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of nations and the swiftness of the army, he then speaks of the multitude. And he did not say, "They will encamp," but, "They will rest," not as arriving in a hostile country, but as taking their pleasure in their own, nor as needing toil and labors, but as going to meet a manifest victory and to take ready plunder. For this reason he says, "They will come and will rest," which is the act of those who have conquered and set up a trophy and are resting after much sweat and slaughter. And they will not rest in the plains only; but since the multitude is infinite and the country is not sufficient to receive the number of their bodies, even ravines and rocks and mountains and glens and all things will be covered with the barbarian bodies. And yet even if they were not fierce, nor so impetuous, their multitude would have been sufficient to strike them with terror; but when both are present, both so great a multitude and such great power and, what is most grievous of all, the wrath of God leading the army, what hope of salvation is then left? But the phrase, "Into every ravine and in every tree," is spoken hyperbolically. For they were not about to rest on the trees, but at once, as I said, he both hinted at the hyperbole and remained with the metaphor of the wasps. On that day the Lord will shave with the drunken razor. Having increased the fear from the armies, he again intensifies it, leading the discourse up to heaven, showing that it is not some barbarian Egyptians and Persians, but it is God who is making war on the Jews. And by "razor" here he means His unbearable wrath, which no one will be able to withstand, coming on with ease and consuming. For just as the hairs of the body could not bear the edge of the razor, but yield immediately and give way; so indeed also, he says, the affairs of the Jews could never withstand that divinely-sent wrath. 7.9 A drunken razor, therefore, indicates to us the flourishing, the filled-up wrath of God, the fulfilled sentence. Beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians, he means that which is beyond the Euphrates; which were Judea and all of Palestine for those coming up from Persia. All these things, therefore, he says, he will utterly destroy. And by "head and hairs and beard and feet," he means the entire country by the parable of the body, embracing their whole country in his discourse, just as he also said at the beginning: "Every head is into pain and every heart into grief. From feet to head there is no soundness in him;" not speaking about one man, but comparing the whole country to one body. This indeed he also says here, that the whole land will also undergo a grievous punishment. And he has shown this partly through the razor, and partly through the image of the body, making clear that more grievously than any razor the sentence brought by God will consume both the people and the things from the land, and will leave it bare and desolate. Then he indicates this desolation through another image. And he does this so that through all things the fear remains at its peak and the anguish is not diminished by the length of the discourse. And to those who do not pay attention, what is said seems to be a promise of some good things; but those who examine it accurately know that it is a proof of intense desolation. For what does he say? And it shall be in that day, a man will nourish a young cow and two sheep. And it shall be, from the abundance of milk he will eat butter, for butter and honey shall everyone eat who is left in the land. These things, as I have already said, indicate great desolation. For the land that bears wheat and barley, having been deserted by men, will provide abundant pasture for the sheep, and so abundant that because of the plenty of such a table, even two sheep and one heifer will suffice to provide springs of milk for their owner. So that the abundance of the feasting of the irrational animals is the greatest proof of the desolation of men. And the honey also hints at this; for bees are accustomed to frequent desolate places and wherever they may enjoy abundant pasture and where there is no one to disturb them. And so that you may learn that he is hinting at the intense desolation, the things that follow make it clear. And it shall be in the

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ἐθνῶν καὶ τὸ τάχιστον τῆς στρατείας, λέγει καὶ τὸ πλῆθος λοιπόν. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε· Στρατοπεδεύσονται, ἀλλά· Ἀναπαύσονται, οὐδὲ ὡς εἰς πολεμίαν ἀφικνούμενοι χώραν, ἀλλ' ὡς τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἐντρυφῶντες, οὐδὲ ὡς καμάτου δεόμενοι καὶ πόνων, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπὶ φανερὰν ἀπαντήσοντες νίκην καὶ ἕτοιμον ληψόμενοι τὴν ἁρπαγήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ἐλεύσονται καὶ ἀναπαύσονται, ὃ τῶν νενικηκότων ἐστὶ καὶ τρόπαιον στησάντων καὶ μετὰ τὸν πολὺν ἱδρῶτα καὶ τὰς σφαγὰς ἀναπαυομένων. Καὶ οὐκ ἀναπαύσονται ἐν πεδίοις μόνον· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὸ πλῆθος ἄπειρον καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὴ ἡ χώρα δέξασθαι τῶν σωμάτων τὸν ἀριθμόν, καὶ φάραγγες καὶ πέτραι καὶ ὄρη καὶ νάπαι καὶ πάντα καλυφθήσεται τοῖς βαρβαρικοῖς σώμασι. Καίτοι εἰ καὶ μὴ σφοδροὶ ἦσαν, μηδὲ οὕτω ῥαγδαῖοι, ἤρκει τὸ πλῆθος αὐτοὺς καταπλῆξαι· ὅταν δὲ ἀμφότερα ᾖ, καὶ πλῆθος τοσοῦτον καὶ δύναμις τηλικαύτη καὶ τὸ πάντων χαλεπώτερον, ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀργὴ στρατηγοῦσα, ποία λοιπόν ἐστι σωτηρίας ἐλπίς; Τὸ δὲ Εἰς πᾶσαν ῥαγάδα καὶ ἐν παντὶ ξύλῳ ὑπερβολικῶς εἴρηται. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἐπὶ τῶν δένδρων ἔμελλον ἀναπαύεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ, καθάπερ εἶπον, καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν ᾐνίξατο καὶ τῇ μεταφορᾷ τῶν σφηκῶν ἐνέμεινεν. Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ξυρήσει Κύριος τῷ ξυρῷ τῷ μεμεθυσμένῳ. Αὐξήσας τὸν φόβον ἀπὸ τῶν στρατοπέδων, ἐπιτείνει πάλιν αὐτόν, ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸν λόγον ἀνάγων, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ βάρβαροί τινες Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Πέρσαι, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεός ἐστιν ὁ πολεμῶν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις. Ξυρὸν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀφόρητον ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ φησι καὶ ἣν οὐδεὶς ὑποστῆναι δυνήσεται, μετ' εὐκολίας ἐπιοῦσαν καὶ ἀναλίσκουσαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αἱ τρίχες τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ξυροῦ τὴν ἀκμὴν οὐκ ἂν ἐνέγκαιεν, ἀλλ' εἴκουσιν εὐθέως καὶ παραχωροῦσιν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ πράγματα τὴν θεήλατον ὀργὴν ἐκείνην οὐκ ἂν ὑποσταῖέν ποτε, φησί. 7.9 Ξυρὸν τοίνυν μεμεθυσμένον τὴν ἀκμάζουσαν, τὴν μεμεστωμένην τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀργήν, τὴν πεπληρωμένην ἀπόφασιν ἡμῖν ἐνδείκνυται. Πέραν δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων, τὸ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου φησίν· ἅπερ ἦν ἡ Ἰουδαία καὶ ἡ Παλαιστίνη πᾶσα ἀπὸ Περσίδος ἐπανιοῦσι. Ταῦτα οὖν ἅπαντα ἀφανιεῖ, φησίν, ἄρδην. Κεφαλὴν δὲ καὶ τρίχας καὶ πώγωνα καὶ πόδας, ὁλόκληρον τὴν χώραν φησὶ τῇ παραβολῇ τοῦ σώματος, πᾶσαν αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν περιλαμβάνων τῷ λόγῳ, ὥσπερ καὶ ἀρχόμενος ἔλεγε· Πᾶσα κεφαλὴ εἰς πόνον καὶ πᾶσα καρδία εἰς λύπην. Ἀπὸ ποδῶν ἕως κεφαλῆς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ ὁλοκληρία· οὐ περὶ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου λέγων, ἀλλ' ὁλόκληρον τὴν χώραν ἑνὶ σώματι παραβάλλων. Τοῦτο δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθά φησιν, ὅτι καὶ χαλεπὴν ὑποστήσεται τὴν τιμωρίαν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ. Καὶ τὸ μὲν διὰ τοῦ ξυροῦ, τὸ δὲ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σώματος εἰκόνος ἐνέφηνε, δηλῶν ὅτι ξυροῦ παντὸς χαλεπώτερον καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀναλώσει ἡ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ φερομένη ψῆφος καὶ γυμνὴν αὐτὴν καὶ ἔρημον καταλείψει. Εἶτα τὴν ἐρημίαν ταύτην δι' ἑτέρας εἰκόνος ἐνδείκνυται. Ποιεῖ δὲ αὐτό, ὥστε διὰ πάντων ἀκμάζοντα μένειν τὸν φόβον καὶ μὴ καταμαραίνεσθαι τῷ μήκει τοῦ λόγου τὴν ἀγωνίαν. Καὶ δοκεῖ μὲν τοῖς οὐ προσέχουσι χρηστῶν τινων ἐπαγγελίαν εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον· οἱ δὲ ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζοντες ἴσασιν ὅτι ἐπιτεταμένης ἐρημίας ἐστὶν ἀπόδειξις. Τί γάρ φησι; Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, θρέψει ἄνθρωπος δάμαλιν βοῶν καὶ δύο πρόβατα. Καὶ ἔσται, ἀπὸ τοῦ πλεῖστον ποιεῖν γάλα φάγεται βούτυρον, ὅτι βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται πᾶς ὁ καταλειφθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ταῦτα πολλήν, ὡς ἔφθην εἰπών, ἐρημίαν ἐνδείκνυται. Ἡ γὰρ πυροὺς καὶ κριθὰς φέρουσα γῆ, τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐρημωθεῖσα, δαψιλῆ παρέξει νομὴν τοῖς προβάτοις καὶ οὕτω δαψιλῆ, ὡς διὰ τὴν εὐθηνίαν τῆς τοιαύτης τραπέζης ἀρκεῖν καὶ δύο πρόβατα καὶ δάμαλιν μίαν πηγὰς τῷ κεκτημένῳ παρέχειν γάλακτος. Ὥστε ἡ εὐθηνία τῆς εὐωχίας τῶν ἀλόγων τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐρημίας μέγιστόν ἐστι τεκμήριον. Καὶ τὸ μέλι δὲ τοῦτο αἰνίττεται· εἰώθασι γὰρ ταῖς ἐρήμοις ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν αἱ μέλιτται καὶ ἔνθα ἂν πολλῆς νομῆς ἀπολαύωσι καὶ ἔνθα μηδεὶς ὁ ἐνοχλῶν ᾖ. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τὴν ἐπιτεταμένην ἐρημίαν αἰνίττεται, τὰ ἑξῆς δηλοῖ. Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ