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to condemn. The root of each sin is bribery. For this reason, in the way that stubble is burned by a coal of fire and is consumed by a kindled flame. He shows the swiftness of the punishment, the ease of the chastisement, indicating their utter destruction through the image.

5.8 For the flame and the coals and the stubble and what follows have shown us all these things. Their root will be as chaff, and their flower will go up as dust. The fixed and the firm things will be destroyed and scattered, the splendid and the bright things will vanish and flow away. For they did not wish to do the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but they provoked the oracle of the holy one. He calls the law an oracle. And the Lord of Sabaoth was angered with wrath against his people; and he laid his hand upon them and struck them. And he was provoked against the mountains, and their carcasses became as dung in the middle of the road. And in all these things his anger has not turned away, but still his hand is high. Here he hints at a harsh war, which will not even allow the bodies to be given to burial, not so that they might pay a penalty, but so that the living, in the misfortunes of others, might cut off some of their own wickedness. And see how he has made the word harsher. For he did not say that they were not buried, but that the dead were cast out more dishonorably than any dung, which seems to the living to be more dreadful than all things and harsher than death itself. And indeed what is worse, he says, is that not even when these things happened did they become more reasonable, but they persist in the same things. Since, therefore, they became no better, he threatens them again with that most harsh plague of the barbarians. Therefore he adds, saying; Therefore he will raise a standard among the nations that are far off. Lest the length of the journey cast them into indifference, he says that it is thus easy for God to lead them, as for one who raises a standard and leads out those who are prepared and ready for battle, which also happens in the case of racehorses. For as soon as the signal for the start is raised, they leap out of the starting gates immediately. Therefore, the prophet here hints at two things: that it is easy for them to come, since God is calling, and that they would have come long ago, if His great long-suffering had not restrained them. Then, by his further explanation, he shows the ease more fully, saying. And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. But do not be surprised if, speaking of God, he uses such crude words; for he forms his speech according to the foolishness of his hearers, wishing to show one thing through it all, that this is both easy for God and that they will certainly come; therefore he added, saying; And behold, they come swiftly, lightly. They will not hunger, nor will they grow weary, nor will they slumber, nor will they sleep. These things are said hyperbolically. For how was it possible neither to hunger nor to sleep, being men and having obtained the common lot? But he shows the speed of the army, the ease, the swiftness, as I said before, through all these things. Nor will they loose their belts from their loins, nor will the straps of their sandals be broken. Whose arrows are sharp and their bows are bent. The hooves of their horses were reckoned as solid rock, the wheels of their chariots as a storm. They will rage like lions and have stood ready like lion's whelps. And he will seize and will roar like a wild beast and will cast them out; and there will be none to deliver them. And he will roar because of them in that day, like the sound of a roaring sea. And they will look to the heaven above and to the earth below; and behold, harsh darkness, darkness in their despair. Through all these things he has amplified his speech and heightened the fear, narrating each thing bit by bit, things concerning their resolve, things concerning their strength, things concerning their weapons, things concerning their horses, things concerning their chariots, so as to create great anguish by the multitude of things said, and by the clarity of the images to bring the events near to them. Therefore he compares them to lions, and he did not stop there with the example, but he also fabricates the voice and the rush of the beast and

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καταδικάζειν. Ἑκατέρου ἁμαρτήματος ἡ ῥίζα δωροδοκία. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὃν τρόπον καυθήσεται καλάμη ὑπὸ ἄνθρακος πυρὸς καὶ συγκαυθήσεται ὑπὸ φλογὸς ἀνημμένης. Τὸ ταχὺ τῆς τιμωρίας, τὸ εὔκολον τῆς κολάσεως παρίστησι, διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος τὴν πανωλεθρίαν αὐτῶν δηλῶν.

5.8 Ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα ἡ φλὸξ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρακες καὶ ἡ καλάμη καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἡμῖν παρεδήλωσεν. Ἡ ῥίζα αὐτῶν ὡς χνοῦς ἔσται καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτῶν ὡς κονιορτὸς ἀναβήσεται. Τὰ πεπηγότα καὶ τὰ βέβαια ἀπολεῖται καὶ διαχυθήσεται τὰ λαμπρὰ καὶ τὰ φαιδρὰ οἰχήσε ται καὶ διαρρυήσεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἠθέλησαν τὸν νόμον Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ λόγιον τοῦ ἁγίου παρώξυναν. Λόγιον τὸν νόμον λέγει. Καὶ ἐθυμώθη Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ὀργῇ ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπέβαλε τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτούς. Καὶ παρωξύνθη ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ ἐγένετο τὰ θνησιμαῖα αὐτῶν ὡς κοπρία ἐν μέσῳ ὁδοῦ. Καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑψηλή. Πόλεμον ἐνταῦθα αἰνίττεται χαλεπόν, ὃς οὐδὲ ταφῇ τὰ σώματα συγχωρήσει παραδοθῆναι, οὐχ ἵνα ἐκεῖνοι κόλασιν δῶσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες ἐν ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς τῆς οἰκείας ἀποτέμνωνταί τι κακίας. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς χαλεπώτερον τὸν λόγον ἐποίησεν. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ὅτι οὐκ ἐτάφησαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι κόπρου πάσης ἀτιμότερον ἐρριμμένοι ἦσαν οἱ τετελευτηκότες, ὃ τοῖς ζῶσι φρικωδέστερον ἁπάντων εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς αὐτῆς χαλεπώτερον. Καὶ τὸ δὴ χεῖρον, ὅτι οὐδὲ τούτων γινομένων, φησίν, ἐπιεικέστεροι γεγόνασιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιμένουσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐδὲν βελτίους ἐγένοντο, ἀπειλεῖ πάλιν αὐτοῖς τὴν χαλεπωτάτην ἐκείνην πληγὴν τὴν τῶν βαρβάρων. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐπάγει λέγων· Τοιγαροῦν ἀρεῖ σύσσημον ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς μακράν. Ἵνα μὴ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ μῆκος εἰς ῥᾳθυμίαν αὐτοὺς ἐμβάλλῃ, φησὶν ὅτι οὕτω τῷ Θεῷ ῥᾴδιον ἀγαγεῖν αὐτούς, ὡς τῷ τὸ σύσσημον αἴροντι καὶ τοὺς παρεσκευασμένους καὶ ἑτοίμους ἐξάγοντι πρὸς παράταξιν, ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων γίνεται τῶν ἁμιλλατηρίων. Ὁμοῦ τε γὰρ τὸ σύμβολον τῆς ἀφέσεως αἴρεται κἀκεῖνοι τῶν βαλβίδων ἐκπηδῶσιν εὐθέως. ∆ύο τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα ὁ προφήτης αἰνίττεται, ὅτι καὶ εὔκολον αὐτοὺς ἐλθεῖν, τοῦ Θεοῦ καλοῦντος, καὶ πάλαι ἂν ἦλθον, εἰ μὴ ἡ πολλὴ κατεῖχεν αὐτοὺς μακροθυμία. Εἶτα τῇ ἐπεξηγήσει πλείονα τὴν εὐκολίαν ἐνδείκνυται λέγων. Καὶ συριεῖ αὐτοὺς ἀπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς. Μὴ θαυμάσῃς δέ, εἰ περὶ Θεοῦ διαλεγόμενος, οὕτω παχυτάταις κέχρηται λέξεσι· πρὸς γὰρ τὴν ἄνοιαν τῶν ἀκουόντων σχηματίζει τὰ ῥήματα, ἓν βουλόμενος δεῖξαι διὰ πάντων, ὅτι καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ῥᾴδιον τοῦτο καὶ ὅτι πάντως ἀπαντήσονται· διὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγε λέγων· Καὶ ἰδοὺ ταχὺ κούφως ἔρχονται. Οὐ πεινάσουσιν, οὐδὲ κοπιάσουσιν, οὐδὲ νυστάξουσιν, οὐδὲ κοιμηθήσονται. Ταῦτα ὑπερβολικῶς εἴρηται. Πῶς γὰρ ἐνῆν μήτε πεινῇν, μήτε καθεύδειν, ἀνθρώπους ὄντας καὶ τὴν κοινὴν λαχόντας λῆξιν; Ἀλλὰ τὸ τάχος τῆς στρατιᾶς, τὴν εὐκολίαν, τὴν ταχύτητα, ὅπερ ἔφθην εἰπών, διὰ πάντων ἐνδείκνυται. Οὐδὲ λύσουσι τὰς ζώνας αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ μὴ ῥαγῶσι οἱ ἱμάντες τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτῶν. Ὧν τὰ βέλη ὀξέα ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ τόξα αὐτῶν ἐντεταμένα. Οἱ πόδες τῶν ἵππων αὐτῶν ὡς στερεὰ πέτρα ἐλογίσθησαν, οἱ τροχοὶ τῶν ἁρμάτων αὐτῶν ὡς καταιγίδες. Ὀργιῶσιν ὡς λέοντες καὶ παρεστήκασιν ὡς σκύμνοι λεόντων. Καὶ ἐπιλήψεται καὶ βοήσει ὡς θηρίον καὶ ἐκβαλεῖ· καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ῥυόμενος αὐτούς. Καὶ βοήσεται δι' αὐτοὺς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, ὡς φωνὴ θαλάσσης κυμαινούσης. Καὶ ἐμβλέψονται εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω· καὶ ἰδοὺ σκότος σκληρόν, σκότος ἐν τῇ ἀπορίᾳ αὐτῶν. ∆ιὰ πάντων τὸν λόγον ἐξώγκωσε καὶ τὸν φόβον ἐπῇρε, κατὰ μικρὸν ἕκαστα διηγούμενος, τὰ περὶ τῆς γνώμης, τὰ περὶ τῆς ἰσχύος, τὰ περὶ τῶν ὅπλων, τὰ περὶ τῶν ἵππων, τὰ περὶ τῶν ἁρμάτων, ὥστε τῷ πλήθει τῶν λεγομένων πολλὴν ποιῆσαι τὴν ἀγωνίαν, καὶ τῇ σαφηνείᾳ τῶν εἰκόνων ἐγγὺς τὰ πράγματα αὐτοῖς ἀγαγεῖν. ∆ιὸ καὶ λέουσιν αὐτοὺς παραβάλλει καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔστη τοῦ παραδείγματος, ἀλλὰ καὶ φωνὴν ἀναπλάττει καὶ ὁρμὴν τοῦ θηρίου καὶ