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and your mindset beyond your strength; and it enumerates the cities, which were once splendid and famous, and teaches the change of prosperity; and it also shows the cause. 26. For make him drunk, he says, because he magnified himself against the Lord. For the Moabites, learning what had happened to the Jews, mocked, accusing the God of all of weakness. For what follows also teaches this. “Moab will clap his hand.” That is, dancing and gloating. “And he himself will also be an object of laughter.” Then more clearly; 27. And yet was Israel a mockery to you; and was he found among your thefts, that you warred against him? What wrong did he do you, he says, that you warred against him? Did you find them breaking through walls, or robbing? “In him you shall be moved.” That is, because of the injustice toward him; and it speaks also of their flight. 28. The inhabitants of Moab have abandoned the cities, and have dwelt in rocks, they have become like doves nesting in the rocks, at the mouth of a pit. For they occupied the caves in the mountain heights, not enduring the attack of the enemies. And he calls him insolent, and a boaster, and proud. “And of these things,” he says, “I myself became an eyewitness.” And teaching how the test of deeds refuted the bombast of words, he added. 30. His arms were not thus according to his sufficiency; 81.724 he did not act thus. For before the war, boasting and threatening to be the best, when he saw the enemies he ran away. But “shorn for drought,” the Syrian thus interpreted: “Their heads shorn, and their beards shaved.” This is the appearance of captives; and the prophetic word about Moab also indicates it: 31. Wail over the men of the wall, shorn for drought. That is, those who formerly used walls and ramparts, but are now shorn of their former prosperity, and are clad in squalor. 32. I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. He mentioned some history, and has indicated the excess of the lamentation. “Vine of Sibmah, your branches crossed the sea.” It was rich in wine and full of wine. He compares, therefore, the multitude of the vine to the sea. And he says that its land was laid waste, and the vine was destroyed. 33. There was wine, he says, in your wine-presses; in the morning they did not tread, nor in the evening did they make. The Syrian interpreted this thus: “No longer do they tread the wine-press saying, Ia, ia.” And having said the same things in different ways, he interpreted “shorn for drought.” 37, 38. Every head in every place will be shaved, and every beard will be shaven; and all hands will be cut, and on every loin sackcloth. And on all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, a wailing. And through all these things he teaches the magnitude of the disaster. “For I have broken Moab, like a vessel for which there is no use, says the Lord.” He showed his utter uselessness; and he also shows clearly the swiftness of Nebuchadnezzar. 40. Thus says the Lord: Behold, like an eagle he will swoop, and he will spread out his wings over Moab. And the divine Ezekiel also compares Nebuchadnezzar to an eagle; for the animal is royal, and of all flying things the swiftest and most powerful. He foretells also the cowardice of Moab, and compares his heart to the heart of a woman in labor; and he also teaches his impiety. 81.725 42. Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord. He also foretells the successive evils. 43, 44. Fear and a pit, and a snare are upon you, who dwell in Moab, says the Lord. He who flees from the face of fear will fall into the pit, and he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare. And by these things he indicates that even those who took to flight were captured, and fell into what they did not wish. “For I will bring these things upon Moab, as in a year, in which I will visit her, says the Lord.” He calls the time a year; when, he says, I decide to punish them, with these evils I will surround them. And he also prophesies their civil war. 45. For a fire

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καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἰσχύν σου φρόνημα· ἀπαριθμεῖται δὲ καὶ τὰς πόλεις, αἳ πάλαι ἦσαν λαμπραὶ καὶ ἐπί σημοι, καὶ διδάσκει τὴν τῆς εὐπραξίας μεταβολήν· δείκνυσι δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν. κϛʹ. Μεθύσατε γὰρ αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ὅτι ἐπὶ τὸν Κύ ριον ἐμεγαλύνθη. Μαθόντες γὰρ Μωαβῖται τὰ Ἰου δαίοις συμβάντα ἐπετώθαζον ἀσθένειαν κατηγοροῦντες τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ διδάσκει καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. "Ἐπικρούσει Μωὰβ ἐν χειρὶ αὑτοῦ." Ἀντὶ τοῦ, χορεύων καὶ ἐπιχαίρων. "Καὶ ἔσται εἰς γέλωτα καὶ αὐτός." Εἶτα σαφέστερον· κζʹ. Καὶ μὴν εἰς γελοιασμόν σοι ἦν Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ἐν κλοπαῖς σου εὑρέθη, ὅτι ἐπολέμεις αὐτόν; Τί σε, φησὶν, ἠδικηκότα κατεπολέμεις; Τοιχωρυχοῦντας εὗρες, ἢ λωποδυτοῦντας; "Ἐν αὐτῷ μεταναστεύσεις." Τουτέστι διὰ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀδικίαν· λέγει δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν φυγήν. κηʹ. Κατέλιπον τὰς πόλεις, καὶ ᾤκησαν πέ τρας οἱ κατοικοῦντες Μωὰβ, ἐγένοντο ὡς περι στεραὶ νοσσεύουσαι ἐν πέτραις, στόματι βοθύνου. Τὰ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἀκρωρείαις κατέλαβον σπήλαια, τῶν πολεμίων οὐκ ἐνεγκόντες τὴν προσβολήν. Καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ὑβριστὴν, καὶ ἀλαζόνα, καὶ ὑπερήφανον. "Καὶ τούτων, φησὶν, αὐτόπτης ἐγενόμην ἐγώ." Καὶ διδάσκων, ὡς ἤλεγξε τῶν ἔργων ἡ πεῖρα τῶν λόγων τὸν ὄγκον, ἐπήγαγεν. λʹ. Οὐχὶ κατὰ τὸ ἱκανὸν αὐτοῦ οὕτως βρα 81.724 χίονες αὐτοῦ; οὐχ οὕτως ἐποίησε. Πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου γὰρ ἀλαζονευόμενος, καὶ ἀπειλῶν ἀριστεύειν, ἰδὼν τοὺς πολεμίους ἀπέδρα. Τὸ δὲ, "κειράδας αὐ χμοῦ," ὁ Σύρος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσε· "Κεφαλαὶ αὐ τῶν κεκαρμέναι, καὶ οἱ πώγωνες αὐτῶν ἐξυρημέ νοι." Αἰχμαλώτων δὲ τοῦτο τὸ σχῆμα· δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος ἐπὶ Μωάβ· λαʹ. Ὀλολύζετε ἐπ' ἄνδρας τείχους, κειρά δας αὐχμοῦ. Τουτέστι, τοὺς πάλαι μὲν τείχεσι κε χρημένους καὶ περιβόλοις, νῦν δὲ ἀποκειραμένους τὴν προτέραν εὐημερίαν, καὶ αὐχμὸν περικει μένους. λβʹ. Ὡς κλαυθμὸν Ἰαζὴρ ἀποκλαύσομαί σοι. Ἱστορίας τινὸς ἀνέμνησε, δεδήλωκε δὲ τὴν τοῦ θρή νου ὑπερβολήν. "Ἄμπελος Σεβαμὰ, κλήματά σου διῆλθε θάλασσαν." Εὔοινος ἦν αὐτὴ καὶ πολύοινος. Ἀπεικάζει τοίνυν θαλάττῃ τῆς ἀμπέλου τὸ πλῆθος. Λέγει δὲ ταύτης διαχθῆναι τὴν γῆν, καὶ διαφθαρῆναι τὴν ἄμπελον. λγʹ. Οἶνος ἦν, φησὶν, ἐν ληνοῖς σου· πρωῒ οὐκ ἐπάτησαν, οὐδὲ δείλης οὐκ ἐποίησαν. Τοῦτο ὁ Σύρος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν· "Οὐκέτι δὲ ληνοβατοῦντες λέγοντες, Ἰὰ, ἰά." Καὶ διαφόρως τὰ αὐτὰ εἰρηκὼς, ἡρμήνευσε τὸ "κειράδας αὐ χμοῦ." λζʹ, ληʹ. Πᾶσαν κεφαλὴν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ξυρή σονται, καὶ πᾶς πώγων ξυρηθήσεται· καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ χεῖρες κόψονται, καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ὀσφύος σάκ κος. Καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν δωμάτων Μωὰβ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις αὐτῆς κοπετός. ∆ιὰ πάντων δὲ τούτων τὸ μέγεθος διδάσκει τῆς συμφορᾶς. "Ὅτι συνέτριψα τὸν Μωὰβ, ὡς ἀγγεῖον, οὗ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ χρεία, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος." Ἔδειξεν αὐτοῦ τὸ παντελῶς ἄχρηστον· δείκνυσι δὲ σαφῶς καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ὀξύτητα. μʹ. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ὡς ἀετὸς ὁρ μήσει, καὶ ἐκπετάσει τὰς πτέρυγας αὑτοῦ ἐπὶ Μωάβ. Καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἐζεκιὴλ ἀετῷ τὸν Ναβου-χοδονόσορ ἀπεικάζει· βασιλικὸν γὰρ τὸ ζῶον, καὶ τῶν πτηνῶν ἁπάντων ὀξύτατόν τε καὶ δυνατώτατον. Προλέγει καὶ τοῦ Μωὰβ τὴν δειλίαν, καὶ ἀπει κάζει αὐτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν γυναικὸς ὠδινούσης καρ δίᾳ· διδάσκει δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν. 81.725 μβʹ. Ἀπολεῖται Μωὰβ ἀπὸ ὄχλου, ὅτι ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον ἐμεγαλύνθη. Προλέγει καὶ τὰ ἐπάλληλα κακά. μγʹ, μδʹ. Φόβος καὶ βόθυνος, καὶ παγὶς ἐπὶ σὲ τὸν καθήμενον ἐν Μωὰβ, φησὶ Κύριος. Ὁ φεύγων ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ φόβου ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς τὸν βόθυνον, καὶ ὁ ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ βοθύνου συλληφθήσεται ἐν τῇ παγίδι. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ διὰ τούτων, ὡς καὶ οἱ φυγῇ χρησάμενοι ἡλώθησαν, καὶ οἷς οὐκ ἤθελον περιέπεσον. "Ὅτι ἐπάξω ταῦτα ἐπὶ Μωὰβ, ὡς ἐν ἐνιαυτῷ, ᾧ ἐπισκέψομαι αὐτὴν, φησὶ Κύριος." Ἐνιαυτὸν τὸν καιρὸν καλεῖ· ὅταν, φησὶ, δοκιμάσω τιμωρήσασθαι αὐτοὺς, τούτοις αὐτοὺς περιβαλῶ τοῖς κακοῖς. Προθεσπίζει δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον. μεʹ. Ὅτι πῦρ