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her soul, that is, the one being restored according to Symmachus. And he says that the sons have vanished because the enemy was strengthened by the things through which they sinned; for when we are pious, he is not strong, for he is weak when we are advancing and is put to death when we are perfected and is crushed under our feet, "being made fine like chaff before the face of the wind, and being made fine like the mud of the streets." For in proportion to our sins he is nourished and has power, but when we have ceased from transgressing, he is, as it were, destroyed by famine. From the opposite perspective, when we do well we strengthen the divine powers for ourselves, and when we sin we persecute them. For this reason Symmachus, instead of *vanished*, rendered *desolate*. A contemplative soul might say these things, having obtained the word of truth and through laziness having lost this gladdening word and all its fruits, which are called her sons, because the enemy, wickedness, has been empowered against her. 36 He calls the mountain Zion, the people Jacob, and the metropolis Jerusalem. And God gave commandments to Jacob, and because they were transgressed, he was surrounded by enemies, but according to Symmachus and according to another version of the Seventy, *the Lord commanded his oppressors to be round about him*, that is, the powers appointed for evil. 37 He has shown that what belongs to Jerusalem is unclean through sin, as through a latrine. And he says "in the midst" of either Zion and Jacob, or in the middle of the whole mountain (for it is built on part of it), and of the whole people, with Jacob now signifying this, the twelve tribes. And it is possible to take Zion and Jerusalem literally in two ways, either the places or the inhabitants. But if Zion is a place, her hands are her works, such as agriculture and whatever is man-made, which he says are spread out and not drawn together nor doing the proper work with their hands, as in a fallow and desolate land. But if he means the inhabitants, the hands would be farmers and laborers, not bringing their hands together for work on account of the circumstances. And if the hands of Zion are spoken of tropologically, how much more the members of God according to the scripture. And the mountain itself, so to speak, groans with the nation, having for its comfort neither God nor a holy man. 38 The "mouth of the Lord" must be understood as the prophets, of whom Isaiah was one when he said, "for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." But Jerusalem is reproached by the Savior as she who "killed the prophets," insofar as she also provoked the mouth of the Lord, delivering them to most bitter toils. But God, who "seeks the blood of the prophets," delivers her young men and virgins to the pains of wars and again to captivities. In return for what she has suffered, therefore, she confesses, presenting herself as an example to the others, so that they may not suffer similar things, having learned the justice of God. 39 After the perceptible sense, understand "virgins" as those living in incorruption, and "young men" as those approved in virtue. For often the saints also suffer with those who are accountable. 40 Who the "lovers" are, Ezekiel has shown, saying to Jerusalem, whom he calls Oholibah: "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you from every side, the sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans"; for these, who were formerly friends, by divine providence turned to enmity. which indeed often happens with love when it turns to hatred; for he says concerning Samaria: "And Oholah played the harlot against me and lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians," and after a little: "Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of the Assyrians." And he says also concerning Jerusalem: "And her sister Oholibah saw it, and she corrupted her lust more than the harlotry of her sister, and she lusted after the sons of the Assyrians." 41 In the prophecy, then, he grieves in his soul as one about to suffer most terribly; but in the present Lamentation, as these things have already happened, he is burdened and confesses that through sin the goodness of God has made her most bitter, so that the one with many children has become childless, and, most terrible, by an enemy's hand. And since this is a personification, one should not seek for a city's womb that has given birth and a heart that is undone. 42 He divides

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ψυχὴν αὐτῆς, ἤγουν τὸν ἀνακτώμενον κατὰ Σύμμαχον. ἠφανίσθαι δὲ λέγει καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς δυναμωθέντος τοῦ ἐχθροῦ δι' ὧν ἐξημάρτανον· εὐσεβούντων γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἰσχύει, ἀσθενεῖ γὰρ προκοπτόντων καὶ νεκροῦται τελειουμένων καὶ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας συντρίβεται «λεπτυνόμενος ὡς χνοῦς κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀνέμου, καὶ ὡς πηλὸς πλατειῶν λεπτυνόμενος». ἀναλόγως γὰρ ὧν ἁμαρτάνομεν καὶ τρέφεται καὶ δύναμιν ἴσχει, τοῦ δὲ πλημμελεῖν πεπαυμένων οἱονεὶ λιμῷ διαφθείρεται. ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων τὰς θείας δυνάμεις εὖ μὲν πράττοντες ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐνισχύομεν καὶ διώκομεν ἁμαρτάνοντες. διόπερ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἀντὶ τοῦ ἠφανισμένοι ἐξέδωκεν ἔρημοι . λέγοι δ' ἂν ταῦτα ψυχὴ θεωρητικὴ τυγχάνουσα τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀλη θείας καὶ διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν τὸν εὐφραίνοντα τοῦτον ἀπολέσασα λόγον καὶ πάντας τοὺς καρπούς, υἱοὺς αὐτῆς χρηματίζοντας, διὰ τὸ κατ' αὐτῆς ἐχθρὰν τὴν κακίαν δεδυναμῶσθαι. 36 Σιών φησι τὸ ὄρος, τὸν δὲ λαὸν Ἰακώβ , τὴν δὲ μητρόπολιν Ἱερουσαλήμ. ἐνετείλατο δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἐντολὰς δι' ἃς παραβαινομένας ὑπ' ἐχθρῶν ἐκυκλώθη, κατὰ δὲ Σύμμαχον καὶ καθ' ἑτέραν ἔκδοσιν τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα ἐνετείλατο κύριος κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι τοὺς θλίβοντας αὐτόν , δηλαδὴ ταῖς εἰς τὸ κακοῦν τεταγμέναις δυνάμεσιν. 37 Τὸ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ δι' ἁμαρτίας ἀκάθαρτον ὡς δι' ἀφέδρου δε δήλωκεν. ἀνὰ μέσον δὲ λέγει ἢ τῆς Σιὼν καὶ τοῦ Ἰακώβ , ἢ ὅλου μὲν τοῦ ὄρους μέση (ἐν μέρει γὰρ αὐτοῦ ᾠκοδόμηται), ὅλου δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ, νῦν τοῦτο σημαίνοντος Ἰακώβ , τὰ δυοκαίδεκα σκῆπτρα. διχῶς δὲ κατὰ λέξιν ἔστι λαβεῖν τὴν Σιὼν καὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ , ἢ τοὺς τόπους ἢ τοὺς οἰκήτορας. ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν τόπος ἡ Σιών, χεῖρας αὐτῆς τὰ ἔργα, οἷον γεωργία καὶ εἴ τι χειροποίητον, φησὶ διαπεπετασμένας καὶ οὐ συνεστραμμένας οὐδὲ τὸ πρέπον ἔργον χερσὶ ποιουμένας, ὡς ἐν ἀργῷ καὶ ἐρήμῳ τῇ χώρᾳ. εἰ δὲ τοὺς ἐν οικοῦντας λέγει, χεῖρες ἂν εἶεν γεωργοὶ καὶ ἐργάται, μὴ συστέλλοντες εἰς ἔργα τὰς χεῖρας διὰ τὰ περιστάντα. εἰ δὲ τῆς Σιὼν χεῖρες τρο πολογοῦνται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὰ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν μέλη τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ὄρος, ὡς εἰπεῖν, μετὰ τοῦ ἔθνους στενάζει, οὐκ ἔχον εἰς παραμυθίαν οὐ θεόν, οὐχ ἅγιον ἄνδρα. 38 Στόμα κυρίου τοὺς προφήτας ἐκληπτέον, ὧν ὑπάρχων Ἡσαΐας ἔλεγε· «τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα». Ἱερουσαλὴμ δὲ ὠνεί δισται ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ὡς «ἀποκτείνασα τοὺς προφήτας», καθὸ καὶ παρεπίκρανε τὸ στόμα κυρίου πόνοις αὐτοὺς πικροτάτοις ἐκδοῦσα. ὁ δὲ «τὸ αἷμα τῶν προφητῶν ἐκζητῶν» θεὸς ἀλγηδόσι ταῖς ἐκ πολέμων καὶ πάλιν αἰχμαλωσίαις παραδίδωσιν αὐτῆς νεα νίσκους τε καὶ παρθένους . ἀνθ' ὧν οὖν πέπονθεν, ἐξομολογεῖται τοῖς ἄλλοις ἑαυτὴν παράδειγμα τούτοις παρέχουσα, πρὸς τὸ μὴ πα θεῖν παραπλήσια τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μαθόντας δικαιοσύνην. 39 Μετὰ τὸ αἰσθητόν, παρθένους νόει τοὺς ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ βιοῦντας, νεανίσκους δὲ τοὺς ἐν ἀρετῇ εὐδοκίμους. πολλάκις γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι τοῖς ὑπευθύνοις συμπάσχουσιν. 40 Τοὺς ἐραστὰς οἵτινές εἰσι, δεδήλωκεν Ἰεζεκιὴλ λέγων πρὸς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἣν Ὀλίβαν καλεῖ· «τάδε λέγει κύριος κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐξεγείρω τοὺς ἐραστάς σου ἐπὶ σὲ κυκλόθεν, υἱοὺς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πάντας τοὺς Χαλδαίους»· οὗτοι γὰρ πρότερον ὄντες φίλοι κατὰ θείαν πρόνοιαν εἰς ἔχθραν μετέβαλον. ὃ δὴ πολλάκις ἐπὶ ἔρωτος γίνεται τρεπομένου πρὸς μῖσος· λέγει γὰρ περὶ μὲν Σαμαρείας· «καὶ ἐξεπόρνευσεν ἡ Ὄλλα ἀπ' ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐπέθετο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐραστὰς αὐτῆς τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους», καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «διὰ τοῦτο παρέδωκεν αὐτὴν εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἐραστῶν αὐτῆς, εἰς χεῖρας υἱῶν Ἀσσυρίων». λέγει δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ· «καὶ εἶδεν ἡ ἀδελφὴ αὐτῆς Ὀλίβα, καὶ διέφθειρε τὴν ἐπίθεσιν αὐτῆς ὑπὲρ τὴν πορνείαν τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἐπέθετο». 41 Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ προφητείᾳ ἀλγεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ὡς πεισόμενος δει νότατα· ἐν δὲ τῷ παρόντι Θρήνῳ, ὡς ἤδη τούτων συμβεβηκότων, ἄχθεταί τε καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὁμολογεῖ τὴν χρηστότητα τοῦ θεοῦ πικροτάτην ἑαυτὴν καταστῆσαι, ὡς καὶ ἀτεκνωθῆναι τὴν πολύ τεκνον, καὶ τὸ δεινότατον, πολεμίᾳ χειρί. προσωποποιίας δὲ οὔσης, οὐ δεῖ ζητεῖν πόλεως κοιλίαν τεκοῦσαν καὶ καρδίαν λελυμένην. 42 Μερίζει