The Snow and Mist of Divine Word
He brings her children within her, he who sets your borders in peace, with all war having fled from her borders, against the wars that crush, the Lord setting the borders of the city in peace. By saying peace, he imparts to her spiritual food.
And if you wish to say that the educational words of God are fire (not that they are something by which one is filled?), you do not err. For it is said in the prophet, in the face of God toward the false prophets, 'What is chaff with grain?' Thus are my words, says the Lord; the words of himself are indeed grain, but theirs are chaff through the word. Just as the wisdom from God is not earthly, nor psychic, nor demonic, but descending from above Him, so also His word, not being from the earth, is sent into the earth, becoming for each of those able to serve Him the same thing as the word given by the Lord to those preaching the gospel with much power. If this thing given, being distributed, runs swiftly to more souls, the word of God, being fulfilled, 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the inhabited world' (Ps 147:4). Truly his taking up has happened, and immediately the evangelical word passed through all the earth, to everyone under the heaven.
Regarding the things said before, it appears to us that these things have been set forth in a parabolic manner, by placing the works of the cosmic creation alongside the economy concerning the church by way of likeness. For just as snow is a layer covering a place, and after this a thaw occurs and water pours out, so the divine word, having dwelt among the Jews first, after this pours out upon all. Therefore also the mission of the word and the blowing of the Spirit are well indicated through the cosmic works: that just as the word comes into the world and the Spirit breathes, the word of the holy and saving teaching went out from Jerusalem to all the inhabited world. If one is to take this also up in allegory, since it stands forth spiritually regarding His running word: for indeed, 'You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow' (Ps 51:7), one should not think in terms of sensible snow...
How can the soul be made whiter than snow, which is beyond sensation, if it is not a participant in the brightness of the rational nature through the whiteness of the snow? To this thought the saying, 'If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18), contributes; for one cannot conceive of sins being whitened like physical snow.
Perhaps the most beautiful word cast upon the earth by the Lord is like wool, a garment to be fashioned for the soul, this wool being produced by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Similarly, you will perceive those cast down like crystal flakes and the mist passing like ash. Farmers need snow and mist; for these, when they come upon the offspring, increase them. Just as even upon the good earth of the soul, if the seed has fallen, it is necessary that rain and dew fall, so too snow and mist must come upon our offspring, so that we may bear fruit being nourished by all these.
You will perceive the snow, the crystal, and the mist as temptations brought upon the saints for testing. For they are not being chilled in the love within them by opposing powers, just as 'as a pit cools, so does its wickedness cool' allusion. In the face of this cold, who will endure, if not he who, like Peter, Paul, Job, and James the speaker who said 'I became' (James 1:12), is joined with the heat of the day and the frost of the night?
Toward these things you will also take the things said by Moses: 'Let my speech drop as the rain, and my words descend as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the snow upon the herb' (Deuteronomy 32:2). For by the word, the sayings of Moses are made like these; by this word, the word sent to the land of God is logically divided into all things spoken. And what is this cold that no one can endure from its presence, to be seen as worthy? Perhaps his word, being fiery, is compared to fire, warming and making to boil those who have been chilled by wickedness, whose love was cooled by the abundance of lawlessness; again, against the souls being burned by the flame of pleasures and passions, the cold of God is called, not according to...
Greek
υἱοὺς αὐτῆς ἐν αὐτῇ† ἐπιφέρει ἑξῆς τὸν θέντα τὰ ο ριά σου εἰρήνην, παντὸς πολέμου πεφυγαδευμένου ἐκ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῆς, πρὸς τοὺς συντρίβοντος πολέμους κυρίου καὶ τιθέντος τὰ ο ρια τῆς πόλεως εἰρήνην. εἰρήνην λέγων τὴν * καὶ τροφῆς δὲ αὐτῇ πνευματικῆς μεταδίδωσιν. εἰ δὲ καὶ τοὺς παιδευτικοὺς θεοῦ λόγους πυρὸν εἰπεῖν θέλεις (ου τος ταῖς * τίς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐμπιπλᾶται;), οὐχ ἁμαρτάνεις. ει ρηται γὰρ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ ἐκ προσώπου θεοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ψευδοπροφήτας Τί τὸ α χυρον πρὸς τὸν σῖτον; ου τως οἱ λόγοι μου, λέγει κύριος· σῖτον μὲν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ λόγους, α χυρον δὲ τοὺς ἐκείνων διὰ τῆς λέξεως. 1275 Ps 147,4 Ωσπερ ἡ ἐκ θεοῦ σοφία οὐκ ε στιν ἐπίγειος οὐ ψυχικὴ οὐ δαιμονιώδης ἀλλ' α νωθεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατερχομένη, ου τω καὶ τὸ λόγιον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐκ γῆς ὑπάρχον ἀποστέλλεται ἐν τῇ γῇ, γινόμενον πρὸς ε καστον τῶν διακονεῖν αὐτῷ δυναμένων τυγχάνον τὸ αὐτὸ τῷ διδομένῳ ὑπὸ κυρίου ῥήματι τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ. ει τα δοθὲν τοῦτο νεμόμενον πλείονας ψυχὰς ε ως τάχους δραμεῖται, λόγος ω ν θεοῦ, πληρουμένου τοῦ Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν. α μα γοῦν γέγονεν ἡ ἀνάληψις αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐθέως διέβη ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς λόγος ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ η τις ἐστὶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν. 1276 Ps 147,5 Πρὸς τὰ προειρημένα φαίνεται ἡμῖν οι ον ἐν παραβολῆς τρόπῳ ταῦτα ἐπῆχθαι, τῶν τῆς κοσμικῆς δημιουργίας ε ργων παρατιθεμένων καθ' ὁμοίωσιν τῇ περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οἰκονομίᾳ. ω σπερ γὰρ χιών ἐστι καταρρυεῖσα τόπον καὶ πάχνη μετὰ ταῦτα λύεται καὶ υ δατα προχεῖ, ου τως ὁ θεῖος λόγος εἰς ̓Ιουδαίους κατασκήψας τὰ πρῶτα, μετὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πάντας διακέχυται. διὸ καὶ ἡ τοῦ λόγου ἀποστολὴ καὶ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦσις καλῶς διὰ τῶν κοσμικῶν ε ργων ὑποδηλοῦται, ο τι δὴ λόγου παραγινομένου εἰς κόσμον καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεύσαντος ἐξῆλθεν ἐξ ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὁ λόγος τῆς ἱερᾶς καὶ σωτηρίου διδασκαλίας. 1277 Ps 147,5.6 Εἰ δὲ πρὸς ἀλληγορίαν ἐκλαμβάνειν καὶ αὐτό, ἐπειδὴ πνευματικῶς τοῦ δραμοῦντος λόγου αὐτοῦ, παρίσταται· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ Πλυνεῖς με, καὶ ὑπὲρ χιόνα λευκανθήσομαι, οὐ περὶ αἰσθητῆς χιόνος νοεῖν ὑποβάλλει. πῶς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τὴν αἰσθητὴν χιόνα λευκανθῆναι ἡ ψυχὴ δύναται, οὐκ ου σης συμβλητῆς τῆς φαιδρότητος τῆς περὶ τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν τῇ τῆς χιόνος λευκότητι; εἰς ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν συνδραμεῖται καὶ τὸ ̓Εὰν ω σιν ὑμῶν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ· ἁμαρτίας γὰρ λευκαινομένας κατὰ τὴν σωματικὴν χιόνα οὐδὲ ἐννοεῖν ε χω. μήποτε ου ν φαιδρότατος λόγος εἰς τὴν γῆν ὑπὸ κυρίου βάλλεται ἐρίῳ ἐοικὼς ἐξ ου ἱμάτιόν ἐστι κατασκευάσαι τῇ ψυχῇ, τοῦ ἐρίου τούτου καρποφορουμένου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀμνοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ αι ροντος τὴν 273 ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Συγγενῶς τούτοις καὶ τοὺς βαλλομένους ὡσεὶ ψωμοὺς τοῦ κρυστάλλου νοήσεις καὶ τὴν ὁμίχλην τὴν πασσομένην ὡσεὶ σποδόν. χρεία τοῖς γεωργοῖς χιόνος καὶ ὁμίχλης· ταῦτα γὰρ ἐρχόμενα ἐπὶ τὰ γενήματα αυ ξει αὐτά. ω σπερ ου ν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν καλὴν γῆν τὴν ψυχήν, εἰ πέπτωκεν ὁ σπόρος, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ὡς ὑετὸν ὡς δρόσον η κειν, ου τω καὶ χιόνα καὶ ὁμίχλην ἐπὶ τὸ γένημα ἡμῶν, ι να δυνηθῶμεν ὑπὸ πάντων τούτων τρεφόμενοι καρποφορῆσαι. Νοήσεις δὲ τὴν χιόνα καὶ τὸν κρύσταλλον καὶ τὴν ὁμίχλην πειρασμοὺς ἐπαγομένους τοῖς ἁγίοις πρὸς δοκιμήν. ου τοι γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων ψύχειν πειρῶνται τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀγάπην, ἐπείπερ ̔Ως ψύχει λάκκος, ου τως ψύχει κακία αὐτῆς. κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ ψύχους τούτου, τίς ὑποστήσεται εἰ μὴ ὁ κατὰ Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον καὶ τὸν ̓Ιὼβ καὶ τὸν ̓Ιακὼβ τὸν εἰπόντα ̓Εγενόμην συγκαιόμενος τῷ καύματι τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τῷ παγετῷ τῆς νυκτός; πρὸς ταῦτα λήψῃ καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ Μωυσέως εἰρημένα Προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸς τὸ ἀπόφθεγμά μου, καὶ καταβήτω ὡς δρόσος τὰ ῥήματά μου, ὡσεὶ ο μβρος ἐπ' α γρωστιν καὶ ὡσεὶ νιφετὸς ἐπὶ χόρτον. ῳ γὰρ λόγῳ τὰ ῥήματα Μωυσέως τούτοις ὁμοιοῦται, τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ ἀποσταλὲν τῇ γῇ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγιον διαιρεῖται εἰς πάντα τὰ εἰρημένα. Τί δὲ τὸ ψῦχος αὐτοῦ ου ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ οὐδεὶς ὑποστῆναι δύναται, θεωρῆσαι α ξιον. μήποτ' ου ν ω σπερ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ διάπυρος ὑπάρχων παραβάλλεται πυρὶ θερμαίνων καὶ ζέειν ποιῶν τοὺς ἀπεψυγμένους τῇ κακίᾳ ω ν ἡ ἀγάπη ἐψύγη διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ἀνομίας, ου τω πάλιν κατὰ τῶν ψυχῶν τὴν φλόγα τῶν ἐξ ἡδονῶν καὶ παθῶν πυρουμένων ψῦχος θεοῦ λέγεται ου κατὰ
About this text
Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
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.