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"was translated so that he should not see death," "but Elijah was taken up" by a fiery chariot and horse that brought him up "as into heaven." 1.343 Having considered these things according to our ability, which is small, let us set forth the things that follow from the prophet, desiring also to understand them, if indeed "He might give us utterance in opening our mouth," who enlightens the prophet through revelations.

1.344 Zach. V, 1-4: And I turned and lifted up my eyes, and I saw, and

behold a flying sickle. And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a flying sickle, twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in width." And he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth; for every thief from this side will be punished with death, and every perjurer from that side will be punished with death. And I will bring it out," says the Lord Almighty, "and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name, and it shall lodge in the midst of his house, and it shall consume it with its timber and its stones." 1.345 Having turned from the previous vision, I lifted up my eyes, those of the mind. And I see a flying sickle, having a length of twenty cubits and a width of ten cubits. Concerning which sickle, the one showing the vision of it says: This is the curse, that is, the punishment, which is brought upon the whole earth, in order to cut down and consume the thief and the perjurer. And indeed see the greatness of the instruction that comes through revelation, which reveals from the visible things the invisible, from the sensible things the intelligible. 1.346 For by the decree of the righteous judge who examines the righteous and the ungodly, and who repays each according to his deeds and his works, the punishments brought against unjust and ungodly men, it names in one place a sword and arrows, and in another an axe and a sickle. 1.347 For when "wicked men and impostors" and with them the sinful demons happen to be hostile and seditious on account of the cruelty they possess, the things brought worthily against such ones are called swords and javelins, brought on by the Lord who says in the great song of Deuteronomy: "I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain," and again: "I will bring my sword upon them, and my arrows shall consume them." 1.348 And since not only those sinning on earth, but also the angels who have fallen into wickedness are touched by punishment—for it is written: "God did not spare the angels when they sinned," who had left their heavenly dwelling—it is said in Isaiah from the person of God: "My sword has been bathed in heaven." 1.349 But the painful judgment brought against the ungodly is especially made known, in that which is stated in Amos, the second of the Twelve Prophets, which runs thus: "All the sinners of the people shall die by the sword." For the prophetic word is not about a perceptible weapon of enemies, since all the sinners of the people have never been destroyed by a visible sword. 1.350 Similarly also in the seventh Psalm the psalmist threatens, saying to those who are called to repentance: "If you do not turn, he will whet his sword; he has bent his bow and made it ready, and in it he has prepared instruments of death; he has made his arrows for the burning ones." Indeed, with respect to the instruments of death it is said in Jeremiah: "How long will you cut, O sword of the Lord? How long will you not be quiet? Return to your sheath." 1.351 Having sufficiently set forth the instruments of war which strike and harm both cruel and seditious men and demons, let us also see the things announced enigmatically about the trees that do not bear good fruit, vessels of wrath or

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μετετε´̣θη τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον», «ὁ δὲ Ἠλίας ἀνελήμφθη» πυρίνου ἅρματος καὶ ἵππου ἀναγαγόντων αὐτὸν «ὡς εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν». 1.343 Ταῦτα κατὰ δύναμιν τὴν ἡμετέραν, βραχεῖαν οὖσαν, θεωρήσαντες, ἐκθώμεθα τὰ ἑξῆς τοῦ προφήτου, νοῆσαι καὶ αὐτὰ ποθοῦντες, ἐὰν ἄρα «δώῃ λόγον ἐν ἀνοίξει τοῦ στόματος ἡμῶν» ὁ φωτίζων δι' ἀποκαλύψεων τὸν προφήτην.

1.344 Zach. V, 1-4: Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα καὶ ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου· καὶ εἶδον, καὶ

ἰδοὺ δρέπανον πετόμενον. Καὶ εἶπεν πρός με· Τί σὺ βλέπεις; Καὶ εἶπα· Ἐγὼ ὁρῶ δρέπανον πετόμενον, μῆκος πήχεων εἴκοσι, καὶ πλάτος πήχεων δέκα. Καὶ εἶπεν πρός με· Αὕτη ἡ ἀρὰ ἡ ἐκπορευομένη ἐπὶ προσώπου πάσης τῆς γῆς· διότι πᾶς κλέπτης ἐκ τούτου ἕως θανάτου ἐκδικηθήσεται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἐπίορκος ἐκ τούτου ἕως θανάτου ἐκδικηθήσεται. Καὶ ἐξοίσω αὐτό, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κλέπτου καὶ εἰς οἶκον τοῦ ὀμνύοντος τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐπὶ ψεύδει, καὶ καταλύσει ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ, καὶ συντελέσει αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ ξύλα αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς λίθους αὐτοῦ. 1.345 Ἐπιστρέψας ἀπὸ τῆς φθασάσης ὀπτασίας, ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου τοὺς τῆς διανοίας. Καὶ ὁρῶ δρέπανον πετάμενον, μῆκος ἔχον πήχεων εἴκοσι, καὶ πλάτος πήχεων δέκα. Ὅπερ δρέπανον, ὁ δεικνὺς τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ θέαν φησίν· Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρά, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ κόλασις, ἡ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐπαγομένη, ἐπὶ τῷ κόψαι καὶ συντελέσαι τὸν κλέπτην καὶ ἐπίορκον. Καὶ ὅρα γε τὸ μέγεθος τῆς δι' ἀποκαλύψεως γινομένης παιδεύσεως, φανερούσης ἐκ τῶν φανερῶν τὰ μὴ φαινόμενα, ἐκ τῶν αἰσθητῶν τὰ ν̣οούμενα. 1.346 Ἐπὶ γὰρ ψήφου τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ ἐξετάζοντος τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ, ἀποδιδόντος τε ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν καὶ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, τὰς ἐπιφερομένας κατὰ τῶν ἀδίκ̣ων καὶ ἀσεβῶν ἀνθρώπων τιμωρίας, ὅπου μὲν μάχαιραν καὶ βέλη, ὅπου δὲ ἀξίνην καὶ δρέπανον ὀνομάζει. 1.347 Ὅταν γὰρ «οἱ πονηροὶ καὶ γόητες ἄνθρωποι» καὶ σὺν τούτοις οἱ ἀλιτήριοι δαίμονες πολέμιοι καὶ στασιώδεις δι' ἣν ἔχουσιν ὠμότητα τυγχάνωσιν, τὰ ἐπαγόμενα κατ' ἀξίαν τοῖς τοιούτοις ξίφη καὶ ἀκόντια προσαγορεύονται, ἐπιφερόμενα πρὸς τοῦ λέγοντος Κυρίου ἐν ᾠδῇ μεγάλῃ τοῦ ∆ευτερονομίου· «Μεθύσω τὰ βέλη μου ἀφ' αἵματος, καὶ ἡ μάχαιρά μου καταφάγεται ἀφ' αἵματος τραυματιῶν», καὶ ἔτι· «Ἐπάξω τὴν μάχαιράν μου ἐπ' αὐτούς, καὶ τὰ βέλη μου συντελέσει αὐτούς.» 1.348 Καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ μόνων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἁμαρτανόντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν εἰς πονηρίαν πεσόντων ἀγγέλων ἅπτεται ἡ κόλασις -γέγραπται γάρ· «Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο», ἀπολιπόντων τὸ οὐράνιον οἰκητήριον-ἐν Ἠσαίᾳ λέγεται ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ· «Ἐμεθύσθη ἡ μάχαιρά μου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.» 1.349 Μάλιστα δὲ γνωρίζεται ἡ ἐπαγομένη κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐπίπονος κρίσις, ἐν τῷ φερομένῳ ἐν Ἀμώς, τῷ δευτέρῳ τῶν ∆ώδεκα Προφητῶν, οὕτως ἔχοντι· «Ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ τελευτήσουσιν πάντες ἁμαρτωλοὶ λαοῦ.» Οὐ γὰρ περὶ αἰσθητοῦ ὀργάνου πολεμίων ἡ προφητικὴ λέξις, τῷ μηδεπώποτε πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας τοῦ λαοῦ ξίφει ὁρατῷ ἀνῃρῆσθαι. 1.350 Ἰσοδυναμούντως καὶ ἐν ἑβδόμῳ Ψαλμῷ ἀπειλεῖ ὁ μελῳδὸς φάσκων πρὸς τοὺς καλουμένους εἰς μετάνοιαν· «Ἐὰν μὴ ἀποστραφῆτε, τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ στιλβώσει, τὸ τόξον αὐτοῦ ἐνέτεινεν, αὐτὸ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἡτοίμασεν σκεύη θανάτου· τὰ βέλη αὐτοῦ τοῖς καιομένοις ἐξειργάσατο.» Πρός γε νοῦν τῶν σκευῶν τοῦ θανάτου ἐν Ἰερεμίᾳ λε´̣γεται· «Ἕως πότε κόψεις ἡ μάχαιρα τοῦ Κυρίου, ἕως πότε οὐχ ἡσυχάσεις; ἐπιστράφητι εἰς τὸν κολεόν σου.» 1.351 Ἀρκούντως ἐκτεθέντων τῶν πολεμικῶν ὀργάνων πληττόντων καὶ βλαπτόντων τοὺς ὠμοθύμους καὶ στασιώδεις ἀνθρώπους τε καὶ δαίμονας, ἴδωμεν καὶ τὰ μετ' αἰνιγμοῦ ἀπαγγελλόμενα περὶ τῶν καρπὸν καλὸν μὴ φερόντων δένδρων, σκευῶν ὀργῆς ἢ