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living with lawlessness and works sin and is corrupted by it. And it shall be burned in the forests of the wood, and shall devour all the things round about the mountains. 18Through the anger of the wrath of the Lord of Sabaoth the whole land is burned. He calls the fruitless multitude a dense wood; for the wood is dense and thick, but destitute of fruits. And he names the rulers mountains because of their high and conspicuous position. And the people shall be as if burned by fire. Through these things he has shown the vehemence of the enemies. A man will not pity his brother. For when a rout occurs in wars, each one provides for his own safety, and neither does a father care for a son, nor a son for a father, nor a brother for a brother in the time of flight. Then he foretells both the strength and the victory of the enemies: 19But he will turn to the right because he will be hungry, and he will eat from the left, and shall not be satisfied; a man eating the flesh of his own arm. In wars, the victors sometimes pursue those on the right flank, and sometimes advance against the left, and anger forces them to ignore nature, and they resemble madmen who eat their own arms as if they belonged to another. Yet through these things he also signifies the division of Israel itself and the dissension of the tribes. 20For, he says, Ephraim shall devour Manasseh, and Manasseh Ephraim, for together they shall besiege Judah. He speaks of things that have happened as things that will be, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the physician ought not to abandon the treatment when the disease has not abated. 101Woe to those who write wickedness, for writing wickedness |114 a| they write. 2Turning aside the judgments of the poor, seizing the judgments of the needy of my people, so that the widow may be for a plunder to them, and the orphan for a prey. And he accuses the false prophets and the unjust rulers, the former for writing false prophecies to the ruin of many, and the latter for judging lawlessly and forsaking justice. Then he frightens them with the memory of the punishment: 3And what will they do in the day of visitation? For he called the time of punishment the day of visitation. For just as he calls God's longsuffering sleep, so he names the punishment visitation. For your affliction will come from afar. It signifies two things at the same time: both that it will come from afar, and that the sins from above and from the beginning will be brought to light in the time of judgment and they will be punished for all things. And to whom will you flee for help? For when I make war, who will help you? This resembles what was said by the great Moses: "I will kill, and I will make alive; I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." And where will you leave your glory, 4so as not to fall into captivity? The present prosperity, he says, will not be sufficient for you when you become captives; for he called the captivity a deportation. For so Symmachus translated it, and the Others likewise: "And where will you leave your glory, so as not to be bowed under a bond?" And they shall fall under the slain. Often in wars some, trying to escape the enemy, hide themselves among the slain dead. Therefore, signifying the excess of their cowardice, he has shown this here also. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. He constantly adds this, both accusing their disobedience and frightening them with the threat of punishment. Having foretold these things to Samaria and the tribes under it, he also foretells the attack of the Assyrians and the utter destruction that would seize them in the siege of Jerusalem: 5Woe to the Assyrians, the rod of my anger and my wrath is in their hands. It must be asked why they are lamented who become ministers of the divine punishment. Therefore, one who desires to learn this must know that he used the Assyrians as ministers of punishment, like certain executioners against the

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παρανομίᾳ συζῶν καὶ ἐργάζεται τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ διαφ θείρεται ὑπ' αὐτῆς. Καὶ καυθήσεται ἐν τοῖς δάσεσι τοῦ δρυμοῦ καὶ συγκαταφάγεται τὰ κύκλῳ τῶν βουνῶν πάντα. 18∆ιὰ θυμὸν ὀργῆς κυρίου Σαβαὼθ συγκέκαυται ἡ γῆ ὅλη. ∆ρυμὸν δασὺν τὸ πλῆθος καλεῖ τὸ ἄκαρπον· καὶ γὰρ ὁ δρυμὸς δασὺς μὲν καὶ πυκνός, ἔρημος δὲ καρπῶν. Βουνοὺς δὲ ὀνομάζει τοὺς ἄρχοντας διὰ τὸ ὑψηλὸν καὶ περίβλεπτον. Καὶ ἔσται ὁ λαὸς ὡς ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατακεκαυμένος. Τὸ σφο δρὸν τῶν πολεμίων διὰ τούτων δεδήλωκεν. Ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐλεήσει. Τροπῆς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις γενομένης τῆς οἰκείας σωτηρίας ἕκαστος προμηθεῖται καὶ οὔτε πατὴρ υἱοῦ οὔτε υἱὸς πατρὸς οὔτε ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφοῦ κατὰ τὸν τῆς φυγῆς φροντίζει καιρόν. Εἶτα προλέγει τῶν δυσμενῶν καὶ τὴν ῥώμην καὶ τὴν νίκην· 19Ἀλλ' ἐκκλινεῖ εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ ὅτι πεινάσει, καὶ φάγεται ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῇ ἄνθρωπος ἐσθίων τὰς σάρκας τοῦ βραχίονος αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις οἱ νικῶντες ποτὲ μὲν τοὺς κατὰ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας διώκουσι ποτὲ δὲ κατὰ τοῦ εὐωνύμου χωροῦσιν, καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἀγνοεῖν ὁ θυμὸς ἀναγκάζει, καὶ ἐοίκασι μεμηνόσιν ἀνθρώποις οἳ τοὺς οἰκείους βραχίονας ὡς ἀλλοτρίους ἐσθίουσιν. Σημαίνει μέντοι διὰ τούτων καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν διάστασιν καὶ τῶν φυλῶν τὴν διχόνοιαν. 20Φάγεται γάρ φησιν Ἐφραὶμ τοῦ Μανασσῆ καὶ Μανασσῆς τοῦ Ἐφραίμ, ὅτι ἅμα πολιορκήσουσι τὸν Ἰούδαν. Ὡς ἐσόμενα τὰ γεγενημένα λέγει κατὰ τὸ ἰδίωμα τῆς Ἑβραίων φωνῆς. Ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεῖρ αὐτοῦ ὑψηλή. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐχρῆν τὸν ἰατρὸν ἀποστῆναι τῆς θερα πείας, μὴ λωφησάσης τῆς νόσου. 101Οὐαὶ τοῖς γράφουσι πονηρίαν, γράφοντες γὰρ πονη ρίαν |114 a| γράφουσιν. 2Ἐκκλίνοντες κρίσεις πτωχῶν, ἁρπάζοντες κρίματα πενήτων τοῦ λαοῦ μου ὥστε εἶναι αὐτοῖς χήραν εἰς ἁρπαγὴν καὶ ὀρφανὸν εἰς προνομήν. Καὶ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀδίκων ἀρχόντων κατη γορεῖ, τῶν μὲν ὡς ἐπὶ λύμῃ πολλῶν τὰς ψευδεῖς συγγρα φόντων προρρήσεις, τῶν δὲ ὡς παρανόμως δικαζόντων καὶ προιεμένων τὸ δίκαιον. Εἶτα αὐτοὺς φοβεῖ τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς τιμωρίας· 3Καὶ τί ποιήσουσι τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς; Ἡμέραν γὰρ ἐπισκοπῆς ἐκάλεσε τὸν τῆς τιμωρίας καιρόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μακροθυμίαν ὕπνον καλεῖ, οὕτω τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπισκοπὴν ὀνομάζει. Ἡ γὰρ θλῖψις ὑμῶν πόρρωθεν ἥξει. Τὰ δύο σημαίνει κατὰ ταὐτόν, καὶ ὅτι πόρρωθεν ἥξει καὶ ὅτι τὰ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπταισμένα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς δίκης εἰς μέσον ἀχθήσεται καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων εἰσπραχθήσονται δίκας. Καὶ πρὸς τίνα καταφεύξεσθε τοῦ βοηθηθῆναι; Ἐμοῦ γὰρ πολεμοῦντος τίς ἐπικουρῶν ὠφελήσει; Τοῦτο ἔοικε τῷ παρὰ τῷ μεγάλῳ Μωυσῇ εἰρημένῳ· «Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι· καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου.» Καὶ ποῦ καταλείψετε τὴν δόξαν ὑμῶν 4τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀπαγωγήν; Ἡ παροῦσά φησιν εὐημερία αἰχμαλώτοις ὑμῖν γιγνομένοις οὐκ ἐπαρ κέσει· ἀπαγωγὴν γὰρ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐκάλεσεν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσε καὶ οἱ Λοιποὶ δὲ ὁμοίως· «Καὶ ποῦ καταλείψετε τὴν δόξαν ὑμῶν ὥστε μὴ καμφθῆναι ὑπὸ δεσμόν;» Καὶ ὑποκάτω ἀνῃρημένων πεσοῦνται. Πολ λάκις τινὲς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις διαφυγεῖν τοὺς ἐναντίους πειρώμενοι μεταξὺ τῶν ἀνῃρημένων νεκρῶν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κατακρύπτουσιν. Τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τοίνυν τῆς δειλίας αὐτῶν προσημαίνων τοῦτο κἀνταῦθα δεδήλωκεν. Ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑψηλή. Συνεχῶς ἐπιλέγει τοῦτο καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀπειθείας κατηγορῶν καὶ τῇ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀπειλῇ δεδιττόμενος. Ταῦτα τῇ Σαμαρείᾳ καὶ ταῖς ὑπ' αὐτὴν φυλαῖς προαγο ρεύσας προλέγει καὶ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τὴν ἔφοδον καὶ τὴν καταληψομένην αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκίᾳ πανωλεθρίαν· 5Οὐαὶ Ἀσσυρίοις, ἡ ῥάβδος τοῦ θυμοῦ μου καὶ ἡ ὀργή μού ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν. Ζητητέον τί δήποτε θρηνοῦνται ὑπουργοὶ τῆς θείας τιμωρίας γιγνό μενοι. Χρὴ τοίνυν εἰδέναι τὸν τοῦτο μαθεῖν ἐφιέμενον, ὡς διακόνοις μὲν τῆς τιμωρίας Ἀσσυρίοις ἐχρήσατο οἷόν τινας δημίους κατὰ τῶν