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we have declared in the prophecies of the other prophets. 11He calls to me from Seir. Seir is called the mountain of the Idumeans; and it received its name from Esau; for since he was hairy, he was named Seir, that is, hairy. Guard the battlements. Why do you wail? to the one guarding from the night 12I said; guarding, he came in the morning and the night. For since, fearing the enemies, they kept vigil and sat by the wall night and day, guarding and guarding, they would shout, thinking in this way to frighten their adversaries, the prophetic word rightly mocks them, saying: Guard the battlements, instead of: You do well providing for security, but why do you wail while guarding, and not only at night but also by day; nevertheless if you ask, seek; return, come and dwell with me 13in the thicket. If you seek salvation, come to me, do not trust in yourselves. I remember the kinship of Abraham; for this reason I will hide those who take refuge as in a thicket and make them stronger than their enemies. After the Idumeans, he foretells to the Ishmaelites the things that will be; for he calls them Arabs. In the evening they will sleep in the way of Dedanim. 14Bring water to meet the thirsty, you who dwell in the land of Teman, meet with bread those who flee. He shows that these too are fleeing the Assyrian and urges those nearby to provide both bread and water as to fugitives. And he also teaches the cause of the flight; he says a great multitude of sword-bearers, and a great one of archers. For this reason most have fallen. 16For thus said the Lord to me: Yet a year, as the year of a hireling, and the glory of the sons of Kedar will fail, 17and the remnant of the archery of the number of the mighty of Kedar will be small, for the Lord God of Israel has spoken thus. He showed the truth of what was said, by declaring who had said it; for this one is God and Lord. Indeed, we have found Kedar in the lineage of Ishmael. He says, therefore, not that such a race will be completely destroyed, but that its glory will be extinguished and they will be few instead of many. And this indeed happened in the attack of the Assyrians, but they increased again in time. For he who promised to Abraham the multitude of the descendants of Ishmael is not false. After these, he makes his discourses to Jerusalem. And he calls it the valley of Zion on account of the desolation brought upon them by the Romans; for he foretells this here. 221What has happened to you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops, 2in vain? The city was filled with those who cry out, the exulting city. What is new, he says, what is strange, that the city that was insolent against all is filled with confusion and uproar, so as to occupy the very rooftops and from above to look around at the multitude of the enemies? Your wounded are not wounded by the sword, nor are your dead the dead of war. It is not that the enemies, he says, have become strong against you, but I have given you over because of your madness against me. For this reason 3your rulers have fled and as many as were captured have been bound; and not only the rulers but also of the soldiers, those accustomed to excel, some fled and others who were captured were bound. Having prophesied these things, the prophet adds: 4For this reason I said: Leave me, I will weep bitterly; do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people. The evils that have befallen the city, he says, are inconsolable. And he calls it the daughter of his people, as he himself also descends from it in lineage. 5For it is a day of confusion and destruction and trampling and wandering from the Lord of Sabaoth; in the valley of Zion they wander, from the small to the great they wander on the mountains. A time of calamities, he says, has come upon them, for which reason they who were quite indomitable have become vulnerable to all. For this reason also, having left the city, they wander into the mountains, hoping to achieve salvation by flight. 6And the Elamites took up quivers. He calls the Samaritans Elamites; for they were resettled from the Persian country. And being hostilely disposed |128 a| toward the Jews, they necessarily allied themselves with the Romans against them. Then with the whole army together

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ταῖς τῶν ἄλλων προφητῶν δεδηλώκαμεν προφητείαις. 11Πρὸς ἐμὲ καλεῖ παρὰ τοῦ Σηίρ. Σηὶρ τὸ ὄρος τῶν Ἰδουμαίων καλεῖται· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Ἠσαῦ καὶ αὐτὸ τὴν προση- γορίαν ἐδέξατο· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δασὺς ἦν, Σηὶρ ὠνομάσθη, τουτέστι τετριχωμένος. Φύλασσε ἐπάλξεις. Τί ὀλολύζεις; φυλάσσοντι ἀπὸ νυκτὸς 12εἶπον· φυλάσσων ἦλθε τὸ πρωὶ καὶ τὴν νύκτα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δεδιότες τοὺς πολεμίους ἠγρύ πνουν καὶ τῷ τείχει προσήδρευον νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν φυλάσσοντες καὶ φυλάσσοντες ἐβόων φοβεῖν ταύτῃ τοὺς ἐναντίους νομίζοντες, εἰκότως αὐτοῖς ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος ἐπιτωθάζων φησίν· Φύλασσε τὰς ἐπάλξεις, ἀντὶ τοῦ· Καλῶς ποιεῖς τῆς ἀσφαλείας προμηθούμενος, ἀνθ' ὅτου δὲ ὀλολύζεις φυλάσσων, καὶ οὐ νύκτωρ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν· ὅμως ἐὰν <ζητῆτε>, ζητεῖτε· ἐπιστρέψατε, ἔλθετε καὶ παρ' ἐμοὶ οἰκεῖτε 13ἐν τῷ δρυμῷ. Εἰ σωτηρίαν ζητεῖτε, πρὸς ἐμὲ ἔλθετε, μὴ ἑαυτοῖς θαρρεῖτε. Μέμνημαι τῆς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ συγγενείας· διὰ τοῦτο καταφεύγοντας ὡς ἐν δρυμῷ τινι κατακρύψω καὶ κρείττους ποιήσω τῶν πολεμίων. Μετὰ τοὺς Ἰδουμαίους τοῖς Ἰσμαηλίταις τὰ ἐσόμεναπρολέγει· αὐτοὺς γὰρ Ἄραβας ὀνομάζει. Ἑσπέρας κοιμηθή- σονται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ∆αιδανίμ. 14Εἰς συνάντησιν διψῶντι φέρετε ὕδωρ, οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν χώρᾳ Θαιμάν, ἄρτοις συναντᾶτε τοῖς φεύγουσιν. ∆είκνυσι καὶ τούτους δραπετεύοντας τὸν Ἀσσύριον καὶ παρακελεύεται τοῖς πελάζουσι καὶ ἄρτους παρασχεῖν καὶ ὕδωρ ὡς φεύγουσιν. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ καὶ τῆς φυγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν· πολύ φησι πλῆθος μαχαιροφόρων, πολὺ δὲ καὶ τοξοτῶν. Οὗ δὴ χάριν οἱ πλεῖστοι πεπτώκασιν. 16∆ιότι οὕτως εἶπέ μοι κύριος· Ἔτι ἐνιαυτὸς ὡς ἐνιαυτὸς μισθωτοῦ, καὶ ἐκλείψει ἡ δόξα τῶν υἱῶν Κηδάρ, 17καὶ τὸ κατάλοιπον τῶν τοξευμάτων τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν Κηδὰρ ἔσται ὀλίγον, ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ οὕτως ἐλάλησεν. Ἔδειξε τῶν εἰρημένων τὸ ἀληθές, τὸν εἰρηκότα δηλώσας· θεὸς γὰρ οὗτος καὶ κύριος. Τὸν μέντοι Κηδὰρ ἐν τῷ γένει τοῦ Ἰσμαὴλ εὑ ρήκαμεν. Λέγει τοίνυν οὐχ ὅτι παντελῶς τὸ τοιοῦτον καταλυθήσεται γένος, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἡ δόξα κατασβεσθήσεται καὶ ὀλίγοι ἀντὶ πολλῶν ἔσονται. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐγένετο μὲν ἐν τῇ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων προσβολῇ, ηὐξήθησαν δὲ πάλιν τῷ χρόνῳ. Ἀψευδὴς γὰρ ὁ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ὑποσχόμενος τῶν τοῦ Ἰσμαὴλ ἀπογόνων τὸ πλῆθος. Μετὰ τούτους πρὸς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ποιεῖται τοὺς λόγους. Καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὴν φάραγγα Σιὼν διὰ τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων αὐ τοῖς ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ἐρημίαν· ταύτην γὰρ ἐνταῦθα προ λέγει. 221Τί ἐγένετό σοι νῦν, ὅτι ἀνέβητε πάντες εἰς δώματα 2μάταια; Ἐνεπλήσθη ἡ πόλις βοώντων, ἡ πόλις γαυριῶσα. Τί τὸ καινόν φησι, τί τὸ παράδοξον, ὅτι ἡ κατὰ πάντων φρυαττομένη πόλις ταραχῆς τε καὶ θορύβου πεπλή ρωται, ὡς αὐτὰ κα ταλα βεῖν τὰ δώματα καὶ ἄνωθεν περισκοπεῖν τῶν πολεμίων τὸ πλῆθος; Οἱ τραυματίαι σου οὐ τραυματίαι μαχαίρας, οὐδὲ οἱ νεκροί σου νεκροὶ πολέμου. Οὐχ οἱ πολέμιοί φησιν ἰσχυροὶ γεγένηνται κατὰ σοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε προὔδωκα διὰ τὴν κατ' ἐμοῦ μανίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο 3οἱ ἄρχοντές σου πεφεύγασιν καὶ ὅ σοι ἑάλ ωσαν ἐπεδήθησαν· καὶ οὐ μόνον οἱ ἄρχοντες ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν στρα τιωτῶν οἱ ἀριστεύειν εἰω θότες οἱ μὲν ἀπέδρασαν οἱ δὲ ἁλόντες ἐδέθησαν. Ταῦτα προθεσπίσας ὁ προφήτης ἐπάγει · 4∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἶπον· Ἄφετέ με, πικρῶς κλαύσομαι· μὴ κατισχύσητε παρακαλεῖν με ἐπὶ τὸ σύντριμμα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ γένους μου. Ἀπαραμύθητά φησι τὰ συμβάντα τῇ πόλει κακά. Θυγατέρα δὲ γένους αὐτὴν καλεῖ ὡς ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ αὐτὸς κατάγων τὸ γένος. 5Ὅτι ἡμέρα ταραχῆς καὶ ἀπω λείας καὶ καταπατήματος καὶ πλανήσεως παρὰ κυρίου Σαβαώθ· ἐν φάραγγι Σιὼν πλανῶνται, ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου πλανῶνται ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη. Συμφορῶν αὐτοῖς φησιν ἐπέστη καιρός, διὸ δὴ εὐάλωτοι πᾶσιν ἐγένοντο οἱ λί αν ἀκαταφρόνητ οι . ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν πόλιν καταλιπόντες εἰς τὰ ὄρη πλανῶνται δρ ασμῷ περιποιήσεσθ αι τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐλπίζοντες. 6Οἱ δὲ Ἐλαμῖται ἔλαβον φαρέτρας. Ἐλαμίτας τοὺς Σαμαρίτας καλεῖ· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς Περσικῆς μετῳκίσθησαν χώρας. Ἀπεχθῶς δὲ διακείμενοι |128 a| πρὸς Ἰουδαίους συνεμάχουν κατ' αὐτῶν ἀναγκαίως Ῥωμαίοις. Εἶτα πάσῃ ὁμοῦ τῇ στρατιᾷ