The Building of the House and Temple
It shows the dogmas of piety, the moral and practical virtue called justice, having a longing for salvation according to what was said about it: 'Learn to do justice, you who dwell upon the earth' (Ps 30:15).
What remains to be contemplated regarding the mentioned virtues? Mercy meets with truth, 'justice and peace have kissed' (Ps 85:10). For since the truth of God is great and has been lifted up, it is necessary that mercy be granted from the God who is the source of goodness, so that it may exist for men. But also justice, dissolving all injustice, the mother of all stability and of all war being averted, proclaims peace and harmony. Someone has also said that among the wise of men, peace and justice have harmony with themselves; for among all those justly pursuing the right, if it should happen so, every uprising and enmity will be driven out, as when peace prevails, equality and justice reign.
Having these things thus, the Almighty Lord is of truth and justice. For it has been said in the thirtieth Psalm, by him having the Lord as hope according to the beginning of the song: 'Deliver me, Lord God of truth' (Ps 30:2); and in the fourth Psalm: 'In calling upon me you heard me, O God of my justice' (Ps 4:12). It is in harmony with God being truth and knowledge, as the blessed mother of the holy Samuel said: 'Let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for God is a Lord of knowledge' (1 Sam 1:7). When we strive to enrich a people through good works and through true and pious knowledge of God, the Victorious One will also be our God, being made our own in truth and in justice.
Zach. VIII, 9: Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Let your hands be strengthened, you who hear these words from the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord of hosts was founded, and the temple from which it was built.' The Almighty Lord commands the hands of the people lying down before the Lord of hosts to be strengthened, according to the words of the Lord God of hosts, from whom his house was founded, in the present days, from which the temple was built. And those are strengthened with piety and holiness of truth, according to the words...
Regarding what was said from the mouth of the prophets, from which the house of the Lord is founded and the holy temple is built.
Hands prevail in words when moral teachings are converted into works. For only then do the active hands of the soul convert into energy, when works with virtue happen to be woven together with the words, for those hearing, being not only hearers of law but also doers of work.
When, indeed, these things are practiced with sincerity and godliness, or when the people of God act and think with the word of piety, the divine house being founded and the temple being built according to the present days. The house of the Lord is being founded and the temple is being built, the fulfillment of that said in Proverbs: 'Wisdom built a house for herself, and raised up seven pillars' (Prov 9:1). Concerning this house and temple, the Lord who became man says to the Father: 'But a body I will complete for me.' Since the foundations of the house thus exist as if a holy temple having been built, the hands—that is, the practical powers—prevail according to the preceding luminous theories, called days.
Know if the glorious Church, about which the Apostle writes to Timothy his own disciple, happens to be a house founded and a temple built: 'But if I delay, so that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). This is also submitted to the mind by the prophetic voice of Isaiah having it thus: 'He who says, Jerusalem: It shall be built, and I will found my holy house' (Isa 22:28). When, however, will this be, or when all those having adhered to the gospel will 'be built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, into a holy temple in the Lord, into a dwelling place' (Eph 2:20-22)?
In view of the things seen, and for each of the god-fearing, the house is being founded and the temple is being built, according to the testimony of Christ declaring: 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come, I and the Father, and we will make a dwelling with him' (John 14:23). The hands of the disciples of Christ prevail, doing what...
Greek
τῆς εὐσεβείας δογμάτων δηλοῖ, τῆς ἠθικῆς καὶ πρακτικῆς ἀρετῆς δικαιοσύνης καλουμένης, κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν περὶ αὐτῆς τοῖς σωτηρίας πόθον ἔχουσιν· «∆ικαιοσύνην μάθετε ποιεῖν, οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.» 2.303 Τί δὲ παρέπεται ταῖς μνημονευθείσαις ἀρεταῖς θεωρητέον. 2.304 Τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἔλεος συναντᾷ, «ἡ δικαιοσύνη καὶ εἰρήνη κατεφίλησαν.» Ἐπεὶ γὰρ μεγάλη τίς ἐστιν καὶ ἀνηγμένη ἡ Θεοῦ ἀλήθεια, χρεία ἐστὶν ἐλεηθῆναι πρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄντος πηγῆς ἀγαθότητος, ἵνα ἀνθρώποις ὑπαρχθῇ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη, λύουσα πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν, μητέρα πάσης στάσεως καὶ παντὸς πολέμου, εἰρήνην καὶ συμφωνίαν ἐπικηρυκεύεται. Εἴρηκέ τις καὶ τῶν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις σοφῶν συμφωνίαν πρὸς ἑαυτὰς ἔχειν τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην· πάντων γὰρ δικαίως τὸ δίκαιον διωκόντων, εἰ οὕτω τύχοι̣, πᾶσα στάσις καὶ ἔχθρα ἐκποδὼν οἰχήσεται, ὡς αὖ εἰρήνης ἐπικρατούσης, ἰσότης καὶ δικαιοσύνη βασιλεύει. 2.305 Τούτων ὧδε ἐχόντων, ὁ παντοκράτωρ Κύριος τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐστίν. Εἴρηται γοῦν ἐν τριακοστῷ Ψαλμῷ, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐλπίδα τὸν Κύριον ἔχοντος κατὰ τὴν τῆς ᾠδῆς ἀρχήν· «Ἐλυτρώσω με, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῆς ἀληθείας»· καὶ ἐν τετάρτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «Ἐν τῷ ἐπικαλεῖσθαί με εἰσήκουσάς μου, ὁ Θεὸς τῆς δικαιοσύνης μου.» Ἁρμονίως τῷ εἶναι τῆς ἀληθείας Θεόν, καὶ τῆς γνώσεώς ἐστιν, ὡς ἡ μακαρία μήτηρ τοῦ ἁγίου Σαμουὴλ εἶπεν· «Μὴ ἐξελθάτω μεγαλορημοσύνη ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν, ὅτι Θεὸς γνώσεως Κύριος.» 2.306 Ὅταν σπουδάσωμεν διὰ ἀγαθῶν ἔργω̣ν καὶ ἀληθοῦς καὶ εὐσεβοῦς γνώσεως Θεοῦ χρηματίσαι λαός̣, τὸ τηνίκαδε καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμῶν ἔσται Θεός, οἰκειούμενος ἡμῖν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. 2.307 Zach. VIII, 9: Τάδε λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτω̣ρ· Κα̣τισχυέτωσαν αἱ χεῖρες ὑμῶν τῶν ἀκουόντων ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις τοὺς λόγους τούτους ἐκ στόματος τῶν προφητῶν, ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας τεθεμελίωται ὁ οἶκος Κυρίου παντοκράτορος, καὶ ὁ ναὸς ἀφ' οὗ ᾠκοδόμηται. 2.308 Ὁ παντοκράτωρ Κύριος προστάττει κατισχύειν τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ ἀνακειμένου Κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι λαοῦ, κατὰ τοὺς λόγους Κυρίου Θεοῦ παντοκράτορος ἀφ' οὗ ὁ οἶκος αὐτοῦ τεθεμελίωται, κατὰ τὰς ἔμπροσθεν ἡμέρας, ἀφ' οὗ ὁ ναὸς ᾠκοδόμηται. Κατισχύουσι δὲ αἱ σὺν εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ ὁσιότητι τῆς ἀληθείας, κατὰ τοὺς λόγους τῶν λεχθέντων ἀπὸ στόματος τῶν προφητῶν, ἀφ' οὗ ὁ οἶκος Κυρίου τεθεμελίωται, καὶ ὁ ναὸς ὁ ἅγιος ᾠκοδόμηται. 2.309 Κατισχύουσι δὲ χεῖρες ἐν λόγοις ὅταν εἰς ἔργα μεταβάλωσιν τὰ ἠθικὰ μαθήματα. Τότε γὰρ τότε αἱ δραστήριοι χεῖρες τῆς ψυχῆς εἰς ἐνέργειαν μεταβάλλουσιν, ὅταν συνυφῆ τυγχάνῃ τοῖς λόγοις τὰ σὺν ἀρετῇ ἔργα, τῶν ἀκουόντων οὐκ ἀκροατῶν μόνου νόμου ὄντων ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιητῶν ἔργου. 2.310 Πότε δὲ ταῦτα γνησίως καὶ θεοσεβῶς σπουδάζεται, ἢ ὅτε ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λαὸς σὺν λόγῳ τῆς εὐσεβείας πράττει καὶ διανοεῖται, τοῦ θείου οἴκου θεμελιουμένου καὶ οἰκοδομουμένου τοῦ ναοῦ κατὰ τὰς ἔμπροσθεν ἡμέρας. Θεμελιοῦται δὲ ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου οἶκος καὶ ὁ ναὸς οἰκοδομεῖται, πληρουμένου τοῦ ἐν Παροιμίαις εἰρημένου οὕτως· «Ἡ σοφία ᾠκοδόμησεν ἑαυτῇ οἶκον, καὶ ὑπήρεισεν στύλους ἕπτα.» Περὶ τούτου τοῦ οἴκου καὶ ναοῦ ὁ ἐνανθρωπήσας Κύριος λέγει τῷ Πατρί· «Σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι.» Τοῦ οὕτω λεχθέντος οἴκου θεμελίους ἐσχηκότος οἷα ναοῦ ἁγίου οἰκοδομηθέντος, αἱ χεῖρες, τοῦτ' ἔστιν αἱ πρακτικαὶ δυνάμεις, κατισχ̣ύουσιν κατὰ τὰς ἔμπροσθεν φωτε̣ινὰς θεωρίας, ἡμέρας καλουμένας. 2.311 Ἐπίστησον εἰ οἶκος τεθεμελιωμένος καὶ ναὸς ᾠκοδομημένος τυγχάνει ἡ ἔνδοξος Ἐκκλησία, περὶ ἧς ἐπιστέλλει ὁ Ἀπόστολος Τιμοθέῳ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ μαθητῇ· «Ἐὰν δὲ βραδύνω, ἵν' εἰδῇς πῶς δεῖ ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος, στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας.» Ταύτην ὑποβάλλει τὴν νόησιν καὶ ἡ προφητικὴ τοῦ Ἠσαΐου φωνὴ ὧδε 73 ἔχουσα· «Ὁ λέγων Ἰερουσαλήμ· Οἰκοδομηθήσει καὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἅγιόν μου θεμελιώσω.» Πότε δὲ τοῦθ' ὑπάρξεται, ἢ ὅταν πάντες οἱ προσηκάμενοι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διὰ τελείας πίστεως καὶ ἀρετῆς «ἐποικοδομηθῶσιν ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν Κυρίῳ, εἰς κατοικητήριον» τῆς Τριάδος; 2.312 Πρὸς τοῖς τεθεωρημένοις, καὶ ἕκαστος τῶν θεοσεβῶν οἶκος θεμελιοῦται καὶ ναὸς οἰκοδομεῖται, κατὰ τὴν Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίαν φάσκοντος· «Ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με, τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμὸν τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ Πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἐλευσόμεθα», ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατήρ μου, «καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα.» 2.313 Κατισχύουσιν αἱ χεῖρες τῶν Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν, πραττόντων ἃ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
Original English Translation — new OET from PG Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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