The Rising of the Just Man
that having been proven, he shall receive the crown of life, which God promised to those loving him. And since it is the same thing to endure a trial in the sense of a struggle, to compete in the good contest, to finish the race, and to keep the faith, it is likely that the crown of righteousness is the same as the crown of life.
2.27 Many crowns made of the intelligible gold and silver are placed upon the head of Jesus, the one of righteousness—for indeed the name Iesedek is taken into the Greek sound from the Hebrew into 'righteousness'. And see how the one head of Jesus receives many crowns. For he was tested 'in all things without sin' (Hebrews 4:15), having overcome the contests.
2.28 Understand by theory another way how the head of Jesus, the great high priest, receives the crowns of all. All those believing are the body of Christ and members; for it has been said regarding those completing the sum of the Church: 'You are the body of Christ and members of the member' (1 Corinthians 12:27). Of these members of the body, forty-five are hands, feet 'not lazy in haste', eyes that are discerning according to the mind, and a head are the rulers who legally preside as is necessary.
2.29 Those being thus a head and seeing sharply and hearing the parables of Jesus—and since many are those called head allegorically in this way, because of the practical and contemplative life they have—consequently the head of the high priest receives all the crowns. And he is a great high priest, and in the epistle to the Hebrews it is written thus: 'Having therefore a great high priest, Jesus, who has passed through the heavens, let us hold fast the confession' (Hebrews 4:14).
2.30 And it is not paradoxical for one man's head to receive all the crowns. For if each virtue is, rather, each virtue is a crown, and the perfect man has all the best dispositions, following the virtues themselves, the one having all them is revealed by many crowns.
First, the one taken up by the God-Word was a man; then his imitators, who are themselves called Christs because they are partakers of that of whom it is said: 'The Christ is the wisdom and power of God' (1 Cor 1:24).
2.31 Zach. VI, 12: 'And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Behold, a man, an ascending-sun is his name, and he shall rise up beneath him, and he shall build the house of the Lord; and he himself shall take virtue, and he shall be established and prepared upon his throne, and he shall be a priest at his right hand, and a peaceful counsel shall be between the two of them.' 2.32 'And the crown shall be to those enduring, and to those useful to it, and to those having known it, for a grace of the son of Wisdom and for a psalm in the house of the Lord. And those far from them shall come and shall build in the house of the Lord. And you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you; and it shall be, if listening, you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God.'
2.33 'You shall say,' he says, 'to him,' making clear that it is the son of Wisdom; 'Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Behold, a man, an ascending-sun is his name.' But these things are said concerning our Savior who has come among us, being a man according to his being born from Mary, the temple of the God-Word, and being a sun of true light and righteousness.
2.34 What is said in the prophet Jeremiah agrees with the present matter, having thus: 'Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will raise up for David a just rising, and he shall reign and reign, and he shall understand and do judgment and righteousness upon the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell trusting, and this shall be his name, which the Lord shall call him, Joshedek among the prophets' (Jer 33:15).
2.35 For the just rising up from David is that which is shown by the hierophant in the: 'Behold, a man, an ascending-sun is his name.' This same man is called an ascending-sun because of the sun of righteousness.
Greek
ὅτι δόκιμος γενόμενος λήμψεται τὸν στέφανον τῆς ζωῆς, ὃν ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν.» Καὶ ἐπεὶ ταὐτόν ἐστιν τλητικῶς πειρασμὸν ὑπομεῖναι τῷ τ̣ο`̣ν̣ κ̣αλὸν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνίσασθαι, τελέσαι τε τὸν δ̣ρ̣ο´̣μον καὶ τηρῆσαι τὴν π̣ίστιν, εἰκὸς ὡς ὁ τῆς δικαιο̣σ̣ύνης στέφανος τῷ τῆς ζωῆς ὁ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχει. 2.27 Οἱ γενάμενοι πολλοὶ στέφανοι ἐκ τῶν νοητῶν χρυσ̣ο̣ῦ καὶ ἀργύρου ἐπιτίθενται τῇ Ἰησοῦ κεφαλῇ, τοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης, – τὸ γὰρ Ἰωσεδὲκ εἰς τὸ «δικαιοσύνη» μεταλαμβάνεται ἐκ τῆς ἑβραϊκῆς εἰς τὴν ἑλλάδα φωνήν. Καὶ ὅρα γε πῶς μία κεφαλὴ ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πολλοὺς στεφάνους δέχεται. Ἐπειράσθη γὰρ «κατὰ πάντα χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας», διαθλήσας τοὺς ἀγῶνας. 2.28 Ἐπίστησον κατὰ θεωρίαν̣ ἄλλην πῶς ἡ κεφαλὴ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου ἱερέως δέχεται τ̣οὺς πάντων στεφάνους. Πάντες οἱ πιστεύοντες σῶμα τοῦ Χριστου῀̣ κ̣αι`̣ μ̣έλη τυγχάνουσιν· εἴρηται γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς συμπληροῦντας τὸ ἄθροισμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· «Ὑμεῖς ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέλους.» Τούτων τῶν μελῶν τοῦ σώματος οἱ 45 μὲν πρακτικοὶ χεῖρες τυγχάνουσιν, πόδες «οἱ τῇ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀκνηροί», ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ κατὰ τὸν νοῦν διορατικοί, κεφαλὴ οἱ νομίμως ἐπιστατοῦντες ἄρχοντες ὡς δεῖ. 2.29 Οἱ ὄντες οὕτω κεφαλὴ καὶ ὀξυωποῦσιν καὶ ἀκούουσι τῶν παραβολῶν Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἐπεὶ πολλοί εἰσιν οἱ οὕτως ἀλληγορικῶς κεφαλὴ καλούμενοι, δι' ὃν ἔχουσιν πρακτικὸν καὶ θεωρητικὸν βίον, ἀκολούθως τοὺς πάντας στεφάνους δέχεται ἡ τοῦ μεγάλου ἱερέως κεφαλή. Μέγας δὲ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἐπιστολῇ γράφεται οὕτως· «Ἔχοντες οὖν ἱερέα μέγαν Ἰησοῦν τὸν διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς, κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας.» 2.30 Καὶ παράδοξον οὐδὲν ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς κεφαλὴν δέχεσθαι τοὺς ὅλους στεφάνους. Εἰ γὰρ ἑκάστης ἀρετῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑκάστη ἀρετὴ στέφανός ἐστιν, ὁ τέλειος δὲ πάσας ἔχει τὰς βελτίστας ἕξεις, ἀντακολουθουσῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἑαυταῖς, ὁ πάσας ἔχων πολλοὺς ἀναδεῖται στεφάνους, προηγουμένως μὲν ὁ ἀναλημφθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου ἄνθρωπος, ἔπειτα οἱ μιμηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτοὶ προσαγορευόμενοι χριστοὶ διὰ τὸ μέτοχοι εἶναι περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· «Χριστὸς Θεοῦ σοφία καὶ δύναμ̣ις̣.» 2.31 Zach. VI, 12®15: Καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν· Τάδε λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ· Ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ, ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ, καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτοῦ ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ οἰκοδομήσει τὸν οἶκον Κυρίου· καὶ αὐτὸς λήμψεται ἀρετήν, καὶ καθιεῖται καὶ κατάρξει ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ βουλὴ εἰρηνικὴ ἔσται ἀνὰ μέσον ἀμφοτέρων. 2.32 Ὁ δὲ στέφανος ἔσται τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν καὶ τοῖς χρησίμοις αὐτῆς καὶ τοῖς ἐπεγνωκόσιν αὐτὴν καὶ εἰς χάριτα υἱοῦ Σοφονίου καὶ εἰς ψαλμὸν ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου. Καὶ οἱ μακρὰν ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἥξουσιν καὶ οἰκοδομήσουσιν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου. Καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε διότι Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς· καὶ ἔσται, ἐὰν εἰσακούοντες εἰσακούσητε τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑμῶν. 2.33 «Ἐρεῖς», φησίν, «πρὸς αὐτόν», δηλονότι τὸν υἱὸν Σοφονίου· «Τάδε λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ· Ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ, ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ». Λέγεται δὲ ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ ἐπιδημήσαντος Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἀνδρὸς μὲν ὄντος κατὰ τὸν τεχθέντα ἐκ Μαρίας, ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, ὄντος δὲ φωτὸς ἀληθινοῦ καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἡλίου. 2.34 Συνᾴδει τῷ προκειμένῳ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ Ἰερεμίᾳ ἔχον οὕτως· «Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ ἀναστήσω τῷ ∆αυὶδ ἀνατολὴν δικαίαν, καὶ βασιλεύων βασιλεύσει καὶ συνήσει καὶ ποιήσει κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ σωθήσεται Ἰούδας, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ κατασκηνώσει πεποιθώς, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ὃ καλέσει αὐτὸν Κύριος, Ἰωσεδὲκ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις.» 2.35 Ὁ γὰρ ἀνιστάμενος ἐκ τοῦ ∆αυὶδ ἀνατολὴ δικαία ὁ δεικνύμενός ἐστιν πρὸς τοῦ ἱεροφάντου ἐν τῷ· «Ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ, ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ.» Τοῦτον αὐτὸν τὸν ἄνδρα ἀνατολὴν προσαγορευόμενον διὰ τὸ δικαιοσύνης ἥλιον
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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