50

the criterion of the mind being corrupted. For this reason, seeing they did not see, and hearing they did not hear; and he adds the cause, that it was not the organs of sense that were corrupted, nor nature that was maimed, but the heart that was hardened. For the heart of this people has grown dull, he says; and dullness of mind comes both from sins and from worldly desires. And Paul, explaining this dullness, said: I could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal; for you were not yet able, nor are you able now. And he adds the cause, saying: For where there are strife and jealousy and divisions among you, are you not carnal? Since, therefore, they too, wasting away with much envy and malice and besieged by countless other passions, made the eye of their mind dull, they were no longer able to see clearly. Therefore, they held other and contrary opinions about the things they saw. The prophet, therefore, seeing these things with accuracy, proclaimed beforehand also the cause of the disease. But consider, for me, how, there being two prophecies, the one concerning the Church and the good things of the world the Seraphim received, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of his glory; but the one concerning the capture and the punishments of the Jews they left to the prophet, so that from this you might learn the superiority of the Church. And I said, Until when, Lord? Do you see how we did not conjecture in vain or at random about the prophet's obedience, which came with much eagerness? Since, then, he heard the opposite of what he expected, desolation, utter destruction, he thinks it right at least to learn the measure of the punishment; for he did not dare to snatch them from the entirety of the wrath, because God had already shown that they sinned without excuse. For their audacious acts were not of sudden passion, nor of a judgment under influence, but the work of a soul making disobedience its business and of a contentious mind, as if from some practice and diligence, resisting the things commanded by God. At any rate, hinting at this he said: Lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I should heal them. For as if fearing, he says, that they might learn something of what is necessary, so with much diligence they hardened their mind. Since, therefore, the accusation is most grave and the punishment unavoidable, he seeks to learn what was left; but in the guise of learning he introduces a supplication. And since he did not dare to supplicate openly even for this, for this reason he devises a question under the pretense of learning, saying: Until when, Lord? And he said: Until cities are laid waste without inhabitant, and houses without man; and the land shall be left a desert. And after these things God will remove men far away, and those who are left will be multiplied on the earth, and yet a tenth shall be on it. And again it shall be for plunder like a terebinth, and as an acorn, when it falls from its husk. A holy seed is its stump. Having completed that prophecy, he brings the discourse back again to the history, proclaiming beforehand both the capture of the ten tribes, and the long-suffering that occurred for the two tribes because of that captivity; then also their own carrying away, since they made no good use of the long-suffering; and the prosperity for them that would be kindled again from the remnant. For when he says: Until cities are laid waste without inhabitant, he is alluding to the captivity of the ten tribes. For they all disappeared completely and, having all been seized with great violence, were carried away to the foreign land, so that all the cities stood empty of men and the land was desolate of those cultivating it, for the benefit of those who would be left behind. Therefore, when he says: Until cities are laid waste without inhabitant and houses without man, he is then also speaking of the captivity. But when he says that And after these things God will remove men far away, he is alluding either to the complete prosperity of all, or to the prosperity that came to the two tribes after the carrying away of the ten tribes. For being delivered from Sennacherib

50

τοῦ κριτηρίου τῆς διανοίας διεφθαρμένου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο βλέποντες οὐκ ἔβλεπον καὶ ἀκούοντες οὐκ ἤκουον· καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν προστίθησιν, ὅτι οὐχὶ τὰ αἰσθητήρια ἦν διεφθαρμένα, οὐδὲ ἡ φύσις λελωβημένη, ἀλλὰ ἡ καρδία πεπηρωμένη. Ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, φησί· πάχος δὲ διανοίας γίνεται ἀπό τε ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀπό τε βιωτικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν. Καὶ ταύτην ἐξηγούμενος τὴν παχύτητα ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἠδυνήθην ὑμῖν λαλῆσαι ὡς πνευματικοῖς ἀλλ' ὡς σαρκικοῖς· οὔπω γὰρ ἠδύνασθε, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἔτι νῦν δύνασθε. Καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν προστίθησι λέγων· Ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ἔρεις καὶ ζῆλοι καὶ διχοστασίαι, οὐχὶ σαρκικοί ἐστε; Ἐπεὶ οὖν κἀκεῖνοι φθόνῳ πολλῷ καὶ βασκανίᾳ τηκόμενοι καὶ ἑτέροις μυρίοις πολιορκούμενοι πάθεσι, παχὺ τὸ ὄμμα τῆς διανοίας εἰργάσαντο, καθαρὰ βλέπειν οὐκ ἔτι λοιπὸν ἠδύναντο. ∆ιὸ ἑτέρας περὶ τῶν ὁρωμένων δόξας ἐλάμβανον καὶ τὰς ἐναντίας. Ταῦτα οὖν μετὰ ἀκριβείας ὁρῶν ὁ προφήτης, προανεφώνησε καὶ τοῦ νοσήματος τὴν αἰτίαν. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει, ὡς δυοῖν προφητειῶν οὐσῶν, τὴν μὲν περὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀγαθῶν τὰ Σεραφὶμ ἐδέξαντο λέγοντα· Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, Κύριος Σαβαώθ, πλήρης πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ· τὴν δὲ περὶ τῆς ἁλώσεως καὶ τῶν τιμωριῶν τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν τῷ προφήτῃ κατέλιπον, ἵνα κἀντεῦθεν μάθῃς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὴν ὑπεροχήν. Καὶ εἶπον, ἕως πότε, Κύριε; Ὁρᾷς ὡς μάτην οὐδὲ εἰκῆ ἐστοχασάμεθα τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ προφήτου τῆς μετὰ πολλῆς προθυμίας γεγενημένης; Ἐπειδὴ γοῦν τἀναντία ὧν προσεδόκησεν ἤκουσεν ἐρημίαν, πανωλεθρίαν, ἀξιοῖ τὸ γοῦν μέτρον μαθεῖν τῆς τιμωρίας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐτόλμα ὁλοκλήρου τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοὺς ἐξαρπάσαι, διὰ τὸ προλαβόντα τὸν Θεὸν δεῖξαι ἀσύγγνωστα ἁμαρτάνοντας. Οὐ γὰρ συναρπαγῆς ἦν αὐτῶν τὰ τολμήματα, οὐδὲ γνώμης ἐπηρεαζομένης, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς ἔργον ποιουμένης τὴν παρακοὴν καὶ διανοίας φιλονείκου, καθάπερ ἐκ μελέτης τινὸς καὶ σπουδῆς, ἀνθισταμένης τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κελευομένοις. Τοῦτο γοῦν αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγε· Μήποτε ἴδωσι τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσι καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσι καὶ ἰάσωμαι αὐτούς. Ὡσανεὶ δεδοικότες γάρ, φησί, μήποτέ τι τῶν δεόντων μάθωσιν, οὕτω μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σπουδῆς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν ἐπήρωσαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ἡ κατηγορία βαρυτάτη καὶ ἡ τιμωρία ἀπαραίτητος, ὅπερ ἦν λειπόμενον, τοῦτο ζητεῖ μαθεῖν· ἀλλ' ἐν τάξει τοῦ μαθεῖν ἱκετηρίαν εἰσάγει. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τούτου φανερῶς ἱκετεῦσαι ἐτόλμα, διὰ τοῦτο μαθήσεως προσχήματι ἐρώτησιν ἐπινοεῖ λέγων· Ἕως πότε, Κύριε; Καὶ εἶπεν· Ἕως ἂν ἐρημωθῶσι πόλεις παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι καὶ οἶκοι παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἀνθρώπους· καὶ ἡ γῆ καταλειφθήσεται ἔρημος. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μακρυνεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ πληθυνθήσονται οἱ καταλειφθέντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔτι ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐστι τὸ Ἐπιδέκατον. Καὶ πάλιν ἔσται εἰς προνομὴν ὡς τερέβινθος καὶ ὡς βάλανος, ὅταν ἐκπέσῃ ἐκ τῆς θήκης αὐτῆς. Σπέρμα ἅγιον τὸ στήλωμα αὐτῆς. Τὴν προφητείαν ἀπαρτίσας ἐκείνην, ἐπὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν πάλιν ἐξάγει τὸν λόγον, τήν τε ἅλωσιν τῶν δέκα φυλῶν προαναφωνῶν, τήν τε διὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐκείνην ἐπὶ ταῖς δύο φυλαῖς μακροθυμίαν γεγενημένην· εἶτα καὶ τὴν τούτων αὐτῶν ἀπαγωγήν, ἐπειδὴ εἰς οὐδὲν δέον ἐχρήσαντο τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ· καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λειψάνου πάλιν ἀναφθησομένην αὐτοῖς εὐημερίαν. Ὅταν μὲν γὰρ λέγῃ· Ἕως ἂν ἐρημωθῶσι πόλεις παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι, τῶν δέκα φυλῶν τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν αἰνίττεται. Καὶ γὰρ ἄρδην ἠφανίσθησαν ἅπαντες καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σφοδρότητος ἀνάρπαστοι γενόμενοι πάντες εἰς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν ἀπηνέχθησαν, ὡς καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἁπάσας ἑστάναι κενὰς ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὴν γῆν ἔρημον τῶν θεραπευόντων αὐτὴν εἰς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ὑπολειφθησομένων. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν λέγῃ· Ἕως ἐρημωθῶσι πόλεις παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι καὶ οἶκοι παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἀνθρώπους, τότε λέγει καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν. Ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ ὅτι Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μακρυνεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦς ἀνθρώπους, ἢ τὴν ὁλοσχερῆ πάντων εὐπραγίαν αἰνίττεται ἢ τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν τῶν δέκα φυλῶν γενομένην ταῖς δύο φυλαῖς εὐημερίαν. Ἀπαλλαγέντες γὰρ τοῦ Σεναχειρὶμ