So that no one should think the calling of the nations is burdensome, and that all humanity has witnessed the salvation of God—commanded to ascend the high mountain with the proclamations of joy to Zion, and that the Lord Himself came with strength, rewarding each according to his works, and like a shepherd tenderly comforting the lambs against His breast, and personally carrying the mothers: thus, His greatness is emphasized—nothing is beyond His capability. He who created everything and is the Creator of all certainly can accomplish even these small tasks in comparison. By referring to a handful and a span, He employs common measures familiar to humanity, that we might comprehend through our own terms the majesty of God. Where the Septuagint renders it as measuring the water with His hand, or as we have put it, a handful, Aquila translates this as measuring the water with a very small finger. This implies that not with the entirety of the hand, but with the smallest finger, commonly known as the forefinger, does He measure the vast expanse of the waters; while a span signifies an open hand from the thumb to the little finger. If we close the hand, a handful is formed, through which we might recognize the heavens and the earth laid out before us. In place of a handful, as interpreted by the Septuagint regarding the size of the earth, the Hebrew uses salis, which Simmachus translates as τριτον, Aquila as τρίβωμον, and for the sake of clarity, we have rendered this as three fingers, demonstrating that He weighed the earth and the heights of the mountains and hills as one would with three small fingers or with a small grain on the scales, which illustrates the greatness of God and the Creator's power. Who, He asks, assisted the Spirit of the Lord, or who was His advisor? In contrast, Simmachus rendered this as: Who prepared the Spirit of the Lord, and who counseled Him? With whom did He consult, who provided Him understanding, guided Him in the way of judgment, taught Him knowledge, and directed Him in the path of wisdom? This expresses more clearly the preparation or affirmation of that Spirit, of whom the Apostle declares, "The Lord is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17), and "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding" (Is. 11:2), further proclaiming, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me" (Is. 61:1). For He Himself embodies the Spirit of the Lord and serves as His counselor, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). He is the Counselor of whom it was written, "Wonderful is the Counselor" (Is. 9:6). In the Book of Proverbs, we find that "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens" (Proverbs 3:19). Hence, the Seventy, stating "Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor?" desire to clarify that the mind, knowledge, and wisdom of God, through which all things came into being and without which nothing could exist, is the One celebrated by the Psalms: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (Psalm 32:5). All nations that do not recognize their Creator, or all of humanity in comparison to God, are like a drop from a bucket or like a grain on the scales, which tips to the opposing side with the slightest weight. Just as a carrier pays no heed if a small drop spills from the bucket, so the entirety of the nations compared to the celestial assembly and the host of angels is acknowledged as naught. Likewise, islands are deemed as spittle, or as Symmachus and Theodotion express it, substituting the very Hebrew term as doc, which indicates something that has fallen away; whereas Aquila translates this as λεπτο'ν βαλλόμενον. The Hebrews claim this term signifies the minute dust that, when stirred by a whirlwind, flies into the eyes, making it more perceptible than visible. This term may refer to the tiniest, almost invisible fragments of dust, possibly akin to what Democritus termed atoms. There are many terms that are read or interpreted in Greek as they appear in Hebrew, due to the challenges of translation and the comparative linguistic limitations of both Greek and Latin. In gradually turning people away from idolatry, He simultaneously dismantles sacrificial practices and teaches that all the cedars of Lebanon and the creatures that graze them are not sufficient for His offerings. Yet, if all nations before Him are considered as non-existent and regarded as nothingness and emptiness (including Israel among these nations), then Israel too is treated as if it does not exist, and counted as nothingness and emptiness. We assert this to humble pride, that they might realize they are akin to other nations.
THEOSIS