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with help, but he will not enjoy it to the end. "Will it not wither with drought when the east wind touches it, wither with the clod of its root?" For immediately, he says, 81.964 upon the arrival of the Babylonian king, both the king and all his subjects will be enslaved. For again here he called the people a clod; and the scorching wind, the army of the Babylonian; for just as he called the king a vine, and the people a clod (for it was planted in him); so tropically he calls the watering, the help of the Egyptian; and the scorching wind, the assault of the Babylonian. 11, 12. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things are? Say to them: Behold, the king of Babylon is coming to Jerusalem, and will take its king and its rulers, and will bring them to himself in Babylon. The "Behold, he is coming," instead of, Behold, he has come; for for the time being he recounts things that have already happened and concerning Jechonias he related these things, according to the proper idiom speaking of things past as if they had not yet happened; but that he said those things concerning Jechonias, who was already in his sixth year of captivity, he teaches what follows according to the teaching of the prophet himself. 13, 14. And he shall take, he says, of the seed of the kingdom, and shall make a covenant with him, and shall bring him under a curse; and he shall take the leading men of the land, that it may become a weak kingdom, so as not to lift itself up at all, but to keep his covenant, and to establish it. These things he said concerning Zedekiah, and these too had happened six years before. Thus the "he shall take, and shall make, and shall bring in" is instead of he took, and made, and brought in. For making the covenants with Zedekiah, he demanded from him most dreadful oaths, not to transgress what was agreed upon; but he immediately trampled upon the oaths. But appointing him king, he says, he will take captive all who boast in their wealth. And this the fourth book of Kings, and the second of Chronicles taught us; and likewise also the blessed Jeremiah the prophet; but all these things, he says, the Babylonian works out, making the kingdom weak, that it may obey continually, and have no pretext for revolt. 15. And he will rebel from him, by sending men to Egypt, to give him horses, and many people. What he said above obscurely and parabolically, he taught clearly here. Then he adds by way of a question: "Will he prosper, will he be saved who does contrary things, and transgresses a covenant? will he escape?" You, he says, I have used as judges, whether it is just for the transgressor of oaths and covenants to escape justice and obtain salvation; but since you answer nothing, I cast the vote. 81.965 16, 17. As I live, says the Lord Adonai; if he shall not die in the midst of Babylon in the place of the king who made him king, who despised my curse, and transgressed my covenant with him; and not with great power, nor with a great multitude. The king of the Babylonians who knows me not, he says, demanded these oaths according to me; but this one, living under my laws, became a transgressor of the oaths. Therefore he will be delivered to the king who appointed him, and in Babylon he will meet the end of his life. "And Pharaoh will make war with a siege mound, and with the building of siege engines to cut off many souls." And this again the blessed Jeremiah the prophet teaches us; for when the Chaldeans were besieging Jerusalem, the king of the Egyptians came to the aid of the Jews; and the Chaldeans, fearing this assault, withdrew; but the God of all advises Zedekiah through Jeremiah the prophet not to be confident in the help of the Egyptian. "For immediately," he says, "the king of Babylon will come and take the city." And these things God also says here through Ezekiel. 18. And he despised the oath to transgress the covenant, and behold, he has given his hand, and has done all these things to him, shall he not be saved? No, he says, profit from

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βοηθείᾳ, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἀπολαύ σεται. "Οὐχ ἅμα τῷ ἅψασθαι αὐτῆς ἄνεμον καύσωνα ξηρανθήσεται ξηρασίᾳ, σὺν τῷ βώλῳ τῆς ἀνατολῆς αὑτῆς ξηρανθήσεται;" Παραχρῆμα γὰρ, φησίν, 81.964 ἀφικομένου τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου βασιλέως, καὶ ὁ βασι λεὺς, καὶ τὸ ὑπήκοον ἅπαν ἐξανδραποδισθήσεται. Πάλιν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα βῶλον τὸν λαὸν προσηγόρευσεν· ἄνεμον δὲ καύσωνα τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου τὴν στρα τείαν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἄμπελον τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ βῶλον τὸν λαὸν (ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ἐπεφύτευτο)· οὕτω τρο πικῶς ἀρδείαν, τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου τὴν βοήθειαν· ἄνεμον δὲ καύσωνα, τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου τὴν ἔφοδον λέγει. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰπὲ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον τὸν παραπικραίνοντα· Οὐκ ἐπίστασθε, τί ἐστι ταῦτα; Εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς· Ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ λήψεται τὸν βασιλέα αὑτῆς, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῆς, καὶ ἄξει αὐτοὺς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. Τὸ "Ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται," ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἰδοὺ ἦλθεν· τέως γὰρ τὰ ἤδη γενόμενα διηγεῖται καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονίου ταῦτα διεξελήλυθε, κατὰ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἰδίωμα τὰ παρεληλυ θότα, ὡς μηδέπω γενόμενα λέγει· ὅτι δὲ ἐκεῖνα περὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονίου ἔφη, ὃς ἕκτον ἤδη λοιπὸν ἔτος εἶχεν ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ προ φήτου διδασκαλίαν, τὰ ἐπαγόμενα διδάσκει. ιγʹ, ιδʹ. Καὶ λήψεται, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος τῆς βασιλείας, καὶ διαθήσεται πρὸς αὐτὸν δια θήκην, καὶ εἰσάξει αὐτὸν ἐν ἀρᾷ· καὶ τοὺς ἡγου μένους τῆς γῆς λήψεται, τοῦ γενέσθαι εἰς βασι λέα ἀσθενῆ, τὸ καθόλου μὴ ἐπαίρεσθαι, ἀλλὰ φυλάσσειν τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἱστᾷν αὐ τήν. Ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ Σεδεκίου ἔφη, καὶ αὐτὰ δὲ πρὸ ἓξ ἐτῶν ἐγεγόνει. Τὸ τοίνυν "λήψεται, καὶ δια θήσεται, καὶ εἰσάξει" ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔλαβεν, καὶ δι έθετο, καὶ εἰσήγαγε. Τὰς γὰρ συνθήκας πρὸς τὸν Σεδεκίαν ποιούμενος ὅρκους αὐτὸν φρικωδεστάτους ἀπῄτησε, μὴ παραβῆναι τὰ συγκείμενα· ὁ δὲ παρ αυτίκα τοὺς ὅρκους ἐπάτησε. Χειροτονῶν δὲ, φησὶν, αὐτὸν βασιλέα πάντας τοὺς πλούτῳ κομῶντας αἰχμ αλώτους λήψεται. Τοῦτο δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἡ τετάρτη, καὶ ἡ δευτέρα τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἐδίδαξεν· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης· πάντα δὲ, φησὶ, ταῦτα πραγματεύεται ὁ Βαβυλώνιος, ἀσθενῆ τὴν βασιλείαν ποιῶν, ἵν' ὑπακούῃ διηνεκῶς, καὶ στάσεως πρόφασιν μηδεμίαν ἔχῃ. ιεʹ. Καὶ ἀποστήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἐξαπο στέλλειν ἀνθρώπους εἰς Αἴγυπτον, τοῦ δοῦναι αὐτῷ ἵππους, καὶ λαὸν πολύν. Ἅπερ ἄνω συν εσκιασμένως καὶ παραβολικῶς ἔφη, ἐνταῦθα σαφῶς ἐδίδαξεν. Εἶτα κατ' ἐρώτησιν ἐπάγει· "Εἰ κατευ θυνεῖ, εἰ διασωθήσεται ὁ ποιῶν ἐναντία, καὶ παρα βαίνων διαθήκην; εἰ ἐκφεύξεται;" Ὑμῖν, φησὶ, κέχρημαι κριταῖς, εἰ δίκαιον τὸν παραβάτην ὅρκων καὶ συνθηκῶν γενόμενον τὴν δίκην ἐκφυγεῖν, καὶ σωτηρίας τυχεῖν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδὲν ἀποκρίνεσθε, ἐγὼ τὴν ψῆφον ἐκφέρω. 81.965 ιʹ, ιζʹ. Ζῶ ἐγὼ, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· ἐὰν μὴ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ βασιλεύ σαντος αὐτὸν, ὃς ἠτίμωσε τὴν ἀράν μου, καὶ παρέβη τὴν διαθήκην μου μετ' αὐτοῦ, ἐν μέσῳ Βαβυλῶνος τελευτήσει· καὶ οὐκ ἐν δυνάμει μεγάλῃ, οὐδὲ ἐν ὄχλῳ πολλῷ. Ὁ ἀγνοῶν με, φησὶ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων ὁ βασιλεὺς, κατ' ἐμὲ τοὺς ὅρκους τοῦτον ἀπῄτησεν· οὗτος δὲ ὑπὸ τοὺς ἐμοὺς πολιτευόμενος νόμους παραβάτης τῶν ὅρκων ἐγέ νετο. ∆ιὸ τῷ χειροτονήσαντι αὐτὸν βασιλεῖ παρα δοθήσεται, καὶ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι δέξεται τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. "Ποιήσει δὲ Φαραὼ πόλεμον ἐν χαρακοβο λίᾳ, καὶ ἐν οἰκοδομῇ βελοστάσεων τοῦ ἐξᾶραι πολ λὰς ψυχάς." Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πάλιν ὁ μακάριος ἡμᾶς Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης διδάσκει· τῶν γὰρ Χαλδαίων τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκούντων, ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασι λεὺς εἰς ἐπικουρίαν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀφίκετο· δείσαν τες δὲ ταύτην οἱ Χαλδαῖοι τὴν ἔφοδον, ἀνεχώρησαν· ἀλλὰ τῷ Σεδεκίᾳ διὰ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου παρ αινεῖ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, μὴ θαῤῥήσῃ, τῇ τοῦ Αἰγυ πτίου βοηθείᾳ. "Παραυτίκα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἥξει βασι λεὺς Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ λήψεται τὴν πόλιν." Ταῦτα δὲ κἀνταῦθα διὰ τοῦ Ἰεζεκιήλ φησιν ὁ Θεός. ιηʹ. Καὶ ἠτίμωσε τὴν ὁρκωμοσίαν τοῦ παρα βῆναι διαθήκην, καὶ ἰδοὺ δέδωκε τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ, καὶ πάντα ταῦτα ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ, μὴ σωθήσεται; Οὐδεμίαν, φησὶν, ὄνησιν ἐκ