The Heavenly Dew
A perfected rational essence, having come forth from the true vine by the manner of participation. Concerning this leading, the Savior said in the Gospel: 'I am the vine, you are the branches; every branch remaining in me, the Father prunes it, so that it may bear more fruit' (John 15:1, 2).
Regarding these branches having the beginning of fruitfulness, it is written in the Song of Songs: 'Our vines are flourishing, they have given fragrance' (Song of Solomon 1:12). And the fruit, having progressed and having come to perfection, is harvested, and being cast into the winepress, it is crushed, and becomes a drink that gladdens the heart of the drinker, according to that said in the Psalms: 'Wine gladdens the heart of man' (Psalm 104:15).
Concerning the spiritual harvest, superlative songs have been written, such as the eighth, and the eighty-eighth, and the thirty-eighth; for these alone are the three Psalms from the hundred and fifty that were inscribed 'for the festivals.'
Harmoniously, according to the ascent, the given vine will yield its fruit and the earth will give its generations, having brought to fruition that which Jesus cast as seed upon it, to give a hundred, sixty, thirty, according to the interpretation of the parable; for the Savior interpreted the good and straight heart as a good earth (Matthew 13:8).
And these generations of the earth are given to the one sowing in tears, that is, with sweat and toil, the divine seeds, so that he may reap them in joy. For concerning these ones sowing, not in a sensible way but in an intellectual way, it is carried in a certain Psalm of the ascents: 'Those sowing in tears shall reap in joy; walking, they went and wept, carrying their seeds; coming, they shall arrive in joy, carrying their sheaves' (Psalm 126:5-6).
Concerning such straightness, being spiritual, the divine word exhorts in the prophet Hosea: 'Sow for yourselves unto righteousness, reap unto the fruit of life, light for yourselves the light of knowledge, seek the Lord until he comes...'
"...the offspring of righteousness." The vine gives its edible and fruit-bearing fruit and its offspring to the good earth, because heaven has given its dew. Let us consider what this dew is, knowing that the one giving it is heaven, which is perhaps not other than the man bearing "the image of the heavenly one" (Col 3:10), having "his citizenship in heaven" (Phil 3:20).
Concerning all those being formed according to the heavenly Savior, it is said in the plural in Psalm 18: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands." Concerning these things also, it is written in a great song in Deuteronomy: "Rejoice, O heavens, together with him" (Deut 32:1), making the Savior manifest. For how have they not rejoiced together and exulted, having been formed according to him, according to the teachings of the holy Apostle Paul, where he writes concerning those faithfully and sincerely God-fearing: "Whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29); and where: "Let us bear the image of the heavenly one" (Col 3:10).
Those having excelled in moral virtue and intellectual virtue, "having been completed by the same mind and the same judgment" (Phil 2:2), must be said to have one heaven by agreement, giving spiritual dew. But also each of such people gives his own dew, similarly to the holy priest Moses saying: "Let my word be expected like rain, and let my words descend like dew" (Hos 14:5).
However, even if it is given by the interpreted heavens, it is first of all provided by the Master of the heavens, according to the divine voice of Isaiah having this: "The dead shall arise, and those in the tombs shall stand up, and those on the earth shall rejoice; for the dew from you shall be a healing to them" (Isa 26:19). And since concerning the intellectual dew, it being medicinal, those on the earth who happen to partake of it rejoice, and it is for the rising dead and those coming out of the tombs to partake of it.
Greek
πεποιωμένη λογικὴ οὐσία, ἐκπεφυκυῖα ἐκ τῆς ἀμπέλου τῆς ἀληθινῆς μετουσίας τρόπῳ. Περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἀγωγῆς, ἐν Εὐαγγελίῳ εἶπεν ὁ Σωτήρ· «Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα· πᾶν κλῆμα μένον ἐν ἐμοί, καθαίρει αὐτὸ ὁ Πατήρ, ἵνα πλείονα καρπὸν φέρῃ.» 2.334 Περὶ τούτων τῶν κλημάτων ἀρχὴν καρποφορίας ἐχόντων ἐν τῷ Ἄισματι τῶν Ἀισμάτων γέγραπται· «Αἱ ἄμπελοι ἡμῶν κυπρίζουσιν, ἔδωκαν ὀσμήν.» Προκόψας δ' ὁ καρπὸς καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τελειότητα τρυγᾶται, καὶ εἰς ληνὸν βληθεὶς ἐκθλίβεται, καὶ γίνεται πόμα εὐφραῖνον τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ πιόντος, κατὰ τὸ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς εἰρημένον· «Οἶνος εὐφραίνει καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου.» 2.335 Περὶ τῆς πνευματικῆς τρυγῆς, ὑπερλήνιοι ᾠδαὶ ἀνεγράφησαν, οἷαί εἰσιν ἡ ὀγδόη, καὶ ὀγδοηκοστή, καὶ τρίτη καὶ ὀγδοηκοστή· οὗτοι γὰρ μόνοι οἱ τρεῖς Ψαλμοὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα «ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν» ἐπεγράφησαν. 2.336 Ἁρμονίως κατ' ἀναγωγὴν τῇ δούσῃ ἀμπέλῳ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς καὶ ἡ γῆ δώσει τὰ γενήματα αὐτῆς, τελεσφορήσασα ὃν ἔβαλεν Ἰησοῦς ἐπ' αὐτὴν σπόρον, ὡς δοῦναι ἑκατόν, ἑξήκοντα, τριάκοντα, κατὰ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τῆς παραβολῆς τὴν γὰρ καλὴν καὶ εὐθύτητα καρδίαν ἔχουσαν, ἀγαθὴν γῆν ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ Σωτήρ. 2.337 ∆ίδοται δὲ ταῦτα τὰ γενήματα τῆς γῆς τῷ σπείραντι ἐν δάκρυσιν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν σὺν ἱδρῶτι καὶ πόνῳ, τὰ θεῖα σπέρματα, ἵνα θερίσῃ αὐτὰ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει. Περὶ γὰρ τούτων τῶν σπειρόντων, οὐκ αἰσθητῶς τοῦτο ποιούντων ἀλλὰ νοητῶς, ἔν τινι ᾠδῇ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν φέρεται· «Οἱ σπείροντες ἐν δάκρυσιν, ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει θεριοῦσιν· πορευόμενοι ἐπορεύοντο καὶ ἔκλαιον, αἴροντες τὰ σπέρματα αὐτῶν· ἐρχόμενοι ἥξουσιν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει, αἴροντες τὰ δράγματα αὐτῶν.» 2.338 Περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης εὐθηνίας, πνευματικῆς οὔσης, καὶ ἐν Ὠσῆε τῷ προφήτῃ ὁ θεῖος προστάττει λόγος· «Σπείρατε ἑαυτοῖς εἰς δικαιοσύνην, τρυγήσατε εἰς καρπὸν ζωῆς, φωτίσατε ἑαυτοῖς φῶς γνώσεως, ἐκζητήσατε τὸν Κύριον ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν γενήματα δικαιοσύνης.» 2.339 ∆ίδωσιν ἡ ἀποδοθεῖσα ἄμπελος τὸν 76 ἐδώδιμον καὶ εὐφραίνοντα καρπὸν καὶ τὰ γενήματα ἑαυτῆς ἡ ἀγαθὴ γῆ, τοῦ οὐρανοῦ δεδωκότος τὴν δρόσον αὐτοῦ. Νοήσομεν δὲ τίς ἡ δρόσος αὕτη, γνόντες τίς ὁ διδοὺς αὐτὴν οὐρανός, οὐχ ἕτερος ὢν τάχα τοῦ φοροῦντος ἀνθρώπου «τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου», ἔχοντος «ἐν οὐρανῷ τὸ πολίτευμα». Περὶ πάντων τῶν μεμορφωμένων κατὰ τὸν ἐπουράνιον Σωτῆρα, πληθυντικῶς λέγεται ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ, ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα.» 2.340 Περὶ τούτων καὶ ἐν ᾠδῇ μεγάλῃ ἐν ∆ευτερονομίῳ γέγραπται· «Εὐφράνθητε, οἱ οὐρανοί, ἅμα αὐτῷ», τῷ Σωτῆρι δηλονότι. Πῶς γὰρ οὐχ ἅμα αὐτῷ γεγήθασιν καὶ ἀγαλλιῶνται, μορφωθέντες κατ' αὐτόν, κατὰ τὴν παίδευσιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου, ὅπου μὲν γράφοντος περὶ τω῀̣ν πιστῶς καὶ γνησίως θεοσεβούντων· «Οὓς προέγνω και`̣ π̣ρ̣οώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ»· ὅπου δέ· «Φορέσωμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου.» 2.341 Τοὺς οὕτω διαπρέψαντας ἐν ἠθικῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ διανοητικῇ, «κατηρτισμένους τῷ αὐτῷ νοῒ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ γνώμῃ», ἕνα οὐρανὸν κατὰ συμφωνίαν ῥητέον, διδόντα πνευματικὴν δρόσον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕκαστος τῶν τοιούτων δίδωσιν τὴν ἰδίαν δρόσον, παραπλησίως τῷ λέγοντι ἱεροφάντῃ Μωϋσεῖ· «Προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸς ἀπόφθεγμά μου, καὶ καταβήτω ὡς δρόσος τὰ ῥήματά μου.» 2.342 Ὅμως εἰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἑρμηνευθέντων οὐρανῶν δίδοται, ἀλλ' οὖν ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου τῶν οὐρανῶν προηγουμένως χορηγεῖται, κατὰ τὴν Ἠσαίου θείαν φωνὴν ὧδε ἔχουσαν· «Ἀναστήσονται οἱ νεκροί, καὶ ἐγερθήσονται οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις, καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται οἱ ἐν τῇ γῇ· ἡ γὰρ δρόσος ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ἴαμα αὐτοῖς ἔσται.» 2.343 Καὶ ἐπεὶ περὶ τῆς νοητῆς δρόσου ἰατικῆς οὔσης εὐφραίνονται οἱ ἐν τῇ γῇ τυχόντες αὐτῆς, καὶ τοὺς ἀνισταμένους νεκροὺς καὶ ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἐξερχομένους μεθέξειν αὐτῆς
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.