Interpretatio in Jeremiam

From this point he accuses these shepherds, these very kings, as being the cause of the scattering of the sheep; and to them he threatens destruction, but to the sheep a recall. 3. For I will receive, he says, the remnant of the people from all the land to which I drove them out in their pasture, and they shall increase and be multiplied. But he also promises greater goods. 4. And I will raise up for them shepherds who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear, nor be terrified, nor be at variance, says the Lord. These things came to pass typically in Zerubbabel and Joshua the son of Josedek; yet not the whole prophecy. For many rose up against them, and not only those nearby, but also the Macedonians afterward, and finally the Romans; but the prediction promises the enduring nature of the grace. It is clear, therefore, that some things came to pass in their case, but others in the case of the holy apostles. For these alone received the gift of the Spirit. The things that follow also bear witness to this meaning. 5, 6. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and a righteous king shall reign, and he shall understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in confidence; and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedek; he himself is among the prophets. These things the thunderstruck Jews shamelessly attempt to drag to Zerubbabel; but they ought to have understood that he was not a king, but a demagogue; and that he was not called Josedek; nor indeed is the interpretation of the name suitable to him.

For the name makes it clear: "The Lord our righteousness," or according to the interpretation of the Syrian, "Lord, justify us." But none of these things fits Zerubbabel; yet since he was a type of the Master Christ, and led the captives from Babylon back into Judea, just as the Lord transferred those enslaved by the devil to the truth, if anyone applies these things to him in a typical sense, he will do nothing incongruous. One must know, however, that the Master Jesus Christ, who is from David according to the flesh, is proclaimed by the prophets as "the righteous Branch," and "the righteous King," and "the Lord of righteousness." From this point he transfers his discourse against those who foretell false things, and he calls them adulterers, as adulterating and corrupting the divine word. He also calls them the causes of the people's wickedness; and he says that the priests have become partakers with them in impiety. He foretells also the evils that will befall them, and he compares them to the prophets of Samaria, who were openly called prophets of Baal. For these men, he says, having falsely promised peace to the people, were the cause of each one not turning back from his own evil way, and because of them they imitated the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah; for which reason: 15. Behold, I will feed them with pains, and give them bitter water to drink, because from the prophets of Jerusalem pollution has gone forth into all the earth. And through these words he has indicated the various calamities that will come upon all. He also exhorts the people not to accept the words uttered by them. 16, 17, 18.

For they speak from their own heart, he says, and not from the mouth of the Lord. And they promise peace, which I did not promise. To all who walk in their own wills, and to everyone who walks in the error of his own heart, I said, Evil shall not come upon you. For who has stood in the council of the Lord, and seen, and heard his word? Who has given ear to his word, and heard? By saying these things, he says, they embolden the workers of wickedness, and prepare them to remain in lawlessness, and prevent them from giving heed to the words of the prophets. 19. Behold, a shaking from the Lord, and wrath goes forth, turning into a commotion. By these things he signifies evils following one upon another, and that these are sent by God; for he himself brings the punishments upon you; then he also speaks of those who will suffer them: "It shall come upon the ungodly." 20. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has performed the purposes of his heart. For what he has foretold will come to pass. "In the last days they will understand it with understanding." When they see the events, they will remember the words. Then he says that those who prophesy falsely of their own accord, and without being commanded, brought words contrary to the people. 22. For if

They stood, he says, in my substance, and heard my words; they would have taught my people, and would have turned them from their evil way, and from their evil practices. But I clearly forbade the forms of wickedness through the law; if, therefore, they had followed my words, they would have accused the people of their lawlessness, and would have guided them onto the straight way. And he teaches them that he knows nothing of hidden things. 23, 24. For God, he says, am I near at hand, and not a God far off. Will a man hide himself, and I shall not see him? says the Lord. Then he teaches what cannot be circumscribed. "Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." If, therefore, I am present everywhere, how do men think that I am ignorant of anything that happens? And again he intensifies the accusation against the false prophets, as those who recount dreams, and deceive the people, and dare to do the same things as the prophets of Baal. Then he commands that the comparison of the prophet and the false prophet be made. 28. The prophet, he says, in whom the dream is, let him recount his dream; and he in whom my word is, let him recount my word in truth. And he teaches figuratively the difference. "What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord." 29. Are not my words like fire, says the Lord? and like a hammer cutting a rock? He showed through the parables the power of the divine word. Then he teaches the difference of the false prophets; for some, he says, like robbers, steal certain prophetic words, and corrupt them by their perversions.

But others fabricate a false prophecy; others recount dreams that they have not seen, and by various means secretly influencing the thrice-wretched people, they cause them to persist in wickedness. Then he commands the prophet: [verses] 33, 34. If this people, a priest or a prophet, asks, saying, "What is the burden of the Lord?" you shall say to them: "You are the burden of the Lord, and I will cast you away, says the Lord." And the prophet and the priest who say "Burden of the Lord," I will punish that man and his house. The impious used to call the prophets epileptics, and the prophecy a burden. Therefore God exhorts them not to use this term, and he threatens punishment to those who do not obey. And he commands them to inquire thus: "What did the Lord answer? What did the Lord speak?" and no longer to name "burden of the Lord"; but to those who transgress the commands he threatens, saying: [verses] 39, 40. Behold, I take you up as a burden, and I will cast you away, and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers, from before my face. And I will give upon you everlasting reproach, and everlasting dishonor, which shall not be forgotten. This the Lord God commanded, both cutting out the customs of superstition and teaching that the prophets have not been mad, but are servants of the divine oracles; and having threatened captivity, he also promises the return, and says that it will be so notable that the exodus which took place from Egypt will be consigned to forgetfulness, because of its splendor.

But let us, I entreat, follow both the prophetic and the apostolic words, and worship the one who spoke through those and these, and keep his life-giving laws, so that we may enjoy the good things promised, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. TOME 96.

CHAPTER 24.

Once again he makes the prophecy through parables and symbols; and he sees, by some revelation, two baskets of figs set before the divine temple. He also states the time of the prophecy; for he says that he saw these things after the deportation of Jeconiah and the reign of Zedekiah. And the one basket was of the best and early-ripening figs, but the other of figs exceedingly foul and utterly useless for eating. Then, having received a divine question concerning these things, he stated the difference between the things shown; and he is taught thereafter the things signified by them. For God, the ruler of all, likened to the early figs those who had already been taken captive, and he promises them the return from there, and his own care, and, together with piety, good conduct. But to the ugly figs he compares not only those left behind in Judea, but also those who had fled to Egypt, and with them King Zedekiah, and the rulers, and he threatens them with the army of the Babylonians and the gloomy things that grow from war—famine, and plague, and slaughter, and captivity. Having thus foretold these things, he sets down the prophecy that comes before them.

For these things were spoken after Jeconiah; but what he is about to say concerns King Jehoiakim, who happened to be the father of Jeconiah. And he also states the time clearly.

CHAPTER 25.

1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah; this same year was the first to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. In this year Nebuchadnezzar, having marched against Jerusalem, enslaved some and, imposing tribute on others, returned. He tells, then, also what was said. 3. In the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah (and until this day twenty-three years), the word of the Lord came to me, and I spoke to you, rising early, and you did not listen. He mentioned the multitude of the years, showing God's longsuffering, that he endured them in their disobedience for so long. For I sent, he says, to you my servants the prophets; I urged you, leaving the destructive way, to come to the other, the one that procures life; and I promised you good things if you did this, and you did not listen; but you preferred the worship of idols. And exposing the aim of their disobedience, he added: "So that you might provoke me to anger by the works of your hands, to your own harm." For by provoking me you dared those things; but indeed you also reaped the harm long ago.

For this reason, he says, together with Nabuchodonosor I will gather the kings who are subject to him, both against you and against those who dwell near you, from whom you learned the worship of idols, and I will deliver both your land and theirs to utter desolation, and I will strip them of all gladness; for these things are its own: "the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the voice of the mill, and the light of the lamp." And by a period of seventy years he limits the desolation. For after the seventy years, he said, he will exact punishment from the king of Babylon himself and from those subject to him for their impiety and lawlessness, and will confirm all the prophecy of Jeremias. Accordingly, he is at once commanded to take the cup of unmixed wine from the hand of the Lord, and to give all the nations to drink, "to those to whom I send you," he says, "to them." And they shall drink, and vomit, and go mad from the face of the sword which I will send among them. And he calls the just punishment a cup of unmixed wine; thus also the divine David said, that "A cup

in the hand of the Lord, a cup of unmixed wine full of mixture." And by "They shall drink and vomit," he indicates satiety; and by "they shall be mad," he hints at the severity of the punishment. Then the prophet relates how he gave Jerusalem to drink, and the cities that were subject to her, together with their kings and rulers; and he teaches what is signified by the cup. "To make them a desert, and impassable, and a hissing, and a curse, according to this day." That is, in this present time. And by calling them "impassable," he indicates the desolation; and by the "hissing" he signifies the astonishment of those who look on. For when we see changes for the worse, we are accustomed to hiss; and a curse follows upon these things. For some are accustomed to say, "May you suffer these things which so-and-so has suffered." And he adds that he also gave to drink to Pharao, the king of the Egyptians, and his governors, and all their subjects; and besides the natives, also the resident aliens; for he calls them "mixed." And by these things he hints that the Jews who have fled will fall into the same evils. And he says that he also gave to drink to the kings of the Chaldeans, and all Arabia, and all the kings of the land of Uz—for thus he has called Idumea—and the same prophet teaches this more clearly in what follows. For he says: "He has given to drink also the kings of the foreigners, and the Moabites, and the Ammonites, and the Tyrians, and the Sidonians, and Daedan, and Thaiman"; and these too are cities of Arabia, as we have shown also in the interpretations of the other prophets.

And Buz," a Persian people, "and all that have the hair cut short on their face." He means the Saracens. 24, 25. "And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed peoples who dwell in the desert. And all the kings of Zambri." In the Hebrew and the Syriac we have found "Zembran"; and this man was a son of Keturah; and these indeed dwelt in the desert. "And all the kings of Elam." And this too is a Persian people. "And all the kings of the Medes and Persians." 26. "And all the kings of the east, those near and those far; and each one against his brother." That is, so that through one another they may pay the penalty for their impiety. "And all the kingdoms of the earth that are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink last of them." I think the Babylonian was called by this name; for through him also those previously mentioned drank; and after a little he says that this one shall drink last. For after the punishment brought upon the others through him, he himself paid the penalty. Then he threatens those who are unwilling to drink, that even against their will they shall drink. 29. "For I begin," he says, "from the city upon which my name is called, from it I begin to do harm; and you shall be cleansed with a cleansing, and you shall not be cleansed." The city that has been set apart, he says, I hand over; and will you escape the punishment? It is not possible for this to happen. 30. "And you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, The Lord will speak from on high, and from his holy place he will give his voice.

He has shown both things: that he brings forth the verdict from heaven, and that he makes the manifestation in the consecrated temple. "He will speak a word from his own place, and he knows, as those who tread the winepress will answer against all who sit upon the earth." By "answer" he means the deed; for the deed follows the divine word. 31. "Destruction has come upon a part of the earth, because judgment belongs to the Lord among the nations; he is judged against all flesh; but the impious have been given over to the sword, says the Lord." Again he shows his ineffable goodness. For he did not say, "He will judge all flesh," but "He is judged against all flesh"; for he shows his own benefactions, and he convicts the ingratitude of those who receive them. And through what follows he speaks also of the evils that grow from wars, and that those

who have been slain will lie unburied, and will be as dung upon the earth. 34, 35. "Shout, you shepherds, and cry out, and beat your breasts, you rams of the sheep, because your days have been fulfilled for slaughter, and your scatterings, and you shall fall like chosen rams. And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and salvation from the rams of the sheep." He has called kings "shepherds," the subjects "sheep," and the rulers "rams of the sheep"; and to all he threatens flight and migration. And he foretells the lamentations both of the kings and of the rulers. 37. "Because," he says, "the good things of peace have ceased from the face of the anger of the wrath of the Lord." "The good things of peace" are: farmings, plantings, trades, the working of crafts, the exchanges of contracts, marriages, gatherings, festivals, delights, and all things similar to these.

CHAPTER 26.

After this he sets down again another prophecy, which he was commanded to bring to the people in the time of King Jehoiakim. And he was commanded to stand in the divine court and to utter oracles to the people, and to deliver all the divine words. "For do not," he says, "omit a word." Then he teaches the reason for what is to come. 3. Perhaps they will hear, and each will turn back from his evil way, and I will cease from the evils which I intend to do to them, because of their evil practices. He has said "perhaps" not as though ignorant; for he knew their disobedience; but he set down the ambiguity so that, paying heed to the divine declaration, they might not despair of salvation. Similar to this is what was said through Ezekiel: "If perhaps they will hear, if perhaps they will see." For that was not from ignorance; but so that they might not say, He has foretold our disobedience, and he is truthful, so how is it possible for us to be changed? And he teaches through what has been said that it is possible, if they are willing, to receive a change of conduct. For this reason he also adds the threat: "For if you do not hear my words, which I bring to you through the prophets." 6. I will give this house like Shiloh; and I will give this city as a curse to all the nations of the earth. Hearing these things, the priests and the false prophets and all the people threaten the prophet with death; but when the rulers learned of it, they ran from the palace to the divine temple.

But when the priests together with the false prophets brought a charge of blasphemy against the prophet, on the grounds that he had made his prediction against the city and the divine temple, the prophet said that he had been sent by the God of all, and that the words spoken by him were divine oracles. And he also offers them exhortation: 13. For, he says, make your ways and your works better. Hear the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will cease from the evils which he spoke against you. But if you disobey and persist in your customary mind: 14. Behold, I am in your hands; do to me as is expedient and as seems best to you. Then he points out the fruit of murder. 15. But know with certainty that if you put me to death, you are bringing innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city. For, he says, I made these words as I was commanded by God. When the rulers and the people heard these things, they condemn the unjust verdict of the priests and the false prophets, declaring the prophet innocent, since he had ministered the divine words. Then some of the elders remind them of an ancient prophecy, and say that Micah the Morashtite once prophesied that Zion would be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem would be as a watchman's hut, and the mountain of the house would be as a grove of the forest; and that having said these things he suffered no harm. For on the contrary, the

But those who feared the threat at that time escaped the wrath by a change of life; but you, he says, have dared most grievous things. For we have seen Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, who once prophesied such things, then feared King Jehoiakim and fled to Egypt, being put to death by King Jehoiakim; for bringing him from there he struck him down with a spear; he makes clear also the one who used pious words, and says: 24. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that he should not be delivered into the hands of the people to kill him.

CHAPTER 27.

Having thus completed this narrative, he passes to another older than it. 1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying. Then he says how he was commanded to put yokes on his neck, and to send them to the neighboring kings, whose names also he sets down. And he was commanded to send out these words also through the embassies. 5. I made the earth, and the men, and the cattle, as many as are on the face of the earth, in my great strength, and in my high arm. And I will give it to whomever it seems good in my eyes. The phrase, "in my great strength, and in my high arm," he has set down because of the magnitude of the elements and the weakness of the hearers; for the willing alone is sufficient, and to bring forth as many things as he wills. 6. And now I am; I have given this land into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon my servant, and the beasts of the field I have given to him to work, and to serve him.

The beasts of the field: he means the barbarian nations. I am the Maker, he says, and the Master; I govern as I wish. 7. And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land comes. He has clearly taught that, just as he used the Babylonians as public executioners and exacted punishment from the other nations through them, afterward he will also hand them over to utter destruction. And he threatens those who contradict and thrust away the yoke with famine and slaughter and enslavement. And he enjoins them not to believe diviners and soothsayers and augurs and dreamers, but to yield and accept the Babylonian's yoke; and he promises peace to those who obey. He said these things also to Zedekiah the king, and he enjoins him not to believe the false prophets, who promise peace and the restoration of the sacred vessels carried off to Babylon. For these speak lies. 18. But if they are prophets, and the word of the Lord is in them, let them meet the Lord of hosts, so that the vessels left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. The phrase "let them meet the Lord" is instead of "let them hinder," and "let them conquer the divine foretellings, and let them show the divine foretellings idle." For you will see all the sacred vessels that are left being carried away to Babylon, and after the seventieth year being sent from there, being restored to the house consecrated to me. And the third [book] of Kingdoms mentions Mechonoth; and they served the need of mixing bowls; and they had been made of bronze.

CHAPTER 28.

After these things he recounts that, when Zedekiah was king, in the fourth year, Hananiah the false prophet dared to say, in the presence of the people and the priests: 2, 3, 4. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. And that within two years I will restore the sacred vessels that were carried away. And I will bring back Jeconiah together with all the captives. But the prophet Jeremiah himself, wishing to show that he prays for these things to happen, said: 6. May the Lord establish, in the hearing of all, your word which you prophesy, so as to return the vessels of the house of the Lord, and the whole deportation from Babylon to their own place. Yet he did not allow the prophecy to be confirmed by his assent. For he said: 7–9. Nevertheless hear this word which I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people. The prophets who were before me, and those before you from of old, prophesied against many lands, and against great kingdoms, for war, and for evils, and for death. The one who prophesies for peace, when the word of the prophet comes, the prophet will be known, whom the Lord sent in truth. The end, he says, of matters will show the truth of the prophecy. We shall see, then, whether according to my prophecy we shall be handed over to the Babylonians. But that false prophet gained nothing from these things; rather, he broke the yokes which the prophet was carrying, saying that in this manner the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar would be broken, after two years had passed. But the God of all things commanded the prophet to say to Hananiah:

I shattered wooden bars, and I will make iron bars in place of these." He calls the yoke of the Babylonians iron, since the punishment would be heavier because of their disobedience. Then the prophet, being displeased, since he had accurately learned of Hananiah's false oracle-mongering, said to him: "Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in unjust things." He also foretells his death within a few months. "For you have spoken a turning away to the Lord," he says. That is, You have prepared the people to turn away from the divine oracles and to believe your falsehood. Then he recounted both the death of the false prophet and the immeasurable extent of the divine longsuffering; for he did not immediately deprive him of life, awaiting his repentance; but when he persisted in his wickedness, after seven months he handed him over to death.

CHAPTER 29.

From here he moves to another narrative, and teaches how, by God's counsel, he sent letters to the captives in Babylon after the captivity of King Jeconiah. He also gives the names of those who carried the letters. These contained the message that the God of all commands those who had now become captives both to beget children and to build houses and to betroth their daughters to men and to bring wives for their sons and to care for the increase of their race, and to pray for those who had enslaved them.

For in their peace," he says, "there will be peace for you." The legislation of the Apostle also agrees with this saying, enjoining us "to make prayers and intercessions for kings and for all who are in high position and authority, so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and dignity." God, the Lord of all, commanded these things to happen, teaching them not to be persuaded by the false prophets, but to await the appointed time; for he has made this clear through what follows, saying: "Let not your false prophets who are among you persuade you, and let not your diviners deceive you. And do not listen to your dreams, which you yourselves dream." 9. "For these prophesy unjustly to you in my name; I did not send them," says the Lord. He also teaches the time of the return; for "when the seventy years," he says, "are fulfilled, I will visit you, and I will fulfill the good promises." He also promises to deem them worthy of all care, and to grant good things to those who pray: "For when," he says, "you seek me with your whole heart, I will appear to you," says the Lord. Know this also, that those who escaped the former captivity I will deliver over to famine and slaughter. "And I will give them, like the suareim figs, which cannot be eaten because of their badness." What he called shameful above, here he named suareim. Suareim in the Hebrew tongue means those that grow in the woods, that is, the wild, the uncared-for, those not deemed worthy of cultivation, those useless for food. 18. And I will give them over to shaking among all the kingdoms of the earth.

For all will fear when they hear of the calamities that have been brought upon them. "And for an oath, and for a hissing, and for a reproach, among all the nations whither I have scattered them there." Many are accustomed to say, "May I not suffer what such-and-such a man has suffered!" This, then, he calls "for an oath"; and we have often spoken of "for a hissing." And the blessed David also makes mention of reproach: "We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and a derision to those round about us"; and again: "You have made us a reproach to the nations." These things, he says, they shall suffer, "because I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, and they did not hear, says the Lord." By "rising early" he has indicated diligence. For this was not a secondary matter with him, and it made their care exceedingly earnest. Then he foretells also the destruction of the two false prophets, Achiab and Sedekias. "For I will give them, he says, into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and he shall strike them before your eyes." And they shall take up a curse against them in all the sojourning of Iouda, and in Babylon, saying, "May the Lord make you as Sedekias and as Achiab." From this we clearly learn the meaning of the curse; and he speaks also of the manner of their punishment. "Whom the king of Babylon fried in fire." Because of the lawlessness which they committed in Israel. He teaches also the form of this. "And they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow citizens, and they brought about a word in my name unjustly, which I did not command them. And I am the knower, and the witness, says the Lord." For nothing, he says, that is done escapes me.

But I also see the things being dared in secret. And he threatens Shemaiah the Elamite, because he dared to prophesy things contrary and to send a letter to Zephaniah the priest, and to the priests who serve under him. And he sent these things: 26. The Lord has given you as a priest in place of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada the high priest was much celebrated; therefore, wishing to lift up the mind of Zephaniah, he mentioned that man's office. "That you should become an overseer in the house of the Lord, over every man who prophesies, and over every man who is mad; so that you may put him into the stocks of Sinōch, and into the cataract." And we have already said beforehand that they called the prophets epileptics; and this is clear also from here: for he ranked the prophet with the madman. And Sinōch the Syrian interpreted as prison. And he says that for this reason you rule, so as to shut up and punish those who prophesy evil things; for he makes this clear through what follows. 27, 28. For why, he says, did you not rebuke Jeremiah, who dared to write such things, so that you even built buildings and planted gardens? Zephaniah the high priest read this letter to the prophet; and immediately the God of all things commands the prophet to write back, and to signify to the people in Babylon that Shemaiah has spoken falsely, not having been sent by the God of all things. For this reason I will deliver him root and branch with all his race to death, and he will not see the change of his troubles.

Having learned these things, therefore, let us fear falsehood and believe the truth, and let us drive out the doubt of our souls, and let us follow the divine words, so that we may see the good things of the Jerusalem above, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

TOME 7.

CHAPTER 30.

Wishing to show the truth of the prophecy, the Master God commands the prophet to commit to writing the predictions that were made both concerning the captivity and concerning the restoration. First, however, he foretells the gloomy things. 5, 6 Thus says the Lord: You shall hear a voice of fear; fear, and there is no peace. Ask now, and see whether a male has given birth. He has clearly indicated the excess of pain; for he compared the magnitude of the calamity to the pangs of a woman giving birth. For this is what "Ask and see whether a male has given birth" means. And what follows agrees: "And concerning fear, in which they shall hold their loins; for I have seen every man, and his hands upon his loins, as of a woman giving birth." Now, showing the pain, he sets before us the image of a woman giving birth; but elsewhere, teaching the mourning, he said that each one had his hands clasped upon his head. "All faces have become as jaundice." And this is indicative of fear. 7 For that day is great, and there is no other such; and it is a time of straitness and affliction for all Jacob. From the magnitude of the punishment he called the day great. Then he joins consolation to the gloomy things. For he says:

And from this he shall be saved." And he promises to shatter the yoke of slavery. And he foretells also the change of their manner. "And they shall no longer serve strangers." 9. And they shall serve the Lord their God. He has called the idols "strangers"; for having come to know that the Master God both supplies good things and brings disciplines upon all, he says, they shall prefer his prophecy above all things. "And David their king I will raise up for them." The Lord Christ has set the end upon the prophecy. For he sprang from David according to the flesh, and he shepherds no longer only Israel, but all the nations, as in shadow and type, and in the time of Zerubbabel the prediction received some fulfillment. Having promised these things, he again refreshes them, promising their restoration. And to the Babylonians he threatens destruction. "For I will make, he says, an eclipse among all the nations to which I scattered you there." But to them he offers promises of good things. "For you, he says, I will surely not make an eclipse, and I will discipline you in judgment, and acquitting I will not acquit you." In place of "I will discipline," and "I will refresh," and "I will neither leave you undisciplined nor abandon you helpless"; for "acquitting I will not acquit you" means this, in place of "I will not allow you to be untested by evils"; but wishing by the greatness of the threat to change their wickedness, he adds these things also: 12, 13. Your fracture is violent; your wound is painful. There is no one to judge your judgment. For no man convicted Nebuchadnezzar of injustice. "You were healed unto painfulness," that is, with pain.

There is no benefit for you." He has not now placed the benefit in the soul, but in human assistance; for what follows makes this clear. 14. All your friends have forgotten you, they will not inquire about you; for I struck you with the blow of an enemy. For I did not employ my customary forbearance, but I gave a deep incision. This is what a physician also does when he sees the disease to be severe. And teaching the justice of the punishment, he added: "A firm chastisement for all your injustice; because your sins have multiplied." What follows agrees with these things. 15. Why do you cry out over your ruin? Your pain is violent? That is, severe, but nevertheless just. "Because of the multitude of your lawless deeds, because your sins have prevailed, I have done these things to you." Yet he threatens those who came against them, both slaughter and slavery; for those who escaped death became slaves of the victors. But he persists, consoling them with good promises. 17. "For I will open your healing, I will cure you from a painful wound," says the Lord. And he employed both the incision and the sponge, and the harsher and the gentler remedies. "For Zion has been called scattered." For the neighboring nations mocked her, setting before her both captivity and slavery. "She is your prey, because there is no one seeking her." When, he says, I overlooked her and did not help, she lay exposed to those who warred against her, as ready prey. But after the chastisement of slavery I will free them, so that they may return and build the cities, and raise up the temple, and perform the worship in it according to the law.

For he said this: "And the temple will sit according to his judgment." And he adds also the things that are proper to good conduct. 19. "And they will come out from them singing, and the voice of those playing." And he promises also the increase of the race, and many offspring. "For I will pour them out," he says, "and they will not be diminished." 20. "And the sons of these," he says, "will enter in, as before, and their testimonies will be set upright before my face." The Syriac interpreted "testimonies" as synagogues. "And I will visit upon all those who afflict them." 21. "And they will be stronger than them against them." He calls the Babylonians those who afflict; and the Medes and Persians stronger than these; for these destroyed their salvation. "And their ruler will come out from them." In the time of the captivity, they had the king as ruler of the Babylonians. But after the return, they first had Zerubbabel, and the son of Josedek; and after these things, they were governed by the high priests. "For who is this who gave his heart to turn to me? says the Lord." This he says also elsewhere: Ask the generations that came before you, who believed in the Lord and was put to shame. Then he attributes the painful things that happened to them to the anger of God; and showing its justice, he adds: "It will come upon the impious." And teaching also what is possible, he adds: 24. "The anger of the wrath of the Lord will not turn back until he does, and until he fulfills the undertaking of his own heart." For who has stood against his counsel?

Refuting their unbelief, he says, "In the last days you will know these things." Since you do not believe the words, you will learn them through the things themselves by experience.

CHAPTER 31.

And again, having mingled the pleasant things with the gloomy, he teaches the cause of these. 2. Thus says the Lord: I found him warm in the desert, with those who had perished by the sword, walking in earnest, Israel. Both the Syrian and the Hebrew have rendered "warm" as "compassion"; and the interpretation of the Greek word has a certain kinship to this; for one who is warmed is softened toward mercy. And he calls Babylon a desert; and he teaches that the Master pitied them while they were serving as slaves there. And the things that follow agree also with the Syrian interpretation. 3. With an eternal love I have loved you; therefore I have drawn you to compassion. Not your own manner of life, he says, is the cause of your salvation, but my mercy. And he foretells that again they will dance, using timbrels and the other instruments, and will attend to the planting of vineyards, and will celebrate the divine feasts. He foretells also the union of the tribes. 6. For there is a day of calling, of one making defense in the mountains of Ephraim: Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God. For these, who formerly served the heifers, will make defense for their former sins, and will run to Zion, and the

They will worship God as a whole. And he urges them to hymn God with gladness, and to think greatly of themselves over the neighboring nations. For this is what he says: "Neigh over the head of the nations." And show by this the divine assistance. And he also speaks of the time of the return. 8. "For I will gather them," he says, "in the feast of Phasek from the ends of the earth." And Phasek is interpreted in the Greek tongue as Pascha. And indicating their multitude: "Among them," he says, "the lame and the blind, the pregnant and the one giving birth, a great assembly with one accord." For in populous cities one can find all such things. And he reminds them also of the weeping of the captivity, and foretells the cheerfulness of the return, and the refreshment of soul along the journey. "For with consolation," he says, "I will bring them up, lodging them by the diggings of waters, in a straight way, and they shall no longer wander in it." And showing the cause of his care, he added: "For I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." He does not call Ephraim the son of Joseph, but the ten tribes; and among them was Reuben the firstborn, and Simeon the second. But the ten tribes were called Ephraim, since the royal palace had been built in the lot of Ephraim. And just as now from the city of the Romans we are all named Romans, so then the ten tribes were called from Ephraim. And he commands that these things be proclaimed also among the nations, and that the return of the people be made known to all; and the proclamation came about not through words, but all heard, since the deeds cried out more loudly.

He also promises fruitfulness of the earth, and many offspring of cattle, and gladness of soul. And the phrase, "I will make drunk the soul of the priests, the sons of Levi," means, I will fill them with all kinds of good things; for this is what the words that follow also make clear: "And my people shall be filled with good things, says the Lord." And thus says the Lord: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and weeping, and wailing; Rachel weeping for her sons, and she would not be comforted for her sons, because they are not." And Ramah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and the tomb of Rachel is in the hippodrome at Chapharatha, on the way to Ephratha. And the prophecy received its fulfillment in the time of Herod the first; for he killed the infants, hoping to destroy along with them the Savior who had been born. And the prophet has placed these things in the midst of the promise of good things, teaching that the truly good thing, and the sum of salvation, is the bodily birth of our Lord and Savior, for which the infants endured that unjust slaughter. Thus says the Lord: "Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your works, says the Lord, and your sons shall return to their own mountains." And teaching of what works he promises the reward, he shows him the repentance in Babylon. I have heard Ephraim lamenting. And he teaches also what words he used: "You chastised me, Lord, and I was not chastised; like a calf I was not taught." This the prophet also said in the preceding: "You scourged them, and they did not feel pain.

You have completed them, and they were not willing to receive discipline." And Hosea the prophet also says: "Ephraim is a heifer trained to love strife." He contends, he says, and does not accept the yoke of the law. And again: "Ephraim has become like a heifer stung by the gadfly." He also sets down what he said in lamentation: "Turn me back, Lord, and I shall be turned back, for you are the Lord my God." For unless you will it, I shall not be released from slavery. 19. That after my captivity I repented, and after I came to know, I struck my thigh, and I groaned in the days of my shame. After the experience of evils, he came to a perception of his sin. The blessed David also said this: "Before I was humbled, I transgressed; therefore I kept your word." And again: "It is good for me that you humbled me, so that I might learn your statutes." And striking the thigh is characteristic of those who grieve and repent. "Indeed I was put to shame, and I yielded to you, because I bore reproach from my youth." For from the beginning and from the first I continued transgressing your commandments. But the Master also shows his love for humanity, and says: 20. If Ephraim is a beloved son to me, if a child delighting himself. Instead of, tender and pleasing; if you persist, he says, in this disposition, and remember my care, you shall enjoy good things; for he has placed the promise in what follows. "Because in return for my words being in him, I will surely remember him still." Since he has repented and remembers my commandments, he shall obtain providence from me.

For this reason, he says, I will visit him, and I will surely have mercy on him." Then he urges her to use the medicines of repentance. 29. Set yourself up as a signpost. The Syriac interpreted sionim as "signs"; that is, you ought to have marked out what fruits you reaped from lawlessness, and what goods regret has become the cause of for you. For this reason he also guarantees that she has used voluntary discipline. "Make for yourself a punishment, give your heart to your shoulders." That is, lay upon yourself the burden of repentance. Persist in what you have well chosen; for this he added, "The road you have traveled." Then he urges her to turn back and return to her own cities, and not to abandon mourning. "For turn back, he says, to your cities, mourning." Such mourning is not contrary to gladness. For we ought, even when enjoying good things, to remember our own transgressions and lament them. 22. How long will you turn away, dishonored daughter? For the Lord created you for salvation, for a new planting; in salvation people will go about. He has shown here clearly also the reason for the recall; for he foretells that the new planting will come about through her; and the apostles who sprouted from her brought this to the inhabited world; and the prophetic word said this clearly. "In salvation people will go about." For these, going around the nations, brought salvation to them through the knowledge of God. Then again he foretells the good things after the return, and the gladness that grows from it.

But the statement, "I will sow upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah seed of men and seed of cattle," signifies abundance. 29, 30. In those days, he says, they shall no longer say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the teeth of the children were set on edge. But each one shall die in his own sin, and the teeth of the one who eats the sour grape shall be set on edge. The Lord made this clearer also through the divine Ezekiel, and we ourselves have given the interpretation at greater length. What he says is of this sort: just as it is impossible to eat a sour grape without the eater's teeth being set on edge, so it is impossible, when the fathers have sinned, for the children to be exacted punishment. And for confirmation of what has been said he adds what follows. 31, 32. Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not remain in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. Thus, he says, it is impossible for children to be exacted punishment for ancestral sins, because even though the fathers have sinned, I promise the greatest good things to the children. Indeed, he has taught us many things by this very prophecy: first, that there is one lawgiver of the two covenants; then, the imperfection of the former covenant—for we would not have needed the second, if the first had sufficed; in addition to these, that the only-begotten Word of God [has given] us the good things of the gospel

He became the provider; he himself freed Israel from the slavery of the Egyptians. He himself, therefore, also speaking to Moses, said, "I am the one who is." And the argument is sufficient not only to convict the lawlessness of the Jews, but also to expose the blasphemy of the heretics. 33. That this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah after those days, says the Lord: Giving my laws upon their minds, and upon the breast of their hearts I will write them, and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to me for a people. God showed this to us through the events themselves. For having led the holy apostles up to the mountain, he did not give them tablets of stone, but inscribed the divine laws in their hearts, and brought the beatitudes to the workers of virtue. 34. And they shall no longer teach each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. But the end of these sayings the life to come will receive. For in that life we no longer need instruction from one another, since things appear clearly, and the passions have ceased, and bodies are incorruptible, and souls have become immutable. It is a custom of divine Scripture to intermingle prophecies. For it joins the words about the return to those about the captivity; and the Lord also in the holy Gospels places together the words about Jerusalem and those about the consummation.

For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more." The grace of the all-holy baptism grants this; for after the remission, it remembers not the former sins. After this, having shown that he himself is the creator of the sun and the moon and the stars, and that he himself appointed the one to make the day and the others to give light to the night, and that at his nod the sea is moved and enjoys calm, he added: 36. "If these laws cease from before me, says the Lord, then the race of Israel shall also cease to be a nation before me all the days." To these one must set beside the saying spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "If the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved." Both prophecies, then, hold the truth. "For not all those of Israel, these are Israel, but those who have believed in God and received the saving proclamation." From these and through these the Church has been established throughout the whole inhabited world. 37. "Thus says the Lord: If the heaven be lifted up to the heights, and if the earth be brought low to the ground beneath, and I reject the house of Israel, says the Lord." As it is impossible, he says, either for the heaven to become higher, or the earth deeper, so it is impossible for Israel to be utterly cast away. 38. "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and a city shall be built to the Lord, from Ananiel to the corner gate." The Syrian says thus: "From the tower of the corner of Ananiel." 39.

And the measuring line shall pass over against them as far as the hill of Gareb. He names places round about the city. "And it shall be compassed about with choice stones," that is, great and strong. 40. And all the valley of the dead bodies, and toward the ashes. And all Asarimoth as far as the brook Kidron, as far as the corner of the gate of the horses toward the east, a holy place to the Lord. He calls "ashes" the place where they cast the dust of the sacrifices; and "the dead bodies," the places of the slain flesh. Having spoken above of the circuit of the city, in these things he showed the enclosure of the divine temple: "And it shall no more be plucked up, and shall not be thrown down for ever." The ambiguity of these words he resolved in what came before. "For," he said, "I will speak a word concerning nations and kingdoms, to rebuild and to plant." And if that nation, turning, does evil, I will not bring upon it the good things which I spoke.

CHAPTER 32. And here, then, he promised these things; but since they raged against God and our Savior, and stirred up judgment against themselves, from here he passes to another prophecy, whose fulfillment he received in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah. And this was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And the city was being besieged by him at this time; and the prophet dwelt in a prison, Zedekiah the king having cast him in, because he had foretold the capture of the city, and the enslavement of the king and the people. For this reason he says, "he dwelt in the prison." Nevertheless, he is commanded by God first to buy the field of his brother.

For the purchase belongs to you," he says, "since you are near according to kinship." And the one selling it came to me, and I bought it as I was commanded, and I received the written contract concerning it, with all present—both the seller and those who witnessed. This he gave to Barouch, having said that God had commanded it to be placed in an earthen vessel, so that it might endure for many days. God commanded this to happen, and through these things persuading the people of the facts, that they would truly be recalled from captivity and recover the land of their fathers. For the prophet also said this: 15. "For thus says the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet be acquired in this land." When these things had thus come about, I, he says, offered supplication to the Master, saying these things: that "You are the maker of heaven and earth, and you oversee all things, and nothing has escaped you, neither of things present nor of things to come; and you have immeasurable treasures of mercy, and you exact reckoning for sins. And if the children imitate the wickedness of their fathers, you bring greater punishments upon them, since they were not disciplined by their fathers' evils.

And having added many other such things, and having mentioned the wonders that occurred in Egypt, and the gifts that were provided after the departure from there, and indeed also the ingratitude of those who had been benefited, he asks, why ever, when the enemies are sitting before us and besieging the city, and those within are being destroyed by famine and plague, did you command me to buy a field and to receive the written contract concerning it, when the city is being laid waste? To these things God says: 27. I am the Lord God of all flesh; shall any word be hidden from me? He says, can the Creator and Master of all things be ignorant of anything that happens? 28. Therefore thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Then he says how, entering, they will burn it, and the houses in which they sacrificed to Baal and poured out libations to other gods. He also exposes the purpose of what was done: "to provoke me to anger." I deliver up the city, he says, because of the lawlessness of its inhabitants. For they continued always provoking me, from the day I built it until this day. For this reason I have decided to remove it from before my face, because of all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah. For with one accord both the kings and the priests and the rulers and those prophesying falsely, together with all the people, turned their back to me and not their face; for abandoning me, they served idols.

The blessed Ezekiel also teaches that they turned their backs to the temple and worshiped the sun; but I, he says, did not cease through the prophets to instruct them in the truth. And the impiety in their houses did not suffice them, but even in the very house consecrated to me they set up the images of idols. 35. And they built the altars to Baal, in the valley of the son of Ennom, towers in Geb. And from this it is clear that Thapheth was the name of an idol. For Baal is a generic name for idols; and he says that in these places they dared the murder of sons and daughters. Therefore, he says, I have delivered this city to famine, and pestilence, and slaughter, and slavery. But nevertheless, to those enslaved after the appointed time I will grant freedom, and I will bring them back to the ancestral land, and I will deem them worthy of the former care. And that which says: 39. And I will give them another heart, and another way, so as to fear me all the days, must be understood thus: that through discipline, and through the freedom after these things, they will know me as the only God, and will be released from their former error. 40. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, which I will not turn back behind them. They would have obtained this promise too, if indeed they had wished it; but they themselves, having fallen away from grace, were stripped bare. And having said these things, and things like these, through more words, he added: 43, 44. And fields will be acquired in the land which you say is untrodden by men and cattle, and it will be delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans. And they will acquire fields for silver, and they will be written in a book, and it will be sealed.

He answered this question of the prophet, teaching that for this reason he commanded him to buy the field, so that he might show even through the events the truth of the prophecy. "For they shall buy fields," he says, "both in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb." Shephelah he calls the plain; Negeb the south. CHAPTER 33. Then again the prophet, while still dwelling in the prison, sees another revelation. And God says to him: 3. Call to me, and I will hear you, and I will announce to you great and mighty things which you have not known. And having shown the siege, he foretells also the deliverance. 6. For behold, I am bringing upon her a scar and a healing, and I will heal them. The scar indicates the complete healing. Then he teaches how the nations, seeing the return, will hymn the provider of the deliverance; and those who live in virtue will marvel, while those who embrace wickedness will be embittered, seeing the city in prosperity, and the divine festivals being celebrated in the customary way. 15. In those days, and in that time, I will cause a horn to spring up for David, a righteous branch; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. And we have already said that these things reached their fulfillment typically in Zerubbabel, but our Master taught us precisely the truth of the prophecy. 6. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely; and this is the name by which it shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

He had also inserted this name in the earlier passages, calling her by the Hebrew tongue Iosedek. 17. For thus says the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. This the patriarch Jacob also declared: "There shall not fail a ruler from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the nations." But after Zerubbabel we know of no one from the tribe of Judah who ruled. Yet we find the truth of the prophecy: for there was an intermingling of the royal and the priestly, and the priests ruled until Herod the foreigner. For this reason the present prophecy joins the things concerning the priests to the things concerning David. 18. Concerning the priests, he says, and the Levites, there shall not be cut off from before me a man offering whole burnt offerings, and burning a gift, and making sacrifice all the days. And we see the fulfillment of this prophecy as well. For when the New Covenant was given according to the divine promise, the priesthood was also given according to the order of Melchizedek; and those deemed worthy of it continually offer the rational sacrifice to God. Then he says: As it is impossible for day to be night

to happen, and the night to become day, so neither is it possible for the Davidic kingdom to be destroyed. And the outcome of this prophecy too is clear: for the Christ from David according to the flesh does not hold the earthly throne, but, seated with the Father, he directs all things. Moreover, he says this same thing also concerning the priests and the Levites, that their race will be compared to the host of heaven and to the sand of the sea. And the facts bear witness to what is said. For every land and sea is full of high priests and of deacons fulfilling the Levitical service. And having also stated what is said by the impious, that the two tribes which he chose, both the royal and the priestly, he rejected completely, he promised again the very things he had already foretold. CHAPTER 34.

Having thus concluded this prophecy, he passes to another; and, while the enemies were besieging, he is commanded to say to Zedekiah the king both that the city will be captured and set on fire, and that taking you they will bring you to the king of the Babylonians; but you will escape death, and carried off as a captive you will dwell in a foreign land, and you will receive the end of your life in peace, and you will be deemed worthy of the honors considered due by your kinsmen. And these things, he says, I spoke to the king, while the enemies were besieging not only Jerusalem but also the remaining cities of Judea. To this prophecy he joins another also, having this meaning: Zedekiah commanded, according to the divine law, that the Hebrew servants be released as free;

For the law clearly declared that they should serve for six years, but in the seventh year obtain freedom. But all of them, having submitted and granted freedom, drew them back again into their former slavery, practicing a wicked repentance. Therefore God of all, being angered, reminds them of the slavery in Egypt, and of the freedom that had come to be, and of the legislation given after these things; and he reproaches them, as having loved the keeping of the law, but having repented and trampled upon it. 15. For he says, Having turned to do what is right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor; and you completed a covenant before my face in the house upon which my name was called. For inside the house consecrated to me, while I was present, having made the agreements of release, they immediately transgressed them. Since, therefore, you did not wish to make the release: "Behold, I proclaim release to you, says the Lord, to the sword, and to death, and to famine. And I will give you to dispersion among all the kingdoms of the earth." But he also convicts them of the transgression of the oath. 18, 19. And I will give the men who have passed over my covenant, who did not stand by the words of my covenant which they made before my face, the calf which they made into two, and passed through the midst of its divided parts, the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the mighty men, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed through the midst of the divided parts of the calf. Thus they were accustomed to swear in the ancient manner.

Indeed, God over all, when making his covenant with Abraham, commanded a three-year-old ram, a calf, and a goat of the same age to be cut in two, and the pieces to be placed facing one another, and he caused a smoking oven and flaming torches to pass between the divided pieces, making his covenant with him according to the prevailing custom. This too these men did, making promises concerning the freedom of the Hebrew servants and wishing to confirm that freedom by an oath; but they immediately transgressed it.

For this reason he threatens to hand them over to their enemies, and to set their bodies as food for wild beasts, and to lay the yoke of slavery upon the king and the rulers. CHAPTER 35.

Having concluded this prophecy, he recalls an older prediction. For in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah, he was commanded to bring the sons of Rechab into the divine temple, and to set wine before them in one of the courts. And I, he says, fulfilled the command, and having set out bowls full of wine, I urged them to drink. But they refused, saying: We will not drink wine; for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying: You shall not drink wine, you and your sons, forever. (7) And you shall not build houses, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant vineyards, nor shall you have any; but you shall dwell in tents all your days, so that you may live many days upon the land on which you sojourn.

These words, he says, when we heard them, we kept the ancestral commandments, together with our wives and our sons; and we neither built houses nor occupied ourselves with farming, but dwelling in tents we have continued until the present; but now, when the Babylonians came upon us, we were compelled to take refuge in this city. It is worthy of wonder both the legislation of the father and the obedience of the sons and descendants; for they loved the unanxious and possessionless life, and—most paradoxical of all—though having children they took little thought for possessions, having entrusted what concerned them to the divine hope. But if, in the time of the law, which did not have perfection because of the weakness of those being legislated for, these embraced the highest philosophy, what would they have become upon hearing the gospel law? But the God of all commands the prophet to say to all who dwell in Jerusalem, that These men, keeping the commandment of their father, were unwilling to drink wine; but you, even receiving prophetic teachings night and day, do not live according to my laws. For this reason, I will bring upon you all kinds of calamities, but to the descendants of Rechab, who kept the ancestral commandment, he promises the fairest of goods. 19. There shall not fail, he says, a man from the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, standing before my face, all the days of the earth. One must know, however, that everyone who keeps those laws is called a son of Jonadab, son of Rechab. CHAPTER 36. After these things, he says, it was commanded that he write down the whole prophecy.

He calls the rolls "the heading of the book," which the Jews have been accustomed to use up to the present. For it is likely, he says, that they, having learned more accurately the evils that were threatened, might obtain salvation through repentance; and the prophet does what was commanded. And he himself, moved by the divine grace, offered the oracles; and Baruch wrote them down. And since he was prevented from entering the divine temple (for he had been shut up), he enjoins Baruch to read to the people what had been written; and after much time had passed, while a public fast was being observed, Baruch read the prophecy; and one of those who heard, moved with greater piety, reports the threatened evils to the rulers; and they summoned Baruch and ordered him to read, and, filled with fear, they earnestly sought to learn the author of these writings. And Baruch taught them, "Jeremiah, inspired by the divine grace, commanded me to write these things." And the rulers gave the book to the royal scribe; and they commanded Baruch to flee; and they reported what had been written to the king. And he brought the scribe and ordered him to read. And being impious, and

lawless, he cut out the pages that were being read and handed them over to the fire; for because of the winter season, a brazier was set nearby. 24. And they did not seek, he says, the Lord; nor did they tear their garments, the king and all his servants, who heard all these words. But just as he accuses the utter insensibility of these men, so he praises Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah. For these men urged the king not to burn the book, and he did not listen to them. But the impious king was not satisfied with the lawless audacity he had dared; rather, he ordered Baruch and Jeremiah to be arrested. But the God of all commands Jeremiah to write the former words in another book. For the papyrus was burned, but the divine law has remained unharmed. Thus also, though the body that was taken suffered, the Word has remained impassible; and the prophet was commanded to say these things also to Jehoiakim. 29, 30. Thus says the Lord: You burned this book, saying, Why did you write on it, saying, The king of Babylon will surely come in, and will destroy this land, and man and beast will fail from it. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall not have one sitting on the throne of David, and his carcass shall be cast out in the heat of the day and in the frost of the night. The prophecy is unerring. For even if Jeconiah his son reigned, yet after three months he was led away captive. And he threatens him and his whole house with destruction, and the city with desolation, and the people with the evils foretold.

The prophet again fulfilled what had been commanded, and again wrote the prophecy, with Baruch assisting him. "And there were added," he says, "to it yet more words than these." For since the impious king was enraged when he heard the threats, the Master ordered that these be multiplied many times over. But let us, I urge you, both fear the divine threats and believe the good promises, and walk worthily of the calling to which we were called, so that we may both escape the experience of the threats and enjoy the good things promised, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory is fitting to the Father, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. TOME 8.

CHAPTER 37.

When the inspired prophet was about to explain the matters concerning the capture of the city, he first teaches at what age Zedekiah began his reign, and how long a time he reigned; and that during the time of the siege, having learned the predictions spoken by the prophet against him and the city, he sent certain men and urged him to offer the intercessions on his behalf to God; and at that time he was not dwelling in a prison, but was living in the city without fear. And while the Babylonians were besieging the city, the Egyptians came to the aid of the Jews, clearly because the king had summoned them to alliance. And the Chaldeans, learning of this, withdrew from the siege. The Master God, then, commanded the prophet to say to the king and the rulers that they should neither trust in the aid of the Egyptians nor despise the Chaldeans.

For the Egyptians will swiftly seize the one who brought them, and the Chaldeans will return again, and they will besiege the city and deliver it to fire. And teaching that he himself has pronounced the verdict against them, he adds these words: 10. But even if you strike down the whole force of the Chaldeans who are warring against you, and some men are left among them, pierced through, each in his own tent, these will rise up and burn this city with fire. For do not suppose that the might of the Chaldeans is prevailing. For even a few wounded men, left behind in the tents through weakness, are enough for your utter destruction; for sin has made you weak. Then he teaches that, when some respite had come to them through the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, he himself had gone out to his own people, wishing to buy bread; but a certain Serouia, suspecting that he had fled to the enemy, reported it to the rulers; and they, on hearing it, shut him up, not in the public prison—"for that," he says, "had been filled"—but in the house of Jonathan the scribe. And after many days had passed, Zedekiah sends for him secretly and asks whether there is a word from the Lord; and the prophet foretells to him the capture. And after the prediction, he lays charge concerning the injustice done to him. 18, 19. For what, he says, did I wrong you and your servants, that you gave me into the house of the prison? And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying: The king of Babylon shall not come against you upon this land?

He says that when the facts had shown the truth of my prophecy, and the falsehood of your prophets, they ought to have judged justly and demanded satisfaction from those who lied, not from the one who foretold the truth. Then he urges the secretary to leave the house. And Zedekiah brought him out from there, and sent him away to the public prison, and ordered that one loaf of bread be supplied each day. CHAPTER 38.

However, some of the rulers, displeased by the predictions made against the city by the prophet (for he said that those who deserted to the Chaldeans would enjoy safety, but those who endured the siege would be handed over to destruction), provoked the king against the prophet, saying that by such oracles he was relaxing the zeal of those able to fight. And the foolish king handed the prophet over to those who reported him; and they, having received authority, used their anger against him, and let him down into a pit foul with mire. And no one of the Jews came to the aid of the prophet, who was being made to pay such penalties on behalf of the divine oracles. But Abde-melech the eunuch, an Ethiopian man, reproaches the king, and cries out with boldness: (9.) "You have done evil in that you have done to kill the man of God from before the famine, because there are no longer loaves in the city." And Zedekiah, having accepted the rebuke, makes Abde-melech the agent of the prophet's salvation.

But he, taking other helpers and throwing old rags to the prophet, and ordering these to be placed under the rope by the arms, drew him up from the pit of Cheresh. And Cheresh is the name he gives to the pit. But after he was brought up and was dwelling in the prison, the king again sent for him and brought him into his presence in the house of Asalisael, "the one in the house of the Lord." But the Syrian interpreted this as "within the crossroads"; and he asks the prophet to disclose to him a divine word and not to hide the truth. And the prophet says: 15. If I announce it to you, will you not put me to death? And if I counsel you, you will certainly not listen to me. For as a prophet he knew what was going to happen, and he had experience as his teacher. But since the king had sworn an oath that he would certainly not hand him over to the impious, he spoke again. 17, 18. If you go out and go forth to the captain of the king of Babylon, your soul will live, and this city will certainly not be burned with fire, and you and your house will live. But if you do not go out to the rulers of the king of Babylon, this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will certainly not be saved from their hand. These things he foretold many times; but it is necessary to ask why on the one hand he promises salvation to those who go out, and on the other threatens destruction to those who do not go out. Zedekiah had given oaths to Nebuchadnezzar when he appointed him as king, that he would pay the tribute and keep goodwill toward the one who had appointed him; but after a short time had passed, he transgressed the agreements, and neither paid the tribute nor fled to the Egyptians.

The Lord God, therefore, since he had not made the oaths by lifeless idols, but by the Creator of all things himself, and they had dared to transgress these, commands him to go to the Chaldeans and by this means to heal the transgression of the oaths. Zedekiah, however, says to the prophet: "I have a word concerning the Jews who have fled to the Chaldeans, that I should not give myself into their hands, and they will mock me." "I fear," he says, "lest I become a laughingstock to the deserters." But nevertheless the prophet again urges him, and presents the threat to him though he disobeys. "For behold," he says, "all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the rulers of the kingdom of Babylon, and they say: 'Your peaceful men deceived you and prevailed against you, and they will overpower you in the slipping of your foot.'" "You feared," he says, "lest you become a joy to the deserters; you will see after these things, when the city is captured, women dragged from the palace, reminding you of the deception of the false prophets, and saying: 'These things have been brought about for you by those who promised you peace, and enjoyed honor from you, and for this reason prepared you to slip from the divine laws.'" "And all your women and your children they will lead out to the Chaldeans. And the city," he says, "will be set on fire, and you will be led away as a captive of war." But the thunderstruck king continued disobeying. However, he charged the prophet to disclose what had been said to none of the rulers.

To say that he had begged the king not to send him into that most grievous prison. Then he relates how they arrived, and tried to learn what had been said to the king, and how he persuaded them by recounting the matters concerning the prison.

CHAPTER 39.

From this point he relates the events of the capture, and says that in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign the Babylonians marched against him; but in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the wall was thrown down, and the enemies rushed against the city. When this happened, Zedekiah fled, and all those who prided themselves on their strength. The Chaldeans pursued and overtook him, and seized him near the city of Jericho. And Araboth is Jericho—he calls it [so] from the west of Jericho: "And they brought him to Reblatha of Emath." He means this place is below Emesa; so that it is clear that here he calls Emesa "Emath." "And he spoke judgments with him." Instead of: he exposed the transgression of the oaths, the ill-will and ingratitude toward the one who had benefited him and appointed him king. Having exposed the injustice, he brings on the punishment; and first, while he looked on, he slaughtered his children, and all those in authority and most honored; and having thus punished him by the sight of grievous things, he took away his sight. He relates also how they set fire to the palace and the other houses, and

They destroyed the circuits of the city; and the rest Nabuzardan, the chief cook of the king, enslaved. But he left certain few who lived in poverty, commanding them to till the land. 11, 12. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nabuzardan concerning Jeremiah, saying: Take him, and set your eyes upon him, and do him no evil at all; but only as he shall speak to you, so shall you do with him. Both Nebuchadnezzar the king and Abde-melech the Ethiopian increased the accusation of the Jews. For being foreigners they reverenced the prophet; but the Jews, nurtured in prophetic words, neither wished to attend to the divine words, and subjected the prophets to every kind of punishment. Nevertheless the promise of God has received its end; for having ordained the prophet, he promised to show him unconquerable, and like an iron pillar and a bronze wall, because they shall war against him, but shall not prevail. However Nabuzardan and the whole company of the rulers summoned Jeremiah from the prison and delivered him to Godolias, whom he commanded to rule those left behind in Judea. The prophet also deemed worthy of record the things foretold by God concerning Abde-melech, and which had obtained their end. For nothing is neglected, nor unrewarded with him; but then, he says, God promised these things, saying: Behold, I bring my word upon this city for evils, and not for good; and they shall be before your face in that day. (17, 18.) And I will save you in that day, says the Lord.

And I will not give you into the hands of the men whom you fear from their presence. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; and your life shall be a find for you, because you trusted in me, says the Lord. "Truly blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob, and whose hope is in the Lord his God;" and, "Blessed is the people whose Lord is their God." For what did the kingdom profit Zedekiah? And what harm did slavery do to Abde-melech? For the one suffered all those things because of his impiety; but the other, because of his piety, did not experience evils.

CHAPTER 40.

Then the prophet teaches what Nabuzardan the chief cook says to him: The Lord your God brought these evils upon this city. (3.) And he added, and the Lord has done just as he spoke, because you sinned against him, and you did not listen to his voice, and this word came upon you. And from this it is clear that God chose Israel from the beginning for the benefit of the other nations; for the wonders done on their account struck all with amazement, and clearly taught that the God of these is the only true God; and again, the sorrowful things that happened to them accused their lawlessness, and proclaimed the just verdict of God. So then Nabuzardan said that these also had paid the penalty deservedly, and that God had acted justly. Then he gives the prophet a choice, and promises service in Babylon if he should prefer dwelling there; and he promises also to leave him behind, if he should prefer this, and says: Behold, all the land is before you;

Wherever it may be good and pleasing to you to go, go. (5.) And before I depart, you turn back and return to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed in the land of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of your people; but if not, go to whatever is good in your eyes. You are your own master, he says; you will act outside my authority, you are under the divine dominion; do what seems good to you. Having used these and such words, and having given very many gifts, he released him; the prophet, however, came to Gedaliah. Then the prophet recounts how the leaders who had fled, having learned the things concerning Gedaliah, ran together to him, and how Gedaliah persuaded them by an oath that they would suffer nothing painful from the Chaldeans, and he urged them to gather the fruits of the land and to enjoy the good things of peace in peace. And those who had fled to the Idumeans, and Moabites, and Ammonites also returned, since they learned that Gedaliah had become ruler. Then he teaches how Johanan together with the other leaders reported to Gedaliah a certain plot being contrived by Ishmael; but having reported it they did not persuade him that they spoke the truth; and how Johanan secretly sought to slay Ishmael: "Lest he strike your life, and all the Jews who have been gathered to you be scattered, and the remaining Jews perish." But Gedaliah did not even endure to hear these things, but he forbade the undertaking, calling the accusation slander. CHAPTER 41. And when seven months had passed, Ishmael came again;

He was of the royal lineage, and having shared a table with him, he killed Gedaliah, and all those left with him, both Chaldeans and Judeans. (5.) And after two days had passed, he says, men came from Shechem, and from Salem, and from Samaria, eighty men, shaved as to their beards and with their garments torn, and beating themselves; and manna and frankincense in their hands, to bring into the house of the Lord. Salem he calls Silo, both the Hebrew and the Syrian. He teaches that Ishmael struck down all these also with javelins, and threw their bodies into a pit; but certain others, ten in number, fell upon him, and they too supplicated Ishmael to stay the slaughter, promising to reveal certain treasures to him. And having done all these things, he departed taking all who were left, and fled to the Ammonites. But Johanan with the other leaders, having learned what had happened, gathered a multitude and marched against Ishmael; and those who had been enslaved by Ishmael, seeing those who marched against him, rejoiced and went over to them; but Ishmael fled with eight men to the Ammonites; and these things too the divine sentence brought upon the Judeans. For since they thought they had escaped their enemies, they were handed over to one another's right hands; Johanan, however, having gathered the multitude of them, came to a certain village near Bethlehem, wishing to flee to Egypt; for he feared the Chaldeans, because of the slaughter of Gedaliah. Chapter 42.

All alike, however—both the rulers and the people—entreat the prophet, saying these things: (2, 3.) Let our mercy fall before your face, and pray to the Lord your God for these remnants, for we have been left few out of many, as your eyes see us. And let the Lord your God announce to us the way in which we shall walk, and the word which we shall do. They plead rightly, and they desire to learn what must be done. But they are disobedient as is their custom, and they contradict the divine laws; yet the prophet both promises to plead and to make known what is commanded; and they promised to yield in all things, and they ratified the promise with an oath. (5, 6.) For let the Lord, he says, be among us as a righteous and faithful witness, that according to the word which the Lord your God may send you to us, so we will do. And whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you, that it may be better for us, because we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God. The words are full of piety, but the deeds do not agree with the words. For after ten days had passed, the prophet obtained the answer; and I think the delay of the answer came about for the benefit of those who asked, that they might know that God scarcely

He received. The prophet himself then says that God had commanded them to remain in this land. "For I will grant you," he says, "every kind of care. And I will build you up, and I will not tear down; and I will plant you, and I will not pluck up. For I have rested from the evils which I said I would do to you." He also casts out their fear and urges them to take courage. 11. "For do not fear," he says, "before the king of Babylon, whom you fear before his face; for I am with you, to rescue you and to save you from his hand." He also promises the recall of those who have been taken captive. "But if," he says, "you oppose my words and occupy Egypt, trying to escape the enemies there, I will send there the enemies whom you dread." 16. "For the sword," he says, "which you fear before its face, will find you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine again, which you have shuddered at, will fall upon you in that land." And having said the same things more at length, he adds these also: 18. "As my wrath and my anger have dripped upon those who dwell in Jerusalem, so my wrath will drip upon you when you enter Egypt; and you shall be a place untrodden, and subject to hands, and a curse, and a reproach, and you shall no longer see this place." He showed, as far as it was possible for men to see, the greatness of the power. For the evils brought upon the Jews he called drops of wrath, that is, of the punitive energy. Then the prophet reminds them also of the oaths. 20. "For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying:

Pray for us, and everything that the Lord our God may speak, declare to us, and we will do it; and I declared it to you today, and you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, in all that he sent to you. And now know that by sword, and by famine, and by death you shall perish in this place, in which you wish to enter and dwell there. For these things which you try to escape, you will find in Egypt.

CHAPTER 43.

When the leaders of the people heard these things, they lived with recklessness and arrogance, and forgot the exhortations and the oaths, and they dared to say to the prophet (verses 2–3): "You speak falsely; the Lord our God did not send you to us saying, 'Do not enter Egypt.' But Baruch the son of Neriah incites you against us, so that you may give us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to put us to death and to deport us to Babylon." Having said these things to the prophet, and having openly transgressed the oaths that had been made, they set out for Egypt with all the people who had been gathered together; and they also led away with them the prophet and Baruch. Therefore at Tahpanhes (this is a city of Egypt) the prophet is commanded to take stones and to hide them before the gates of the palace, while the Jews were watching, and to foretell these things (verses 10–11): "Behold, I send and bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and he shall set his throne upon these stones, and he shall raise his weapons against them. And some of the Egyptians he shall deliver to death, and others he shall reduce to slavery and deport.

He will burn down the temples of the idols, and he will take those very things as spoil of war. And teaching that he will not make the campaign against Egypt a side matter, but will thoroughly destroy it, he likens him to a shepherd picking lice from his garment. Shepherds do this carefully, enjoying the greatest leisure. And he will louse Egypt, he says, as a shepherd delouses his own garment, and he will come out from there in peace. (13) And he will shatter the pillars of Heliopolis, and those in On. And he will burn the houses of their gods with fire. The city had two names; for it was called both On and Heliopolis. The Exodus also taught us this; for it said that the sons of Israel had possessed cities for Pharaoh: Pithom, and Rameses, and On, which is Heliopolis. However, God calls Nebuchadnezzar "his servant," not as being a servant by relationship and disposition, but as a servant by nature; for the creature is a servant of the Creator. And he teaches at the same time that he did these things with his permission. Chapter 44.

But the loving-kind Lord again brings exhortation to the Jews, who are sick with disobedience as well, using the prophet as his servant. And first he reminds them of the evils that have happened in Judea because of the lawlessness of its inhabitants, and then he reproaches these same people, because they dare the same things and draw down divine wrath upon themselves. 7, 8. For behold, he says, you are doing great evils against your own souls, to cut off from among Judah man and woman, infant and nursing child, so that none of you may be left. You have provoked me in the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you entered to sojourn there, so that you may be cut off, and so that you may become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth. And he reminds them, as having a memory that echoes still, both of the evils dared by their fathers and their kings, and indeed by their mighty men, and of the manifold calamities brought upon them because of these things. And to these he adds the threat, naming himself Lord of hosts and God of Israel, so that by hearing the greatness of his authority and learning the care he had for their forefathers, they may both be ashamed and fear. "Behold, I set my face against you for evil." It is characteristic of those who are angry to look sullen and to keep the eye fixed, and to look long upon those who provoke them. From human gestures, then, he shapes the threat, and says:

I set my face against you for evil, to cut off all Judah." Then he says that they will be given over to famine and the sword, and will be destroyed with their whole race, and will become a curse, and a destruction, and a reproach, and a byword, and will suffer the same things as those besieged in Jerusalem. "Yet none of these shall escape, nor shall return to the land of Judea." But none of these things terrified the wretched and thrice-wretched men. Rather they all cried out openly, both men and women, and especially the Babylonians, "that we will not endure your words." And what is worse than this, is that thinking them divine, they contradicted them openly. 16, 17. For the word, he says, which you spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. For we will surely do every word that comes out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations to her, just as we did, and our fathers, and our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. "Queen of heaven" they call Aphrodite, and the Greeks address her as Urania. Doing these things, he says, we enjoyed good things to satiety; but abandoning her service, we were given over both to war and to famine. Then the women cried out more shamelessly: 19. That if we sacrificed to the queen of heaven, and poured out libations to her, did we make cakes for her and pour out libations to her without our husbands? What was done was impious, but what was said was true.

For indeed, in the earlier interpretations, the God of all said, "Do you not see what these people are doing? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their wives knead fat, to make cakes for the host of heaven." But the prophet answered them all, that because of this superstition and the error concerning idols, the Lord God brought upon you all kinds of punishments. For these are the fruits of the transgression of the law; but you, even seeing these things, have gone mad in your error. Abide, therefore, in your confessions, and fulfilling, fulfill your vows. (26.) Nevertheless, hear the word of the Lord: Behold, I swear by my great name, says the Lord God, that my name shall no more be called upon in the mouth of any Jew saying, As the Lord lives, in all the land of Egypt. Again the oath has shown that he has nothing superior by which he has sworn; and he threatens the Jews dwelling in Egypt with utter destruction; for this he has indicated through what has been said; and what follows agrees. For he threatens them both with famine and sword, and for those who escape these, with removal. "And all the remnant of the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. Through the events themselves they shall learn the truth of my words. (29.) And this shall be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I will visit you in this place for evil, so that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil. The outcome of events will show the truth of the words.

For just as I handed Zedekiah over to the king of the Babylonians, so I will hand Uaphres the Pharaoh, to whom you flee for refuge, over to Nebuchadnezzar. He calls the Pharaoh Uaphres, teaching that this was his personal name, while "Pharaoh" is indicative of kingship. In the same way we also name our kings: Tiberius Caesar, and Claudius Caesar; and the one is the personal name, the other is proper to kingship. CHAPTER 45.

Having thus concluded this prophecy, woven together with that history, he reminds them of an earlier prediction, which he was commanded to speak to Baruch in the days of Jehoiakim. 2, 5. The Lord God of Israel said: Because you, Baruch, said: Woe is me! for the Lord has added pain to my toil. I slept in groanings, and I found no rest. Thus say to him: Thus says the Lord, Behold, I have built, and I will pull down; and those whom I planted, I will pluck up, and all that land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them, for behold, I am bringing evils upon all flesh, says the Lord; and I will give your soul as a find, in every place where you may go there. The Master comforts Baruch, who ministered to the prophet and wrote down the oracles, and who was indignant and distressed; and he enjoins him to bear a life full of pain nobly. For if, he says, I am now uprooting and cutting down all the people whom I brought out of Egypt and planted in this land, and handing them over to so many punishments, are you distressed because you do not pass your life alone in cheerfulness? But you ought not to do this; nevertheless I will care for you, and while bringing punishment upon them, I will bring preservation to you.

And wherever you may live, you will obtain my care. It is fitting, then, that we who have learned these things should not be vexed when something painful assails us, but should ask God for better things and bear what is present; for the Master, seeing this endurance of ours, will not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able, but will make with the temptation also the outcome, so that we are able to endure it; to whom befit glory and majesty, with his only-begotten Son and the all-holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

TOME 9.

CHAPTER 46.

1. The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet against all the nations. Having set a limit to the prophecies concerning the people, he foretells to the other nations what will happen, teaching that he is the creator, God, and Master of all. First, however, he goes through the matters concerning Egypt; and he also teaches the time of the prophecy; for the prediction comes after the death of Pharaoh Necho; and he slew Josiah by the river Euphrates; and he himself was also slain by the king of the Babylonians. 3, 4. Take up arms and shields, and draw near to war. And saddle the horses, mount, you horsemen, stand in your helmets, put forth spears, and put on your breastplates. Since they trusted in these things, both in cavalry experience and in full armor, he urges them to use these things, teaching that these are of no avail. For what follows makes this clear. 5. Why is it that they are terrified and turn back? Because their strong men will be cut down.

They fled in flight, and did not return, being hemmed in on every side, says the Lord. Then, in an ordered way: 6. Let not the swift flee, and let not the strong be saved in the north; those toward the Euphrates have grown weak, and have fallen. Then he recalls their former prosperity: 7, 8. Who is this that rises up like a river, and like rivers swells his waters, Egypt rising up like a river, and like a river stirs up her waters. And he shows also her boastful words. "And she said, I will go up, and I will cover the earth, and I will destroy the city, and those who dwell in it." And teaching that events do not turn out according to the imagination of their thoughts, he says ironically: 9. Mount the horses, prepare the chariots, go forth, you warriors. And he means the allies of the Egyptians. "Ethiopians and Libyans armed with weapons, and Lydians, mount up, shake out the bow." Then he teaches that when God nods, the boldness of the Egyptians is brought down. 10. And that day is the day of vengeance of the Lord our God, to avenge his enemies; and my sword shall devour flesh, and shall be filled, and shall be drunk with their blood. And through these slain he makes clear the multitude. "For there is a sacrifice to the Lord Sabaoth from the land of the north by the river Euphrates." Since the Egyptians paid the penalty for their impiety and were slain when God willed it, for this reason he has called their slaughter a sacrifice. 11. Go up to Gilead, and take resin for the virgin daughter of Egypt. And the brothers of Joseph carried resin and stacte into Egypt.

But resin is the tear of trees, suitable for medicines; and Gaalad especially cultivates it. He has said these things by way of irony, showing the incurability of the suffering. For what follows makes this clear: "In vain you have multiplied your healings; there is no benefit in you." And showing the magnitude of the blow, he added: 12. The nations heard your voice, and the earth was filled with your cry, because warrior against warrior grew weak; both fell together. By these words he foretold also the coming destruction of those who had conquered. These things, then, the prophet foretold concerning the earlier defeat. But in what follows he predicts the army of Nabouchodonosor against Egypt, and enjoins that the prediction be made known to Magdolos, and to Memphis, and to Taphnas, and indeed to the whole kingdom of the Egyptians, and says: "Stand ready, and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured your smilax." The Syrian interpreted smilax as "the things around you"; and the same thing is also hinted at by smilax, for it is a plant that twines around the things growing beside it.

For he named the allies of the Egyptians thus, in a figurative sense, whose defeat and flight he foretold. 15. Because Apis has fled, your chosen calf, and has not remained. He calls Apis the "chosen calf"; for this was an ox, reared and worshipped by them. The prophetic word therefore teaches the cause of the defeat: for making a calf their god and trusting in it, they did not obtain help. "Because the Lord has paralyzed him." That is, the calf. But he also paralyzed the one working in it, and deceiving the people. 16. And your multitude grew weak and fell. He speaks also of the cowardice that came upon them, and that they urged one another to flight, fearing the enemies and their allies. "For let us arise," he says, "and return to our people and to our fatherland, from the face of the Greek sword." It is likely that some of the Greeks also campaigned with the king of the Babylonians; but I think that he foretells in the same place also the dominion of the Macedonians; for Alexander, having overthrown the kingdom of the Egyptians, compelled them to be slaves to the Macedonians. 17. Call the name of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt Saon esebier emoed. The Syrian interpreted these things thus: "Call his name, Troubler, and Shifter of times"; for formerly the kingdom of the Egyptians was strong, and it threw into confusion the neighboring nations, and changed the prosperity of many into misfortune. 18. As I live, says the Lord God, the King of hosts is his name. He has taught us both his eternity and his power at the same time.

Because just as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so it shall come." This means: Do not doubt; for just as all acknowledge without dispute both that Tabor is a mountain and that Carmel is near the sea, so the prophecy has its truth. 19. Make for yourself baggage of exile, you who dwell, daughter of Egypt; that is, be ready for captivity. He also speaks of the desolation of the royal city; for Memphis at that time had become a royal city; and the divine Isaiah taught us this: "For the princes of Tanis have failed, and the princes of Memphis have been exalted." 20. Egypt is a beautiful heifer, finely adorned. By these words he has indicated her untamed nature, unaccustomed to the yoke, and her luxury; and exposing their great weakness, he teaches that when even very few enemies came upon them they could not resist. For this is what he says: "A fragment from the north has come upon her." 21. And her hired men in her midst are like fattened calves. He has indicated the weakness of the allies; for the fattened calf does not work the land, but is eaten by others; and he also speaks of their flight. "For they turned back," he says, "and fled together; they did not stand." He adds also the cause: "Because the day of destruction has come upon them, and the time of their vengeance." For they had to pay the penalty for their impiety; yet he teaches through these words that the Master, exercising long-suffering, brings the punishment afterward. 22. Their voice is like a hissing serpent.

It is characteristic of those in distress to groan and hiss, and under the heat of despondency to breathe out wind. "For they shall walk in sand." By these words he has disclosed their rottenness; for the Lord also compared the one who hears his word and does not do it to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. "They shall come against her with axes, as those cutting wood." Then in the imperative: "Cut down her forest, says the Lord God, for God shall not be appeased, because they are more numerous than locusts." That is, the multitude of those who dwell in her, "and there is no number to them." He likens her to a forest, and the enemies to woodcutters. "The daughter of Egypt is put to shame, she is delivered into the hands of a people from the north, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel." These things the prophet also foretold to the Jews who went down into Egypt, when he also hid the stones in the vestibules of the palace. "Behold, I will visit Ammon her son." The Egyptians call Zeus Ammon; from which the region of Ammonia was also named; for they built a very great sanctuary to him. And he calls Ammon her son, as having been deified by her; for the image is handmade. He threatens, therefore, that he will deliver both the idol Ammon to the Babylonians, and indeed also their other gods; for this is what he says: "And against Pharaoh, and against Egypt, and against her gods, and against her kings; and against Pharaoh and against those who trust in him." All of them, he says, the enemies shall prevail over at once—both the king, and the rulers, and the idols, and the auxiliaries.

Having been handed over, however, to the king of the Babylonians, it will recover its former dominion. 26. "For after these things," he says, "it shall be at rest as in the days before, says the Lord." After these things he also foretells to Israel the things that please them, and predicts the return from Babylon. And he also foretells the destruction of the Babylonians. 28. "And you, fear not, says he, my servant Jacob, says the Lord, for I am with you; for I will make an end in every nation into which I will bring you there. But you I will not make to fail, and I will discipline you for judgment, and I will not acquit the innocent as innocent." I will bring upon you a healing discipline; for this is what he says, "I will discipline you for judgment, and I will not let you go unpunished." For this is what it means: "And I will not acquit the innocent as innocent." Chapter 47.

From here he transfers the prophecy to the Philistines; and he calls Philistines those who dwell in Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ashdod, and Gath, and Ekron. And he says that the prediction came to pass before Pharaoh struck Gaza, and he likens the army of the Babylonians to a flooding torrent; and by it the cities are overwhelmed, and their inhabitants are destroyed, and they use wailing, and they cannot even endure the crash of weapons and chariots; and he teaches that through fear they forgot even nature, and fathers neglected their sons. "For fathers," he says, "did not turn back to their sons, because of the loosening of their hands." 4. In the day that is coming, to destroy all the Philistines. And he also foretells to the Tyrians and Sidonians, as having come to their aid, their destruction.

For I will destroy, he says, Tyre, and Sidon, and the remnants of their help; because the Lord will utterly destroy the foreigners, the remnants of the islands, and of Cappadocia." And having interpreted the other prophets, we showed that from the households of Cyprians and Cappadocians they once inhabited Palestine. 5. "Baldness has come upon Gaza." Instead of: you shall be deprived of your former splendor; but it often also signifies mourning. For "shear your head," he says, "and take up a lamentation on your lips." "Ashkelon has been cast off, and the rest of the Anakim." For the descendants of that man inhabited the region of Ashkelon. "How long will you gather yourselves together? 6. Until when will the sword of the Lord cut?" He called Nebuchadnezzar the "sword of the Lord"; for it was with his permission that he did those things, and the impious exacted the penalties of impiety from one another. "Return to your sheath; be at rest, and be lifted up." And showing who it was that commanded it to act, he added: 7. "And the Lord commanded it against Ashkelon, and against the coastal regions, and against the remaining ones to go." However, he has employed personification, teaching more clearly that creation is not without a pilot, but its Maker presides over all things, and sometimes supplies them with an abundance of good things, and sometimes permits them to fall into calamities.

CHAPTER 48. But the prophet transfers his prophecy to Moab. 1. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is destroyed; it is taken. This was an idol, and Isaiah the prophet mentions it, saying thus: "Bel has fallen, Nebo is crushed." And there is also a city named after the idol. Kariathaim is taken; Masigath is put to shame and defeated. (2.) There is no longer healing for Moab, boasting in Heshbon. These were splendid cities, on which the Moabites prided themselves greatly. "They devised evils against her: Come, let us cut her off from being a nation, and she shall cease utterly." Then he teaches that not even those who flee will obtain safety. "Behind you shall go the sword." And this indicates the pursuers. 3. For a voice of those crying out from Oronaim. This is another city. And he says that Zogora shall receive the grievous tidings, and that the other cities shall be filled with wailing; he urges them both to flee and to live in the desert like the wild asses; and teaching them not to trust in walls, but in the incorruptible Creator and Master, he added: 7. Because you have trusted in your stronghold, afflictions shall come upon you; and not only shall you be captured by the enemies, but Chemosh also shall go forth into exile. And this was an idol of the Moabites. His priests, and his princes together. (8.) And destruction shall come upon every city. And he says that the valley and the plain shall receive the same suffering. He foretells also the complete desolation of the enemies. 9. For give, he says, signs to Moab.

In the deserts and completely impassable places, setting certain markers out of stones, they make their journey in this way, and looking at those markers they travel without going astray. "For it will be kindled by touch." That is, it will be set on fire. "And her cities will be impassable." Because there is no one dwelling in her. From where will there be an inhabitant for her? And he teaches through what follows that the God of all commands these things to happen. 10. Cursed is the one who does the works of God carelessly, and cursed is the one who withdraws his sword from blood. But if the prophetic word brings curses upon those who slaughter carelessly where God commands, what penalties shall we pay for neglecting spiritual work? 11. Moab rested from childhood, and he was confident in his glory, and he did not pour from vessel to vessel. That is, he did not change his dwelling, nor did he become a migrant. "And he did not go away into resettlement; therefore his taste stood in him, and his smell did not fail." He remained in the same mode, and since he mentioned a vessel, necessarily also taste and smell. Therefore, he says, he has remained in prosperity, and has not experienced misfortune, as one who has always dwelt in the same places. 12. Therefore behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send to him those who bend, and they will bend him, and they will make his vessels thin, and they will crush his horns. He has set these things both figuratively and tropologically; for he has spoken of "they bend" as concerning a vessel, instead of "they will empty out"; and it will not suffice for them to take what is in the vessels, but they will also crush these.

He calls the cities "vessels," and the wealth within the vessels; and the enemies have done both—they have ravaged and burned them. 13. And Moab shall be put to shame from Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was put to shame from Bethel, their hope. At Bethel Jeroboam set up the calf; the prophetic word therefore teaches that just as Israel obtained no help from the idols, so Moab gained nothing from Chemosh. Then he shows them boasting in their strength but undergoing destruction, since the God of all things commanded this. And having said that the time of punishment has come, he urges those nearby to rouse him to courage and to stir him up to his former strength; and he guarantees them to say: 17. How was the glorious staff broken, the rod of greatness? These things make clear both your strength and your pride beyond your strength; and he enumerates the cities that were formerly splendid and distinguished, and teaches the change of their prosperity; and he shows the cause as well. 26. Make him drunk, he says, because he has magnified himself against the Lord. For when the Moabites learned what had happened to the Jews, they mocked, accusing the God of all things of weakness. For this is what the following also teaches: "Moab shall strike himself with his own hand"—that is, dancing and rejoicing. "And he himself shall become a laughingstock." Then more clearly: 27. And was not Israel a laughingstock to you? And was he found among your thefts, because you fought against him? Why, he says, did you fight against him who had done you no wrong? Did you find him breaking through walls, or as a robber?

You shall migrate into it." That is, because of the injustice done to him; and he speaks also of their flight. 29. They left the cities, and those who dwelt in Moab lived in the rocks; they became like doves nesting in the rocks, at the mouth of a pit. For they occupied the caves in the heights, not enduring the attack of the enemies. And he calls him also insolent, and boastful, and arrogant. "And of these things," he says, "I myself was an eyewitness." And teaching that experience of the deeds refuted the bulk of the words, he added: 30. Have not his arms been made short, as it were, according to his sufficiency? He did not do so. For before the war he was boasting and threatening to play the champion, but when he saw the enemies he fled. And the phrase "shorn heads of drought," the Syrian interpreted thus: "Their heads shorn, and their beards shaved." For this is the appearance of captives; and the prophetic word also declares this concerning Moab: 31. Howl over the men of the wall, shorn heads of drought. That is, those who formerly had walls and enclosures, but now have been shorn of their former prosperity, and are clothed in drought. 32. As with the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you. He recalled a certain history, and has indicated the excess of the lamentation. "The vine of Sibmah, your branches passed through the sea." It was good for wine and abundant in wine. He likens, therefore, the abundance of the vine to the sea. And he says that its land was driven away, and the vine destroyed. 33. There was wine, he says, in your winepresses; in the morning they did not tread it, nor at evening did they do so. The Syrian interpreted this thus:

No longer shall they tread the winepress and say, 'Iah, iah.'" And having said the same things in various ways, he explained "the clippings of drought." 37, 38. Every head in every place shall be shaved, and every beard shall be shaved; and all hands shall be cut, and on every loin sackcloth. And on all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, wailing. And through all these things he teaches the magnitude of the calamity. "For I have crushed Moab like a vessel for which there is no need, says the Lord." He showed its complete uselessness; and he clearly shows also the sharpness of Nebuchadnezzar. 40. Thus says the Lord: Behold, like an eagle he shall swoop down, and spread his wings over Moab. And the divine Ezekiel likens Nebuchadnezzar to an eagle; for the creature is royal, and of all winged things the sharpest and most powerful. He foretells also the cowardice of Moab, and likens his heart to the heart of a woman in labor; and he teaches also his impiety. 42. Moab shall perish from the multitude, because he magnified himself against the Lord. He foretells also the successive evils. 43, 44. Fear and a pit, and a snare upon you who dwell in Moab, says the Lord. He who flees from the face of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. By these things he makes clear that those who resorted to flight were also captured, and they fell in with what they did not wish. "For I will bring these things upon Moab, as in a year when I visit her, says the Lord." He calls the time a year; when, he says, I determine to punish them, I will surround them with these evils.

He foretells also their civil war. 45. "For fire went out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Seon, and it devoured the rulers of Moab." He foretells to them also certain things pleasing to them. 47. "And I will turn the captivity of Moab in the last days, says the Lord." He showed both through the punishment and through the philanthropy that he himself is Lord of all, rich toward all who call upon him, and that he is God not of the Jews only but of all men. "Up to this point is the judgment of Moab." That is, the sentence brought against him. CHAPTER 49. The word of prophecy now passes on to the sons of Ammon, and the Lord of all says to them: 1. "Are there no sons in Israel, or have they no one to receive them? Why did Melchom take Gad, and their people dwell in its cities?" The ten tribes occupied the region of Gilead. When these therefore had become captives, the Ammonites took possession of it. To these God says: Did you despise the people, or me? For "one to receive" he has called himself, instead of "the one who will take" and come to their aid. And Melchom was an idol of the sons of Ammon. That thing, he says, which is not, do you think it has prevailed over me who always am? 2. "Therefore behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a noise of wars to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon." Rabbah was a city of Arabia; and "I will make to be heard" means I will cause it to be heard. "And it shall become a desolation and a destruction; and its altars shall be burned with fire, and Israel shall receive their rule, says the Lord." And he continues foretelling the things that will befall the Ammonites. 3.

Cry out, Heshbon, for your strength has perished; cry aloud, daughters of Rabbah; gird yourselves with sackcloth, and beat yourselves, and run about through the walls, for Melchom shall go into exile, and his priests, and his rulers together. He showed also the weakness of the idols; for they too went away captive with those who worshipped them. 4. Why do you exult in the plains of Enakim? Your plains have flowed away, daughter of dishonor. He accuses her of shamelessness, and of the boldness she took in her wealth. For this is what he teaches in what follows: "She who trusted in her treasures, who said, Who shall come upon me?" And since she attended to things visible, and did not know the invisible God, he teaches who it is that punishes. 5. Behold, I bring upon you fear, says the Lord of hosts, from all your neighbors. From every side, he says, those who report to you the army of the enemies shall run. "And you shall be scattered, each one before his own face, and there shall be no one to gather the wanderer. For you shall not flee to the same place, but because of the excess of fear you shall be scattered; but he foretells also to these their return, so that the Jews may not think greatly of themselves, as though they alone had obtained the return. But he foretells also to Idumea the gloomy things; and since they boasted in wisdom, he says that they have been deprived of it. "There is no wisdom in Thaiman, counsel has perished from the prudent." This was a city, and Eliphaz reigned over it; for Eliphaz was king of the Thaimanites. 8. His place has been deceived; go deep down for a seat, you who dwell in Daidan, for he has done difficult things; they have brought upon him in the time when I visited him. And Daidan is another city.

He commands them to hide beneath the earth; for this is what "go deep for a seat" means. And he teaches that he himself brings the punishment upon them, even though, he says, in the preceding time I exercised forbearance. 9. For grape-gatherers came upon you, and they shall not leave you a remnant. He calls the enemies grape-gatherers, whom he says plunder and ravage everything; and he also teaches the time of the assault. "Like thieves in the night they shall lay their hands upon them." 10. For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their hidden things; they shall not be able to hide. Very great and lofty mountains lie near Idumea; digging caves therefore in these, they fled into them when enemies came upon them; but they missed their hope, since the God of all delivered them up from there as well. "His seed perished by the hand of his brother and his neighbor." He was ashamed, he says, neither of nature nor of neighborliness. For Jacob and Esau were brothers, and indeed also neighbors; for no other thing separated them from one another. 11. There is no one to have mercy so that orphans may be left to you, that they may be saved, and I will save them. All, he says, because of your great wickedness are disposed hatefully toward you; and shall I, the righteous judge, become your helper? "And let your widows trust in me." He has also set this down by way of irony, as what follows makes clear. 12. For thus says the Lord: Behold, those to whom there was no law to drink the cup, drinking have drunk, and you, being acquitted, shall surely not be acquitted. It is my law to punish those who live with impiety and wickedness;

They were led away to Babylon, both prophets and priests—Daniel, Ezekiel, and pious men, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, and others, very many, as is likely, whom history remembers. Those men, then, he says, were not subject to punishment because of their virtue, yet they became captives of war; and do you expect to escape? But you will not attain your hope, "for drinking you shall drink." 13. For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that you shall become a desolation, and a reproach, and uninhabited, and a curse. Bozrah shall be in the midst of her territory, and all her cities shall be desolate forever. He does not mean this Bostra, but another situated in Idumea. 14. I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent angels to the nations: gather yourselves and come against her, and rise up for war against her. The phrase "he has sent angels to the nations" is used in place of "he has commanded"; and it is likely that angels also, ministering to the divine command, stir up the enemies; for the divine David says: "He sent upon them the wrath of his anger: wrath, and anger, and affliction, a sending through evil angels." He calls them evil, not as being such by nature, but as being sent out for the sake of punishment. For we are accustomed to call the calamities that are brought upon us evils as well. Thus an angel destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians; thus others were sent against Israel, when David numbered the people. And many other such things can be found in the divine Scripture. 15. Behold, I have made you small among the nations, contemptible among men. For the Idumeans are obscure.

and they were completely unknown, unless the divine Scripture has made them clear; and it makes them clear not to all, but to the diligent. 16. Your sport has brought these things upon you, and the dishonor of your heart. By these words he accuses idolatry, luxury, and licentiousness. "He has destroyed in the clefts of the rocks." And we have already said what sort of refuges they had. "He has taken the strength of a high hill." He means the mountain peaks; and these are very great and high. "For even if you exalt your nest like an eagle, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord." 17. And Idumea shall be a place untrodden. And he says that those who pass through it will marvel, and by their whistling will indicate the excess of the desolation; and that the cities foretold shall become desolate similarly to Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities that shared in their suffering. And the word is true; for Daedan and Thaiman and Bosor are completely desolate. And he says that the Babylonian will rush against it like a lion, and will make his journey through the Jordan; and he commands the chosen men to arm themselves against it, and he adds: 19. For who is like me? And who will stand against me? Who is this shepherd who will stand before my face? For neither the kings nor their idols will be able to stand against me when I command. 20. Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, which he has counseled against Idumea, and his thought, which he has thought against those who dwell in Thaiman. Then he says that their sheep will be easily numbered, and the land untrodden.

and the echo of the lamentation will reach the Red Sea, and like an eagle he will come against the Babylonian and will prevail over the strongholds; and the Idumeans will fall into terrible fear and pain, so that their heart is likened to a woman in labor. Here, having crossed over from Idumea, he transfers his prophecy to Damascus, and says: 23. Hamath and Arphath were put to shame, because they heard an evil report. Hamath, as we have already said before, means Emesa; but there is also another Hamath, the present Epiphania. And Arphath, some say, is what is now called Raphanea. "They were astonished at the sea, they were enraged, they shall not be able to rest." He called the multitude of the army a sea; and he also showed the first impulse of the Damascenes; for concerning them he said, "They were enraged"; and he reproves their cowardice afterward. 24. Damascus has grown weak, she has turned to flight, and has been cast out; trembling has seized her, and pangs have taken hold of her as of a woman in labor. And he teaches the cause of the calamity. 25. How has she not forsaken my cities, and loved my village? My cities, he says, and villages she attempted to take; and he calls his own cities and villages those of Israel; for the Damascenes were always disposed in hostility toward these. 26, 27. Therefore your young men shall fall in your streets, and all the men of war shall fall in that day, says the Lord of hosts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the suburbs of the son of Ader. "Son of Ader" is a name. For he was called Baradad in the Syrian tongue.

This was the king of Damascus, and, as the prophecy makes clear, he adorned it with splendid buildings; against these he threatens conflagration. The prophet also foretells to the Ishmaelites, those now called Saracens, the calamities that were brought upon them. 29. To Kedar, the queen of the court, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, thus says the Lord. Kedar is one of the sons of Ishmael, and the book of Genesis teaches this; and at that time, as is likely, she held sway over the other tribes; whence he also calls her queen. And he calls the whole encampment of the Saracens a "court," since they are nomads, dwelling in tents. He urges them to march against them, and to plunder the sheep and the camels, and to ravage the tents; and Kedem too was a son of Ishmael; and he urges these also to hide beneath the earth; for this is what he says. 30. Go deep to dwell. So as to flee the assault of the enemies. 31. Arise, go up against a nation at ease, dwelling in security, says the Lord. Those who have no doors, nor bars; they alone pull down. Easy for you, he says, is the victory; you have no need of siege, nor of blockade, nor of long time; they are easily taken, and easily subdued. He shows also that he himself brings the punishment. "And I will winnow them with every wind, with their faces shorn, and from every end of them I will bring their turning." That is, they shall turn to flight toward every region. Both those settled toward the rising sun, and those encamped toward the west. 33. And the court shall be a dwelling-place of sparrows, and impassable forever.

No man shall sit there, and no son of earth-born man shall dwell there. And events bear witness to the words; for having left the all-desert, they draw near to the inhabited fortresses. He foretells also the things that befell Elam; and he makes clear also the time of the prophecy. For he said that this happened immediately when Zedekiah began to reign. 35. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the beginning of their dominion. Elam is a city situated at the mouth of the Red Sea. This was long ago a splendid trading port, and now those who sail to the Indians put out from there. 36. And I will bring upon Elam four winds from the four corners of heaven, and there shall be no nation that shall not come there. The Babylonian, having gained mastery over Egypt, set out returning against it, having the former army gathered from the more northern and eastern parts; and there was with him also a multitude of islanders, who dwelt in the west; and he took to himself in addition both Egyptians and Libyans and Ethiopians, who obtained as their lot to dwell in the more southern region. These things the prophetic word foretold. 37. And I will strike terror into them before their enemies, of those seeking their life; and I will bring upon them according to the anger of my wrath, says the Lord, and I will send my sword after them, until it consumes them. Again he called the Babylonians his sword; for through them he exacted punishment also from these. 38. And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will destroy from there king and great men, says the Lord.

The phrase "I will set my throne" means "there I will judge, and I will pronounce the verdict," as though he were treating the enemies like certain public executioners. And he has his throne there even now, since the city has been changed to piety; so that according to this account too the prophecy is true. 39. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will turn back the captivity of Elam, says the Lord. I think that through this promise, and through the others in which he announced the restoration, the good Master promises freedom not only from the perceptible captivity but also from the intelligible one; for he takes greater care for souls; for this reason he also applies disciplines to bodies. He foretells, then, the destruction of the devil, and the cessation of impiety, and the freedom of the captives who had come to be under sin. Having obtained this, let us hymn its provider, and let us love the free life, and let us abhor the former slavery; so that we may also stand with boldness at the Master's judgment seat, by the grace and love of mankind of the righteous judge, with whom glory and majesty are fitting to the Father, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

VOLUME I.

CHAPTER 50.

Having foretold what would befall the other nations, he now foretells the destruction of Babylon. 2. "Announce among the nations, and make it heard, and lift up a sign; make it heard, and hide it not; say, Babylon is taken." Since the king, having overthrown the other kingdoms, compelled the Babylonians to be under his own dominion, he commands that this overthrow be made known to the nations. "Bel is put to shame." It was an idol greatly honored by the Babylonians; and some call it Zeus, others Cronus. He says it was put to shame: first, because it was unable to come to the aid of those who worshiped it; and then, because it was utterly deprived of those who honored it. "The untrembling one, the luxurious one." He has indicated both their power and their luxurious manner of life. "Merodach was delivered up." They named Merodach as the first who reigned over the Babylonians. Here, then, he means either the last, in whose time the overthrow of the kingdom took place, or the first, who transferred the kingdom from Nineveh to Babylon. And in the case of the second one, and also in the case of the first, one may take "was delivered up"; but in the case of the second, the kingdom itself. He says that all its idols too were put to shame, and that their weakness became evident. By "a nation from the north" that marched against Babylon he means the Medes. These, he says, also made their land desolate, and plundered it. At this time, he says,

The ten tribes and the two shall receive freedom, and they shall return to that very place, and shall flee to the Lord. "For an everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten." That is, the promise made to their fathers. Then he likens them to lost sheep; he assigns the blame for the loss of the sheep to the shepherds; and he calls shepherds not only the kings but also the priests; and he says also where they prepared them to be led astray. "They have driven them out upon the mountains; they led them astray, they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their own resting place." He calls the sacred precincts of the idols hills and mountains; for in those places they used to worship the idols; and their resting place he calls the divine temple; for from there they had the enjoyment of good things. This, he says, is the error that handed them over to their enemies, in return for the sins they committed against the Lord. 7. A pasture of righteousness to the Lord who gathered their fathers. Thus also the blessed David says: "But we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." This he says also here: that they were a pasture of righteousness to the Lord, who chose their fathers. 8. Be alienated from the midst of Babylon, and come out from the land of the Chaldeans; and become like young goats before the sheep. The Syriac translated the young goats as he-goats. He exhorts them, therefore, to prevail over the Babylonians and to reach the land that bore them; for this reason he also likened them to he-goats; for he-goats are stronger than sheep; thus also the inspired Daniel saw Alexander likened to a he-goat, and Darius to a ram.

He also speaks of the multitude of those who will come against Babylon, and that they shall survive, and shall be filled with the good things gathered there. And he teaches also the cause of the evils which she endures. [Jer 11:12] "Because you rejoiced and boasted greatly, plundering my inheritance. And because you skipped about like calves in pasture, and butted with your horns like bulls. And your mother was greatly put to shame." That is, Babylon. "The mother who bore you has been dug down into good things" — meaning, she has become gone and vanished; and this shows the excess of her destruction, for the following words will also teach this. "Behold, the last of the nations is a desert and waterless." [Jer 13] "And from the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, and it shall become a desolation, all of it." He says also that those who pass through shall be downcast because of the excess of the suffering, and by their hissing shall make known their astonishment. And he commands the archers also to shoot their arrows without sparing, and to exact penalties for her impiety. "For against the Lord," he says, "she has sinned." And he foretells also the cowardice of the Babylonians, and the destruction of their walls; and he adds the cause of the calamity: "Because vengeance is from God, take vengeance on her; as she has done, so do to her." [Jer 16] "Destroy out of Babylon the seeds that hold a sickle in the time of harvest." That is: not only those who serve as soldiers, but also those who farm, hand over to death. For this they themselves also did when they warred against Israel. "From before the Greek sword each shall turn back to his own people, and each shall flee to his own land." Before Babylon, Cyrus subdued the Lydians; and he also subjected the Ionians and the Aeolians.

But these were deported from Greece and settled Asia; Cyrus therefore led these also and marched against Babylon. Yet the prophetic word did not mention the Greeks in vain, but to teach that nations settled far away were also gathered by divine decree against the Babylonians. 17. Israel is a wandering sheep. The error concerning idols became the cause of his evils. "Lions drove him out." He named the kings of the Assyrians thus. "The first king of Assyria devoured them": Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib; and thus the later king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, "devoured his bones"—that is, the remains of the forefathers. For this reason, he says, I will exact punishment from them, and they shall suffer the same things that Nineveh suffered, the ancient metropolis of the Assyrians. And after punishing these, I will bring Israel back to the land of their fathers; for he calls it Bashan, and Carmel, and the mountain of Ephraim. He foretells also the change for the better and the release from their former error. Then he again calls the land of the Chaldeans "a land of those who provoke bitterness"; and the sword, the enemies; and he commands these to rush against those and to carry out what is commanded by him. "A hammer of all the earth" he named the kingdom of the Babylonians, as having brought a blow upon all nations and having overthrown the other kingdoms. For it is the property of a hammer to make thin what is struck by it. 25, 26. The Lord has opened his treasury and brought out the vessels of his wrath; for there is work for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans.

For her times have come. He calls the enemies vessels of wrath, as those who serve wrath. And he called the treasuries the punitive decree, and her times the punishment. For no longer, he says, will the Master be long-suffering, but he will exact penalties for impiety. Then, teaching that he himself brings on the punishment, he urges that the storehouses be searched out and everything destroyed, and that not even a trace of former prosperity be left. And he foretells also those who flee from there, the multitude of the Jews, and reach Jerusalem, and report the evils that have overtaken Babylon. Then, having urged that she suffer what she has done—"For repay her," he says, "according to her works"—and having shown her madness against God himself, he addresses his words to her. 31. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, you arrogant one. The title given hints at her pride against God and makes clear her lawlessness against all people. For the day of your fall has come, and the time of your vengeance. (32.) And your arrogance will grow weak and fall, and there will be no one to raise it up; and I will kindle a fire in her thicket, and it will devour all things around her. By "thicket" he means the multitude of the inhabitants; by "the things around," the subjects; by "the weakness of arrogance," the dissolution of her dominion. And these things, he says, they will suffer because, having enslaved my people, they were unwilling to restore their freedom to them in due time.

For this reason, he threatens to hand over to the enemies both the city and its inhabitants, and the oracles of falsehood, and those accustomed to excel in it, and those who came to their aid, and the treasures laid up. He threatens also to make its water vanish; and by "water" he calls the multitude figuratively; and it is likely that he foretells also what would happen to the water. For long ago the Euphrates cut through its midst, but now the river had been turned to another course, and a very small channel runs through the ruins. He calls the houses of the city "islands," since the walls were washed all around by water encircling them, and again they had the river in the midst of the city. He calls the phantasies of demons "images"; and the Syrian interpreted "daughters of the Sirens" as ostriches; and it is the custom of divine Scripture to call demons by this name, because they enchant and deceive men; and these, certainly, as well as those, are signs of desolation. "And it shall not be built again forever, and it shall not be inhabited again for generations and generations." And both have reached their end; for it was not built, but it has been deprived of its walls until even today, and for the most part it has remained uninhabited; for this he said, "for generations and generations." And now few Jews inhabit this land. He likens it to Sodom and Gomorrah, both because of the former impiety and because of the destruction brought upon it afterward. He indicates also the full armor of the enemies, and says they are like a tossing sea; and he compares them to fire

He says that the hands of the Babylonians are paralyzed by cowardice, and he likens their pain to a woman's labor pains. He also teaches that he himself leads the army of the Medes. "For who is like me? And who will stand against me? And who is this shepherd who will stand before my face?" Since the shepherd of Israel was named, and the kings of Babylon thought they would prevail over the God of all things, he teaches that he himself brings the punishment upon them, having incomparable power. Then he exhorts them to destroy the very lambs of the flocks and to make the pasture disappear; and he calls the infants lambs, and the pasture the city and the land subject to it. Concerning the little children, moreover, the blessed David also prophesies: "Blessed is he," he says, "who will seize your little ones and dash them against the rock." Because from the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth will be shaken, and her cry will be heard among the nations. For since the city was famous, the report of the calamity spread everywhere.

CHAPTER 51. Then he calls the enemies by various names: first, a scorching wind, for this is naturally destructive to plants; then, insolent men, and by this he makes clear the justice of the punishment. "For you shall suffer," he says, "what you have done." Having commanded these to vent their wrath unsparingly against all, he added: 5. "Because Israel and Judah have not been bereaved of their God, of the Lord Almighty, because their land was filled with lawlessness, from the Holy One of Israel." On account of their superstition and their transgression he overlooked them, for he did not strip them entirely of my care. 7, 8. "Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, making all the earth drunk with her wine; nations drank it, nations were shaken. And suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered." Interpreting the dream, the blessed Daniel called the golden head the Babylonian himself; and here too he called the punishment brought through him upon the other nations a golden cup. He says, then, that he brought the punishment upon the other nations as well, and that she herself was suddenly captured beyond all hope and became a ruin. Then he says to the nations that had come to her aid, "Lament for her; take balm for her destruction, if perhaps she may be healed." That is to say, apply to her the medicines of help; and the prophet also employs characterization and sets down the answer from those nations. 9, 10. "We healed her, and she was not healed; let us leave her and depart, each to his own land; for her judgment has reached to heaven and has been lifted up to the stars. The Lord has brought in his judgment.

The blessed Isaiah also foretold this arrogance of the Babylonian: "For he said," he says, "I will set my throne above the stars." But he teaches more clearly who it is that serves and who it is that commands. 11, 12. The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes, because his wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple, against the walls of Babylon. What they dared against the temple, I will bring upon the circuits of Babylon. Then ironically he urges the Babylonians both to set guards on the walls and to rouse them and to make ready their weapons; and teaching that no benefit will come to them from this, he added: "And the Lord will do whatever he spoke against those who dwell in Babylon." For he foretold through the prophets the destruction of that city. "By his arm" he says God has sworn, meaning by his own power; for this he added: 15, 16. Making the earth by his strength, preparing the world by his wisdom, by his understanding he stretched out the heaven. At the sound of his voice he set a multitude of water in

in heaven, and he brought up clouds from the end of the earth; he made lightnings for rain; he brought forth light from his treasuries. And he has set forth both the works of creation and the works of providence; for he not only made all things, but also continues to govern them. The phrase "at the sound of his voice he set a multitude of water in heaven" teaches the crash of thunder accomplished through the clouds. And he sets alongside the theology the weakness of the demons, and shows that they themselves need the craft of the goldsmiths, and that being made by others, they are not even able to breathe like irrational animals. And he foretells their cessation. For in the time, he says, of visitation they shall perish. (19.) Not such is the portion of Jacob, because the one who formed all things is himself his portion, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name. Those are the gods of Babylon, but the God of Israel is the maker of all things. Reasonably, then, the former are destroyed, while the latter return. 20. You scatter for me instruments of war, and I will scatter nations in you. The Syrian translated this as, "Prepare for me instruments of war." According to the Greek translation, however, it must be understood thus: Since you used your weapons against my people, and shot arrows and spears against them, I too will scatter nations in you. For this is what he says: Having scattered, I will also disperse the nations that came to your aid, and the horses, and those who ride them, and every age, and each sex, and rulers, and subjects, and shepherds, and farmers. And these things you shall suffer, for the sake of which you dared to act against Zion. 25.

Behold, I am against you, the corrupted mountain, says the Lord, the one corrupting all the earth. He calls it a mountain because of the conspicuousness of its dominion, and corrupted because of its impiety and lawlessness. "And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the rocks." That is, I will show you to be lowly. "And I will give you as a mountain set on fire," instead of, wholly useless; and what follows makes this clear. 26. And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner, and a stone for a foundation, because you shall be for desolation forever, says the Lord. They appointed neither a king nor a ruler from the new inhabitants; for the foundations bear the building, and the corners join it together. 27. Lift up a sign on the earth, sound a trumpet among the nations; sanctify nations against her. Instead of, set them apart. Give command against her to the kingdoms of Ararat from me, and to the Ashkenazim. He calls Ararat Armenia; and the Ashkenazim are another nation bordering on them. But all these the king of the Persians and Medes gathered together; for this is what he adds: 28. Sanctify nations against her: the king of the Medes, and his leaders, and all his generals. He says also that the earth will be shaken. 29. Because a thought of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, so that it not be inhabited. He foretells both the siege, and the weakness of those fighting within, and the burning of the city, and those who report its capture to the king. He likens also to a thinned-out nail, and to ripe harvest, the destruction of the houses.

He also sets down the words of Jerusalem, which he spoke concerning the king of the Babylonians. 34. He has divided me, he has devoured me, he has overtaken me like thin darkness, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The finest air more than our bodies penetrates. He says, then, that the darkness of the calamity filled even the members of my soul. "He set me as an empty vessel, and he swallowed me like a dragon; he filled his belly from my luxury." He stripped me, he says, of all good things, and imitated a dragon swallowing the nestlings of sparrows, taking all my wealth and stripping me of prosperity. He teaches that her lawless deeds made both her weak and him strong. 35. My labors and my miseries shall thrust me out to Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion shall say; and my blood, against the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say. My blood, he says, shall be avenged on them, and they shall pay the penalty for the crimes they committed against me. Thus the prophet shows the things concerning Jerusalem, and the just verdict brought forth by God. 36. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will judge your adversary, and I will avenge your vengeance. Since you have known the harm that comes from sin. "And I will make her sea a desert." That is, the multitude of her subjects. "And I will dry up her spring." Her kingdom, and her dominion over all. Then he also speaks of the things proper to the desolation, about which we have often spoken: "It shall not be inhabited in the same place." For it has few houses now, and these scattered.

Having likened her champions to lions, he foretells both their cowardice and their destruction. 39, 40. For I will give them, he says, a draught, and I will make them drunk, so that they may be stupefied and sleep an eternal sleep, and they shall not awake, says the Lord. And I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with young goats. Both rulers and subjects, and with the king his subjects; for he called the subjects lambs and young goats, but the rulers rams. 41. How is Sheshach taken, and the pride of all the earth hunted? It is Babylon itself that he so calls. For in the earlier interpretations he also named its king Sheshach. It is likely that it was so named long ago, and was renamed Babylon. For that he calls the city thus, what follows bears witness: "How has Babylon become a desolation among all the nations?" He also shows the multitude of those who marched against it. 42. The sea has come up upon Babylon; by the roar of its waves it was overwhelmed. Then, having foretold the desolation, he again brings Bel into the midst. 44. For I will take vengeance, he says, upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out what he swallowed from his mouth; and the nations shall no more be gathered to him. Daniel also mentions the food offered to him, and how the priests consumed it. The prophetic word foretells also the cessation of the error; and it comforts the people, and exhorts them not to fear the evils coming upon Babylon, and teaches that these things were proclaimed long beforehand. 46. For the report will come in the same year, and after it in the next year the report and the iniquity in the land.

And ruler upon ruler, and parable upon parable. For when the invasion of the enemies was announced one and two years beforehand, they persisted in doing injustice and in transgressing the law as was their custom. For this reason he threatens destruction both upon the carved idols that are worshipped and upon those who worship them, and he says that all creation rejoices at their utter destruction; and he also teaches the justice of the punishment. 49. And indeed in Babylon, that Israel fell wounded in her. And so Babylon's wounded shall fall by all the earth; for what she did to Israel, she shall suffer from others. 50. Being saved from the land, go, and do not stand still; remember, you who are far off, the Lord. He says these things to the Jews who were taken captive. "And let Jerusalem come up upon your heart." Do not forget the city that is consecrated to God. Then in their person: 51. We were ashamed, because we heard our reproach. Dishonor has covered our face. Foreigners entered our holy places, into the house of the Lord. When they had thus lamented, the Master said: 52, 53. Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will take vengeance upon her carved idols, and in all her land they shall fall wounded. For even if Babylon ascend like the heaven, and even if she fortify the height of her strength, from me they shall come destroying her, says the Lord. She had very great enclosures, and exceedingly high; therefore the Master God teaches that they will reap no benefit from there,

when he himself pronounces the verdict against them. And to the divine verdict he joins the deed, and says: 54, 55. A sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans. Because the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and has destroyed from it the sound echoing like many waters. By these words he has indicated the multitude of its inhabitants; and nothing, he says, did they profit from their bows, nor from their spears, since God was exacting punishment from her. For besides the generals and the foremost warriors, "And its greatest wall shall be dug down, and its lofty gates shall become a consumption for fire." Having thus foretold these things, he teaches that he wrote this prediction in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign, God having commanded this; and he gave the book to Seraiah, who was sent by Zedekiah to Babylon; and that he enjoined him to read the book in Babylon, and to say: 62. Lord, you have spoken against this place, to destroy it, and that there be no one dwelling in it, from man to beast, because it shall be a desolation forever. And these things, he said, having prayed, and having tied the book to a stone, cast it into the Euphrates, and you shall say: 64. Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again from before the evils which I am bringing upon her. And the Master commanded this to be for the consolation of the captives; so that, having learned both of her capture and of their own freedom, they might have the hope of good things as their comfort. The prophecy, then, had its end from this point.

CHAPTER 52

He relates the subsequent events in a more historical manner, teaching both how Zedekiah reigned and that he continued transgressing the law; and how in the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against him and continued besieging Jerusalem until the eleventh year, having raised another outer wall from very large stones; and how famine wore down those inside more harshly than the enemies. He narrates also how, when the wall fell, the mighty men fled by night with the king, and how the Chaldeans pursued and captured them, and led them away to Deblatha and brought them before Nebuchadnezzar; and he, having convicted Zedekiah of breaking his oaths, first put his sons to death, then the rulers; and that after that bitter sight, having gouged out the king's eyes and put fetters on him, he led him away to Babylon and handed him over to the mill. He teaches also how Nebuzaradan, sent by Nebuchadnezzar, both set fire to the divine temple and, in addition to this, the palace, and the splendid houses of the city, and tore up the walls of the city from their foundations; and he led away all the rest to Deblatha, leaving a few of the poor so as to farm the land. And the huge bronze pillars which Solomon had constructed, and the bronze sea, he melted down and carried off to Babylon, along with the footstools and the lifters; the Syrian interpreted the footstools as foot-washers. And the other vessels too he carried away with these. Sapphoth calls them obelisks.