PSALM 76; HOMILY 3

Homilia III in Psalmum LXXVI.  Ὁμιλία γʹ οϛʹ ψαλμοῦ ἐσχεδιασμένη ¹.

WHAT sort of things, would you say, are these waters that see God, (cf. Ps76.17) when human beings require great effort to achieve this goal according to the Scripture that says, Blessed are the pure in heart, because they shall see God”? (Mt 5.8) It would seem that these waters are equivalent to the pure in heart who are going to see God or perhaps greater than human beings who are pure in heart, since, if they are blessed and divine powers seeing God, they must necessarily be greater than human beings.

1.  Ποταπὰ ἆρα τὰ ὕδατα ταῦτα, ἅπερ βλέπει θεόνa, τῶν ἀνθρώπων μετὰ πολλοῦ καμάτου τέλος τοῦτο λαμβανόντων κατὰ τὴν λέγουσαν γραφήν· μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται b; Ἔοικε γὰρ τὰ ὕδατα ταῦτα ἤτοι παραπλήσια εἶναι τοῖς καθαροῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῖς ὀψομένοις τὸν θεὸν ἢ τάχα καὶ κρείττονα εἶναι ⁵ τῶν ^{[194r ]} καθαρῶν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἀνθρώπων· ἐὰν γὰρ δυνάμεις τινὲς ὦσι μακάριαι καὶ θεῖαι τὰ ὕδατα τὰ βλέποντα τὸν θεόν, ἀνάγκη ταῦτα εἶναι ἀνθρώπων κρείττονα.

How much I would have to labor in order to ascend into the first heaven; how much more difficult it would be for me to be worthy of the second! I would need to become an equal to Paul in order to ascend into the third; (cf. 2 Cor 12.2) even if I were to become like Paul, I would hardly get to the sixth heaven, but these waters, the ones praising God, are, according to the prophet, “above the heavens”; (Ps 148.4) so, then, would they actually be said—because they are above all the heavens—to see continually, not the personas of the Father in the heavens, but God—”for the angels,” on the one hand, “continually see the persona of the Father in the heavens” (cf. Mt 18.10 cf.Origen, Or. 11.5)—but do not these waters—the ones concerning whom the logos says, “The waters saw you, Gοd (Ps 76.17a) — continually contemplate God himself?

Πόσα με δεῖ καμεῖν ἵνα ἀναβῶ εἰς πρῶτον οὐρανόν, πηλίκον γενέσθαι ἵνα ἀξιωθῶ δευτέρου! Παύλῳ παραπλήσιον εἶναί με δεῖ ἵνα ἀναβῶ ἐπὶ τὸν τρίτονd, κἂν γένωμαι ὡς Παῦλος οὔπω ἐπὶ τὸν ἑξῆς οὐρανόν, τὰ δὲ ὕδατα ταῦτα τὰ αἰνοῦντα κατὰ τὸν προφήτην τὸν θεὸν ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν e· ἆρ’ οὖν ταῦτα λέγεται τὰ ὕδατα, διὰ τοῦ ὑπεράνω εἶναι ⁵ πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν, διὰ παντὸς βλέπειν τὸ πρόσωπον οὐ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖςf ἀλλὰ τὸν θεόν – οἱ ^{[194v ]} μὲν γὰρ ἄγγελοι διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς  –, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν θεὸν οὐχὶ διὰ παντὸς κατανοεῖ ταῦτα τὰ ὕδατα, περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος φησί· εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα, ὁ θεός ;

“The waters saw you and were afraid.” (Ps 76.17b) I myself—seeing in the beginning of the making of the cosmos both a “spirit of God,” as the prophet says, borne, in the arrangement of the universe, “above the water,” and a “darkness” not “above the water” (for the spirit of God was there), but “above the abyss,” where darkness was, and water where the spirit of God was (cf. Gn 1.2 (LXX) —beseeching God, after much prayer, was moved to seek concerning these references to positions—since also the firmament is produced on account of waters, so that some may stay above and some may stay below (cf. Gn 1.6)

Εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα ⁵ καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν m. Ἐγὼ καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς κοσμοποιΐας ὁρῶν πνεῦμα θεοῦ, ὥς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, τῇ διατάξει τῶν ὅλων ἐπιφερόμενον ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατοςn καὶ σκότος οὐχὶ ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος (ἐκεῖ γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἦν), ἀλλ’ ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου o ὅπου τὸ σκότος ^[καὶ ὕδατος ὅπου τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ^] καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ^{[195r ]} εὐχῆς παρακαλῶν τὸν θεὸν κινοῦμαιp περὶ τῶν ¹⁰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπουςq – ἐπεὶ καὶ δι’ ὕδατα γίνεται τὸ στερέωμαr, ἵνα τὰ μέν τινα μείνῃ ἀνωτέρω τὰ δὲ μείνῃ κατωτέρω – 

Here the waters see God and are not disturbed; the abyss does not see God but is disturbed; the abyss, above which is darkness, is always in disarray and in turmoil. That is why the party of demons both “beg the Lord, that he may not order them to go out into the abyss” (Lk 8.31) and say to him: “What are we to you, son of God? Why have you come ahead of time to torture us?” (Mt 8.29) But these things are in the more divine concept, (cf. Origen Princ. 2.9 and 3.5) that concerning the waters of the abyss.

Ἐνταῦθα τὰ ὕδατα ὁρᾷ τὸν θεὸν καὶ οὐ ταράσσεται, ἡ ἄβυσσος οὐχ ὁρᾷ τὸν θεὸν ἀλλὰ ταράσσεται· ἀεὶ γὰρ ἐν ἀκαταστασίᾳ καὶ θορύβῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἄβυσσος, ἧς ἐπάνω τὸ σκότος ἦνx. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια παρακαλεῖ τὸν κύριον, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιτάξῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον ¹⁵ ἀπελθεῖν y, καί φασι πρὸς αὐτόν· τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, υἱέ τοῦ θεοῦ; Ἦλθες ἡμᾶς πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ; Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τὴν θειοτέραν ἔννοιαν τὴν περὶ τῶν ὑδάτων τῆς ἀβύσσου.

2. Let us not pass over the statement even on its own, but let us see if it is possible that the wording that says, “The waters saw you and were afraid, the abysses were disturbed, multiple reverberation of waters,” (Ps 76.17 holds something to understand. It comes to me that it says that everything is animate and nothing in the cosmos is empty of soul, but everything is animate in various bodies. (cf. Origen Or. 1.7.3 and Princ. 3.1.2) The heaven is animate, because to it, as to a living being, Scripture says: “Give ear, earth, and I shall speak,” and, “Hear, heaven.” (Is 1.2 and Dt 32.1)

2. Μὴ παρέλθωμεν δὲ μηδὲ τὸ ῥητὸν κατ’ αὐτό, ἀλλ’ ἴδωμεν εἰ δύναται ἔχειν τινὰ νοῦν ἡ λέξις ἡ λέγουσα· εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν, ²⁰ ἐταράχθησαν ἄβυσσοι, πλῆθος ἤχους ὑδάτων a. Ἐπέρχεται δή μοι ^{[196r ]} λέγειν, ὅτι πάντα ἐψύχωται καὶ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ κενὸν ψυχῆς· πάντα δὲ ἐψύχωται σώμασι διαφόροιςb. Ἐψύχωται ὁ οὐρανός, διὸ ὡς πρὸς ζῷον αὐτῷ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει· πρόσεχε οὐρανὲ καὶ λαλήσω c, καὶ ἄκουε, οὐρανέ d.

 For if they sacrifice to them as to gods, they are sinning, but if they imagine there to be some power in them, they are not sinning. For there are powers that they call “nymphs,” and they say that they are over springs, and they maintain that a power superintends every place.

Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ¹⁵ ὡς θεοῖς θύουσιν, ἁμαρτάνουσιν· εἰ δὲ φαντάζονται εἶναί τινα δύναμιν περὶ ἐκεῖνα, οὐχ ἁμαρτάνουσιν. Εἰσὶν γὰρ δυνάμεις, ἃς καλοῦσι νύμφαςh καὶ ‹λέγουσί› τινας εἶναι ἐπὶ τῶν πηγῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ παντὸς τόπου θέλουσι δύναμιν ἐπιστατεῖν.

 If then, when all of the powers are assigned and all the affairs in the cosmos that are to be managed have been divided up, why is it out of place for the managers to have the same names as what they manage, for those powers over the waters to be called “waters,” those over the sea to be called “seas,” and so the powers over the abyss to be called “abysses”?

 Εἰ οὖν πάντα δυνάμεων ἐπιστατουσῶν καὶ μεμερισμένων πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ οἰκονομεῖται, τί ἄτοπον ὁμωνύμως τοῖς οἰκονομουμένοις τὰ οἰκονομοῦντα ὀνομάζεσθαι καὶ ¹⁵ λέγεσθαι ὕδατα τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων, λέγεσθαι θαλάσσας τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ οὕτως ἀβύσσους τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς ἀβύσσου;

That those dwelling in places are called by the same names as the places and regions, the spirit speaking in Isaiah attests to me: “Hades below was embittered on meeting you.” (Ιs 14.9) Do you see that Hades is the place of souls, concerning which it is written, “Let sinners be turned away to Hades,” and that there is a living being by the same name as that place, who is named “Hades”?

Ὅτι γὰρ ὁμωνύμως τοῖς τόποις καὶ τοῖς χωρίοις ^{[197v ]} ὀνομάζονται οἱ διοικοῦντες τοὺς τόπους, μαρτυρήσει μοι τὸ ἐν τῷ ̓Ησαΐᾳ πνεῦμα λέγον· ὁ ᾅδης κάτωθεν ἐπικράνθη συναντήσας σοι l. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ᾅδης ἐστὶ τόπος ψυχῶν, περὶ οὗ γέγραπται· ἀποστραφήτωσαν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην m, καὶ ἔστιν ᾅδης ζῷον ὁμώνυμον τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ, ὃ ᾅδης ὀνομάζεται;

Often I sought, reading the Psalm that says, “Praise God in the heavens, praise him in the highest, praise him all his angels, praise him all his powers.” (Ps 148.1-2) Then it adds, “Praise the Lord from the earth, serpents and all abysses, fire, hail, snow, ice, spirit of a whirlwind, things doing his logos, mountains and all hills, fruit-bearing trees and all cedars.” (Ps 148.7-9) Reading, then, I sought whether it intended these things, and right away I took refuge in figurative language, seeing the incongruity of the wording; but later I considered, on my own, if perhaps the managing powers are called by the same name as the things that they manage—those put in charge of serpents, “serpents”—because some managing power is put in charge of each kind of living thing.

Πολλάκις ἐζήτουν ἀναγινώσκων τὸν ψαλμὸν τὸν λέγοντα· αἰνεῖτε τὸν θεὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ ¹⁰ ἄγγελοι ^{[198r ]} αὐτοῦ, αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ p. Εἶτ’ ἐπιφέρει· αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον ἐκ τῆς γῆς, δράκοντες καὶ πᾶσαι ἄβυσσοι· πῦρ, χάλαζα, χιών, κρύσταλλος, πνεῦμα καταιγίδος, τὰ ποιοῦντα τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ· τὰ ὄρη καὶ πάντες οἱ βουνοί, ξύλα καρποφόρα καὶ πᾶσαι κέδροι q. Ἀναγινώσκων οὖν ἐζήτουν τί βούλεται ταῦτα καὶ εὐχερῶς μὲν κατέφευγον ἐπὶ τὴν τροπολογίανr βλέπων τὴν ἀπέμφασιν τῆς λέξεωςs, ⁵ ὕστερον δέ ποτε ἐσκόπουν κατ’ ἐμαυτὸνt μήποτε ὁμωνύμως τοῖς οἰκονομουμένοις αἱ οἰκονομοῦσαι δυνάμεις ὀνομάζωνται – αἱ μὲν τεταγμέναι ἐπὶ τῶν δρακόντων δράκοντες –, ᾧ γὰρ ἑκάστου εἴδους ζῴου ἐπιστατεῖ τις δύναμις ἡ διοικοῦσαu.

And the sea fell silent and became calm. If I also were to become an actual human being of God, I could, by Christ Jesus speaking in me, (cf. 2 Cor 13.3) rebuke the creation, so that I would say to the sun, “Stand still at Gibeon.” (Jos 10.12) For truly, “What sort of precious seed? The seed of a human being.” (Sir 10.19) The seed of a human being is precious, when it has received great power from God—as long as he pays attention, he is a god (? prosoche and divinization?) —but if not, it is all the more worthless, treated with contempt by himself and written off (cf. Ps 68.28, Ex 32.33, Phil 4.3) by God.

 Καὶ ἐσιώπησεν ἡ θάλασσα καὶ ἐγένετο γαλήνη. Ἐὰν γένωμαι κἀγὼ ἄνθρωπος ^{[199r ]} γνήσιος τοῦ θεοῦ, δύναμαι ἐν τῷ ἐν ἐμοὶ λαλοῦντι Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦy ἐπιτιμῆσαι τῇ κτίσει, ἵνα εἴπω τῷ ἡλίῳ· “στῆθι κατὰ Γαβαώ”z. Ἀληθῶς γὰρ σπέρμα ἔντιμον ποῖον; Σπέρμα ἀνθρώπου aa. Ὅσον δὲ ἔντιμον τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μεγάλην δύναμιν λαβὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἂν προσέχῃ, θεός ἐστιν· εἰ δὲ μή, τοσούτῳ ἄτιμόν ἐστι παραχρησάμενον ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἀπογραφὲν τῷ θεῷ.

3. There are several ways to understand “The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and were afraid.” Everything is in fear of God; if God were not to sustain us so that we flourish, we are destroyed. For “when you turn away your face, they are disturbed.” (Ps 103.29) Therefore, it is not only when we sin that we need God’s aid, but I am bold and I say, “When we are perfected, we shall need more aid.”

3. Ποικίλως οὖν ἐξήτασταιa τὸ εἴδοσάν ⁵ σε ὕδατα, ὁ θεὸς, εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν b. Πάντα γὰρ φοβεῖται τὸν θεόν· ἐὰν μὴ ὁ θεὸς ἡμᾶς συνέχῃ, κἂν ἀρετὴν ἔχωμεν, ἀπολλύμεθα. Ἀποστρέψαντος γάρ σου, φησί, τὸ πρόσωπον ταραχθήσονται c. Διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μόνον ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν χρείαν ἔχομεν βοηθοῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τολμῶ καὶ λέγω· ὅταν τελειωθῶμεν πλείονος ¹⁰ βοηθείας δέομεθα.

But someone hearing will say: “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 Jn 4.18) The subject of fear is difficult to explain, especially when the logos has already established that it is necessary to be in fear of God, for maybe should it cast out fear, it does not cast it out completely, but only a certain kind of it. For I know also that fear is termed in various ways in Scripture. “The one who fears is not perfected,” (1 Jn 4.18) but when the use of the same word in different ways is understood, it will make us see how “fear,” I might say, is equivocal. For there is a fear that must always be in fear, and there is a fear about which John says: “The one who fears is not perfected.” This fear holds a chastisement, which someone who is perfected by love no longer fears.

Ἀλλὰ ἐρεῖ τις τῶν ἀκουόντων· ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον f. Ἔστι μὲν χαλεπὸν διηγήσασθαι τὰ κατὰ τὸν φόβον καὶ μάλιστα φθάσαντος τοῦ λόγου παραστῆσαι ὅτι ἀναγκαῖον ⁵ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θεόν· μήποτε γὰρ κἂν ἔξω βάλλῃ τὸν φόβον, οὐχὶ ὅλον αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει, ἀλλὰ εἶδός τι αὐτοῦ. Οἶδα γὰρ καὶ τὸν φόβον διαφόρως ὀνομάζομενον ἐν τῇ γραφῇ· ὁ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται g, ἀλλὰ ἡ ὁμωνυμία ^{[200r ]}  νοηθεῖσα ποιήσει ἡμᾶς ὁρᾶν ὡς καὶ ὁ φόβος γε ὁμωνύμως λέγεται. Ἔστιν οὖν φόβος ὃν ἀεὶ φοβεῖσθαι δεῖ καὶ ἔστι φόβος περὶ οὗ λέγει ὁ ¹⁰ Ἰωάννης· ὁ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται h. Οὗτος ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει, ὅντινα δεῖ τὸν τετελειωμένον ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης μηκέτι φοβεῖσθαι.

“The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and were afraid; the abysses were disturbed, multiple reverberation of waters.” (Ps 76.17) “Narrow and difficult is the road leading to life, and there are few who find ít.” (Mt 7.14) And the people of God is the smallest ‘beside all the nations” (Dt 7.7) on the earth. And in Noah’s ark, the higher things were, the more narrow and small a space they occupied, (cf. Gn 6.14-16) but as concerned the things that were disturbed in the abyss, there it was termed “multiple”: “the abysses were disturbed, multiple reverberation of waters.”

Εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα, ὁ θεός, εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν· ἐταράχθησαν ἄβυσσοι, πλῆθος ἤχους ὑδάτων i· στενὴ γὰρ καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωὴν καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτήν j. Καὶ ὁ λαὸς ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀλιγοστοί εἰσι παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ⁵ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ τοῦ Νῶε ὅσῳ ἀνωτέρω τοσούτῳ στενότερα καὶ ὀλιγότερα χωρεῖ τὰ ἀνωτέρωm· ὅπου δὲ τὰ τεταραγμένα κατὰ τὴν ἄβυσσον πράγματα, ἐκεῖ τὸ πλῆθος ὠνομάσθη· ἐταράχθησαν ἄβυσσοι, πλῆθος ἤχους ὕδατος.

Such a person was Moses, who said, “Pay attention, heaven, and I shall speak, and let the earth hear the words from my mouth; let my sayings be awaited as rain.” (Dt 32.1-2) Does this cloud act as if it were speaking of bodily, inanimate rain when it says, “and let my logos be awaited as rain”? So, because Moses was a cloud, he said, “let my sayings be awaited as rain and my utterances as dew.” (Dt 32.2) And because he was a cloud, he said, “as a downpour on wíregrass and as a snowstorm on grass, because I called the name of the Lord.” (Dt 32.2-3)

Τοιοῦτος ἦν Μωϋσῆς λέγων· πρόσεχε, οὐρανέ, καὶ λαλήσω, καὶ ἀκουέτω γῆ ῥήματα ἐκ στόματός μου ^{[201r ]} , προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸς τὸ ἀπόφθεγμά μου s. Εἶτα, ὥσπερ ὑετοῦ σωματικοῦ καὶ ἀψύχου ἡ νεφέλη αὐτὴ ἔλεγεν ἄν· “προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸςt καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος”; Οὕτως ἐπεὶ Μωϋσῆς ^[λέγεται ^] νεφέλη ἦν, ἔλεγε· προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸς τὸ ἀπόφθεγμά μου καὶ καταβήτω ὡς δρόσος τὰ ⁵ ῥήματά μου u. Καὶ ἐπεὶ νεφέλη ἦν, ἔλεγεν· ὡσεὶ ὄμβρος ἐπ’ ἄγρωστιν, καὶ ὡσεὶ νιφετὸς ἐπὶ χόρτον, ὅτι ὄνομα κυρίου ἐκάλεσα v.

4. Such were all the chosen prophets, the marvelous apostles. And because there were certain rivers of living water coming out of their bellies, (cf. Jn 4.14) they spoke as rivers, and they gladdened the city of God, for “the streams of a river gladden the city of God.” (Ps 45.5) Since the logos says here, “the clouds have given voice,” (Ps 76.18a) it is not hard to speak figuratively; similarly, one will seek to see those who are accounted for in “the waters saw you and were afraid” and what follows, so that nothing about clouds may be missed.

4. Τοιοῦτοι ἦσαν πάντες οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ προφῆται, οἱ θαυμάσιοι ἀπόστολοι. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ποταμοί τινες ἐκ κοιλίας αὐτῶν ἦσαν ὕδατος ἐξιόντες εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιονa, ποταμοὺς ἔχοντες ἐλάλουν καὶ εὔφραινον τὴν πόλιν τοῦ θεοῦ· τοῦ γὰρ ¹⁰ ποταμοῦ τὰ ὁρμήματα εὐφραίνουσι τὴν πόλιν τοῦ θεοῦ b. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἔφασκεν ἐνταῦθα ὁ λόγος· φωνὴν ἔδωκαν αἱ νεφέλαι c, οὐκ ἦν χαλεπὸν τροπολογῆσαι· ἀκολούθως δέ τις ζητήσει τοῖς ἀποδεδομένοις ^{[201v ]} εἰς τὸ εἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν d καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἰδεῖν, μὴ λανθάνῃ τι καὶ περὶ τὰς νεφέλας.

Perhaps, then, just as there are powers over seas, over rivers, over earth, over plants, over the birth of living things, so there are also powers over the clouds, so that some are assigned to thunders, some to lightning bolts, some to rains, and when God orders and commands rain to come on this city and not to come on another city according to what is said in the prophet or the statement:

Τάχα οὖν ὥσπερ εἰσὶ δυνάμεις ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν, ἐπὶ ποταμῶν, ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐπὶ ¹⁵ φυτῶν, ἐπὶ ζῴων γενέσεως, οὕτως εἰσὶ δυνάμεις καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν, ὡς τετάχθαι τινὰς καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βροντῶν, ἐπὶ τῶν ἀστραπῶν, ἐπὶ τῶν ὑετῶν, καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ προστάσσοντος καὶ ἐντελλομένου γίνεσθαι ὑετοὺς ἐπὶ τήνδε τὴν πόλιν καὶ μὴ γενέσθαι ἐφ’ ἑτέραν πόλιν κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ ἢ καὶ τὸ ῥητόν·

But perhaps, even if it is unspeakable, a certain helpfulness is produced in events through the voice of the thunder of the clouds, a helpfulness sensible, on the one hand, because the thunders generate certain things that are sustaining to human beings, so that as often as the thunders occur, certain plants are produced on the earth and are found. It is also sensible, on the other hand, because the majority of human beings obtain reverence toward the divine from the voice of thunders. (cf. Ps 28.9) In fact, are demons, then, not sometimes turned away or deterred from bad activities by reverberating thunders? But why should not angels of the devil be deterred sometimes by thunders, when the very voice associated with thunders interferes with bad activities?

Τάχα δέ, εἰ καὶ ἄρρητος ἔστι τις ὠφέλεια γινομένη ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν διὰ τὴν φωνὴν τῆς βροντῆς τῶν νεφελῶν, αἰσθητὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ὅτι αἱ βρονταὶ ¹⁰ γεννῶσι τινὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τρόφιμα, ὥστε ὁσάκις ἐὰν γίνωνται βρονταί, τάδε τινὰ τὰ φυτὰ γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εὑρίσκεσθαι· αἰσθητὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς εὐλάβειαν τὴν περὶ τοῦ θείου ἔρχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς φωνῆς τῶν βροντῶν. Ἆρα οὖν δαίμονες οὐκ ἐπιστρέφονται οὐδὲ κωλύονταί ποτε τῆς ἐνεργείας τῆς χείρονος διὰ τὰς ἐπ’ ἀλλήλους βροντάς; Τί δὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ ¹⁵ διαβόλου οὐχὶ κωλύονταί ποτε ἀπὸ τῶν βροντῶν, αὐτῆς τῆς φωνῆς τῆς κατὰ τῶν βροντῶν ἐμποδιζούσης ταῖς ἐνεργείαις ταῖς πονηραῖς;

All of us, as human beings, do not know what is occurring nor what is the logos of each thing that comes about, but it is the wisdom of God that searches out and tracks down; for will someone track down an abyss and wisdom? (cf. Wis 9.16) Therefore, I beg that I myself and you hearers not be precipitous out of ignorance in such a way as to stumble, when you do not see a reason for famines, for a plague, for a war, for any of the haphazard events that occur, for untimely deaths, for illnesses and bad accidents from the beginning of life to its end. The holy say that all these things are in all cases judgments of God, even if they do not understand the logos for judgments of God that are not justified. (cf. Ps 17.23, Ps 35.7)

Οὐ πάντες ἴσμεν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ γινόμενα οὐδὲ τίς ὁ λόγος ἑκάστου τῶν συμβαινόντων, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν ἡ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνεξερεύνητος καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστος· ἄβυσ ^{[202v ]} σον γὰρ καὶ τὴν σοφίαν τίς ἐξιχνιάσειh; Διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶ ἐμαυτὸν ²⁰ καὶ ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἀκούοντας μὴ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ νοεῖν προπετεύεσθαι εἰς τὸ σκανδαλίζεσθαι, ὅταν μὴ βλέπητε αἰτίαν διὰ τί λοιμοί, διὰ τί λιμός, διὰ τί πόλεμος, διὰ τί τῶν συμβαινόντων τι γίνεται, διὰ τί θάνατοι ἄωροι, διὰ τί νόσοι καὶ πονηραὶ συμφοραὶ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ζωῆς μέχρι τῆς τελευτῆς. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα τὰ κρίματα τοῦ θεοῦ λέγουσιν οἱ ἅγιοι ἐν πᾶσι, κἂν μὴ νοῶσι τὸν λόγον τοῦ μὴ ²⁵ δικαιοῦσθαι τὰ κρίματα τοῦ θεοῦi.

5. “The clouds have given voice, for your arrows also spread abroad.” (Ps 76.18) That Christ is an arrow of God, he himself teaches us in the prophet’s saying, “He has made me a chosen arrow, and he has hidden me in his quiver,” (Is 49.2) and, “He said to me, This is a great thing for you, for you to be called my servant,” (Is 49.6) and what follows. It is evident that it is likely, on the analogy of Christ’s being an arrow of God, a chosen arrow, that there are also other arrows.

5. Φωνὴν οὖν ἔδωκαν αἱ νεφέλαι, καὶ γὰρ τὰ βέλη σου διαπορεύονταιa. Ὅτι μὲν ὁ Χριστὸς βέλος ἐστὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, αὐτὸς διδάσκει ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ λέγων· ἔθηκέ με ὡς βέλος ἐκλεκτὸν καὶ ἐν τῇ φαρέτρᾳ αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέ με, καὶ εἶπέ μοι· μέγα σοί ἐστι τοῦτο, κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου καὶ τὰ ἑξῆςb. Ὅτι δὲ εἰκός ἐστιν ³⁰ ἀνάλογον τῷ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι βέλος θεοῦ, ἐκλεκτὸν δὲ βέλος, εἶναι καὶ ^{[203r ]} ἄλλα βέλη, δῆλον.

The “arrows,” therefore, of God, akin to Christ, “spread abroad.” (Ps 76. 18b) But do you want to see how sometimes, apart from any human being, someone is wounded by a spiritual arrow, a chosen arrow, an arrow from God? It seems to me that those catechumens who, in some way, sometimes come to the logos, without any human being’s having taught them to be Christians, just as if they were goaded in soul and wounded in their governing faculty by some arrow, show what it is to be Christians and make a vow and learn things pertaining to the logoi. For these arrows of God are spread abroad, and we pray that arrows might thus be spread abroad, so that we might have many brothers and the Church of God might grow!

Τὰ βέλη τοίνυν τοῦ θεοῦ διαπορεύονται d, τὰ ὁμογενῆ τῷ Χριστῷ. Θέλεις δὲ ἰδεῖν πῶς καὶ ἐνίοτε χωρίς τινος ἀνθρώπου τιτρώσκεταί τις ^[ἢ ^] πνευματικῷ ¹⁰ τινὶ βέλει, ἐκλεκτῷ βέλει, τῷ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ βέλει; Ἴδε μοι τοὺς τῷ λόγῳ προσερχομένους κατηχουμένουςe τινα τρόπον ἐνίοτε, μηδενὸς ἀνθρώπου διδάσκοντος αὐτοὺς Χριστιανίζειν, ὡσ ^{[203v ]} περεὶ κεντρισθέντες τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τρωθέντες τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ βέλει τινί, ἐμφανίζουσι τὸ Χριστιανίζειν καὶ προσεύχεσθαι καὶ μανθάνειν τὰ περὶ τῶν λόγων. Ταῦτα γὰρ βέλη τοῦ θεοῦ ¹⁵ διαπορεύεταιf, καὶ εὐχώμεθα δὲ οὕτως τὰ βέλη διαπορεύεσθαι, ἵνα πολλοὺς ἔχωμεν ἀδελφοὺς καὶ αὐξηθῇ ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ!

I take it that the same things are evident in “the arrows of a strong one are sharpened with desert coals,” (Ps 119.4) for there the arrows cannot be doing anything but chastising those worthy of chastisement. And such arrows enter into the soul; sometimes they penetrate only as far as the body_; (cf. Heb 4.12) sometimes they disturb the soul itself and derange it: “For I will strike you with apoplexy, loss of sight, being out of your mind, and you will be groping about at noon as one gropes on a wall.” (Dt 28.28-29)

Ταῦτα δὲ δηλοῦσθαι ὑπολαμβάνω ἐν τῷ τὰ βέλη τοῦ δυνατοῦ ἠκονημένα σὺν τοῖς ἄνθραξιν τοῖς ἐρημι ^{[204r ]} κοῖς i· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὰ βέλη ἄλλο τι ποιοῦντα ἢ κολάζοντα τοὺς ἀξίους τῆς κολάσεως. Καὶ ὅταν γε εἰσέλθῃ ταῦτα τὰ βέλη εἰς τὴν ψυχήν, διϊκνεῖται ἔσθ’ ὅτε καὶ μέχρι τοῦ σώματοςj, ἐνίοτε δὲ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ταράσσει καὶ ἐξίστησι· πατάξω γάρ σε, φησί, ἀποπληξίᾳ, ἀορασίᾳ, ἐν ἐκστάσει διανοίας, καὶ ἔσῃ ψηλαφῶν μεσημβρίας ὡς ψηλαφήσεταί τις ἐν τοίχῳ k.

Many arrows of God, then, are spread abroad; some wound us for the better—as I would want to be wounded, so that I might say, “I am wounded by love” (Song 2.5) — but others wound for chastisement. Therefore, let us beg the God of the Universe that we may be worthy to be wounded by his marvelous arrows, even the choice ones, and especially by our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.

Πολλὰ οὖν βέλη τοῦ ⁵ θεοῦ διαπορεύεταιl· ἃ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ἡμᾶς τιτρώσκοντα – ὡς εἴθε κἀγὼ τρωθείην, ἵνα εἴπω· τετρωμένη ἀγάπης ἐγώ m –, τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ κόλασιν τιτρώσκοντα. Διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶμεν τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἄξιοι γενέσθαι τρωθῆναι βέλεσι θαυμασίοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκλεκτοῖς καὶ μάλιστα τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ‹ἐστιν› ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς ¹⁰ αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Σχέδιον οϛʹ ψαλμοῦ ὁμιλία γʹ