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to plants; therefore, tropically he thus named the helpers of the Egyptians, whose defeat and flight he prophesied. ιεʹ. Because Apis has fled, your chosen calf, and he did not remain. He calls Apis a "chosen calf"; for this was an ox, nourished and worshipped by them; therefore the prophetic word teaches the reason for the defeat; for by making a calf a god, and trusting in it, they received no help. "Because the Lord has enfeebled him." That is, the calf. But He also enfeebled the one working in it, and leading men astray. ιϛʹ. And your multitude grew weak, and fell. And it also speaks of the cowardice that came upon them, and that they urged one another to flight, fearing the enemies, and their helpers. "For let us arise," it says, "and let us return to our people, and to our homeland, from the face of the Greek sword." It is likely that some of the Greeks campaigned with the king of the Babylonians; but I think that it also foretells the dynasty of the Macedonians in him; for Alexander, having destroyed the kingdom of the Egyptians, forced them to serve the Macedonians. ιζʹ. Call the name of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, Saon esebeir emoed. But the Syrian interpreted these things thus: "Call his name, a disturber, and one who passes over the times;" for of old the kingdom of the Egyptians was strong, and it disturbed the neighboring nations, and changed the good fortune of many into misfortune. ιηʹ. As I live, says the Lord God, the King of hosts is his name. And He has taught us His eternity and His power at the same time. "For as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel is by the sea, so shall he come." Instead of, Do not 81.713 doubt; for just as all unquestionably confess, both that Tabor is a mountain, and approaches the sea, and Carmel; so the prophecy holds the truth. ιθʹ. Make for yourself baggage for exile, O daughter of Egypt, who dwells there; instead of, be ready for captivity; and it also speaks of the desolation of the ruling city; for Memphis at that time had become a royal city; and the divine Isaiah taught us this. "For," he says, "the princes of Tanis have failed, and the princes of Memphis have been exalted. κʹ. Egypt is a fair, well-adorned heifer. By these things he has shown her untamed, unyoked, and luxurious nature; and rebuking their great weakness, he teaches that when even very few enemies attacked, they were not able to resist. For this is what it says: "A detachment from the north has come upon her." καʹ. And her hired men in her midst are as calves. fattened. He has shown the weakness of the helpers; for the fattened calf does not work the land, but is eaten by others; and he also speaks of their flight. "For they turned back," he says, "and fled with one accord; they did not stand." And he adds the reason: "Because a day of destruction has come upon them, and a time of their vengeance." For they had to pay the penalty for their impiety; yet through these things he teaches that the Master, using long-suffering, later brings on the punishment. κβʹ. Their voice is as of a hissing serpent. It is characteristic of those in misfortune to groan and to hiss, and, being heated by despondency, to exhale breath. "Because they will go in sand." By these things he has shown their unsoundness; for the Lord also compared the one who hears his word, and does not do it, to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. "They will come against her with axes, as those who cut wood." Then, imperatively: κγʹ. Cut down her forest, says the Lord God, because God will not be propitiated, because it multiplies more than the locust. That is, the multitude of the inhabitants, "And they have no number." He likens her to a forest, the enemies to woodcutters, κδʹ. The daughter of Egypt was put to shame, she was delivered into the hands of a people from the north, said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. These things also to the Jews for

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φυτοῖς· τρο πικῶς τοίνυν τοὺς ἐπικούρους τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οὕτως ὠνόμασεν, ὧν τὴν ἧτταν καὶ τὴν φυγὴν προεθέ σπισε. ιεʹ. ∆ιότι ἔφυγεν ὁ Ἄπις, ὁ μόσχος σου ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς, καὶ οὐκ ἔμεινε. "Μόσχον ἐκλεκτὸν" τὸν Ἄπιν λέγει· βοῦς δὲ ἦν οὗτος, παρ' αὐτῶν τρεφόμε νος καὶ προσκυνούμενος· διδάσκει τοίνυν ὁ προφητι κὸς λόγος τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἥττης· μόσχον γὰρ θεο ποιοῦντες, καὶ τούτῳ θαῤῥοῦντες, ἐπικουρίας οὐκ ἔτυχον. "Ὅτι Κύριος παρέλυσεν αὐτόν." Τουτ έστι τὸν μόσχον. Παρέλυσε δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἐνεργοῦντα, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πλανῶντα. ιϛʹ. Καὶ τὸ πλῆθός σου ἠσθένησε, καὶ ἔπεσε. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπισκήψασαν αὐτοῖς δειλίαν, καὶ ὅτι ἀλλήλους προέτρεπον εἰς φυγὴν, δεδιότες τοὺς πολεμίους, καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνων ἐπικούρους. "Ἀναστῶ μεν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀποστρέψωμεν εἰς τὸν λαὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰς τὴν πατρίδα ἡμῶν, ἀπὸ προσώπου μαχαίρας Ἑλληνικῆς." Εἰκὸς μὲν καί τινας τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῷ Βαβυλωνίων βασιλεῖ συστρατεῦσαι· ἡγοῦμαι δὲ, ὅτι κατ' αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν Μακεδόνων προλέγει τὴν δυναστείαν· ὁ γὰρ Ἀλέξανδρος τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καταλύσας τὴν βασιλείαν Μακεδόσι δου λεύειν ἠνάγκασε. ιζʹ. Καλέσατε τὸ ὄνομα Φαραὼ Νεχαὼ βα σιλέως Αἰγύπτου Σαὼν ἐεβεὶρ ἐμωήδ. Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ Σύρος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσε· "Καλέσατε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ταράττων, καὶ καιροὺς παραφέρων·" πάλαι γὰρ ἰσχυρὰ ἦν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἡ βασιλεία, καὶ τὰ πελάζοντα διετάραττεν ἔθνη, καὶ πολλῶν εὐπραξίαν εἰς δυσπραγίαν μετέβαλε. ιηʹ. Ζῶ ἐγὼ, λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν δυνάμεων ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Καὶ τὸ ἀΐδιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν, κατὰ ταυτὸν ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν. "Ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐστὶ τὸ Θαβὼρ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι, καὶ ὡς Κάρ μηλος ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, οὕτως ἥξει." Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Μὴ 81.713 ἀμφιβάλῃς· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀναμφισβητήτως ὁμολογοῦσι πάντες, καὶ τὸ Θαβὼρ ὄρος εἶναι, καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ πελάζειν, καὶ τὸν Κάρμηλον· οὕτως ἡ πρόῤῥησις ἔχει τὸ ἀληθές. ιθʹ. Σκεύη ἀποικισμοῦ ποίησον σεαυτῇ, κατ οικοῦσα θύγατερ Αἰγύπτου· ἀντὶ τοῦ, εὐτρε πὴς εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν γενοῦ· λέγει δὲ καὶ τῆς βασι λευούσης πόλεως τὴν ἐρημίαν· ἡ γὰρ Μέμφις κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἐγεγόνει πόλις βασιλική· καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἡσαΐας ἐδίδαξεν. "Ἐξ- έλιπον γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ ἄρχοντες Τάνεως, καὶ ὑψώ θησαν οἱ ἄρχοντες Μέμφεως. κʹ. ∆άμαλις καλὴ κεκαλλωπισμένη Αἴγυπτος. Τὸ ἀδάμαστον αὐτῆς, καὶ ἀπειρόζυγον, καὶ τρυφη λὸν, διὰ τούτων δεδήλωκεν· καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτῶν ἐλέγχων ἀσθένειαν, διδάσκει, ὡς καὶ λίαν ὀλίγων ἐπελθόντων πολεμίων οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν ἀντισχεῖν. Τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει· "Ἀπόσπασμα ἀπὸ βοῤῥᾶ ἦλθεν ἐπ' αὐτήν." καʹ. Καὶ οἱ μισθωτοὶ αὐτῆς ἐν αὐτῇ, ὡς μόσχοι. σιτευτοί. Τῶν ἐπικούρων δεδήλωκε τὴν ἀσθένειαν· ὁ γὰρ σιτευτὸς μόσχος τὴν μὲν γῆν οὐκ ἐργάζεται, ὑπὸ δὲ ἄλλων ἐσθίεται· λέγει δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν τὴν φυ γήν. "Ἀπεστράφησαν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἔφυγον ὁμοθυμαδόν· οὐκ ἔστησαν." Ἐπάγει καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν· "Ὅτι ἡμέρα ἀπωλείας ἦλθεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, καὶ καιρὸς ἐκδικήσεως αὐτῶν." Ἔδει γὰρ αὐτοὺς δίκας δοῦ ναι τῆς ἀσεβείας· διδάσκει μέντοι διὰ τούτων, ὡς μακροθυμίᾳ χρώμενος ὁ ∆εσπότης ὕστερον ἐπάγει τὴν τιμωρίαν. κβʹ. Φωνὴ αὐτῶν ὡς ὄφεως συρίζοντος. Τῶν δυσπραγούντων ἴδιον τὸ στένειν καὶ συρίττειν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀθυμίας θερμαινόμενον ἐκφέρειν πνεῦμα. "Ὅτι ἐν ψάμμῳ πορεύσονται." Τὸ σαθρὸν αὐτῶν διὰ τούτων δεδήλωκε· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος τὸν ἀκούοντα τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντα, παρέβαλεν ἀνδρὶ μωρῷ, ἐπὶ τῆς ψάμμου τὴν οἰκίαν οἰκοδομήσαντι. "Ἐν ἀξίναις ἥξουσιν ἐπ' αὐτὴν, ὡς κόπτοντες ξύλα." Εἶτα προστακτικῶς· κγʹ. Ἐκκόψατε τὸν δρυμὸν αὐτῆς, λέγει Κύ ριος ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἱλασθῇ ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι πληθύνει ὑπὲρ ἀκρίδα. Τουτέστι, τῶν ἐνοικούν των τὸ πλῆθος, "Καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς ἀριθμός." ∆ρυμῷ αὐτὴν ἀπεικάζει, τοὺς πολεμίους δρυμοτόμοις, κδʹ. Κατῃσχύνθη θυγάτηρ Αἰγύπτου, παρεδόθη εἰς χεῖρας λαοῦ ἀπὸ βοῤῥᾶ, εἶπε Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραήλ. Ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις εἰς