27

sitting upon a throne, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? Therefore such a voice, spoken neutrally, tested the prophet’s eagerness, so that he might acquire a reward for his good choice. Wherefore he did not command him imperatively to go away, but asked neutrally who was ready to do this. But he, replying with much boldness, since indeed he had been cleansed in his lips, said: Behold, here I am; send me. And the voice to him: Go and say to this people: Hearing you will hear and you will not understand, and seeing you will see and you will not perceive. But what they will see by seeing and what they will hear by hearing, he has not presented to us, leaving it to be considered from the sequence of the discourse, whose meaning is this: he whom you have beheld as “Lord” and whom you “saw” with your eyes, O prophet, this one this people too will someday see, but also the voice which you yourself have heard at present, he himself will also hear at some time; yet he will not understand nor know nor will he wish to accept his grace. And through these things he who said these things clearly revealed his own presence among men. And how seeing they did not see, he explains next, saying: they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes; for the Savior, being the light of all, enlightened souls, so as even to “grant sight to the blind,” but they closed their eyes, so as not to see, and thus seeing they did not see; for when someone, having looked intently and observed carefully, disregards and scorns what is seen, or closes his eyes pretending not to have seen, then seeing he did not see. Therefore, seeing was available to them from the grace of the one who appeared, but not perceiving happened from their closing their own eyes and pretending not to see. And so also someone hears with hearing and yet does not hear, when he does not understand what is said or when he disregards and scorns what is said. And this happens when someone makes his own ears heavy, as if blocking and deafening them. Therefore, the voice of the Lord prophesied that these things would happen concerning the people of the Jews, which was fulfilled in deeds at the coming of the Savior, during which, though he was present, “seeing with their eyes they did not see” and when he was teaching “the mysteries of the kingdom,” they did not understand. And seeing the glory of the Lord through his churches filling the whole earth, they are not pricked in their heart, because of the unbelief which they themselves brought upon themselves. Wherefore he also adds the cause: and they have closed their eyes, saying: lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I should heal them. Having heard these things, the prophet asks, saying: How long, Lord? For what will be the end of such blindness of theirs? And he answers: Until cities are desolated for lack of inhabitants. And through these things he signifies the first siege of the place that came by the Romans after what they dared to do against the Savior, during which very many cities of the Jews, under Emperor Vespasian, having been ravaged, were made to vanish completely, so that not even a memory of them nor a name was left. And instead of: and after these things God will remove the men far away, Symmachus has rendered it more clearly, saying: and the Lord will make the men far away. And the discourse signifies the captivity which the multitude of the Jewish nation endured at the same time, and the dispersion in which they were scattered while fleeing the misfortunes that lay upon them. But when those, he says, are removed far away at that time, those left on the earth, he says, will be multiplied, being different from the former ones. And these will be so many that, when compared to the first, they would be considered a very small fraction of their multitude; for, he says, there will still be in it a tenth. Then what the end of these who have been left will be, he presents, adding next: and again it shall be for plundering as

27

καθημένου ἐπὶ θρόνου λεγούσης· Τίνα ἀποστείλω, καὶ τίς πορεύσεται πρὸς τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον; ἐδοκίμαζεν ἄρα ἡ τοιαύτη φωνὴ μέσως εἰρημένη τὴν τοῦ προφήτου προθυμίαν, ὡς ἂν τῆς ἀγαθῆς προαιρέσεως μισθὸν κτήσοιτο. διὸ οὐ προστακτικῶς ἐκέλευσεν αὐτῷ ἀπιέναι, μέσως δὲ ἠρώτα, τίς εἴη ἕτοιμος τοῦτο πράττειν. ὁ δὲ ὑπολαβὼν σὺν πολλῷ θάρσει ἅτε δὴ κεκαθαρμένος τὰ χείλη εἶπεν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγώ εἰμι· ἀπόστειλόν με. Ἡ δὲ φωνὴ πρὸς αὐτόν· Πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὲ τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ· Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. τίνα δὲ βλέποντες βλέψουσιν καὶ τίνος ἀκοῇ ἀκούσονται, οὐ παρέστησεν ἡμῖν καταλιπὼν σκοπεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ λόγου ἀκολουθίας, ἧς ὁ νοῦς τοιοῦτός ἐστιν· ὃν σὺ τεθέασαι «κύριον» καὶ ὃν τοῖς σοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς «εἶδες», ὦ προφῆτα, τοῦτον καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὗτός ποτε ὄψεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς φωνῆς ἧς αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐπακήκοας, ἐπακούσεται καιρῷ τινι καὶ αὐτός· οὐ μὴν καὶ συνήσει οὐδὲ γνώσεται οὐδὲ βουλήσεται αὐτοῦ τὴν χάριν παραδέξασθαι. σαφῶς δὲ διὰ τούτων τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἑαυτοῦ παρουσίαν ὁ ταῦτα λέγων ἐδήλου. ὅπως δὲ βλέποντες οὐκ ἑώρων, διερμηνεύει ἑξῆς φάσκων· τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς· ὁ μὲν γὰρ σωτὴρ ἅτε φῶς ὑπάρχων πάντων ἐφώτιζεν τὰς ψυχάς, ὡς καὶ «τυφλοῖς τὸ βλέπειν χαρίζεσθαι», οἱ δὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔμυον, ὥστε μὴ βλέπειν, καὶ οὕτω βλέποντες οὐκ ἔβλεπον· ὅταν γάρ τις ἐνατενίσας καὶ ἀκριβῶς θεασάμενος ὑπερίδῃ καὶ καταφρονήσῃ τοῦ ὁρωμένου ἢ μύσῃ τὰ ὄμματα προσποιούμενος μὴ ἑωρακέναι, τότε βλέπων οὐκ εἶδεν. τὸ μὲν οὖν βλέψαι ὑπῆρξεν αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ ὀφθέντος, τὸ δὲ μὴ ἰδεῖν συμβέβηκεν ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοὺς μῦσαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑαυτῶν καὶ προσποιηθῆναι μὴ βλέπειν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀκοῇ ἀκούει τις καὶ πάλιν οὐκ ἀκούει, ἐπειδὰν μὴ συνῇ τὰ λεγόμενα ἢ ὅταν παρακούῃ καὶ καταφρονῇ τῶν λεγομένων. συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο, ἐπειδάν τις τὰ ὦτα ἑαυτοῦ βαρύνῃ ὥσπερ ἀποφράξας καὶ ἀποκωφώσας αὐτά. ταῦτα οὖν ἔσεσθαι περὶ τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ κυρίου ἐθέσπισεν, ἣ ἐπληροῦτο ἔργοις ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας, καθ' ἣν παρόντα αὐτὸν «ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶντες οὐκ ἔβλεπον» καὶ διδάσκοντος «τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας» οὐ συνίεσαν. καὶ τὴν δόξαν δὲ κυρίου διὰ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν αὐτοῦ πληροῦσαν πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ὁρῶντες οὐ κατανύττονται τὴν καρδίαν, δι' ἣν αὐτοὶ ἑαυτοῖς ἐνεποίησαν ἀπιστίαν. διὸ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιλέγει· καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκάμμυσαν, εἰπών· μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. Τούτων ἐπακούσας ὁ προφήτης ἐρωτᾷ λέγων· Ἕως πότε, κύριε; τί γὰρ ἔσται τέλος τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτῶν ἀβλεψίας; ὁ δὲ ἀποκρίνεται· Ἕως ἐρημωθῶσιν πόλεις παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι. σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων τὴν ἐπελθοῦσαν πρώτην ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων τῷ τόπῳ πολιορκίαν μετὰ τὰ κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῖς τολμηθέντα, καθ' ἣν Ἰουδαίων πλεῖσται πόλεις ἐπὶ αὐτοκράτορος Οὐεσπασιανοῦ δῃωθεῖσαι ἀφανεῖς παντελῶς κατέστησαν, ὡς μηδὲ μνήμην αὐτῶν μηδὲ ὄνομα περιλείπεσθαι. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μακρυνεῖ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, σαφέστερον ἐξέδωκεν ὁ Σύμμαχος εἰπών· καὶ μακρὰν ποιήσει κύριος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. σημαίνει δὲ ὁ λόγος, ἣν κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ὑπέμεινεν αἰχμαλωσίαν τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους, καὶ τὸν διασκεδασμόν, ὃν διεσκεδάσθησαν φεύγοντες τὰς ἐπικειμένας αὐτοῖς συμφοράς. ἐπὰν δὲ ἐκεῖνοί φησι μακρυνθῶσιν τὸ τηνικαῦτα, πληθυνθήσονταί φησιν οἱ καταλειφθέντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἕτεροι ὄντες τῶν προτέρων. τοσοῦτοι δὲ οὗτοι ἔσονται, ὡς παραβαλλομένους αὐτοὺς τοῖς πρώτοις πολλοστημόριον εἶναι νομίζεσθαι τοῦ ἐκείνων πλήθους· ἔσται γάρ φησι καὶ ἔτι ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ δέκατον. εἶθ' ὁποῖον ἔσται τέλος καὶ τούτων τῶν περιλειφθέντων παρίστησιν ἐπιφέρων ἑξῆς· καὶ πάλιν ἔσται εἰς προνομὴν ὡς