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pheias, the facts bear witness. For of old these things happened to be unclear to the Jews, so that the written memory of the blessing concerning the nations might be preserved. But when the prophecy came to its fulfillment, and the events followed the writings, then at last the decrees of the prophets became clear and manifest. For those who read the prophetic books receive the interpretation from the events. Therefore let no one, and especially those nurtured in piety, act insolently against the divine Spirit, blaming his words for obscurity; but let him who desires to understand the sacred words cry out with the divine David: "Uncover my eyes, and I will understand the wonderful things from your law." For he will certainly obtain his request, having professed the knowledge for his benefit. For we too, offering this 81.812 supplication to the Master, who makes the blind wise, according to the divine David, and those in darkness and mist, according to the blessed Isaiah, let us venture upon the interpretation of the divine Ezekiel, and let us try to investigate the depth of the prophecy, as far as is possible for us, and to set forth for all the pious the profit gathered therefrom. Come then, before the interpretation, let us go through the subject matter in summary. This prophet began his prophecy in the fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah; and this captivity was not the first, as it has seemed to some, but the third for Jerusalem, the fourth for Judah, and the sixth for all of Israel. For first Tiglath-pileser took the greater part of the ten tribes captive by the spear; and second, Shalmaneser departed, having enslaved Samaria and the cities around it; and third, Sennacherib besieged the other cities of Judea, and deported many captives; but having attempted to campaign against Jerusalem with great impiety, he received the wages of his blasphemy, and having lost his army by a divinely-sent plague, he reached his homeland with a few men. After him, fourth, Nebuchadnezzar, having become king in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, arrived in Judea with a large army; and having taken many talents of gold and silver, and many captives from the royal family, and some of the sacred vessels, he departed from there, having put the king in bonds. But after a short time had passed, Jehoiakim was not willing to pay the agreed-upon tribute; and Nebuchadnezzar, in the eleventh year of his reign, and the eighth of his own rule, again marches against Jerusalem; and he kills Jehoiakim, and ordered him to be thrown from the wall, and leaves him unburied for a very long time; and having taken all those in authority captive, and having appointed Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah (for this was the son of Jehoiakim), as king for those who were left behind, he departed for Babylon. But when three months and a few days had passed, learning that this one had rebelled, he arrives again; and he leads him away in fetters as a captive of the spear with a not inconsiderable multitude, and he establishes as king his uncle, the brother of the former Jehoiakim, and the son of Josiah, Mattaniah, also called Zedekiah, having taken oaths from him that he would keep his goodwill towards him and would pay the tribute on time. But when this one also again transgressed the oaths, and was willing neither to pay the tribute, nor to keep the 81.813 goodwill, but had fled to the Egyptians, he arrived having gathered a large army, and having taken the city with all its men, he burned the palace, and the divine temple, and every splendid house; and all those who escaped the destruction of famine and the slaughter of war, he led away as captives; and he transported all the vessels, not only as many as were made from the material of silver and gold, but also the pillars constructed of bronze, and all the other things to Babylon. The captivity of Jeconiah, therefore, was not the first, as it seemed to some, but of Jerusalem

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φείας, τὰ πράγματα μαρτυρεῖ. Πάλαι γὰρ ἄδηλα ταῦτα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὄντα ἐτύγχανεν, ἵνα φυλάττηται τῆς περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν εὐλογίας ἀνάγραπτος ἡ μνήμη. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τέλος ἡ πρόῤῥησις ἔλαβε, καὶ τὰ πρά γματα τοῖς γράμμασιν ἠκολούθησε, τηνικαῦτα λοι πὸν σαφῆ καὶ δῆλα γέγονε τῶν προφητῶν τὰ θεσπί σματα· οἱ γὰρ τὰς προφητικὰς ἀναγινώσκοντες βί βλους, ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἑρμηνείαν λαμβάνουσι· Μηδεὶς τοίνυν, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας τρο φίμων, κατὰ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος θρασυνέσθω, τοῖς τούτου λόγοις ἀσάφειαν ἐπιμεμφόμενος· ἀλλὰ νοῆσαι τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἐφιέμενος λόγους μετὰ τοῦ θεσπεσίου βοάτω ∆αβίδ· "Ἀποκάλυψον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ κατανοήσω τὰ θαυμάσια ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου." Τεύξεται γὰρ πάντως τῆς αἰτήσεως, ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ τὴν γνῶσιν ἐπαγγείλας. Ταύτην γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν 81.812 ἱκετείαν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ προσφέροντες, ὃς σοφίζει τοὺς τυφλοὺς, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ∆αβὶδ, καὶ τοὺς ἐν σκότει καὶ τῇ ὁμίχλῃ, κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Ἡσαΐαν, τῆς τοῦ θεσπεσίου Ἐζεκιὴλ κατατολμήσωμεν ἑρμηνείας, καὶ τῆς προφητείας τὸ βάθος, ὡς ἡμῖν ἐφικτὸν, ἐρευνῆ σαι πειρασώμεθα, καὶ κοινὸν ἅπασι προθῆναι τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τὸ ἐντεῦθεν συναγόμενον κέρδος. Φέρε τοί νυν πρὸ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἐν κεφαλαίῳ τὴν ὑπόθε σιν διεξέλθωμεν. Οὗτος ὁ προφήτης ἤρξατο τῆς προφητείας ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ ἔτει τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦ καὶ Ἰεχονίου· αὕτη δὲ ἡ αἰχμαλωσία οὐ πρώτη γεγένηται, καθά τισιν ἔδοξεν, ἀλλὰ τῆς μὲν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τρίτη, τοῦ δὲ Ἰούδα τετάρτη, παντὸς δὲ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἕκτη. Πρῶτος μὲν γὰρ ὁ Θεγλαθ φαλασὰρ δορυάλωτον ἔλαβε τῶν δέκα φυλῶν τὸ πλεῖ στον· δεύτερος δὲ ὁ Σαλμανασὰρ τὴν Σαμάρειαν, καὶ τὰς περὶ αὐτὴν ἐξανδραποδίσας πόλεις ἀπῆλθεν· τρίτος δὲ ὁ Σεναχηρεὶμ τὰς μὲν ἄλλας τῆς Ἰου δαίας ἐπολιόρκησε πόλεις, καὶ πολλοὺς μετῴκισεν αἰχμαλώτους· ἐπιστρατεῦσαι δὲ τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις μετὰ πολλῆς δυσσεβείας ἐπιχειρήσας, ἐκομίσατο τῆς βλασφημίας τὰ ἐπίχειρα, καὶ θεηλάτῳ πληγῇ τὴν στρατείαν ἀπολέσας μετ' ὀλίγων τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν κατέλαβε. Μετὰ τοῦτον τέταρτος ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας Ἰωακεὶμ τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἰωσίου βασιλεύσας, μετὰ πολλῆς στρατείας εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν ἀφίκετο· καὶ πολλὰ τάλαντα χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου λαβὼν, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους αἰχμ αλώτους πολλοὺς, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν σκευῶν ἔνια, ἀνέζευ ξεν ἐκεῖθεν δεσμὸν ἐπιθεὶς τῷ βασιλεῖ. Χρόνου δὲ ὀλίγου διαδραμόντος, ὁ μὲν Ἰωακεὶμ τελέσαι τὸν συγκείμενον οὐκ ἠθέλησε φόρον· ὁ δὲ Ναβουχοδονό σορ τῷ ἑνδεκάτῳ ἔτει τῆς τούτου βασιλείας, ὀγδόῳ δὲ τῆς οἰκείας ἡγεμονίας, πάλιν ἐπιστρατεύει τοῖς Ἱερο σολύμοις· καὶ τὸν μὲν Ἰωακεὶμ ἀναιρεῖ, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους ῥιφῆναι ἐκέλευσε, καὶ ἄταφον ἐπὶ πλεῖ στον καταλείπει χρόνον· τοὺς δὲ ἐν τέλει πάντας αἰχμαλώτους λαβὼν, καὶ τοῖς ὑπολειφθεῖσι χειροτο νήσας βασιλέα Ἰωακείμ, τὸν καὶ Ἰεχονίαν (υἱὸς δὲ οὗτος ἦν Ἰωακεὶμ), ἀπῆρεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. Τριῶν δὲ μηνῶν πρὸς ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις διελθόντων, στασιάσαντα τοῦτον μαθὼν, πάλιν ἀφικνεῖται· καὶ τοῦτον μὲν πεδήσας μετὰ πλήθους οὐκ ὀλίγου δορυ άλωτον ἀπάγει, καθίστησι δὲ βασιλέα τὸν τούτου μὲν θεῖον, τοῦ δὲ προτέρου Ἰωακεὶμ ἀδελφὸν, Ἰωσίου δὲ υἱὸν, Μαθανίαν, τὸν καὶ Σεδεκίαν, ὅρκους παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβὼν, ὡς καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν φυλάξει, καὶ τὸν δασμὸν κατὰ καιρὸν ἀποδώσει. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου πάλιν παραβάντος τοὺς ὅρκους, καὶ μήτε τὸν δασμὸν ἀποδοῦναι θελήσαντος, μήτε τὴν 81.813 εὔνοιαν φυλάξαντος, ἀλλ' Αἰγυπτίοις προσπεφευ γότος, πολλὴν ἀγείρας στρατείαν ἀφίκετο, καὶ αὔτανδρον τὴν πόλιν λαβὼν, τά τε βασίλεια, καὶ τὸν θεῖον νεὼν, καὶ πᾶσαν λαμπρὰν ἐνέπρησεν οἰκίαν· τοὺς δὲ τὴν τοῦ λιμοῦ φθορὰν, καὶ τὴν πολεμικὴν διαφυγόντας σφαγὴν, ἅπαντας αἰχμαλώτους ἀπήγα γεν· καὶ τὰ σκεύη δὲ ἅπαντα, οὐ μόνον ὅσα ἐξ ὕλης ἀργύρου καὶ χρυσοῦ ἐπεποίητο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐκ χαλκοῦ κατεσκευασμένους κίονας, καὶ τ' ἄλλα πάντα μετεκόμισεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. Ἡ Ἰεχονίου τοίνυν αἰχμαλωσία οὐ πρώτη ἦν, ὥς τισιν ἔδοξεν, ἀλλὰ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων