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attack, they do not wish to enjoy rest. Then he describes their panoply in advance: 28Whose arrows are sharp and their bows bent; their hooves were reckoned as hard rock, the wheels of their chariots as tempests. 29They rush forth as lions and stand ready as lions' whelps, and he will seize and will roar like a beast and will cast out, and there will be none to deliver. They are accustomed to shout a war-cry in battles, terrifying those arrayed against them with a common voice. This cry he has compared to the roaring of lions; for just as a lion by its roaring terrifies both the wild beasts and the cattle, so these men will be able to overcome their enemies by their very shout. 30And it will roar because of them on that day as the sound of a surging sea. Here he has shown both their multitude and their companies |105 b| resembling waves and deafening the ears of their adversaries with their sound. And they will look up to the sky above and to the earth below, and behold, harsh darkness, darkness in their distress. Then, he says, those who are paying the penalty for their madness against me will look up to heaven, beseeching to receive some help, but they will see not my providence appearing like a light but my punitive power bringing gloom upon their eyes. They, therefore, having committed those offenses, paid this penalty; but let us flee the imitation of wickedness, so that we may also escape sharing in the punishment and may with boldness see the Lord Christ, to whom and with whom, to the Father with the holy Spirit, is due glory, honor and majesty, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

3 VOLUME 3 61And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord

sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the house was full of his glory. The prophet prophesied all the things previously interpreted while Uzziah was reigning, but these things now read he saw in the time of Jotham, who, being the son of Uzziah, succeeded to his kingdom. But the prophet alludes to the pause that occurred in prophecy on account of the transgression of Uzziah. For this man, as soon as he became king, enjoyed the care of God and prevailed over the Philistines and the other neighboring enemies; but being puffed up after the victory, he seized the dignity of the priesthood and, daring to enter the inner sanctuary of the temple, he presumed to offer the incense, which not even all the priests were permitted to offer; for it was permissible for the high priest alone to enter the holy of holies. And Azariah the priest tried to restrain him, along with others who had been deemed worthy of the priesthood; but since he did not accept their counsel, the Lord brought a merciful chastisement upon him; for He did not command the earth to gape for him, nor did He bring a thunderbolt from heaven, but He changed the color of his body and inflicted upon him the dishonor of leprosy. Having received this chastisement, he immediately went out of the temple, and remaining at home, he governed the kingdom through Jotham his son. For this reason, the God of all is angry with the people and offers them no oracle, and is also indignant with the prophet for having kept silent and not having offered a reproof. After his death, however, He shows this vision to the prophet. Fittingly, therefore, he mentions his death, teaching when he was silent and when he again received the prophecy. And he says he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the house filled with his glory. But it is necessary to know that he did not see the nature of the Lord itself; for "no one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known." And His is the voice: "Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father," and: "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom

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προσβολήν, ἀναπαύλης ἀπολαύειν οὐ βούλονται. Εἶτα τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτῶν προδιαγράφει· 28Ὧν τὰ βέλη ὀξέα ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ τόξα αὐτῶν ἐντεταμένα· οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ὡς στερεὰ πέτρα ἐλογίσθησαν, οἱ τροχοὶ τῶν ἁρμάτων αὐτῶν ὡς καταιγίδες· 29ὁρμῶσιν ὡς λέοντες καὶ παρεστήκασιν ὡς σκύμνοι λεόντων, καὶ ἐπιλήψεται καὶ βοήσει ὡς θηρίον καὶ ἐκβαλεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ῥυόμενος. Ἀλαλάζειν εἰώθασιν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις, τοὺς ἀντιπαραταττο μένους τῇ κοινῇ φωνῇ δεδιττόμενοι. Ταύτην τὴν βοὴν βρυχηθμῷ λεόντων ἀπείκασεν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ λέων βρυχώ μενος καὶ τὰ θηρία καὶ τὰ κτήνη φοβεῖ, οὕτως οὗτοι αὐτοβοεὶ τῶν πολεμίων περιγενέσθαι δυνήσονται. 30Καὶ βοήσει δι' αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ὡς φωνὴ θαλάσ σης κυμαινούσης. Ἐνταῦθα καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἔδειξε καὶ τοὺς λόχους |105 b| κύμασιν ἐοικότας καὶ τῇ φωνῇ κατακτυ ποῦντας τῶν ἀντιπάλων τὰς ἀκοάς. Καὶ ἐμβλέψονται εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω, καὶ ἰδοὺ σκότος σκληρόν, σκότος ἐν τῇ ἀπορίᾳ αὐτῶν. Τότε φησὶν οἱ τῆς κατ' ἐμοῦ μανίας τίνοντες δίκας ἀνα βλέψουσι μὲν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπικουρίας τινὸς ἀντιβολοῦντες τυχεῖν, ὄψονται δὲ οὐ τὴν πρόνοιάν μου δίκην φωτὸς ἐπιφαι νομένην ἀλλὰ τὴν τιμωρητικὴν δύναμιν ζόφον αὐτῶν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπιφέρουσαν. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἐκεῖνα πεπλημμεληκότες ταύτην ἔτισαν τὴν δίκην· ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς πονηρίας τὴν μίμησιν φύγωμεν, ἵνα καὶ τὴν τῆς τιμωρίας διαφύγωμεν κοινωνίαν καὶ μετὰ παρρησίας ἴδωμεν τὸν δεσπότην Χριστόν, ᾧ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ πατρὶ σὺν <τῷ> ἁγίῳ πνεύματι δόξα πρέπει, τιμὴ καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

3 ΤΟΜΟΣ Γʹ 61Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶδον τὸν κύριον

καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, καὶ πλήρης ὁ οἶκος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. Ἅπαντα μὲν τὰ προηρμηνευμένα βασιλεύοντος Ὀζίου προεθέσπισεν ὁ προ φήτης, ταῦτα δὲ τὰ νῦν ἀνεγνωσμένα ἐπὶ Ἰωάθαμ ἐθεάσατο, ὃς υἱὸς ὢν Ὀζίου τὴν ἐκείνου διεδέξατο βασιλείαν. Αἰνίττεται δὲ ὁ προφήτης τὴν γεγενημένην παῦλαν τῆς προφητείας διὰ τὴν τοῦ Ὀζίου παρανομίαν. Οὗτος γὰρ ἀπέλαυσε μὲν εὐθὺς βασιλεύσας τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κηδεμονίας καὶ τῶν τε Ἀλλοφύλων τῶν τε ἄλλων πλησιοχώρων ἐκράτησε πολεμίων· τυφωθεὶς δὲ μετὰ τὴν νίκην καὶ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἥρπασε τὴν ἀξίαν καὶ τῶν ἀδύτων τοῦ ναοῦ κατατολμήσας προσενεγκεῖν ἐτόλμησε τὸ θυμίαμα, ὃ οὐδὲ πᾶσιν ἐξῆν προσφέρειν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν· μόνῳ γὰρ εἰσιτητὸν ἦν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων. Καὶ ἐπειράθη μὲν αὐτὸν ἐπισχεῖν Ἀζαρίας ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἕτεροι σὺν τούτῳ τῆς ἱερω σύνης ἠξιωμένοι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδὲ τὴν τούτων ἐδέξατο συμβουλήν, φιλάνθρωπον αὐτῷ παιδείαν ὁ δεσπότης ἐπή γαγεν· οὐ γὰρ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτῷ χῆναι τὴν γῆν οὐδὲ πρηστῆρα οὐρανόθεν ἐπήνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἐνήλλαξε χρόαν καὶ τῆς λέπρας αὐτῷ τὴν ἀτιμίαν ἐπέθηκεν. Ταύτην δεξά μενος τὴν παιδείαν παραυτίκα μὲν ἐξελήλυθε τοῦ νεώ, οἴκοι δὲ καθήμενος διὰ Ἰωάθαμ τοῦ παιδὸς διεῖπε τὴν βασιλείαν. Τούτου χάριν ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς χαλεπαίνει μὲν τῷ λαῷ καὶ οὐδεμίαν αὐτοῖς προσφέρει χρησμολογίαν, ἀγανακτεῖ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ προφήτου σεσιγηκότος καὶ μὴ προσενηνοχότος τὸν ἔλεγχον. Μετὰ μέντοι τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν ταύτην δείκνυσι τῷ προφήτῃ τὴν ὀπτασίαν. Εἰκότως τοίνυν τῆς ἐκείνου μέμνηται τελευτῆς διδάσκων πότε μὲν ἐσίγησε πότε δὲ πάλιν τὴν προφητείαν ἀπέλαβεν. Καὶ λέγ ει τεθεᾶσθαι τὸν κύριον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου καθήμενον καὶ τὸν οἶκον τῆς δόξης πεπληρω μένον. Εἰδέναι δὲ χρή, ὡς οὐκ αὐτὴν εἶδε τοῦ κυρίου τὴν φύσιν· «Θεὸν» γὰρ «οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· ὁ μονο γενὴς υἱὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγή σατο.» Αὐτοῦ δὲ ἔστι φωνή· «Οὐχ ὅτι τὸν πατέρα τις ἑώρακεν εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, οὗτος ἑώρακε τὸν πατέρα», καί· «Οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα. τις οἶδεν εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ