The Mountain and the Stone
Regarding the final vision of Isaiah. Even the named mountain, Savior, is called a stone in the saying: 'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner' (Ps 118:22). Remembering this word in the Acts of the Apostles, the preeminent disciple of the Savior, Peter, most strictly rebuked the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees who were listening to the Jewish teaching, saying: 'This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner' (Acts 4:11).
And since it is not only the head of the divine building but also the foundation, God promises concerning it, saying: 'Behold, I lay a cornerstone in the foundations of Zion, chosen, precious, upon which the believer has unashamed hope' (Isa 28:16). Laying out these words, Peter, the disciple of Christ, upon whom the Church is built, exhorts and advises those to whom he has inscribed his epistle: 'To whom approaching the living stone, you are being built up into a spiritual house in which spiritual sacrifices are offered' (1 Pet 2:5).
Of what inheritance does the stone belong? It is of that inheritance concerning which it is brought forth in Isaiah: 'There is an inheritance to those healing the Lord' (Isa 35:10), and of that inheritance concerning which the hymnodist said, singing: 'My inheritance is most strong for me; you are the one restoring my inheritance to me' (Ps 16:5).
See then whether the stone is the inheritance of that inheritance being fulfilled from the God-fearing ones according to each, which is chosen and desired, existing from the cause of all things, according to that which was announced by the spirit-bearing men, apostles and evangelists, prophets and the great high priest of all things, Moses: 'He chose for us his own inheritance,' God, clearly, 'the beauty of Jacob whom he loved' (Jer 31:3).
It is equal to the voice from the Psalm and that in the great song of Deuteronomy having here: 'Jacob became a part of the Lord, a portion of his inheritance, Israel' (Deut 33:9). But especially the stone being hymned is the inheritance of that which is signified in the second Psalm toward this stone: 'The Lord said to me, Son are you, I have today become your father. Ask of me and I will give you nations for your inheritance' (Ps 2:7-8).
Toward the assigned theory, the mountain and the stone from parallel...
Regarding how it is to be carried, it must be said and otherwise that one part is the mountain and another part is the stone. And the mountain of achievement is the unwedded Mary; but the stone coming forth from her, whom she bore as a son without a man, exists. The book of the most wise Daniel initiates us into these mysteries.
For it has been said in it that the striking stone—the various kingdoms and the image completed from them—has been cut and torn away from it without the custom and the practiced way toward the generation of the energy from parents. For as many as have the generation from both parents, they are torn and cut away from the hands of the marriage acts and from those who conceive; but only the one born from the virgin, not knowing the man, has been torn away and cut from her without hands. Before the face of Zerubbabel, it happened that the stone from the mountain was to be cut without hands, so that Jesus is also traced through lineage from it. It is interpreted, therefore, as 'a movement of a flow' because the customary flow of parents is moved, by a virgin alone without a man being brought to pass.
But the stone placed outside of the inheritance has grace upon grace, according to the thought of what the Baptist John said, 'for from the fullness we have all received' (John 1:16). For the whole visitation of the Savior and the salvation upon it happened by grace, as the theologian says to those whom he addresses in his epistle: 'You are saved by grace, and this is not from us, but the gift of God' (Ephesians 2:8). [Zechariah 4:8-9: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall complete it, and he shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.]
The prophecy of the seen house is not spoken concerning a sensible building. For it has already been said that this prophet, while still in Babylon, with the seventieth year of the captivity already having come, was initiated into the placed revelations. But not in Babylon, but in Jerusalem and after the captivity, the sensible house was built. Therefore, the present voice does not happen to be about it; for as if concerning the temple being present and already having come, it is said pointedly about it: 'This house.' But it is not subject to the sight of...
Greek
τελευταίας ὁράσεως τοῦ Ἠσαίου. 1.304 Ἀλλὰ καὶ λίθος εἴρηται ὁ ὀνομαζόμενος ὄρος Σωτὴρ ἐν τῷ· «Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας.» Ταύτης τῆς λέξεως μνημονεύσας ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν τῶν Ἀποστόλων, ὁ κορυφαιότατος μαθητὴς τοῦ Σωτῆρος Πέτρος ἐλεγκτικώτατα πρὸς τοὺς αὐχοῦντας τὴν ἰουδαϊκὴν διδασκαλίαν φαρισαίους τε γραμματέας τε καὶ σαδδουκαίους εἶπεν· «Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ λίθος ὁ ἐξουθενηθεὶς ὑφ' ὑμῶν τῶν οἰκοδόμων, ὃς ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας.» 1.305 Καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ μόνον κεφαλὴ τῆς θείας οἰκοδομῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεμέλιός ἐστιν, ὁ Θεὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπαγγέλλεται φάσκων· «Ἰδοὺ τίθημι λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον εἰς τὰ θεμέλια τῆς Σιών, ἐκλεκτόν, ἔντιμον, ἐφ' ὃν ὁ πιστεύων ἀκαταίσχυντον ἔχει τὴν ἐλπίδα.» Ταύτας τὰς λέξεις ἐκθέμενος, Πέτρος ὁ Χριστοῦ μαθητής, ἐφ' ᾧ ἡ Ἐκκλησία ᾠκοδόμηται, παραινεῖ καὶ συμβουλεύει οἷς τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐχάραξεν· «Πρὸς ὃν προσερχόμενοι λίθον ζῶντα, ἐποικοδομεῖσθε εἰς οἶκον πνευματικὸν ἐν ᾧ πνευματικαὶ θυσίαι προσάγονται.» 1.306 Ποίας δὲ κληρονομίας ὑπάρχει ὁ λίθος; Ἐκείνης περὶ ἧς ἐν Ἠσαίᾳ φέρεται· «Ἔστιν κληρονομία τοῖς θεραπεύουσιν Κύριον», κἀκείνης περὶ ἧς ψάλλων ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς ἔφη· «Ἡ κληρονομία μου κρατίστη μοί ἐστιν· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἀποκαθιστῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἐμοί.» 1.307 Ὅρα δὲ εἰ ὁ λίθος κληρονομίας ἐστὶν ἐκείνης τ̣η῀̣ς̣ συμπληρουμένης ἐκ τῶν καθ' ἕκαστα θεοσεβῶν, ἥτις ἐκλεκτὴ καὶ ποθουμένη ὑπάρχει ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰτίου τῶν ὅλων, κατὰ τὸ ἀπαγγελθὲν ὑπὸ τῶν πνευματοφόρων ἀνδρῶν, ἀποστόλων καὶ εὐαγγελιστῶν προφητῶν τε καὶ τοῦ τὰ πάντα μεγάλου ἱεροφάντου Μωϋσέως· «Ἐξελέξατο ἡμῖν τὴν κληρονομίαν ἑαυτοῦ», ὁ Θεὸς δηλονότι, «τὴν καλλονὴν Ἰακὼβ ἣν ἠγάπησεν.» 1.308 Ἰσοδυναμεῖ τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ψαλμοῦ φωνῇ καὶ τὸ ἐν ᾠδῇ μεγάλῃ τοῦ ∆ευτερονομίου ἔχον ὧδε· «Ἐγενήθη μερὶς Κυρίου Ἰακώβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ.» Μάλιστα δὲ ὁ ὑμνούμενος λίθος κληρονομίας ἐστὶν τῆς σημαινομένης ἐν δευτέρῳ Ψαλμῷ πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ λίθου· «Κύριος εἶπεν πρός με· Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγένηκά σε. Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου.» 1.309 Πρὸς τῇ ἀποδοθείσῃ θεωρίᾳ, τὸ ὄρος καὶ τὸν λίθον ἐκ παραλλήλου κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φέρεσθαι, λεκτέον καὶ ἑτέρως ὡς ἄλλο μὲν τὸ ὄρος, ἄλλο δὲ ὁ λίθος ἐστίν. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ὄρος τῆς κατορθώσεως ἡ ἀπειρόγαμος Μαρία ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ προελθὼν ἐξ αὐτῆς λίθος ὃν ἔτεκεν υἱὸν ἄνευ ἀνδρὸς ὑπάρχει. Μυσταγωγεῖ περὶ τούτων ἡ τοῦ σοφωτάτου ∆ανιὴλ βίβλος. 1.310 Εἴρηται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς ὁ πατάττων λίθος τὰς διαφόρους βασιλείας καὶ τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν συμπληρουμένην εἰκόνα ἄνευ χειρῶν τέτμηται καὶ ἀπέσπασται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἄνευ τῆς εἰωθυίας καὶ μεμελετημένης πρὸς γένεσιν τῆς ἐκ γονέων ἐνεργείας. Ὅσοι μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων γονέων τὴν γένεσιν ἔχουσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἐκ χειρῶν τῶν γαμηλίων πράξεων ἀποσπῶνται καὶ τέμωνται τῶν κυουσῶν, μόνου τοῦ τεχθέντος ἐκ τῆς ἄνδρα μὴ γνούσης παρθένου ἄνευ χειρῶν ἀπεσπασμένου καὶ τμηθέντος ἀπ' αὐτῆς. 1.311 Πρὸ προσώπου δὲ Ζοροβάβελ ὑπῆρκται τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους ἄνευ χειρῶν τμηθῆναι τὸν λίθον, διὰ τὸ καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γενεαλογεῖσθαι. Ἑρμηνεύεται γοῦν «ῥύσεως μετακίνησις» διὰ τὸ τὴν εἰωθυῖαν ῥύσιν τῶν γονέων μετακεκινῆσθαι, ὑπὸ μόνης ἄνευ ἀνδρὸς παρθένου ἀποτετελέσθαι. 1.312 Χάριτος δὲ χάριτα ἔχει ὁ ἐξωσθεὶς τῆς κληρονομίας λίθος, κατὰ τὴν νόησιν οὗ εἶπεν ὁ βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης «ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν». Ὅλη γὰρ ἡ ἐπιδημία τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ ἡ ἐπ' αὐτῇ σωτηρία χάριτι 31 ὑπῆρκται, ὡς ὁ θεολόγος οἷς προσφωνεῖ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἑαυτοῦ λέγει· «Χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ἡμῶν, Θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον.» 1.313 Zach. IV, 8®9: Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με λέγων· Αἱ χεῖρες Ζοροβάβελ ἐθεμελίωσαν τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐπιτελέσουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπιγνώσῃ διότι Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐξαπέσταλκέν με πρὸς σέ. 1.314 Οὐ περὶ αἰσθητῆς οἰκοδομῆς ὁρατοῦ οἴκου λέγεται ἡ προφητεία. Εἴρηται γὰρ ἤδη ὅτι ὁ προφήτης οὗτος ἔτι ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι τυγχάνων, ἐνεστηκότος ἤδη τοῦ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ ἔτους τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, ἐμυσταγωγήθη τὰς ἐκκειμένας ἀποκαλύψεις. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ᾠκοδόμητο ὁ αἰσθητὸς οἶκος. ∆ιὸ οὐ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἡ προκειμένη φωνὴ τυγχάνει· ὡς γὰρ περὶ παρόντος καὶ ἐνεστηκότος ἤδη τοῦ ναοῦ, δεικτικῶς λέγεται περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Ὁ οἶκος οὗτος». Οὐχ ὑπόκειται δὲ ὄψει τοῦ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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Khazarzar scan
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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