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Enter and shut yourself in the midst of your house. He commands the prophecy to come to pass through actions, and the siege of Jerusalem to be prefigured by what the prophet was commanded to do. 25, 26. And you, son of man, behold, bonds are given upon you, and they will bind you with them, and you shall not go out from their midst. And I will bind your tongue to your palate, and you shall be mute, and you shall not be to them a man who reproves, because it is a provoking house. In the manner of a trainer, the Master anoints the prophet as if he were an athlete, foretelling to him the grievous things to come, and the sullen things to be brought on by the people, exhorting him to endure and persevere, and to keep silent, until He Himself permits him to speak; and everywhere He adds, because it is a provoking house, teaching not to fear those who provoke God "fearlessly"; for the lawless are contemptible. 27. And when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord Adonai, Let the one who hears, hear; and let the one who disobeys, disobey; for it is a provoking house. And these things clearly show the free will of the mind. For you, He says, offer the teaching common to all. But teaching the voluntary nature of obedience, He adds to His words that he who is willing, let him obey, and he who disobeys, who thinks the opposite, let him speak against it; for each will receive the recompense according to the choice of his mind.

CHAPTER 4. 1, 2. And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, and you shall place it before

your face, and you shall draw upon it, perhaps, the city of Jerusalem; and you shall lay siege against it, and build ramparts against it, and cast up a mound against it, and set camps against it, and place siege engines round about. He is commanded to draw the siege of Jerusalem; and the drawing is made on a brick, because of the unsoundness of the inhabitants; for they did not build their house like that prudent man, upon the rock, but upon the sand; wherefore the rivers came, and the rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat upon their house, and it fell, and great was its fall. 81.856 3. And you, take for yourself an iron pan, and you shall set it as an iron wall between you and between the city, and you shall prepare your face against it, and it will be in a state of siege, and you will besiege it; this is a sign to the sons of Israel. The prophet is commanded to represent the type of God; therefore he is ordered to place an iron pan between himself and the city drawn on the brick, being taught that God, though present and overseeing what happens against Jerusalem, will deem them worthy of no providence; but as if separated by some iron wall, He will seem neither to see what is happening, nor will He hear those who supplicate. But these things, He says, do, giving as a sign the prophecy through deeds to those who now disobey and speak against it. 4, 5. And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of one hundred and fifty days that you shall lie upon it, and you shall bear their iniquities. And I have given to you their two iniquities for a number of days, one hundred and ninety days; and you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel, and you shall complete them. After Solomon, in the time of Rehoboam, the twelve tribes were divided, and the ten were sometimes called Ephraim, and sometimes Israel, while Judah and Benjamin were called Judah; but nevertheless there was one people, tracing their lineage from both Israel and Abraham; wherefore, as for one people, what He said according to the division, these things He joined together again; for having allotted the one hundred and fifty days to Israel, and the forty to Judah, He again joined them, as one body and one kinship, into the one hundred and ninety days; and having joined them, He divided them again, and

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Εἴσελθε καὶ ἐγκλείσθητι ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ οἴκου σου. ∆ιὰ τῶν πραγμάτων κελεύει γενέσθαι τὴν προφητείαν, καὶ προδηλωθῆναι δι' ὧν ὁ προφήτης ποιεῖν ἐκελεύετο τὴν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκίαν. κεʹ, κ ϛʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἰδοὺ δέδονται ἐπὶ σὲ δεσμοὶ, καὶ δήσουσί σε ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃς ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν. Καὶ τὴν γλῶσσάν σου συνδήσω πρὸς τὸν λάρυγγά σου, καὶ ἀποκωφωθήσῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς ἄνδρα ἐλέγχοντα, διότι οἶκος παραπικραίνων ἐστί. Παι δοτρίβου δίκην ὁ ∆εσπότης καθάπερ τινὰ ἀθλητὴν τὸν προφήτην ἀλείφει, προλέγων μὲν αὐτῷ τὰ ἐσό μενα λυπηρὰ, καὶ τὰ ἐπαχθησόμενα παρὰ τοῦ λαοῦ σκυθρωπὰ, ὑπομένειν δὲ καὶ καρτερεῖν παρακελευό μενος, καὶ σιγὴν ἄγειν, ἕως ἂν αὐτὸς ἐπιτρέψῃ λαλεῖν· πανταχοῦ δὲ προστίθησι, διότι οἶκος παρα πικραίνων ἐστὶ, διδάσκων μὴ δεδιέναι τοὺς τὸν Θεὸν "ἀδεῶς" παροξύνοντας· εὐκαταφρόνητοι γὰρ οἱ παράνομοι. κζʹ. Καὶ ἐν τῷ λαλεῖν με πρὸς σὲ, ἀνοίξω τὸ στό μα σου, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς. Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, Ὁ ἀκούων ἀκουέτω, καὶ ὁ ἀπειθὼν ἀπειθείτω, διότι οἶκος παραπικραίνων ἐστί. Καὶ ταῦτα σαφῶς δηλοῖ τὸ τῆς γνώμης αὐθαίρετον. Σὺ μὲν γὰρ, φησὶ, κοινὴν πᾶσι πρόσφερε τὴν διδασκαλίαν. ∆ιδά σκων δὲ τὸ τῆς εὐπειθείας ἑκούσιον, προστίθησι τοῖς λόγοις, ὅτι ὁ βουλόμενος ὑπακουέτω, καὶ ὁ ἀπειθῶν ὁ τἀναντία φρονῶν ἀντιλεγέτω· ἕκαστος γὰρ πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς γνώμης τὰ ἐπίχειρα δέξεται.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ∆ʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ σὺ, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, λάβε σεαυτῷ πλίνθον, καὶ θήσεις αὐτὴν πρὸ

προσώπου σου, καὶ διαγράψεις ἴσως ἐπ' αὐτὴν πόλιν τὴν Ἱε ρουσαλήμ· καὶ δώσεις περὶ αὐτὴν περιοχὴν, καὶ οἰκοδομήσεις ἐπ' αὐτὴν προμαχῶνας, καὶ περιβαλεῖς ἐπ' αὐτὴν χάρακα, καὶ δώσεις ἐπ' αὐτὴν παρεμβολὰς, καὶ τάξεις τὰς βελοστάσεις κύκλῳ. Τὴν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκίαν διαγράψαι κελεύεται· ἐν πλίνθῳ δὲ ἡ διαγραφὴ γίνεται, διὰ τὸ τῶν ἐνοικούντων σαθρόν· οὐ γὰρ ᾠκοδόμησαν αὑτῶν τὴν οἰκίαν κατὰ τὸν φρόνιμον ἐκεῖνον, ἐπὶ τῆς πέ τρας, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς ψάμμου· διὸ καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ, καὶ κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ, καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι, καὶ προσέῤῥηξαν αὐτῶν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καὶ ἔπεσε, καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ πτῶσις αὐτῆς μεγάλη. 81.856 γʹ. Καὶ σὺ λάβε σεαυτῷ τήγανον σιδηροῦν, καὶ θήσεις αὐτὸ τεῖχος σιδηροῦν ἀναμέσον σοῦ καὶ ἀναμέσον τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἑτοιμάσεις τὸ πρόσ ωπόν σου ἐπ' αὐτὴν, καὶ ἔσται ἐν συγκλεισμῷ, καὶ συγκλείσεις αὐτήν· σημεῖόν ἐστι τοῦτο τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ. Τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν τύπον ἐπέχειν ὁ προ φήτης κελεύεται· διὸ καὶ τήγανον σιδηροῦν μεταξὺ αὑτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ πλίνθῳ διαγραφομένης πόλεως θεῖναι προστάττεται, διδασκόμενος, ὅτι καὶ παρὼν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐφορῶν τὰ κατὰ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων γινόμενα, οὐδεμιᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀξιώσει προνοίας· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τινὶ τειχίῳ σιδηρῷ διειργόμενος, οὔτε ὁρῶν δόξει τὰ γινόμενα, οὔτε τῶν ἱκετευόντων ἀκούσεται. Ταῦτα δὲ, φησὶ, ποίησον, σημεῖον διδοὺς τὴν διὰ τῶν πραγ μάτων προφητείαν τοῖς νῦν ἀπειθοῦσι καὶ ἀντι λέγουσι. δʹ, εʹ. Καὶ σὺ κοιμηθήσῃ ἐπὶ τὸ πλευρόν σου τὸ ἀριστερὸν, καὶ θήσεις τὰς ἀδικίας οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, κατ' ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν, ἃς κοιμηθήσῃ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ λήψῃ τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐγὼ δέδωκά σοι τὰς δύο ἀδικίας αὐτῶν εἰς ἀριθμὸν ἡμερῶν, ἐννενήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ἡμέρας· καὶ λήψῃ τὰς ἀδικίας τοῦ οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ συντελέ σεις αὐτάς. Μετὰ τὸν Σολομῶντα ἐπὶ τοῦ Ῥοβοὰμ διῃρέθησαν αἱ δώδεκα φυλαὶ, καὶ αἱ μὲν δέκα ἐχρη μάτιζον ποτὲ μὲν Ἐφραῒμ, ποτὲ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ δὲ Ἰούδα καὶ Βενιαμὶν ἐκαλοῦντο Ἰούδα· ἀλλ' ὅμως εἶς ὑπῆρχε λαὸς, ἀπό τε τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κατάγων τὸ γένος· διὸ ὡς ἐφ' ἑνὸς λαοῦ, ἃ κατὰ διαίρεσιν εἶπε, ταῦτα πάλιν συνῆψεν· ἀπονείμας γὰρ τὰς ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα ἡμέρας τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τῷ Ἰούδᾳ τὰς τεσσαράκοντα, πάλιν συνῆψεν, ὡς ἐφ' ἑνὸς σώματος καὶ μιᾶς συγγενείας, τὰς ἑκατὸν ἐν νενήκοντα ἡμέρας· συνάψας δὲ διεῖλεν αὖθις, καί