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a cluster of grapes in the vineyards." For he let out the vineyard to other farmers. "And why do we sit still?" For they did not cultivate the things of God. And what more security could there be, when God who provides security for all things to all betrays it? One ought to say, Let us flee to God, yet they lie below. He who rules nature, and makes trees useless, will he not much more the walls? "Let us enter into the fortified cities." Historically, they later fled to Egypt; but intellectually, it advises to flee to the Churches. "And let us be cast out there." According to the saying: I chose to be cast out in the house of God. "We were gathered for peace, and there was no good." We thought, it says, to be reconciled to God through the law, and not understanding its power, we found no good. "For behold, I send serpents among you." The perceptible enemies, or even the intelligible ones. "Which cannot be charmed, and they will bite." For since those who are bitten feign piety, and are not persuaded by counsel, thinking themselves pious; so are the nets of villainy bitter. "With the pain of your perplexed heart." For it is not possible not to be pricked by the conscience. "The summer is past, the harvest is ended." In a time of fair weather, it says, when it was the time for repentance, we did not repent. "Is there no balm in Gilead?" The mountain of Gilead has many cedars, from which the balm is made for many afflictions. But the city of Gilead, being a city of the Jordan, fashioned idols; therefore they did not have the prophets who heal, because they sinned so. "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" The wounds happen to be deep. Why then, it says, having those who heal, did they not bring forth healing? that is, they did not heal their own wounds, they did not close them? CHAP. IX. "Who will give water to my head?" The prophet asks 93.648 to receive water upon his head, so that for him there may be fountains of tears, and he may worthily weep for those wounded by sin; and their transgressions are enumerated, having occurred both in the times of the prophet, and dared by them also against the Lord Christ. He speaks also against hatred of brethren, and against usurers; and he also foretells the complete desolation of Jerusalem. "Of the daughter of my people." Of the synagogue of the Jews. "And they have bent their tongue like a bow." Not relaxing even a little, but sinning unceasingly with their tongue, just as they indeed assailed the Savior with insults. "He will mock." He trips up with deceit. "They have not heard the voice of existence." They did not wish to hear the voice of the Lord which grants them eternal existence, that is, immortality. "From the birds of the air, and even to the beasts." And the high, he says, according to virtue, and the beast-like have turned aside to evil; and it also signifies the complete desolation of the place. "It is kindled as a desert because it is not traversed." Because no one, he says, was traveling in the ways of the Lord, it has become a desert. "And I will send the sword after them." The sharp vengeance. "And send for the wise women." The Churches, or the souls of the saints, whom he calls wise; for these mourn those who have been slain by sin, as Paul says; And I will mourn for many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented. "Let your eyes shed tears." The tear of repentance. "We have forsaken the land." The knowledge of piety. "And we have cast down our dwellings." We ourselves have become the cause of our captivity. "For death is come up through your windows." In general through the teachers who seem to interpret the hidden things. For the windows make manifest the things within each one through the senses; and perhaps this happened historically, through the enemies; the windows are the inventions of error. "But in this ... let him glory to understand and to know." The word exhorts to glory in nothing except in understanding and knowing the Lord, and that the will of God is mercy, and judgment, and righteousness. "Against Egypt, and against Idumea."

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σταφυλὴ ἐν τοῖς ἀμπέλοις." Τὸν γὰρ ἀμπελῶνα γεωργοῖς ἑτέροις ἐξέδωκεν. "Καὶ ἐπὶ τί ἡμεῖς καθήμεθα;" Οὐ γὰρ ἐγεώργουν τὰ κατὰ Θεόν. Καὶ τί πλέον ἀσφαλείας γένοιτο ἂν, ὅταν ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πάντα πᾶσι παρέχων τὴν ἀσφάλειαν προδίδωσι; ∆έον εἰπεῖν Καταφύγωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν, ἕτι κάτω κεῖνται. Ὁ τῆς φύσεως κρατῶν, καὶ ἄχρηστα δένδρα ποιῶν, οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὰ τείχη; "Εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς ὀχυράς." Πρὸς μὲν ἱστορίαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἔφυγον ὕστερον· πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν εἰς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας παραινεῖ φυγεῖν. "Καὶ ἀποῤῥιφῶμεν ἐκεῖ." Κατὰ τό· Ἐξελεξάμην παραῤῥιπτεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. "Συνήχθημεν εἰς εἰρήνην, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀγαθά." Ἐδόξαμεν, φησὶ, διὰ τοῦ νόμου καταλλάττεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ μὴ νοήσαντες αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν, οὐχ εὕροιμεν ἀγαθά. "∆ιότι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐξαποστέλλω εἰς ὑμᾶς ὄφεις." Τοὺς πολεμίους αἰσθητοὺς, ἢ καὶ νοητούς. "Οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπᾷσαι, καὶ δήξονται." Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σχηματίζονται τὴν εὐσέβειαν οἱ δηχθέντες, καὶ παραινέσει οὐ πείθονται, νομίζοντες εὐσεβεῖν· οὕτως εἰσὶ πικρὰ τῆς πανουργίας τὰ δίκτυα. "Μετ' ὀδύνης καρδίας ὑμῶν ἀπορουμένης." Οὐ γὰρ ἐνδέχεται μὴ νύττεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως. "∆ιῆλθε θέρος, παρῆλθεν ἀμητός." Ἐν εὐδίας, φησὶ, καιρῷ, ὅτε καιρὸς ἦν τῆς μετανοίας, οὐ μετενοήσαμεν. "Μὴ ῥητίνη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν Γαλαάδ;" Τὸ Γαλαὰδ ὅρος πολλὰς ἔχει κέδρους, ἐξ ὧν ἡ ῥητίνη εἰς πολλὰ πεποιημένη πάθη. Ἡ δὲ πόλις ἡ Γαλαὰδ, πόλις τυγχάνουσα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, εἴδωλα ἔπλαττεν· οὐκ εἶχον οὖν τοὺς θεραπεύοντας προφήτας, ὅτι οὕτως ἡμάρτανον. "∆ιατί οὐκ ἀνέβη ἴασις θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου;" Τὰ τραύματα κοῖλα τυγχάνουσι. ∆ιατί οὖν, φησὶν, ἔχοντες τοὺς θεραπεύοντας, οὐκ ἀνήνεγκαν ἴασιν; τουτέστιν οὐκ ἴσωσαν ἑαυτῶν τὰ τραύματα, οὐ συνούλωσαν; ΚΕΦΑΛ. Θʹ. "Τίς δώσει τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ;" Ὕδωρ αἰτεῖ 93.648 λαβεῖν ὁ προφήτης ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἵνα γένωνται αὐτῷ πηγαὶ δακρύων, καὶ ἐπαξίως κλαύσῃ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τετραυματισμένους· ἀριθμεῖται δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ πλημμελήματα, γεγενημένα μὲν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ προφήτου καιρῶν, τολμηθέντα δὲ παρ' αὐτῶν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ. Λέγει δὲ καὶ κατὰ μισαδελφίας, καὶ κατὰ τοκιζόντων· προλέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν παντελῆ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐρήμωσιν. "Θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου." Τῆς συναγωγῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων. "Καὶ ἐνέτειναν τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡς τόξον." Μηδὲ μικρὸν χαλῶντες, ἀλλ' ἀνενδότως διὰ τῆς γλώττης ἁμαρτάνοντες, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα λοιδορίαις πλύνοντες. "Καταπαίξεται." ∆όλῳ ὑποσκελίζει. "Οὐκ ἤκουσαν φωνὴν ὑπάρξεως." Οὐκ ἠθέλησαν ἀκοῦσαι τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου τῆς χαριζομένης αὐτοῖς τὴν εἰσάει ὕπαρξιν, ὅ ἐστι τὴν ἀθανασίαν. "Ἀπὸ πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἕως κτηνῶν." Καὶ οἱ ὑψηλοὶ, φησὶ, κατ' ἀρετὴν, καὶ οἱ κτηνώδεις ἐξέκλιναν εἰς τὸ κακόν· σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τὴν παντελῆ τοῦ τόπου ἐρήμωσιν. "Ἀνήφθη ὡς ἔρημος παρὰ τὸ μὴ διοδεύεσθαι αὐτήν." ∆ιὰ τὸ μηδένα, φησὶν, ἔχειν ὁδεύοντα ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς Κυρίου γέγονεν ἔρημος. "Καὶ ἀποστελῶ εἰς αὐτοὺς τὴν μάχαιραν." Τὴν ἀπότομον ἐκδίκησιν. "Καὶ πρὸς τὰς σοφὰς ἀποστείλατε." Τὰς Ἐκκλησίας, ἢ τὰς τῶν ἁγίων ψυχὰς, ἃς σοφὰς καλεῖ· αὗται γὰρ θρηνοῦσι τοὺς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀνῃρημένους, ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησι· Καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων, καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων. "Καταγαγέτωσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὑμῶν δάκρυα." Τὸ τῆς μετανοίας δάκρυον. "Ἐγκατελίπομεν τὴν γῆν." Τῆς εὐσεβείας τὴν γνῶσιν. "Καὶ ἀπεῤῥίψαμεν τὰ σκηνώματα ἡμῶν." Αὐτοὶ ἑαυτοῖς τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας αἴτιοι γεγόναμεν. "Ὅτι ἀνέβη θάνατος διὰ τῶν θυρίδων ὑμῶν." Καθόλου μὲν διὰ τῶν διδασκάλων τῶν δοκούντων τὰ κεκρυμμένα ἑρμηνεύειν. Αἱ γὰρ θυρίδες φανεροποιοῦσι τὰ ἐντὸς ἑνὸς ἑκάστου διὰ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων· συνέβη δὲ ἴσως τοῦτο καθ' ἱστορίαν, διὰ τῶν πολεμίων· θυρίδες εἰσὶν αἱ τῆς πλάνης ἐπίνοιαι. "Ἀλλ' ἐν τούτῳ ... καυχάσθω συνιεῖν καὶ γινώσκειν." Παραινεῖ ὁ λόγος ἐν μηδενὶ καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ συνιέναι, καὶ γινώσκειν τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ὅτι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστι, τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὸ κρῖμα, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη. "Ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν."