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its elder contrived the operation. First, that by being occupied with these things he might be drawn away from worse things; then that things acquired with toil are somehow more loved, and things that come about over a long time remain more permanently; but of things of which the acquisition is easy, the enjoyment is not highly valued. For the presence of things at hand is easily despised, and deemed worthy of no protection by those who have them. For this reason also the nature of dreams is unclear and indirect, and requires no small sagacity from the mind; and there is a great kinship between the riddles from dreams and the things shown hiddenly in Scripture. Whence also Joseph and Daniel discerned dreams by the prophetic gift, since thoughts are not sufficient for the pursuit of the truth. Indeed for this, purity in life is needed, so that besides the practice of moral virtue, what is veiled in the Scriptures may be discerned. But in addition to purity of life, there is also need for occupation with the Scriptures, so that the venerable and mystical quality of the divine oracles may be impressed upon the soul by continuous meditation. And that the study of the divine words requires a whole life, the life of Moses shows, who in the first forty-year period was educated in the learning of the Egyptians, and in the second forty-year period, under the pretext of shepherding, having withdrawn to the deserts, he devoted himself to the contemplation of existing things. And so then, having been deemed worthy of the epiphany of God after the second forty-year period, unwillingly, by the philanthropy of God, he was brought down to the care of men. And not even then did he remain continually in the practical life, but he also often returned to the contemplative. Whence also the whole multitude was carried away into Egyptian idolatry, while the holy man was with God on the mountain. Such a one also was Elijah, fleeing the crowd of men and loving to dwell in the deserts. p.7 If therefore the search for the truth was labored for by the Saints with all stability of the ruling faculty, how is it not irrational to seek the fruits of countless toils without any effort? For observe Elijah also, after how many withdrawals and quietudes and toils he was deemed worthy to see God. The hypothesis of the book is manifest and to be grasped from itself. Since the Prophet came in times in which wickedness abounded, he recounts the magnitudes of the evils laid up for them and sets forth the cause of God's wrath, in order to lead them to repentance. First he begins with the words against Judea. Since (according to Peter) It was the time for the judgment to begin from the house of God. For naturally we are most angry with those closest to us, when they sin against us. And in Ezekiel the Lord, commanding the sinners to be punished, says, "Begin from my holy ones." For this reason he began from the chosen land of God, and from the city in which the sanctuary was, announcing the impending things; second, of Babylon, then of Moabitis, then of Damascus; fifth, of Egypt, then of the desert, then of Idumea, then of the valley of Zion, then of Tyre, then of the four-footed beasts. In succession to these are the things that happened around the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah; after which are prophecies without any inscription, announcing the sufferings of Jerusalem and of Judea, and the things concerning those in the diaspora, and concerning their return, after the judgment was fulfilled; and the things concerning Christ are sown throughout the whole prophecy, with each of the things spoken historically interwoven with the mystical.

1.t BEGINNING OF THE SAYING

1.8 The vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw, which he saw against Judea, and against Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings

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γείρων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἐπετήδευσε. Πρῶτον μὲν, ἵνα τούτοις ἐνασχολούμενος τῶν χειρόνων ἀφέλκηται· ἔπειτα ὅτι τὰ πόνῳ κτηθέντα μᾶλλόν πως ἀγαπᾶται, καὶ τὰ διὰ μακροῦ χρόνου προσγενόμενα μονιμώτερον παραμένει· ὧν δὲ ῥᾳδία ἡ κτῆσις, οὐ περισπούδαστος ἡ ἀπόλαυσις. Εὐ καταφρόνητος γὰρ ἡ τῶν προχείρων παρουσία, καὶ οὐδε μιᾶς φυλακῆς ἀξιουμένη τοῖς ἔχουσι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ τῶν ὀνείρων φύσις ἀσαφὴς καὶ πλαγία, καὶ οὐ μικρᾶς δεομένη τῆς ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ ἐντρεχείας· καὶ πολλὴ συγ γένεια πρὸς τὰ ἐκ τῶν ὀνείρων αἰνίγματα τοῖς κατὰ ἐπίκρυψιν ἐν τῇ Γραφῇ δηλουμένοις. Ὅθεν καὶ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ∆ανιὴλ τῷ προφητικῷ χαρίσματι τὰ ὀνείρατα διεγίνωσκον, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ αὐτάρκη τὰ τῶν ἐννοιῶν πρὸς τὴν θήραν τῆς ἀληθείας. Πρὸς δὴ τοῦτο χρεία τῆς ἐν τῷ βίῳ καθαρότητος, ὥστε καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἠθικῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπιτήδευσιν τὸ ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς κεκαλυμμένον διαγνωσθῆναι. Χρεία δὲ πρὸς τῇ καθαρότητι τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς διατριβῆς, ἵνα τὸ σεμνο πρεπὲς καὶ μυστικὸν τῶν θείων λογίων ἐκ τῆς συνεχοῦς μελέτης ἐντυπωθῇ τῇ ψυχῇ. Ὅτι δὲ βίου ὅλου δεῖται ἡ τῶν θείων λόγων μελέτη, συνίστη σιν ὁ Μωϋσέως βίος, ὃς ἐπὶ μὲν τῇ πρώτῃ τεσσαρακονταετηρίδι ἐπαιδεύθη τὰ Αἰγυπτίων, ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ δευτέρᾳ τεσσαρακονταετη ρίδι ἐπὶ προφάσει τοῦ ποιμαίνειν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐρημίας ἀναχωρήσας, τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῶν ὄντων ἀπεσχόλασε. Καὶ οὕτω λοιπὸν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιφανείας ἀξιωθεὶς μετὰ τὴν δευτέραν τεσσαρακον ταετηρίδα, ἄκων, ὑπὸ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιμέλειαν κατηνέχθη. Καὶ οὐδὲ τότε διηνεκῶς τῷ πρακτικῷ παρέμενε βίῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐποπτικὸν ἐπανῄει πολλάκις. Ὅθεν καὶ εἰς τὴν Αἰγυπτια κὴν εἰδωλομανίαν ὅλα ὑπηνέχθη τὰ πλήθη, τῷ Θεῷ συν όντος τοῦ ἁγίου ἀνδρὸς ἐν τῷ ὄρει. Τοιοῦτος δέ τις καὶ ὁ Ἠλίας, τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὄχλον ἀποδιδράσκων καὶ περὶ τὰς ἐρημίας φιλοχωρῶν. p.7 Εἰ τοίνυν τοῖς Ἁγίοις μετὰ πάσης εὐσταθείας τοῦ ἡγεμο νικοῦ ἐπονεῖτο τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ ζήτησις, πῶς οὐκ ἄλογον τοὺς καρποὺς τῶν μυρίων καμάτων ἄνευ τινὸς πραγματείας ἐπιζητεῖν; Τήρει γὰρ καὶ Ἠλίαν, μεθ' ὅσας ἀναχωρήσεις καὶ ἡσυχίας καὶ καμάτους ἰδεῖν Θεὸν ἠξιώθη. Ὑπόθεσις τοῦ βιβλίου ἡ φανερὰ καὶ αὐτόθεν ληπτή. Ἐπειδὴ κατὰ χρόνους γέγονεν ὁ Προφήτης, ἐν οἷς ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ κα κία, τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἀποκειμένων αὐτοῖς κακῶν διηγεῖται καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προτάσσει, ἵνα εἰς μετά νοιαν αὐτοὺς ἐναγάγῃ. Πρῶτον μὲν ἄρχεται τῶν κατὰ τῆς Ἰουδαίας λόγων. Ἐπειδὴ (κατὰ τὸν Πέτρον) Ὁ καιρὸς ἦντοῦ ἄρξασθαι τὸ κρίμα ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ. Φυσικῶς γὰρ τοῖς οἰκειοτάτοις μάλιστα χαλεπαίνομεν, ὅταν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐξαμαρτάνωσι. Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὁ Κύριος, προστάσσων κολάζεσθαι τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας, Ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου ἄρ ξασθε (φησί). ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκλεκτῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χώρας ἤρξατο, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐν ᾗ τὸ ἁγιαστήριον, ἀπαγγέλ λων τὰ ἐπικείμενα· δεύτερον Βαβυλῶνος, εἶτα τῆς Μωα βίτιδος, εἶτα ∆αμασκοῦ· πέμπτον Αἰγύπτου, εἶτα τῆς ἐρήμου, εἶτα τῆς Ἰδουμαίας, εἶτα τῆς φάραγγος Σιὼν, εἶτα Τύρου, εἶτα τῶν τετραπόδων. Ἐφεξῆς τούτοις ἐστὶ τὰ περὶ τὸ τεσσαρεσκαιδέκατον ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας Ἐζεκίου γεγενημένα· μεθ' ἃ προφητεῖαί εἰσιν ἄνευ τινὸς προγρα φῆς πάθη τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας προαγγέλλουσαι, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ διασπορᾷ, καὶ περὶ τῆς τού των ἐπανόδου, μετὰ τὸ ἐκπληρωθῆναι τὴν δίκην· καὶ τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ πάσῃ τῇ προφητείᾳ ἐνεσπαρμένα, ἑκάστου τῶν καθ' ἱστορίαν λεγομένων, καὶ τοῦ μυστικοῦ συγκαταπεπλεγ μένων.

1.t ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΡΗΤΟΥ

1.8 Ὅρασις, ἣν εἶδεν Ἡσαΐας, υἱὸς Ἀμὼς, ἣν εἶδε κατὰτῆς Ἰουδαίας, καὶ κατὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ἡμέραις Ὀζίουκαὶ Ἰωάθαμ καὶ Ἀχὰζ καὶ Ἐζεκίου, βασιλέων