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will uncover her face and scatter those who dwell in her. The word has a twofold prophecy; for it signifies both the things that happen in wars at different times and the things that will be at the consummation of the present age. 2And |130 a| the people shall be as the priest, and the servant as his master, and the maid as her mistress, and the buyer shall be as the seller, and the lender as the borrower, and the debtor as he to whom he owes. These things will happen chiefly and truly after the resurrection; for then the fashion of the present life is changed, and the difference of ranks ceases, but the difference of virtue and vice is introduced instead, and often priests who have lived in lawlessness will be given over to punishment, while some who are reckoned in the list of the people will pass over to their order, and servants will be numbered with the saved, but masters with the punished; thus Lazarus dwelt in the bosom of Abraham, but the rich man was being burned. But nevertheless, in wars it is also possible to see this same thing happening; for the enemies do not know the difference between slave and master, nor between noble and ignoble, but they impose the yoke of slavery on all alike. Then again, having foretold the destruction of the inhabited world that will come from the divine decree and the lamentations of those who exult in wealth and power, he added: 5But the earth has transgressed because of those who dwell in it, because they have transgressed the law and changed the ordinances, they have scattered the everlasting covenant. For since the earth is irrational and soulless, he rightly taught that its inhabitants filled it with lawlessness. And by 'law' and 'ordinances' he means not only that of Moses but also that which was written in nature from above. For the nature of humans is self-taught in the difference between good and evil things; and we bear witness, wishing to enjoy good things, but refusing to suffer evil. This is what the divine apostle also taught us: ‘For when,’ he says, ‘Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves.’ 6Therefore a curse will devour the earth, because those who dwell in it have sinned. This we see happening even now; for an attack of locusts and drops of mildew and slings of hail and excess and lack of rains are brought upon plants and crops because of our lawlessness. This is what the prophetic word also said. 7The wine will mourn, the vine will mourn, all who are merry in soul will groan. 8The joy of timbrels has ceased, the arrogance and wealth of the impious have ceased, the sound of the lyre has ceased. 9They were ashamed and did not drink wine, the strong drink became bitter to those who drink it. 10Every city has been laid waste, the houses will be shut so that no one may enter. For since the nature of men has run aground on luxury, it is cured by contrary medicines: abundance by want, the leaps from much fruitfulness by the barrenness of the earth, the disorder of the inhabitants by the desolation of the cities. Then again he exhorts those who measure happiness by their belly to lament the lack of wine and the cessation of gladness and the desolations of cities and the uninhabitableness of its inhabitants. Then he puts forth an image of those who are perishing. 13In the way that one gleans an olive tree, so will they glean them. And if the vintage ceases, 14these will cry out with a voice, but those who are left on the earth will rejoice together, hymning the glorification of the Lord. Symmachus translated these things thus: ‘As a gleaning of an olive tree, as after-gleanings, when the vintage is finished. But these will raise their voice, they will rejoice when the Lord is glorified.’ He also mentioned this parable in the oracles against Damascus and said that some were left behind as ‘a stalk in a dry ravine or as two or three olive berries, or four or five on a high treetop’. And here he shows some perishing, but others remaining and enjoying salvation and hymning God their benefactor. And one might find this will happen also at the time of the consummation; ‘For two,’ he says, ‘will be found on the’

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ἀνακαλύψει τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτῆς καὶ διασπερεῖ τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ. ∆ιπλῆν ὁ λόγος ἔχει τὴν προφητείαν· σημαίνει γὰρ καὶ τὰ κατὰ διαφόρους καιροὺς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις γιγνόμενα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ παρόντος ἐσόμενα αἰῶνος. 2Καὶ ἔσται |130 a| ὁ λαὸς ὡς ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ὁ παῖς ὡς ὁ κύριος καὶ ἡ θεράπαινα ὡς ἡ κυρία καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἀγοράζων ὡς ὁ πωλῶν καὶ ὁ δανείζων ὡς ὁ δανειζόμενος καὶ ὁ ὀφείλων ὡς ᾧ ὀφείλει. Ταῦτα κυρίως μὲν καὶ ἀληθῶς μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἔσται· τότε γὰρ μεταβάλλεται τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὸ σχῆμα καὶ παύεται μὲν ἡ τῶν ἀξιωμάτων διαφορά, ἀντεισάγεται δὲ ἡ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς κακίας διαφορά, καὶ πολλάκις ἱερεῖς παρανομίᾳ συζήσαντες τιμωρίᾳ παρα δοθήσονται, τινὲς δὲ εἰς τὸν τοῦ λαοῦ τελοῦντες κατάλογον εἰς τὸ ἐκείνων μεταβήσονται τάγμα, καὶ οἰκέται μὲν συνα ριθμήσονται τοῖς σῳζομένοις, δεσπόται δὲ τοῖς κολαζομένοις· οὕτως ὁ Λάζαρος ἐνδιῃτᾶτο τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, ὁ δὲ πλούσιος κατεφλέγετο. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ταὐτὸ τοῦτο ἔστιν ἰδεῖν γιγνόμενον· οὐκ ἴσασι γὰρ οἱ πολέμιοι δούλου καὶ δεσπότου διαφοράν, οὐκ εὐγενοῦς τε καὶ δυσγενοῦς, ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἐπιφέρουσι τὸν τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν. Εἶτα πάλιν προειρηκὼς τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας ψήφου ἐσομένην τῆς οἰκουμένης διαφ<θ>ορὰν καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ πλούτῳ καὶ δυνάμει γαυριώντων τὰς ὀλοφύρσεις, ἐπήγαγεν· 5Ἡ δὲ γῆ ἠνόμησε διὰ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ, διότι παρῆλθον τὸν νόμον καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὰ προστάγματα, διεσκέδασαν δια θήκην αἰώνιον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ γῆ ἄλογός τε καὶ ἄψυχος, εἰκότως ἐδίδαξεν ὡς οἱ οἰκήτορες αὐτὴν ἀνομίας ἐνέπλησαν. Νόμον δὲ καὶ προστάγματα οὐ μόνον τὸν Μωυσέως λέγει ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἄνωθεν ἐν τῇ φύσει γραφέντα. Αὐτοδίδακτος γὰρ τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν κακῶν διαφορᾶς ἡ φύσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων· καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ἀγαθῶν μὲν ἀπολαύειν βουλό μενοι, παραιτούμενοι δὲ πάσχειν κακῶς. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἡμᾶς ἀπόστολος ἐξεπαίδευσεν· «Ὅταν γάρ» φησιν «ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιῇ, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος.» 6∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀρὰ ἔδεται τὴν γῆν, ὅτι ἥμαρτον οἱ κατοι κοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ. Τοῦτο καὶ νῦν ὁρῶμεν γιγνόμενον· ἀκρίδος γὰρ ἐμβολὴ καὶ ἐρυσίβης ψεκάδες καὶ χαλάζης σφενδόναι καὶ ὄμβρων ὑπερβολή τε καὶ ἔνδεια καὶ φυτοῖς ἐπιφέρεται καὶ ληίοις διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν παρανομίαν. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ προφητικὸς ἔφη λόγος. 7Πενθήσει οἶνος, πενθήσει ἄμπελος, στενάξουσι πάντες οἱ εὐφραινόμενοι τὴν ψυχήν. 8Πέπαυται εὐφροσύνη τυμπάνων, πέπαυται αὐθάδεια καὶ πλοῦτος δυσ σεβῶν, πέπαυται φωνὴ κιθάρας. 9Ἠσχύνθησαν καὶ οὐκ ἔπιον οἶνον, πικρὸν ἐγένετο τὸ σίκερα τοῖς πίνουσιν αὐτό. 10Ἠρημώθη πᾶσα πόλις, κλεισθήσονται αἱ οἰκίαι τοῦ μὴ εἰσελθεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰς τρυφὴν ἐξώκειλε τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις, τοῖς ἐναντίοις θεραπεύεται φαρμάκοις· τῇ ἐνδείᾳ ἡ εὐπορία, τῇ τῆς γῆς ἀκαρπίᾳ τὰ ἐκ τῆς πολυκαρπίας σκιρτήματα, τῇ τῶν πόλεων ἐρημίᾳ ἡ τῶν οἰκητόρων ἀταξία. Εἶτα πάλιν παρακελεύεται τοῖς τῇ γαστ ρὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν μετροῦσι θρηνεῖν τοῦ οἴνου τὴν ἔνδειαν καὶ τὴν παῦλαν τῆς εὐφροσύνης καὶ τὰς τῶν πό λεων ἐρημίας καὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων τὸ ἀοίκητον. Ἔπειτα εἰκό να τῶν ἀπολλυμένων προτίθησιν. 13Ὃν τρόπον ἐάν τις καλαμᾶται ἐλαίαν, οὕτως καλαμήσονται αὐτούς. Καὶ ἐὰν παύσηται ὁ τρύγητος, 14οὗτοι φωνῇ βοήσουσιν, οἱ δὲ καταλειφθέντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εὐφρανθήσονται ὑμνοῦντες τὸν ἐνδοξασμὸν τοῦ κυρίου ἅμα. Ταῦτα ὁ Σύμ μαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν· «Ὡς καλαμητὸς ἐλαίας, ὡς ἐπιφυλλίδες, ὅταν συντελεσθῇ τρύγητος. Οὗτοι δὲ ἐπαροῦσι φωνὴν αὐτῶν, ἀγαλλιάσονται ἐν τῷ δοξασθῆναι κύριον.» Ταύτης τῆς παραβολῆς καὶ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τ ῆς ∆αμασκοῦ ἐμνημόνευσ ε καὶ εἶπέ τινας ὑπολειφθῆναι ὡς «καλάμην ἐν φάραγγι στερεᾷ ἢ ὡς ῥᾶγας ἐλαίας δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἢ τέσσαρας ἢ πέντε ἐπ' ἄκρου μετεώρου». Καὶ ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσι τοὺς μὲν ἀπολλυμένους, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολοίπους καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀπολαύοντας καὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην ὑμνοῦντας θεόν. Εὕροι δ' ἄν τις καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς συντελείας τοῦτο ἐσόμενον· «∆ύο» γάρ φησιν «εὑρεθήσονται ἐπὶ τῆς