66

VOLUME IX. CHAPTER 46. 1. The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning all the nations. Having put an end to the prophecies concerning the people, he foretells to the other nations the things that will happen, teaching that he is of all things both creator, and God, and Master. First, however, he will recount the things concerning Egypt; and he also teaches the time of the prophecy; for the prophecy is made after the death of Pharaoh Necho; he killed Josiah by the Euphrates river; and he himself was also killed by the king of the Babylonians. 3, 4. Take up arms and shields, and go forth to war. And saddle the horses, mount, you horsemen, stand with your helmets, put forth your spears, and put on your breastplates. Since they trusted in these things, in cavalry skill and in full armor, he exhorts them to use these things, teaching that these things are useless. For what follows shows this. 81.709 5. Why are they dismayed and turned back? Because their mighty ones shall be beaten down. They are fled apace, and did not turn back, being surrounded on every side, says the Lord. Then imperatively: 6. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape toward the north; by the Euphrates they have grown weak, and have fallen. Then he reminds of the former success: 7, 8. Who is this that comes up as a river, and as rivers his waters swell, Egypt rising up like a river, and like a river stirs up her waters. And it also shows her boastful words. "And he said, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city, and the inhabitants therein." And teaching that things do not happen according to the imagination of their thoughts, he says ironically: 9. Mount the horses, prepare the chariots, go forth, you warriors. And he mentions the allies of the Egyptians. "Ethiopians and Libyans armed with weapons, and Lydians, go up, draw the bow." Then he teaches that by the will of God the boldness of the Egyptians is destroyed. 10. And that day is to the Lord our God a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his enemies; and my sword shall devour flesh, and it shall be filled, and it shall be made drunk with their blood. And by these things he indicates the multitude of the slain. "For there is a sacrifice to the Lord of Sabaoth from the land of the north by the river Euphrates." Since the Egyptians paid the penalty for their impiety and were slain by the will of God, for this reason he has called their slaughter a sacrifice. 11. Go up into Gilead, and take balm for the virgin daughter of Egypt. And the brothers of Joseph brought balm and stacte into Egypt. Balm is the tear of trees, suitable for medicines; and Gilead especially cultivates it; and he said these things ironically, showing the incurability of the suffering. For what follows also indicates this. "In vain have you multiplied your medicines; there is no help in you." And showing the greatness of the plague, he added: 12. The nations have heard of your voice, and the earth is filled with your cry, because a warrior has grown weak against a warrior; they have both fallen together. Through these things he has also foretold the future destruction of the conquerors. The prophet, therefore, foretold these things concerning the 81.712 former defeat. And in what follows he predicts the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt, and commands that the prophecy be announced to Magdolus, and to Memphis, and to Taphnas, and indeed to the entire kingdom of the Egyptians, and he says: "Stand fast, and prepare yourself, for the sword has devoured your smilax." The Syrian interpreted "smilax" as "the things around you"; and the smilax also signifies this same thing; for it is a plant that entwines itself with the things growing beside it

66

ΤΟΜΟΣ Θʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Μϛʹ. αʹ. Ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος παρὰ Κυρίου πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν τὸν προφήτην ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Πέρας ἐπιθεὶς ταῖς περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ προφητείαις, τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι τὰ γενησόμενα προθεσπίζει, διδάσκων ὅτι πάντων ἐστὶ καὶ δημιουργὸς, καὶ Θεὸς, καὶ ∆ε σπότης. Τὰ πρῶτα μέντοι περὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου διέξεισι· διδάσκει δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς προφητείας καιρόν· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Φαραὼ Νεχαὼ τελευτὴν ἡ πρόῤῥησις γίνεται· οὗτος δὲ παρὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην ποταμὸν τὸν Ἰωσίαν ἀνεῖλεν· ἀνῃρέθη δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων βασιλέως. γʹ, δʹ. Ἀναλάβετε ὅπλα, καὶ ἀσπίδας, καὶ προσαγάγετε εἰς πόλεμον. Καὶ ἐπισάξατε ἵππους, ἐπίβητε ἱππεῖς, κατάστητε ἐν ταῖς περι κεφαλαίαις ὑμῶν, προβάλλετε δόρατα, καὶ ἐν δύσασθε θώρακας ὑμῶν. Ἐπειδὴ τούτοις ἐθάῤ ῥουν, ἱππικῇ τε ἐμπειρίᾳ, καὶ πανοπλίᾳ, τούτοις κε χρῆσθαι παρακελεύεται, διδάσκων ὡς ἀνόνητα ταῦτα. Τὰ γὰρ ἑξῆς τοῦτο δηλοῖ. 81.709 εʹ. Τί ὅτι αὐτοὶ πτοοῦνται, καὶ ἀποχωροῦσιν ὀπίσω; ∆ιότι οἱ ἰσχυροὶ αὐτῶν κοπήσονται. Φυγῇ ἔφυγον, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστρεψαν περιεχόμε νοι κυκλόθεν, λέγει Κύριος. Εἶτα προσ τακτικῶς· ϛʹ. Μὴ φευγέτω ὁ κοῦφος, καὶ μὴ ἀνασωζέσθω ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐπὶ βοῤῥᾶν· τὰ πρὸς Εὐφράτην ἠσθέ νησαν, καὶ πεπτώκασιν. Ἔπειτα τῆς προτέρας εὐπραξίας ἀναμιμνήσκει· ζʹ, ηʹ. Τίς οὗτος ὡς ποταμὸς ἀναβήσεται, καὶ ὡς ποταμοὶ κυμαίνει τὰ ὕδατα αὐτοῦ, Αἴγυ πτος ὡς ποταμὸς ἀναβαίνων, καὶ ὡς ποταμὸς ἐκταράσσει τὰ ὕδατα αὑτῆς. Ἐπιδείκνυσι δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ἀλαζονικοὺς λόγους. "Καὶ εἶπεν, Ἀναβήσομαι, καὶ κατακαλύψω γῆν, καὶ ἀπολῶ πόλιν, καὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ." Καὶ διδά σκων, ὡς οὐ συμβαίνει τὰ πράγματα τῇ φαντασίᾳ τῶν λογισμῶν, εἰρωνικῶς φησιν· θʹ. Ἐπίβητε ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους, παρασκευάσατε τὰ ἅρματα, ἐξέλθετε, οἱ μαχηταί. Λέγει δὲ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τοὺς ἐπικούρους. "Αἰθίοπες καὶ Λίβυες καθωπλισμένοι ὅπλοις, καὶ Λυδοὶ ἀνάβητε, ἐκτινά ξατε τόξον." Εἶτα διδάσκει ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ νεύοντος καταλύεται τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὸ θράσος. ιʹ. Καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν ἡμέρα ἐκδικήσεως, τοῦ ἐκδικῆσαι τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὑτοῦ· καὶ καταφάγεται ἡ μάχαιρά μου κρέατα, καὶ ἐμπλησθήσεται, καὶ μεθυσθήσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτῶν. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ διὰ τούτων τῶν ἀνῃρημέ νων τὸ πλῆθος. "Ὅτι θυσία τῷ Κυρίῳ Σαβαὼθ ἀπὸ γῆς βοῤῥᾶ ἐπὶ ποταμῷ Εὐφράτῃ." Ἐπειδὴ δίκας τῆς ἀσεβείας ἔδωκαν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ βουληθέντος ἀνῃρέθησαν, διὰ τοῦτο θυσίαν κέκληκε τὴν ἐκείνων σφαγήν. ιαʹ. Ἀνάβηθι Γαλαὰδ, καὶ λάβε ῥητίνην παρ θένῳ θυγατρὶ Αἰγύπτου. Καὶ οἱ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀδελφοὶ ῥητίνην καὶ στακτὴν ἀπεκόμισαν εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον. Ἡ δὲ ῥητίνη δένδρων ἐστὶ δάκρυον εἰς φάρμακα ἐπιτήδειον· γεωργεῖ δὲ μάλιστα ταύτην ἡ Γαλαάδ· εἴρηκε δὲ ταῦτα κατ' εἰρωνείαν, δεικνὺς τὸ τοῦ πά θους ἀνήκεστον. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. "Εἰς κενὸν ἐπλήθυνας ἰάματά σου· ὠφέλεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν σοί." Καὶ δεικνὺς τὸ μέγεθος τῆς πληγῆς, ἐπ ήγαγεν· ιβʹ. Ἤκουσαν ἔθνη φωνῆς σου, καὶ τῆς κραυ γῆς σου ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ, ὅτι μαχητὴς πρὸς μα χητὴν ἠσθένησεν· ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἔπεσαν ἀμφό τεροι. Προηγόρευκε διὰ τούτων καὶ τὴν ἐσομένην τῶν νενικηκότων κατάλυσιν. Ταῦτα μενοῦν περὶ τῆς 81.712 προτέρας ἥττης προεθέσπισεν ὁ προφήτης. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑξῆς προλέγει τὴν εἰς Αἴγυπτον Ναβουχοδονόσορ στρατιὰν, καὶ παρεγγυᾷ μηνυθῆναι τὴν πρόῤῥη σιν τῇ Μαγδώλῳ, καὶ τῇ Μέμφει, καὶ τῇ Ταφνὰς, καὶ μέντοι καὶ πάσῃ τῇ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλείᾳ, καί φησιν· "Ἐπίστηθι, καὶ ἑτοίμασον σεαυτὴν, ὅτι κατέφαγεν ἡ μάχαιρα τὴν σμίλακά σου." Ὁ Σύ ρος τὴν σμίλακα, "τὰ ἐν κύκλῳ σου" ἡρμήνευσε· ταυτὸ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ σμίλαξ αἰνίττεται· βοτάνη γάρ ἐστι συμπλεκομένη τοῖς παραφυομένοις