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Fragments

St Melito of Sardis, ANF 8

IX

Head of the Lord-His simple Divinity; because He is the Beginning and Creator of all things: in Daniel.¹

The white hair of the Lord, because He is “the Ancient of Days: “as above.

The eyes of the Lord-the Divine inspection: because He sees all things. Like that in the apostle: For all things are naked and open in His eyes.”²

The eyelids of the Lord-hidden spiritual mysteries in the Divine precepts. In the Psalm: “His eyelids question, that is prove, the children of men.”³

The smelling of the Lord-His delight in the prayers or works of the saints. In Genesis: “And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness.”⁴

The mouth of the Lord-His Son, or word addressed to men. In the prophet, “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken;”⁵ and elsewhere, “They provoked His mouth to anger.”⁶

The tongue of the Lord-His Holy Spirit. In the Psalm: “My tongue is a pen.”⁷

The face of the Lord-His manifestation. In Exodus, “My face shall go before thee;”⁸ and in the prophet, “The face of the Lord divided them.”⁹

The word of the Lord-His Son. In the Psalm: “My heart hath uttered a good word.”¹⁰

The arm of the Lord-His Son, by whom He hath wrought all His works. In the prophet Isaiah: “And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”¹¹

The right hand of the Lord-that is, His Son; as also above in the Psalm: “The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly.”¹²

The right hand of the Lord-electio omnis. As in Deuteronomy: “In His right hand is a fiery law.”¹³

The wings of the Lord-Divine protection. In the Psalm: “In the shadow of Thy wings will I hope.”¹⁴

The shoulder of the Lord-the Divine power, by which He condescends to carry the feeble. In Deuteronomy: “He took them up, and put them on His shoulders.”¹⁵

The hand of the Lord-Divine operation. In the prophet: “Have not my hands made all these things?”¹⁶

The finger of the Lord-the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written;¹⁷ and in the Gospel: “If I by the finger of God cast out demons”¹⁸

The fingers of the Lord-The lawgiver Moses, or the prophets. In the Psalm: “I will regard the heavens,” that is, the books of the Law and the Prophets, “the works of Thy fingers.”¹⁹

The wisdom of the Lord-His Son. In the apostle: “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God;”²⁰ and in Solomon: “The wisdom of the Lord reacheth from one end to the other mightily.”²¹

The womb of the Lord-the hidden recess of Deity out of which He brought forth His Son. In the Psalm: “Out of the womb, before Lucifer, have I borne Thee.²²

The feet of the Lord-His immoveableness and eternity. In the Psalm: “And thick darkness was under His feet.”²³

The throne of the Lord-angels, or saints, or simply sovereign dominion.²⁴ In the Psalm: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”²⁵

Seat-the same as above, angels or saints, because the Lord sits upon these. In the Psalm: “The Lord sat upon His holy seat.”²⁶

The descent of the Lord-His visitation of men. As in Micah: “Behold, the Lord shall come forth from His place; He shall come down trampling under foot the ends of the earth.”²⁷ Likewise in a bad sense. In Genesis: “The Lord came down to see the tower.”²⁸

The ascent of the Lord-the raising up of man, who is taken from earth to heaven. In the Psalm: “Who ascendeth above the heaven of heavens to the east.”²⁹

The standing of the Lord-the patience of the Deity, by which He bears with sinners that they may come to repentance. As in Habakkuk: “He good and measured the earth;³⁰ and in the Gospel: “Jesus stood, and bade him be called,”³¹ that is, the blind man.

The transition of the Lord-His assumption of our flesh, through which by His birth, His death, His resurrection, His ascent into heaven, He made transitions, so to say. In the Song of Songs: “Behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.”³²

The going³³ of the Lord-His coming or visitation. In the Psalm.

The way of the Lord-the operation of the Deity. As in Job, in speaking of the devil: “He is the beginning of the ways of the Lord.”³⁴

Again: The ways of the Lord-His precepts. In Hosea: “For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just shall walk in them.”³⁵

The footsteps of the Lord-the signs of His secret operations. As in the Psalm: “And Thy footsteps shall not be known.”³⁶

The knowledge of the Lord-that which makes men to know Him. To Abraham He says: “Now I know that thou fearest the Lord;”³⁷ that is, I have made thee to know.

The ignorance of God³⁸ is His disapproval. In the Gospel: “I know you not.”³⁹

The remembrance of God-His mercy, by which He rejects and has mercy on whom He will. So in Genesis: “The Lord remembered Noah;”⁴⁰ and in another passage: “The Lord hath remembered His people.”⁴¹

The repentance of the Lord-His change of procedure.⁴² As in the book of Kings: “It repented me that I have made Saul king.”⁴³

The anger and wrath of the Lord-the vengeance of the Deity upon sinners, when He bears with them with a view to punishment, does not at once judge them according to strict equity. As in the Psalm: “In His anger and in His wrath will He trouble them.”⁴⁴

The sleeping of the Lord-when, in the thoughts of some, His faithfulness is not sufficiently wakeful. In the Psalm: “Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?”⁴⁵

The watches of the Lord-in the guardianship of His elect He is always at hand by the presence of His Deity. In the Psalm: “Lo! He will not slumber nor sleep.”⁴⁶

The sitting of the Lord-His ruling. In the Psalm: “The Lord sitteth upon His holy seat.”⁴⁷

The footstool of the Lord-man assumed by the Word; or His saints, as some think. In the Psalm: “Worship ye His footstool, for it is holy.”

The walking of the Lord-the delight of the Deity in the walks of His elect. In the prophet: “I will walk in them, and will be their Lord.”⁴⁸

The trumpet of the Lord-His mighty voice. In the apostle: “At the command, and at the voice of the archangel, and at the trumpet of God, shall He descend from heaven.”⁴⁹

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