The Errors of Ephraim and the False Waters
And since the Savior is not only the one for those yoked under his good yoke, but also for those just called, and he has mounted a new colt, which was still untamed and without a bridle, so that he might also tame it, as the most skilled horse-tamer woulduld.
In this understanding, both the called peoples are signified by the word: those from circumcision, yoked under the yoke according to the letter and the shadow of the law, called a heavy yoke; and the one immediately called from all idolatry and superstitious handling. Because those yoked to the law according to the letter bore a heavy yoke, the apostles say about it in their own Book of Acts that 'neither we nor our fathers were able to bear' (Acts 15:10) the heavy yoke of the law.
Similarly, Paul, speaking in Christ, writes to the Galatians, who wish to be circumcised sensually after the gospel: 'Stand fast, therefore, and do not be held again by a yoke of slavery' (Galatians 5:1). For it was no longer following to place the disciples of the gospel under oppression and the heavy yoke, having been persuaded by the one who said: 'My yoke is good' (Matthew 11:30).
Likewise, the gentle king has mounted the new colt mentioned, 'so that he might create the two into one new man in it' (Ephesians 2:15). For thus one people and one Church shall be composed from both the callings.
Equally in the Gospels it is written about the colt released from the opposite village, so that he might come to Jesus, being tamed by mounting upon him by the Savior (Matthew 21:2-7); for it is said that not yet had any man sat upon him, which is shown by the word that the Gentiles had not yet transitioned for any didactic reason; for they were atheists in the world, having no true hope; but even if before the faith they were an unbridled colt, yet since the Christ rising from Judah has shone upon them, expectation has risen for them, according to what is said about him: 'And he himself shall be an expectation of the nations' (Isaiah 49:6), and again: 'Nations hope upon him' (Psalm 22:21).
Having been greatly benefited by the two callings from the mounting of the righteous and saving and gentle king upon them, the chariots of Ephraim are destroyed (Hosea 10:13), and the horse from Jerusalem, and with them the bow of the most brutish and wild wars, from which he departed...
The 'fiery darts of the evil one' refer to the passion for immorality, as those being burned are those being consumed by shameful passion. The collections of the heterodox and their irrational dogmatizing are the chariots of Ephraim. It has often been shown that heresies stand by the designation of Ephraim, because Jeroboam, who led the ninety-five schisms, was from the tribe of Ephraim; just as the Savior is called Judah because he is called from the same tribe to be a ruler of the Church, so the leader of bad doctrines is called Ephraim, promising much fruit by persisting in the deceived.
Regarding the perishing chariots, they say in the Psalms concerning those who ride and drive: 'Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are fallen, and are fallen: but we are risen, and are risen up' (Psalm 20:7). They agreed to sin and impiety. To each one having such an opinion, the king says in the law: 'I will not be with many to do evil; neither will I join with a multitude to bear false witness' (Exodus 20:16). Concerning this destructive thing, which leans toward evil, the personified prostitute in the Proverbs, whoever she may be, has cried out to each one who is shamelessly and boldly acting: 'A sacrifice of righteousness have I offered, today I pay my vows' (Proverbs 8:14).
If all things interpreted by the Great King are taken away, this too shall be: 'The waters shall be poured out unto the sea,' making them manifest to be salty and not drinkable, and 'the outbursts of the rivers of the earth,' waters flowing down to the sea. The words there are impious through saltiness, falsely claiming to have the outbursts of the sweet and drinkable rivers of the earth. Such are those of Pharaoh, who, sitting enthroned, boasts saying: 'The rivers are mine, and I have made them.' The drinking of these is forbidden by God in Jeremiah the prophet: 'And now, says he, what have you to do with the land of Egypt, to drink the waters of Gihon? and what have you to do with the land of Assyria, to drink the waters of the rivers?' (Jeremiah 2:18). The outbursts of the rivers of the earth are said to be likely and
Greek
καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ μόνων σωτὴρ ὑπάρχει τῶν ὑποζευχθέντων τῷ χρηστῷ αὐτοῦ ζυγῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄρτι κληθέντων, καὶ πώλῳ νέῳ ἐπιβέβηκεν, ἔτι ἀδαμάστῳ καὶ ἀχαλιναγωγήτῳ ὄντι, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸν ἐξημερώσῃ οἷα ἄριστος πωλοδάμνης. 3.142 Πρὸς τῇ νοήσει ταύτῃ, σημαίνονται διὰ τῆς λέξεως ἀμφότεροι οἱ κληθέντες λαοί, ὅ τε ἐκ περιτομῆς, υ῾̣πεζευγμένος τῷ ζυγῷ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα καὶ τὴν σκιὰν νόμου, καλουμένῳ βαρεῖ ζυγῷ, καὶ ὁ εὐθέως κληθεὶς ἀπὸ πάσης εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ χειρίστης δεισιδαιμονίας. Ὅτι δὲ οἱ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα ὑπεζευγμε´̣νοι τῷ νόμῳ βαρὺν ἔφερον ζυγόν, οἱ ἀπόστολοι περὶ αὐτοῦ φασιν ἐν τῇ Βίβλῳ τῶν Πράξεων ἑαυτῶν ὅτι «οὔτε ἡμεῖς οὔτε οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἴσχυσαν βαστάξαι» τὸν βαρὺν τοῦ νόμου ζυγόν. 3.143 Συνᾳδόντως καὶ ὁ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλῶν Παῦλος ἐπιστέλλει Γαλάταις, περιτέμνεσθαι αἰσθητῶς μετὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον θέλουσιν· «Στήκετε οὖν καὶ μὴ πάλιν ζυγῷ δουλείας ἐνέχεσθε.» Οὐ γὰρ ἔτι ἀκόλουθον ὑπῆρχεν ὑποκεῖσθαι τῷ ἄχθει καὶ τῷ βαρεῖ ζυγῷ τοὺς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου μαθητάς, πεισθέντας τῷ εἰρηκότι· «Ὁ ζυγός μου χρηστός.» 3.144 Ὡσαύτως καὶ πώλῳ τῷ λεχθέντι νέῳ ἐπιβέβηκεν ὁ πραῢς βασιλεύς, «ἵνα τ̣οὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον». Οὕτω γὰρ εἷς λαὸς καὶ Ἐκκλησία μία καταρτισθήσεται ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν κλήσεων. 3.145 Ἰσοδυναμούντως ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις γράφεται περὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς κατέναντι κώμης λυθέντος πώλου, ἵνα πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἔλθῃ, ἐξημερωθησομένου ἐπιβάντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Σωτῆρος· εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι οὔπω τότε ἐκάθισεν ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων τις, δηλουμένου διὰ τῆς λέξεως ὅτι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν οὐδέπω τότε ὑπό τινα λόγον διδασκαλικὸν μεθίσταντο· ἄθεοι γὰρ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὑπῆρχον, οὐδεμίαν ἀληθινὴν̣ ἐλπίδα ἔχοντες· ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ πρὸ τῆς πίστεως ἀχαλιναγώγητος πῶλος ἦσαν, ἀλλ' οὖν γε ἐπιλάμψαντος τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ Ἰούδα ἀνατείλαντος Χριστοῦ, προσδοκία αὐτοῖς ὑπῆρκται, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν», καὶ ἔτι· «Ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν.» 3.146 Μεγάλως ὠφεληθεισῶν τῶν δύο κλήσεω̣ν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιβάσεως τῆς ἐπ' αὐτὰς τοῦ δικαίου καὶ σῴζοντος καὶ πρᾴου βασιλέως, ἐξολεθρεύεται τὰ τοῦ Ἐφράιμ ἅρματα καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἵππος καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς τὸ τῶν ὠμοτάτων καὶ ἀγρίων πολεμίων τόξον, ἀφ' οὗ ἀπελύετο «τὰ τοῦ πονηροῦ πεπυρωμένα βέλη», τιτρώσκοντα εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀκολασίας ἔρωτα, ὡς πυρωθῆναι οἰστρηλατουμένους τοὺς πυρουμένους τῇ ἐμπαθεῖ αἰσχροπαθείᾳ. 3.147 Ἅρματα τοῦ Ἐφράιμ ὑπάρχει τὰ τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ἀθροίσματα καὶ ἡ ἄλογος αὐτῶν δογματοποιΐα. Πολλάκις ἀποδέδεικται ὡς αἱ αἱρέσεις παρίστανται ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἐφρα´̣ιμ προσηγορίας, διὰ τὸν ἡγησάμενον τῶν 95 σχισμάτων πρῶτον Ἰεροβοάμ, ὄντα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἐφράιμ φυλῆς· ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ὁ Σωτὴρ Ἰούδας προσαγορεύεται διὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνύμου φυλῆς ἀνατεταλκέναι, ἄρχων τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οὕτως ὁ ἡγούμενος τῶν κακοδοξιῶν λόγος Ἐφράιμ ἐστίν, καρποφορίαν πολλὴν ἐπαγγελλόμενος διὰ τὸ ἀνύειν ἐν τοῖς ἀπατωμένοις. 3.148 Περὶ τῶν ὀλεθρευομέν̣ων ἁρμάτων, τὸ τῆς ἀληθείας στρατόπεδον ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς φασιν περὶ τῶν ἐποχουμένων καὶ ἡνιοχούντων· «Οὗτοι ἐν ἅρμασιν καὶ οὗτοι ἐν ἵπποις, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Θεοῦ ἡμῶν μεγαλυνθησόμεθα. Αὐτοὶ συνεποδίσθησαν καὶ ἔπεσαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνέστημεν καὶ ἀνωρθώθημεν.» 3.156 συνεφώνουν εἰς ἁμαρτίαν καὶ δυσσέβειαν. 3.157 Πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν οὕτω γνώμης ἐχόντων ὁ βασιλεὺς νόμος φησίν· «Οὐκ ἔσῃ μετὰ πλειόνων ἐπὶ κακίᾳ· οὐδὲ συγκαταθήσει μετὰ πλήθους γενέσθαι μάρτυς ἄδικος.» Περὶ τῆς ὀλεθρίου ταύτης καὶ πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ῥοπὴν ἐχούσης, ἡ προσωποποιουμένη πόρνη ἐν ταῖς Παροιμίαις, ἥτις ποτ' ἂν ᾖ, πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν φενακιζομένων ἀναιδῶς καὶ θρασέως κέκραγεν· «Θυσία εἰρηνική μοί ἐστιν, σήμερον ἀποδίδωμι τὰς εὐχάς μου.» 3.158 Ἀναιρεθέντων πάντων τῶν ἡρμηνευμένων πρὸς τοῦ παμβασιλέως, ὑπαρχθήσεται καὶ τόδε· «Κατάρξει, φησίν, ὕδατα ἕως θαλάσσης», φανερῶν αὐτὰ ἁλμυρὰ καὶ οὐ πότιμα ὄντα, καὶ «τὰς τῶν τῆς γῆς ποταμῶν διεκβολάς», ὕδατα καταγόμενα ἕως θαλάσσης. Οἱ αὐτόθεν δι' ἁλμυρίδα ἀσεβεῖς λόγοι τυγχάνουσιν, διεκβολὰς ἐχόντων τῶν τῆς γῆς ποταμῶν τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ πότιμον ἐπιψευδόμενοι. Οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ τοῦ Φαραὼ οἷς ἐγκαθεζόμενος κομπάζει λέγων· «Ἐμοῦ εἰσιν οἱ ποταμοί, κἀγὼ ἐποίησα αὐτούς.» Τούτων ὁ ποτισμὸς ἀπαγορεύεται ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἐν Ἰερεμίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ· «Καὶ νῦν γάρ, φησίν, τί σοι καὶ τῇ γῇ Αἰγύπτου, τοῦ πιεῖν ὕδωρ Γηών; καὶ τί σοι καὶ τῇ γῇ Ἀσσυρίων, τοῦ πιεῖν ὕδωρ ποταμῶν;» 3.159 ∆ιεκβολαὶ εἴρηνται τῶν τῆς γῆς ποταμῶν αἱ πιθανῶς καὶ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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