Interpretatio in Ezechielem

For those who are earthly in soul, that is, those who come from the Gentiles, and the Jews who are unfruitful like wild trees, by coming to the faith and enjoying such watering, will give me the fruit of piety. "And they shall dwell upon their own land in hope of peace." And he did not say "in peace," but "in hope of peace"; for to those who have believed in him the Lord said: "In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And the divine Apostle also says: "For in hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he also hope for? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." And again: "And not only this, but we ourselves also, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body." Then the most profitable thing of all: And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and I will deliver them out of the hand of those who enslaved them. (28) And they shall no longer be a prey to the nations; and the beasts of the earth shall no longer devour them. And I have already said that the prophecy is twofold: for one part fits the Jews themselves, and the other all men; for he freed the Jews from the captivity of the Babylonians, and delivered us all from the tyranny of the devil. And he called the bars of the yoke the necessity of slavery; and "nations" and "beasts," in the case of the Jews, the beast-like enemies, but in our case the various orders of demons, which rush upon men like wild beasts.

Then he also shows the invincible weapon, I mean hope in him. "And they shall dwell in hope, and there shall be none to terrify them." For it is good to hope in the Lord, or to hope in man; for he who has this hope cries out: "All the nations surrounded me, and in the name of the Lord I repelled them." 29. And I will raise up for them a plant of peace for a name. The prophet Isaiah also says this: "A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him," and the rest. And again: "The root of Jesse shall be, and he who rises to rule the nations; in him the nations shall hope, and his rest shall be honor." Interpreting this, the Lord said: "I am the true vine, you are the branches." And in the Song of Songs we find the bride saying: "As an apple among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons." And here, then, he says: "I will raise up for them a plant of peace for a name": that is, most renowned, glorious, much spoken of. Perhaps the word also hints at something else, that from the plant they will receive the name; for from Christ all the pious are called Christians. "And they shall no longer be few in number in the land." That is, the pious; for they were very few before the coming of Christ. "And they shall no longer perish by famine in the land." They shall, he says, enjoy all spiritual food; for here he calls famine the deprivation of the word, which God threatened through the prophets.

For I will bring, he says, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord." — "And they shall no longer bear the reproach of the nations." And this again fits both us and the Jews; for we, having increased into a multitude and filled the whole inhabited world, are no longer reproached by those who remain in impiety, but rather are envied and made objects of jealousy; and the Jews, after the return from Babylon, having been freed from captivity, recovered their own spirit. 30. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they are my people, the house of Israel, says Adonai the Lord. It is necessary to recall the words of the Apostle, that "not all who are of Jerusalem, these are Israel, nor because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children." And it is fitting to add to these the words spoken by the divine John the Baptist to the Pharisees, that "God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." From which it is clear that all who have believed, and who see the God of all things through faith, as far as it is possible to see, are called Israel; for this is what the name means; and this also happened to them after the return, and the prophecy fits us more properly and truly, insofar as our things are not a type but the truth. 31. And you are my sheep, he says, and the sheep of my pasture. And showing that the word is not only to Israel, but to the whole nature of mankind, he has necessarily added:

You are men, and I am the Lord your God, says Adonai the Lord." For you, having been freed from brutishness, have acquired the mindset befitting human nature; and I will be your God and Lord, exercising all providence and care for you. The prophecy, then, has this meaning. I consider it nothing new that the Jews are customarily foolish, but I marvel that some of our own people dare to take everything as referring to Zerubbabel, and do not understand that most of what has been said is directly contrary to what was done by him. For the words: "I will make a covenant of peace with David, and I will destroy evil beasts from the land, and they shall dwell in the wilderness in confidence, and they shall sleep in the thickets." And: "They shall dwell in hope, and there shall be none to make them afraid, and I will raise up for them a plant of peace for a name, and they shall no longer be destroyed by famine in the land, and they shall no longer bear the reproach of the nations" — these are entirely contrary to the history concerning him. For he, having returned from Babylon and begun to rebuild the divine temple, was prevented by the neighboring nations from putting the finishing touch to the work. Therefore, when forty-six years had passed — both according to the ancient history and according to the testimony of the Gospels — the temple alone was completed; and after another eighty-two years the city recovered its surrounding walls, when Nehemiah restored them in the thirty-second year of the reign of Artaxerxes.

The writing of Ezra teaches us that such fear fell upon those who were building, that they were compelled to build while bearing iron weapons, and at the same time both to bring stones and to shoot arrows against the enemies. How, then, do such words fit them as "There shall be none to frighten them," or "I will raise up for them a plant of peace," or "They shall not be few in number"? Again, Ezra teaches us that Nehemiah, having expended much labor, with difficulty persuaded the priests to leave their dwelling in the fields and to inhabit the city; and it is likewise easy for those who love learning to compare the other matters with the history and to perceive the discrepancy. Therefore some things fit those men, but the most fit the salvation of the inhabited world. Leaving the Jews, then, to babble—they who have transferred to the soul the weakness of the eyes of the body from their own mother, Leah, I mean, and are unwilling to see the truth—we exhort those of the same faith to test all things and hold fast to what is good, according to the divine Apostle, and to do what we are accustomed to do with foods, preferring the pleasant to the unpleasant, and indeed choosing the more pleasant over the pleasant—this also to do with the divine oracles; for the mind, as Job says, discerns words, and the throat tastes foods, and in much time

Wisdom is found, and in a long and full life, knowledge; for experience is an exact teacher, having taken as its co-worker the revelation from above; enjoying which, and being illuminated by its brightness, we would never miss the truth, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. TOME 14. CHAPTER 35. 1–4. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say to it: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desert, and you shall be made desolate. And in your cities I will make a desolation, and you shall be a desert, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Mount Seir is of Idumea, as we have already said before; and the Idumeans, tracing their race from Esau, were very hatefully and hostilely disposed toward the Jews, on which account they also rejoiced at the calamities brought upon them; against these God threatens a final desolation of all things. And the phrase, "I will stretch out my hand against you," he has set down as a metaphor from those who strike with their hands, showing the vehemence of his anger. Yet we know that the divine nature is impassible, and that such words are measured by the capacity of the hearers. Having thus threatened the punishment, he adds also the cause: 5. Instead of there being in you an eternal enmity, and you sat in wait against the house of Israel with deceit, in the hand of enemies, with the sword in the time of their affliction, and in the time of injustice at the last.

He calls the Idumeans to account for their grudge-bearing and the plots they secretly formed against Israel. For he indicated these things when he said: "You stood against the house of Israel with deceit, in the hand of enemies, with the sword in the time of their affliction"—that is, when their enemies came upon them, you fortified the roads against them with ambushes and snares, not even allowing them to flee. For thus the other interpreters also explained it: "And you shut up," he says, "the sons of Israel into the hand of the sword, in the time of their affliction, in the time of lawlessness before me." For, he says, the house of Israel, paying the penalty for the lawlessness—or, according to the Seventy, the injustice—committed against me, experienced an intensification of their calamities through your deceits and your plots together with the enemies. The prophetic word, then, teaches us not to trample upon even those who are punished for their sins, but to weep with those who weep, according to the apostolic admonition. "Therefore, as I live, says Adonai the Lord: surely you sinned unto blood, and blood shall pursue you; for you hated your own blood, your blood shall pursue you." But here he calls "blood," not war, but kinship. For since, he says, you made war against your own race, you will reasonably be warred against by it, and the kinsmen whom you hated I will raise up against you as enemies. Now the Jews are kinsmen of the Idumeans; for they trace their race from two brothers: the one from Edom, also called Esau, and the other from Jacob, also called Israel. "And I will make Mount Seir a desert, and desolate." Then he also tells the manner of the desolation.

And I will destroy man and beast from it, and those who pass through and those who return.” These words indicate an extreme desolation, that he will strip it not only of inhabitants but also of travelers passing by; and he foretells also in what manner he will consume those who dwell in it. 8, 9. “And I will fill your mountains with your slain, and your valleys, and in all your plains; for those slain by the sword shall fall in you. And I will make you an eternal desolation, and your cities shall no longer be inhabited, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” Again, “an eternal desolation,” and “they shall no longer be inhabited,” he has set down according to the scriptural idiom. From what has already, then, been interpreted by us in the desolation of Tyre, we shall understand these things as well. Having thus threatened punishment, he again lays bare their wickedness. 10. Because you said: “The two nations, and the two lands shall be mine, and I will inherit them, and the Lord is there.” Or, according to the other interpreters, “And the Lord was there.” This not only convicts their greed and covetousness, but also shows the excess of their impiety, and resembles the arrogant words of Sennacherib; for he too said, “The Lord shall not deliver Jerusalem out of my hand.” And the Idumeans likewise said in their insolence, “Even if the Lord is in Jerusalem, we shall possess the two lands.” And yet the God of all, who brought Israel out of Egypt, did not allow him to make war on the Idumeans: “You shall not make war on them,” he said to them, “for they are your brothers.” Therefore also, being hindered from the road, they went around the mountain and the desert, as they were commanded.

And concerning that whole land God said to Israel: "I will not give it to you, for I have given it to the sons of Esau as an inheritance." But nevertheless the Idumeans, not content with the good things given by God, hoped also to inherit the land of the Jews; whence with good reason the God of all things both threatens punishments and confirms his decree with an oath. 11. For this reason, he says, As I live, says the Lord Adonai, I will deal with you according to your enmity, and according to your zeal which you showed, out of your having hated them. You will suffer, he says, things worthy of your envy and ill will. And I will be known to you when I judge you. 12. And you shall know that I am the Lord. By bringing punishments upon you, he says, I will make myself clear to you, so that you may not think that the painful things happened to you from some other source, but having learned my dominion, you may receive benefit from the knowledge. I heard the voice of all your blasphemies which you spoke concerning the mountains of Israel, saying: The mountains of Israel, the high ones, the eternal ones, have been given to us as a possession to hold. 13. And you magnified yourself against me with your mouth, and you multiplied your words against me, which I heard. He does not even endure to recall the blasphemous words, teaching us not even in narration to bring forth the blasphemies of others with the tongue, but to remember the prophetic voice, which says: "So that my mouth may not speak the works of men." And through all these things he showed not only their ill will and their remembrance of wrongs, but also their arrogance, and their rage and madness against God.

Very profitably indeed has he added, "You have multiplied your words against me, which I have heard," teaching us that nothing of what we either say or do is able to escape the seeing or the hearing power of his. 14, 15. Thus says Adonai the Lord: In the gladness of the whole earth I will make you a perpetual desolation. Just as you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was destroyed, so will I do to you: you shall be a desolation, Mount Seir, and all Idumea shall be utterly consumed, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. He has threatened them with a punishment that admits no consolation. For, he says, when all others were passing their lives in peace and delight, I will surround you with calamities, so that you may not even have consolation from sharing in the misfortunes of others; for Israel had this consolation, when Nebuchadnezzar came against not only them but also the Tyrians, the Sidonians, the Palestinians, and the Egyptians. But nevertheless, in addition to these things, he promises a benefit through the punishment: "For they shall know," he says, "that I am the Lord their God." Beneficial, then, is the discipline which, according to the prophet Isaiah, "opens our ears" and prepares us to recognize our own Master, who strikes and heals.

CHAPTER 30. 1–3. And you, son of man, prophesy against the mountains of Israel, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, you have become eternal desolations for a possession; therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because you have become a destruction to all the nations, and because you have been dishonored by all those around you, so that you have become a possession to all the remaining nations, and you have gone up as a speech of the tongue upon lips, and as a reproach to the nations. Having foretold the gloomy and downcast things to the Idumeans, he transfers the word to the mountains of Israel, and offers them a promise of good things, and exhorts them to take courage, since the words spoken by the hostile ones are false and vain. For the desolation, he says, will not remain for the longest time, but I will convict the reproaches of the nations neighboring you, and I will put an end to their boldness against you, and they will no longer recount your calamities, spreading abroad your evils. To these things he adds: 4. Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says Adonai the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the ravines, and to the valleys, and to the glens, and to those made desolate and destroyed, and to the cities that have been abandoned, which have become a prey, and a trampling-ground to the nations left round about them.

It was easy and very simple to promise the good things to the whole land of Israel in brief, but he makes mention in detail both of mountains and ravines and hills and cities and all the rest, cheering on the souls that were disheartened because of the desolation. 5. Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Surely in the fire of my zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Idumea, because they gave my possession to themselves as an inheritance with gladness, despising souls with their whole heart, to destroy them in plunder. Greatly, he says, did the boldness of Idumea and of the other nations provoke me, which they used against my land, rejoicing in its desolation, and expecting to take possession of it and to carry off captive the souls dwelling in it. For this reason I have brought forth my judgments against them. 6. Prophesy, then, O prophet, again against the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and the hills and the glens and the ravines: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I in my zeal and in my wrath have spoken, in return for your receiving the reproaches of the nations. 7. Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I lift up my hand against the nations round about you; these shall receive their own dishonor. The reproach, he says, that came against you has prepared the judgment to be brought forth against those who reproached, and they shall reap the fruits of their impiety against me and of their grudging and boldness against you. 8. But your vintage and your fruit, O mountains of Israel, my people Israel shall eat, because they hope to come.

I shall confirm," he says, "the hope of the people, and I shall establish their good expectation, and it shall return, and it shall enjoy the fruits that grow among you." But it is clear that he is not speaking to the mountains as though they were living beings—for they are irrational and lifeless—but by his address to lifeless things he comforts their inhabitants, promising them good things. 9–11. "Behold, I am upon you, and I will look upon you, and you shall be worked, and you shall be sown. And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel to the end, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the deserts shall be built up. And I will multiply men upon you, and cattle, and they shall increase and be multiplied, and I will cause you to dwell as in your beginning, and I will do you good as in the years before you; and they shall know that I am the Lord." It is not the mountains that shall know, but those who dwell in the mountains. And these things came to pass after the return from Babylon; and the facts bear witness: for the cities of Palestine were filled with inhabitants, and all were rebuilt and shine with splendor; but that one alone has remained desolate, in which the Jews, raging against the Master and Savior, committed the daring deed of the cross—which was salvation for all men, but for themselves

having contrived destruction. But that all Israel should obtain the return, the Master both promised and has fulfilled his own word. For he prepared Cyrus to permit the return to all; but they, sick with their customary disobedience, spoke against the commands, and preferred their own land to a foreign one. 13–15. Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because you said, "You are a land devouring men, and you have become childless from your nation." Therefore you shall no longer eat men, and you shall no longer make your nation childless, says the Lord. And no longer shall the dishonor of the nations be heard against you, and you shall no longer endure reproaches, and your nation shall no longer be made childless, says Adonai the Lord. These things too would have received their fulfillment, if the Jews had been willing; but since, like rabid dogs, they raged madly against the Master, they themselves have made the prophecy unfulfilled; and yet in this way the prediction possesses its truthfulness. For God, the ruler of all, said beforehand through Jeremiah the prophet: "I shall speak a fulfillment concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, of rebuilding and of planting, and they shall do evil before me, so as not to hear my voice, and I shall repent concerning the good things which I spoke to do for them." The Jews, therefore, are the cause of not obtaining the good things promised through the prophecy. 10–18. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt upon their own land, and they defiled it in their way, and in their idols, and in their uncleannesses; according to the uncleanness of a woman in her separation their way became before my face.

And I poured out my wrath upon them. The very facts, he says, bear witness to the justice of the punishment; for they did not merely persist in worshipping all kinds of idols, but they also practiced every form of lawlessness, so as to be filled with every abomination and hatred; and since according to the law the woman in separation seemed exceedingly unclean—that is, she who is in a flow of blood—he likens their abomination to that excess of lawlessness. Then again, persisting in the accusation: Because they poured out, he says, blood upon the earth, and defiled it with their idols. (19) And I scattered them among the nations, and I winnowed them into the lands. And again he shows the justice of the punishment. "According to their way, and according to their practices, I judged them." They reaped, he says, the fruits of what they planted. Here he has called blood not only the other murders, but also the sacrifices of children, which they offered to the flesh-devouring and wicked demons; for they were not satisfied, he says, with the lawless deeds before the captivity, but even when they had become captives of war and sojourners, they persisted in the same evils. (20) And they entered into the nations, into which they entered there, and they profaned my holy name, in that it was said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and they have gone out from his land. By living, he says, in wickedness, they became the cause of blasphemies against me. For first the nations supposed that these men had been defeated because of my weakness, and had come under their enemies;

Then, having learned their wickedness by experience, they stirred up blasphemy against me, as though I delighted in such practices and had called a people so wicked my own; but nevertheless, caring for them, 25. And I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned, where they went in. Wishing, he says, to teach them my strength, I will deliver these from the evils that lie upon them. 22, 23. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Not for your sake do I act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you profaned among the nations, where you went in. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says Adonai the Lord, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. You, he says, are not worthy of salvation, but the nations ought to obtain healing, having received from you the occasion of blasphemy against me; and the blasphemy will be loosed through the

Your salvation being shown to be my power. For having learned how great my name is, and that it is sufficient for the aid of those who are made my own, they will glorify my dominion and sing hymns to it. For this is what he indicated by saying: And the nations shall know that I am the Lord God, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. (24) And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all your generations, and I will bring you into your land. This suits all who returned; for those who wished to return obtained their return; but the things that follow no longer apply to all, but only to those who chose to believe the gospel proclamation. For he says: (25) And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. —And he called the water of regeneration clean water, in which, having been baptized, we received the forgiveness of sins. And the things that follow confirm what has been said. (26) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will give you. Through these words he signified the change of mind; for, he says, your heart will incline to the better things, no longer having, according to its former habit, the inclination toward the worse. And the words "I will give" in no way harm free will; for having employed words, and deeds, and countless wonders, he persuaded not only those but also all the nations to come to piety, but did not compel them; yet nevertheless, though not compelling but persuading, he himself says that he has given to their souls the inclination toward better things, since he himself became the cause of this through what he said and did.

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will give my Spirit within you. Nor did these things happen before the coming of the Master Christ; for having had only three prophets together after the return—Haggai, and Zechariah, and Malachi—immediately after them they were stripped of the prophetic grace. But after the incarnation of our God and Savior and his ascension into the heavens, the Holy Spirit came upon the holy apostles, and grace was supplied through them, not to Jews only, but also to all the Gentiles who came to the faith. He calls a heart of stone the resistant and disobedient one, and a heart of flesh the compliant and obedient one, able to receive the impressions of the divine writings. "And I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them." But this is proper to the grace of the Spirit; for it, working together with our free will, prepares the things said to be accomplished. (28) And you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers. Again he transfers the discourse to the common meaning, and carries it over from spiritual things to bodily things. And you shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God. (29, 30) And I will cleanse you from all your sins, and I will call the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you may no longer receive the reproach of famine among the nations. I know, then, that each of these things can be understood also in a spiritual sense.

But nevertheless I think that the prophetic word now promises bodily things to the Jews. For since a great desolation at that time possessed the land, he promises them abundance of fruits of every kind, and he foretells the benefit that will come from this. 31. And you shall remember, he says, your evil ways, and your practices that were not good, and you shall loathe them before yourselves, concerning your lawless deeds and concerning your abominations. By enjoying these good things, he says, and learning how great are the fruits that righteousness bears, you shall remember your former wickedness, and the punishment that was brought upon you because of it, and you shall utterly hate your former transgression of the law. For he has used "you shall loathe" in place of "you shall abominate." Such is what was said by David concerning the lawless man: "He stood by every way that is not good, but he did not loathe wickedness," that is, he did not abominate wickedness. Having thus promised them good things, he again humbles their mindset, saying: 32. Not for your sake do I do this, O house of Israel, says Adonai the Lord; let it be known to you, O house of Israel. You are not, he says, worthy of the promised good things, but I do what is fitting to my own nature. Then, both by way of exhortation and of reproof: "Be ashamed, and be put to shame because of your ways, O house of Israel." Do not, he says, bear your punishments of every kind without feeling or without perception; but having at last, though late, taken to mind the wickedness of your practices, blush for the things you have dared. 33, 34. Thus says Adonai the Lord:

In the day on which I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the desolate places shall be built. And the land that was laid waste shall be worked, in return for the fact that it became laid waste before the eyes of everyone who passed by. When, he says, I grant you forgiveness of your sins and make you clean by remission, then I will provide buildings for the cities and plantings for the land, and instead of the former desolation, which all who passed by saw, I will cause it to be inhabited. 35. And they shall say, That land that was laid waste has become like a paradise of delight, and the cities that were desolate and laid waste and razed have sat fortified with walls. For just as, he says, all formerly carried your desolation about on their lips, so now you shall be much talked of and shall provide a wonder to all, your desolate land being likened to the paradise of delight, and your uninhabited cities, which had become overthrown, being walled with strong enclosures. 36. And the nations shall know, as many as are left round about you, that I the Lord have built the ruined places and planted the laid-waste places; I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. And the nations nearby shall learn that I both formerly provided gloomy things and now provide pleasant things, and the certainty of what has been said from the trustworthiness of the one who spoke. "I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it." For being Master, and able to do it, I will put an end to the things I have spoken. 37. Thus says Adonai the Lord: Yet for this will I be sought by the house of Israel, to do it for them. Symmachus said that "I will be sought" means "I will be found.

In addition to the former benefits, he says, I will also add this, and I will count them worthy of restoration. "And I will multiply them like holy sheep." For since I set them apart under my own care like sheep, I will grant them a shepherd's oversight. 39. Like the sheep of Jerusalem in her feasts, so shall the desolate cities be full of sheep and people, and they shall know that I am the Lord. For just as, he says, before the siege that came upon them, Jerusalem was filled with sheep in their greatest festivals, so I will fill all their cities with people and sheep and the other good things, and through these very events they shall learn that I am the Lord and God, who kills and makes alive, who strikes and heals. Knowing, therefore, both the goodness and the power of our Master, let us love him because of the former, and let us take up fear because of the latter, so that, both loving and fearing, we may become keepers of his commandments, and may obtain the promised good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Volume 15.

CHAPTER 37 1. And the hand of the Lord came upon me. Again he calls the divine operation a hand. "And he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me in the midst of the plain." The vision is again spiritual; for he was not seeing what was shown to him with the eyes of the body, but was receiving the revelation of the all-holy Spirit. And this was full of human bones; (2.) And he led me around them round about on every side, and behold, there were very many on the face of the plain. He receives revelations that correspond to the events; for since, because of the unbelief with which they were afflicted, those of Judea who had become captives had renounced the more favorable hopes, the God of all shows them his own power, and demonstrates to the prophet the resurrection of dead bodies, which is far more difficult than that restoration, and through him teaches all the people that all things are easy for him when he wills it. So he taught the Jews and the other Israelites through this, that it is very easy for God, when he wills, to bring back the captives to their former freedom; but to us and to all without exception who have received the gospel proclamation with faith, he shows the ease of the resurrection of our bodies, and that by the divine word and nod the nature of things follows. And he said to me: (3.) Son of man, will these bones live? And I said: Lord God, you know these things. The prophet did not doubt, but yielded the more exact knowledge to God; knowing accurately the power of God, but not knowing his will. 4–. And he said to me:

Prophesy over these bones, prophesy, son of man, and you shall say to them: These dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says Adonai the Lord to these bones: Behold, I will bring into you a spirit of life. And I will give upon you sinews, and I will bring up upon you flesh, and I will stretch out upon you skin, and I will give my spirit upon you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. He has used the prophet as a servant and, as it were, an instrument of the resurrection in the vision, and through his tongue he commands those lifeless and, in a word, dead bones, both to produce flesh and sinews and skin, and to receive a life-giving spirit. And these things came to be not only a type of the recall of the Jews, but also of the resurrection of all. "For," says the divine Apostle, "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." 7. And I prophesied, just as the Lord commanded me, and a voice came to be when I prophesied, and behold a shaking, and the bones drew near, bone to bone, each to its own joint. The prophet, serving the divine command, brought forth the words which he was ordered, and the deed followed the words; and the shaking indicated the divine manifestation, and the voice indicated the operation of the angels who serve the divine will. And the bones, he says, he saw running, and receiving their own joint, and accepting the composition which they received from the beginning. 8. And I saw, and behold sinews came upon them, and flesh grew up, and it came up upon them, and skin was spread around them above, and there was no spirit in them.

The second creation follows the first creation; for just as the body of Adam the forefather was first molded, and then the soul was breathed into him, so here too both came together into their proper harmony. And he caused flesh and sinews to grow, and they were covered with skin; but they lay breathless and motionless; yet they obtain both life and sensation again through the divine will. 9. And he said to me: Prophesy over the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says Adonai the Lord: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these dead, and let them live. The word teaches us the ease of the divine power, and that all things are in his hand. "For in his hand," it says, "is the soul of all the living." Therefore he commands the prophet to charge the souls, wherever they may be, to return and to receive the indwelling of their own bodies. 10. And I prophesied as he commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and

spirit, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great gathering. By my divine command, he says, having carried it across, the bodies that had been joined together were given life, and obtained resurrection, and there was, he says, no small multitude of those who rose. Having thus beheld the revelation, he is taught its interpretation. 11. And the Lord spoke to me, saying: Son of man, these bones are the house of Israel, and they themselves say: Our bones have become dry, our hope has perished, we are undone. These things, he says, O prophet, are a type of Israel; but they despaired concerning their own affairs, while the type showed the hope of good things. 12–14. Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to them: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I will open your graves, my people, and I will bring you up out of your tombs, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your tombs, to bring you up, my people, out of your tombs. And I will put my spirit upon you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your land, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will do it, says Adonai the Lord. If, he says, what seems to you much more difficult I have shown to be easily accomplished by me, it is evident that I will also do this more easily with great facility, and as it were leading you out from certain tombs, from the bonds of captivity, I will bring you back to your own fatherland; for falsehood is alien to the truth. Having thus promised the return, he foretells the concord of the tribes that follows the return. 15–17.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take for yourself one rod, and write upon it Judah, and the sons of Israel who are joined to him; and you shall take for yourself a second rod, and you shall write upon it Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the sons of Israel who have been added to them. And you shall join them to one another for yourself into one rod, to bind them, and they shall be together in your hand. In the time of Rehoboam the tribes were divided, and ten of them became separate, having established their kingdom in one of the cities of Ephraim, Samaria, while the tribe of Judah ruled over itself and over Benjamin. But after the return they all came under one rule. For this reason God commanded the prophet to take two rods, and to inscribe the one with the name of Ephraim, adding also the tribes subject to him, and the other with that of Judah and those who agreed with him; then to join the rods to one another, as though the division had at last ceased and the union were to come about. Then he instructs the prophet, when the people inquire and wish to know the interpretation, to say plainly: "Behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is through the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that are joined to him, and I will give them under the tribe of Judah, and they shall become one rod in the hand of Judah." Those, he says, who long ago cut themselves off from the kingdom of Judah I will prepare again to acknowledge his rule, and I will put an end to the division that has occurred, and I will make all the tribes obey Judah in harmony. And he interprets the same thing again more clearly.

Behold, I myself take the whole house of Israel from the midst of the nations, where they went in, and I will gather them into the land of Israel. And I will give them as a nation in my land, and on the mountains of Israel, and one ruler shall be over all of them as king. These things have reached their fulfillment, typically in Zerubbabel, but exactly and truly in the Lord Christ; for Zerubbabel was not a king, but became a leader of the people and a general. And they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided any more into two kings. That they may no longer be defiled by their idols, and by their abominations, and by all their impieties; and I will deliver them from all their impieties which they sinned in them, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God. And my servant David shall be a ruler in the midst of them, and there shall be one shepherd for all of them. To these things also fit the words spoken by the Lord Christ in the holy Gospels: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd." He calls the Lord Christ David, as one who traces his lineage from David according to the flesh; and servant, because of the human nature; for existing in the form of God, he took the form of a servant. Therefore, in order to show the nature he took, he called him servant, that is, he was born of a servile nature according to the flesh. For the Only-begotten is not a servant, he who is the Lord of all things; nor is he called David insofar as he is God.

But insofar as he is from David, he is called David; according to his assumption, however, he is a servant. And if God the Word, having become man, took up this nature even from a servant, he did not cast off what he was, but glorified our nature by its union with the divine nature. The prophetic word therefore teaches that impiety and the error concerning idols will be extinguished, and the division of kingdoms will come to an end, and being brought together into one leadership and shepherded by one shepherd, they will recognize their own God and Master. And they will walk in my commandments, and they will keep my judgments, and they will do them. (25) And they will dwell on their land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which their fathers dwelt there, and they themselves will dwell on it, and their sons, and the sons of their sons, forever; and David my servant will be their ruler forever. Let the Jews say who their eternal king called David is. For that such appellations in no way fit Zerubbabel, they themselves would also agree; for first, he did not even continue as king, but as a leader of the people; and then that very leadership was dissolved by death. But if they take this eternal David to mean the Davidic race, let them show the race of David reigning; but if, in addition to the kingdom, the race of David itself is unclear, at present one of two things is necessary: either to suppose the prophecy false, or to worship the kingdom of the Master Christ, who is from David according to the flesh. But that the prophecy is true, they themselves would also agree.

But if he is truthful—as indeed he is truthful—and we do not see another kingdom of the Jews, nor is the very race of David evident and known, but he holds sway, being from David according to the flesh, and Son of God according to the divinity, and has an eternal dominion—then the dullness and unbelief of those men are clear and manifest, as is our own knowledge of God. For what follows confirms what has been said. For he says: 20. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; an eternal covenant shall be with them. Let them show us, then, either the covenant of peace or the eternal one; but they could not, for they have been deprived of both, while the Master has given both to us; for he promised us eternal goods and granted us reconciliation with himself. For he himself is our peace, as the divine Apostle says. And again: One and the same mediator, God and man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all. And what follows again agrees with what has been said. And I will set them, he says, and multiply them, and I will place my holy things in their midst forever. (27.) And my tabernacle shall be among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And yet the temple is desolate, and the holy things of old. How, then, did he promise to place his holy things in their midst forever and his tabernacle among them? Therefore, since we do not see the fulfillment of these things according to the understanding of the Jews, and since we know the truth of the spiritual words, we shall understand these things in accordance with what has been interpreted before; for we have the testimony of the events themselves agreeing with it.

For not only the holy houses of God, but also the divine altars have been given as a gift to all men; and not only to those from the Gentiles, but also to those from the Jews who have believed, and one and the same God is named as God of both these and those. "For the same," he says, "is Lord of all, rich toward all who call upon him." With good reason he added: 28. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, who sanctifies them, when my holy things are in their midst forever. For in truth, through those from the Jews who have believed, the nations also received the light of the knowledge of God; for from the Jews came the divine apostles, and the first disciples of the apostles, and from the prophetic books kept among the Jews the nations, learning the things concerning our Savior Christ, have believed the divine proclamation. For this reason the divine Apostle also said that those from the Gentiles who believe are grafted into the pious root of the Jews, and that those from the Jews who disbelieve are cut off and separated from this root. Since salvation, then, he says, is first supplied to the Jews, the nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them; for from the Jews came the Master Christ according to the flesh, among the Jews the cross, the tomb, the resurrection; from the Jews the apostles, and the first heralds. With good reason, therefore, the nations through these enjoy salvation.

CHAPTER 38 1, 2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Gog, and the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. — Gog and Magog are Scythian nations; but they say that Meshech are the Cappadocians, and Tubal the Iberians; and the Hebrew tongue has rendered Rosh as head, and Aquila too has rendered Rosh as head of Meshech. 3, 4. And say to them: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog and Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about on every side, and I will put a bridle into your jaw, and I will gather you and all your force, horses and horsemen all clothed in breastplates, a great gathering; all of them holding shields and helmets, and swords, and bucklers. Through what has been said he has taught us the power of the divine working, and that none of such things happens apart from the divine will, but either by his ordering them for good, or by his permitting painful things to happen because of sins committed beforehand. Therefore the words, "I will put a bridle into your jaws, and I will gather you," we understand not as a perceptible bridle being inserted, but as Gog and Magog and all those with him, whose nations he enumerates, being led by the divine nod. 5. For, he says, Persians and Ethiopians, and Lydians, and Libyans, and Put with them. And this one too is one of the sons of Ham, having become the forefather of the western Libyans. "All with helmets and shields." All these having bucklers, and helmets, and shields. 6. Gomer, and all these around him. Thus he calls the Galatians. The house of Togarmah. He says that these are the Phrygians.

From the farthest north, and all his supports, and many nations with him." — By "supports" he means the subjects, those who prop up and uphold the kingdom. 7, 8. Be prepared, prepare yourself, you and all your assembly gathered to you, and you shall be to me as a guard. After many days you shall be prepared, and at the end of the years you shall come into the land that has turned away from the sword, gathered from many peoples, against the land of Israel, which became utterly desolate. After the return from Babylon, say the teachers of the Church who lived at that time, these nations made war against Judea; and the interpretation corresponds to the prophecy. For he says: "You shall come into the land that has turned away from the sword," that is, the land that has been delivered from enemies and freed from captivity. And he adds: "Gathered from many peoples against the land of Israel, which became utterly desolate." And they say that while Zerubbabel was in command, these nations were destroyed, and the building of the divine temple was made from their spoils.

For they were not well supplied with money—poor men and captives. And it is likely that the neighboring peoples, envying the prosperity of the Jews, hired these nations against them; for that they hindered the building, sometimes deceiving the governors, sometimes the kings of the Persians, the writing of Ezra is a witness. To these things he adds: "And they themselves have come out from the nations, and they all dwell in peace." And from these things it is clear that immediately after the return the attack of these nations took place; for he says: "And they themselves have come out from the nations, and they dwell in peace." (9) "And you shall go up like rain, and you shall come like a storm and like a cloud, to cover the land; and you shall fall, you and all who are around you, and many nations with you." Other things, he says, you expect, and other things you shall suffer, hoping for victory but delivered over to destruction. Then he also describes his thoughts. (10–12) "Thoughts shall come up," he says, "upon your heart, and you shall reason wicked reasonings, and you shall say: I will go up against a land cast down. I will come upon peoples at rest, dwelling in quietness a land in which there is no wall nor gates. Nor bars to plunder plunder, and to take spoil of their spoil, to turn my hand against a desolated land which was inhabited, against a nation gathered from many peoples, making possession and substance of those dwelling at the navel of the earth." And all these things teach us that it happened after the captivity, when the cities of Judea had neither walls nor gates nor bars, according to the prophecy, and therefore it dared to campaign against the aforementioned nations.

But the people of Israel had become notable after the return, having obtained the return by divine working; and just as the exodus from Egypt provided them great renown, so the return from Babylon made them splendid and conspicuous; for this reason these nations also dared to march against them. And let no one consider the prophecy incredible, reckoning the distance between the Scythian nations and Judea. But let him remember that even in our own times this nation overran all the East, and departed after enslaving a very great multitude. But Phrygians and Galatians, Iberians and Persians, and Ethiopians, he says, march with him not as subjects, but as having been variously mingled with him—some having defected and campaigned willingly, others having become captives of war and compelled to fight alongside. To these the divine word also adds a characterization in the person of the other nations. 13. For Sheba, it says, and Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their villages shall say to you: Are you coming for plunder, to plunder, and to despoil spoils? You have assembled your people, to take silver and gold, to carry off possession and substance, to despoil great spoils. Now Sheba, as I have already said, is an Ethiopian and Indian nation; and Dedan is neighboring Idumea; there is also another Ethiopian one; and Tarshish is Carthage. All these nations, it says, seeing your uprising, will know that you made this campaign out of love of money. 14–10. Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog:

Thus says Adonai the Lord: On that day, when my people Israel are settled in peace, will you not know and be roused? And you will come from your place, from the farthest north, you and many nations with you, all riders of horses, a great assembly and a mighty force. And you will come up against my people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It shall be in the last days—that is, after the return of Israel; for this is what he said above as well: "When my people Israel are settled in peace, you will know and be roused." Such also is what was said by the blessed Moses: "I will show them what shall be in the last days, that it is a perverse generation." And he calls the last days not the consummation, but the time in which their dispersion took place. "And I will bring you up against my land, so that all the nations may know me when I am sanctified in you before them, O Gog." The nations now have no need of Gog for the teaching of the God of all; for through the Lord Christ they have received this knowledge. But long ago, before the Lord's incarnation, they needed such wonders. For when Sennacherib destroyed those many thousands in Judea, the nations came to know the God of all through the wonder. Therefore the blessed David also cries out: "God is known in Judea; in Israel his name is great." And when these nations were slain in Judea, all, having learned the power of the God of all, moved their tongues to hymnody. Therefore he says:

That all the nations may know me, when I am sanctified in you.” That is, when I am glorified, my power having become manifest. 17. Thus says Adonai the Lord to Gog: You are the one about whom I spoke in former days through the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days and years, that I would bring you up against them. Both Joel and Hosea and Micah and the other prophets foretold these things concerning these nations. For Hosea says: “And I will make a covenant with them in that day, with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the earth; and bow and sword and war I will shatter from the earth, and I will settle you in hope.” And Joel says: “Behold, in those days and in that time, when I restore the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel.” And Micah says thus: “Be in labor and be strong, daughter Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the plain, and you shall come as far as Babylon; from there the Lord your God will rescue you from the hand of your enemies. And now many nations have been gathered together against you, those saying, ‘Let us rejoice, and let our eyes look upon Zion’—yet they did not know the thought of the Lord, and they did not understand his counsel, that he gathered them like sheaves of the threshing floor.

Arise and thresh them, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horns iron, and I will make your hooves bronze, and you shall bring down nations among them, and you shall make many peoples thin, and you shall dedicate their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. And Zechariah also says: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying: Not by great power, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. Who are you, the great mountain, before the face of Zerubbabel, to set it right?" From these things it is clear that after the return these nations made war, and were destroyed by a divine hand. 18, 19. And it shall be in that day, in the day when Gog comes upon the land of Israel, says Adonai the Lord, my wrath shall rise in my anger. And my zeal in the fire of my anger: I have spoken to you, in that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel. —He calls the magnitude of the event an earthquake. For just as we all receive the perception of an earthquake with fear, so also the knowledge of great wonders. And it is nothing unlikely that an earthquake should also occur, when the punishment is brought upon the impious and beast-like. But the wrath, and the anger, and the zeal, and the fire of the anger, we shall understand in a manner befitting God. For he has set these things down in a human way, indicating the punishment. And he says that not only humans but also fish, and birds, and reptiles, and beasts shall be shaken by the fear of what has happened; and the mountains shall be rent, and the ravines shall be filled up, and the walls shall be dissolved. From these things it is clear that he has called the earthquake truly an earthquake.

For the earthquake instills fear not only in rational beings but also in irrational ones, and it rends mountains, so that the ravines are blocked up by the severed fragments. And it demolishes walls and buries cities, and experience is its teacher in a word. 21. And I will summon against him the fear of the sword upon all my mountains, says Adonai the Lord. Since the earthquake, he says, has gone first, I will cast cowardice upon them, and the fear of enemies, so that they take to flight and fail to recognize one another, and are slain by one another. For this is what he indicated when he said: The sword of a man shall be against his brother. (22.) And I will judge him with death and blood. And they shall not only be destroyed by one another, but I myself will fight against them from above. With an overwhelming rain and hailstones, and fire and sulfur I will rain upon him, and upon all who are with him; and I will be magnified, and I will be glorified, and I will be sanctified, and I will be known before many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. For when these have been handed over to destruction, those who until then did not know me shall recognize my power, and shall worship my dominion.

CHAPTER 39. Then again he exhorts the prophet to prophesy against him and against the nations that are with him, that through his permitting it they will come from the farthest north, to exact penalties worthy of his beastliness. And he adds also the weakness that will come upon them. Verses 3, 4. For I will shake off, he says, your bow from your left hand, and your arrows from your right hand. And I will cast you down upon the mountains of Israel, and you shall fall, you and all who are around you, and many nations with you. I will break up your power, he says, so that the weapons carried in your hands fall from them. To these he adds that they will be given as food to the birds of heaven and to the flesh-devouring beasts. And the passage, verse 9: I will send fire upon Gog, and the islands shall dwell in peace, and they shall know that my name is Lord, shows that, when Gog has undergone that utter destruction, not only the mainlanders but also the islanders will take courage; for they had feared when they heard of that expedition. Verse 7. And my holy name, he says, shall be known in the midst of Israel, and my holy name shall no longer be profaned. And he teaches the reason: "And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, holy in the midst of Israel." For when the nations have learned the power of my providence, and how I shield the people that bears my name, they will no longer accuse me of weakness, nor will they think that the former captivity of my people came about through my powerlessness. Then he shows the certainty of what has been said. Verse 8. Behold, it has come, and you shall know that it shall be, says the Lord Adonai.

Consider them, he says, to have already happened, and hold the belief about them as having happened beyond dispute; for what has been foretold by me will certainly come to pass. "This is the day which I spoke of." Concerning this day, he says, I have often foretold beforehand. And he calls the time of Gog's punishment a day. Then he teaches that all Israel will use their weapons instead of wood—spears and bows and arrows, shields and small shields and staves—and that they will not need to cut wood, but for seven years the aforementioned weapons will suffice them for their need. And through these things he indicates their multitude; and he foretells also the tomb that will be for Gog. 11. For it shall be, he says, in that day, I will give to Gog a place famous as a monument of Israel, the mass grave of those who came up from the east of the sea. There, he says, where they buried those who came against them from the eastern parts, there they shall bury this one also. And by this he reminds them of the slaughter of the Assyrians that took place in the time of Sennacherib—that then also they enjoyed his assistance, and after these things they shall obtain his providence. And because of the multitude, he says, of the dead, "They shall build up the mouth of the valley, and they shall bury Gog there, and all his multitude, and it shall be called the land, the mass grave of Gog." For so great, he says, shall be the multitude of those being slain, that no hand-dug trench will receive them, but the deepest valley shall become their tomb, walled up on both sides and heaped over from above. And for seven months,

He says that time will be spent on this burial, and they will make the day of that man's utter destruction a memorial. "For the day will be to them," he says, "for a name, in which I shall be glorified, says Adonai the Lord." But, he says, they will also set apart men to go around the land and consign to burial those who met death in flight. 15. And every one who passes through the land shall search, and he who crosses over, and he who sees a human bone, shall build a marker beside it, until those who bury have buried it in the land of the multitude of the dead of Gog. For a long time, he says, they will go around consigning the unburied to burial; and travelers, if ever they find a bone, gathering stones around it, will make it clear to those entrusted with burying, so that they too may gather those and deem them worthy of the customary rites. 10. And the name of the place shall be called Fall and Multitude of the Dead, and the land shall be cleansed. Having foretold these things thus, he commands the birds and the beasts to come as to a feast and a banquet, inasmuch as many and countless bodies have been cast down; not as though giving assurance to these as rational beings, but persuading the rational that these things happen with his permission. But the words, "You shall eat the flesh of calves, and rams, and lambs, and goats, and of all fatted bulls," he spoke figuratively, naming their kings and rulers and chief men by means of calves, rams, goats, and bulls. And by the lambs, their subjects. And he has called the destruction of those that came about by his own will a sacrifice to himself. 20.

And you shall be filled, he says, at my table, that is, with the food offered to you by me. And showing what this is, he added: "Horse, and rider, and giant, and every man of war, says Adonai the Lord." By these he interpreted the rams, and the bulls, and the goats. 29. And I will give my glory among you, and all the nations shall see my judgment, which I have executed, and my hand, which I have brought upon them. When the slaughter, he says, has taken place, and such a feast has been offered to you, all the nations shall behold both the power of my providence and the justice of my judgment. But also the house of Israel, he says, shall learn through the very events themselves that I am both their Lord and Master. And the phrase, "From this day and beyond," accuses their former ignorance. 23, 24. And all the nations shall know that because of their own sins the house of Israel was taken captive, inasmuch as they set themselves against me, and I turned my face away from them, and I delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleannesses, and according to their lawless deeds, I dealt with them, and I turned my face away from them. Beholding, he says, the destruction brought upon Gog, the nations shall know that I was able to bring this same punishment upon the Babylonians too; but exacting from Israel the penalty for their impiety and transgression, I permitted them to be enslaved, deeming them worthy of no assistance. And this too he clearly teaches us, that immediately after the return there arose the revolt of these nations.

For every nation will know, he says, that because of their own sins the whole house of Israel was taken captive." For all who observe that sudden destruction of theirs, using right reasoning, will understand that they endured that captivity paying the penalty for their sins. What follows also testifies to this: verses 25–27. "Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Now I will turn back the captivity of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the house of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. And they shall receive their own dishonor, and all their injustices which they committed against me, when they are settled upon their own land in peace, and there shall be no one to terrify them. When I turn them back from the nations, and bring them out from their lands." The phrase, "They shall receive their own lawlessness, and all their injustices which they committed against me," is instead of: They will take to heart, through the hardships they endured, that they themselves became the authors of these things for themselves, and that injustice was the cause of their dishonor. And they will use these reasonings, he says, when they have returned to their own land and been delivered from these harsh enemies; for then, "And I will be sanctified among them before the nations." Instead of: When my power has become manifest, I will receive worship from all, through the providence that has come from me on their behalf. Verse 28. "And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, when I appear to them among the nations." For through my forethought they will both be delivered from the dominion of the Babylonians and will see the destruction of the Scythian nations.

And I will gather them onto their own land, and I will no longer leave any of them there." And this, as far as the divine care is concerned, has come to pass; but those accustomed to resisting the divine laws were unwilling to return, and the majority preferred a foreign land to their ancestral land. 29. "And I will no longer turn my face away from them, in return for which I poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel, says Adonai the Lord." And this too follows the disposition of men. For it is in our power to bring the good promises to fulfillment; thus the Master also promised us the kingdom of the heavens, but we shall not obtain it if we live unworthily; but if we are zealous and with all eagerness keep the divine laws, we shall certainly enjoy the promised good things. Thus he also promised the Jews that he would not turn his face away from them—clearly, when they obey him and believe and keep the divine laws. And that this is so, history is witness; for having led the people out of Egypt, he promised to bring them into the land he had promised; but since they persisted in resisting the divine decrees and living in impiety, he handed them all over to death in the wilderness, fulfilling his promises to only two out of all who had received the promises. And here, therefore, those who have believed and received the saving proclamation have a firm promise; for he has not turned his face away from them.

But those who act contrary to the divine will are far removed from the divine oversight, enjoying no providence, but "walking, according to the prophet Isaiah, in the light of their own fire, and in the flame which they have kindled." And they shall walk, according to the divine David, "in their own devices." These things we have been taught by the divine Scripture to understand in this way. But I marvel not only at the folly of the Jews, but also at that of certain others who, while bearing the name of Christian, cling to Jewish myths, and say that the uprising of Gog and Magog has not happened, but expect that it will be. These men ought to have perceived, first, that the prophecy of this is joined to the recall from Babylon; then, that through these things he said the nations would learn the power of God. For what teaching, let them say, do the nations now need for the recognition of the divine power, who have been taught to believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and have learned to glorify and worship the divine nature, and have been delivered from the error of idols? And what such teaching could the destruction of Gog offer, as the preaching of the holy apostles contains? For this teaches all men the things concerning the Trinity and the Unity, and that in the one nature we behold the three properties.

And besides these things, the resurrection of the dead, and judgment, and the recompense of good things and of the opposite, the kingdom of heaven, the punishment in Gehenna, the teachings of virtue, the doctrines of philosophy, and all the other things that both the divine Gospel contains and the sacred writings of the apostles. But the destruction of Gog alone taught the nations that the God of the Jews has the greatest power, and that it was not through his weakness that they came under the Babylonians, but through their own transgression of the law. If, therefore, the events concerning Gog have not yet happened, but will happen in the last days, and through that the nations will learn to worship the God of all, then the events concerning Gog are greater than the saving cross, and than the death of him who destroyed death, and than the divine apostles, who illumined the world with the light of the knowledge of God. For all these things were not able to teach the nations the God of all, but the destruction of Gog alone will make him clear to all; so clearly do those who mythologize these things judaize. But we, obeying the divine Scripture, have made the interpretation previously stated, teaching that he has come, and the events concerning him have received their end. And then indeed the nations learned that it was not through divine weakness that the Jews endured captivity, but through their own transgression of the law; but in the present time, through the Master's death and resurrection, the nations received the rays of the knowledge of God, and having been delivered from ancestral impiety, we have learned to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

VOLUME 1. CHAPTER 40. 1. And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the first month, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken. And from this it is clear that the prophet shared in the captivity with King Jeconiah; after whom Zedekiah reigned eleven years, lacking a few months; for in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign the city was taken. With good reason, then, he said that the fourteenth year from the capture of the city was the twenty-fifth of their captivity. On that day the hand of the Lord came upon me. (2.) And he brought me there in a vision of God, and he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, and upon it was something like the structure of a city opposite. God, the ruler of all things, having foretold to them the return from the captivity, and having shown his own power through the resurrection of those dry bones, foretells also the building of the city and of the temple; and he does not use words only, but also shows such a vision to the prophet, having enlightened the seeing faculty of his mind by the working of the divine Spirit. But so that we may not wear out those who encounter this book by interpreting each detail and by the length of our discourse, we wish to make in summary a certain paraphrase of the things shown spiritually to the wondrous prophet.

He says, then, that "in a vision of God," that is, with a spiritual and not a bodily sight, his mind was led away to the land of Israel, and that he saw on a certain high mountain a building, and one standing there who had a human form but the color of the most radiant and most beautiful bronze, carrying a reed and a builder's cord, and urging me both to observe what was being shown and to hear what was being said. For he said that he had come for this purpose, both to show and to teach. "So that you also," he says, "may convey these things to the house of Israel." Then, measuring with the reed, he shows me all the measurements of the building: first the measurements of the gates, and of what are called the thresholds and lintels, and the side-posts. For he calls the side-post ailam in the singular, and ailamoth in the plural; and again thee for both the threshold and the lintel, and theim for the same in the plural. For thus I found their interpretation in the Syrian. And he says that he saw not only the outer gates but also the inner ones, and again the courts between them, and those further within. For the one set were set apart for the priests, while the others were accessible to all the Israelites; and the divine temple had one circuit-wall round about, very great and very high; and within, after that, with other walls the

The whole outer area was marked off. Some parts were distributed to all the people, while the inner parts, near the temple itself, were consecrated to the priests alone. He says, then, that he saw in the inner court chambers and thirty colonnades; and the chambers the Syrian called exedrae. These too were set apart for the priests, as the same prophet teaches. And God says to the divine Isaiah: "Go into the chamber to Sommas the scribe." He says that a width of a hundred cubits was assigned to the outer courts, both the one facing north and the one facing south, and likewise the one facing the rising sun; and of each of the inner courts the length was twenty-five cubits and the width fifty cubits. He says also that the gates resembled one another in all respects, both in their measurements and in the carvings of palm trees; and the projecting cornices on either side of the door, that is, the mouldings, he calls ailai, on which he said the likenesses of palm trees were carved. He says that he also saw tables placed on either side of the gates, at which the priests, setting the victims upon them, slaughtered them—both the whole burnt offerings and those offered for sin and ignorance. He said that a certain stream also came near, receiving the blood of the sacrifices and carrying it away to some place set apart. The tables, he says, also had roofs above covering them and keeping off the assault of both rain and sun. After this he relates that he saw two chambers, one looking toward the north and the other toward the south; and both were built in the inner courts.

He said that the one facing south was assigned to the priests who guard the divine temple, and the one facing north to those who guard the outer altar. He said that both these and those were descended by race from Zadok; for long ago the God of all things caused the race of Abiathar to cease from the priesthood, according to the sentence pronounced against Eli the high priest. He says that the inner court, which faces the rising sun, extended one hundred cubits from the forecourt of the divine temple as far as the gate, and its width likewise was as many; and opposite the temple was the altar. The forecourt of the temple was twenty cubits in length and fourteen in width; and its door likewise was fourteen in width, and the arms or doorposts on either side of it, up to the corner, were three cubits each. For in this way the measure of the twenty cubits is also filled up, the door taking fourteen, and the arms on either side—for these he called shoulder-pieces—the remaining six, three on this side and three on that. He said that the door of the temple itself had a width of ten cubits, and the arms on either side were five cubits, so that the twenty cubits are again filled up. He measured, he says, the temple itself also, and showed me that it was forty cubits in length and twenty in width, equal in measure to the forecourt. I saw, he says, another door, an inner one, having a width of six cubits, and the arms on either side of seven cubits; therefore the fourteen added to the six fill up the twenty.

He says that he also saw the doors that separate the Holy of Holies from the holy places, and that their width is equal to the temple, that is, twenty cubits, and their height forty cubits. But when I sought the measurements both from the Syrian and from the Hebrew, I found that the height was also equal to the width; for both agreed, both the Syrian and the Hebrew, saying that both the width and the height were twenty cubits. He says that he also saw the structure built double around the temple, and other walls built outside the roof, and between the two walls a walkway and passage all around. He also gives the reason for this construction: "So that no one," he says, "may come near the walls of the temple." He said that this same narrow circuit was divided into ground floors and upper rooms, and had windows narrow on the outside but wider on the inside, which we are accustomed to call slanted; and, he says, I also saw two other exedrae on either side of the divine temple, the one facing north and the other toward the south; for he called this a place of prayer, since it is the custom of the Jews who dwell in the northern parts of Jerusalem, when they pray, to look toward the south according to the position of the city. He says that between the divine temple and the so-called exedra five cubits separate them; and from the western wall as far as the exedra itself there are seventy cubits, and the width ninety. And in the middle, he says, was the divine temple, entirely covered with boards, not only the walls but also the floor and the roof. It also had latticed windows, that is, pierced through and resembling a net.

The carvings on the walls and on the doorposts had representations of cherubim and palm trees. Each of the cherubim had two faces, one of a lion and one of a man, and the one looked toward this palm tree, the other toward that one. He saw two faces carved instead of four, since it was not possible to carve four accurately on planks. He says that he also saw the altar that is before the holy places; it had, he says, a height of three cubits, and a length of two cubits, and likewise the width, that is, it was a four-sided equilateral square. And I was taught by the one showing me these things that this was the table that is before the Lord. It is fitting to note that he called the table, which receives the loaves of the presentation, an altar, whereas the great Moses named it only a table. A door is therefore opened beforehand for our understanding through the prophecy. And there was, he says, also the door of the holy places, not with two leaves but with four, so that when opened they folded back upon themselves; and these too had the same carvings. He says that he also saw other chambers situated in the outer court, and before the chambers a walkway ten cubits in width and a hundred in length. He calls the light of the walkway what is called among us the phōtikon. He said that these were also set apart for the priests, for the enjoyment of consecrated food, and that the one showing these things enjoined that no one should share with the priests in the entrance into those places, nor indeed should the priests themselves, when clothed in the priestly robe and performing the divine liturgy, go out into the outer court.

For it is not lawful for any of the people to touch them while they are wearing the priestly robe; therefore it is fitting to strip off in those houses the garment set apart for the liturgies, and to put on another, and so go out to the people. And he showed me the circuit, using the measure, and taught me by measuring, that each of the four sides—the eastern, the western, the southern, and the northern—had five hundred cubits, so that the circuit, with the five hundred quadrupled, comes to two thousand cubits. Chapter 43. 1, 2. And he brought me, it says, to the gate that looks toward the east, and brought me out. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming by the way toward the east, and the voice of the camp, as the voice of many doubling. In the Hebrew and in the Syriac I found: "As the voice of many waters. And the earth shone, as brightness from his glory round about." 3. And the vision which I saw was according to the appearance which I saw when I went in to anoint the city. Again here also, both in the Syriac and in the Hebrew, I found: "When I went in to destroy the city." He indicates the second vision, in which he beheld both the axes being brought against it and cutting the city, and the one scattering the coals over the whole city, when he also saw the sign placed upon those who groan over the transgressions of the people. And it is likely that the Seventy, having attended to the meaning, called the marking of the foreheads of those delivered from the punishment of the cutters an anointing.

And the vision of the chariot resembled the vision that he saw by the river Chebar. And immediately having seen it, he says, I fell. (4) And the glory of the Lord entered the house by the way of the gate that faces toward the east. And he did not say that the Lord had entered—for the divine nature is uncircumscribed—but the glory of the Lord, that is, the vision that was seen. (5) And the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the house of the Lord was full of glory. And I stood, and behold, a voice from the house speaking to me. For since also when the blessed Moses pitched the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord filled it, and when Solomon, having completed the building of the temple, celebrated the feast of the dedication, again in the same way the glory of the Lord filled the house, necessarily also when this building had been shown, the Master appears and fills the house with his own glory, showing that it will not only be built but also be filled with divine activity. And the man stood holding me. He showed that the one who measured and indicated the building was an angel, and it is likely that he is the holy Michael himself; for he had been entrusted with the care of the people. (7) And he said to me (not the angel, but the Master): You have seen, son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the print of my feet. Thus also the blessed David calls the divine temple the footstool of God. For he says, Worship his footstool, for it is holy. And he called this the place of the throne, as resting upon it. To these he adds:

Where my name will dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever.” He did not say, “it dwelt,” but “it will dwell”; and it will dwell forever among the holy, in the midst of those who are truly called Israel and are able to see him, as far as it is possible for a man to see—not in the type, but in the truth. For those things were a type of the heavenly things. “For see,” he says, “that you make all things according to the type shown to you on the mountain.” The promise, then, is without falsehood; for the Lord Christ also, confirming it, said to the holy apostles: “There are many mansions with my Father; but if not, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you; I will come again and will receive you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be.” In the type, then, God neither dwelt nor will dwell forever; for he condemned them, saying: “Behold, your house is left desolate.” It is fitting, therefore, to ascend from the types to the truth, and to await that dwelling of God. And what follows agrees with the interpretation just given. “And the house of Israel,” he says, “shall no longer profane my holy name, they and their rulers, in their fornication, and in the transgressions of their rulers in their midst.” But if anyone were to take this simply concerning Israel, he will find it false; for both Ezra and the history of the Maccabees accuse them of great impiety even after the return, and not only of the other Israelites, but also of the priests and high priests. But the frenzy against the Lord—what excess of impiety does it leave behind?

Neither, then, do these things fit Israel simply, but those who have the eye of the mind pure, and are able to see God, and who embrace spiritual worship. 9. "When they set my threshold," he says, "in their thresholds, and my doorposts adjoining their doorposts, and they gave my wall, as it were, joined to me and to them, and they profaned my holy name in their lawless deeds, which they did." Through all these things he teaches that the divine temple was not considered sacred even by them, so that they did everything in it that they did in their houses. For this reason he says: "And I consumed them in my wrath, and in slaughter." He says, I exacted punishment from them for their transgression, and I delivered them over to slaughter. Then he exhorts them to abandon their former way, and to be released from impiety, both they and their leaders; and he promises that, if these things happen, he will dwell in their midst forever. And they would have obtained the promises, if they had received the Master when he came to them; but since, when they saw him, they said to one another, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours," he cast them out of the vineyard and scattered them throughout the inhabited world, and he leased the vineyard to other tenants, with whom he will dwell forever, receiving the fruits from them in due season. Then he commands the prophet to show the people the building of the temple, so that, being put to shame by the greatness of the benefaction and of the hope of restoration, they may cease from their wrongdoing and impiety.

Not only was he commanded to sketch and outline the building for the people, but also to show them its ordinances and laws, so that by keeping these they might serve the Master. He says that the altar of incense was also seen, its height two cubits, its length a cubit, and its width equal in measure. He says that two mercy seats were also seen, not equal in measure, but one smaller and the other larger. It is necessary to ask why, when the blessed Moses made one mercy seat according to the divine command, here the prophet sees two. I think that the small one is a type of the greater; for the Old Testament is a type of the New, and that mercy seat a type of our mercy seat. And Christ is our mercy seat, as the divine Apostle says: "Whom God set forth as a mercy seat in his blood, for the demonstration of his righteousness." He says also that between the two mercy seats there are four cubits, equal in number to the holy Gospels; for between the law and the good things hoped for, the grace of the Gospels was given to men. 10. And Ariel, he says, was twelve cubits in length and equal in width. Ariel means in the Hebrew tongue "mountain of God," or according to another interpretation, "light of God." He calls the base of the mercy seat by this name, as I think. And this number of cubits also corresponds to the holy apostles, who became bases and foundations of the divine grace, and the support and foundation of the Church; for "You are Peter," he says, "and on this rock I will build my Church," the Lord said. And again:

You are the light of the world." But the mercy-seat itself, he says, is two cubits greater than the Ariel, both in length and in breadth; for not by his divinity alone, but also by the humanity he assumed, is the Master greater than the servants by a measure that is boundless. Then the God of all things exhorts the prophet to teach the priests the laws concerning the sacrifices, and how one must both bring forward and slay the calf for sin, and where it is fitting to lay it to rest, and how one must sprinkle the horns of the altar and the corners of the mercy-seat; then to bring forward the goats for sin, free from every blemish; and again in like manner to sprinkle the altar with the blood. And so, he says, when these things are done and the atonement for sin is fulfilled, they shall offer a calf and a sheep, these also freed from blemish, and they shall accomplish the sacrifice with salt. And the salt is a token of reason, and discernment, and a pious mind; for not casually, nor serving custom, shall they do these things, but with some reason and purpose of one who chooses to be pious. And they shall perform, he says, such sacrifices for seven days; and from the eighth day and beyond, such sacrifices, so that I may not go through each one in detail.

CHAPTER 44. He showed me also the gate that faces east, closed, and he commanded that it be kept closed continually and assigned to the Master of all things himself; not because he who is present everywhere and stands by all things needed doors in order to enter. For how would he have entered when it was closed, if indeed it were his nature to enter through doors? But condescending to weaker hearing, he shapes these things. And it is likely that through these things he hints to us also at the virginal womb, through which neither anyone entered nor came out, except only the Master himself. And he appointed that the leader, that is the high priest, should enjoy the food at the door, but should pass through the vestibule, both going out and coming in; for this he called ailam. And when these things had been both spoken and shown, again he sees the glory of God at the gate that faces north, and he is commanded to speak to the provoking people, or rather to the contentious and quarrelsome one; for thus the other interpreters have interpreted it: that they should be content with their former transgression, which they persisted in daring, bringing foreigners and the uncircumcised into the divine temple; and the greatest of the charges, that they had not only the flesh uncircumcised, but also, before the flesh, the mind; so that it is clear that the circumcision of the heart is the accomplishment of righteousness, while the circumcision of the flesh is a sign and seal of the circumcision according to the mind.

Therefore the God of all things enjoins that those who are uncircumcised in soul and of alien and foreign race in body remain far from the divine precincts; and that the Levites, who shared in the lawlessness of the people and embraced the worship of idols, be removed from their own order, and neither keep the gates nor slaughter the whole burnt offering and the sacrifice for sin, nor indeed approach the sacred things, but receive dishonor as the fruit of their own impiety; and that only the family of Zadok remain in the ancestral piety, and serve as priests, and keep guard, and fulfill all the other things. And it is fitting, he says, that they by no means use garments woven of wool, but clothe themselves only in linen garments at the time of the priestly service, and let each place a turban on his head, and let them wear girdles beneath; and when they go out to the people, let them put off the liturgical robes, and, clothed in others, go out through the gates; for it is not lawful for one who is a stranger to the priesthood to approach the priestly robes. And they shall not shave their heads, for this was the custom of the priests of the idols: "And they shall not make bald their hair." But the Hebrew and the Syrian said, "They shall not let their hair grow." For neither, he says, is it fitting for them to shave, nor to let their hair grow, but to love the mean in cutting; for this is what he signified when he said: "Covering they shall cover their heads." And it is necessary that they abstain from drinking wine at the time of the priestly service; but those who wish to have dealings with marriage are to take neither a widow nor a divorced woman, but a virgin.

But if a woman who has been the wife of a priest is widowed, and someone wishes to marry her, even such a marriage is not unlawful; for the race of the priesthood remains untouched, since the priest's wife, having been joined to the priest, is joined again to a priest. It is necessary that these men again teach the people the difference between common and sacred things. Let them also judge cases of murder, and let them resolve other disputes, honoring justice everywhere. And let them celebrate the feasts according to the law, and honor the Sabbaths by rest and other observances. "And they shall not go in to a dead person to be defiled," that is, to a corpse; for thus both the Hebrew and the Syrian said: "but only," he says, "for father and mother, son and daughter, brother and unmarried sister." Then he enjoins how the unclean person must be purified, and so approach the priestly service; not because it was truly abominable to see the dead—for if it truly harmed, the sight of a dead father, or mother, or brother would also have injured—but through these things he wishes the priest to be more reverenced among the Jews, who have learned to revere small things. Then he commands that the priest who is about to enter the holy places offer the sacrifice on his own behalf, and not receive a portion with the children of Israel in the distribution of the land. "For I," he says, "am their inheritance and their possession." For the firstborn things offered to me,

And I give them the first-fruits for their enjoyment, and I have again assigned to them the things set apart from the sacrifices. For I am without need. Chapter 45. He also commands that a certain land be set apart as a suburb for the priests: from the rising of the sun to the west, ten thousand cubits; and from the north to the south, twenty-five thousand, so that, he says, having the tithes, and the first-fruits, and the firstborn, and the portions set apart from the sacrifices, and the comfort derived from the land, they may be content with justice, and not desire more, nor wrong the people, enjoying self-sufficiency. Therefore he added: Let it suffice you, you who lead Israel; cast away injustice and misery, and do judgment and justice, and remove oppression from the people, says the Lord God. Then he legislates concerning scales, and weights, and measures, and says that these too are to be honored with equality and justice, and he enjoins that there be one measure for entry and exit. And he teaches us that the kor holds ten homers, and each homer ten choinices, so that the kor is a hundred choinices. And he says that the half-measure is equal in measure to the choinix. And he enjoins that the mina hold fifty shekels, and each shekel twenty obols; and the ten cotylae of oil he calls a homer, which he said is a tenth of the kor. He also commands that the first-fruit offering from wheat and barley hold a sixth of the homer, which is called among us a half-medimnus.

For the kor is thirty medimnoi, and the gomor is called a tenth of the kor; therefore the gomor must be three medimnoi, and the sixth of three medimnoi is a half-medimnos. He also commanded that one cotyle be offered out of ten cotylae, and likewise the tenths of the sheep. And all these things, he says, the people shall give to the ruler for the need of the sacrifices, so that both at the feasts and at the new moons and on the Sabbaths the sacred rites may be fulfilled by him, and God may be propitiated on behalf of the people. Then he teaches what ought to be done on the new moon of the tenth month, and what on the fourteenth, and what again in the seventh month. He calls the fine flour that is offered a sacrifice: "For you shall make a sacrifice, he says, a baked cake with the calf, and a baked cake with the ram, and a hin of oil with the cake." I found the hin among the Syrians to be a half-measure. Chapter 46. He also commands that the gate looking toward the east be closed during the six days of the week, but on the Sabbath be opened through the whole day. And while the priests, he says, offer the sacrifices on behalf of the high priest, he himself shall stand at this gate, and when the sacrifice is offered, standing at the vestibule he shall worship, and so shall go out; and all the people standing before this door shall offer worship to God, both on the Sabbaths and at the new moons; and the high priest shall offer the burnt offering of the Sabbaths. For he calls him the ruler. He also states the number of the priests; and likewise he teaches what they ought to offer at the new moons.

He calls the manaa the offering of fine flour; for thus the Syrian also interpreted it. He also enjoins those who enter to worship God in the outer court, that if they enter by the gate facing north, they should go out through the one facing south; and if they make their entrance from there, they should make their exit through the other, so that entering and exiting in order, without any confusion, they may offer worship to God; and let the high priest also be present when these things are done, so that the worship may be with greater reverence. And for all the people on the Sabbaths and on the other feasts, he commanded the gate facing east to be opened; but for the high priest, when he wishes to offer a voluntary sacrifice to God from his abundance, on whatever day he wishes to accomplish the sacrifice, let it be permitted, he says, to open the gate. For let the sacrifice offered by him, he says, be like the sacrifice of the Sabbaths. And from the land set apart for him, if he wishes to give to one of his sons, let the one who receives it, he says, have possession of it perpetually; but if it be given to a servant, let the servant have possession until the year of release, and in the so-called sabbatical year he shall return the inheritance to the high priest; for this lot has been set apart for the priestly race alone. For it is not fitting that, when the sons have been deprived and stripped of their paternal inheritance, the injustice should pass over to the people, while another land is again set apart for the priests as a consolation; let the race, then, be heir of the land set apart for the priests.

He showed me, it says, also another place situated toward the west, near the northern chambers, and said that this was set apart for the priests for boiling, so that there they might boil the offerings for ignorance and sin, and there cook the manaa. For it is not lawful, it says, to make common the things once set apart and sanctified by carrying them outside. And I saw also other courts smaller than that one, arranged in a circle around the great court; each had a length of thirty cubits and a width of forty; and beside them had been built houses, which he called chambers, in which he commanded the sacrifices of the people to be boiled. CHAPTER 47 1. Taking me again from there, he brought me to the vestibule of the house, and behold, water was going out from beneath the court of the house toward the east, because the front of the house faced east, and the water was descending from the side of the right side of the house, from the south, toward the altar. Thus, having been taught about the sacrifices, and having learned how one must offer the offerings for sins in a typical manner, he is taught the true purification of souls, which comes from water and the Spirit. And he sees this water issuing from the doors of the house, and passing through the altar, and proceeding through the northern parts toward the eastern regions. For from the Jews is salvation to the nations, and the Christ from David according to the flesh, having appeared from the virgin womb as if from certain divine vestibules, has granted to the inhabited world the regeneration through water and the Spirit. These things also the blessed Isaiah foretells, saying:

It shall be in that day, as a glorious river borne in a thirsty land." And the blessed Zachariah also, foretelling the saving Passion and the darkness that came upon it, says: "For it is neither day nor night, and that day is known to the Lord; for," he says, "it is neither full day nor full night, for at midday darkness came." Then he added: "In that day living water shall go out from Jerusalem; half of it to the last sea, and half of it to the first sea." By these things he indicates the eastern and the western regions, through which the whole inhabited world is meant. And he also tells the time of the springing forth. "In summer," he says, "and in spring it shall be so." The Lord also says this to the Samaritan woman: "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become a spring of living water leaping up to eternal life." And elsewhere: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink; he who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." This water the inspired Ezekiel saw issuing from the front gates of the house—for through the law and the prophets our good things were foretold—and coming through the altar; for it made only a passing through the Jews; but since they disbelieved and would not give the fruits of faith, it proceeded to the

nations, and waters the greatest and fairest paradise of the Churches. Then he says that he saw one measuring a thousand by measure, and passing through as far as the ankles; and again measuring the same quantity, and passing through as far as the knees; and a third time applying the measure, and passing through as far as the loins; but when he had completed the fourth number, he says, it became a mighty torrent, which one could not cross, because the water gushed forth like the roar of a torrent, which no one shall pass over. By these things he taught us that in the beginning the gospel preaching will bring few to salvation; then it will double these, and triple them; and after these things it will fill the whole inhabited world, according to the prophecy that says: "The whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." It is fitting to note that he measured four times, and brought the measure equal in number to the holy Gospels. And I think that the fourth measure signifies the Gospel of the inspired John, which has a theology inaccessible and insurmountable for men. For what mind could go beyond "In the beginning"? And who could surpass "was"? Therefore also, he says, the water gushed forth and went out like the roar of a torrent, which no one shall pass over. And immediately, he says, and at once he showed me beside the bank of the water trees producing fruits of every kind. And on both banks were these trees; for this water has caused men to sprout not only faith toward God, but also conduct according to God. And he said, he says, to me:

The water of the river, which flows out into Galilee toward the east, and descends upon the uninhabited land, and comes as far as the sea, to the water of the outlet of the sea. And these things can be found accurately in the history. For first the saving proclamation ran into Galilee; and from there to the uninhabited land and the region of the nations, desert of piety. And it reached also the sea that swells with waves, the races of the barbarians; and he adds that it will also sanctify the waters; for it will cause the Greek and mythical teachings to be made serviceable to the divine proclamation, and those diseased waters, being sanctified through these waters, will be productive of health. 9. And it shall be, every living soul of the creatures that swarm, upon all wherever the river comes there, shall live. For every one, he says, who enjoys the saving waters will obtain salvation. And he says that this water will become full of fish, and will have many fishermen; for many are those who through these waters are hunted unto salvation, and many also are those who have been entrusted to hunt this catch. And the phrase, "from En Gaddi as far as Enaglim," signifies the gladness that comes from trials and afflictions. For En Gaddi means a place of ambush for the eyes; and Enaglim means the eye of a calf offered for sacrifice, and loosing sin, or drawn under the yoke, and entrusted with farming. And "the cooling of nets" signifies not only the multitude of the fishermen, but also their diligence. For they will not, he says, cease from fishing, but there they will rest;

For he called the cessation of fishing "the cooling of the nets," since fishermen, when they stop fishing, are accustomed to spread out their nets and dry them. "It shall be by itself," he says—that is, the soul that is saved, separated from impiety; and he says also that the multitude of the fish is not like a river, but like the greatest sea. For the new people is not equal in number to the former people, but is likened to the sea of the Gentiles, and fills the inhabited world. To these things he adds: 11. And in its outlet, and in its return, and in its overflow, its marshes shall not be healed; they shall be given over to salt. And this we see has happened in the present time; for having increased to a multitude, we have run aground into negligence. And the Master also foretold in agreement: "For when," he says, "iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold." Therefore those who are superficial, and have only the preaching wrapped about them, such as most of us are, he calls marshes; for marshes have water not deep, but only on the surface. Those

Those who are in this condition, he says, do not obtain healing. But even so, he says, they are not useless to the rest; for when they are disciplined, they will become a cause of other benefit. For this reason, he said, "they shall be given for salt." For in some way he knows how to discipline us and to fill us with benefit—not only the teaching word, but also the punishment of sin that is brought upon us. Having thus foretold the things concerning the careless, he again recounts the fruits of the earnest and the saints, and that nothing among them is unfruitful, but all things are edible. And in addition to the fruit, he says: 12. And its leaf shall not fall off, nor shall it grow old upon it, nor shall its fruit fail in its newness, month by month; it shall put forth buds, because their waters flow out from the holy things, and their fruit shall be for food, and their yield for healing. These trees, he says, shall bear this edible fruit continually. For not once a year, but month by month; for the saints do not practice piety only at festivals, but continually fulfill the observance of the divine laws. But also, he says, "their leaves shall not fall off from them." For they have the delight of virtue's work following them. "And their fruit is wholly for food." For we are accustomed to marvel at the athletes of virtue. "And their yield for healing." For when we consider how great a good is the life according to God, we reap the benefit from it, and we obtain the health that is according to God. From here the prophet is taught what are the boundaries of Israel. From the north, he says, the road is Hamath, between the boundaries of Damascus.

Hamath they call Epiphania, but some call it Emisa. For indeed divine Scripture knows two [places] with the same name; for it says, "To Hamath the great." And from the east, it says, the Jordan is the boundary, and the palm grove toward the east; and from the south, as far as the waters of Meribah—for thus the Syrian interpreted Marimoth; and from the west, it says, the sea is the boundary. And this he commanded to be distributed not only to those who trace their descent from Israel by race, but also to the proselytes who dwell in their midst, "who," he says, "have begotten sons in your midst." "And the proselytes," he says, "who dwell with each tribe, let them receive the inheritance together with the same tribe." Chapter 48. Then he commands that the tribe of Dan receive the first portion from the north, Asher the second, Naphtali the third, Manasseh the fourth, Ephraim the fifth, Reuben the sixth, Judah the seventh; then the portion set apart for the priests, twenty-five thousand in width and ten thousand in length; and he commands that the lot for this be placed around the city itself. "For my sanctuary shall be in their midst, for the priests, the consecrated sons of Zadok, who keep the watches of the house." Then again he divides the five hundred cubits of the temple through the middle of the city. And while, he says, the city is being built, let the fruits of this land be set apart for those who do the building. Then after this, he commands that Benjamin receive the lot, and after him Simeon, then Issachar, and Zebulun after him, and Gad last.

He says also that the city will have twelve gates, three in each section; and he said that the whole circuit was eighteen thousand cubits. 35. And the name of the city, he says, from the day on which it comes to be, its name shall be. Not because it received another name after the building; for it was called Jerusalem even after Zerubbabel; but he hinted through these words that it would again become distinguished. For Scripture often knows how to name glory as a name, just as indeed the same prophet said to Jerusalem on behalf of God: "And it came to be to you a name." Zerubbabel made this building of the city first after the return from Babylon, having built the temple over a long time, because of the war against the neighbors; but Nehemiah restored the surrounding walls, after the completion of the building of the temple, eighty years having passed in between. And in the time of the Maccabees again it enjoyed much prosperity and renewal, and after them again Herod made it more splendid. But Apollinaris, who delights in mythologies and differs in no way from old women who explain myths, promises us another building of Jerusalem, and the worship according to the law of the Jews, and, in addition to the observance of the law, faith in the Lord; then again churches opposed to one another, the one from the Gentiles living outside the law, and the other from the Jews living according to the law. And the most wise man did not perceive the truthfulness of the divine declarations.

For he said concerning the Jews, that "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render him the fruit in its season." And again: "I came in my Father's name, and you did not receive me; another will come in his own name, and him you will receive." And concerning the temple he says, first, that "There shall not remain here stone upon stone, which shall not be thrown down." Then: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." And Isaiah also cries out: "The city of the ungodly shall not be built forever." And: "The house of Israel has fallen, and shall rise no more." Nor, as it seems, did he listen even to the teaching of Paul, which he brought to the Galatians, saying: "You who are justified by the law have fallen from grace." And again: "Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified, but through faith in Jesus Christ." — "For the law works wrath. For where there is no law, neither is there transgression." And again: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." And elsewhere: "Being therefore justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And to Peter also, who had adopted the observance of the law because of the weakness of the disciples, he said before all: "If you, being a Jew, live after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?" Then he adds: "We are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith, we also believed in Jesus Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. Thus he calls the Galatians foolish for tolerating circumcision after the faith. And writing to the Philippians, and accusing those who teach these things, he calls them dogs, saying: "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision; for we are the circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and have not trusted in the flesh." And so that no one might suppose that he was relying on spiritual things as though he lacked the carnal, he fittingly added: "Although I myself have confidence also in the flesh. If any other man thinks he has confidence in the flesh, I more." And he recounts the venerable things of the Jews: "Circumcised the eighth day." According to the law, he says, I received circumcision. And since it happened that the sons of proselytes also were circumcised on this number of days, he necessarily added: "Of the seed of Israel." And he is not satisfied with the name of the patriarch, but also states the name of the tribe, showing the distinction, "of the tribe of Benjamin." For from Rachel, he says, the beloved, I derive my race. For I am not only not among the half-slaves, but I also have a difference even in relation to the free, as one sprung from her who was first betrothed and greatly beloved. From here he ascends to the more ancient root with "A Hebrew of Hebrews." For the Hebrews were named from Eber. But also, he says, I became of the most excellent sect, "according to the law a Pharisee." And I had not only the name of piety, but also was adorned by the deed

I was not angry; for he says, "According to zeal, persecuting the Church." Having thus recounted all the things that seem venerable, he added, "But whatever things were gain to me, these I have counted as loss for Christ, and I count all things to be refuse, so that I may gain Christ." But what the blessed Paul called loss and refuse, when compared with spiritual things, the most wise Apollinarius said would be proclaimed to the Jews by Elijah, and confirmed by the Master Christ himself. But let him say why on earth he will give to those of the Jews the citizenship according to the law, as though faith were not able to give salvation? And for what reason did he also provide this to all of us Gentiles, so as to provide them with complete salvation? But if, since faith is sufficient both to save and to procure the kingdom of heaven, he put an end to the observance of the law, for what reason will he again impose upon the Jews the law that cannot save? For that most of its provisions confer no righteousness on those who keep them, God himself taught us through this prophet: "For I gave them, he says, commandments that were not good, and judgments by which they shall not live." How then will he again impose upon the Jews the things that are not good and cannot provide life, wishing to save them and not to destroy them? And from another angle it is easy to perceive the folly of one who expects these things. For if the things of the Jews are a type of our things—for he agrees with this and does not contradict it—where is the need of the yearly lamb after the sacrifice of the blameless Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world?

What benefit is there in unleavened bread after the heavenly bread, or in a typical Passover after the spiritual one? But they listen neither to the divine Apostle when he says, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us," nor to the Lord, who teaches his own disciples and says, "This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." And: "This is my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins; do this in remembrance of me." And elsewhere, having said to the Jews, "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died," he added, "This is the bread of life, that one may eat of it and not die." And to leave aside the countless other things, even now in Jerusalem there are the church of the cross, and the resurrection, and the ascension, and the church on Zion, and holy Bethlehem, and countless other places of prayer. If, then, the temple of the Jews is rebuilt, will these be destroyed, or will they themselves remain honored? And remaining in their former honor, will they be honored by the Jews, or will they be dishonored? If, then, they dishonor them, they will remain in their former madness, and they will receive no benefit from the proclamations of the great Elijah. But if they honor them, which then of the places of prayer is greater? The one of the cross, or of the resurrection, or the one that will be built? For if they do this because they consider that one greater, as not having complete knowledge; but if they prefer these, the building of that one is superfluous.

But if they assign equal honor to these and to that, they will offer sacrifices there, and here enjoy the sacred mysteries. And how is it possible for them to enjoy the divine mysteries together with those who have believed from the Gentiles, when the law forbids intercourse with the nations? It remains, then, that both the evangelical and the legal precepts be fulfilled together in the very temple; and again there must be conflict and strife, since we live by ourselves, while they prefer the worship according to the law. And how is Paul speaking truth when he says, "Christ is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity in his flesh, having abolished the law of commandments in ordinances, that he might create the two, that is, the Gentile and the Jewish, into one new man, and reconcile both in one Spirit to the Father"? And again: "There is neither Jew nor Greek." And elsewhere: "Where there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, but all things and in all things Christ." Yes, says the most wise man, even in the case of the apostles, the Jews who believed in Jerusalem at the preaching kept the worship according to the law, while the other churches lived outside the law. And he does not understand that the holy apostles, condescending to their weakness, permitted this to happen at that time, but they themselves transgressed the law without fear; for if they had known that the keeping of the law was necessary, they would not have endured to transgress it. But they, as knowing that the conduct according to the law was superfluous, pursued the evangelical life.

But to those who were weakly disposed toward the keeping of the law, they yielded, leading them step by step to the more perfect things. Thus the blessed Paul, having circumcised Timothy, ordained him a teacher of the evangelical conduct of life. But perhaps we too have partaken of the folly of Apollinaris, having attempted to refute his mythologizing, which is not only false but also unpleasant. To him the blessed Paul would reasonably say: "Would that those who are unsettling you would even cut themselves off!" Having therefore stopped the discourse here, we shall exhort those who will read this book: if they find anything in what has been interpreted worthy of their zeal, let them hymn the Master of all, who for the common benefit has given the revelation of things hidden; but if the gain is less than the hope, and the fruit not equal in weight to the labors, let them assign forgiveness to the weakness of nature, yet accept the zeal, and repay the labors with prayers, asking from the Savior of all remission of our sins; with whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.