Saving The Soul

Τὰ δὲ ἀκόλουθα τοῦ ψαλμοῦ· Σὺ δέ, Κύριε, μὴ μακρύνῃς τὴν βοήθειάν σου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ· εἰς τὴν ἀντίληψίν μου πρόσχες· ῥῦσαι ἀπὸ ῥομφαίας τὴν ψυχήν μου καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς κυνὸς τὴν μονογενῆ μου· σῶσόν με ἐκ στόματος λέοντος καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου· ὁμοίως πάλιν διδασκαλία καὶ προαγγελία τῶν ὄντων αὐτῷ καὶ συμβαίνειν μελλόντων. μονογενὴς γὰρ ὅτι ἦν τῷ πατρὶ τῶν ὅλων οὗτος, ἰδίως ἐξ αὐτοῦ λόγος καὶ δύναμις γεγεννημένος, καὶ ὕστερον ἄνθρωπος διὰ τῆς παρθένου γενόμενος, ὡς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπομνημονευμάτων ἐμάθομεν, προεδήλωσα. Καὶ ὅτι σταυρωθεὶς ἀπέθανεν, ὁμοίως προεῖπε. Τὸ γὰρ Ῥῦσαι ἀπὸ ῥομφαίας τὴν ψυχήν μου καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς κυνὸς τὴν μονογενῆ μου· σῶσόν με ἐκ στόματος λέοντος καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου· ὁμοίως μηνύοντος δι' οὗ πάθους ἔμελλεν ἀποθνήσκειν, τοῦτ' ἔστι σταυροῦσθαι· τὸ γὰρ κεράτων μονοκερώτων ὅτι τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ σταυροῦ ἐστι μόνου, προεξηγησάμην ὑμῖν. Καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ ῥομφαίας καὶ στόματος λέοντος καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς κυνὸς αἰτεῖν αὐτὸν τὴν ψυχὴν σωθῆναι, ἵνα μηδεὶς κυριεύσῃ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ αἴτησις ἦν, ἵνα, ἡνίκα ἡμεῖς πρὸς τῇ ἐξόδῳ τοῦ βίου γινόμεθα, τὰ αὐτὰ αἰτῶμεν τὸν θεόν, τὸν δυνάμενον ἀποστρέψαι πάντα ἀναιδῆ πονηρὸν ἄγγελον μὴ λαβέσθαι ἡμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς. Καὶ ὅτι μένουσιν αἱ ψυχαὶ ἀπέδειξα ὑμῖν ἐκ τοῦ καὶ τὴν Σαμουὴλ ψυχὴν κληθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου, ὡς ἠξίωσεν ὁ Σαούλ. Φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ψυχαὶ τῶν οὕτως δικαίων καὶ προφητῶν ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν ἔπιπτον τῶν τοιούτων δυνάμεων, ὁποία δὴ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐγγαστριμύθῳ ἐκείνῃ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ὁμολογεῖται. Ὅθεν καὶ οὗτος διδάσκει ἡμᾶς καὶ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τὸ πάντως ἀγωνίζεσθαι δικαίους γίνεσθαι, καὶ πρὸς τῇ ἐξόδῳ αἰτεῖν μὴ ὑπὸ τοιαύτην τινὰ δύναμιν ὑποπεσεῖν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν. καὶ γὰρ ἀποδιδοὺς τὸ πνεῦμα ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρῷ εἶπε· Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθεμαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, ὡς καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀπομνημονευμάτων καὶ τοῦτο ἔμαθον. Καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ ὑπερβάλλειν τὴν Φαρισαίων πολιτείαν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ συνωθῶν, εἰ δὲ μή γε, ἐπίστασθαι ὅτι οὐ σωθήσονται, ταῦτα εἰρηκέναι ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασι γέγραπται· Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλεῖον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Καὶ ὅτι ἠπίστατο τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ πάντα παρέχειν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἠξίου, καὶ ἀνεγερεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς φοβουμένους τὸν θεὸν προέτρεπεν αἰνεῖν τὸν θεὸν διὰ τὸ ἐλεῆσαι καὶ διὰ τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ σταυρωθέντος τούτου πᾶν γένος τῶν πιστευόντων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὅτι ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ ἔστη, τῶν ἀποστόλων, οἵτινες, μετὰ τὸ ἀναστῆναι αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ πεισθῆναι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ παθεῖν ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι ταῦτα αὐτὸν δεῖ παθεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν ὅτι προεκεκήρυκτο ταῦτα, μετενόησαν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀφίστασθαι αὐτοῦ ὅτε ἐσταυρώθη, καὶ μετ' αὐτῶν διάγων ὕμνησε τὸν θεόν, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασι τῶν ἀποστόλων δηλοῦται γεγενημένον, τὰ λείποντα τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ἐδήλωσεν. Ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Διηγήσομαι τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε. οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον αἰνέσατε αὐτόν, ἅπαν τὸ σπέρμα Ἰακὼβ δοξάσατε αὐτόν, φοβηθήτωσαν αὐτὸν ἅπαν τὸ σπέρμα Ἰσραήλ.  Καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν μετωνομακέναι αὐτὸν Πέτρον ἕνα τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ γεγράφθαι ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασιν αὐτοῦ γεγενημένον καὶ τοῦτο, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου ὄντας, ἐπωνομακέναι ὀνόματι τοῦ Βοανεργές, ὅ ἐστιν υἱοὶ βροντῆς, σημαντικὸν ἦν τοῦ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον εἶναι, δι' οὗ καὶ τὸ ἐπώνυμον Ἰακὼβ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπικληθέντι ἐδόθη καὶ τῷ Αὐσῇ ὄνομα Ἰησοῦς ἐπεκλήθη, δι' οὗ ὀνόματος καὶ εἰσήχθη εἰς τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην τοῖς πατριάρχαις γῆν ὁ περιλειφθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθόντων λαός. Καὶ ὅτι ὡς ἄστρον ἔμελλεν ἀνατέλλειν αὐτὸς διὰ τοῦ γένους τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, Μωυσῆς παρεδήλωσεν οὕτως εἰπών· Ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακὼβ καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐξ Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἄλλη δὲ γραφή φησιν· Ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ, ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Ἀνατείλαντος οὖν καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἅμα τῷ γεννηθῆναι αὐτὸν ἀστέρος, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασι τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ. οἱ ἀπὸ Ἀρραβίας μάγοι, ἐκ τούτου ἐπιγνόντες, παρεγένοντο καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ. Ἅγιος Ἰουστίνος Μάρτυς, Πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος, Κεφ ΡΕ' , ΡϚ Source: Migne PG 6 720c-724c

Justin: ...And what follows in the Psalm: 'But you, O Lord, do not remove Your assistance from me; give heed to my help. Deliver my soul from the sword and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns,' 1 likewise again is teaching and prediction of the events which would befall Him. For I have already proved that He was the only-begotten of the Father of all things, being begotten from Him in a unique manner Word and Power, and afterwards becoming man through the Virgin, as we have learned from the Gospels. And that He would die by crucifixion is similarly foretold. For: 'Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns,' is indicative of the suffering by which He should die, that is, crucifixion. For the horns of the unicorns are a figure of the cross only, as I have already explained to you. And the prayer that His soul should be saved from the sword and the lion's mouth and the hand of the dog, was a prayer that no one should take possession of His soul, so that, when we arrive at the end of life we may ask the same things from God, who is able to turn away every shameless evil angel from the taking of our souls. And that souls survive I have shown to you from the calling up of the soul of Samuel by the witch, as Saul demanded. And it appears also that all the souls of the righteous and the Prophets fell under the dominion of such powers, as must indeed be admitted from the very deeds of the witch.Thus God teaches us by His Son to strive in every way to be righteous, and at death to pray that our souls may not fall under any such power. For giving up His spirit on the cross, He said, 'Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit,' 2 as I have learned also from the Gospels. For He exhorted His disciples to surpass the conduct of the Pharisees and if they did not they might be sure they would not be saved; and these things which were said are written in the Gospels: 'Unless your righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 3 That He knew His Father would give to Him all that He asked, and would raise Him from the dead, and that He urged all who fear God to praise Him because He had mercy through the mystery of Him who was crucified on all the races of believing men, and that He stood in the midst of His brethren, the Apostles, after He rose from the dead, and after they were persuaded by Him that before His passion He had told them that He must suffer these things and that they were announced beforehand by the Prophets, and they repented their flight from Him when He was crucified, and when He was with them they sang praises to God, as is made clear in the Gospels of the Apostles, the rest of the Psalm declares: 'I will declare Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You that fear the Lord, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify Him. Let all the seed of Israel fear Him.' 4 And when it is said that He changed the name of Peter, one of the Apostles, and when it is written in the Gospels about Him that this so happened, as well as His changing of the names of another two brothers, the sons of Zebedee, to Boanerges, which means sons of thunder, this was an announcement that He was the one by whom Jacob was called Israel, and Oshea called Jesus, that is, Joshua, under whose name the people who survived of those that came from Egypt were conducted into the land promised to the patriarchs. And that like a star He should arise from the seed of Abraham, Moses disclosed, saying, 'A star shall arise from Jacob, and a leader from Israel.' 5 And another Scripture says, 'Behold a man; the East is His name.' 6 Thus when a star rose in heaven at the time of His birth, as is written in the Gospels of His Apostles, the Magi from Arabia, informed by this, came and worshipped Him. Saint Justin Martyr,  from The Dialogue With Trypho, Chapters 105-6 1 Ps 21.20-22 2 Lk 23.46 3 Mt 5.10  4 Ps 21.23-25 5 Num 24.17 6 Zech 6.12

Son And Unicorn

Καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος ὡς υἱος μονοκερώτων. Ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱος, ὁ διδοὺς ζωὴν τῷ κόσμῳ, ὅταν μὲν προσφέρῃ θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν ἑαυτὸν τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀμνὸς ὀνομάζεται, τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πρόβατον. Ἴδε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ πάλιν· Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη. Ὅταν δὲ ἀμύνασθαι δέῃ καὶ καθελεῖν τὴν δυναστείαν τὴν ἐπιφυομένην τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκτεθηριωμένην τινὰ καὶ ἀπηγριωμένην δύναμιν, τότε υἱος μονοκερώτων ὀνομάζεται. Ζῶον γὰρ, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ἰὼβ μεμαθήκαμεν, ὁ μονόκερώς ἐστιν ἄμαχον τὴν δύναμιν, ανυπότακτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Οὐ γὰρ δήσεις αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ἱμάντι, οὐδε κοιμηθήσεται ἐπὶ φάτνης. Καὶ πολλὰ περὶ τοῦ ἐλευθεριάζειν τὸ ζώον καὶ μὴ ὑπείκειν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ μέρει τῆς προφητείας εἴρηται. Καὶ παρατετήρηται, ὅτι ἐπ' ἀμφότερα κεχρηται τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ μονοκέρωτος ἡ Γραφή· ποτὲ μὲν ἐπαινετῶς, ἄλλοτε δὲ διαβεβλημένως. Ῥῦσαι γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκ ῥομφαὶς τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσιν μου. Τὸν πολεμοποιὸν λαὸν διαβάλλων ταῦτα φησι παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους ἐπαναστάντα αὐτῷ. Πάλιν δὲ, Ὑψωθήσεται, φησὶν, ὡς μονοκέρωτος τὸ κέρας μου. Ἔοικεν οὖν διὰ μὲν τὸ ἁμυντικὸν τοῦ ζώου ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν χειρόνων εἰκασίαν  πολλάκις παραλαμβάνεσθαι, διὰ δὲ τὸ ὑψίκερων καὶ ἑλευθέριον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βελτίονος ἄγεσθαι εἰκασίαν. Καὶ ὅλως, ἐπειδὴ τὸ κέρας ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς ἀντὶ τῆς δόξης πολλαχοῦ παρειλημμένον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, ὡς τὸ, Ὑψώσει κέρας λαοῦ αὐτοῦ· καὶ, Τὸ κέρας αὐτοῦ ὑψωθήσεται ἑν δόξῃ· ἢ καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸ κέρας ἀντὶ δυνάμεως πολλάκις παραλαμβάνεται· ὡς τὸ, Ὕπερασπιστής μου καὶ κέρας σωτηρίας μου· Χριστὸς δὲ Θεοῦ δύναμις· διὰ τοῦτο ὡς ἔν ἔχων κέρας, τουτέστι μίαν δύναμιν ἔχων τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς, μονόκερως προσηγόρευται. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΚΗ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29 296

'And beloved as a son of the unicorns.' 1 The only begotten Son who gave life to the world when He offered himself to the Lord as a sacrifice and oblation for our sins, is named the lamb of God and the sheep, 'Behold the lamb of God,' 2 and 'As a sheep led to the slaughter.'  3 But when to ward off and pull down the growing power of the race of men, like some unbroken and untamed power, so He is named the son of the unicorn. For we learn in Job that the unicorn is an animal of unconquerable virtue and never subject to men. It says, 'For you will not bind him nor will he sleep in a stable.'  4 For that the animal is a great lover of liberty and not tameable by men is spoken of in this part of prophecy. But it has been observed that in one part of Scripture the likeness to a unicorn is used in laudatory fashion and in another to dispraise. 'Seize,' David says,'my soul from the swords and my humility from the horns of the unicorns.' 5 He spoke these things against a warring people, when a time of distress had come upon him. For again it is said, 'He shall exult my horn like the unicorn.' 6 And it seems on account of the passion of the animal for revenge that is often understood in a bad sense, and contrariwise on account of its high horn and desire for freedom, it is used in a good sense. And in sum, because we find that Scripture often employs the horn as a sign of glory, for example, 'He shall exult the horn of his people,' 7 and 'His horn he shall exult in glory,' 8  this is because the horn is understood as virtue, that is, 'My protector and horn of my salvation.'  9 And Christ is the power of God, therefore He is named as He who has one horn, that is, He has one common power with the Father. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 28 1 Ps 28.6 2 Jn 1.29 3 Act 8.32, Isa 53.7 4 Job 39.10 5 Ps 21.22 6 Ps 91.11 7 Ps 148.14 8 Ps 111.9 9 Ps 17.3