει λέγει μὴ γεγονέναι τοὺς δικαίους.

9. (Let, then, those who hate the God who rises up flee before his face,¹²⁵ for insofar as they are arrayed against God and stand against him, they have not fled from before God’s face, but when they are defeated by God’s divinity, they flee before his face. An equivalent to those fleeing before God’s face is found in what is written about Cain, who, after his sins were complete, went away from God’s face.¹²⁴ Because the Lord’s face is upon those who do evil and he will utterly destroy their memory from the earth,ί²⁵ therefore those who do evil flee from God’s face, but should they flee, as wax melts before the face of fire, so may sinners be destroyed before God’s face.¹²⁶

     9. Φευγέτωσαν οὖν οἱ μισοῦντες τὸν ἀναστάντα θεὸν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦa· ὅσον γὰρ ἀντιτάσσονται τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἀνθεστήκασιν, οὐδέπω πεφεύγασιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅταν δὲ νικηθῶσιν ἀπὸ τῆς θειότητος τοῦ θεοῦ, ¹⁰ φεύγουσιν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. Ἀνάλογον δὲ γίνεται τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ γεγραμμένῳ περὶ τοῦ Κάϊν, ὃς μετὰ τὸ τελειῶσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ b. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρόσωπον κυρίου ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας κακὰ τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι ἐκ γῆς τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν c, διὰ τοῦτο οἱ ποιοῦντες κακὰ φεύγουσιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ· κἄν γε φεύγωσιν, ὡς ¹⁵ ἐκλείπει καπνὸς ἐκλείπουσι καὶ ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρός, οὕτως ἀπόλοιντο ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ d.

When such things come about to those who hate God and to his enemies, the just rejoice. For until the impious die, they do not have a return for their sins, nor do the just have a return for their joy. For whenever sinners vanish like smoke and melt like wax, insofar as they are sinners, not only do the just rejoice over themselves, but also over the vanishing of smoke and melting of wax. For they see a good thing coming about from the vanishing of smoke and melting of wax. Perhaps also, seeing such a thing coming about by means of the fire that was going to melt the wax in order that only the honey would be left, the Savior said, “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were kindled already.”¹²⁷

 ^[p.196]     Ὧν γενομένων ἐπὶ τοὺς μισοῦντας τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ, οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφραίνονται. Πρὶν γὰρ  ἀποθανεῖν τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπολαμβάνουσιν οὐδὲ οἱ δίκαιοι τὴν εὐφροσύνην ἑαυτῶν. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐκλίπωσιν ὡς καπνὸς καὶ τακῶσιν ὡς κηρὸς οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί, καθό εἰσι ἁμαρτωλοί, οὐ μόνον ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς ⁵ εὐφραίνονται οἱ δίκαιοι ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκλείποντι καπνῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ τακέντι κηρῷ. Ὁρῶσι γὰρ ἀγαθὸν γενόμενον τῷ ἐκλιπεῖν τὸν καπνόν, τῷ ἐκτακῆναι τὸν κηρόν. Τάχα καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι βλέπων ὁ σωτὴρ γινόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ὅτι μέλλει ἐκτήκεσθαι κηρός, ἵνα μόνον μέλι καταλειφθῇ, εἶπεν τό· πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἴθε ¹⁰ ἤδη ἐκάη .

It seems reasonable to me in the logos to get rid of a stupid assumption of the brothers who sometimes say mindless things about sins. For they suppose that it is possible for one who remains a sinner to be saved and for God to give judgment regarding the stench brought about by sin that it will be saved, not seeing that such a thing is impossible. For they, on their part, say that God can toss in with the good fish even the rotten, guilty fish that have fallen into the net,¹²⁸ not seeing that this is not reasonable, to make the net impure, not to take the good ones out clean so that the bad ones will not be mixed in with the good.

     Εὔκαιρόν μοι δοκεῖ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἰδιωτικὴν ὑπόληψιν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐνίοτε ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίαις λεγόντων ἀνόητα ἐξελεῖν τῷ λόγῳ. Οἴονται γὰρ ὅτι ἔστι μένοντα ἁμαρτωλὸν σῴζεσθαι καὶ ἀπόφασιν δοῦναι τὸν θεὸν περὶ τοῦ δυσώδους διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίαςὅτι σωθήσεται, οὐχ ὁρῶντες τὸ ἀδύνατον τοῦ πράγματος. Οὗτοι γὰρ ¹⁵ ὅσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς  λέγουσιν ὅτι δύναται ὁ θεὸς καὶ τοὺς ἐμπεσόντας εἰς τὴν σαγήνην σαπροὺς καὶ ψεκτοὺς ἰχθύας βαλεῖν μετὰ τῶν καλῶν ἰχθύων, οὐχ ὁρῶντες ὅτι τοῦτο οὐδὲ εὔλογόν ἐστιν· τὸ μὴ καθαρισθῆναι τὴν σαγήνην, τὸ μὴ ἐκλεχθῆναι καθαρὸν τὰ καλά, τὸ μὴ ἄμικτα γενέσθαι τὰ ἐναντία πρὸς τὰ καλά.

Such persons would seem to want to store up the chaff in the granary.¹²° For what is the difference between putting the bad fish along with the good and storing the chaff in the granary, and for the smoke not to vanish but to be saved with the light, so that where there would be salvation, there would be smoke and evil, and wherever honey would be, there would be inedible wax, which is not sweet? For conduct is the sweetness of the just person, and God’s logos makes everything sweet in him, so, “How sweet are your oracles in my throat.”¹³⁰ His conduct is sweetness; what a sinner does is bitter. But if they are bitter and therefore taste bitter to the one who is, in a strict sense, just, it is clear that in the opposite case, the good deeds of the just taste sweet, so that in his own logoi the just person prays concerning himself, “lat my dialogue be made pleasant.”¹³¹

     Οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἐοίκασι θέλειν εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην καὶ τὰ ἄχυρα ²⁰ κατακλεισθῆναι. Τί γὰρ διαφέρει τοὺς μοχθηροὺς τῶν ἰχθύων μετὰ τῶν καλῶν βληθῆναι καὶ τὰ ἄχυρα εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην κατακλεισθῆναι, ἢ τὸν καπνὸν μὴ ἐκλιπεῖν ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ φωτὸς σῴζεσθαι, ἵνα ὅπου ᾖ σωτηρία πάλιν καπνὸς καὶ__ ^[p.197] κακία ᾖ, καὶ ὅπου τὸ μέλι ἵνα πάλιν κηρὸς ᾖ ὁ μὴ ἐσθιόμενος, ὁ μὴ γλυκύς; Γλυκεῖα μὲν γὰρ ἡ πρᾶξις ἡ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ πάντα γλυκέα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ λόγος ποιεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ, διὸ λέγει· ὡς γλυκέα τὰ λόγιά σου τῷ λάρυγγί μου · πρᾶξις αὐτοῦ γλυκεῖα, αἱ δὲ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ πικραί. Εἰ δὲ πικραὶ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παραπικραίνουσαι τὸν δίκαιον κυρίον, ⁵ δῆλον ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου αἱ τοῦ δικαίου γλυκαίνουσι τὸν δίκαιον, ὅθεν ὁ δίκαιος τοῦτο εὔχεται ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων ἑαυτοῦ λέγων· ἡδυνθείη αὐτῷ ἡ διαλογή μου .

10. (Therefore, when these things happen to sinners, “let the just rejoice.” Let us become just so that we may rejoice. Do not consider becoming just [as] something simple and plain, for justice is Christ. “He became wisdom by God’s doing, and justice, sanctification, and redemption.”¹³² It is not possible to be just without participating in Christ, and if someone supposes that he is someone just outside the faith, one of two possibilities applies: either the gentile participates in Christ, or, if he does not participate in Christ, he is not just. Which do you want to demonstrate, that a gentile participates in Christ? But this is incongruous.¹³³ A conventional person says, “Let me and everyone who believes in Christ participate in Christ, so that it may be said about me, ‘We have become participants in Christ.”¹³⁴ The gentile does not even consider participating in Christ, but if he does not participate in Christ, he does not have unfeigned justice. For in distinction from feigned justice, it is said in Proverbs, according to the Seventy, “And in proverbs you will understand true justice and straight judgment.”¹³⁵ For if there were not a justice that appears so, but is not true, it would not have said, “you will understand true justice”; just as there is a genuine light different from the one that is not genuine, so there would be a more genuine justice alongside the one that is not true.

     10. Μετὰ τὸ συμβῆναι οὖν ταῦτα ἐπὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς, οἱ δίκαιοι εὐφρανθήτωσαν, φησί· δίκαιοι γενώμεθα ἵνα εὐφρανθῶμεν. Μηδὲ τοῦτο νομίσῃς ¹⁰ ἁπλοῦν εἶναι καὶ σαφὲς τὸ δίκαιον γενέσθαι· Χριστὸς γὰρ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἐγενήθη σοφία ἡμῖν ἀπὸ θεοῦ, δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις. Οὐκ ἔνεστιν οὖν δίκαιον εἶναι μὴ μετέχοντα Χριστοῦ, καὶ εἴ τίς γε ὑπολαμβάνει δίκαιόν τινα εἶναι ἔξω τῆς πίστεως, τὸ ἕτερον τῶν δυεῖν παραδέξεται· ἢ ὅτι καὶ ^[p.198] ὁ ἐθνικὸς μετέχει Χριστοῦ ἢ ὅτι, εἰ μὴ μετέχει Χριστοῦ, οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος. Τί οὖν βούλεται παραδέξασθαι· ὅτι ἐθνικὸς μετέχει Χριστοῦ; Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἀπεμφαίνεται. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ πολύς· γένοιτο ἐμὲ καὶ πάντα τὸν πιστεύοντα εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν μετέχειν Χριστοῦ, ἵνα λέγηται περὶ ἐμοῦ· μέτοχοι Χριστοῦ γεγόναμεν . Ὁ ἐθνικὸς ἄρα οὐ μετέχειν ⁵ νομίζεται τοῦ Χριστοῦ· εἰ δὲ  μὴ μετέχει τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὐκ ἔχει δικαιοσύνην ἀψευδῆ. Πρὸς γὰρ ἀντιδιαστολὴν δικαιοσύνης ψευδοῦςλέγεται ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα Παροιμίαις· νοῆσαί τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ καὶ κρίμα κατευθύνειν . Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἦν δικαιοσύνη μέν τις δοκοῦσα οὐκ ἀληθὴς δέ, οὐκ ἂν ἐλέγετο τὸ νοῆσαί τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ· ¹⁰ ὡς γάρ ἐστι φῶς ἀληθινὸνἕτερον παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἀληθινόν, οὕτως δικαιοσύνη ἀληθινωτέρα παρὰ τὴν μὴ ἀληθῆ.

The just, therefore, those who participate in Christ’s justice, will rejoice and be glad. And “they will be glad” does not suffice, for only “they will be glad” is not good, unless you take the next phrase, since it is necessary. And what is that? “They will be glad before God.” Surely it is a blessing¹³⁶ to be glad before God. But with “to be glad before God” is to be delighted for joy. Then we shall be delighted, if we come together in the same place. “For see, what a good thing and a delightful thing it is for them to settle together as brothers.”¹³⁷ Then we shall, in a strict sense, settle together, because now we are not really settling, for our quarters now are tents,¹³⁸ and I travel until I come to the house of God in the sound of gladness, the house of those who make holiday. ¹³⁹ And should I go to the house, I shall be delighted in the house of God. Therefore, it is said, “one thing have I asked of the Lord, this I shall seek, that I may settle in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the delightfulness of the Lord and examine the temple of his holiness”¹⁴⁰ in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.

     Οἱ δίκαιοι οὖν, οἱ μετέχοντες τῆς Χριστοῦ δικαιοσύνης, εὐφρανθήτωσαν καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν . Καὶ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ τὸ ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν· οὐ γὰρ καλὸν τὸ ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν μόνον, ἂν μὴ λάβῃ τὴν προσθήκην, οὖσαν ἀναγκαῖαν. Ποία ¹⁵ δὲ αὕτη ἐστίν; Ἀγαλλιάσθωσαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ . Οὐκοῦν τὸ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ^[p.199] ἀγαλλιᾶν ἐστιν εὐλογία. Οὕτω δὲ σὺν τῷ “ἀγαλλιᾶν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ” ἔστι τερφθῆναι ἐπὶ τῇ εὐφροσύνῃ. Τότε δὴ τερφθησόμεθα, ἐὰν συνέλθωμεν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· ἰδοὺ γὰρ τί καλὸν καὶ τί τερπνὸν ἀλλ’ ἢ κατοικεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν , ὅπερ  κατοικεῖν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρὸς γίνεται. Τότε γὰρ κυρίως ἔσται κατοικεῖν, νῦν οὐκ ὄντος τοῦ ⁵ κατοικεῖν· σκηναὶ γὰρ τὰ νῦν εἰσι τὰ σκηνώματα τὰ νῦν καὶ ὁδεύω ἕως ἔλθω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν φωνῇ ἀγαλλιάσεως, οἶκον ἑορταζόντων. Κἂν ἔλθω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον, τερφθήσομαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. Διὸ λέγεται· μίαν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ κυρίου, ταύτην ζητήσω· τοῦ κατοικεῖν με ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου, τοῦ θεωρεῖν με  ¹⁰ τὴν τερπνότητα κυρίου καὶ ἐπισκέπτεσθαι τὸν ναὸν τὸν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ , ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.