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third; and this the fourth of Kings teaches us, and the book of Chronicles, and the divine Daniel the prophet; for so also he begins the prophecy; "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and besieged it, and the Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, and part of the vessels of the house of God;" and a little later; "And the king," it says, "told Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the sons of the captivity of the sons of Israel and from the royal seed." The first captivity of Jerusalem, therefore, occurred in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim; and this was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. And the same prophet teaches us this, saying thus; "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar he dreamed a dream." A second captivity, as I said, occurred in the eleventh year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and the eighth of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar; and a third in the first year of the reign of Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, and the ninth of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. And the blessed prophet Jeremiah teaches us these things clearly, and it is easy for one who wishes to compile the times and to learn these things clearly from that prophet. Therefore Ezekiel began his prophecy in the fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiakim, also called Jeconiah; and it was the fifth year of the reign of Zedekiah, who had been appointed king of the Jews in place of Jeconiah. And Daniel began his prophecy twelve years earlier; and at the same times, these men were prophesying in Babylon; while in Judea were Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, and Urijah the son of Shemaiah. But again, those men were older not only than Ezekiel, but also than Daniel; for in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah the blessed Jeremiah began to prophesy, and Zephaniah says his prophecy was made in the time of Josiah the king. 81.816 And Urijah the son of Shemaiah, having prophesied and foretold grievous things in the time of the former Jehoiakim, endured an unjust slaughter by his blood-guiltiness. Therefore, of those who prophesied at the time of the captivity, the divine Ezekiel is the last prophet. But Haggai, and Zechariah, and Malachi prophesied after the return; and this prophet sees divine revelations full of fear and trembling; and he prophesies not only the utter destruction of the Jews, but also that of the Tyrians, and Sidonians, and the other foreigners, both Moabites and Ammonites, and Edomites, and in addition to these, the Egyptians. He also foretells the release of the Jews from captivity, and the building of the divine temple, and countless other things, which we will reserve for the detailed interpretation, so that we do not extend the introduction at length. Therefore, having beseeched the very God of the prophet through the prophet to impart to us the gift of knowledge, let us now begin the interpretation. VOLUME I. CHAPTER I. a'. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month. To some it seemed that the thirtieth year was that of the Jubilee; and the Jews call the number of fifty years a Jubilee. For just as the Romans number the cycle of time by fifteen years, so the Jews by fifty. Some have said that the time of the prophecy was the thirtieth year of these fifty years. But I, having first sought the time in the chronicles, found the fifth year of the captivity of Jeconiah to be concurrent not with the thirtieth of the Jubilee, but with the twenty-fifth year. Then having considered that none of the holy prophets ever indicated this time, I investigated and found this to be the thirtieth year of the captivity. For a little later this same prophet is commanded to lie on his right side, and to bear the sins of Judah for forty days, with a day being reckoned as a year.

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τρίτη· καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡ τετάρτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν διδάσκει, καὶ τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἡ βίβλος, καὶ ὁ θεῖος ∆ανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τῆς προφητείας ἄρχεται· "Ἐν ἔτει τρίτῳ τῆς βασιλείας Ἰωακεὶμ βασιλέως Ἰούδα, ἦλθε Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὁ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἐπολιόρκει αὐτὴν, καὶ ἔδωκε Κύριος ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἰωακεὶμ βασιλέα Ἰούδα, καὶ ἀπὸ μέρους τῶν σκευῶν οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ·" καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· "Καὶ εἶπε, φησὶν, ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀσφανὲζ, τῷ ἀρχιευνούχῳ αὑτοῦ, εἰσαγαγεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος τῆς βασιλείας. Πρώτη τοίνυν τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων αἰχμαλω σία ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ ἔτει γεγένηται τῆς βασιλείας Ἰωα κείμ· τοῦτο δὲ πρῶτον ἔτος τῆς τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ βασιλείας. Καὶ τοῦτο ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς διδάσκει προφή της λέγων οὑτωσί· "Ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ δευτέρῳ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἐνυπνιάσθη ἐν ύπνιον." ∆ευτέρα δὲ αἰχμαλωσία, ὡς ἔφην, γεγένη ται ἐν τῷ ἑνδεκάτῳ μὲν ἔτει τῆς τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ βασι λείας, ὀγδόῳ δὲ τῆς τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἡγεμονίας· τρίτη δὲ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτει τῆς Ἰεχονίου τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ βασιλείας, ἐννάτῳ δὲ τῆς τοῦ Ναβουχοδονό σορ ἡγεμονίας. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ταῦτα σαφῶς καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης, καὶ ῥᾴδιον τῷ βουλομένῳ τοὺς χρόνους συναγαγεῖν, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ προφήτου σαφῶς ταῦτα καταμαθεῖν. Οὐκοῦν Ἰε ζεκιὴλ τῆς προφητείας ἤρξατο ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ ἔτει τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας Ἰωακεὶμ, τοῦ καὶ Ἰεχονίου· πέμπτον δὲ ἦν ἔτος καὶ τῆς Σεδεκίου βασιλείας ὃς ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονίου τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐκεχειροτόνητο βασιλεύς. Ἔτεσι δὲ δυοκαίδεκα πρότερος ὁ ∆ανιὴλ τῆς προ φητείας ἤρξατο· κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους, οὗτοι μὲν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι προεφήτευον· ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ Ἱερεμίας, καὶ Σοφονίας, καὶ Οὐρίας ὁ Σαμαίου. Ἀλλὰ πάλιν κἀκεῖνοι πρεσβύτεροι οὐ μόνον τοῦ Ἰεζεκιὴλ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ· ἐν γὰρ τῷ τρισκαιδε κάτῳ ἔτει τῆς Ἰωσίου βασιλείας ἤρξατο τῆς προφη τείας ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας, καὶ ὁ Σοφονίας δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰωσίου τοῦ βασιλέως πεποιῆσθαι τὴν προφητείαν 81.816 φησίν. Οὐρίας δὲ ὁ Σαμαίου ἐπὶ τοῦ προτέρου Ἰωακεὶμ προφητεύσας καὶ λυπηρὰ προαγορεύσας, τὴν ἄδικον ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκείνου μιαιφονίας σφαγήν. Τῶν τοίνυν κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας προ φητευσάντων καιρὸν, ἔσχατός ἐστι προφήτης ὁ θεῖος Ἰεζεκιήλ. Ἀγγαῖος δὲ, καὶ Ζαχαρίας, καὶ Μαλαχίας μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον προεφήτευσαν· ὁρᾷ δὲ οὗτος ὁ προφήτης θείας ἀποκαλύψεις δέους καὶ φρίκης με στάς· προθεσπίζει δὲ οὐ μόνον τὴν Ἰουδαίων πανωλεθρίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Τυρίων, καὶ Σιδωνίων, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀλλοφύλων, Μωαβιτῶν τε καὶ Ἀμ μανιτῶν, καὶ Ἰδουμαίων, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις Αἰγυπτίων. Προλέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀπαλλαγὴν, καὶ τοῦ θείου νεὼ τὴν οἰκοδομίαν, καὶ ἄλλα μυρία, ἃ τῇ κατὰ μέρος ἑρμηνείᾳ φυλάξομεν, ἵνα μὴ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν εἰς μῆκος ἐκτείνωμεν. Αὐτὸν τοίνυν τὸν τοῦ προφήτου Θεὸν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου παρακαλέσαντες τοῦ τῆς γνώσεως ἡμῖν μεταδοῦναι χαρίσματος, φέρε τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἁψώμεθα. ΤΟΜΟΣ Αʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Αʹ. αʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ τριακοστῷ ἔτει, ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ μηνὶ, πέμπτῃ τοῦ μηνός. Τισὶν ἔδοξε τὸ τριακοστὸν ἔτος τοῦ Ἰωβηλαίου εἶναι· Ἰωβηλαῖον δὲ καλοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν τῶν πεντήκοντα ἐτῶν ἀριθμόν. Καθάπερ γὰρ Ῥωμαῖοι κατὰ πέντε καὶ δέκα ἔτη τὴν ἀνακύκλωσιν ἀρι θμοῦσι τοῦ χρόνου, οὕτως Ἰουδαῖοι κατὰ πεντή κοντα. Τούτων τῶν πεντήκοντα ἐτῶν τριακοστὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἔφασάν τινες εἶναι τῆς προφητείας τὸν χρόνον. Ἐγὼ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τοῖς χρονικοῖς ἐπι ζητήσας τὸν χρόνον, εὗρον τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας Ἰεχο νίου τὸν πέμπτον ἐνιαυτὸν, οὐ τῷ τριακοστῷ τοῦ Ἰωβηλαίου, ἀλλὰ τῷ πέμπτῳ ἔτει καὶ εἰκοστῷ σύγχρονον. Ἔπειτα σκοπήσας, ὡς οὐδεὶς τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον παρεδήλωσε πώποτε, ἐρευνήσας εὗρον τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τοῦτο τὸ ἔτος τριακοστόν. Μετ' ὀλίγα γὰρ αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ προφήτης ἀνακλιθῆναι κατὰ τοῦ πλευροῦ τοῦ δεξιοῦ προστάττε ται, καὶ λαβεῖν τοῦ Ἰούδα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα, τῆς ἡμέρας εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν λογιζομένης.