for easily upon whatever he might choose, that which has come from him. Are not these the words? etc. He calls the evangelical and saving proclamation 'fire,' or even the participation in the Holy Spirit itself, which is also likened to fire. And indeed the all-wise John the Baptist says thus concerning both him and the Savior of us all, Jesus Christ: I baptize you with water for repentance, etc. Rightly, therefore, did Christ say: I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I wish if it is already kindled? And you have turned back. Do you see how he does not tolerate the types being set aside, or rather the truth itself being insulted as if still in shadows? For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, according to what is written. But the Jews, dragging back those once set free, and subjecting them again to the yokes of slavery, have not kept the 70.1456 irrevocable; and for this reason they have stumbled, dishonoring the power of the mystery, even if it was still in types.

And we are justified because we have offered nothing in exchange for the life in Christ, freely through grace, nor have we purchased the glory of freedom, but we gain the benefit through the Lord's gentleness and love for mankind. If you give, etc. For since, taking courage in the help of the Egyptians, they resisted the Babylonians, for this reason, being grieved after the capture of Jerusalem and Samaria, they turned against them, and have conquered them without a struggle. To return, etc. When God pursues, no one will save the one in danger; but wherever one may be, there he will encounter His wrath. Behold, I will take vengeance on Ammon. The same from Cyril and Apollinarius. Some say Ammon is Alexandria, so called in old times, as it also says in Nahum: Are you better than Ammon, that dwells in the rivers? Water is round about her, whose wealth is the sea, and water her walls; Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and there was no end of her flight; and Libyans became her helpers, and she herself will go into captivity. But the present times are older than the founding of Alexander. Perhaps, then, a city existed there before Alexander, and he rebuilt it after it had ceased to be. But some say that the Egyptians call Zeus 'Ammon,' from whom the Ammonian land is also named; whom he calls her son, as having been deified by her; for the statue is man-made, which indeed, he says, the Babylonians will take, and their other gods which he mentions. And as for Pharaoh and Egypt, the phrase 'I will take vengeance' applies to them in common. And he sent messengers to the nations. And what Jeremiah called messengers, Symmachus translated as a message; and it could also be understood as a siege. And the divine nod calls many nations against Idumea, and he called the movement from it 'messengers'. For, being moved by God to war, they provoked one another, as Obadiah says; for they invaded Idumea and the neighboring nations along with those from Israel. But turning to Idumea, he says: Behold, I have made you small among the nations, but nevertheless, having become contemptible, you thought great things in the midst of difficulties, not knowing that you will be captured even if you raise your dwelling high as an eagle. And to the words, 'And Idumea will become impassable,' and to what follows, Obadiah again spoke in harmony: And the house of Esau shall be for stubble, and it will be kindled against them, and there will not be a fire-bearer in the house of Esau.

And the proverb is prevalent also among those outside: 'Not even a fire-bearer was left,' said of those utterly destroyed. For someone went before, holding fire and purifying the armies before the engagement, and it was a law that no one should raise a hostile hand against this person. 70.1457 We have healed Babylon. In these passages they name Jerusalem 'Babylon,' as being eager to imitate the things of that city, and lacking nothing of the country of the Gentiles, at least as regards a complete state of being, and the not enduring to honor the law, that is, the benefit of the prophetic instruction.

γὰρ εὐκόλως ἐφ' ᾧπερ ἂν ἕλοιτο τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ γεγονός. Οὐκ ἰδοὺ οἱ λόγοι; κ.τ.λ. Πῦρ ὀνομάζει τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν καὶ σωτήριον κήρυγμα, ἢ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μέθεξιν, ὃ καὶ πυρὶ παρεικάζεται. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ πάνσοφος Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστὴς περὶ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν Σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ οὕτω φησίν· Ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς ὕδατι βαπτίζω εἰς μετανοίαν, κ.τ.λ. Ὀρθῶς οὖν ἔφη ὁ Χριστός· Πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τί θέλω εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη; Καὶ ὑπεστρέψατε Ὁρᾷς ὅπως οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῶν τύπων ἀθετουμένων, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐξυβρισμένης ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς ἔτι; Ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Τοὺς δὲ ἀνεθέντας ἅπαξ ἀνόπιν ἕλκοντες Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ τοῖς τῆς δουλείας αὖθις ὑποφέροντες ζυγοῖς, τὸ 70.1456 ἀμεταμέλητον οὐ τετηρήκασι· προσκεκρούκασί τε διὰ τοῦτο, τοῦ μυστηρίου τὴν δύναμιν ἀτιμάζοντες, εἰ καὶ ἦν ἐν τύποις ἔτι.

∆ικαιούμεθα δὲ ὅτι δωρεὰν διὰ χάριτος τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ζωῆς ἀντάλλαγμα προσενεγκόντες οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὴν τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐκπριάμενοι δόξαν, ἡμερότητι δὲ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ ∆εσποτικῇ τὸ χρῆμα κερδαίνοντες. Ἐὰν ὑμεῖς δῶτε, κ.τ.λ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ταῖς Αἰγυπτίων ἐπικουρίαις ἐπιθαρσήσαντες ἀντεφέροντο τοῖς Βαβυλωνίοις, ταύτῃ τοι λελυπημένοι μετὰ τὴν τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων καὶ τῆς Σαμαρείας ἅλωσιν, ἐτράποντο κατ' αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀμογητὶ νενικήκασιν. Τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι, κ.τ.λ. Ὅταν διώκῃ Θεὸς, οὐδεὶς ἀνασώσει τὸν κινδυνεύοντα· ἀλλ' ἐνθάπερ ἂν εἴη τις, ἐκεῖ περιτεύξεται τῷ θυμῷ. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐκδικῶ τὸν Ἀμμών. Κυρίλλου τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ Ἀπολιναρίου. Ἀμμὼν δὲ οἱ μὲν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν λέγουσιν, οὕτω πάλαι καλουμένην, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Ναούμ φησι· Μὴ κρείττων εἶ σὺ τῆς Ἀμμὼν, τῆς κατοικούσης ἐν ποταμοῖς; Ὕδωρ κύκλῳ αὐτῆς ἧς ἡ εὐπορία θάλασσα, καὶ ὕδωρ τὰ τείχη αὐτῆς· Αἰθιοπία ἰσχὺς αὐτῆς καὶ Αἴγυπτος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστη πέρας τῆς φυγῆς· καὶ Λίβυες ἐγένοντο βοηθοὶ αὐτῆς, καὶ αὐτὴ εἰς μετοικίαν πορεύσεται. Ἀλλ' οἱ παρόντες καιροὶ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου πρεσβύτεροι κτίσεως. Ἴσως οὖν πρὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου πόλις ὑπῆρχεν ἐκεῖ, καὶ παυσαμένην ἀνέκτισε. Τινὲς δέ φασιν ὡς Ἀμμωνᾶν τὸν ∆ία καλοῦσιν Αἰγύπτιοι, ἀφ' οὗ καὶ Ἀμμωνιακὴ προσαγορεύεται χώρα· ὃν αὐτῆς υἱὸν καλεῖ ὡς παρ' αὐτῆς θεοποιηθέντα· χειροποίητον γὰρ τὸ ἄγαλμα, ὃ δὴ, φησὶν, οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι παραλήψονται, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους αὐτῶν οὓς ἐπάγει θεούς. Τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ Φαραὼ καὶ Αἴγυπτον, κατὰ κοινοῦ ἔχει τὸ ἐκδικῶ. Καὶ ἀγγέλους εἰς ἔθνη ἀπέστειλε. Περιοχὴν δὲ εἶπεν οὓς Ἱερεμίας ἀγγέλους, καὶ Σύμμαχος ἀγγελίαν ἐξέδωκεν· νοοῖτο δ' ἂν καὶ πολιορκία. Καλεῖ δὲ κατὰ τῆς Ἰδουμαίας ἔθνη πολλὰ τὸ θεῖον νεῦμα, καὶ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κίνησιν ἀγγέλους εἶπε. Κινηθέντες γὰρ ἐκ Θεοῦ πρὸς πόλεμον, ἀλλήλους ἠρέθιζον, ὥς φησιν Ἀβδιού· συνεισέβαλον γὰρ τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς Ἰδουμαίαν καὶ τὰ περίοικα τῶν ἐθνῶν. Πρὸς Ἰδουμαίαν δὲ μεταστρέψας, φησίν· Ἰδοὺ μικρὸν ἔδωκά σε ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἀλλ' ὅμως εὐκαταφρόνητος γενόμενος ἐφρόνεις εἰς μέγα ἐπὶ ταῖς δυσχερείαις, ἀγνοῶν ὡς ἁλώσῃ κἂν ὑψώσῃς ὡς ἀετὸς τὴν κατοίκησιν. Τῷ δὲ, καὶ ἔσται Ἰδουμαία εἰς ἄβατον, καὶ τοῖς ἐφεξῆς, συνωδὰ πάλιν ἔφησεν Ἀβδιού· Καὶ ἔσται ὁ οἶκος Ἡσαῦ εἰς καλάμην, καὶ ἐκκαυθήσεται εἰς αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται πυρφόρος ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ἡσαῦ.

Ἡ δὲ παροιμία καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἔξω κρατεῖ· Οὐδὲ πυρφόρος ἐλείφθη, ἐπὶ τῶν ἄρδην ἀπολλυμένων. Προηγεῖτο γάρ τις πῦρ ἔχων, καὶ περικαθαίρων πρὸ τῆς συμβολῆς τὰ στρατεύματα, καὶ νόμος ἦν μηδένα κατὰ τούτου χεῖρα φέρειν πολέμιον. 70.1457 Ἰατρεύσαμεν τὴν Βαβυλῶνα. Βαβυλῶνα τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν τούτοις κατονομάζουσιν, ὡς τὰ ἐκείνης μιμεῖσθαι σπουδάζουσαν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀποδέουσαν τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν χώρας, τό γε ἧκον εἰς ἕξιν τελείαν, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀνέχεσθαι τιμᾷν τὸν νόμον, ἤτοι τῆς προφητικῆς παιδαγωγίας τὸ ἐπωφελές.