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of them, according to the addition of Theodotion. But some understood it thus. The prophet asked: Until when the hardening? But God, indicating the consummation of the present life, brought these things upon them. For first we must hear of wars, and rumors of wars, and nation will rise 1952 against nation, and cities and houses will be desolated, and then the end. After which they are then removed, that is, after the time of the resurrection, living a continuous life, with all corruption and sin having been completely abolished; But the divine Scripture says that the now-hardened Israel will be called in the last times of the age. CHAPTER 7. αθʹ. 9And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not besiege it9, etc. The first parts of the prophecy had been spoken in the time of King Uzziah. After him, Jotham. At the beginning of his reign, the vision of the Lord Sabaoth and of the Seraphim occurred, which declared the divinity of the Only-Begotten. And when sixteen years had passed (for so long Jotham reigned), the most impious Ahaz succeeds, in whose time the aforementioned things are prophesied, prophesying concerning the birth in the flesh of the Only-Begotten. For it was necessary for this to be brought in following what was said about his divinity. And the subject of the prophecy is this .... as Ahaz was acting impiously with his subjects, by divine judgment two kings, of Damascus and of Samaria, attacked. Rezin the first, and the second Pekah. Therefore they kill twelve myriads of them and take twenty captive; after such a blow, they also campaigned a second time, wishing to take Jerusalem by siege, and to kill Ahaz, and to establish in his place the now Tabeel. When these things were reported to the house of David (for so they called all those of David's line along with their subjects), all these were shaken in their soul, fearing the future from the experience of what had already happened. The second book of Chronicles has declared these things with accuracy. And he compares their agitation to a tree of the forest, not even now taking a noble and cultivated tree. But he who does not will the death of the sinner, but that he should repent, and turn, and live, now pursues with loving-kindness those whom he formerly pursued with punishment. For he sends the prophet to Ahaz, with the son who was left from among many. And he calls him Jasub. And he was left, either from the death of his brothers, or not having partaken of the error of the many Jews. For it was necessary for the one saved from the error to be discipled to the father through being present with him as he boldly approached God and did what was commanded; and he commands him to say: Take heed to be quiet. Which 1953 Symmachus indeed says, "Take heed, and be quiet." But Theodotion, "Pay attention, and be quiet." And he has called the two kings smoking firebrands, as having neither light nor a burning power that has already been extinguished. For even if he came upon you, he says, with a disciplinary power, which Scripture is accustomed to call wrath, delivering you to your enemies, yet having struck, I will heal, calling you through both to piety, for which reason the counsel of the kings is now useless. And by Aram he means Syria, and by Samaria the present-day Sebaste. For it is enough, he says, for Samaria to have Damascus as its head, and for Rezin to be its king; and for Ephraim, Samaria. And so they called the ten tribes of Israel, because of the one from Ephraim who reigned over them, and for the son of Remaliah to be its leader. And know this also in addition to the other things, Ahaz, that within sixty-five years the kingdom of Samaria will be destroyed by the Assyrians, with the king along with his subjects being delivered into captivity. God commanded the prophet to say these things, having met Ahaz at a certain place which he knew was opportune for encountering Ahaz. And when the time was fulfilled, Damascus and Samaria, and their kings and subjects, were captured by the Assyrians, as the fourth book of Kings shows. For Tiglath-pileser took Damascus and Rezin,

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αὐτῶν, κατὰ τὴν προσθήκην Θεοδοτίωνος. Τινὲς δὲ οὕτως ἐνόησαν. Ἠρώτησεν ὁ προφήτης· Μέχρι τίνος ἡ πώρωσις; ὁ δὲ Θεὸς δηλῶν τὴν τοῦ παρόντος βίου συντέλειαν, τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐπήνεγκε. ∆εῖ γὰρ πρῶτον πολέμους ἡμᾶς ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ ἀκοὰς πολέμων, ἀναστῆναί τε 1952 ἔθνος ἐπ' ἔθνος, ἐρημωθῆναί τε πόλεις, καὶ οἴκους, εἶτα τὸ τέλος. Μεθ' ὃ μακρύνονται λοιπὸν, μετὰ τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως δηλονότι καιρὸν, διηνεκῆ ζῶντες βίον, ἀνῃρημένης εἰς ἅπαν φθορᾶς τε πάσης καὶ ἁμαρτίας· τὸν δὲ νῦν πεπωρωμένον Ἰσραὴλ, ἐν ἐσχάτοις τοῦ αἰῶνος κληθήσεσθαι καιροῖς ἡ θεία λέγει Γραφή. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Ζʹ. αθʹ. 9Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἄχαζ τοῦ Ἰωάθαμ, τοῦ υἱοῦ Ὀζίου βασιλέως Ἰούδα, ἀνέβηῬαασσὼν βασιλεὺς Ἀρὰμ, καὶ Φακεὲ υἱὸς Ῥομελίου, βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, πολεμῆσαι αὐτὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν πολιορκῆσαι αὐτὴν9, κ.τ.λ. Τὰ πρῶτα τῆς προφητείας ἐπὶ Ὀζίου βασιλέως ἐλέλεκτο. Μεθ' ὃν Ἰωάθαμ. Οὗ κατ' ἀρχὰς τῆς βασιλείας ἡ ὀπτασία γέγονε Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ καὶ τῶν Σεραφεὶμ, δηλοῦσα τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὴν θεότητα. Ἐτῶν δὲ διαγενομένων ἑκκαίδεκα (τοσαῦτα γὰρ ἐβασίλευσεν Ἰωάθαμ), Ἄχαζ ὁ δυσσεβέστατος διαδέχεται, καθ' ὃν θεσπίζεται τὰ προκείμενα, προφητεύοντα περὶ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γενέσεως τοῦ Μονογενοῦς. Ἔδει γὰρ ἀκολούθως ἐπενεχθῆναι ταύτην τοῖς περὶ τῆς θεότητος εἰρημένοις. Ἡ δὲ τῆς προφητείας ὑπόθεσις αὕτη .... ἀσεβοῦντι μετὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων Ἄχαζ κατὰ θείαν δίκην δύο βασιλεῖς ὁ ∆αμασκοῦ καὶ Σαμαρείας ἐπέθεντο. Ῥαασσὼν ὁ πρῶτος, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος Φακεέ. Τοιγαροῦν ἀναιροῦσι μὲν αὐτῶν δώδεκα μυριάδας αἰχμαλώτους δὲ λαμβάνουσιν εἴκοσι· μετὰ τὴν τοιαύτην πληγὴν, καὶ δεύτερον ἐπεστράτευσαν ἑλεῖν ἐκ πολιορκίας ἐθέλοντες τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἀποκτεῖναί τε τὸν Ἄχαζ, καὶ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ βασιλέα καταστῆσαι τὸ νῦν Ταβεήλ. Ὧν ἀναγγελθέντων τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αβὶδ (οὕτω δὲ τοὺς ἐκ ∆αβὶδ ἅπαντας μετὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων ἐκάλουν), πάντες οὗτοι σαλεύονται τὴν ψυχὴν, πείρᾳ τῶν προλαβόντων δεδιότες τὰ μέλλοντα. Ταῦτα μετ' ἀκριβείας ἡ δευτέρα τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἐδήλωσεν. Τὸν δὲ σάλον αὐτῶν ἀπεικάζει ξύλῳ δρυμοῦ, μηδὲ νῦν δένδρον παραλαβὼν εὐγενές τε καὶ ἥμερον. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὴ θέλων τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ μετανοῆσαι, καὶ ἐπιστρέψαι, καὶ ζῇν αὐτὸν, οὓς πρώην τιμωρία, τούτους νῦν φιλανθρωπία μετέρχεται. Πέμπει γὰρ πρὸς Ἄχαζ τὸν προφήτην, μετὰ τοῦ περιλειφθέντος ἐκ πλειόνων υἱοῦ. Καλεῖ δὲ τοῦτον Ἰασούβ. Περιελείφθη δὲ ἢ θανάτου τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἢ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν Ἰουδαίων πλάνης μὴ μετασχών. Ἔδει γὰρ τὸν σωθέντας τῆς πλάνης μαθητεύεσθαι τῷ πατρὶ διὰ τοῦ παρεῖναι προσιόντι θαρσαλέως Θεῷ, καὶ ποιοῦντι τὰ κελευόμενα· εἰπεῖν δὲ προστάττει· Φύλαξαι τοῦ ἡσυχάσαι. Ὅπερ 1953 Σύμμαχος μέν φησιν, Φύλαξαι, καὶ ἡσύχασον. Ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, Πρόσχες, καὶ ἡσύχασον. Καπνιζομένους δὲ δαλοὺς, τοὺς δύο κέκληκε βασιλεῖς, ὡς μήτε φῶς, μήτε δύναμιν ἔχοντας καυστικὴν ἤδη σβεσθεῖσαν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ παιδευτικῇ, φησὶ, δυνάμει μετῆλθεν ὑμᾶς, ἢν ὀργὴν οἶδε καλεῖν ἡ Γραφὴ, παραδοὺς τοῖς πολεμίοις ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ' οὖν παίσας ἰάσομαι, δι' ἀμφοῖν ὑμᾶς καλῶν εἰς εὐσέβειαν, δι' ὃ νῦν ἀνόνητος ἡ τῶν βασιλέων βουλή. Ἀρὰμ δὲ λέγει Συρίαν, Σαμάρειαν δὲ τὴν νῦν Σεβαστήν. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ, φησὶν, τῇ μὲν Σαμαρείᾳ κεφαλὴν ἔχειν τὴν ∆αμασκὸν, καὶ ταύτης εἶναι βασιλέα τὸν Ῥαασσών· τῷ δὲ Ἐφραῒμ τῆς Σαμαρείας. Οὕτω δὲ ἐκάλουν τὰς δέκα φυλὰς Ἰσραὴλ, διὰ τὸν ἐξ Ἐφραῒμ αὐτῶν βασιλεύσαντα, καὶ ταύτης ἡγεῖσθαι Ῥωμελίου υἱόν. Γνῶθι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις, Ἄχαζ, ὡς ἐντὸς ἐτῶν πέντε καὶ ἑξήκοντα ἡ τῆς Σαμαρείας ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλεία καταλυθήσεται, τοῦ βασιλέως σὺν ὑπηκόοις παραδοθέντος αἰχμαλωσίᾳ. Ταῦτα προσέταξε λέγειν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἄχαζ ἀπαντήσαντα τὸν προφήτην, κατά τινα τόπον, ὃν εὔκαιρον ᾔδει πρὸς τὸ περιτυχεῖν τῷ Ἄχαζ. Τοῦ δὲ χρόνου συμπληρωθέντος, ∆αμασκὸς καὶ Σαμάρεια, οἵ τε τούτων βασιλεῖς καὶ ὑπήκοοι, πρὸς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἑάλωσαν, ὡς ἡ τετάρτη τῶν Βασιλείων δηλοῖ. Εἷλε γὰρ ὁ μὲν Τεγλαθφαλλασὰρ τὴν ∆αμασκὸν καὶ τὸν Ῥαασσὼν,