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carrying it around, and even if I held him thus, not even then will I stand by him; but if God will not stand by him, who will rescue him? And I will deliver you into the hands of those who seek your soul. And I think these things have been said in a similar manner. For they were also speaking about Jeconiah, he says. And since they thought they were in safety. This, on the one hand, as being established by the Babylonian, and on the other, as being in the temple and in Jerusalem, thinking he would suffer nothing, having told him beforehand not to be confident in these things, and the deed came to pass. Therefore, the phrase, 'On my right hand,' is to say, 'In the temple, where I am accustomed to helping those who are there.' The despised and shaken-off mouth is the man himself, that is, Jeconiah. A mouth despised because of blasphemy; and shaken-off, as one who is cast away. And I will cast you off. But the Books of Kings say that he also later enjoyed honor, 64.944 and his throne was later exalted, perhaps having become better; so that when it says, 'He shall not sit on the throne from his seed,' it is clear that this is while he remains as such; for I will speak finally against a kingdom and against a nation to overthrow it, and if they will turn back, I will do nothing. *Jeconiah was dishonored, as a vessel for which there is no use. For having been taken captive, he was in dishonor, having fallen from the kingdom. For he was unclean; but also in another way: He became unclean by going to a foreign land. Land, land, hear. Since no one among men heard, for this reason he speaks to the inanimate. But what is 'proclaimed an outcast'? Dishonored, he says. Aquila says, 'without increase'; but Symmachus: 'Empty, alienated.' Thus says the Lord: Write this man down as a proclaimed outcast, a man who will not prosper in his days. That is, I call those present to witness that God has made this man alien to himself, and take note of this word. For this is what 'write' means; for he exhorted the multitude to write. And he clearly interpreted 'who will not prosper' by adding: 'For no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David.' For instead of him, not his son reigned, but his uncle, Jehoiakim's brother.

CH. 23.

*Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture. In a similar way, he says, you also, O Zedekiah, continue to transgress, and you become the cause of destruction for the multitude. And Ezekiel says many things against them, and Jeremiah himself also, and see a harsher punishment against them. For these perish in a foreign land; but to those who were deceived he promises after these things a return, and a release from evils, and pure rulers. See the justice everywhere. *Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and a righteous king shall reign. He speaks about Zerubbabel. Symmachus says, instead of 'a righteous branch,' 'a righteous sprout'; this is said about Christ, as some say, in a hidden manner. But according to history, about Josedec. And he gives good rulers at the right time, when he has made them more sober-minded by the punishment, so that the benefit also becomes easily received, with indolence and arrogance having been done away with. And this is his name, which the Lord will call him: Josedec. Among the prophets, 'Josedec' is interpreted as 'ruler of our righteousness,' so that it might say that, just as the prophets speak according to the will of God, so also he, having become righteous, will lead the people to righteousness. 64.945 My heart was crushed. He says this, that I, for my part, upon seeing the glory of God, was amazed; but these have not even feared the punishment. And the course was run. That is, the haste was for no good thing. So they were zealous, but not for good things

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περιφέρων, καὶ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐγὼ ἔχοιμι, οὐδὲ οὕτως προστήσομαι αὐτοῦ· εἰ δὲ Θεὸς οὐ προστήσεται, τίς αὐτὸν ἐξαιρήσεται; Καὶ παραδώσω σε εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ζητούντων τὴν ψυχήν σου. Καὶ ταῦτα κατὰ τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον εἰρῆσθαι νομίζω. Ὅτι καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰεχονίου, φησὶν, ἔφασκον. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐνόμιζον εἶναι ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ. Τοῦτο μὲν, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου καταστὰς, τοῦτο δὲ, ὡς ἐν τῷ ναῷ, καὶ τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τυγχάνων μηδὲν πείσεσθαι, προειπὼν αὐτῷ μὴ θαῤῥεῖν ἐπὶ τούτοις, καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐξέβη. Τὸ οὖν, Ἐπὶ τῆς χειρός μου τῆς δεξιᾶς, ἵνα εἴπῃ, Ἐν τῷ ναῷ, ἔνθα βοηθεῖν εἴωθα τοῖς ἐκεῖ οὖσιν. Τὸ στόμα τὸ ἐξουδενωμένον καὶ ἐκτετιναγμένον ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτὸς, τουτέστιν, ὁ Ἰεχονίας. Στόμα δὲ ἐξουδενωμένον διὰ τὴν βλασφημίαν· ἐκτετιναγμένον δὲ, ὡς ἀπωσμένου. Καὶ ἀποῤῥίψω σε. Λέγουσι δὲ αἱ Βασιλεῖαι, ὅτι καὶ τιμῆς ὕστερον 64.944 ἀπήλαυσε, καὶ ὑψώθη ὕστερον ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ, ἴσως βελτίονος γενομένου· ὥστε καὶ ὅταν λέγῃ· Οὐ μὴ καθίσῃ ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ· εὔδηλον ὅτι τοιούτου μένοντος· πέρας γὰρ λαλήσω ἐπὶ βασιλείας καὶ ἐπὶ ἔθνος τοῦ κατασκάψαι, καὶ ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψουσιν, οὐδὲν ποιήσω. *Ἠτιμώθη Ἰεχονίας, ὡς σκεῦος, οὗ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ χρεία. Αἰχμάλωτος γὰρ ληφθεὶς ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ γέγονε, τῆς βασιλείας ἐκπεσών. Καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἀκάθαρτος· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλως· Ἀκάθαρτος γέγονεν εἰς ἀλλοτρίαν ἀπελθὼν γῆν. Γῆ, γῆ, ἄκουσον. Ἐπειδὴ οὐδεὶς οὐκ ἤκουσε τῶν ἀνθρώπων, διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν ἄψυχον διαλέγεται. Τί δέ ἐστιν ἐκκήρυκτον; Ἄτιμον, φησίν· Ἀκύλας μὲν, ἀναύξητον φησίν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Κενὸν, ἀπηλλοτριωμένον. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Γράψον σὺ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον ἐκκήρυκτον ἄνθρωπον, ἀνευόδωτον ἄνθρωπον ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ. Τουτέστι, Τοῖς παροῦσι μαρτύρομαι, ὡς ἀλλότριον ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦτον ἐποιήσατο, καὶ σημειώσασθε τὸν λόγον τοῦτον. Τοῦτο γὰρ βούλεται τὸ, γράψον· τῷ γὰρ πλήθει γράψαι παρῄνεσεν. Τὸ δὲ ἀνευόδωτον, σαφῶς ἡρμήνευσεν ἐπάγων· Ὅτι οὐ μὴ αὐξηθῇ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου ∆αβίδ. Ἀντὶ γὰρ τούτου, οὐχ ὁ υἱὸς ἐβασίλευσεν, ἀλλ' ὁ θεῖος ὁ τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ ἀδελφός.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΓʹ.

*Ὦ οἱ ποιμένες οἱ ἀπολλύντες, καὶ διασκορπίζοντες τὰ πρόβατα τῆς νομῆς μου. Τὸν ὅμοιον, φησὶ, τρόπον, καὶ σὺ, ὦ Σεδεκία, παρανομῶν διατελεῖς, καὶ αἴτιος ἀπωλείας τῷ πλήθει γίνῃ. Καὶ ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πολλὰ κατ' αὐτῶν φησι, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἱερεμίας, καὶ ὅρα χαλεπωτέραν κατ' αὐτῶν τὴν τιμωρίαν. Οὗτοι γὰρ ἀπόλλυνται ἐπ' ἀλλοτρίας· τοῖς δὲ ἀπατηθεῖσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται μετὰ ταῦτα ἄνοδον, καὶ κακῶν ἀπαλλαγὴν, καὶ ἄρχοντας καθαρούς. Ἴδε πανταχοῦ τὸ δίκαιον. *Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ στήσω τῷ ∆αβὶδ ἀνατολὴν δικαίαν, καὶ βασιλεύσει βασιλεὺς δίκαιος. Περὶ τοῦ Ζωροβάβελ λέγει. Σύμμαχός φησιν ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἀνατολὴν δικαίαν, Βλάστημα δίκαιον· περὶ Χριστοῦ τοῦτο εἴρηται, ὥς φασί τινες, ἐγκεκρυμμένως. Κατὰ δὲ ἱστορίαν περὶ Ἰωσεδέκ. Καὶ εὐκαίρως δίδωσι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἄρχοντας, ὅτε αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς τιμωρίας σωφρονεστέρους ἐποίησεν, ὥστε καὶ εὐπαράδεκτον γενέσθαι τὴν ὠφέλειαν, τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας καὶ ἀλαζονείας ἀνῃρημένης. Καὶ τοῦτο ὄνομα αὐτῷ, ὃ καλέσει αὐτὸν Κύριος Ἰωσεδέκ. Ἐν τοῖς προφήταις τὸ, Ἰωσεδὲκ, ἑρμηνεύεται ἄρχων δικαιοσύνης ἡμῶν, ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι, ὡς προφῆται κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ Θεοῦ φθέγγονται, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς δίκαιος γενόμενος εἰς δικαιοσύνην ἄξει τὸν λαόν. 64.945 Συνετρίβη ἡ καρδία μου. Τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Ἐγὼ μὲν, ἰδὼν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξέστην· οὗτοι δὲ οὐδὲ τὴν τιμωρίαν δεδοίκασιν. Καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ δρόμος. Τουτέστιν, ἡ σπουδὴ ἐπ' οὐδενὶ καλῷ. Ὥστε ἐσπούδαζον, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ χρηστοῖς