The Monogenes and the Guiltless
Those things established according to truth and becoming present with goodness are mercy and truth. For it is necessary to be shown mercy first, lest anyone fall upon them and, through this, outpace the one traveling upon the truth. But the ways of the Lord are not viewed as mercy and truth by all, but by those seeking His covenant and His testimonies; for he who is outside the covenant and the testimonies is a stranger to the goodness and the beauty of the Lord's ways.
One must seek the covenant which God set forth for the fathers, leading them out of the spiritual Egypt, that is, of the much-willed wandering. For having sought and having searched it, we shall enter into it and also the new covenant which Jesus confirmed with His own eyes; for every covenant is powerless if death has not overtaken the one establishing it, as the apostle says; for a covenant is established upon the dead, lest perhaps the one establishing it were not living. Therefore, to fulfill His own covenant, Jesus, willing, accepted death. And one must seek in the covenant also the testimonies of God, those having testified and having been inspired by Him with words.
For the sake of Your forgiveness, O Lord, I, Your servant, will seek Your covenant, expecting freedom from it and the inheritance which You appointed as if I had become a son (Ps 24:11). But also, be propitiated toward my sin, not toward the sin being worked, but toward it being ceased. For the required purity is great, not according to quantity but according to the comparison of that which is owed to be offered.
He who fears God is indeed rare, but is not unfindable (Ps 24:12). By this, the Lord does not legislate a way which He Himself preferred, but the one who fears Him. The soul of the devout, if it does not go further into the good things, is satisfied in them, always working them (Ps 24:13). Therefore, the seed will generally obtain the inheritance of the land, not the one under the feet, but that of the gentle ones (Ps 24:16b–20). His only-begotten self...
He says according to the one saying: 'I also was left alone, and they seek my soul.' Therefore also I am poor, for I do not have the support of those of the same mind. And it is to be known what the 'monogenes' means: the only, just as you would say the only sun; it is not the same as the 'monogenes' Son. For what pertains to the monogenes Son, the only-begotten from the Father, is said to be the only one from Him.
And you will perceive the tribulations of the heart and those driving through with opposing thoughts. 'Bring me out of my necessities' (Ps 25:1); from those surrounding, forcing and necessitating the departure of my intention, just as 'bring me out of great necessities' (Ps 25:1). One, having taken the perceptions of his own sins, humbling himself because of the lack of boldness and suffering because of the fruits of repentance, says: 'See my humiliation and my labor, and forgive all my sins' (Ps 25:7).
When someone ceases to have previously been active in sins, he will hate the demons who are active in them. And indeed many, becoming against the one being plotted against, hate him unjustly; but unjust hatred is that which happens against those doing things not worthy of hatred, while justly hating the evil things. 'Preserve the soul, lest it fall to those who hate unjustly' (Ps 24:21); but also to rescue it from deeds such as those which they will be able to hold onto.
'Guiltless' he says, either referring to those being deprived of malice or the more simple, and 'upright' to those having accomplished perfect virtue. 'Not clinging to me (through unanimity), what I endured, O Lord' (Ps 25:2). Perhaps also 'guiltless' refers to the diligent among men, and 'upright' to the divine angels clinging to Him and becoming of divine powers concerning the diligent. 'No one sins and wishes to be judged for those things which he has done, and especially before Him who sees the hidden things' (Ps 25:11). And he who has walked in guiltlessness, that is, having progressed, is worthy to obtain this; for he shall not receive a wage of inheritance, but upon the Lord...
Greek
κατ' ἀλήθειαν κατορθούμεναι καὶ σὺν χρηστότητι γινόμεναι ε λεός εἰσι καὶ ἀλήθεια· δεῖ γὰρ ἐλεηθῆναι πρότερον, ι να τις ἐπιβῇ αὐταῖς καὶ ου τω δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὁδεύειν ἐπ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν φθάσῃ. οὐ πᾶσιν δὲ ε λεος καὶ ἀλήθεια θεωροῦνται αἱ ὁδοὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἀλλὰ Τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσι τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ· ὁ γὰρ ἐκτὸς ω ν τῆς διαθήκης καὶ τῶν μαρτυρίων α πειρός ἐστιν τῆς χρηστότητος καὶ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν κυριακῶν ὁδῶν. ̓Εκζητητέον ου ν τὴν διαθήκην η ν διέθετο ὁ θεὸς τοῖς πατράσιν ἐξάγων αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πνευματικῆς Αἰγύπτου τουτέστιν τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης. ἐκζητήσαντες γὰρ καὶ ἐρευνήσαντες αὐτὴν εἰσόμεθα καὶ τὴν καινὴν διαθήκην η ν ἐβεβαίωσεν ̓Ιησοῦς τῷ αι ματι τῷ ἰδίῳ· πᾶσα γὰρ διαθήκη ἀνίσχυρος μὴ θάνατον ἐσχηκότος τοῦ διατιθεμένου, ῃ φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος· ∆ιαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ 57 νεκροῖς βέβαια, ἐπεὶ μήποτε ἰσχύει ο σον ζῇ ὁ διατιθέμενος. διὸ πληρῶσαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διαθήκην ὁ ̓Ιησοῦς βουλόμενος θάνατον ἀνεδέξατο. ἐκζητητέον δὲ ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ καὶ τὰ μαρτύρια τοῦ θεοῦ, τοὺς μεμαρτυρηκότας καὶ ἐμπνευσθέντας ὑπ' αὐτοῦ λόγους. 225 Ps 24,11 Ενεκα τῆς σῆς προσηγορίας, ω δέσποτα, ἐγὼ ὁ σὸς οἰκέτης ἐκζητήσω τὴν διαθήκην σου, ἐλευθερίαν ἐξ αὐτῆς προσδοκῶν η κληρονομίαν η ν ὡς υἱῷ γενομένῳ ω ρισας· ἀλλὰ καὶ ̔Ιλάσθητι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ μου, οὐ τῇ ε τι ἐνεργουμένῃ ἀλλὰ παυσαμένῃ. Πολλὴ γάρ ἐστιν, οὐ κατὰ ποσότητα ἀλλὰ κατὰ σύγκρισιν τῆς προσεῖναι ὀφειλούσης καθαρότητος. 226 Ps 24,12 ̔Ο φοβούμενος θεὸν σπανίζει μέν, οὐκ ἀνεύρετος δέ ἐστιν. τούτῳ ου ν νομοθετεῖ ὁ κύριος ὁδόν, η ν ᾑρετίσατο η τοι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος η ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτόν. 227 Ps 24,13 ̔Η ψυχὴ τοῦ εὐλαβοῦς τῶν ἀγαθῶν περαιτέρω μὴ γινομένη ἐν αὐτοῖς αὐλίζεται, ἐνεργοῦσα αὐτὰ ἀεί. διὸ καὶ καθόλου τεύξεται τὸ σπέρμα ε χειν κληρονομοῦν τὴν γῆν, οὐ τὴν ὑπὸ πόδας ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν πραέων. 228 Ps 24,16b–20 Μονογενῆ ἑαυτὸν φάσκει κατὰ τὸν λέγοντα· Κἀγὼ ὑπελείφθην μόνος, καὶ ζητοῦσι τὴν ψυχήν μου. διὸ καὶ πτωχός εἰμι, οὐκ ε χων τὴν ἐκ τῶν ὁμοζήλων ἀρωγήν. ἰστέον δ' ο τι τὸ μονογενὲς σημαίνει τὸ μόνον, ω σπερ καὶ τὸν η λιον μονογενῆ ἐρεῖς· οὐ ταὐτὸν α ν τῷ μονογενεῖ υἱῷ· ο που γὰρ πρόσκειται τῷ μονογενεῖ υἱὸς η παρὰ πατρὸς μονογενές, λέγεται τὸ μόνον ἐξ ἐκείνου τυγχάνον. Θλίψεις δὲ τῆς καρδίας νοήσεις καὶ τοὺς διοχλοῦντας ἐναντίους λογισμούς. ̓Εκ τῶν ἀναγκῶν μου ἐξάγαγέ με· ἐκ τῶν περιεστηκότων βιαζομένων καὶ ἀναγκαζόντων ἐκκροῦσαι τὴν πρόθεσίν μου ὡς ἐκ μεγάλων ἀναγκῶν ἐξάγαγέ με. Αι σθησιν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἑαυτοῦ λαβών τις ταπεινούμενος διὰ τὸ ἀπαρρησίαστον καὶ κάμνων διὰ καρποὺς μετανοίας ἐρεῖ τὸ Ιδε τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου καὶ τὸν κόπον μου καὶ α φες πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου. Οτ' α ν παύσηταί τις ω ν πρότερον ἐνήργει ἁμαρτημάτων, ἐχθροὺς ε ξει τοὺς ἐνεργοῦντας αὐτὰ δαίμονας. ου τοι δὲ καὶ πολλοὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἐπιβουλευομένου γινόμενοι μῖσος α δικον μισοῦσιν αὐτόν· μῖσος δὲ α δικόν ἐστι τὸ γινόμενον κατὰ τῶν μὴ α ξια μίσους πραττόντων, δικαίως μισουμένων τῶν φαύλων. Φύλαξον τὴν ψυχήν, ο πως μὴ ὑποπέσῃ τοῖς ἀδίκως μισοῦσι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ῥῦσαι αὐτὴν ἀπὸ πράξεων τοιούτων ἐφ' αι ς κρατῆσαι αὐτῆς δυνήσονται. 229 Ps 24,21 ̓Ακάκους λέγει η τοὺς στερομένους κακίας η τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους, εὐθεῖς δὲ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας τὴν τελείαν ἀρετήν. ου τοι ου ν ̓Εκολλῶντό μοι (δι' ὁμοφροσύνην), ο τι ὑπέμεινά σε, κύριε. τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀκάκους λέγει τοὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων σπουδαίους, εὐθεῖς δὲ τοὺς θείους ἀγγέλους κολλωμένους αὐτῷ τῷ καὶ θείας δυνάμεις γίνεσθαι περὶ τὸν σπουδαῖον. 230 Ps 25,1bc Οὐδεὶς ἁμαρτάνων κριθῆναι βούλεται ἐφ' οι ς πεποίηκεν καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τοῦ τὰ κρυπτὰ ὁρῶντος. ὁ δὲ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ πορευθεὶς τουτέστιν προκόψας ἀξιοῖ τούτου τυχεῖν· οι δεν γὰρ μισθοῦ η κληρονομίας τευξόμενος, Καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ
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Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
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