Commentary on Zechariah 1 part 14/24

For thus one people and one Church will be fashioned out of both callings.

Equivalently it is written in the Gospels concerning the colt loosed from the village opposite, in order that it might come to Jesus, being about to be tamed when the Saviour mounted upon it;

for it is said that no man had yet sat upon it, being shown by the passage that those from the nations had not yet at that time been brought over under any teaching word;

for they were without God in the world, having no true hope;

but even if before faith they were an unbridled colt, yet nevertheless, when the Christ who arose out of Judah had shone forth, an expectation came to belong to them, according to what was said concerning Him:

'And He shall be the expectation of the nations'; and again:

'In Him shall the nations hope.' When the two callings had been greatly benefited by the mounting of the righteous and saving and meek King upon them, the chariots of Ephraim and the horse out of Jerusalem are utterly destroyed, and together with them the bow of the most savage and wild enemies, from which were loosed the fiery darts of the evil one, wounding men unto the lust of licentiousness, so that those set aflame were goaded and inflamed by passionate and shameful desire.

The chariots of Ephraim are the assemblies of the heterodox and their irrational fabrication of doctrines.

The first of the schisms was that of Jeroboam, who was of the tribe of Ephraim;

for just as the Saviour is called 'Judah' because He arose out of the tribe of the same name, being the Ruler of the Church, so the reasoning that leads the way in false doctrines is 'Ephraim,' promising abundant fruitfulness because it prospers among those who are deceived.

Concerning the chariots that are being destroyed, the army of truth speaks in the Psalms about those who ride upon them and drive them:

'These trust in chariots and these in horses, but we shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God.'

'They were fettered together and fell, but we rose up and were set upright.' For they were in agreement unto sin and impiety.

To each of those who are so minded the royal Law says:

'You shall not be with the many for evil;'

'nor shall you consent, along with a multitude, to become an unrighteous witness.' Concerning this deadly disposition, inclined toward evil, the harlot personified in the Proverbs — whoever she may be — shamelessly and boldly cries out to each of those she deceives:

'I have a peace-offering; today I pay my vows.' But when all that has been interpreted has been done away with by the King of all, this also shall come to pass:

'He shall rule,' it says, 'over the waters as far as the sea,' revealing that they are salty and not fit to drink, and over the outflows of the rivers of the earth — waters carried down as far as the sea.

The impious words are of themselves salty on account of their brackishness, since the outflows of the rivers of the earth falsely lay claim to sweetness and drinkability.

Such are the waters of Pharaoh, sitting upon which he boasts, saying:

'The rivers are mine, and I made them.' The drinking of these is forbidden by God through the prophet Jeremiah:

'For now,' it says, 'what have you to do with the land of Egypt, to drink the water of Gihon? And what have you to do with the land of the Assyrians, to drink the water of the rivers?' The outflows of the rivers of the earth are said to be the rational digressions made about them plausibly and cleverly, because the drinking of them seems to possess sweetness.

'And you also, by the blood of the covenant, have sent forth your prisoners out of a pit that has no water;

'you shall dwell in a stronghold, you prisoners of the congregation; and in place of one day of your sojourning, I will repay you double.'

The word in the prophet — or rather God Himself — having commanded Zion and Jerusalem, the one to rejoice greatly and the other to proclaim the coming King who saves, is mighty, and is meek, turns His speech toward the very One who is coming, saying:

'And you also, by the blood of the covenant, have sent forth your prisoners out of a pit that has no water.' For where else ought the prisoners to be than shut up in a pit having no water by those who oppress them? One may indeed find many of the holy men cast into waterless pits by those who plotted against them and thirsted for their blood.

Joseph, for instance, being envied on account of his inherent nobility of character, was cast by those who unjustly envied him into a pit having no water.

Likewise also the most wise Daniel, the friend of God, was thrown by the Babylonians into a pit having no water — its being waterless being shown by the fact that lions dwelt there, which could not have lived if it had been filled with waters.

And Jeremiah too, the great prophet, was thrown by his adversaries into a pit full of mire.

And none of those who were thus plotted against remained without help, for their God sent them forth unharmed out of the waterless pit.

And since these things were accomplished symbolically, consider whether the waterless pit, indicated through the symbols, is the Hades of the impious and sinners, there being no living water there, because there is by no means any commendable moisture in that place.

Thus, for example, the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, once he came to be there ...

the burning and the flame ...

it has already been rendered as the ...

and Jeremiah, from this ...

In the waterless pit ...

... before the coming of the Saviour ...

... held fast by those of the ...

the Benefactor, in Hosea the prophet ...

'I drew them with the bonds of my love.' They are equivalent ...

the bonds and the fetters of wisdom ...

'Put your feet into her fetters.' Those who have thus become ...

for a certain season, according to a certain dispensation ...

... they are sent forth from thence ...

... when he has died and ...

out of the vain manner of life handed down from the fathers ...

'not with corruptible things, silver or gold, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish' — and this is Christ.

having given over, he said ...

the cup, the new covenant ...

by this blood ...

they went forward into the holy ...

that is, of the prisoners out of the ...

as the Apostle writes according to ...

'For a covenant is confirmed over the dead, since it never has force while the one who made it lives.' ...

thus indeed also Moses, the great hierophant ...

taking the book of the law of the covenant ... taking blood that had been consecrated ...

'This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord commanded and established with you.'

... death ... the shadowy ... of a young calf, that of the new covenant ... to be confirmed, as Paul ...

to those who had put their trust in the old covenant:

'If the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctifies unto the purity of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God.'

And what shall be, and what kind of security there shall be for those prisoners sent forth out of the pit that has no water, is disclosed next, when the word says:

'They shall dwell in strongholds' — commendable ones, clearly — the prisoners of the congregation of the glorious Church, which no longer has any spot or wrinkle at all.

There the prisoners of the congregation shall sit, resting, having been transferred out of the waterless pit.

In what precedes, the word made clear which are the blameworthy strongholds that Tyre and Nineveh built;

but let us see what are the commendable ones now being mentioned, in which the prisoners of the divine congregation are kept with rest.

In the divine writing of the Proverbs, godly reverence is called the stronghold of those who accomplish holiness and righteousness, thus:

'The fear of the Lord is the stronghold of the holy one.' He who has been sheltered by the fear of God, having surpassed even this shelter and praying to be guarded by God Himself, says to Him in prayer:

'Be to me a God who is my protector, a strong place to save me;'

and again in the thirty-first Psalm:

'You are my refuge from the affliction that surrounds me, my exultation; deliver me from those who pursue me.' In equivalent terms also in the thirtieth Psalm, he who entreats to obtain an invincible guard:

'Be to me a God who is my protector,' he said, 'a place of refuge to save me.' But also he who has fought the good fight and finished the good course and kept the faith is himself kept by it;

and showing that it is securely walled and is invincible, he cries out with thanksgiving, together with those like him:

'Behold, a strong city, and it is our salvation;

'He will set a wall and an outer wall.' For how could that city not be invincible which has a wall and an outer wall — the city which is the Church — having on the one hand a wall constituted of the spiritual law and the elevated contemplation, and on the other an outer wall, outside the secure wall, namely the writing according to the letter and the historical narrative.

And further, according to another sense, the wall of the fair city is the faith concerning the Trinity and concerning the Only-begotten Son of God — who is God the Word, Truth, and the Wisdom of God — while the outer wall, corresponding fittingly to this understanding, is the doctrine of the incarnation and of the birth from the ever-virgin Mary who had no experience of marriage.

It is possible to say that the wall which guards the Church is her godly convictions in accordance with the doctrines of truth, while the outer wall is the ethical instructions and the keeping of the commandments.

It might be said in yet another way, that the strong city is walled primarily by the scientific contemplation of intelligible and incorporeal realities, having as its outer wall the knowledge concerning the perceptible things of the visible world, its parts, and the divine providence that governs them.

He who is seated in this city and in the praiseworthy strongholds akin to it, being a prisoner of Christ, passes his days without fear, expecting that consolation and comfort will be doubled in return for the afflictions he has suffered;

for it has been brought forward to the multitude that has been benefited:

'Instead of one day of your sojourning, I will repay you double,' the comfort being doubled over the afflictions that had befallen.

Take as a perceptible image of this contemplation what befell the most valiant Job.

For just as in his case all that had first been taken from him was doubled, so too those who have trained themselves perfectly in godliness hold the promise of the life both now and to come — not of the perishable life, which makes those who have hoped in it alone pitiable, but of that life which can already belong to believers now, according to what was said by the Saviour:

'He who believes in me has eternal life,' and again:

'And this is eternal life, that they may know you the true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' He who possesses this life henceforth may have it multiplied when that which is perfect comes and truth is seen face to face.

And this too may be said by way of a more elementary interpretation:

since death passed through to all men by the transgression of the first man, the body was severed from the soul;

and, as is likely, the soul was afflicted at having cast off that which had been joined to it for so long a time, so as to endure it as a sojourning;

in return for this sojourning, which had lasted but one day, God repaid double, raising up and restoring to the soul its body — so that it not only received it back, but instead of a corruptible, dishonourable, weak, and natural body, an incorruptible, strong, and honoured one, and this very body a spiritual body.

He who attends to the reading of the God-inspired oracles will perceive very many other things as well concerning the double being repaid by God to him who was removed for one day.

In relation to the literal sense, this too may be said:

the people, having been removed by the law of captivity into the hands of enemies, was not only redeemed, but also gained mastery over those who had held them captive;

and when this came about, those who for a little while had been ill-treated had joy of heart.

'For I have bent you, Judah, as a bow for myself;

I have filled Ephraim, and I will stir up your children, O Zion, against the children of the Greeks, and I will handle you like a warrior's sword.'

'And the Lord shall be over them.'

The Father bent the Saviour, who arose from the tribe of Judah, as a bow for himself, from which he looses the arrows that wound unto salvation.

The bow of Ephraim which is being destroyed has been named 'hostile' because it employs hostilities against him.

'The sons of Ephraim, drawing and shooting with the bow — how were they turned back in the day of battle,' being weakened and overthrown, evidently because their means of defence were shattered? For it is said:

'Let their sword enter into their own heart, and let their bows be broken.' The bows that are broken are the ruling faculties of the fighters, from which wicked words are sent forth, like sharpened arrows, concerning which the divine word says:

'Their tongue is a wounding arrow, deceitful are the words of their mouth.' For full of deadly venom are the words of those who profess the falsely-named knowledge, putting to death those who receive them.

But not such are the javelins of the mighty Saviour, concerning which it is said in the forty-fourth Psalm to the blessed and excellent archer:

'Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one,' which produce divine love in those who are struck by them, so that the divine bride, having gained blessed love, says:

'I am wounded with love.' And behold the paradox:

the same Saviour is at once bow and archer and arrow.

For in the prophetic text before us it is said to him by God:

'I have bent you, Judah, as a bow for myself;'

while in the Psalm those who praise him say:

'Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty one;'

and he himself speaks concerning himself in Isaiah:

'He made me as a chosen arrow, in his quiver he hid me.' For how is he not a chosen arrow, who makes chosen those whom he wounds, being hidden in the quiver which is the flesh he took from Mary?

When this divine bow has been bent — from which are drawn and loosed the arrows that strike men into divine love — Ephraim is filled, being overthrown and shown to be weak, according to what was said just now from the Psalm:

'The sons of Ephraim, drawing and shooting with the bow — how were they turned back in the day of battle,' when God, who bestows great gifts, stirred up the children of Zion against the children of the Greeks? And the offspring of the Greeks signify in these words those who champion the falsely-named knowledge, and all who hold to impiety, according to which they send forth their impious words, like destructive arrows, against those who have not taken up the shield of faith.

Those who champion the truth are the children of Zion, stirred up by God who reigns over them.

And who is Zion, the mother of the children stirred up by God, but she who was explained a little earlier, whose daughter is commanded to rejoice greatly and intensely at the shining forth of the strong and saving King?

God handles Judah like a warrior's sword, working salvation in both ways:

in so far as he was bent as a bow, wounding unto blessed love; and in so far as, being an excellent general, he handles a sword, being a warrior, for the slaying of those drawn up in battle against him.

It is written concerning this also in the forty-fourth Psalm:

'Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your comeliness and your beauty; for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness, and your right hand shall guide you wondrously.' For how does the right hand not guide wondrously the mighty one who has girded his sword upon his thigh, marvellously striking those who are struck? At any rate one may hear him saying to those overtaken beforehand by his divine power:

'You, O Ethiopians, are the slain of my sword.' For those who have been wounded by him who speaks these things, having cast off the life of Ethiopians, shall put on immortality, so as to say in thanksgiving:

'The splendour of the Lord our God shall be upon us,' since, when he who is the cause of all good things has washed us, we have been shown bright and white, according to him who says with boldness

concerning himself, that he was black, on account of the dark ignorance and wickedness attending him — as is shown in the book of repentance, called the Shepherd, and in the Epistle of Barnabas.

May we too be struck savingly by the living and active word, concerning which it is written:

'The word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword,' so that, having been put to death in the flesh, we may be made alive in the spirit.

And may we too be wounded by the chosen arrow, sent from the bow that has been bent;

for thus shall we be stirred up, becoming the children of Zion against the offspring of the Greeks.

Many, being children and sons of the Greeks, exerted themselves against the doctrines of godliness, so as even to leave behind voluminous writings;

but they were destroyed when God stirred up against them men of the Church, who overturned their contentious arguments, so as to say with confidence:

'The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty before God, casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.' When the children of Zion are stirred up against the children of the Greeks, the Lord who has accomplished this shall be over them, uniting those who were stirred up with those against whom they were stirred, so that, being fitted together in one mind and one purpose, he may reign over them, having created into one new man the Greek and the Jew.

'And an arrow shall go forth like lightning, and the Lord Almighty shall sound with a trumpet, and shall proceed in the tumult of his threatening.'

'The Lord Almighty shall shield them.'

God having bent Judah like a bow, an arrow shall go forth like lightning, wounding and striking unto divine love, so that the perfect soul or glorious Church — she who is able to say — becomes the light of the world:

'I am wounded with love.' And that not only here are the things sent from the divine bow shining, it is also said in Habakkuk to God:

'Your arrows shall go forth into light, into the brightness of the lightning of your weapons.' And it makes no difference to say it in the plural and in the singular;

for generically we take an arrow that will go forth like lightning, of which the particular arrows are many kinds.

The word that wounds unto longing those who take up the virtues according to each kind and the doctrines in each part is an arrow generically, while the words concerning each virtue and each doctrine are specific, and on this account are named 'arrows' in the plural.

Yet both the one arrow goes forth like lightning and the many go forth into light, according to Habakkuk, since all the arrows sent from the bow bent by God are bright.

It has been made clear earlier that these things are announced concerning the Saviour who arose from the tribe of Judah.

The divine arrow having gone forth like lightning to enlighten the inner man and the eyes of the heart, the Lord Almighty shall sound the trumpet, awakening also the inner hearing, so that he who has gained perception of the benefit received may cry out in thanksgiving:

'The instruction of the Lord opens my ears, since he has given me an ear to hear.'

And consider whether that which is given by God is not, according to one notion and another, a trumpet and lightning.

For in so far as the things announced clearly, piercingly, and with a great voice are audible, they are likened to a trumpet; but in so far as they enlighten the mind, which is the eye of the soul, they resemble lightning.

And just as to those who are benefited out of choice and of that which is in our power all divine things are luminous and loud-voiced, so they become a threat against those who conduct themselves carelessly; whence it is fittingly added, to the arrow that goes forth like lightning and to the Lord Almighty's sounding the trumpet, that the Benefactor is shaken in threatening — much goodness being displayed by God's proceeding in the tumult of threatening, that a man may not be cast wholly outside, the threatening being at times corrective, as happened in the case of the Ninevites.

'It shall be overthrown' — not in punishment, but in threatening it seemed to be shaken and to remove them, so that a place given for repentance might, outside the threatening, cause them to cease from the things they formerly practised.

In this way too Adam, as soon as he heard the voice of his wife who had been deceived by the serpent, perceived the commotion of the Lawgiver, so as to say:

'I heard the sound of your feet as you walked,' perceiving him who was present and conversing even before the transgression.

And so, not withdrawing from the Jews when they genuinely kept the law and served him who had given it, nor at all forsaking them, he proceeded in the tumult of threatening, saying concerning them:

'I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance.' And the forsaking is plainly set forth when Jesus says in the Gospel:

'Behold, your house is left unto you.' That the aim and the end are for the good of those who are being left behind is shown by what is added, namely:

'And the Lord Almighty shall go forth in the threatening of His commotion, the Lord Almighty shall shield them.' For when He seemed to withdraw with a threat, at that very moment He gave help, holding out on their behalf His unconquerable shield, concerning which it is said in the Hymns to the one who is benefited:

'His truth shall encircle you with a weapon.' Since it was just now said that the Lord Almighty, as one sounding a trumpet, carries out the benefits from Himself piercingly and with a mighty voice, we must gather together the scriptural testimonies concerning this.

The Holy Spirit commands the herald of the truth to lift up his voice like a trumpet, so that the teaching which he proclaims may rouse to battle those who serve God as soldiers against those arrayed against them in warlike fashion, and also may summon them to the festal assemblies.

The matters concerning these things are set forth in the divinely inspired oracles, sometimes with a riddle, and sometimes by historical narrative.

But to show that to sound the trumpet signifies a making-manifest, sufficient is what was said by Jesus to those who wish to make a display of their beneficence toward their neighbours:

'You,' He says, 'when you do alms, do not sound a trumpet before you.' For He wishes this virtue above all to be practised in secret, because vainglory and love of praise spring up alongside it when it is performed openly; and moreover the commandment is transgressed which declares:

'What you hate, do not do to another.' For to make a display of the misfortune, so to speak, of those in need is not pleasing to the one benefited; and it follows that the giver himself does what he would not wish to suffer.

When therefore the Lord Almighty enlightens those who are benefited by Him, making manifest the things He graciously bestows, He sounds with a trumpet, shielding those who are well-disposed, so that they remain unassailed by plots and unwounded, encircling them with the unconquerable shield, once they have put on the whole armour of Him who is their ruler and king.

And may it be that we too put on the armour of light and take up the shield of faith, so as to say with boldness:

'You are my helper and my defender.'

: 'And they shall consume them and bury them with slingstones, and they shall drink their blood as wine, and they shall fill the altar like bowls.'

'And the Lord shall save them in that day, as sheep His people; for holy stones are rolled upon His land.'

When God has bent Judah like a bow, and roused the sons of Zion against the children of the Greeks, victory shall be theirs, the Hellenic offspring being consumed by those roused up against them, like most excellent slingers casting their stones with straight aim, so that those called stones are buried, and their blood is drunk most eagerly by those who sling, filling the altars like bowls.

their blood: then the Lord shall save those who are shielded, having become as sheep His people, since those stones which are able to be built upon the divine foundation shall become easily moved, so as to be rolled upon the land of God, becoming light and easily moved by Him who lifts from them their burden and their stony weight.

For thus, being rolled upon the holy land of God, they shall build themselves up, being harmoniously fitted into the walls of the holy city and the building of the temple of God.

But what is meant by the burying with slingstones of those consumed by those who are shielded by God Almighty must be considered.

The reproving words of censure, like stones sent forth accurately by a sling, shall consume the sinners, so that they no longer be enemies of God, the wickedness being consumed on account of which they were opposed to the graces of God, since they were hidden beneath the stones of the sling, being made of like nature to them.

For just as love, covering a multitude of sins, no longer permits the sins it has hidden to exist, being wholly done away, so too the rebuking and reproving words, coming upon those against whom they are slung, shall bury them, becoming a covering for them, their blood being drunk after the manner of wine, so as to gladden and greatly diffuse those who drink, so that henceforth the altars become bowls, vessels serving for gladness.

For how does not he who offers a sacrifice of praise and of righteousness partake of a divine draught? For just as those who do not offer sacrifice in the manner they ought cover the altar with tears, He speaks most reprovingly to them, saying:

'You cover My altar with tears;'

'is it yet fitting to regard your sacrifice, or to receive a gift from your hands?' These things then let them be said to those who sacrifice with impiety;

but to those who offer sacrifice piously, so that their sacrifices are acceptable, the altars shall become bowls productive of gladness, that so, being consecrated, they may be saved, being displayed in a luminous condition, it being a spiritual day, when they shall be saved, being transformed as sheep into a people of God.

For the first state of those who make a good and proper beginning is to be led like a flock by the best shepherd, so that afterwards, being displayed as a people out of sheep, they may be ruled as king's subjects by Him who formerly became their shepherd; and these, after being named the people of the Almighty, shall also be parts of the city being built by the Lord of hosts.

Holy stones rolled upon the land of God, having become light and easy to move, being at last set upon .....

upon an immovable foundation .....

they build, Peter the chief of the apostles .....

coming to whom .....

a stone chosen and precious with God, and you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house unto a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. If concerning such things .....

those who give glory .....

'If these should keep silence, the stones will cry out,' .....

holiness and the .....

of the land of God, which as a whole sings to the .....

having worshipped Him, according to what is written in the Psalms, where on the one hand:

'Sing to the Lord, all the earth,' and where on the other hand:

'Let all the earth worship You and sing to You,' .....