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the intermingling with the Syrians and Egyptians that happened after this, during the subjugation of the Egyptians. For indeed, in the time of our fathers, the rule was entrusted to the province of Syria; and this one, sitting in Antioch, the metropolis of the Syrians, to the Egyptians .............. |126 b| Therefore, through these things the prophecy has declared the great change of the Egyptians. But if anyone does not accept this interpretation, one must know that the prophets prophesy different things that will happen at different times. For this same prophet, having foretold above to the Jews the saving birth of Emmanuel, immediately connected the events concerning Pekah and Rezin, for he said: «And the land which you fear shall be forsaken because of the two kings.» And this happened at the very time when the prophet prophesied it, but the events concerning Emmanuel came to their conclusion after more than six hundred years; nevertheless, the prophecies are connected, and there is nothing that separates them. Thus, therefore, we shall also understand the prophecy concerning Egypt, that those things signifying piety happened long ages later, while the events concerning the Assyrians reached their conclusion at that time, as a confirmation of the longer-term prophecy. And that the Egyptians attacked the Assyrians—for Pharaoh Necho did this—both the second book of Chronicles and the fourth of Kings teach. And the Assyrians attacked them, and the Egyptians served the Assyrians, and this happened in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. 24In that day Israel will be the third with the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land, 25which the Lord Sabaoth blessed, saying: Blessed is my people in Egypt, and the work of my hand among the Assyrians, and my inheritance Israel. Through these things he has declared the recall of the Jews. For just as, he says, I freed them from the slavery of the Egyptians, so I will bring them back from Babylon and will make them admired and will prepare them to inhabit the blessed land. For this my people in Egypt, having received my help, will show my strength among the Assyrians, being delivered through me from their slavery, and will again be my inheritance. To these things the prophet further adds that, when a certain Assyrian general, named Tanathan, had seized Ashdod and made both it and the country desolate, he was commanded by the God of all to take off the tunic made of hair and to walk with bare feet, and to join the appearance to the words and to show the truth of the prophetic words through his actions. And he says that when I had done these things, the Lord himself said these things, using my tongue as an instrument: 203Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, there will be signs and wonders for the Egyptians and the Ethiopians; 4for thus the king of the Assyrians will lead away the captivity of Egypt and the Ethiopians, young men and old, naked and barefoot, with the shame of Egypt uncovered. He limited to three years the time of the signs that foreshadowed the coming destruction, and he teaches that, according to that appearance of the prophet, the Assyrians, having stripped every age of the Ethiopians and Egyptians, will lead them away as captives of the spear. 5And they shall be ashamed, having been defeated, on account of the Ethiopians, in whom the Egyptians had trusted, who were their glory. When the Assyrians were attacking, they called the Ethiopians for an alliance. And these indeed undertook to help, but they jointly suffered defeat. 6And the inhabitants of this island will say in that day: 'Behold, we had trusted in them to flee for help; and they themselves were not able to be saved from the king of the Assyrians, so how shall we be saved?' He calls Egypt an island, as being surrounded by the sea of the river and as being encircled by canals. These, he says, will say after the defeat that we trusted in the Ethiopians in vain, for they were not even able to help themselves. This is the end of the prophecy concerning the Egyptians. But since he mentioned the Assyrians, he foretells the destruction of Babylon;

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ἐπιμιξίαν τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα Σύροις καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις γεγενημένην κατὰ τὴν Αἰγυπτίων ὑποταγήν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων πατέρων εἰς τὴν Σύρω ν ἐπαρχίαν ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπιστεύετο· ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ δὲ οὗτος, τῇ Σύρων μητροπόλει, καθήμενος Αἰγυπτίοις .............. |126 b| Τὴν πολλὴν τοίνυν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων μεταβολὴν διὰ τούτων ἡ προφητεία δεδήλωκεν. Εἰ δέ τις ταύτην οὐ προσίεται τὴν διάνοιαν, εἰδέναι χρὴ ὡς διάφορα ἐν διαφόροις ἐσόμενα καιροῖς οἱ προφῆται θεσπίζουσιν. Καὶ γὰρ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἄνω προαγορεύσας οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ προφήτης τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ τὴν σωτήριον γέννησιν, συνῆψεν εὐθὺς τὰ κατὰ τὸν Φακεὲ καὶ τὸν Ῥαασίν, ἔφη γάρ· «Καὶ καταλειφθήσεται ἡ γῆ ἣν σὺ φοβῇ ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν δύο βασιλέων.» Τοῦτο δὲ συνέβη κατ' αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν καθ' ὃν τοῦτο ὁ προφήτης ἐθέσπισεν, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ μετὰ πλείονα ἢ ἑξακόσια ἔτη τὸ πέρας ἐδέξατο· συνημμέναι δὲ ὅμως εἰσὶν αἱ προφητεῖαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι διορίζον οὐδέν. Οὕτω τοίνυν νοήσομεν καὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὴν πρόρρησιν, ὡς ἐκεῖνα μὲν τὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν προσημαί νοντα μακροῖς ὕστερον ἐγένετο χρόνοις, τὰ δέ γε κατὰ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν τετύχηκε πέρατος εἰς βεβαίωσιν τῆς μακροτέρας προρρήσεως. Καὶ ὅτι οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι Ἀσσυρίοις ἐπῆλθον-Φαραὼ γὰρ Νεχαὼ τοῦτο δέδρακε-, καὶ ἡ δευτέρα διδάσκει τῶν Παραλειπομένων καὶ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἡ τετάρτη. Καὶ Ἀσσύριοι αὐτοῖς ἐπῆλθον, καὶ ἐδούλευσαν τοῖς Ἀσσυρίοις Αἰγύπτιοι, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Ναβουχο δονόσορ τοῦτο συνέβη. 24Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἔσται τρίτος Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τοῖς Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, εὐλογημένος ἐν τῇ γῇ, 25ἣν εὐλόγησε κύριος Σαβαὼθ λέγων· Εὐλογημένος ὁ λαός μου ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἔργον χειρός μου ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ ἡ κληρονομία μου Ἰσραήλ. Τὴν ἀνάκλησιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων διὰ τούτων δεδήλωκεν. Ὥσπερ γάρ φησι τῆς Αἰγυπτίων αὐτοὺς ἠλευθέρωσα δουλείας, οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπανάξω καὶ περιβλέπτους ἐργάσομαι καὶ τὴν εὐλογημένην γῆν οἰκῆσαι παρασκευάσω. Οὗτος γὰρ ὁ λαός μου ὁ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τῆς ἐμῆς ἐπικουρίας τυχὼν δείξει μου τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις, τῆς ἐκείνων δι' ἐμοῦ δουλείας ἀπαλλαγείς, καὶ ἔσται μου πάλιν κληρο νομία. Τούτοις ἔτι συνάπτει ὁ προφήτης, ὡς στρατηγοῦ τινος Ἀσσυρίου, Τανάθαν ὀνομαζομένου, τὴν Ἄζωτον κατειληφότος καὶ ἀνάστατον αὐτήν τε καὶ τὴν χώραν πεποιηκότος ἐκελεύσθη παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων καὶ τὸν ἐκ τριχῶν κατασκευασμένον ἀποδύσασθαι χιτῶνα καὶ γυμνοῖς βαδίσαι ποσὶ καὶ συνάψαι τοῖς λόγοις τὸ σχῆμα καὶ δεῖξαι τῆς προφητείας τῶν λόγων διὰ τῶν ἔργων τὸ ἀληθές. Ἐμοῦ δέ φησι ταῦ τα πεποιηκότος αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ταῦτα ἔφη ὀργάνῳ τῇ ἐμῇ χρησάμενος γλώττῃ· 203Ὃν τρόπον πεπόρευται ὁ παῖς μου Ἡσαΐας γυμνὸς καὶ ἀνυπόδετος τρία ἔτη, ἔσται σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ Αἰθίοψιν· 4ὅτι οὕτως ἄξει βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν Αἰγύπτου καὶ Αἰθιόπων, νεανίσκους καὶ πρεσβύτας, γυμνοὺς καὶ ἀνυποδέτους, ἀνακεκαλυμμένους τὴν αἰςχύνην Αἰγύπτου. Περιώρισε τρισὶν ἔτεσι τὸν τῶν σημείων καιρὸν τῶν τὸν ἐσόμενον ὄλεθρο ν προδηλούντων καὶ διδάσκει, ὡς κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ προφήτου τὸ σχῆμα πᾶσαν ἡλικίαν τῶν Αἰθιό πων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων γυμνώσαντες οἱ Ἀσσύριοι δορυαλώτους ἀπάξουσιν. 5Καὶ αἰσχυνθήσονται ἡττηθέντες ἐπὶ τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, ἐφ' οἷς ἦσαν πεποιθότες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, οἳ ἦσαν αὐτοῖς εἰς δόξαν. Τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἐπιόντων τοὺς Αἰθίοπας εἰς συμμαχίαν ἐκάλεσα ν. Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν ἀντελάβον το τῆς βοηθείας, κοινῇ δὲ τὴν ἧτταν ἐδέξαντο. 6Καὶ ἐροῦσιν οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ· Ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς ἦμεν πεποιθότες τοῦ φυγεῖν εἰς αὐτοὺς εἰς βοήθειαν· καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντο σωθῆναι ἀπὸ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ πῶς ἡμεῖς σωθησόμεθα; Νῆσον καλεῖ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ὡς θαλαττουμένην τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ ὡς ταῖς διώρυξι κυκλουμένην. Οὗτοί φησι μετὰ τὴν ἧτταν ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μάτην ἐθαρρήσαμεν Αἰθίοψιν, οὐδὲ γὰρ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἴσχυσαν ἐπαρκέςαι. Τοῦτο τέλος τῆς Αἰγυπτίων προρρή σεως. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἐμνήσθη, τῆς Βαβυλῶνος προα γορ εύ ει τὸν ὄλεθρον·