The Son of the Handmaid and the Knowledge of God
To be able to walk in the truth of God, one must progress in it and pass through to the end. The end of knowledge and truth is to bestow upon those who have known it completely and as they possess existence.
He who chooses these very good things rejoices in the possession of them (Ps 85:11c–13). It is also to fear the name of God; the one desiring to have it with joy prays to be made glad in heart by God through fearing His name. Having obtained this, he confesses thankfully to the Lord God with his whole heart, which was made glad by the attainment of his requests. He also glorifies the name of God for eternity—that is, all the time of his life—it having become upon him great divine mercy, by which he was also rescued from the pit of slavery. For he named the lowest pit. For those sinning many and great things fall into the lowest pit, and in order that they might be rescued, they beg for great mercy, as one of them can easily say, 'Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy.' It is therefore fitting for one rescued from such great evil to glorify the name of God for eternity and to confess to Him with his whole heart.
One should not receive unthinkingly the saying that these things are spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the kings of the earth and the rulers standing and gathered together against him (Ps 85:14.15). 'Visit me' (Ps 85:16). For you visit, you look, not at another, but to make well and to have mercy. Therefore also in the following things, the king is worthy to be given and to be guarded the kingdom, which God himself has given to him. For with this will follow his salvation as a child of God. If the prophecy is that concerning Christ, the promised things, then in this manner the upcoming things are smoothed out: David says, 'Looking upon me, as God, have mercy on me.'
And regarding your giving your power to your child in becoming human and taking the form of a servant. And since he follows the one who became man and died, God will save him, the son of your handmaid who said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word' (Luke 1:38). For truly, the handmaid and mother of the Lord is she who bore him. And he thought it to be said in parallel, the Lord as child and the son of the handmaid. And the people from the circumcision can also be a son of the handmaid. For Paul, writing to the Galatians, clearly says concerning these things, 'But he who is born of the handmaid according to the flesh has been born' (Gal 4:31).
'Let a sign be made to me for good of the prophecy being taken up, which forbids among us humans, of a virgin giving birth before the trial of a man and remaining a virgin even after the birth' (Ps 85:17). This is a sign for good, a help to our race. Therefore also we were comforted; for how could we not have been about to have the most complete consolation, having had God as a helper? 'God says he will remember Rahab and Babylon' (Ps 86:4a), for those knowing him. Consenting to this, now having known God, but rather having been known by God. For having taken up the knowledge of him, we shall know him more, and most especially we shall be known by him: 'For if anyone does not know, he is unknown.' And to someone God says, 'Because you cast away knowledge, I will cast you away from ministering to me; you forgot the law of your God, and I will forget you, your children' (Hos 4:6).
Therefore, regarding those who are ignorant of him through faults, God has forgotten them, even though they knew him. Behold, therefore, of Rahab, who takes upon herself the wide way, and of Babylon, being interpreted as confusion, God is said to remember those who have known him. For those turning from the wide and spacious way, they are Rahab, having known God, and those from...
Greek
πορευθῆναι ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνηθῇ προκόπτων ἐν αὐτῇ ε στ' α ν ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος διαβῇ. τέλος δὲ τῆς γνώσεως τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ ἐπιβαλεῖν τοῖς γνωστοῖς τελείως καὶ ὡς ε χουσιν ὑπάρξεως. 862 Ps 85,11c–13 ̔Ο δι' αὐτὰ τὰ ἀγαθὰ αἱρούμενος αὐτὰ εὐφραίνεται ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων κτήσει. ε στι δὲ καὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι τὸ ο νομα τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ο θεν μετ' εὐφροσύνης αὐτὸ ε χειν βουλόμενος ευ χεται εὐφρανθῆναι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τὴν καρδίαν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπὶ τῷ φοβεῖσθαι τὸ ο νομα αὐτοῦ. Τούτου δὲ τυχὼν εὐχαριστικῶς ἐξομολογεῖται κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ ἐν ο λῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ τῇ εὐφρανθείσῃ ἐπὶ τῷ τετευχέναι τῶν αἰτημάτων. δοξάζει δὲ καὶ τὸ ο νομα τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τουτέστι πάντα τὸν τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ χρόνον, γενομένου ἐπ' αὐτῷ μεγάλου τοῦ θεϊκοῦ ἐλέους· ἐφ' ῳ καὶ ἐρρύσθη ἐκ τοῦ πυθμένος τοῦ ᾳ δου. τοῦτον γὰρ κατωτάτω ᾳ δην ὠνόμασεν. οἱ γὰρ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα ἁμαρτάνοντες καταπίπτουσιν εἰς τὸν κατωτάτω ᾳ δην, ἀφ' ου , ι να ῥυσθῶσιν, μεγάλου ἐλέους δέονται, ὡς ε καστον αὐτῶν εὐκτικῶς λέγειν ̓Ελέησόν με, ὁ θεός, κατὰ τὸ μέγα ε λεός σου. ἁρμόζει τοίνυν τῷ ἐκ τηλικούτου κακοῦ ῥυσθέντι τὸ δοξάζειν τὸ ο νομα τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ ἐν 171 ο λῃ καρδίᾳ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι αὐτῷ. 863 Ps 85,14.15 Οὐκ ἀμούσως δὲ παραδέξοιτ' α ν τις εἰρῆσθαι ταῦτα ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, παραστάντων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων συναχθέντων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατ' αὐτοῦ. 864 Ps 85,16 ̓Επισκόπησόν με. ἐπισκοπεῖς γὰρ ου ς βλέψεις οὐκ α λλου του ε νεκα η τοῦ ευ ποιῆσαι καὶ ἐλεῆσαι. διὸ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς βασιλεὺς ω ν ἀξιοῖ δοθῆναι καὶ φυλαχθῆναι αὐτῷ τὸ κράτος, ο περ αὐτὸς αὐτῷ δέδωκεν ὁ θεός. τούτῳ γὰρ ἀκολουθήσει καὶ τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτὸν ο ντα υἱὸν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ παιδίσκης. Εἰ δὲ προφητεία ει η περὶ Χριστοῦ τὰ ἐπαγγελλόμενα, τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἐξομαλισθείη τὰ προκείμενα· φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ· ἐπιβλέψας ὡς θεὸς ἐλέησόν με. ὑπάρξει δὲ τοῦ διδόντος σοῦ τὸ κράτος σου τῷ παιδί σου ἐν τῷ ἐνανθρωπεῖν καὶ λαμβάνειν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφήν. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ γενομένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ τεθνάναι, ἀνιστῶν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς σώσει αὐτὸν ο ντα υἱὸν τῆς παιδίσκης αὐτοῦ τῆς εἰπούσης ὁπηνίκα η κουσεν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου ∆ιὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἐκ σοῦ α γιον κληθήσεται υἱὸς θεοῦ· ̓Ιδοὺ ἡ δούλη κυρίου· γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου. ἀληθῶς γὰρ δούλη καὶ μήτηρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡ τεκοῦσα αὐτόν. ἐκ παραλλήλου δὲ εἰρῆσθαι νόμιζε τὸν κύριον παῖδα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τῆς παιδίσκης. ∆ύναται δὲ καὶ υἱὸς παιδίσκης ὁ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαός. σαφῶς γὰρ περὶ τούτων ὁ Παῦλος Γαλάταις ἐπιστέλλων φησὶν ̓Αλλ' ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται. 865 Ps 85,17 Γένοιτό μοι σημεῖον εἰς ἀγαθὸν τῆς προφητείας περιαιρουμένης τῆς διαγορευούσης ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γενήσεσθαι τὸν θεόν, παρθένου πρὸ πείρας ἀνδρὸς τικτούσης καὶ διαμενούσης παρθένου καὶ μετὰ τὸν τόκον. τοῦτο εἰς ἀγαθὸν σημεῖον ω φθη ἐπὶ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν. διὸ καὶ παρεκλήθημεν· πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἐμέλλομεν πληρεστάτην παραμυθίαν ε ξειν, θεὸν βοηθὸν ἐσχηκότες; 866 Ps 86,4a Τῆς ̔Ραὰβ καὶ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος μνησθήσεσθαι ὁ θεός φησι γινωσκόντων αὐτόν. συνᾴδει τούτοις τὸ Νῦν δὲ γνόντες θεόν, μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ. γνῶσιν γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἀναλαβόντες μᾶλλον καὶ μάλιστα γνωσθησόμεθα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· Εἰ γάρ τις ἀγνοεῖ, ἀγνοεῖται. καὶ πρός τινα ὁ θεὸς λέγει Οτι σὺ ἐπίγνωσιν ἀπώσω, ἀπώσομαί σε τοῦ μὴ ἱερατεύειν μου· ἐπελάθου νόμου θεοῦ σου, κἀγὼ ἐπιλήσομαι τέκνων σου. τῶν φαύλων τοίνυν ἀγνοούντων αὐτὸν ἐπιλέληστο θεός, μνησθεὶς αὐτῶν ο τε καὶ αὐτὸν ε γνωσαν αὐτοί. ̓Ιδοὺ τοίνυν τῆς ̔Ραὰβ τῆς εἰς πλατυσμὸν μεταλαμβανομένης καὶ Βαβυλῶνος συγχύσεως ἑρμηνευομένης μεμνῆσθαι ὁ θεὸς ει πεν ἐγνωκότων αὐτόν. μεταβαλόντες γὰρ οἱ τὴν πλατεῖαν καὶ εὐρύχωρον ὁδεύοντες ὁδὸν ̔Ραάβ εἰσιν ἐγνωκότες θεόν, καὶ οἱ ἐκ
About this text
Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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