Chapter XLVII.—Desolation of Judæa foretold.

That the land of the Jews, then, was to be laid waste, hear what was said by the Spirit of prophecy. And the words were spoken as if from the person of the people wondering at what had happened. They are these: “Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. The house of our sanctuary has become a curse, and the glory which our fathers blessed is burned up with fire, and all its glorious things are laid waste: and Thou refrainest Thyself at these things, and hast held Thy peace, and hast humbled us very sore.”97    Isa. lxiv. 10–12. And ye are convinced that Jerusalem has been laid waste, as was predicted. And concerning its desolation, and that no one should be permitted to inhabit it, there was the following prophecy by Isaiah: “Their land is desolate, their enemies consume it before them, and none of them shall dwell therein.”98    Isa. i. 7. And that it is guarded by you lest any one dwell in it, and that death is decreed against a Jew apprehended entering it, you know very well.99    [Ad hominem, referring to the cruel decree of Hadrian, which the philosophic Antonines did not annul.]

[47] Ὅτι οὖν καὶ ἐκπορθηθήσεσθαι ἡ γῆ Ἰουδαίων ἔμελλεν, ἀκούσατε τῶν εἰρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος: εἴρηνται δὲ οἱ λόγοι ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου λαῶν θαυμαζόντων τὰ γεγενημένα. εἰσὶ δὲ οἵδε: Ἐγενήθη ἔρημος Σιών, ὡς ἔρημος ἐγενήθη Ἰερουσαλήμ, εἰς κατάραν ὁ οἶκος, τὸ ἅγιον ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ δόξα, ἣν εὐλόγησαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, ἐγενήθη πυρίκαυστος, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔνδοξα αὐτῆς συνέπεσε. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀνέσχου καὶ ἐσιώπησας καὶ ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς σφόδρα. καὶ ὅτι ἠρήμωτο Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὡς προείρητο γεγενῆσθαι, πεπεισμένοι ἐστέ. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐρημώσεως αὐτῆς, καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἐπιτραπήσεσθαι μηδένα αὐτῶν οἰκεῖν, διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προφήτου οὕτως: Ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν ἔρημος, ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν αὐτὴν φάγονται, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ. ὅτι δὲ φυλάσσεται ὑφ' ὑμῶν ὅπως μηδεὶς ἐν αὐτῇ γένηται, καὶ θάνατος κατὰ τοῦ καταλαμβανομένου Ἰουδαίου εἰσιόντος ὥρισται, ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθε.