The Division of Living Water
To know and not to know means that one must grasp one thing or another, rather than the knowing and not-knowing signifying something else.
Zach. 14:8–9: And in that day living water shall come out from Jerusalem, half of it to the first sea and half of it to the last sea, and it shall be thus in summer and in winter. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. On the known day of the Lord, living water shall come out from Jerusalem, 'of the heavenly city of the living God,' of which the half shall be toward the first sea, the rest half toward the last sea, going, the same thing happening not only in summer but also in spring, over all the earth, that is, of the humans, the Lord reigning.
Since nothing sensible or historical is being manifested by the prophecy, all of it must be received by anagogical lifting up. For the living water coming out from the intelligible Jerusalem, which sees the peace of the Church, is the spiritual law, or rather the knowledge of ecclesiastical understandings, which, going out toward the sea, makes it sweet and makes it calm, being driven out against every winter and overturning it.
This indeed the vision has attained clarity, as we were explaining recently the one in Isaiah having it thus: 'The whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea' (Isa 11:9). For just as the divine love, that which is from God toward those experiencing good, and that of the benefactors toward the magnanimous, 'covers a multitude of sins' (1 Pet 4:8), vanishing the sins, but not guarding them, and covering what was done crudely, so the knowledge of God, existing as living water, covers the seas, changing them into sweetness and something drinkable.
Thus the living water coming out from Jerusalem into the first and last sea, having lifted up every dizziness and storm, every saltiness and bitterness, prosperity and calm...
He will prepare a spring and a fountain so that seas shall no longer be. Living water having been divided, it came upon them; for one half of it went into the first, and the other half went into the last, which has received it, not in the summer alone but also in the springtime.
And of such a benefit existing, the Lord will rule over all the earth, according to the things said in the Psalms, where it says: 'The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice' (Ps 96:1), and where it says: 'Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned, and indeed he has established the inhabited world, which shall not be shaken' (Ps 97:1). Then the inhabited world is established so as to remain unshakeable, when the first sea, being the assembly of the Jews, has been made sweet, and the last, being the calling of the Gentiles. Both these seas were being filled with disturbance and storm before the reception of the gospel and the faith into the Savior, and rather into the Holy Trinity.
Try if it is possible to divide the living water into the two covenants, the new and the old, this happening when the water has become outside of Jerusalem. And from it there went out a little while 'into the whole earth' arrived 'the sound' of the words of God and 'his words to the ends of the inhabited world', as everywhere a 'sweet fragrance' is being spiritually 'offered to God and a pure sacrifice', since the Lord has been greatly revealed among all the nations.
The living water having been divided into a half and a half into the two covenants, it was within in Jerusalem, being guarded under the shadow of the law and of the antiquity of the letter, rather being covered, while the peak of winter was holding; but when the spring was received, the things having blossomed upon the earth and the voice of the vintage calling in the land, according to that which was said in the Song of Songs, 'the fig tree has yielded its figs, the vines are fragrant, the winter has passed, the rain has gone, it has departed, the flowers appeared in the land' (Song 2:11-12).
Greek
γινώσκειν καὶ μὴ γινώσκεσθαι ἤτοι περὶ ἑτέρας καὶ ἑτέρας ἐκλαβεῖν δεῖ, ἢ τὸ γινώσκεσθαι καὶ μὴ κατ' ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο σημαινόμενον. 5.79 Zach. XIV, 8–9: Καὶ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐξελεύσεται ὕδωρ ζῶν ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ, τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν πρώτην καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν ἐσχάτην, καὶ ἐν θέρει καὶ ἐν ἔαρι ἔσται οὕτως. Κα̣ὶ ἔσται Κύριος εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. 5.80 Ἐν τῇ γνωστῇ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμέρᾳ, ζῶν ὕδωρ ἐξελεύσεται ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ, «τῆς ἐπουρανίου πόλ̣εως τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ», οὗπερ τὸ ἥμισυ ἐπὶ τὴν πρώτην θάλατταν ἔσται, τοῦ λοιποῦ ἡμίσεως ἐπὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην θάλατταν φθάνοντος, τοῦ αὐτοῦ 154 γινομένου οὐκ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ θέρει ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ἔαρι, πάσης τῆς γῆς, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τῶν α᾿̣νθρώπων, τοῦ Κυρίου βασιλεύοντος. 5.81 Οὐδὲν αἰσθητὸν ἢ ἱστορικὸν ἐμφαινούσης τῆς προφητείας, πᾶσαν αὐτὴν κατ' ἀναγωγὴν ἐκδεκτέον. 5.82 Ἐξερχόμενον γὰρ ὕδωρ ζῶν ἐκ τῆς νοητῆς Ἰερουσαλήμ, τῆς τὴν εἰρήνην ὁρώσης Ἐκκλησίας, ὁ πνευματικὸς νόμος ἐστίν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν φρονημάτων γνῶσις, ἥτις, εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐξερχομένη, γλυκαίνει αὐτὴν καὶ γαληνείαν ποιεῖ, πάντα χειμῶνα ἐξωθουμένη καὶ ἀνατρέπουσα. 5.83 Τοῦτό τοι τὸ θεώρημα σαφηνείας τετύχηκεν ὁπηνίκα ἐξηγούμεθα τὸ ἐν Ἠσαίᾳ οὕτως ἔχον· «Ἐνεπλήσθη ἡ σύμπασα τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν Κύριον ὡς ὕδωρ πολὺ κατακαλύψαι θάλασσαν.» Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ θεία ἀγάπη, ἡ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τοὺς εὐπάσχοντας καὶ ἡ τῶν εὐεργετουμένων πρὸς τὸν μεγαλόδωρον, «πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν καλύπτει», ἀφανίζουσα, ἀλλ' οὐ φρουροῦσα, καὶ σκεπάζουσα τὰ χειρίστως ἐπιτελεσθέντα, οὕτως ἡ Θεοῦ γνῶσις, ζῶν ὑπάρχουσα ὕδωρ, κατακαλύπτει τὰς θαλάσσας, εἰς γλυκύτητα̣ καὶ πότιμον μεταβάλλουσα αὐτάς. 5.84 Οὕτω τὸ ἐξερχόμενον ἐκ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ ὕδωρ ζῶν εἰς τὴν πρώτην καὶ ἐσχάτην θάλατταν, π̣ᾶσαν ζάλην καὶ τρικυμίαν, ἁλμυρίδα τε καὶ πικρότητα ἀνωθη῀̣σαν, εὐδίαν καὶ γαλήνην καὶ τὸ πότιμον παρασκευάσει ὡς μηκέτι θαλάσσας εἶναι α̣ι····· Ὕδωρ ζῶν μερισθὲν ἐπῆλθεν· τὸ γὰρ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν πρώτην, τὸ δ' ἕτερον ἥμισυ εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην θάλατταν δέδεκται, οὐκ̣ ἐν τῷ θερινῷ μόνῳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐαρινῷ καιρῷ. 5.85 Τ̣ῆς δὲ τοσαύτης ὠφελείας ὑπαρξάσης, ὁ Κύριος πάσης τῆς γῆς βασιλεύσει, κατὰ τὰ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς εἰρημένα, ὅπου μέν· «Ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ», ὅπου δέ· «Εἴπατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν· ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, καὶ γὰρ κατώρθωσεν τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἥτις οὐ σαλευθήσεται.» Τότε δὲ κατώρθωται ἡ οἰκουμένη ὥστ' ἀκλόνητον μένειν, ὅτε ἐγλυκάνθη ἡ πρώτη θάλασσα, ἡ τῶν Ἰουδαι´̣ων οὖσα συναγωγή, καὶ ἡ ἐσχάτη, τυγχάνουσα ἡ τῶν ἐθνῶν κλῆσις. Ἀμφότεραι αὗται αἱ θάλασσαι ταραχῆς καὶ ζάλης ἐπεπλήρωντο πρὸ τοῦ καταδέξασθαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα, μᾶλλον δὲ εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν Τριάδα, πίστιν. 5.86 Ἐπίστησον εἰ δυνατὸν μεμερίσθαι τὸ ζῶν ὕδωρ εἰς τὰς δύο διαθήκας, τὴν καινὴν καὶ παλαιάν, τούτου γεναμένου ὅτε ἔξω τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ τὸ ὕδωρ γέγονεν. Ἐξῆλθεν δὲ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τότε ὁπηνίκα «εἰς π̣α῀̣σαν τὴν γῆν» ἔφθασεν «ὁ φθόγγος» τῶν Θεοῦ λόγων καὶ «τὰ ῥήματα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης», ὡς ἁπανταχοῦ «θυμίαμα» τῷ Θεῷ πνευματικῶς «προσάγεσθαι καὶ θυσίαν καθαράν», ἐπείπερ μέγας βασιλεὺς ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν α᾿̣ναδ̣έδεικται̣ ὁ Κύριος. 5.87 Μερισθέντος τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος εἰς ἡ´̣μισυ καὶ ἥμισυ εἰς τὰς δύο διαθήκας, ε̣··· ἔνδον ἦν ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ὑπ̣ὸ τῆς σκιᾶς τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῆς τοῦ γράμματος παλαιότητ̣ος φρουρούμενον, μᾶλλον δὲ σκεπαζόμενον, ἀκμὴν τοῦ χειμῶν̣ος κρατοῦντος, ὅτε δὲ τὸ ἔαρ διεδέξατο τεθηλότων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ τοῦ τρυγόνος φωνοῦντος ἐν τῇ γῇ, κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν ἐν τῷ Ἄισματι τῶν Ἀισμάτων, «ἡ συκῆ ἐξήνεγκεν ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς, αἱ ἄμπελοι κυπρίζουσιν, ὁ χειμὼν παρῆλθεν, ὁ ὑετὸς παρῆλθεν, ἐπορεύθη ἑαυτῷ, τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ
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)
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.