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darkened, and that all things are done secretly by demons. For just as for bats the sun and the light are an enemy, but the night and darkness are a friend; so also for demons and those led astray by them, wickedness and all lawless things are customary and friendly, but virtue and the works of light are hostile, and when they shine, they are immediately darkened, without the one living in virtue needing any toil or labor. For it is enough just to appear and it dissolves all those things. Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for in what is this one accounted by them? Here it seems to me that he is alluding to Hezekiah, who from fear and great agony was at his last breaths. Since, therefore, the barbarians, having taken him as if in nets, thought they had ready prey, and needed no labor for the capture of the city and for his captivity, the opposite happened to the barbarians. For this reason he says: Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for in what is this one accounted by them? That is, that he was accounted as nothing. For they hoped to destroy everything as if in a raid; but everything turned out the opposite; and he who was considered by you to be nothing, but contemptible and easily defeated, this one will appear more glorious than all, enjoying the help of God.

3.τ CHAPTER 3

3.1 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Sabaoth, will take away from Judea and from

Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman. Just as an excellent physician, now cauterizing, now cutting, now giving bitter medicines, contrives the health of the sick; so indeed also the philanthropic God, by various and different punishments strengthening what is loose and fallen among the Jews, now frightens the ungrateful with the attack of barbarians, and now, even before their assault, restrains them with other threats, maintaining the fear in them at its height by the variety of threats. Now therefore he threatens them with weakness and famine and drought, not of the necessities, but also of those things that no less than provisions sustain our life. For not only is famine difficult, but also to be in a state of desertion from those who govern affairs; which is accustomed to show that even abundance is more difficult than famine. For what is the benefit for all things to flow from fountains, when civil wars are born and the sea is stirred up and, with the waves raging, there is neither a pilot nor a bow-officer nor anyone else able to manage the storm of affairs and establish a calm? But when with these there is also famine, consider the excess of evils. God therefore threatens all these things, and first that which is most difficult of all. For behold, he says, the Lord, the Lord of Sabaoth. This word, "Behold," the prophets use continually, whenever they wish to fully convince the hearer concerning the things being said. But not only here, but also from above and from the beginning it is possible to see that sins often preceded bodily weakness, as in the case of Cain; for since he did not use his strength well, he was rightly paralyzed. So also the one at the pool; for that the source of the paralysis was sins, Christ says: "See, you have become well, sin no more." And Paul also says: "For this reason many among you are weak;" because they were sinning, not partaking of the mysteries with a pure conscience. And he delivers the one who has fornicated to weakness of body, demanding this as a penalty for sins. Yet this is not everywhere a penalty for sins, but there are times when the matter also becomes an occasion for crowns, as in the case of Lazarus and Job. And not only weaknesses, but also other mutilations of the body occurred from sins, such as the leprosy of Uzziah because of the shamelessness of his mind, as the hand of king Jeroboam which endured withering because of his senselessness and the

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ἐσκοτισμένον, καὶ τὸ πάντα λάθρα παρὰ τῶν δαιμόνων πράττεσθαι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ταῖς νυκτερίσιν ὁ μὲν ἥλιος πολέμιον καὶ τὸ φῶς, ἡ δὲ νὺξ καὶ τὸ σκότος φίλον· οὕτω καὶ τοῖς δαίμοσι καὶ τοῖς ὑπ' ἐκείνων πλανωμένοις ἡ πονηρία μὲν καὶ τὰ παράνομα ἅπαντα συνήθη καὶ φίλα, ἐχθρὰ δὲ ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ τὰ τοῦ φωτὸς ἔργα, καὶ λαμψάντων αὐτῶν, εὐθέως σκοτίζονται, οὐ δεομένου τοῦ ἐν ἀρετῇ ζῶντος πόνου τινὸς καὶ καμάτου. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ φανῆναι μόνον καὶ πάντα καταλύει ἐκεῖνα. Παύσασθε ὑμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὗ ἐστιν ἀναπνοὴ ἐν μυκτῆρι αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἐν τίνι ἐλογίσθη αὐτοῖς οὗτος; Ἐνταῦθά μοι δοκεῖ τὸν Ἐζεχίαν αἰνίττεσθαι, ἐκ τοῦ δέους καὶ τῆς πολλῆς ἀγωνίας πρὸς ἐσχάτας ὄντα ἀναπνοάς. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὥσπερ ἐν δικτύοις αὐτὸν λαβόντες οἱ βάρβαροι, ἕτοιμον ἐνόμιζον θήραν ἔχειν, καὶ οὐδὲ πόνου δεῖσθαι εἰς τὴν τῆς πόλεως ἅλωσιν καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τὴν ἐκείνου, συνέβη τοὐναντίον τοῖς βαρβάροις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι· Παύσασθε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οὗ ἐστιν ἀναπνοὴ ἐν μυκτῆρι αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἐν τίνι ἐλογίσθη αὐτοῖς οὗτος; Τουτέστιν, ὅτι ἐν οὐδενὶ ἐλογίσθη. Καὶ γὰρ ὡς ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς πάντα ἤλπισαν ἀναιρήσεσθαι· ἐξέβη δὲ τοὐναντίον ἅπαν· καὶ ὁ μηδὲν εἶναι νομιζόμενος παρ' ὑμῖν, ἀλλ' εὐκαταφρόνητος καὶ εὐκαταγώνιστος, οὗτος λαμπρότερος πάντων φανεῖται, τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπολαύων ῥοπῆς.

3.τ ΚΕΦΑΛ. Γʹ

3.1 Ἰδοὺ δὴ ὁ ∆εσπότης Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἀφελεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ ἀπὸ

Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἰσχύοντα καὶ ἰσχύουσαν. Καθάπερ ἰατρὸς ἄριστος νῦν μὲν καίων, νῦν δὲ τέμνων, νῦν δὲ πικρὰ διδοὺς φάρμακα, μεθοδεύει τῶν ἀρρωστούντων τὴν ὑγίειαν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεός, ποικίλαις καὶ διαφόροις τιμωρίαις τὸ διαρρέον καὶ ἀναπεπτωκὸς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπισφίγγων νῦν μὲν τῇ τῶν βαρβάρων ἐφόδῳ φοβεῖ τοὺς ἀγνώμονας, νῦν δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐκείνων ἐπιθέσεως ἑτέραις αὐτοὺς ἀπειλαῖς καταστέλλει, τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τῶν ἀπειλῶν ἀκμάζοντα διατηρῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸν φόβον. Νῦν γοῦν ἀσθένειαν αὐτοὺς ἀπειλεῖ καὶ λιμὸν καὶ αὐχμόν, οὐχὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκείνων τῶν οὐδὲν ἔλαττον τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τὴν ἡμετέραν συνεχόντων ζωήν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ λιμὸς χαλεπὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐν ἐρημίᾳ καθεστάναι τῶν κυβερνώντων τὰ πράγματα· ὃ καὶ τὴν εὐθηνίαν λιμοῦ χαλεπωτέραν ἀποφαίνειν εἴωθε. Τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἐκ πηγῶν ἅπαντα ἐπιρρεῖν, ὅταν ἐμφύλιοι τίκτωνται πόλεμοι καὶ ἡ θάλασσα διεγείρηται καὶ τῶν κυμάτων μαινομένων μήτε κυβερνήτης μήτε πρωρεὺς μήτε ἄλλος τις ᾖ δυνάμενος διαθεῖναι τὸν τῶν πραγμάτων χειμῶνα καὶ καταστῆσαι γαλήνην; Ὅταν δὲ μετὰ τούτων καὶ λιμὸς ᾖ, ἐννόησον τῶν κακῶν τὴν ὑπερβολήν. Ταῦτα οὖν ἅπαντα ἀπειλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πρῶτον τὸ πάντων χαλεπώτερον. Ἰδοὺ γάρ, φησίν, ὁ ∆εσπότης Κύριος Σαβαώθ. Τῇ λέξει ταύτῃ· Ἰδού, συνεχῶς οἱ προφῆται κέχρηνται, ὅταν πληροφορῆσαι τὸν ἀκροατὴν βούλωνται περὶ τῶν λεγομένων. Οὐκ ἐνταῦθα δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ὅτι τῆς σωματικῆς ἀσθενείας αἱ ἁμαρτίαι προηγήσαντο πολλάκις, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Κάϊν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐ καλῶς ἐχρήσατο τῇ ἰσχύϊ, παρελύθη καλῶς. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κολυμβήθρας· ὅτι γὰρ ἡ πηγὴ τῆς παρέσεως τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἦν, φησὶν ὁ Χριστός· Ἴδε, ὑγιὴς γέγονας, μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δέ φησι· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν πολλοὶ ἀσθενεῖς· ἐπειδὴ ἡμάρτανον, οὑ καθαρῷ συνειδότι τῶν μυστηρίων μεταλαμβάνοντες. Καὶ τὸν πεπορνευκότα δὲ ἀσθενείᾳ σώματος παραδίδωσι, ταύτην ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπαιτῶν δίκην. Οὐ μὴν πανταχοῦ ἁμαρτημάτων ἐπιτίμιον τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὅπου καὶ στεφάνων ὑπόθεσις τὸ πρᾶγμα γίνεται, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου καὶ τοῦ Ἰώβ. Οὐκ ἀσθένειαι δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ λῶβαι ἕτεραι σώματος ἐξ ἁμαρτημάτων ἐγίνοντο, ὡς ἡ λέπρα τοῦ Ὀζία διὰ τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν τῆς γνώμης, ὡς ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἱεροβοὰμ τὴν ξηρότητα ὑπομείνασα διὰ τὴν ἀπόνοιαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν