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But also other things besides these she was about to bring upon them, and just as "in the case of the serpent and the woman" God threatened "to put enmity between her and him," with the enmity coming to be for a good and beneficial purpose. So also now God promises to "scatter" the agreement for evil of those accused by the prophecy, to which, similarly also in the Gospels the Savior is recorded as saying: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace to the earth but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." 1.57 Against the one called Israel, I mean the people of the Jews who were ruled in Samaria, the present discourse makes these accusations in addition to the former ones, saying that they compose false prophecies out of strife and contention with those who write the true prophecies of God. There were, then, very many false prophets, as many as in Israel spoke and wrote things contrary to the true prophets of God. And these same men also composed writings that were lawless and full of all wickedness. ... to heed the divine scripture of the law and to judge according to it, but they, as if composing contrary laws, oppressed the wretched poor, and using force they defrauded the most inexperienced orphans and widows. And you might say such are also those who even now through wicked writings corrupt the souls of the more simple, to whom the prophetic word threatens, saying: and what will they do in the day of visitation? on which the affliction and the wrath against them will come from afar; for it being far away on account of being driven away from me, God. You, O you to whom these things are said, as if by force draw it upon yourselves, and when it has come, to whom will you flee to be helped? Then it adds in the usual way: For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still; for since they persisted in the same offenses of which they were accused by the word, it was consistent that the anger against them should also be abiding. And so up to this point he has established the accusations against the people, after which, in accordance with the threats made through the prophecy, not long after, the Assyrians arriving from afar besiege Samaria and ravage their entire country, and they lead away as captives all nine tribes of the Jewish nation to the land of the Assyrians. And they do this during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem, under whom the kingdom of Israel established in Samaria was completely destroyed, and when it ceased, two and a half tribes of the nation alone were left, being ruled in Jerusalem under the successors of David. Therefore, having established the prophecy concerning Israel up to this point, the discourse then transitions to the Assyrians themselves, prophesying through the subsequent passages what would happen to them also. 1.58 After the captivity of the people called Israel, the discourse consistently transitions to their captors; and these were Assyrians, whom the preceding text threatens. That the people had been led away by the Assyrians and Samaria had been besieged when the present matters were being spoken is clear from what is said in them from the person of the king of the Assyrians: and I took Arabia and Damascus and Samaria; in the way I took these, I will also take all the dominions, and again: for in the way I treated Samaria and her handmade idols, so I will also treat Jerusalem. And history teaches that "in the days of Ahaz the king of the Assyrians went up to Samaria and besieged it"; and for a time he took a part of the people captive, but under Hezekiah who succeeded Ahaz he "deported" all the people to the Assyrians. Indeed, with the Assyrians having done such things, the present discourse goes through the preceding matters as addressed to them, saying that it was necessary for the one to receive experience of a corrective and converting rod

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ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερα πρὸς τούτοις μελλούσης αὐτοῖς ἐπαγαγεῖν, ὥσπερ δὲ «ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄφεως καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς» ἠπείλει ὁ θεὸς «ἔχθραν θήσειν ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῆς καὶ αὐτοῦ», ἐπὶ καλῷ δὲ καὶ συμφέροντι γενησομένης τῆς ἔχθρας. οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὴν ἐπὶ κακῷ συμφωνίαν τῶν κατηγορουμένων ὑπὸ τῆς προφητείας «διασκεδάσειν» ὁ θεὸς ἐπαγγέλλεται, οἷς παραπλησίως καὶ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ σωτὴρ ἀναγέγραπται λέγων· «Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν. ἦλθον γὰρ διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ θυγατέρα κατὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ νύμφην κατὰ τῆς πενθερᾶς αὐτῆς». 1.57 Τοῦ καλουμένου μὲν Ἰσραήλ, λέγω δὲ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λαοῦ τοῦ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ βασιλευομένου, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τοῖς προτέροις ὁ παρὼν λόγος κατηγορεῖ, φάσκων αὐτοὺς πρὸς ἔριν καὶ φιλονεικίαν τῶν τὰς ἀληθεῖς προφητείας τοῦ θεοῦ γραφόντων ψευδοπροφητείας συντάττειν. ἦσαν οὖν ψευδοπροφῆται πλεῖστοι, ὅσοι ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐναντία φθεγγόμενοι καὶ ἐναντία γράφοντες τοῖς ἀληθέσι τοῦ θεοῦ προφήταις. οἱ δ' αὐτοὶ καὶ συγγραφὰς ἐποιοῦντο παρανόμους καὶ πάσης πονηρίας μεστάς. ... τῇ θείᾳ τοῦ νόμου γραφῇ προσέχειν καὶ κατ' αὐτὴν κρίνειν, οἱ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐναντίους συντάττοντες νόμους πένητας οἰκτροὺς κατεδυνάστευον, βιαζόμενοί τε ἐπλεονέκτουν ἀπειροτάτους τε ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας. τοιούτους δ' ἂν εἴποις καὶ τοὺς διὰ μοχθηρῶν συγγραμμάτων εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν διαστρέφοντας τῶν ἀκεραιοτέρων τὰς ψυχάς, οἷς ὁ προφητικὸς ἀπειλεῖ λόγος φάσκων· καὶ τί ποιήσουσιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς; καθ' ἣν ἡ θλῖψις καὶ ἡ κατ' αὐτῶν ὀργὴ πόρρωθεν ἥξει· μακρὰν γὰρ οὖσαν αὐτὴν διὰ τὸ ἀπελαύνεσθαι ἐξ ἐμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. ὑμεῖς, ὦ οὗτοι, πρὸς οὓς ταῦτα λέγεται, ὥσπερ βιαζόμενοι καθ' ἑαυτῶν αὐτὴν ἐπισπᾶσθε, ἧς ἐπελθούσης πρὸς τίνα καταφεύξεσθε τοῦ βοηθηθῆναι; Εἶτα συνήθως ἐπιλέγει· ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή· ἐπιμένοντες γὰρ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀτοπήμασι τῶν διὰ τοῦ λόγου κατηγορουμένων, ἀκόλουθον ἦν καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν παράμονον γίγνεσθαι ὀργήν. καὶ δὴ μέχρι τούτων ἔστησε τὰς κατὰ τοῦ λαοῦ κατηγορίας, μεθ' ἣν ἀκολούθως τοῖς διὰ τῆς προφητείας ἠπειλημένοις, οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν πόρρωθεν ἐπιστάντες Ἀσσύριοι πολιορκοῦσι τὴν Σαμάρειαν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν δῃοῦσιν, ὅλας τε ἐννέα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους αἰχμαλώτους εἰς τὴν Ἀσσυρίων ἀπάγουσι. καὶ τοῦτο πράττουσιν ἐπὶ Ἑζεκίου βασιλέως Ἰερουσαλήμ, καθ' ὃν ἡ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ συνεστῶσα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ βασιλεία εἰς τὸ παντελὲς κατελύθη, ἧς παυσαμένης δύο ἥμισυ φυλαὶ τοῦ ἔθνους μόναι περιελείφθησαν ὑπὸ τοῖς διαδόχοις ∆αυὶδ βασιλευόμεναι ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ. διὸ μέχρι τούτου στήσας ὁ λόγος τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ προφητείαν μεταβαίνει λοιπὸν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους τὰ μέλλοντα καὶ αὐτοῖς συμβήσεσθαι θεσπίζων διὰ τῶν ἐπιφερομένων. 1.58 Μετὰ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ καλουμένου Ἰσραὴλ αἰχμαλωσίαν ἀκολούθως ὁ λόγος μεταβαίνει ἐπὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλωτεύσαντας· ἦσαν δὲ οὗτοι Ἀσσύριοι, οἷς τὰ προκείμενα ἀπειλεῖ. ὅτι δὲ ἀπῆκτο ὑπὸ Ἀσσυρίων ὁ λαὸς καὶ πεπολιόρκητο ἡ Σαμάρεια, ὅτε τὰ μετὰ χεῖρας ἐλέγετο, δῆλον τυγχάνει ἐκ τοῦ λέγεσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλέως· καὶ ἔλαβον Ἀραβίαν καὶ ∆αμασκὸν καὶ Σαμάρειαν· ὃν τρόπον ταύτας ἔλαβον, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀρχὰς λήψομαι, καὶ πάλιν· ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ἐποίησα Σαμαρείᾳ καὶ τοῖς χειροποιήτοις αὐτῆς, οὕτως ποιήσω καὶ Ἰερουσαλήμ. καὶ ἡ ἱστορία δὲ διδάσκει, ὅτι «ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἄχαζ ἀνέβη ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων εἰς Σαμάρειαν καὶ ἐπολιόρκησεν αὐτήν»· καὶ τέως μὲν μέρος τι τοῦ λαοῦ ᾐχμαλώτισεν, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἑζεκίου τοῦ τὸν Ἄχαζ διαδεδεγμένου πάντα τὸν λαὸν «ἀπῴκισεν» εἰς Ἀσσυρίους. τοιαῦτα δὴ πραξάντων τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ὁ παρὼν λόγος ὡς πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὰ προκείμενα διεξέρχεται λέγων ῥάβδου παιδευτικῆς καὶ ἐπιστρεπτικῆς πεῖραν ἐχρῆν λαβεῖν τὸν