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the temple in Zion from the time of Solomon, to carry out what was commanded. and since the cities of Judea were round about Jerusalem, from all sides there were roads leading to Zion . Therefore the prophet <says> that these, because of the captivity, mourn, are gloomy and exist in all desolation † and in those times, when there was much gladness and cheerfulness among them, when the Jews from everywhere were hastening to the feast at Mount Zion. And although there were many gates built in Zion from all quarters, the word says all have been destroyed , and that the priests groan , clearly because they are not able to perform the priestly works during the feasts and the other days, either because they have been taken captive or because there is no one approaching them and demanding the priestly services. But also the virgins , he says, of Zion are being led away, and it is clear that it is by the conquering enemies. 14 But as to the meaning; since Zion is called the contemplative and theoretical power, there are many roads of various doctrines, both mystical and natural and ethical, and perhaps also logical, which lead to the understanding and vision of the subjects at hand. When therefore someone, having lost their ascetic practice, becomes confused, all these roads mourn, not being traveled, a festival existing for the aforementioned roads when they are traveled, being examined and, so to speak, being crossed; but they mourn when they are desolate, not being searched out nor traversed because those who travel have fallen away and, having been taken captive by the passions, are distracted by worse things. 15 Zion, having nothing sweet at all, lives in bitterness by herself . For 'being embittered' is not now to be taken as a kind of anger. 16 The clarity of the text is something like this. Some were afflicting the land of Judea, or at least wished to afflict it, before the times of the captivity, but they did not prevail, since the God of the Jews was defending them, when they showed themselves worthy of help. But when they sinned and, in addition to not listening to the prophets, the sons of Israel even killed them, then they were handed over as subjects to their oppressors, so that their enemies became the head , that is, as Symmachus interpreted, rulers . And others, perhaps, being enemies besides the oppressors either in thought or in reality, were in prosperity, since those who were abandoned because of their sins had become subject to the oppressors, the Lord having humbled those who had transgressed on account of the multitude of their impieties, and having done this to such an extent, that not even for their infants was mercy left, but they went into captivity, being driven by every oppressor . 17 And the rulers having rejoiced because the Lord, on account of the multitude of impieties, had handed over to humiliation those who had not kept the covenants with him in the holy oracles. 18 The literal meaning must be clarified by us as much as possible, examining who the daughter of Zion is, and in what her comeliness consists, and what is the pasture which the princes of the daughter of Zion do not have, like rams lacking pasture; and how these, deprived of strength, go before the face of the pursuer . We consider Mount Zion to be the mother of the synagogue in it, which is called the daughter of Zion, and the comeliness of the daughter of Zion to be the possession in her robes, which possession, having been taken by the enemies at the time of the plundering, went out from those whose adornment it was, that is, it was carried out (for this he named more emphatically with 'went out'), and the leaders of the synagogue, because the enemies were pressing on and taking them captive, being at a loss for their usual things, were likened to rams not finding food . Just as rams, indeed, being driven unfed, go weakly, yielding to the force of their pursuers, so also the princes, having become captives, being led away to the land of those who captured them, went without strength in the sight of the pursuer . 19 But as to the meaning, such a soul is the daughter of Zion ; just as the righteous is a daughter of righteousness and the wise a child of wisdom, so also (since Zion is the

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τὸν ναὸν ἐν Σιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου Σολομῶντος, ἐπιτελεῖν τὸ προστε ταγμένον. καὶ κύκλῳ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ τυγχανουσῶν τῶν πόλεων τῆς Ἰουδαίας, πάντοθεν ὁδοὶ ἦσαν φέρουσαι ἐπὶ τὴν Σιών . ταύτας οὖν ὁ προφήτης διὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν <φησὶ> πενθεῖν σκυθρωπα ζούσας καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἐρημίᾳ ὑπαρχούσας † καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς καιροῖς, ὅτε πολλὴ εὐφροσύνη καὶ ἱλαρότης ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς, σπευδόντων ἐπὶ ἑορτὴν τῶν ἁπανταχόθεν Ἰουδαίων ἐπὶ τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος. πολλῶν δὲ οὐσῶν τῶν πυλῶν τῶν οἰκοδομηθεισῶν ἐν Σιὼν ἐκ πάντων τῶν κλιμάτων, φησὶν ὁ λόγος πάσας ἠφανίσθαι , καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς στενάζειν , δηλονότι τὰ ἱερατικὰ ἔργα τὰ κατὰ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἡμέρας οὐ δυναμένους ἐπιτελεῖν, ἤτοι τῷ ᾐχμαλωτίσθαι ἢ τῷ μηδένα εἶναι τὸν προσιόντα αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰς λειτουργίας τὰς ἱε ρατικὰς ἀπαιτοῦντα. ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ παρθένοι , φησί, τῆς Σιὼν ἀγόμεναί εἰσι, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι ὑπὸ τῶν κεκρατηκότων πολεμίων. 14 Πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν· τῆς σκοπευτικῆς καὶ θεωρητικῆς δυνάμεως Σιὼν καλουμένης πολλαὶ ὁδοί εἰσι τῶν ποικίλων δογμάτων, μυστι κῶν τε καὶ φυσικῶν καὶ ἠθικῶν, τάχα δὲ καὶ λογικῶν, αἱ φέρουσαι ἐπὶ τὴν κατανόησιν καὶ θέαν τῶν προκειμένων. ἐπὰν οὖν τις τὸ τούτων ἀσκητικὸν ἀπολέσας συγχυθῇ, πᾶσαι αὗται αἱ ὁδοὶ πεν θοῦσιν οὐχ ὁδευόμεναι, πανηγύρεως μὲν ὑπαρχούσης ταῖς προειρη μέναις ὁδοῖς, ὅτε ὁδεύονται ἐξεταζόμεναι καί, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, δια βαινόμεναι· πενθοῦσι δὲ ὅτε ἐρημοῦνται, οὐκ ἐρευνώμεναι οὐδὲ διεξοδευόμεναι διὰ τὸ ἀποπεπτωκέναι τοὺς ὁδεύοντας καὶ αἰχμαλω τισθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν περιεσπάσθαι περὶ τὰ χείρονα. 15 Ἡ Σιὼν γλυκὺ μηδαμῶς ἔχουσά τι, ἐν πικρίᾳ διάγει καθ' ἑαυ τήν . οὐ ληπτέον γὰρ τὸ πικραινομένη νῦν ἐπί τινος εἴδους ὀργῆς. 16 Ἡ τῆς λέξεως σαφήνεια τοιαύτη τίς ἐστιν. ἔθλιβον τὴν Ἰουδαίαν χώραν ἢ θλίβειν γε ἤθελόν τινες πρὸ τῶν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας χρόνων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκράτουν ὑπερασπίζοντος τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅτε παρεῖχον ἑαυτοὺς ἐκεῖνοι βοηθείας ἀξίους. ὅτε δὲ ἥμαρτον καὶ πρὸς τῷ μὴ ἀκούειν τῶν προφητῶν ἔτι καὶ ἀνῄρουν αὐτοὺς οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ, τότε παρεδόθησαν τοῖς θλίβουσιν ὑποχείριοι, ὥστε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν γενέσθαι κεφαλήν , τουτέστιν, ὡς Σύμμαχος ἡρ μήνευσεν, ἄρχοντας . ἕτεροι δὲ τάχα παρὰ τοὺς θλίβοντας οἱ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες ἤτοι τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ ἢ καὶ τῇ ὑποστάσει, ἐν εὐθηνίᾳ ἐτύγχανον, ὑποχειρίων τοῖς θλίβουσι γενομένων τῶν διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἐγκα ταλελειμμένων, τοῦ κυρίου ταπεινώσαντος διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀσεβημάτων τοὺς παρανενομηκότας καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν γε τοῦτο ποιήσαντος, ὡς μηδὲ τοῖς νηπίοις αὐτῶν ἔλεον καταλειφθῆναι, ἀλλὰ πορευθῆναι αὐτὰ ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ ἐλαυνόμενα ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ θλίβοντος . 17 Ἀρξάντων τε καὶ εὐφρανθέντων τῷ τὸν κύριον διὰ τὸ πλῆ θος τῶν ἀσεβημάτων εἰς ταπείνωσιν παραδεδωκέναι τοὺς τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις λογίοις συνθήκας πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐ τετηρηκότας. 18 Τὰ τῆς λέξεως ὅση δύναμις ἡμῖν σαφηνιστέον, ἐξετάζουσι τίς ἡ θυγάτηρ Σιών , καὶ ἐν τίνι ἔχουσα τὴν εὐπρέπειαν , τίς τε ἡ νομή , ἣν οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιὼν δίκην κριῶν ἀπορούντων βοσκήσεως· καὶ πῶς οὗτοι ἐστερημένοι ἰσχύος πορεύονται κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ διώκοντος . ἡγούμεθα δὲ τὸ μὲν ὄρος Σιὼν εἶναι μητέρα τῆς ἐν αὐτῇ συναγωγῆς θυγατρὸς χρη ματιζούσης τῆς Σιών, τὴν δὲ εὐπρέπειαν τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιὼν τὴν κτῆσιν τὴν ἐν πέπλοις αὐτῆς, ἥτις κτῆσις ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς προ νομῆς ληφθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ τούτων, ὧν κόσμος ἦν, τουτέστιν ἐξεκομίσθη (τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμφατικώτερον τῷ ἐξῆλθεν ὠνόμασε), τοὺς δὲ ἡγουμένους τῆς συναγωγῆς, διὰ τὸ ἐπικεῖσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζειν, ἀποροῦντας τῶν συνή θων ὡμοιῶσθαι κριοῖς οὐχ εὑρίσκουσι τροφήν . ὥσπερ μέντοιγε κριοὶ ἐλαυνόμενοι μὴ τραφέντες ἀσθενῶς πορεύονται, τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τῶν ἐπιδιωκόντων εἴκοντες, οὕτω δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αἰχμάλωτοι γενόμενοι, ἀπαγόμενοι εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν αἰχμαλωτισάντων, ἐπο ρεύοντο οὐκ ἐν ἰσχύϊ κατ' ὄψιν τοῦ διώκοντος . 19 Πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ θυγάτηρ ἐστὶ Σιών · οἷον ὡς θυγάτηρ δικαιοσύνης ἡ δικαία καὶ τέκνον σοφίας ἡ σοφή, οὕτω δὲ (ἐπεὶ Σιών ἐστι τὸ