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requires times and measures of age and then learns what is good and what is evil; but Emmanuel immediately from his swaddling clothes rejected the choice of the worse. Having thus given the sign, he foretells salvation; And the land which you fear shall be forsaken because of the two kings. Because of this Emmanuel, he says, you will obtain salvation, since for the time being his human nature has been preserved in your lineage. But since a little later other enemies were about to attack, he foretells those things also, teaching that the maker is ignorant of nothing in the universe, but himself governs all things and directs them for the best. For this very reason he added; 17But the Lord shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days that have not yet come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of the Assyrians. But the phrase, *from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah*, Symmachus has thus interpreted: “from the day that Ephraim revolted from Judah”. And so also Aquila. The text indicates that, from the day the ten tribes revolted from the tribe of Judah and the Davidic kingdom, such misfortune and calamity has not befallen the tribe of Judah, as he threatens will befall it. And what is this? the king of the Assyrians. And according to the Septuagint, he says God will bring upon you such days as you have not seen since the day that Ephraim removed himself from you. And what are these? the king of the Assyrians bringing evils upon you in them. For Ephraim did not remove the king of the Assyrians, but God will bring the king of the Assyrians and such evils through him as Judah had not seen after the separation of Ephraim. 18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the flies that are in the part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of the Assyrians. Instead of *that are in the part*, Theodotion has said “which is in the part of the river of Egypt”; and so also Symmachus. He calls the Egyptians flies, as having done less harm, but the Assyrians bees; for the sting of the bee is sharper. The history of the Kings mentions both the Egyptians and the Assyrians. For Pharaoh Necho, the king of the Egyptians, both killed Josiah and stripped his son Joachaz of the kingdom, took him captive, and compelled Judah to pay tribute; but the Assyrians, first with Sennacherib, sacked the other cities of Judea, and after this with Nebuchadnezzar they also besieged Jerusalem itself and burned the divine temple and led away as captives those who escaped death. Teaching this multitude he added: 19And they shall come, and shall all rest in the valleys of the country, and in the holes of the rocks, and in the caves, and in every cleft, and in every tree. Through all these things he hinted at the multitude of the enemies. And after this he foretells the complete |109 b| destruction of the Assyrians. For he says: 20In that day the Lord shall shave with the drunken razor beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians the head, and the hair of the feet: and he shall also consume the beard. He calls the king of the Medes and Persians a drunken razor. For this man, having become an instrument of justice, destroyed the kingdom of the Babylonians; for this he calls the head. And he stripped the feet of hair, taking away the courage of those who campaigned under him. And he will take away the comeliness of the beard—that is, he will show the enemies to be women instead of men. 21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; 22and it shall come to pass, that for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. After the return of Nebuchadnezzar from Judea, as many as had escaped gathered together, and living together in the greatest poverty, they remained in Judea, providing for their necessary needs from a few cattle. And since the land was no longer cultivated due to the desolation of men, the cattle had an abundance of grass, and the greater nourishment made the milk flow; of which

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δεῖται χρόνων καὶ μέτρων ἡλικίας καὶ τότε μανθάνει τί μὲν ἀγαθὸν τί δὲ πονηρόν· ὁ δὲ Ἐμμανουὴλ εὐθὺς ἀπὸ σπαργάνων ἀπώσατο τὴν τοῦ χείρονος αἵρεσιν. Οὕτω τὸ σημεῖον δεδωκὼς προλέγει τὴν σωτηρίαν· Καὶ καταλειφθήσεται ἡ γῆ ἣν σὺ φοβῇ ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν δύο βασιλέων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτόν φησι τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ τεύξῃ τῆς σωτηρίας, ἐπειδὴ τέως ἐν τῷ σῷ γένει ἡ ἀνθρωπεία τούτου πεφύλακται φύσις. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἔμελλον ἄλλοι ἐπιέναι πολέμιοι, προλέγει κἀκεῖνα διδάσκων ὡς οὐδὲν ἀγνοεῖ τῶν ὅλων ὁ ποιητὴς ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἅπαντα πρυτανεύει καὶ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον ἰθύνει. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν· 17Ἀλλ' ἐπάξει ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν λαόν σου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός σου ἡμέρας αἳ οὔπω ἥκασιν ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἀφεῖλεν Ἐφραὶμ ἀπὸ Ἰούδα, τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων. Τὸ δέ· ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἀφεῖλεν Ἐφραὶμ ἀπὸ Ἰούδα, οὕτως ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν· «ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἀπέστη Ἐφραὶμ ἀπὸ Ἰούδα». Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὁ λόγος ὅτι, ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἀπέστησαν αἱ δέκα φυλαὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα φυλῆς καὶ τῆς ∆αυιτικῆς βασιλείας, τοιαύτη κακοπραγία καὶ δυσημερία οὐ κατέλαβε τὴν τοῦ Ἰούδα φυλήν, οἵαν αὐτὸν ἀπειλεῖ καταλήψεσθαι. Τίς δὲ αὕτη; ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων. Καὶ κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ τοιαύτας φησὶν ἡμέρας ἐπάξει ἐπὶ σὲ ὁ θεός, οἵας ἡμέρας οὐκ εἶδες ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἀφεῖλεν ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ σοῦ ὁ Ἐφραίμ. Τίνες δὲ αὗται; τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν ταύταις ἐπάγων σοι τὰ κακά. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων Ἐφραὶμ ἀφεῖλεν,ἀλλ' ὁ θεὸς ἐπάξει τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ τοιαῦτα διὰ τούτου κακά, οἷα οὐκ εἶδεν ὁ Ἰούδας μετὰ τὸν τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ χωρισμόν. 18Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ συριεῖ κύριος μυίαις αἳ κυριεύσουσι μέρους ποταμοῦ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ τῇ μελίσσῃ ἥ ἐστιν ἐν χώρᾳ Ἀσσυρίων. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ αἳ κυριεύσουσιν «ὅ ἐστιν ἐν μέρει ποταμοῦ Αἰγύπτου» ὁ Θεοδοτίων εἴρηκεν· οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος. Μυίας δὲ τοὺς Αἰγυπ τίους καλεῖ ὡς ἐλάττονα βλάψαντας, μελίττας δὲ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους· σφοδρότερον γὰρ τῆς μελίττης τὸ κέντρον. Μέμνηται δὲ καὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἡ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἱστορία. Φαραὼ γὰρ Νεχαὼ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ τὸν Ἰωσίαν ἀνεῖλε καὶ τὸν Ἰωάχαζ τὸν τούτου παῖδα τῆς βασιλείας γυμνώσας αἰχμάλωτον ἔλαβε καὶ φόρον τελεῖν κατηνάγκασε τὸν Ἰούδαν· Ἀσσύριοι δὲ πρῶτον μὲν μετὰ τοῦ Σεναχηρὶμ τὰς ἄλλας τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐξεπόρθησαν πόλεις, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα σὺν τῷ Ναβουχοδο νόσορ καὶ αὐτὴν ἐπολιόρκησαν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὸν θεῖον νεὼν ἐνέπρηςαν καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας τὸν θάνατον δορυαλώτους ἀνήγαγον. Τοῦτο τὸ πλῆθος διδάσκων ἐπή γαγεν · 19Καὶ ἐλεύσονται καὶ ἀναπαύσονται πάντες ἐν ταῖς φάραγξι τῆς χώρας καὶ ἐν ταῖς τρώγλαις τῶν πετρῶν καὶ εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν ῥαγάδα καὶ ἐν παντὶ ξύλῳ. ∆ιὰ τούτων ἁπάντων τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πολεμίων ᾐνίξατο. Προαγορεύει δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν παντελῆ τῶν |109 b| Ἀσσυρίων κατάλυσιν. Φησὶ γάρ· 20Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ξυρήςει κύριος ἐν τῷ ξυρῷ τῷ μεμεθυσμένῳ πέρα<ν> τοῦ ποταμοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὰς τρίχας τῶν ποδῶν, ἔτι καὶ τὸν πώγωνα ἀφελεῖ. Ξυρὸν καλεῖ μεμε θυσμένον τὸν τῶν Μήδων καὶ Περσῶν βασιλέα. Οὗτος γὰρ τῆς δίκης γενόμενος ὄργανον τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν Βαβυλωνίων κατέλυσεν· ταύτην γὰρ καλεῖ κεφαλήν. Καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἐγύμνωσε τῶν τριχῶν, τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ στρατευομένων ἀφελὼν τὴν ἀνδρείαν. Ἀφελεῖ δὲ καὶ τοῦ πώγωνος τὴν εὐπρέπειαν -ἀντὶ τοῦ· γυναῖκας ἀντὶ ἀνδρῶν δείξει τοὺς πολεμίους. 21Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ θρέψει ἄνθρωπος δάμαλιν βοῶν καὶ δύο πρόβατα· 22καὶ ἔσται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλεῖστον ποιεῖν γάλα φάγεται βούτυρον, ὅτι βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται πᾶς ὁ καταλειφθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἐπάνοδον συνηθροίσθησαν ὅσοι διαπεφεύγασι καὶ πενίᾳ πλείστῃ συμβιοτεύσαντες ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ διέτριβον ἀπὸ θρεμμάτων ὀλίγων τὴν ἀναγκαίαν ποριζόμενοι χρείαν. Τῆς δὲ γῆς μηκέτι γεωργουμένης διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐρημίαν εὐπόρει πόας ἀφθόνου τὰ θρέμματα, ἡ δὲ πλείων τροφὴ πηγάζειν ἐποίει τὸ γάλα· οὗ