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signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.” Therefore, these have more clearly revealed to us the apostolic choir, even unwillingly; for they said that the children have been given for signs and wonders in Israel. And the outcome testifies to the prophecy; for through them after the Savior’s ascension, innumerable signs were miraculously worked for the benefit both of Israel and of the whole inhabited world. 19And if they should say to you: Call the ventriloquists and those who speak from the earth, those who speak empty words, who will speak from the belly, [will] not a nation [seek] its God, why do they seek |111 b| the dead concerning the living? Through these things he accuses the contrary opinion of the Jews; for having been enslaved to error throughout their whole life, and having used necromancy, and asking the dead about the living, and looking around for soothsayers, they did not believe in the true miracles of the apostles. And yet they had received the law as a help to salvation, and this, without gifts, was leading to the truth; 20For he says he gave a law for a help, so that they may not speak according to this saying, concerning which it is not possible to give gifts for it. But since you obey neither the law that guides nor the apostles who bear the torch to the truth, but embrace error alone, I will surround you with many misfortunes; 21For a harsh famine will come upon you, and it shall be, that when you are hungry, you will be distressed and you will speak ill of the ruler and your ancestral things. But some of the copies have “patachra.” And this meaning is in agreement both with the Hebrew and with the Other Interpreters; for patachre is a Syriac name, but in the Greek language it means the idols. And the Hebrew calls these “beloau,” which is why the Three, Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, interpreted it thus: “And he curses by his king and by his gods.” For indeed the Hebrew has called the ruler “king.” And the extremity of the famine he signified through these things; for, he says, there will be such great want that even the rulers and the gods revered and worshiped by you will be blasphemed. And they will look up to the heaven above 22and they will look upon the earth below, and behold harsh distress and darkness, affliction and anguish and darkness so as not to see; 23and he who is in anguish will not be in distress until the time. You will look around at everything, he says, the heaven, the earth, the rulers, the idols, and everything will be desperate for you; and the excess of affliction will sprinkle a sudden darkness upon you, and this not limited to any time, but until death these grievous things will drag you down, for this is what it means: he who is in anguish will not be in want until the time—instead of: these things are not limited by some measure of time, but they will always be in these things. Having thus foretold these things to the unbelievers, he passes over to the choir of the apostles and says: Drink this first, act quickly, land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, way of the sea, and the rest who inhabit the coastland and beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 91The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; you who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a light will shine upon you. Galilee was the homeland of the holy apostles, and the holy angels are witnesses, who so named them after the Savior’s ascension: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” And Zebulun and Naphtali received that land as their portion. In it the Master worked the most of his miracles, there he cleansed the leper, there he restored the centurion’s servant healthy, there he quenched the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law, there he brought back to life the daughter of Jairus who had departed this life, there he calmed the waves of the sea, there he multiplied the loaves, there he changed the water into wine. And this was the prelude of all the miracles, according to the teaching of John the theologian; wherefore also here the grace of the spirit cries out through the prophet to those who inhabit that land: Drink this first, the new and strange drink, and having drunk, do not delay

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σημεῖα καὶ εἰς τέρατα ἐν Ἰσραὴλ παρὰ κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ κατοικοῦντος ἐν ὄρει Σιών.» Σαφέστερον τοίνυν ἡμῖν τὸν ἀποστολικὸν χορὸν καὶ ἄκοντες δεδηλώκασιν οὗτοι· δεδόσθαι γὰρ ἔφασαν τὰ παιδία εἰς σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἐν Ἰσραήλ. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ προρρήσει ἡ ἔκβασις· διὰ τούτων γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀνάληψιν τὰ μυρία ἐθαυματουργήθη σημεῖα εἰς ὠφέλειαν καὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης. 19Καὶ ἐὰν εἴπωςι πρὸς ὑμᾶς· Φωνήσατε τοὺς ἐγγα στριμύθους καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς φωνοῦντας τοὺς κενολογοῦντας οἳ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας φωνήςουσιν, οὐκ ἔθνος πρὸς θεὸν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐκζητοῦσι |111 b| περὶ τῶν ζώντων τοὺς νεκρούς; Τῆς ἀντιτύπου γνώμης τῶν Ἰουδαίων διὰ τούτων κατηγορεῖ· τῇ γὰρ πλάνῃ παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον δεδουλευκότες καὶ νεκυίαις κεχρημένοι καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς περὶ τῶν ζώντων ἐρωτῶντες καὶ τοὺς στερνομάντεις περι σκοποῦντες τοῖς ἀληθέσι τῶν ἀποστόλων οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν θαύμασιν. Καίτοι τὸν νόμον ἐπίκουρον σωτηρίας ἐδέξαντο, καὶ δώρων οὗτος δίχα πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐποδήγει· 20Νόμον γάρ φησιν εἰς βοήθειαν ἔδωκεν, ἵνα μὴ εἴπωσιν ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο, περὶ οὗ οὐκ ἔστι δῶρα δοῦναι περὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὔτε τῷ νόμῳ πείθεσθε ποδηγοῦντι οὔτε τοῖς ἀποστόλοις δᾳδουχοῦσι πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀλλὰ μόνην τὴν πλάνην ἀσπάζεσθε, ταῖς πολλαῖς ὑμᾶς περιβαλῶ συμφοραῖς· 21Ἥξει γὰρ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς σκληρὰ λιμός, καὶ ἔσται, ὡς ἐὰν πεινάσητε, λυπηθήσεσθε καὶ κακῶς ἐρεῖτε τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ τὰ πάτρια. Ἔνια δὲ τῶν ἀντιγράφων «πάταχρα» ἔχει. Καὶ αὕτη ἡ διάνοια καὶ τῷ Ἑβραίῳ σύμφωνος καὶ τοῖς Ἄλλοις Ἑρμηνευταῖς· τὸ γὰρ παταχρὴ Σύρων μέν ἐστιν ὄνομα, σημαίνει δὲ τῇ Ἑλλάδι φωνῇ τὰ εἴδωλα. Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ Ἑβραῖος «βελοαῦ» καλεῖ, διὸ δὴ καὶ οἱ Τρεῖς, Ἀκύλας καὶ Σύμμαχος καὶ Θεοδοτίων, οὕτως ἡρμήνευσαν· «Καὶ καταρᾶται ἐν βασιλεῖ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν θεοῖς αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἑβραῖος τὸν ἄρχοντα «βασιλέα» κέκληκεν. Τὴν ὑπερβολὴν δὲ τοῦ λιμοῦ διὰ τούτων ἐσήμανεν· τοσαύτη γάρ φησιν ἔσται ἔνδεια ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς παρ' ὑμῶν σεβομένους καὶ προσκυνουμένους βλασφη μηθῆναι θεούς. Καὶ ἀναβλέψονται εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω 22καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω ἐμβλέψονται, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀπορία στενὴ καὶ σκότος, θλῖψις καὶ στενοχωρία καὶ σκότος ὥστε μὴ βλέπειν· 23καὶ οὐκ ἀπορηθήσεται ὁ ἐν τῇ στενοχωρίᾳ ὢν ἕως καιροῦ. Πάντα φησὶ περισκοπήσεις, τὸν οὐρανόν, τὴν γῆν, τοὺς ἄρχοντας, τὰ εἴδωλα, καὶ πάντα σοι ἔσται ἄπορα· καὶ ἡ τῆς θλίψεως ὑπερβολὴ σκότος αὐτοσχέδιον ἐπιπάσει σοι, καὶ τοῦτο οὐδενὶ περιωρισμένον καιρῷ ἀλλ' ἕως θανάτου ταῦτά σοι καθέλξει τὰ ἀλγεινά, τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τό· οὐκ ἀπορη θήσεται ὁ ἐν τῇ στενοχωρίᾳ ὢν ἕως καιροῦ-ἀντὶ τοῦ· οὐ μέτρῳ τινὶ χρόνου ταῦτα περιώρισται, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ἐν τούτοις ἔσονται. Οὕτω τοῖς ἀπιστοῦσι ταῦτα προαγορεύσας πρὸς τὸν τῶν ἀποστόλων μεταβαίνει χορὸν καί φησιν· Τοῦτο πρῶτον πίε, ταχὺ ποίει χώρα Ζαβουλών, γῆ Νεφθαλὶμ ὁδὸν θαλάσσης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ τὴν παραλίαν κατοικοῦντες καὶ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν. 91Ὁ λαὸς ὁ πορευόμενος ἐν σκότει εἶδε φῶς μέγα· οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς λάμψει ἐφ' ὑμᾶς. Ἡ Γαλιλαία τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων ἦν πατρίς, καὶ μάρτυρες οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι οὕτως αὐτοὺς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀνάληψιν ὀνομάζοντες· «Ἄνδρες Γαλιλαῖοι, τί ἑστήκατε ἐμβλέποντες εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν;» Ζαβουλὼν δὲ καὶ Νεφθαλὶμ ἐκείνην ἔλαχον κλῆρον. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν θαυμάτων ὁ δεσπότης εἰργάσατο, ἐκεῖ τὸν λεπρὸν ἐκάθηρεν, ἐκεῖ τῷ ἑκατον τάρχῃ τὸν οἰκέτην ἀπέδωκεν ὑγιᾶ, ἐκεῖ τὸν τῆς Πέτρου πενθερᾶς κατέςβεσε πυρετόν, ἐκεῖ τὴν Ἰαΐρου θυγατέρα τὸν βίον ὑπεξελθοῦσαν ἐπανήγαγε πρὸς ζωήν, ἐκεῖ τὰ τῆς θαλάττης ἐστόρεσε κύματα, ἐκεῖ τοὺς ἄρτους ἐπήγασεν, ἐκεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς οἶνον μετέβαλεν. Τοῦτο δὲ τῶν θαυμάτων ἁπάντων προοίμιον κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ θεολόγου διδαςκαλίαν· διὸ καὶ ἡ χάρις ἐνταῦθα τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ προφήτου βοᾷ τοῖς ἐκείνην οἰκοῦσι τὴν χώραν· Τοῦτο πρῶτον πίε τὸ καινὸν καὶ παράδοξον πόμα, πιὼν δὲ μὴ μελλήσῃς