55

was the name. For Baal is a general name for idols; but he says that in these places they dared the foul murder against their sons and daughters. "For this reason, he says, I have delivered this city to famine, and to pestilence, and to slaughter, and to servitude." But nevertheless, to those who are enslaved, after the appointed time I will grant freedom, and I will bring them back to their ancestral land, and I will deem them worthy of their former care. But the verse, 39: And I will give them another heart, and another way, so that they may fear me all the days, is to be understood thus: that through chastisement, and through the freedom after these things, they will know me to be the only God, and will be delivered from their former error. 40: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, which I will not turn away from behind them. They would have received this promise, if they had been willing; but they themselves, having departed from grace, were stripped bare. And having said these things, and things like them, at greater length, he added: 43, 44: And fields shall be possessed in the land, of which you say that it is impassable for men and beasts, and it shall be delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans. And they shall acquire fields with silver, and they shall be written in a book, and it shall be sealed. He answered these things to the prophet’s inquiry; teaching that for this reason He commanded him to buy the field, so that also through the deeds he might show the truth of the prophecy. "For they shall buy, he says, fields; both in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the 81.676 mountain, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb." He calls the plain Shephelah; the south, Negeb. CHAPTER 33. Then again the prophet sees another revelation, while still dwelling in the prison. And God says to him, 3: Call to me, and I will hear you, and I will announce to you great and mighty things, which you have not known. And having shown the siege, he foretells also the freedom. 6: For behold, I am bringing upon it a healing scar and a cure, and I will heal them. The healing scar signifies a complete cure. Then he teaches how the nations, seeing the return, will hymn the giver of freedom; and those who live in goodness will marvel, but those who embrace wickedness will be embittered, seeing the city in prosperity, and the divine feasts being celebrated as was customary. 15: In those days, and at that time, I will raise up a horn for David, a righteous branch; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. And we have already said before, that typically these things found their end in Zerubbabel, but the Master has taught us the truth of the prophecy precisely. 16: In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in confidence; and this is the name which she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. This name he also set forth in the previous passages, calling it by the Hebrew word Josedec. 17: For thus says the Lord: A man shall not be cut off from David, sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. This the patriarch Jacob also said: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is laid up, and he is the expectation of the nations." But after Zerubbabel we know of no one from the tribe of Judah who ruled. Nevertheless, we find the truth of the prophecy; for there was an intermingling of the royal and priestly lines; and the priests ruled until Herod the foreigner. For this reason also the present prophecy connects the things concerning the priests with the things concerning David. 18: Concerning the priests, he says, and the Levites, a man shall not be cut off from my presence offering whole burnt offerings, and burning a gift as incense, and making sacrifice all the days. And we see the outcome of this 81.677 prophecy. For when the New Testament was given according to the divine promise, a priesthood was also given according to the order of Melchizedek; and those who have been deemed worthy of it, continually offer the rational sacrifice to God. Then he says: As it is impossible for day, for night

55

ἦν ὄνομα. Τὸ γὰρ Βάαλ γενικὸν ὄνομα τῶν εἰδώλων· λέγει δὲ, ὅτι ἐν τούτοις τοῖς τόποις τὴν κατὰ τῶν υἱῶν καὶ θυγατέρων ἐτόλμων μιαιφονίαν. "∆ιὰ τοῦτο, φησὶ, παραδέδωκα τὴν πόλιν ταύτην λιμῷ, καὶ λοιμῷ, καὶ σφαγῇ, καὶ δουλείᾳ." Ἀλλ' ὅμως τοῖς ἀνδραποδι ζομένοις μετὰ τὸν ὡρισμένον χρόνον ἐλευθερίας μεταδώσω, καὶ εἰς τὴν πατρῴαν ἐπανάξω γῆν, καὶ τῆς προτέρας αὐτοὺς ἀξιώσω κηδεμονίας. Τὸ δέ· λθʹ. Καὶ δώσω αὐτοῖς καρδίαν ἑτέραν, καὶ ὁδὸν ἑτέραν, ὥστε φοβεῖσθαί με πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, οὕτω νοητέον, ὅτι διὰ τῆς παιδείας, καὶ διὰ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐλευθερίας, γνώσονταί με μόνον ὄντα Θεὸν, καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἀπαλλαγήσονται πλάνης. μʹ. Καὶ διαθήσομαι αὐτοῖς διαθήκην αἰώνιον, ἣν οὐκ ἀποστρέψω ὄπισθεν αὐτῶν. Ἔτυχον ἂν καὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, εἴπερ ἠθέλησαν· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀποστάντες τῆς χάριτος ἐγυμνώθησαν. Ταῦτα δὲ, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια, διὰ πλειόνων εἰπὼν, ἐπ ήγαγε· μγʹ, μδʹ. Καὶ κτηθήσονται ἀγροὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, ᾗ σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἄβατός ἐστιν ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων καὶ κτηνῶν, καὶ παραδοθήσεται ἐν χειρὶ Χαλδαίων. Καὶ κτήσονται ἀγροὺς ἐν ἀργυρίῳ, καὶ γραφή σονται ἐν βιβλίῳ, καὶ σφραγισθήσεται. Ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ἀπεκρίνατο τοῦ προφήτου· διδά σκων ὡς τούτου χάριν αὐτῷ προσέταξε πρίασθαι τὸν ἀγρὸν, ἵνα καὶ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων δείξῃ τῆς προφητείας τὸ ἀληθές. "Ὠνήσονται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀγρούς· καὶ ἐν γῇ Βενιαμὴν, καὶ κυκλόθεν Ἱερου σαλὴμ, καὶ ἐν πόλεσιν Ἰούδα, καὶ ἐν πόλεσι τοῦ 81.676 ὄρους, καὶ ἐν πόλεσι τῆς Σεφιλὰ, καὶ ἐν πόλεσι τῆς Ναγέβ." Σεφιλὰ τὴν πεδιάδα καλεῖ· Ναγὲβ τὴν μεσημβρίαν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΓʹ. Εἶτα πάλιν ἑτέραν ἀποκάλυψιν, ἔτι τὸ δεσμωτήριον οἰκῶν, ὁ προφήτης ὁρᾷ. Καί φησι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός· γʹ. Κάλεσον πρός με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαί σου, καὶ ἀναγγελῶ σοι μεγάλα καὶ ἰσχυρὰ, ἃ οὐκ ἔγνως. Καὶ δείξας τὴν πολιορκίαν, προλέγει καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. ϛʹ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ἐπ' αὐτὴν συνούλω σιν καὶ ἴαμα, καὶ ἰατρεύσω αὐτούς. Ἡ συνού λωσις τὴν τελείαν ἴασιν δηλοῖ. Εἶτα διδάσκει ὅπως τὴν ἐπάνοδον ὁρῶντα τὰ ἔθνη ὑμνήσει τῆς ἐλευθε ρίας τὸν χορηγόν· καὶ οἱ μὲν καλοκἀγαθίᾳ συζῶντες, θαυμάσουσιν· οἱ δὲ πονηρίαν ἀσπαζόμενοι πικραν θήσονται, ὁρῶντες ἐν εὐπραξίᾳ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὰς θείας ἑορτὰς ἐπιτελουμένας συνήθως. ιεʹ. Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἀνατελῶ κέρας τῷ ∆αβὶδ, ἀνατο λὴν δικαίαν· καὶ ποιήσει κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύ νην ἐν τῇ γῇ. Καὶ ἤδη προειρήκαμεν, ὡς τυπικῶς μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ζοροβάβελ ταῦτα τετύχηκε πέρατος, ἀκριβῶς δὲ τὴν τῆς προφητείας ἀλήθειαν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν. ϛʹ. Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις σωθήσεται Ἰουδαία, καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατασκηνώσει πεποιθυῖα· καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα ὃ κληθήσεται, Κύριος δικαιοσύνη ἡμῶν. Τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρόσ θεν ἐντέθεικε, τῇ τῶν Ἑβραίων αὐτὴν καλέσας φωνῇ Ἰωσεδέκ. ιζʹ. Ὅτι τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Οὐκ ἐξολοθρευθή σεται τῷ ∆αβὶδ ἀνὴρ καθήμενος ἐπὶ θρόνου οἴκου Ἰσραήλ. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης προσείρη κεν Ἰακώβ· "Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως οὗ ἔλθῃ ὃ ἀπόκειται, καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν." Ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὸν Ζοροβάβελ οὐκ ἴσμεν ἡγεμονεύσαντά τινα ἐκ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς. Εὑρίσκομεν δὲ ὅμως τὴν τῆς προ φητείας ἀλήθειαν· τῆς γὰρ βασιλικῆς καὶ τῆς ἱερα τικῆς ἐπιμιξία ἐγένετο· οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς ἦρχον ἕως Ἡρώδου τοῦ ἀλλοφύλου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ παροῦσα προφητεία τοῖς περὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἱερέων συνάπτει. ιηʹ. Περὶ τῶν ἱερέων, φησὶ, καὶ Λευϊτῶν, οὐκ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἀνὴρ ἐκ προσώπου μου ἀνα φέρων ὁλοκαυτώματα, καὶ θυμιῶν δῶρον, καὶ ποιῶν θυσίαν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας. Καὶ ταύτης 81.677 δὲ τῆς προφητείας ὁρῶμεν τὴν ἔκβασιν. Τῆς γὰρ Και νῆς ∆ιαθήκης κατὰ τὴν θείαν δοθείσης ἐπαγγελίαν, ἐδόθη καὶ ἱερωσύνη κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ· καὶ οἱ ταύτης ἠξιωμένοι, τὴν λογικὴν θυσίαν ἐνδελε χῶς προσφέρουσι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἶτα λέγει· Ὡς ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἡμέραν νύκτα