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her siim—for Aquila interpreted *siim* as “those coming forth”—, which means: from the beginning she received this decision to become captive to the spear. And when she received the battlements and the surrounding walls and the houses within, she had this decree. But the Syrian |129b| interpreted *siim* as “demons.” And the interpretation is true; for I found *siim* placed in this prophet, where he says: “And demons will meet with onocentaurs”; the Seventy interpreted this *siim* as “demons.” It is clear, therefore, that they deliberately left it untranslated in the case of Babylon, lest someone might suppose that demons had become the creators of the city. But it is clear that the prophetic word attributes the building of wickedness to the demons, on account of which the city also received its desolation. For when the apostle says, “I, as a wise master builder, have laid the foundation,” we do not think of stones but of pious words. The prophet, however, after again exhorting the navy of Carthage to lament, also foretells the time of Tyre’s desolation: 15For he says Tyre will be forsaken for seventy years, as the time of one king, as the time of a man. The Master’s love for humanity is immeasurable. For they sinned for many generations, but he limits the punishment to the reign of a long-lived king or the life of one man. And it shall be after seventy years, it will be for Tyre as the song of a harlot. 16Take a harp, wander about, O forgotten harlot city; play the harp well, sing many songs, so that you may be remembered. The prophecy teaches of her great licentiousness and incontinence; for it exhorts her to use the practices of prosperity even in her misfortune. It does this ironically, teaching the harmfulness of such a life. 17And it shall be after seventy years that God will make a visitation of Tyre, and she will be restored again to her former state, and she will be a marketplace for all the kingdoms of the inhabited world upon the face of all the earth. And these things suppress the arrogance of the Jews; for the time which he appointed for the desolation of Jerusalem, he has also given to Tyre on account of his great goodness, teaching that he is God not only of the Jews but also of the gentiles; “For the earth is his and its fullness.” 18And her commerce and her wages will be holy to the Lord; they will not be gathered for them nor laid up, but for those who dwell before the Lord will be all her commerce, to eat and to drink and to be filled, for a memorial contribution before the Lord. As for “for a contribution,” Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted it as “for clothing,” but Aquila as “raiment.” The word indicates the great change of Tyre toward better things; for he said that she who was once lawlessly and impiously governed would offer the profits of her commerce to those devoted to the service of God, so that from these they would have their need of food and clothing. Some have said that these things happened after the return from Babylon, when the Tyrians brought these gifts to the priests in Jerusalem; but others have said that Gog and Magog, having sacked Tyre, set out against Jerusalem, and then there by a divinely sent plague ended their life, and the wealth gathered by them was dedicated to the God of all. But I, seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy, do not need many reasonings; for the eyes are witnesses of the truth. For the splendid and conspicuous and very valuable temples of demons, which the ancient kings of Tyre constructed, these .................. ..... and from these the priests of piety constructed divine sanctuaries. And we see even to this day many gifts being offered to God by all, and the properties, from which the priests of the divine both are fed and are clothed, some while still living and others having died have dedicated to God. The observation of the events, therefore, bears witness to the prophecy. However, the prophetic word, having concluded here the prediction concerning Tyre, prophesies the things that will happen to all people: 241Behold, the Lord lays waste the inhabited world and will make it desolate and

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αὐτὴν σιίμ- τὸ σιὶμ γὰρ ὁ Ἀκύλας «ἐξερχομένους» ἡρμ ήνευσεν -, ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἄνωθεν ταύτην ἔλαβε τὴν ἀπόφασιν ὥστε γενέσθαι δορυάλωτος. Καὶ ἡνίκα τὰς ἐπάλξεις καὶ τοὺς περιβόλους ἐδέχετο καὶ τὰς ἔνδοθεν οἰκίας, ταύτην εἶχε τὴν ψῆφον. Ὁ δὲ Σύρος τὸ σιὶμ |129b| «δαιμόνια» ἡρμήνευσεν. Καὶ ἔστιν ἀληθὴς ἡ ἑρμηνεία· εὗρον γὰρ παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ προφήτῃ κείμενον τὸ σιίμ, ἔνθα λέγει· «Καὶ συναντήσει δαιμόνια ὀνοκενταύροις»· τοῦτο τὸ σιὶμ οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα «δαιμόνια» ἡρμήνευσαν. ∆ῆλοι τοίνυν εἰσὶν ἑκόντες αὐτὸ καταλελοιπότες ἐπὶ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος ἀνερμήνευτον, ἵνα μήτις ὑπολάβῃ δαίμονας τῆς πόλεως γεγενῆσθαι δημιουργούς. ∆ῆλον δὲ ὡς τὴν τῆς πονηρίας οἰκοδομίαν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἀνατίθησι, δι' ἣν καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν ἡ πόλις ἐδέξατο. Καὶ γάρ, ὅταν ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγῃ· «Ἐγὼ ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα», οὐ λίθους νοοῦμεν ἀλλ' εὐσεβεῖς λόγους. Ὁ μέντοι προφήτης πάλιν τῷ ναυτικῷ τῆς Καρχηδόνος ὀλολύζειν παρεγγυήσας προλέγει καὶ τῆς ἐρημίας τῆς Τύρου τὸν χρόνον· 15Καταλειφθήσεται γάρ φησι Τύρος ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ὡς χρόνον βασιλέως ἑνός, ὡς χρόνον ἀνθρώ που. Ἀμέτρητος ἡ τοῦ δεσπότου φιλανθρωπία. Αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἐν πολλαῖς ἐξήμαρτον γενεαῖς, αὐτὸς δὲ περιγράφει τὴν τιμωρίαν μακροβίου βασιλέως ἀρχῇ ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ζωῇ. Καὶ ἔσται μετὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ἔσται Τύρῳ ὡς ᾆσμα πόρνης. 16Λάβε κιθάραν, ῥέμβευσον πόλις πόρνη ἐπιλελησμένη, καλῶς κιθάρισον, πολλὰ ᾆσον, ἵνα σου μνεία γένηται. Τὴν πολλὴν αὐτῆς ἀκολασίαν καὶ ἀκρασίαν ἡ προφητεία διδάσκει· παρακελεύεται γὰρ αὐτῇ τοῖς τῆς εὐημερίας ἐπιτηδεύμασι χρήσασθαι καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ κακοπραγίᾳ. Εἰρωνικῶς δὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖ διδάσκων τοῦ τοιούτου βίου τὸ βλαβερόν. 17Καὶ ἔσται μετὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ἐπισκοπὴν ποιήσει ὁ θεὸς Τύρου, καὶ πάλιν ἀποκατασταθήσεται εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον, καὶ ἔσται ἐμπόριον πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ταῦτα καταστέλλει τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸν τῦφον· ὃν γὰρ ὥρισε χρόνον τῇ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐρημίᾳ, καὶ τῇ Τύρῳ διὰ τὴν πολλὴν δέδωκεν ἀγαθότητα, διδάσκων ὡς οὐκ Ἰουδαίων μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐστι θεός· «Αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς.» 18Καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἐμπορία αὐτῆς καὶ ὁ μισθὸς ἅγια τῷ κυρίῳ· οὐκ αὐτοῖς συναχθήσεται οὐδὲ ἀποτεθήσεται, ἀλλὰ τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἔναντι κυρίου ἔσται πᾶσα ἡ ἐμπορία αὐτῆς φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν καὶ ἐμπλησθῆναι εἰς συμβολὴν μνημόσυνον ἔναντι κυρίου. Τό· εἰς συμβολήν, ὁ μὲν Σύμμαχος καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων «εἰς τὸ περιβαλέσθαι» ἡρμήνευσαν, ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας «ἐσθῆτα». ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὁ λόγος τὴν πολλὴν ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττω τῆς Τύρου μεταβολήν· τὴν γὰρ παρανόμως καὶ δυσσεβῶς πάλαι πολιτευομένην ἔφη προσοίσειν τῆς ἐμπορίας τὰ κέρδη τοῖς ἐσχολακόσι τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ θερα πείᾳ , ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἐκ τούτων καὶ τῆς τροφῆς τὴν χρείαν καὶ τὴν περιβολὴν ἔχειν. Ταῦτά τινες ἔφασαν μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον γεγενῆσθαι, τῶν Τυρίων τοῖς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἱερεῦσι ταῦτα προσ φερόντων τὰ δῶρα· τινὲς δὲ εἰρήκασι τὸν Γὼγ καὶ Μαγὼγ τὴν Τύρον πεπορθηκότας κατὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁρμῆ σαι, εἶτα ἐκεῖ θεηλάτῳ πληγῇ καταλῦσαι τὸν βίον, τὸν δὲ ὑπ' ἐκείνων συναθροισθέντα πλοῦτον ἀνατεθῆ ναι τῷ τῶν ὅλων θεῷ. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὁρῶν τῆς προφη τείας τὸ τέλος πολλῶν οὐ δέομαι λογισμῶν· μάρτυρες γὰρ τῆς ἀληθείας οἱ ὀφθαλμοί. Τὰ γὰρ λαμπρὰ καὶ περίβλεπτα κ αὶ πολυτάλαντα δαιμόνων τε μένη, ἃ οἱ παλαιοὶ τῆς Τύρου κατεσκεύασαν βασιλεῖς, ταῦτα .................. ..... καὶ θείους ἐκ τούτων σηκοὺς οἱ τῆς εὐσεβείας κατεσκεύασαν ἱ ερεῖ ς. Ὁρῶ μεν δὲ καὶ μέχρι τῆς τ ήμερον πολλὰ παρὰ πάντων δῶρα προσφερόμενα τῷ θεῷ, καὶ τὰ κτήματα δέ, ἐξ ὧν οἱ τοῦ θείου ἱερεῖς καὶ τρέ φ ονται καὶ περιβάλλονται, τὰ μέν τινες ἔτι ζῶντες τὰ δὲ τε τελευ τηκότες ἀνέθηκαν τῷ θεῷ. Μαρτυρ εῖ τοίνυν τῇ προφητείᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ θεωρία. Ὁ μέντοι προφητικὸς λόγος ἐνταῦθα συμπεράνας τῆς Τύρου τὴν πρόρρησιν τὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις συμβησόμενα προθεσπίζει· 241Ἰδοὺ κύριος καταφθείρει τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ ἐρημώσει αὐτὴν καὶ