The Flight from the North and the Gathering to Zion
It consumes, 'a consuming fire,' especially those thorns and briers that bear fruit, and even more so those that are cut off and thrown out because they do not make good fruit but destructive and poisonous fruit. Similarly to the holy city, the Lord is said to be around the people in one of the songs of the ascents: 'The Lord is around his people' (Ps 121:4).
Just as a wall of fire has become around Jerusalem the fallen, and has risen up as a glory in its midst, due to the being glorified by divinity and blessedness of those dwelling in the holy city which is encircled by God, about which the hymn-singer said, rather towards it: 'The city of God was spoken of as having been glorified' (Ps 48:14), and also: 'Great and exceedingly praiseworthy is the Lord, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain' (Ps 87:2).
And it will also be to us by the grace of the beneficent God to bear the fruits of the Spirit, so that around us the Lord might become like a fiery wall, illuminating and guarding us, while consuming the enemies coming to cast us down, so that we might triumphantly declare, showing the incorruptible city: 'Behold, a strong city and our salvation.'
'O, O, flee from the land of the north,' says the Lord (Zech 2:6); 'for from the four winds of heaven I will gather you,' says the Lord; 'be saved, you who dwell in the daughter of Babylon' (Zech 2:6).
The word stirs up those scattered 'in the north, where the evils are burned up from the face of those dwelling in the land,' concisely desiring the flight to take place from the hands of the enemy, which is signified by the name of the north, doubling the epithet of the exhortation, saying: 'O, O, flee from the land of the north.' He flees from the hands and from the punishment of poets being eager for repentance, going out from evil. The same as fleeing from the land of the north is: 'Turn away from evil,' and: 'Cease from your evils.'
And this is fulfilled when an abstinence from every kind of evil occurs, with only the good and praiseworthy being held fast, according to the exhortation of the apostolic advice: 'Test all things, hold fast to the good, abstain from every kind of evil' (1 Thess 5:21-22). And he alone and everyone flees from what is harmful, he who considers the good to be the good.
And by doing so. The flight becomes unobstructed from the north when the Benefactor and Provider of all things gathers the citizens of the beautiful city of Jerusalem, who were scattered among the four winds. By providing an easy escape, He makes it manifest where and in which city salvation occurs for those fleeing from the harsh and cold north wind; for it is written about it: 'Boreas is a harsh wind' (Job 37:9), and again: 'A cold north wind shall blow' (Job 37:9). Holy Zion is the place where those who formerly inhabited the daughter of Babylon can be safely restored. The multitude of those inhabiting her is her daughter.
And since the name 'Babylon' is taken to mean 'confusion,' everyone whose mind is disordered and poured out is Babylonian; he who is to be separated and of a disposition to have love for Zion ought to be restored, so that he may hymn and sing to God, since there it is fitting to hymn God, and it is right to sing a harmony to Him. For it has been said: 'A hymn is due to You, O God, in Zion' (Psalm 66:5), and: 'Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion' (Psalm 87:2).
And since it is not possible to hymn and sing to God while inhabiting the daughter of Babylon and the north, the Holy Spirit cries out like a herald, saying: 'O, oh, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; be restored to Zion, you who inhabit the daughter of Babylon, because from the four winds I will gather you,' that is, from all climates of the earth's surface. This is equivalent to: 'From the four winds I will gather you,' which the Savior said in the Gospel, 'to send the angels to gather the elect from the four winds' (Matthew 24:31).
When Zion and the daughter of Babylon are allegorized, the winds must also be allegorized, namely, as fleshly powers or the various winds of false teaching, tossing and carrying away into atheistic mindsets and uncertain practices those who are infants in intellect, which is not praiseworthy; for the Apostle writes about such a state: 'Lest we be infants, tossed and carried about by every wind of teaching in cunning' (Ephesians 4:14). Sometimes the winds are taken to mean trials and circumstances, as in...
Greek
καταφλέγει, «καταναλίσκον πῦρ ὑπάρχων» ἐκείνων μάλιστα τῶν τριβόλους καὶ ἀκάνθας καρποφορούντων, ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἐκκοπτομένων καὶ ἔξω βαλλομένων διὰ τὸ μὴ καλὸν καρπὸν ποιεῖν ἀλλ' ὀλέθριον καὶ δηλητήριον. Παραπλησίως τῆς ἁγίας πόλεως, καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ ὁ Κύριος κύκλῳ εἶναι λέγεται ἐν μιᾷ ᾠδῇ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν· «Κύριος κύκλῳ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ.» 1.126 Ὥσπερ δὲ τεῖχος πυρὸς κυκλόθεν γέγονεν τῆς κατακάρπου Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ εἰς δόξασμα ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς ὑπῆρκται, δοξασμένων θειότητι καὶ μακαριότητι τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ κυκλουμένην ἁγίαν πόλιν περὶ ἧς μελῳδῶν ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς ἔφη, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸς αὐτήν· «∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ», καὶ ἔτι· «Μέγας Κύριος καὶ ἐπαινετὸς σφόδρα, ἐν πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ὄρει ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ.» 1.127 Ὑπάρξει δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν χάριτι τοῦ εὐεργέτου Θεοῦ τὸ καρποφορῆσαι τοὺς καρποὺς τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἵνα κύκλῳ ἡμῶν οἷα τεῖχος πύρινον ὁ Κύριος γένηται, φωτίζων καὶ φρουρῶν μὲν ἡμᾶς, καταναλίσκων δὲ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ καθελεῖν ἐπερχομένους πολεμίους, ἵν' ἐπινικίως ἀναφθεγξώμεθα δεικνύντες τὴν ἀκαθαίρετον πόλιν· «Ἰδοὺ πόλις ὀχυρὰ καὶ σωτήριον ἡμῶν.» 1.128 Zach. II, 10®11: Ὦ, ὦ, φεύγετε ἐκ γῆς βορρᾶ, λέγει Κύριος· διότι ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ συνάξω ὑμᾶς, λέγει Κύριος· εἰς Σιὼν ἀνασῴζεσθε οἱ κατοικοῦντες θυγατέρα Βαβυλῶνος. 1.129 ∆ιεγείρων ὁ λόγος τοὺς ἐσκεδασμένους «ἐν τῷ βορρᾷ, οὗ ἀπὸ προσώπου ἐκκαίεται τὰ κακὰ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν», συντόνως τὴν φυγὴν βουλόμενος γενέσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν χειρόνων, ἃ σημαίνεται ὀνόματι τοῦ βορρᾶ, ἐπιδιπλασιάζει τὸ σύνθημα τῆς προτροπῆς λέγων· «Ὦ, ὦ, φεύγετε ἐκ γῆς βορρᾶ.» Φεύγει δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν χειρόνων καὶ κολάσεως ποιητικῶν ὁ προθύμῳ μετανοίᾳ ἔξω γινόμενος τῆς κακίας. Ταὐτὸν τῷ φυγεῖν ἀπὸ γῆς βορρᾶ τό· «Ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ», καὶ τό· «Παύσασθε ἀπὸ τῶν πονηριῶν ὑμῶν.» 1.130 Τελεῖται δὲ τοῦτο ὅταν ἀποχὴ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ γένηται, κατεχομένου μόνου τοῦ αἱρετοῦ καὶ ἐπαινετοῦ, κατὰ τὴν προτροπὴν τῆς ἀποστολικῆς παραινέσεως· «Πάντα δοκιμάζετε, τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε, ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.» Μόνος δὲ καὶ πᾶς φεύγει τὰ ἐπιβλαβῆ ὁ αἱρετὸν ἡγούμενος τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ποιῶν αὐτό. 1.131 Ἀκώλυτος δὲ ἡ φυγὴ γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ βορρᾶ ὅταν ὁ εὐεργέτης καὶ προνοητὴς τῶν ὅλων συναγάγῃ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐσκεδασμένους πολίτας τῆς καλλιπόλεως Ἰερουσαλήμ. Εὔκολον παρασχὼν τὴν φυγήν, φανεροῖ ποῦ καὶ ἐν ποίᾳ πόλει ἡ σωτηρία γίνεται τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ βορρᾶ τοῦ σκληροῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ ἀνέμου· γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Βορέας σκληρὸς ἄνεμος», καὶ πάλιν· «Βορέας ψυχρὸς ἄνεμος πνεύσει.» Ἔστιν δὲ ἡ ἱερὰ Σιὼν ἔνθα ἀνασωθῆναι ἀσφαλῶς δυνατὸν τοὺς πρότερον κατοικοῦντας τὴν θυγατέρα Βαβυλῶνος. Θυγάτηρ δὲ αὐτῆς ἐστιν ἡ πληθὺς τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν. 1.132 Καὶ ἐπεὶ μεταλαμβάνεται τὸ «Βαβυλὼν» ὄνομα εἰς 13 τὸ «σύγχυσις», πᾶς ὁ τεταραγμένος καὶ συγκεχυμένος τὸν νοῦν Βαβυλώνιός ἐστιν, οὗ ἀπαλλοθριοῦσθαι σχέσει καὶ διαθέσει προσήκει τὸν ἔρωτα ἔχοντα ἐν τῇ Σιὼν ἀνασωθῆναι, ἵνα ὑμνῇ καὶ ψάλλῃ τῷ Θεῷ, ἐπείπερ ἐκεῖ πρέπει ὕμνος τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ψάλλειν αὐτῷ ἁρμόνιόν ἐστιν. Εἴρηται γάρ· «Σοὶ πρέπει ὕμνος, ὁ Θεός, ἐν Σιών», καί· «Ψάλατε τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ κατοικοῦντι ἐν Σιών.» 1.133 Καὶ ἐπεὶ οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν τὸν κατοικοῦντα ἐν τῇ θυγατρὶ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ἐν τῷ βορρᾷ ὑμνεῖν καὶ ψάλλειν τῷ Θεῷ, κηρυκάδην ἐπιβοᾷ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα λέγον· «Ὦ, ὦ, φεύγετε ἀπὸ γῆς βορρᾶ, λέγει Κύριος· εἰς Σιὼν ἀνασῴζεσθε, οἱ κατοικοῦντες θυγατέρα Βαβυλῶνος, διότι ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων συνάξω ὑμᾶς», τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐκ πάντων κλιμάτων τοῦ ὑπὲρ γῆς τόπου. 1.134 Ἰσοδυναμεῖ τῷ· «Ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων συνάξω ὑμᾶς», ὃ εἶπεν ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ Σωτὴρ «ἀποστέλλεσθαι τοὺς ἀγγέλους συναγαγεῖν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων». 1.135 Ἀλληγορηθείσης τῆς Σιὼν καὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς Βαβυλῶνος, ἀνακτέον καὶ τοὺς ἀνέμους, ἤτοι εἰς δυνάμεις ἀσάρκους ἢ τοὺς διαφόρους τῆς ψευδωνύμου διδασκαλίας ἀνέμους, κλυδωνίζοντας καὶ περιφέροντας εἰς ἄθεα φρονήματα καὶ ἀβεβαίους πράξεις τοὺς νηπιάζοντας τῇ διανοίᾳ οὐκ ἐπαινετῶς· γράφει γοῦν περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης καταστάσεως ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Ἵνα μὴ ὦμεν νήπιοι κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδασκαλίας ἐν πανουργίᾳ.» 1.136 Λαμβάνονταί ποτε οἱ ἄνεμοι ἀντὶ πειρασμῶν καὶ περιστάσεων, ὡς ἐν
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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