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he said: The power, but: The eyes of the Lord, as His sight alone is sufficient to overthrow all opposing things; which David also said elsewhere: He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble; and another prophet again: I will look upon him and I will prevail against him. And the loftiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For when the marvelous victory and those brilliant and wonderful trophies occurred, demons were refuted, and idols were dishonored, and false prophets were silenced, and the tyranny of the barbarians was destroyed, and every mouth opposing God was stopped. For this reason he says: The Lord alone shall be exalted. Henceforth there will be no one who speaks against, nor who doubts the power of God, since the proof of the facts has become so very clear. For the loftiness of His nature He has perpetually, never having begun, but always existing; but He is said to be exalted in the mind of men, when those who contradict and oppose Him, having been persuaded by the very proof of the facts, bow down, and offer fitting praise. For the day of the Lord of Sabaoth comes upon every insolent and proud man, and upon every high and lofty one, and they shall be humbled. And upon every cedar of Lebanon, the high and lofty ones, and upon every oak tree of Bashan. And upon every high mountain and upon every high wall. And upon every high tower. And upon every ship of the sea, and upon every beautiful sight of ships. And the loftiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Here by wall and cedar and hill and oak he means powerful men, metaphorically indicating their power by the height of these trees; and by saying ship and beautiful sight of ships, he alludes to the wealthier among them. 2.9 But what he wishes to say, is this: that every strong man, every ruler, every general, every man clothed in wealth, all, so to speak, the comeliness and strength of men then will vanish and be dissolved; and nothing will likewise avail for escaping the wrath of God, not strength of body, not experience of war, not abundance of money, not the trappings of power, not the multitude of an army, nor anything else of that kind. And he says cedars of Lebanon for this reason, because this tree especially grows there or because the events take place nearby; and beautiful sight of ships, the comeliness of the generals who are adorned with wealth and arms and bodyguards. And it seems to me that he also alludes to the long journey of the barbarians. And all the handmade things they will hide, carrying them into the caves and into the clefts of the rocks and into the holes of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His strength, when He arises to crush the earth. For so far, he says, will the gods be from providing them any alliance, that they will even need help from men and places of safety, so as not to be caught; From the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His strength, when He arises to crush the earth. For lest anyone should attribute these things to the attack of the barbarians, nor think that the fear is from their strength, he leads the account up to the God of all, saying that He Himself commands this war, and from Him is the power † in so great a danger of those who have already sinned †. For in that day a man shall cast out his abominations, the silver and the gold ones, which they made for themselves to worship their vanities and the bats, to enter into the solid rocks and into the clefts of the rocks from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His strength, when He arises to crush the earth. He sufficiently ridiculed them, showing them hiding with their gods and sinking into the earth, and that not even the costliness of the material could avail anything against the impending disaster. And he called the idols bats, either because of their weakness or because of the deceit

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εἶπεν· Ἡ δύναμις, ἀλλ'· Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου, ὡς ἀρκούσης καὶ τῆς ὄψεως μόνης ἅπαντα τὰ ἐναντιούμενα καθελεῖν· ὅπερ καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἑτέρωθι ἔλεγεν· Ὁ ἐπιβλέπων ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιῶν αὐτὴν τρέμειν· καὶ ἕτερος πάλιν προφήτης· Ἐπιβλέψομαι πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ δυνήσομαι αὐτῷ. Καὶ ταπεινωθήσεται τὸ ὕψος τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὑψωθήσεται Κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. Τῆς γὰρ παραδόξου γενομένης νίκης καὶ τῶν λαμπρῶν καὶ θαυμαστῶν τροπαίων ἐκείνων, καὶ δαίμονες ἠλέγχθησαν καὶ εἴδωλα ἠτιμώθη καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐπεστομίσθησαν καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων ἡ τυραννὶς κατελύθη, καὶ πᾶν τῷ Θεῷ στόμα ἐναντιούμενον ἐνεφράγη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ὑψωθήσεται Κυρίος μόνος. Οὐδεὶς ἔσται λοιπὸν ὁ ἀντερῶν, οὐδὲ ἀμφιβάλλων περὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως, τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀποδείξεως οὕτω σαφεστάτης γεγενημένης. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ τῆς φύσεως ὕψος ἔχει διηνεκές, οὐδέποτε ἀρξάμενον, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ ὄν· ὑψοῦσθαι δὲ λέγεται ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅταν οἱ ἀντιλέγοντες καὶ ἐναντιούμενοι, ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῶν πραγμάτων πεισθέντες τῆς ἀποδείξεως, ὑποκύψωσι, καὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν ἀνενέγκωσιν εὐφημίαν. Ἡμέρα γὰρ Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ παραγίνεται ἐπὶ πάντα ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα ὑψηλὸν καὶ μετέωρον καὶ ταπεινωθήσονται. Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν κέδρον τοῦ Λιβάνου τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ μετεώρων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν δένδρον βαλάνου Βασᾶν. Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν τεῖχος ὑψηλόν. Καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα πύργον ὑψηλόν. Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν πλοῖον θαλάσσης, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν θέαν κάλλους πλοίων. Καὶ ταπεινωθήσεται τὸ ὕψος τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὑψωθήσεται Κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. Τεῖχος ἐνταῦθα καὶ κέδρον καὶ βουνὸν καὶ δρῦν τοὺς δυνάστας ἀνθρώπους φησί, τῷ ὕψει τῶν δένδρων τούτων μεταφορικῶς τὴν δυναστείαν αὐτῶν ἐνδεικνύμενος· καὶ πλοῖον καὶ θέαν κάλλους πλοίων λέγων, τοὺς εὐπορωτέρους αὐτῶν αἰνίττεται. 2.9 Ὃ δὲ βούλεται εἰπεῖν, τοῦτό ἐστιν· ὅτι πᾶς ἰσχυρός, πᾶς δυνάστης, πᾶς στρατηγός, πᾶς περιβεβλημένος πλοῦτον, πᾶσα, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ εὐπρέπεια καὶ ἰσχὺς τότε οἰχήσεται καὶ διαλυθήσεται· καὶ οὐδὲν αὔτως προστήσεται πρὸς τὸ διαφυγεῖν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ὀργήν, οὐκ ἰσχὺς σώματος, οὐκ ἐμπειρία πολέμου, οὐ χρημάτων περιουσία, οὐ δυναστείας περιβολή, οὐ στρατοπέδου πλῆθος, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων οὐδέν. Κέδρους δὲ Λιβάνου διὰ τοῦτό φησι, διὰ τὸ αὐτόθι τοῦτο μάλιστα φύεσθαι τὸ δένδρον ἢ διὰ τὸ πλησίον τὰ πράγματα γίνεσθαι· θέαν δὲ κάλλους πλοίων, τὴν εὐπρέπειαν τῶν στρατηγῶν τῶν ἀπὸ πλούτου καὶ ὅπλων καὶ δορυφόρων κεκαλλωπισμένων. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὴν διὰ μακροῦ γενομένην ἀποδημίαν τῶν βαρβάρων αἰνίττεσθαι. Καὶ τὰ χειροποίητα πάντα κατακρύψουσιν, εἰσενέγκαντες εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς τὰς σχισμὰς τῶν πετρῶν καὶ εἰς τὰς τρώγλας τῆς γῆς, ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου Κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν. Τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἀφέξουσιν αὐτῶν, φησίν, οἱ θεοὶ παρασχεῖν τινα συμμαχίαν, ὅτι καὶ τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων δεήσονται βοηθείας καὶ τόπων ἀσφαλείας, ὥστε μὴ ἁλῶναι· Ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου Κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν. Ἵνα γὰρ μή τις τῇ τῶν βαρβάρων ἐφόδῳ ταῦτα λογίζηται, μηδὲ τῆς ἰσχύος τῆς ἐκείνων εἶναι νομίζῃ τὸν φόβον, ἀνάγει τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν, λέγων ὅτι αὐτὸς τοῦ πολέμου στρατηγεῖ τούτου, καὶ παρ' ἐκείνου δύναμις † ἐν τοσούτῳ κινδύνῳ τῶν ἤδη πεπλημμελημένων †. Τῇ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκβαλεῖ ἄνθρωπος τὰ βδελύγματα αὐτοῦ, τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χρυσᾶ, ἃ ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖν τοῖς ματαίοις αὐτῶν καὶ ταῖς νυκτερίσι, τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὰς στερεὰς πέτρας καὶ εἰς τὰς σχισμὰς τῶν πετρῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου Κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀναστῇ θραῦσαι τὴν γῆν. Ἱκανῶς αὐτοὺς ἐκωμῴδησε, δεικνὺς μετὰ τῶν θεῶν κρυπτομένους καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν καταδυομένους καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν πολυτέλειαν τῆς ὕλης ἀρκέσαι τι δυναμένην πρὸς τὴν ἐπικειμένην συμφοράν. Νυκτερίδας δὲ ἐκάλεσε τὰ εἴδωλα, ἢ διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἢ διὰ τὸ τῆς πλάνης