to those before us; I mean those outside the flesh. For besides having its own historical account, such as that which occurred among us men, it also has a corresponding spiritual meaning among those before us. CHAP. 29. I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Pharaoh was indeed a real man, king of this Egypt, the one by the river Nile; he who then oppressed the sons of Israel and drowned their infants; but he held the place of the devil; and each king recorded in history who is like him holds the place of some diabolical and apostate power. And this is what is shown by, Behold, I am against you, the great dragon, that lies in the midst of the river of Egypt, and so on. But these things do not make sense to be said of a man in a perceptible way. The one saying: The rivers are mine. Not only does he say, The rivers are mine, and I made them, but also that the Lord sits in the midst of his rivers; which come from the belly of those who conceived them 13.824, skilled in falsehood, with those who are watered by them going forth to eternal death; which, so that they might not be drunk, God changes into blood, and it is not written that he restored them to water. And I will put a snare in your jaws. God casts snares into the jaws of the dragon, in order to muzzle his mouth, to abolish impious teaching, and to lead him up from the wet to the dry. And I will make the fish of your river stick. The fish of the river in Egypt are those who seem to live through Egyptian and bodily passions. For these stick to the fins of the dragon, and to his scales, being tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine in the trickery of men. Of the same. The fish are those who cleave to the fins of the spiritual Pharaoh, who is in the midst of the rivers of wickedness, who are disciples of wickedness, and are watered by the Egyptian water, and are united with the dragon in the wet state, and come under his authority. Because you became a reed staff. He who does not lean upon the rod from the root of Jesse, nor is disciplined by the rod with which God visits the iniquity of the sons of David, nor is admonished by the apostolic rod, but leans on false and empty words, leans upon a reed staff, upon the dragon Pharaoh. And I will destroy from you man and beast. As God has men and beasts, whom he saves, so also has the dragon Pharaoh; whom God destroys, not simply, but from the dragon. Or perhaps these are the same who receive this salvation, by no longer being of the dragon Pharaoh. CHAP. 30. It shall be the end of nations. The end of nations is the hand of the Lord upon all Egypt and Ethiopia; and the things concerning men are said of the Egyptians, but the things concerning the opposing powers are said of the Ethiopians. And the sword shall come upon the Egyptians. Egypt in many places is understood as this world, this human and earthly one, from which the true Israelites go out, and journey to the holy land. And its foundations shall fall together. God destroys the foundations of Egypt as a good being, so that no Egyptian edifice might remain; I mean sin. For the Word uproots and digs down, and destroys wickedness, and builds up virtue. Persians and Cretans and Lydians and Libyans, and all the mixed multitude of the sons of my covenant shall fall by the sword. Who can describe each nation, and interpret each one in its proper wicked sense 13.825? It is for God alone to provide the true account of all things. When searching the inner meaning of Scripture, ask for illumination from God. From Migdol to Syene they shall fall by the sword. Migdol is the beginning of Egypt in this direction; but Syene is the furthest part of Egypt, right near the Ethiopians. And the Egyptians are a symbol of men living in sins. And Egypt is the world that lies in the evil one, or the state of wickedness. Syene and Migdol are the borders of Egypt. Those in Syene, therefore, are these men who are at the beginning of wickedness, as if at its entrance. But nevertheless all those
τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν· τοῖς ἔξω σαρκὸς λέγω. Μετὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἔχειν τὴν ἱστορίαν τὸν ἴδιον λόγον, οἷον τὸν παρ' ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γενόμενον, ἔχει καὶ τὴν ἀναγωγὴν κατάλληλον ἐν τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν. ΚΕΦ. ΚΘʹ. Ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σὲ, Φαραὼ, βασιλεῦ Αἰγύπτου. Ὁ μὲν Φαραὼ ἦν μὲν ἀληθὴς ἄνθρωπος βασιλεὺς ταύτης τῆς Αἰγύπτου, τῆς παρὰ τὸν Νεῖλον ποταμόν· ὁ καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ τότε θλίβων, καὶ τὰ βρέφη αὐτῶν πνίγων· ἐπεῖχε δὲ λόγον τοῦ διαβόλου· καὶ ἕκαστος δὲ βασιλεὺς ἱστορούμενος ὅμοιος τούτῳ, τινὸς διαβολι κῆς καὶ ἀποστατικῆς δυνάμεως ἐπέχει λόγον. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τὸ, Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σὲ τὸν δράκοντα τὸν μέγαν, τὸν ἐγκαθήμενον ἐν μέσῳ τῷ ποταμῷ Αἰ γύπτου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἔχει λόγον αἰσθη τῶς ἐπ' ἀνθρώπου λέγεσθαι. Τὸν λέγοντα· Ἐμοί εἰσιν οἱ ποταμοί. Οὐ μόνον λέγει, Οἱ ποταμοὶ ἐμοί εἰσι, κἀγὼ ἐποίησα αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ καὶ Κύριον ἐγκαθῆσθαι ἐν μέσῳ ποταμῶν αὐ τοῦ· οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐκ κοιλίας τῶν συλλαβόντων αὐ 13.824 τοὺς, ἱκανοὶ ἐν ψευδολογίᾳ, ἐκπορευομένων εἰς θά νατον αἰώνιον τῶν ποτιζομένων ἀπ' αὐτῶν· οὓς, ἵνα μὴ πίνωνται, μεταβάλλει ὁ Θεὸς εἰς αἷμα, καὶ οὐ γέ γραπται, ὅτι ἀποκατέστησεν αὐτοὺς εἰς ὕδωρ. Καὶ ἐγὼ δώσω παγίδα εἰς τὰς σιαγόνας σου. Παγίδας βάλλει ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὰς σιαγόνας τοῦ δράκον τος, ἵνα, φιμώσας αὐτοῦ τὸ στόμα, καταργήσῃ δυσ σεβῆ διδασκαλίαν, καὶ ἀνάξῃ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑγρᾶς εἰς τὴν ξηράν. Καὶ προσκολλήσω τοὺς ἰχθύας τοῦ ποταμοῦ σου. Ἰχθύες τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ εἰσὶ ποταμοῦ οἱ ἐν Αἰ γυπτίοις καὶ σωματικοῖς παθήμασι διαζῇν δοκοῦντες. Οὗτοι γὰρ προσκολλῶνται ταῖς πτέρυξι τοῦ δράκον τος, καὶ ταῖς λεπίσιν αὐτοῦ, κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ πε ριφερόμενοι παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδασκαλίας ἐν τῇ κυβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ἰχθύες εἰσὶ κολλώμενοι εἰς τὰς πτέ ρυγας τοῦ νοητοῦ Φαραὼ, τοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τῆς κα κίας ποταμῶν, οἱ μαθητεύοντες τῇ κακίᾳ, καὶ ποτι ζόμενοι ἐκ τοῦ Αἰγυπτιακοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ συνενούμε νοι τῷ δράκοντι ἐν τῇ ὑγρᾷ ἕξει, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξου σίαν αὐτοῦ γινόμενοι. Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐγενήθης ῥάβδος καλαμίνη. Ὁ μὴ ἐπερειδόμενος ῥάβδῳ ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, μηδὲ παι δευόμενος ῥάβδῳ ᾖ ἐπισκέπτεται ὁ Θεὸς ἀνομίαν υἱῶν ∆αυῒδ, μηδὲ ἀποστολικῇ ῥάβδῳ νουθετούμενος, ἀλλὰ λόγοις ψευδέσι καὶ διακένοις ἐπερειδόμενος, ἐπερείδεται ῥάβδῳ καλαμίνῃ, τῷ δράκοντι τῷ Φαραώ. Καὶ ἀπολῶ ἀπὸ σοῦ ἄνθρωπον καὶ κτήνη. Ὡς ὁ Θεὸς ἔχει ἀνθρώπους καὶ κτήνη, οὓς σώζει· οὕτως καὶ ὁ δράκων ὁ Φαραώ· οὓς ἀπολλύει ὁ Θεὸς, οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ δράκοντος. Ἢ τάχα οἱ αὐτοί εἰσι σωτηρίαν ταύτην λαμβάνοντες, τῷ μηδέτι εἶναι τοῦ δράκοντος Φαραώ. ΚΕΦ. Λʹ. Πέρας ἐθνῶν ἔσται. Πέρας ἐθνῶν ἐστι Κυρίου χεὶρ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Αἰθιοπίαν· καὶ τὰ μὲν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ Αἰγυπτίους λέγεται, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις πρὸς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας. Καὶ ἥξει ἡ μάχαιρα ἐπὶ Αἰγυπτίους. Αἴγυπτος ἐν πολλοῖς νοεῖται ἐπὶ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, τοῦ ἀν θρωπίνου καὶ τοῦ ἐπιγείου τούτου, ἐξ οὗ ἐξίασιν οἱ ἀληθινοὶ Ἰσραηλῖται, καὶ ὁδεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν γῆν. Καὶ συμπεσεῖται τὰ θεμέλια αὐτῆς. Καταστρέφει ὁ Θεὸς τὰ θεμέλια Αἰγύπτου ὡς ἀγαθὸς ἵνα μηδὲν μείνῃ Αἰγύπτιον οἰκοδόμημα· τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέγω. Ὁ γὰρ Λόγος ἐκριζοῖ καὶ κατασκάπτει, καὶ ἀπολλύει τὴν κακίαν, καὶ οἰκοδομεῖ τὴν ἀρετήν. Πέρσαι καὶ Κρῆτες καὶ Λυδοὶ καὶ Λίβυες, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐπίμικτοι τῶν υἱῶν τῆς διαθήκης μου ἐν τῇ μαχαίρᾳ πεσοῦνται. Τίς δύναται ἕκαστον ἔθνος διηγήσασθαι, καὶ ἀναγαγεῖν ἕκαστον ἐφ' ὃν δεῖ τρόπον 13.825 μοχθηρόν; Θεοῦ καὶ μόνου παρασχεῖν τὸν περὶ πάντων ἀληθῆ λόγον. Ἐρευνῶν τὸν ἐγκείμενον νοῦν τῇ Γραφῇ, αἴτει παρὰ Θεοῦ φωτισμόν. Ἀπὸ Μαγδωλοῦ ἕως Συήνης μαχαίρᾳ πεσοῦνται. Μαγδωλά ἐστιν ἀρχὴ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐπὶ τὰ ὧδε· Συήνη δὲ ἡ ἐσχάτη τῆς Αἰγύπτου, πλησίον εὐθὺ τῶν Αἰθιόπων. Οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ σύμβολόν εἰσι τῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις βιούντων ἀνθρώπων. Αἴγυπτος δὲ κόσμος ἐστὶν ὁ ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κείμενος, ἢ κατάστασις τῆς κακίας. Συήνη δὲ καὶ Μαγδωλὰ ὅριά ἐστι τῆς Αἰγύπτου. Οἱ ἐν Συήνῃ οὖν οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τῆς κακίας ὄντες ἄνθρωποι, οἱονεὶ ἐν τῇ εἰσόδῳ αὐτῆς. Πλὴν ὅμως πάντας τοὺς