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CHAPTER 6. 1, 2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 81.869 and you shall say. The mountains are not rational, nor indeed animate, but also insensible; but for the refutation of the rational, he addresses the inanimate; so also in the case of Jeroboam, the man of God directed his words to the altar. 3, 4. O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Adonai the Lord; thus says Adonai the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the ravines; Behold, I am bringing a sword upon you, and your high places shall be destroyed. And your altars shall be destroyed, and your sacred precincts shall be broken down, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. For since in all these places they raised up altars to idols, he necessarily foretells the coming assault of the enemies, and the slaughters that will happen everywhere, and the sacking of the idolatrous precincts. 5, 6. And I will give the corpses of the sons of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars; in all your dwelling place. From the inanimate he has shifted his word to the rational, and he threatens that he will fill the precincts of the idols with corpses, and the altars of the demons with human bones, teaching through the punishment that they gained nothing from the worship of demons, nor indeed did they enjoy any help from them in the calamities that were brought upon them. "And the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be destroyed, so that your altars may be exterminated and come to ruin, and shall be broken down." And Symmachus interpreted "come to ruin" as "be laid waste." "And your idols shall cease, and your sacred precincts shall be cut down, and your works shall be wiped out." He showed the causes of the punishment; for the philanthropic Lord punishes medicinally, in order to stop the course of impiety; for all these things, he says, I do, and I will bring on desolation, in order to extinguish the madness and rage concerning the idols. 7. And your slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. So the punishment is a teacher of the knowledge of God; wherefore also the blessed David said, "It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I might learn your statutes." 8. And I will leave a remnant, that there might be from you those who are saved from the sword among the nations, when you are scattered among the countries. For since he said, "You shall know that I am the Lord," he necessarily shows those who will be benefited; for those scattered from the 81.872 captivity will reap the benefit from the punishment. Therefore he adds: 9. And those of you who are saved shall remember me, where they were taken captive there. Useful, therefore, is the discipline brought on by God; for it is the mother of repentance. For I have sworn to their whoring heart, which has departed from me, and to their eyes which go whoring after their practices, that they will weep before their own faces concerning the evils which they have done in all their abominations. (10.) And they shall know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain to do all these evils. Uncontested, he says, will be their repentance, for those things for which they abandoned me, but loved the worship of idols; for this he here called fornication; and they will learn through experience itself, that neither unjustly nor unprofitably did I surround them with these punishments; for their impiety shows the justice, and their repentance the benefit. 11. Thus says Adonai the Lord: Clap your hand, and stamp your foot, and say, "Alas, alas for all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and by death." I, he says, who am declaring and decreeing the manifold punishments, you clap, and marvel at the justice of the verdict. Then having foretold the same things again, how they will be delivered over to famine, and to death, and to the slaughter of enemies, and to captivity, and that around the idolatrous altars

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ΚΕΦΑΛ. ςʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με λέ γων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, στήρισον τὸ

πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ προφήτευσον ἐπ' αὐτὰ, 81.869 καὶ ἐρεῖς. Οὐ λογικὰ τὰ ὄρη, οὔτε μὴν ἔμψυχα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀναίσθητα· εἰς ἔλεγχον δὲ τῶν λογικῶν τοῖς ἀψύχοις προσδιαλέγεται· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἱε ροβοὰμ πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ τοὺς λόγους ἐποιήσατο. γʹ, δʹ. Τὰ ὄρη Ἰσραὴλ ἀκούσατε τὸν λόγον Ἀδωναῒ Κυρίου· τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος τοῖς ὄρεσι, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, καὶ ταῖς νάπαις, καὶ ταῖς φάραγξιν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ῥομφαίαν, καὶ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται τὰ ὑψηλὰ ὑμῶν. Καὶ ἀφα νισθήσεται τὰ θυσιαστήρια ὑμῶν, καὶ συντρι βήσεται τὰ τεμένη ὑμῶν, καὶ καταβαλῶ τραυ ματίας ὑμῶν ἐνώπιον τῶν εἰδώλων ὑμῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις πᾶσι τοῖς χωρίοις βωμοὺς τοῖς εἰδώ λοις ἀνήγειραν, ἀναγκαίως προλέγει τὴν ἐσομένην τῶν πολεμίων ἔφοδον, καὶ τὰς πανταχοῦ γενησομένας σφαγὰς, καὶ τῶν εἰδωλικῶν τεμενῶν τὴν ἐκπόρ θησιν. εʹ, ϛʹ. Καὶ δώσω τὰ πτώματα υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ πρόσωπον εἰδώλων αὐτῶν, καὶ διασκορ πιῶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ὑμῶν κύκλῳ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων ὑμῶν· ἐν πάσῃ τῇ κατοικίᾳ ὑμῶν. Ἀπὸ τῶν ἀψύχων μετήγαγεν ἐπὶ τοὺς λογικοὺς τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἀπειλεῖ, ὅτι νεκρῶν πληρώσει τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων τεμένη, καὶ ἀνθρωπείων ὀστέων τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων θυσιαστήρια, διδάσκων διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας, ὡς οὐδὲν ἀπώναντο τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων θεραπείας, οὐδὲ μὴν ἐπικουρίας τινὸς ἐν ταῖς ἐπενεχθείσαις συμφοραῖς παρ' ἐκείνων ἀπήλαυσαν. "Καὶ αἱ πόλεις ἐξερημω θήσονται, καὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ ἀφανισθήσονται, ὅπως ἐξολοθρευθῇ τε καὶ πλημμελήσῃ τὰ θυσιαστήρια ὑμῶν, καὶ συντριβήσεται." Τὸ δὲ πλημμελήσῃ, ἐρημωθήσῃ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσε. "Καὶ κατα παύσῃ τὰ εἴδωλα ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐξαρθῇ τὰ τεμένη ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐξαλειφθῇ τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν." Ἔδειξε τῆς τιμω ρίας τὰς αἰτίας· ἰατρικῶς γὰρ ὁ φιλάνθρωπος κολά ζει ∆εσπότης, ἵνα παύσῃ τῆς ἀσεβείας τὸν δρόμον· ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα, φησὶ, ποιῶ, καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν ἐπάξω, ἵνα σβέσω τὴν περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα μανίαν τε καὶ λύτταν. ζʹ. Καὶ πεσοῦνται τραυματίαι ὑμῶν ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος. Ὥστε ἡ τι μωρία διδάσκαλος θεογνωσίας· διὸ καὶ ὁ μακά ριος ἔλεγε ∆αβὶδ, "Ἀγαθόν μοι, ὅτι ἐταπείνωσάς με, ὅπως ἂν μάθω τὰ δικαιώματά σου." ηʹ. Καὶ ὑπολείψομαι, τοῦ γενέσθαι ἐξ ὑμῶν ἀνασωζόμενον ἐκ ῥομφαίας ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ἐν τῷ διασκορπισμῷ ὑμῶν ἐν ταῖς χώραις. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε, "Γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος," ἀναγκαίως δείκνυσι τοὺς ὠφεληθησομένους· οἱ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς 81.872 αἰχμαλωσίας διασπαρέντες, ἐκ τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ὠφέλειαν καρπώσονται. ∆ιὸ ἐπάγει· θʹ. Καὶ μνησθήσονταί μου οἱ ἀνασωζόμενοι ἐξ ὑμῶν, οὗ ᾐχμαλωτεύθησαν ἐκεῖ. Χρήσιμος τοί νυν ἡ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἐπιφερομένη παιδεία· μεταμελείας γὰρ μήτηρ. Ὀμώμοκα γὰρ τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν τῇ ἐκ πορνευούσῃ, τῇ ἀποστάσῃ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτῶν τοῖς ἐκπορνεύουσιν ὀπίσω τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν, ὅτι κλαύσονται κατὰ πρόσωπον ἑαυτῶν περὶ τῶν κακῶν, ὧν ἐποίησαν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς βδελύγμασιν αὐτῶν. (ιʹ.) Καὶ ἐπιγνώσονται, διότι ἐγὼ Κύριος οὐκ εἰς δωρεὰν λελάληκα τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἅπαντα τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα. Ἀναντίῤῥητος, φησὶν, ἔσται αὐτοῖς μετα μέλεια, ἐφ' οἷς ἐμὲ μὲν ἐγκατέλιπον, τὴν δὲ τῶν εἰδώλων ἠγάπησαν θεραπείαν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐνταῦθα πορνείαν ἐκάλεσε· καὶ μαθήσονται διὰ τῆς πείρας αὐτῆς, ὡς οὔτε ἀδίκως, οὔτε ἀνωφελῶς ταύταις αὐτοὺς περιέβαλον ταῖς τιμωρίαις· τὸ μὲν γὰρ δίκαιον ἡ ἀσέβεια δείκνυσι, τὴν δὲ ὠφέλειαν ἡ μεταμέλεια. ιαʹ. Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Κρότησον τῇ χειρί σου, καὶ ψόφησον τῷ ποδί σου, καὶ εἰπὸν, Εὖγε, εὖγε ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς βδελύγμασι τῶν κα κῶν οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ, ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ, καὶ ἐν λιμῷ, καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ πεσοῦνται. Ἐμοῦ, φησὶν, ἀποφαι νομένου, καὶ καταψηφιζομένου τὰς παντοδαπὰς τι μωρίας, σὺ κρότει, καὶ θαύμαζε τῆς ψήφου τὸ δί καιον. Εἶτα πάλιν τὰ αὐτὰ προαγορεύσας, ὅπως καὶ λιμῷ, καὶ θανάτῳ, καὶ σφαγῇ πολεμίων, καὶ αἰχμ αλωσίᾳ παραδοθήσονται, καὶ ὅτι κύκλῳ τῶν εἰδωλι κῶν θυσιαστηρίων