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“planted by the channels of waters”; such as are now their priests who have no spiritual nourishment. And according to the saying, their faces were blackened by extreme shame, because they were led away, sinning just like the others; since even now custom uses the name for those who are put to shame. 104 For it is better to die quickly in war than to be overcome by famine due to a lack of the produce of the field. And one might say that the sword and saber is the word of God; for Paul says: “and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God,” by which, says the bride, “I am wounded with love.” And David says: “gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your comeliness and your beauty.” It is good for those struck by such a sword to fall at the feet of Jesus according to that which says, “peoples will fall under you,” having confessed his kingdom, but not to be taken by a famine of the soul. For the produce of the land is Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, which means House of Bread, of which the Jews, having not tasted, were led away to the land of demons. And the field blessed by the Lord and very fragrant, of which Jacob smelled, signifies the church of Christ. 105 Lest the women seem to have eaten their children out of cruelty, he says they are compassionate; but he attributes the suffering to the necessity of want. And *they prepared* means to light a fire and to roast, which indeed happened during the siege of the Romans; for which reason he also calls the complete destruction of the nation a shattering. And in the second alphabetic acrostic of Lamentations he remembers this suffering. And Josephus has handed this down along with other sufferings with accuracy in his writings *On the Capture*. 106 For after the coming of Christ they were fulfilled. 107 Perhaps because of the fortification of the places and of the wall and the strength of the inhabitants, but especially because of the God who always defended the city. And yet, before Nebuchadnezzar, the Egyptian entered and many times took the treasures from the house of the Lord, but without sacking the city; for he did not oppress it excessively, even though he was an enemy, so that the paradox did not seem incongruous for happening two and three times. One might also say the kings of the earth are also the demons who reigned over earthly things, about whom it is said: “all the kings of the earth stood by, and their rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.” And who these are was made clear by “for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” and by “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”; for they thought that Jerusalem would not be given over completely, thinking the promise to the fathers extended to this nation, knowing nothing about Christ. 108 The righteous blood is properly that of the savior Christ, which they shed and were utterly destroyed, having been moderately chastened for the blood of the prophets. 109 Symmachus says: they became unsettled, blind in the exits, they were defiled in blood, so that they could not touch their garments. Scripture calls the angels "watchers," as in Daniel. These were they through whom perhaps the law was also given through Moses, according to that which says, "For if the law spoken by angels." These therefore, persevering in it and in the divine temple, being shaken, departed. For Josephus relates in his writings *On the Capture* that "at night the priests, having gone into the temple, as was their custom for the liturgies, first said that they perceived a movement, and after this a collective voice: 'Let us depart from here'"; at which time, according to Symmachus, they became unsettled and wanderers and blind, he says, in the exits. For was there not "a distinct vision"? No king, no prophet, nor leader; for "they have failed" since "he came for whom it was laid up, who was the expectation of the nations." 110 He commands the apostles to flee from the midst of the Jews who were polluted by the blood of Christ, and he entrusted their calling also to the angels. Unless perhaps he commands the apostles to call them, who are unclean, to repentance, which they did, saying: “it was necessary for you first

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«πεφυτευμένοις παρὰ ταῖς διεξόδοις τῶν ὑδάτων»· ὁποῖοι νῦν οἱ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἱερεῖς μηδε μίαν ἔχοντες εὐτροφίαν πνευματικήν. καὶ κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν δέ, ὑπ' αἰσχύνης ἄκρας τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ἐμελαίνετο, ὅτι τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως ἁμαρτάνοντες ἀπήγοντο· ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῶν καταισχυνο μένων ἡ συνήθεια τῷ ὀνόματι κέχρηται. 104 Πολέμῳ γὰρ κρεῖττον συντόμως τελευτᾶν ἢ λιμῷ δαμασθῆναι δι' ἀπορίαν τῶν ἐν ἀγρῷ γεννημάτων . εἴποις δ' ἂν ῥομφαίαν εἶναι καὶ μάχαιραν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος· «καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα θεοῦ», ὑφ' οὗ, φησὶν ἡ νύμφη, «τετρωμένη ἀγάπης εἰμὶ ἐγώ». λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ ∆αβίδ· «περί ζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατέ, τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου». ὑπὸ τοιαύτης πληγέντας ῥομφαίας καλὸν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας πεσεῖν Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὸ «λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου πεσοῦνται», τὴν αὐτοῦ ὁμολογήσαντας βασιλείαν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἁλῶναι λιμῷ ψυχικῷ. γέννημα γὰρ χώρας ὁ Χριστός, ὁ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννηθείς, ὅπερ Οἶκος ἄρτου σημαίνεται, οὗπερ ἄγευστοι γεγονότες Ἰουδαῖοι εἰς δαιμόνων ἀπήχθησαν χώραν. ἀγρὸς δὲ ὁ εὐλογημένος ὑπὸ κυρίου καὶ λίαν εὐώδης, οὗπερ ἔπνεεν Ἰακώβ, δηλοῖ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. 105 Ἵνα μὴ δόξωσιν αἱ γυναῖκες δι' ὠμότητα βεβρωκέναι τὰ τέκνα, οἰκτίρμονας μὲν εἶναί φησιν· τῇ δὲ τῆς ἐνδείας ἀνάγκῃ προσάπτει τὸ πάθος. τὸ δὲ ἧψαν τὸ ἀνάψαι καὶ ὀπτῆσαι δηλοῖ, ὃ δὴ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιορκίας· διὸ καὶ σύντριμμα καλεῖ τὴν παν τελῆ τοῦ ἔθνους ἀπώλειαν. καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν Θρήνων στοιχειώσει τοῦ παρόντος μέμνηται πάθους. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τἄλλα πάθη μετ' ἀκριβείας Ἰώσηππος ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἁλώσεως παρέδωκεν. 106 Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν συνετελέσθησαν. 107 Ἴσως μὲν καὶ διὰ τὸ τῶν τόπων ὀχυρὸν καὶ τοῦ τείχους καὶ τὴν τῶν οἰκητόρων ἰσχύν, μάλιστα δὲ διὰ τὸν ἀεὶ τῆς πόλεως ὑπερησπικότα θεόν. καίτοι πρὸ τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰσελθὼν ὁ Αἰγύπτιος πολλάκις ἔλαβε τοὺς θησαυροὺς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου κυρίου, ἀλλ' οὐ πορθήσας τὴν πόλιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄγαν ἔθλιβεν, εἰ καὶ ὑπῆρχεν ἐχθρός, πρὸς τὸ μηδὲ ἀπεμφαῖνον εἶναι καὶ δὶς καὶ τρὶς τὸ παράδοξον γενέ σθαι. λέγοι δ' ἂν βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας τοὺς τῶν χοϊκῶν βασιλεύσαντας, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· «παρέστησαν πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῶν συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ». περὶ ὧν οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐδήλωσε τὸ «εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν» καὶ τὸ «ἵνα γνωρισθῇ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ»· ᾤοντο γὰρ μὴ παραδίδοσθαι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς τέλος, μέχρι τοῦ ἔθνους τούτου τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐπαγγελίαν οἰόμενοι, μη δὲν εἰδότες περὶ Χριστοῦ. 108 Αἷμα δίκαιον κυρίως τὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, ὅπερ ἐκχέ αντες τελέως ἀπώλοντο, ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν προφητῶν αἵμασι μετρίως σωφρονιζόμενοι. 109 Σύμμαχός φησιν· ἀκατάστατοι ἐγένοντο, τυφλοὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις, ἐφύρησαν ἐν αἵματι, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἅψασθαι τῆς ἐσθῆτος αὐτῶν. ἐγρηγόρους ἡ γραφὴ τοὺς ἀγγέλους καλεῖ, ὡς παρὰ τῷ ∆ανιήλ. οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν, δι' ὧν ἴσως καὶ ὁ διὰ Μωσέως νόμος ἐδόθη κατὰ τὸ «εἰ γὰρ ὁ δι' ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς νόμος». οὗ τοι τοίνυν προσκαρτεροῦντες αὐτῇ καὶ τῷ θείῳ ναῷ, σαλευθέντες μετέστησαν. Ἰώσηππος γὰρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἁλώσεως ἱστορεῖ ὡς «νύ κτωρ οἱ ἱερεῖς προσελθόντες εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὥσπερ αὐτοῖς ἔθος ἦν πρὸς τὰς λειτουργίας, πρῶτον μὲν κινήσεως ἔφασαν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα φωνῆς ἀθρόας· μεταβαίνωμεν ἐντεῦθεν»· ὅτε καὶ κατὰ Σύμμαχον ἀκατάστατοι καὶ ἀλῆται γεγόνασιν καὶ τυφλοί , φησίν, ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις . οὐ γὰρ «ἦν ὅρασις διαστέλλουσα»; οὐ βασι λεύς, οὐ προφήτης, οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος· «ἐξέλιπον» γὰρ ἐπεὶ «παρεγένετο ᾧ ἀπέκειτο, ὃς ἦν προσδοκία ἐθνῶν». 110 Τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐντέλλεται ἐκ μέσου τῶν Ἰουδαίων φυγεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ αἵματι μολυνθέντων Χριστοῦ, τὴν δὲ κλῆσιν αὐτῶν καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέ λοις ἐπέτρεψεν. εἰ μὴ ἄρα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καλεῖν εἰς μετάνοιαν αὐτοὺς ἀκαθάρτους κελεύει, ὅπερ ἐποίησαν εἰπόντες· «ὑμῖν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον