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And those who try to stand and fight receive the end of their life from the weapons of war. 16And they shall dash their children in pieces before their eyes, and they will possess their women, and they will plunder their houses. They will suffer what they have done and will be handed over to cruel punishments, having used cruelty against others. Then he adds the name of the enemies: 17Behold, I am stirring up against you the Medes, who do not reckon silver nor have need of gold. They will not consent to end the war for money, nor will they impose a tribute on you, but they will bring utter destruction. 18They shall break in pieces the bows of the young men, and they shall have no mercy on your children, nor will their eyes spare your sons. For they will shoot down your best men and will mercilessly slaughter those of unripe age. 19And Babylon, which is called glorious by the kings of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; 20it shall not be inhabited for ever. It will be stripped, he says, of its former renown |120 a| and will be given over to complete desolation, so that its suffering is compared to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Nor shall they enter into it for many generations. The things said seem somehow to be contradictory; for the one is said indefinitely and the other restrictedly. But 'it shall not be inhabited for ever' is instead of: 'it will no longer be a dwelling place of kings.' And 'nor shall they enter into it for many generations,' that is, as inhabitants, since even now a few people inhabit it, neither Assyrians nor Chaldeans but Jews. Nor shall Arabs pass through it. By Arabs he means those called Saracens among us, who, frequenting that place for the sake of trade, both brought and received necessary goods; The Palestinians also call the Saracens Arabs. And the blessed Moses also mentions this trade of theirs; for he says, “Behold, Ishmaelite traders.” Nor shall shepherds rest in it. Through these things he hinted at the extremity of the desolation. But if one also wishes to understand the saying tropologically, by shepherds he means the kings who give rest to their subjects in the manner of flocks. But of all these things, he says, Babylon will suddenly be bereft. 21And beasts will rest there. And this shows it is uninhabited. And their houses will be filled with noises. When there is no man speaking, nor horses neighing, nor oxen lowing, nor donkeys braying, nor any other sound is made, the ears receive only a certain echo; and we experience this at night when there is complete silence. So the text either alludes to this, or that because of the desolation, the remnants of the houses echo to those who speak. And sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there, 22and onocentaurs will dwell there. The nature of demons is bodiless, but being accustomed to deceive men, they show them certain strange shapes. Therefore, he has set down the names from the opinion prevailing among men, and he calls onocentaurs what the ancients called 'empousas' but people now call 'onoskelides', and sirens those who charm with all sorts of deceptions. However, the Other Interpreters have put 'ostriches' instead of sirens. And hedgehogs will make nests in her houses and in the temples of her luxury. This animal also loves desolate places. And he joined the memory of her former intemperance to her desolation, showing the justice of the punishment. It is coming soon and will not delay. For one hundred and eighty years passed between the prophecy and the desolation. And her days shall not be prolonged. They will not exceed the limit of the punishment. Having thus foretold these things concerning them, he also foretells the recall of the Jews. For the freedom of the Jews is connected with the utter destruction of the Babylonians; for in the first year of his reign, Cyrus commanded the Jewish captives to return; it is clear, therefore, that as soon as he had destroyed Babylon, he gave freedom to them.

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Καὶ οἱ στῆναι καὶ πολεμῆσαι πειρώμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμικῶν ὅπλων δέχονται τῆς ζωῆς τὸ πέρας. 16Καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ῥάξουσι καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας αὐτῶν ἕξουσι καὶ τὰς οἰκίας αὐτῶν προνομεύσουσιν. Ἅπερ δεδράκασι πεί σονται καὶ ὠμαῖς τιμωρίαις παραδοθήσονται, ὠμότητι κατ' ἄλλων χρησάμενοι. Εἶτα ἐπ άγει τὴν τῶν πολεμίων προσηγορίαν· 17Ἰδοὺ ἐπεγείρω ὑμῖν τοὺς Μήδους οἳ οὐ λογίζονται ἀργύριον οὐδὲ χρυσίου χρείαν ἔχουσιν. Οὐκ ἀνέξονται χρήματα λαβόντες τὸν πόλεμον καταλῦσαι οὐδὲ φόρον ὑμῖν ἐπιθή σουσιν ἀλλ' ὄλεθρον ἐπάξουσι παντελῆ. 18Τοξεύματα νεανίσκων συντρίψουσι καὶ τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν οὐ μὴ ἐλεή σουσιν, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς σου φείσονται οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν. Τούς τε γὰρ παρ' ὑμῖν ἀριστεύοντας κατακοντίσουσι καὶ τὴν ἄωρον ἡλικίαν ἀφειδῶς κατασφάξουσιν. 19Καὶ ἔσται Βαβυλών, ἣ καλεῖται ἔνδοξος ὑπὸ βασιλέων Χαλδαίων, ὃν τρόπον κατέστρεψεν ὁ θεὸς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα· 20οὐ κατοικηθήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον. Τῆς προτέρας φησὶ περιφανείας |120 a| γυμνωθήσεται καὶ ἐρημίᾳ παραδοθήσεται παντελεῖ, ὡς Σοδόμοις καὶ Γομόρ ροις τὸ ταύτης ἀπεικάζεσθαι πάθος. Οὐδὲ μὴ εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς αὐτὴν διὰ πολλῶν γενεῶν. Ἐναντία δοκεῖ πως εἶναι τὰ εἰρημένα· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀορίστως εἴρηται τὸ δὲ περιωρισ μένως. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον μὴ κατοικηθή σεσθαι ἀντὶ τοῦ· οὐκέτι βασιλέων κατοικητήριον ἔσται. Τὸ δέ· οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς αὐτὴν διὰ πολλῶν γενεῶν, τουτέστιν οἰκήτορες, ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν οἰκοῦσιν αὐτὴν ὀλίγοι τινές, οὔτε Ἀσσύριοι οὔτε Χαλδαῖοι ἀλλ' Ἰουδαῖοι. Οὐδὲ μὴ διέλθωσι δι' αὐτῆς Ἄραβες. Ἄραβας λέγει τοὺς παρ' ἡμῖν καλουμένους Σαρακηνούς, οἵτινες ἐμπορίας χάριν φοιτῶντες αὐτόσε τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας ἐκόμιζόν τε καὶ ἀντελάμβανον· Ἄραβας δὲ τοὺς Σαρακηνοὺς καὶ οἱ Παλαι στῖνοι καλοῦσιν. Τῆς δὲ τούτων ἐμπορίας καὶ ὁ μακάριος μέμνηται Μωυσῆς· «Ἰδοὺ» γάρ φησιν «Ἰσμαηλῖται ἔμποροι.» Οὐδὲ ποιμένες οὐ μὴ ἀναπαύσωνται ἐν αὐτῇ. Τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἐρημίας διὰ τούτων ᾐνίξατο. Εἰ δέ τις καὶ τροπικῶς νοῆσαι βούλεται τὸ ῥητόν, ποιμένας λέγει τοὺς βασιλέας δίκην ποιμνίων τοὺς ὑπηκόους διαναπαύοντας. Ἀλλὰ τούτων πάντων φησὶν ἡ Βαβυλὼν ἐξαπίνης ἔρημος ἔσται. 21Καὶ ἀναπαύςεται ἐκεῖ θηρία. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τὸ ἀοίκη τον. Καὶ ἐμπλησθήσονται αἱ οἰκίαι αὐτῶν ἤχων. Ὅταν μηδεὶς ἀνθρώπων ὁ φθεγγόμενος ᾖ μηδὲ ἵπποι χρεμετίζωσι μήτε βόες μυκῶνται μήτε ὄνοι βρομῶνται μήτε ἄλλος τις γίνηται κτύπος, ἠχὴν εἰσδέχονταί τινα μόνην αἱ ἀκοαί· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑπομένομεν νύκτωρ ἡσυχίας παντελοῦς γινομένης. Ἢ τοῦτο τοίνυν ὁ λόγος αἰνίττεται ἢ ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἐρημίαν ἀντηχεῖ τοῖς φθεγγομένοις τῶν οἰκιῶν τὰ λείψανα. Καὶ ἀναπαύσονται ἐκεῖ σειρῆνες, καὶ δαιμόνια ἐκεῖ ὀρχή σονται, 22καὶ ὀνοκένταυροι ἐκεῖ κατοικήσουσιν. Ἀσώ ματος μὲν ἡ τῶν δαιμόνων φύσις, ἐξαπατᾶν δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώ πους εἰωθότες ἀλλόκοτά τινα τούτοις ἐπιδεικνύουσι σχήματα. Ἀπὸ τοίνυν τῆς κατεχούσης παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δόξης τέθεικε τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ καλεῖ ὀνοκενταύρους μὲν ἃς οἱ παλαιοὶ μὲν ἐμπούσας οἱ δὲ νῦν ὀνοσκελίδας προσα γορεύουσι, σειρῆνας δὲ τοὺς ταῖς παντοδαπαῖς καταθέλ γοντας ἐξαπάταις. Οἱ μέντοι Λοιποὶ Ἑρμηνευταὶ ἀντὶ τῶν σειρήνων «στρουθοκαμήλους» τεθείκασιν. Καὶ νοσσο ποιήσουσιν ἐχῖνοι ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ναοῖς τῆς σπατάλης αὐτῆς. Καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον φιλέρημον. Συνῆψε δὲ τῇ ἐρημίᾳ τῆς προτέρας ἀκρασίας τὴν μνήμην, τὸ δίκαιον τῆς τιμωρίας δεικνύς. Ταχὺ ἔρχεται καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ. Ὀγδοήκοντα γὰρ καὶ ἑκατὸν χρόνοι μέσον ἐγένοντο τῆς προφητείας καὶ τῆς ἐρημίας. Καὶ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ ἐφελκυσθῶσιν. Οὐχ ὑπερβήσον ται τῆς τιμωρίας τὸν ὅρον. Οὕτω ταῦτα περὶ ἐκείνων προαγορεύσας προλέγει καὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἀνάκλησιν. Συνῆπται γὰρ τῇ πανωλεθρίᾳ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων ἡ Ἰουδαίων ἐλευθερία· ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ γὰρ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας ὁ Κῦρος ἐπανελθεῖν τῶν Ἰουδαίων τοὺς δορυαλώτους ἐκέλευσεν· δῆλον τοίνυν ὡς εὐθὺς καταλύσας τὴν Βαβυλῶνα τούτοις τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀπέδωκεν.