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he will profit from the Egyptian alliance, but he will pay the penalty for the transgression. 19-21. Therefore say, Thus says Adonai the Lord, My oath, which he despised, and my covenant, which he broke, I will even bring it upon his own head. And I will spread my net over him, and he will be taken in its snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there concerning his injustice, with which he wronged me in all his desertions. And all his chosen men with all his battalions will fall by the sword, and all their remnants I will scatter to every wind, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken. Trusting in the aid of the Egyptians, he says, he trampled on my oaths; but I, using the army of the Chaldeans as a kind of net, will take him captive, and send him away to Babylon, and I will deliver up his chosen men, and the best of his army to slaughter; and those who escape death in the war I will deliver up as captives of the spear, and through this experience you will learn that my words are not false. For he signified this by saying: And you shall know that I the Lord have spoken. 81.968 (22, 23.) Thus says Adonai the Lord: I myself will take from the choice men of the high cedar from the top, and I will give from the top of its shoots, from the heart of its top I will pluck, and I myself will plant it on a high mountain. And I will hang it on a lofty mountain of Israel, and I will plant it, and it will bring forth a shoot, and will bear fruit, and will become a great cedar, and every bird will rest under it, and every winged creature will rest under its shade, and its branches will be restored. Truly a house; Israel is provoking, and they have eyes, and do not see, and they have ears, and do not hear. But if these things are not so, let them show us, who is this one who was taken from the choice men of the high cedar from the heart of the top, and was first planted on a high mountain, then was hung on a lofty mountain of Israel, and after being hung brought forth a shoot, and bore fruit, and became a great cedar, so that every bird and every winged creature, not a four-footed beast, nor a reptile, but every bird and winged creature rests under its shade. For if they should say that these things were said concerning Zerubbabel, let them show on what mountain Zerubbabel was hung, or that all the birds and winged creatures rested under his shade; for Zerubbabel only continued to rule the people who came up with him from captivity, but the other nations not only did not obey him, but also made war continually. For which reason not even the building of the divine temple received a swift completion. And if the things spoken in no way fit Zerubbabel, they would hardly fit anyone else. And if they should attempt to apply the prophecy to the Maccabees, their falsehood will easily be refuted. For they were not of the royal, but of the priestly tribe; but here he calls the royal lineage a cedar. For indeed concerning Jeconiah he spoke thus: "The great eagle, with great wings, plucked off the tender topmost shoot of the cedar, and carried it to Babylon," meaning, the royal lineage. Therefore, if the things spoken fit neither Zerubbabel nor the Maccabees, it is clear that these things were foretold concerning our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who according to the flesh traced his lineage from David, having his ancestors not from some offshoots of the kingdom, but from the very succession of the kings. And the blessed Matthew teaches us this precisely; for having said Solomon was the son of David, and Rehoboam of him, then going through all the genealogies in order until the exile to Babylon, he adds: "And after the exile to Babylon Jeconiah begot Salathiel;" this is the one who became the captive; and Salathiel begot Zerubbabel; and this is the one who after 81.969 the return led the people; from these the Lord Christ traces his lineage according to the flesh; wherefore he says: "I will take from the

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τῆς τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου συμμαχίας καρπώσεται, ἀλλὰ τῆς παρα βάσεως τίσει δίκας. ιθʹ- καʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰπὲ, Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος, Τὴν ὁρκωμοσίαν μου, ἣν ἠτίμωσε, καὶ τὴν διαθήκην μου, ἣν παρέβη, καὶ δώσω αὐτὴν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐκπετάσω ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸ δίκτυόν μου, καὶ ἁλώσεται ἐν τῇ περιοχῇ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄξω αὐτὸν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, καὶ διακριθήσο μαι μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐκεῖ περὶ τῆς ἀδικίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἠδίκησεν ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς φυγαδείαις αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ αὐτοῦ σὺν πά σαις ταῖς παρατάξεσιν αὐτοῦ ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ πε σοῦνται, καὶ πάντας τοὺς καταλοίπους αὐτῶν εἰς πάντα ἄνεμον διασπερῶ, καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε, διότι ἐγὼ Κύριος λελάληκα. Τῇ Αἰγυπτίων, φησὶ, βοηθείᾳ θαῤῥήσας τοὺς ἐμοὺς ὅρκους ἐπάτησεν· ἀλλ' ἐγὼ οἷόν τινι δικτύῳ τῇ τῶν Χαλδαίων χρησά μενος στρατείας ζωγρήσω αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐν τῇ Βαβυ λῶνι παραπέμψω, καὶ τοὺς λογάδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς στρατείας τοὺς ἀρίστους παραδώσω σφαγῇ· τοὺς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου διαφυγόντας θάνατον παραδώσω δορυαλώτους, καὶ δι' αὐτῆς μαθήσεσθε τῆς πείρας, ὡς ἀψευδῆ μου τὰ ῥήματα. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐσήμανεν εἰρηκώς· Καὶ ἐπιγνώσεσθε, διότι ἐγὼ Κύριος λελάληκα. 81.968 (κβʹ, κγʹ.) Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Λήψομαι ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων τῆς κέδρου τῆς ὑψηλῆς ἐκ κορυφῆς, καὶ δώσω ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς παραφυά δων αὐτῆς, ἐκ καρδίας κορυφῆς αὐτῆς ἀποκνιῶ, καὶ καταφυτεύσω ἐπ' ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ ἐγώ. Καὶ κρεμάσω αὐτὸν ἐν ὄρει μετεώρῳ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ καταφυτεύσω αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐξοίσει βλαστὸν, καὶ ποιήσει καρπὸν, καὶ ἔσται εἰς κέδρον μεγάλην, καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ὑποκάτω αὐτοῦ πᾶν ὄρνεον, καὶ ἅπαν πετεινὸν ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῦ ἀνα παύσεται, καὶ τὰ κλήματα αὐτοῦ ἀποκατασταθή σεται. Ἀληθῶς οἶκος· παραπικραίνων ὁ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐ βλέπουσι, καὶ ὦτα ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούουσι. Εἰ δὲ οὐχ οὕτω ταῦτ' ἔχει, δειξάτωσαν ἡμῖν, τίς οὗτος ὁ ληφθεὶς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλέ κτων τῆς κέδρου τῆς ὑψηλῆς ἐκ καρδίας κορυφῆς, καὶ καταφυτευθεὶς μὲν πρότερον ἐν ὄρει ὑψηλῷ, εἶτα κρεμασθεὶς ἐν ὄρει μετεώρῳ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ μετὰ τὸ κρεμασθῆναι ἐξοίσας βλαστὸν, καὶ ποιήσας καρ πὸν, καὶ γενόμενος εἰς κέδρον μεγάλην, ὥστε πᾶν ὄρνεον καὶ πᾶν πτηνὸν, οὐ τετράποδον, οὔτε ἑρπε τὸν, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὄρνεον καὶ πετεινὸν ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῦ ἀναπαύεσθαι. Εἰ γὰρ περὶ τοῦ Ζοροβάβελ ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαι φήσαιεν, δειξάτωσαν ἐν ποίῳ ὄρει ὁ Ζοροβάβελ ἐκρεμάσθη, ἢ ὅτι πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα καὶ πετεινὰ ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῦ ἀνεπαύσατο· μόνον γὰρ ὁ Ζοροβάβελ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας συνανελ θόντος λαοῦ ἄρξας διετέλεσε, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἔθνη οὐ μόνον αὐτοῦ οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διηνεκῶς ἐπολέμει. Οὗ χάριν οὐδὲ ἡ οἰκοδομὴ τοῦ θείου νεὼ σύντομον ἐδέξατο πέρας. Εἰ δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἁρμόττει τῷ Ζοροβάβελ τὰ εἰρημένα, σχολῇ γ' ἂν ἑτέρῳ τινὶ ἁρμόσειεν. Εἰ δὲ εἰς τοὺς Μακκαβαίους τὴν προφη τείαν ἑλκύσαι ἐπιχειρήσαιεν, ῥᾳδίως αὐτῶν τὸ ψεῦ δος διελεγχθήσεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς βασιλικῆς, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἱερατικῆς ὑπῆρχον ἐκεῖνοι φυλῆς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ κέδρον τὸ βασιλικὸν προσαγορεύει γένος. Καὶ γὰρ περὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονίου οὕτως ἔφη· "Ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας, ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος, τὰ ἁπαλὰ τῆς κέδρου ἀπ έκνισεν, καὶ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα ἀπήγαγεν," ἀντὶ τοῦ, βασιλικὸν γένος. Οὐκοῦν εἰ μήτε τῷ Ζοροβάβελ, μήτε τοῖς Μακκαβαίοις ἁρμόττει τὰ εἰρημένα, δῆλον ὅτι περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ταῦτα προηγόρευται, ὃς ἐκ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα κατῆγεν τὸ γένος, οὐκ ἐκ παραφυάδων τινῶν τῆς βασιλείας τοὺς προπάτορας ἔχων, ἀλλ' ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς τῶν βασιλέων διαδοχῆς. Καὶ τοῦτο ἀκριβῶς ἡμᾶς ὁ μακάριος διδάσκει Ματθαῖος· τοῦ γὰρ ∆αβὶδ τὸν Σολομῶντα εἰρηκὼς υἱὸν, κἀκείνου τὸν Ῥοβοὰμ, εἶτα ἑξῆς ἁπάσας τὰς γενεαλογίας διεξελθὼν μέχρι τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος, ἐπάγει· "Καὶ μετὰ τὴν μετοικεσίαν Βαβυλῶνος Ἰεχονίας ἐγέννησε τὸν Σαλαθιήλ·" οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ αἰχμάλωτος γεγονώς· ὁ Σαλαθιὴλ δὲ τὸν Ζοροβάβελ· οὗτος δέ ἐστιν ὁ μετὰ 81.969 τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἡγησάμενος τοῦ λαοῦ· ἐκ τούτων ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς κατάγει τὸ γένος τὸ κατὰ σάρκα· διό φησι· "Λήψομαι ἐκ τῶν