26

and they prefer the king of Damascus and Samaria to her, and he foretells the attack of the king of the Assyrians, and speaks thus: 5And the Lord spoke to me yet again: 6Because this people does not desire the water of Siloam that goes softly, but desires to have Rezin and the son of Remaliah as king over you, 7therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and mighty, the king of the Assyrians and all his glory. He calls the water of Siloam not the lawless Ahaz but the king hidden in him, who was named Emmanuel, who received the name Spoil-quickly-plunder-swiftly, concerning whom it is said: "He shall not strive, nor cry aloud, neither shall his voice be heard in the streets." For so also here it is called the water that goes softly. Since, therefore, even after this prophecy they preferred the kingdom of Samaria and Damascus, very justly he threatens them with the most burdensome king and likens him to a very great, overflowing river. And he will come up over every ravine of yours and will walk upon every wall of yours 8and he will take away from Judea a man who will be able to lift up his head or to accomplish anything. And his camp will be so as to fill the breadth of your country. These things are taught also by the fourth book of Kingdoms and the second of Chronicles and the prophet Jeremiah; for having led away all the mighty, he left a few of the poor of the land as farmers. God with us; 9Know, O nations, and be vanquished; listen, to the end of the earth, you mighty ones, be vanquished. The phrase "God with us" is "Emmanuel" in the Hebrew. Since, therefore, the prophet foretold his conception and birth, rightly |110 b| he is proud in him and exults against his enemies and says to the already vanquished Israelites and Syrians: For if you are strong again, you will be vanquished again. 10And whatever counsel you shall take, the Lord will scatter, and whatever word you shall speak shall not abide in you, for God is with us. These things, then, should be understood according to the plain meaning and according to the sequence of what was previously interpreted. But since the prophet called those who dwell in the remotest parts and foretells their defeat, one might more truly apply these words to the holy apostles. For they, traversing the inhabited world, would cry out: God is with us, know, O nations, and be vanquished; accept the saving defeat, submit to the Lord and beseech him, flee the tyranny of demons and embrace the good servitude of the Lord; for even if you now speak against us and devise our death, yet a little later you will be vanquished, and the Lord of all will scatter your evil counsels; for he is with us. But the Three interpreted the passage more clearly: "Assemble, peoples, and be vanquished, and give ear, all you from far off of the earth; gird yourselves and be vanquished, and again gird yourselves and be vanquished; you will take counsel, and it will be scattered; you will speak a word, and it will not stand; for God is with us." These things the prophetic word proclaims to all who inhabit the world, that even if they gird themselves ten thousand times and array themselves against the holy apostles, they will later be vanquished; for Emmanuel has dominion over all. 11Thus says the Lord: With a mighty hand they are disobedient and in the path of the way of this people, saying: 12Do not say, "Hard." For everything that this people says is hard. They see, he says, the strength of the right hand of God and the wonders worked by it, and they contradict, daring the same things as the Jews and imitating their path; for the Jews also instructed the holy apostles not to preach the Lord Christ. "Did we not strictly command you," they said, "not to speak in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." This he here calls hard, as not pleasing to the wicked mind of the Jews. But

26

καὶ ταύτης προτιμῶσι τῆς ∆αμασκοῦ καὶ τῆς Σαμαρείας τὸν βασιλέα καὶ προλέγει τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων τὴν ἔφοδον, λέγει δὲ οὕτω· 5Καὶ προσέθετο κύριος λαλῆσαί μοι ἔτι· 6∆ιὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Σιλωὰμ τὸ πορευόμενον ἡσυχῇ ἀλλὰ βούλεσθαι ἔχειν τὸν Ῥαασὶν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Ῥομελίου βασιλέα ἐφ' ὑμῶν, 7διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἀνάγει κύριος ἐφ' ὑμᾶς τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ τὸ πολύ, τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. Ὕδωρ τοῦ Σιλωὰμ οὐ τὸν Ἄχαζ καλεῖ τὸν παράνομον ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ κρυπτόμενον βασιλέα τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ προσαγο ρευθέντα, τὸν δεξάμενον προσηγορίαν Ταχέως-σκύλευσον- ὀξέως-προνόμευσον, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· «Οὐκ ἐρίσει οὐδὲ κραυγάσει, οὐδὲ ἀκουσθήσεται ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ.» Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἐνταῦθα καλεῖται τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ πορευόμενον ἡσυχῇ. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ μετὰ τὴν πρόρρησιν ταύτην προετίμων τὴν τῆς Σαμαρείας καὶ ∆αμασκοῦ βασιλείαν, μάλα δικαίως αὐτοῖς τὸν βαρύτατον ἀπειλεῖ βασιλέα καὶ ποταμῷ ἀπεικάζει μεγίστῳ πλημμυροῦντι. Καὶ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φάραγγα ὑμῶν καὶ περιπατήσει ἐπὶ πᾶν τεῖχος ὑμῶν 8καὶ ἀφελεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἄνθρωπον ὃς δυνήσεται κεφαλὴν ἆραι ἢ δυνατὸν συντελέσασθαί τι. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὸ πλάτος τῆς χώρας σου. Ταῦτα καὶ ἡ τετάρτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν διδάσκει καὶ ἡ δευτέρα τῶν Παραλειπομένων καὶ ὁ προφή της Ἱερεμίας· πάντας γὰρ τοὺς δυνατοὺς ἀπαγαγὼν ὀλίγους τῶν πενήτων τῆς γῆς κατέλιπε γεωργούς. Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός· 9Γνῶτε ἔθνη καὶ ἡττᾶσθε, ἐπακούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, ἰσχυκότες ἡττᾶσθε. Τὸ μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεὸς «Ἐμμανουὴλ» παρὰ τῷ Ἑβραίῳ κεῖται. Ἐπειδὴτοίνυν τὴν τούτου σύλληψιν καὶ τὸν τόκον προεθέσπισεν ὁ προφήτης, εἰκότως |110 b| ἐπ' αὐτῷ μέγα φρονεῖ καὶ γαυριᾷ κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ λέγει τοῖς ἤδη νενικη κόσιν Ἰσραηλίταις καὶ Σύροις· Ἐὰν γὰρ πάλιν ἰσχύσητε, πάλιν ἡττηθήσεσθε. 10Καὶ ἣν ἂν βουλὴν βουλεύσησθε δια σκεδάσει κύριος, καὶ λόγον ὃν ἐὰν λαλήσητε οὐ μὴ ἐμμείνῃ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν πρόχειρον ἔννοιαν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν προηρμηνευμένων ἀκολουθίαν νοητέον. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοὺς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς κατοι κοῦντας ὁ προφήτης ἐκάλεσε καὶ αὐτοῖς προλέγει τὴν ἧτταν, ἀληθέστερον ἄν τις ταῦτα τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις προσαρμόσειε τὰ ῥήματα. Ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ τὴν οἰκουμένην περινοστοῦντες ἐβόων τό· Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός, γνῶτε ἔθνη καὶ ἡττᾶσθε, καταδέξασθε τὴν σωτήριον ἧτταν, ὑποτάγητε τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἱκετεύσατε αὐτόν, φύγετε τῶν δαιμόνων τὴν δεσποτείαν καὶ τὴν ἀγαθὴν τοῦ κυρίου δουλείαν ἀσπάσασθε· κἂν γὰρ νῦν ἀντείπητε καὶ τὸν καθ' ἡμῶν τυρεύσητε θάνατον, ἀλλὰ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἡττηθήσεσθε, καὶ τὰς πονηρὰς ὑμῶν βουλὰς διασκεδάσει τῶν ὅλων ὁ κύριος· μεθ' ἡμῶν γὰρ οὗτός ἐστιν. Σαφέστερον δὲ οἱ Τρεῖς ἡρμήνευσαν τὸ χωρίον· «Συναθροίσθητε λαοὶ καὶ ἡττᾶσθε, καὶ ἐνωτίσασθε πάντα τὰ πόρρωθεν τῆς γῆς, περιζώννυσθε καὶ ἡττάσθε καὶ πάλιν ζώννυσθε καὶ ἡττᾶσθε· βουλεύσεσθε βουλὴν καὶ διασκε δασθήσεται, λαλήσετε λόγον καὶ οὐ στήσεται· μεθ' ἡμῶν γὰρ ὁ θεός.» Ταῦτα πᾶσι τοῖς τὴν οἰκουμένην οἰκοῦσιν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος παρεγγυᾷ ὅτι, κἂν μυριάκις περιζώσωνται καὶ παρατάξωνται κατὰ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων, ὕστερον ἡττηθήσονται· ὁ γὰρ Ἐμμανουὴλ ἔχει κατὰ πάντων τὸ κράτος. 11Οὕτως λέγει κύριος· Τῇ ἰσχυρᾷ χειρὶ ἀπειθοῦσι καὶ τῇ πορείᾳ τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου λέγοντες· 12Μὴ εἴπητε σκληρόν. Πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ λαὸς οὗτος σκληρόν ἐστιν. Ὁρῶσί φησι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δεξιᾶς τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ ταύτης γιγνόμενα θαύματα καὶ ἀντιλέγουσι τὰ αὐτὰ Ἰουδαίοις τολμῶντες καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων πορείαν μιμούμενοι· καὶ γὰρ Ἰουδαῖοι τοῖς ἱεροῖς παρηγγύων ἀποστόλοις τὸν δεσπότην μὴ κηρύττειν Χριστόν. «Οὐ παραγγελίᾳ» γὰρ ἔλεγον «παρηγγείλαμεν ὑμῖν μὴ λαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ; καὶ ἰδοὺ πεπληρώκατε τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῆς διδαχῆς ὑμῶν.» Τοῦτον ἐνταῦθα καλεῖ σκληρὸν ὡς τῇ πονηρᾷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων οὐκ ἀρέσκοντα γνώμῃ. Ἀλλ'