The Shadow of the Law and the Mountain of the Lord
What exists when I say, 'when I turn back and dwell in the midst of it', or the calling again of that city 'true', no longer being a desert, but full of citizens and buildings, the temple and the houses having been raised up, to have as before cloisters, streets, cut-out squares and narrow ways.
Thus, Jerusalem having explicitly been called true, and the mountain of the Lord Pantokrator shall be holy as it was before the captivity, through the regular sanctifications there, and the hymns and praises being raised up according to the words of the Psalmist, where it is said: 'To you is due praise, O God, in Zion' (Ps 87:2); and where: 'Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion' (Ps 87:1). After these things have appeared according to history, it is a time to contemplate those things regarding the spiritual ascent.
Concerning the so-called Jerusalem of the discerning soul—for Jerusalem is taken to mean 'vision of peace'—having slipped and now being outside the divine chamber, a separation has occurred from that which previously dwelt with her, so that she is henceforth being dragged away in a prostituted manner by opposing powers, called in spiritual ascent Assyrians and Babylonians, so that her suitable husband no longer shows pity for her.
But since the matters of free choice do not remain in this state, for just as a turning occurs from virtue into vice and from piety into impiety, so likewise a change occurs from worse and harmful things into better and profitable ones, so as to find again the divine chamber that had left, so that, as before being cherished, he himself zealously pursues her while driving away those who adulterously defile her. And in great wrath he works this, intensely indignant against those dragging her away, so as to say clearly: 'I have zealously guarded Zion and Jerusalem' (Jer 2:37).
In spiritual ascent, the soul is aiming at the unseen and the eternal, and a soul seeing peace has the rhythm of the following of virtues and divine understandings, for whom, having zealously cared in great wrath for her, he turns back to himself, and at the same time to her, attending to her supplications in providing what for which she prays unceasingly.
Thus, having been improved, she might be named true Jerusalem, no longer surrounding the shadowy and iconic things of the law, but the things through...
They signify the good things, concerning which the divinely inspired Apostle writes: 'The law of things to come has a shadow, not the image itself of the realities' (Col 2:17). And again to those believing from among the Gentiles: 'Let no one judge you in food or drink, in part of a feast and new moon and Sabbath, which is a shadow of the things to come' (Col 2:16).
The evangelical teachings are things about to be good in the received words, which the Savior said regarding the mysteries of the kingdoms, speaking to those who knew: 'To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens' (Luke 10:22). Zion and Jerusalem, which aim for and see the peace of their harmony, are lifted up, called true, being lived out according to the truth revealed in the shadow of the law, and 'searching the God-breathed writings.'
In harmony with the holy city being called true, the mountain of the Lord Pantokrator shall be holy and shall prosper. See if the mountain of the Lord Pantokrator is the word of the presence of the Son of God, concerning which in a certain song of ascents it is brought forth thus: 'Those having trusted in the Lord as Mount Zion' (Ps 125:1). For let our mind not be so impoverished as to think it is to be compared to or made like a sensible mountain, those having trusted in the Lord, having a vast virtue, as being shown to have spiritual blessings as blessed ones. For it is written in Jeremiah the prophet: 'Blessed is the man who has trusted in the Lord; and the Lord shall be his hope' (Jer 17:7). And in the Psalms: 'It is good to have trusted in the Lord or to have trusted in man' (Ps 40:4).
Since therefore it is not a sensible mountain, being a refuse of the earth, those having trusted in the Lord imitate—what must they think, or that concerning which Isaiah said: 'At the end of the days the mountain of the Lord shall become manifest' (Isa 2:2), shining and having been revealed 'at the completion of the ages, in order to abolish sin,' having loosed and made it vanish, having received the judgment of the Lamb. This mystery illuminating, John the Great said, showing Jesus: 'Behold the Lamb of God, the one taking away the sin of the world' (John 1:29).
Concerning the mountain having been shown, it is necessary to take also that which is announced in the seventy-fourth Psalm thus: 'Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in a holy mountain' (Ps 48:1). Of these according to the first...
Greek
Τί δ' ὑπάρξεται «ὅταν ἐπιστρέψω καὶ κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς», ἢ τὸ πάλιν χρηματίσαι αὐτὴν πόλιν «ἀληθινήν», ἔρημον οὐκέτ' οὖσαν, ἀλλὰ πλήρης πολιτῶν καὶ οἰκοδομημάτων, ἀνεγερθέντος τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τῶν καθ' ἕνα οἴκων, ὡς λοιπὸν ἔχειν ὡς πρότερον λαύρας, ἀγυιὰς, τεμένη τε πλατείας καὶ στενωπούς. 2.230 Οὕτω τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ πρὸς ῥητὸν χρηματισάσης, καὶ τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου παντοκράτορος ἅγιον ἔσται ὡς πρὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ὑπῆρχεν, ἁγιστειῶν τῶν συνηθῶν τελουμένων ἐκεῖ, καὶ ᾠδῶν καὶ παιάνων ἀνακρουομένων κατὰ τοὺς τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ λόγους, ὅπου μὲν λέγοντος· «Σοὶ πρέπει ὕμνος ὁ Θεὸς ἐν Σιών»· ὅπου δέ· «Ψάλατε τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ κατοικοῦντι ἐν Σιών.» 2.231 Τούτων κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν φανέντων, καιρὸς εἴη τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἀναγωγὴν θεωρῆσαι. 2.232 Τῆς λεγομένης Ἰερουσαλὴμ διορατικῆς ψυχῆς, – μεταλαμβάνεται γὰρ τὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς «εἰρήνης ὅρασιν»–, ὀλισθησάσης καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔξω τοῦ θείου θαλάμου γεγενημένης, ἀπωσμὸς γέγονεν ἀπὸ τοῦ συνοικοῦντος αὐτῇ πρότερον, ὡς λοιπὸν πορνικῶς αὐτὴν διασύρεσθαι ὑπὸ ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων, καλουμένων κατ' ἀναγωγὴν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ Βαβυλωνίων, ὡς μηκέτι κήδεσθαι αὐτῆς τὸν οἷα σύζυγον φειδόμενον. 2.233 Ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐν ταὐτῷ μένει τὰ τῆς προαιρέσεως, ὡς γὰρ ἐξ ἀρετῆς εἰς κακίαν καὶ ἀπὸ εὐσεβείας εἰς ἀσέβειαν γίνεται τροπή, οὕτως ἔμπαλιν ἐκ χειρίστων καὶ ἐπιβλαβῶν εἰς βελτίω καὶ ὠφέλιμα γίνεται μεταβολή, ὡς ἐπιγνῶναι πάλιν τὸν θεῖον θάλαμον τὴν ἀποφοιτήσασαν, ἵν' ὡς πρότερον κηδόμενος αὐτὸς ζηλοῖ ἐπ' αὐτῇ ἀπελαύνων τοὺς μοιχικῶς μιάναντας αὐτήν. Καὶ θυμῷ γε μεγάλῳ τοῦτο ἐνεργεῖ, σφόδρα ἀγανακτῶν κατὰ τῶν διασυράντων αὐτήν, ὡς λοιπὸν λέγειν φανερῶς· «Ἐζήλωσα τὴν Σιὼν καὶ τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ.» 2.234 Κατ' ἀναγωγὴν Σιὼν καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ψυχή ἐστιν σκοποῦσα τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα καὶ αἰώνια, καὶ ψυχὴ ὁρῶσα τὴν εἰρήνην, τῆς ἀντακολουθίας τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ θείων φρονημάτων ἔχουσα τὸν εἱρμόν, ἥντινα ὁ θυμῷ μεγάλῳ ζηλώσας ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς ἑαυτόν, ἅμα καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτήν, ἐπινεύων ταῖς ἱκεσίαις αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ παρέχειν ἃ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεται. 2.235 Οὕτω δὲ βελτιωθεῖσα, ἀληθινὴ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ὀνομασθείη, οὐκέτι περιέπουσα τὰ σκιώδη καὶ εἰκονικὰ τοῦ νόμου, ἀλλὰ τὰ δι' αὐτῶν ἀγαθὰ δηλούμενα, περὶ ὧν ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἀπόστολος γράφει· «Σκιὰν ἔχων ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν εἰκόνα τῶν πραγμάτων.» Καὶ πάλιν τοῖς ἀπὸ ἐθνῶν πιστεύσασιν· «Μή τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει ἢ πόσει, ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς καὶ νεομηνίας καὶ σαββάτου, ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων.» 2.236 Ἀγαθὰ μέλλοντα ἐν ταῖς παραληφθείσαις λέξεσιν τυγχάνουσιν τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ μαθήματα, ἃ βασιλείας μυστήρια εἶπεν ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς γνωρίμοις φάμενος· «Ὑμῖν δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν.» Ἅπερ ἡ σκοποῦσα καὶ ὁρῶσα τὴν εἰρήνην τῆς συμφωνίας αὐτῶν Σιὼν καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἀνηγμένως ἐστίν, ἀληθινὴ καλουμένη, κατὰ ἀλήθειαν τὴν φανερουμένην τῇ τοῦ νόμου σκιᾷ πολιτευομένη, καὶ «ἐραυνῶσα τὰς θεοπνεύστους 65 γραφάς». 2.237 Ἁρμονίως τῷ ἀληθινὴν κεκλῆσθαι τὴν ἱερὰν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου παντοκράτορος ἅγιον ἔσται καὶ χρηματίσει. Ὅρα εἰ τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου παντοκράτορος ὁ λόγος τῆς ἐπιδημίας τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τυγχάνει, περὶ οὗ ἔν τινι ᾠδῇ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν φέρεται οὕτως· «Οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ Κύριον ὡς ὄρος Σιών.» Μὴ γὰρ τοσοῦτον πτωχεύσῃ ἡμῶν ὁ νοῦς ὡς νομίσαι αἰσθητῷ ὄρει παραβάλλεσθαι ἢ ὁμοιοῦσθαι τοὺς ἐπὶ Κύριον πεποιθότας, παμμεγέθη ἀρετὴν ἔχοντας, ὡς εὐλογημένους ἀποδείκνυσθαι κατὰ πνευματικὰς εὐλογίας τοὺς ἔχοντας. Γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν Ἰερεμίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ· «Εὐλογημένος ἄνθρωπος ὃς πέποιθεν ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ· καὶ ἔσται Κύριος ἐλπὶς αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς· «Ἀγαθὸν πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον.» 2.238 Ἐπεὶ οὖν μὴ αἰσθητὸν ὄρος, ἔκβρασμα γῆς τυγχάνον, μιμοῦνται οἱ ἐπὶ Κύριον πεποιθότες, τί φρονεῖν αὐτὸ δεῖ ἢ ἐκεῖνο περὶ οὗ εἶπεν Ἠσαΐας· «Ἔσται ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ Κυρίου», ἐπιλάμψαν καὶ φανερωθὲν «ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων, ἵνα ἀθετήσῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν», λύσας καὶ ἀφανίσας αὐτήν, ἀμνοῦ δίκην τυθείς. 2.239 Τοῦτο τὸ μυστήριον φωτίζων Ἰωάννης ὁ μέγας, δεικνὺς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἔφη· «Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.» 2.240 Περὶ τοῦ ἀποδειχθέντος ὄρους ἐκλαβεῖν δεῖ καὶ τὸ ἐν τεσσαρακοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ Ψαλμῷ ἀπαγγελλόμενον οὕτω· «Μέγας Κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα, ἐν πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ.» 2.241 Τούτων κατὰ τὴν πρώτην
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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