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and according to Symmachus: we have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceedingly proud, according to his arrogance and according to his pride. and his wrath, but not so, he says, are also his arms; for his deeds are not like his words of pride, or according to the Seventy: not so is your divination, not so. For since they were very proud of their own god and his divinations, it says it will not be so, as the demon among them divines, nor does he promise similar things through oracles to those who are deceived and think him to be a god; at any rate, the coming time will convict these very things of falsehood. Therefore towards the end of the prophecy it adds: "and it shall be to your shame, that Moab has wearied himself upon the altars and will enter into her handmade things to pray, and he shall not be able to deliver him". But the things said in the middle signify that there will be a change from the former luxury of the Moabites, for which reason he decrees that those who rejoice in it will mourn and wail, saying: Moab will wail, for in the land of Moab all will wail, and again: and the fields of Heshbon will mourn. It should be known that up to this point Origen's nineteenth volume of the exegetical works on the prophet has proceeded. to which the following is added: the vine of Sibmah; swallowing up the nations, you have trampled her vines as far as Jazer and the following. Through which things he also hinted at the change of their land into a dry place and complete desolation, over which things he also foretold that they would weep. Then, as if in great pain, the prophet, grieving over the destruction of the souls of those led astray among them, laments, having first urged them to wail and having summoned them to repentance by weeping for themselves. But since they did not do this, he himself takes up the "weeping" for them, saying: for this reason I will weep with weeping and I will drench you with my tears. And he teaches the reason for the weeping, saying: because upon your summer fruit and upon your harvest a treader has fallen”. And through the summer fruit and the harvest and through the often-named vine he signifies the flourishing and vigorous and the luxurious and beautiful quality of the life of those being described, in which they lived as if drunk, making merry and reveling in their godless impieties. Therefore he lamented their destruction, saying: for this reason my belly will sound like a lyre for Moab, and my inwards like a wall you have renewed. And it shall be to your shame. For my tears, he says, and my weeping happen for no other reason than for you to be ashamed. Then he prophesies to them the annihilation of their supposed gods, saying: that Moab has wearied himself upon the altars and will enter into her handmade things, or according to the other interpreters: into his sanctuary, to pray, and he shall not be able to deliver him. And this is the end of the word of God, which he spoke concerning Moab, to which you will connect the things said before; for when the desolation of the altars and the destruction of their gods has occurred, "a throne will be established with mercy, and one will sit upon it with truth in the tent of David, judging judgment and seeking righteousness". which things have been inserted as mysteries in the middle of the prophecy, the Holy Spirit having reserved the knowledge of them only for those who are to understand and be deemed worthy of their contemplation. And instead of: the Lord spoke concerning Moab, whenever he also spoke, the other interpreters translated what the Lord spoke concerning Moab, from then and now he has spoken, the scripture having very necessarily observed that from that time he spoke and now likewise the Lord speaks the same things through the prophetic reading, and that what was long ago decreed in words, is now also accomplished in deeds. And instead of the word in the Seventy saying: In three years of a hired hand the glory of Moab will be dishonored, according to the Hebrew tongue and according to the other interpreters a distinction placed in between makes it clearer

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καὶ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· ἠκούσαμεν τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν Μωάβ, ὑπερήφανος σφόδρα, κατὰ τὸ ἔπαρμα αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως φησὶ καὶ οἱ βραχίονες αὐτοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ὅμοιαι αἱ πράξεις τοῖς τῆς ὑπερηφανίας λόγοις, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα· οὐχ οὕτως ἡ μαντεία σου, οὐχ οὕτως. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μέγα ἐφρόνουν ἐπὶ τῷ ἑαυτῶν θεῷ καὶ ταῖς τούτου μαντείαις, οὐχ οὕτως φησὶν ἔσται, ὁποῖα μαντεύεται ὁ παρ' αὐτοῖς δαίμων, οὐδ' ὅμοια διὰ χρησμῶν τοῖς ἐξαπατωμένοις καὶ θεὸν εἶναι αὐτὸν νομίζουσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται· ὁ γοῦν ἐπιὼν χρόνος τούτων αὐτῶν τὸ ψεῦδος ἐλέγξει. διὸ πρὸς τῷ τέλει τῆς προφητείας ἐπιλέγει· «καὶ ἔσται εἰς τὸ ἐντραπῆναί σε, ὅτι ἐκοπίασε Μωὰβ ἐπὶ τοῖς βωμοῖς καὶ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὰ χειροποίητα αὐτῆς ὥστε προσεύξασθαι, καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνηται ἐξελέσθαι αὐτόν». Τὰ δὲ διὰ μέσου λελεγμένα μεταβολὴν ἔσεσθαι τῆς πάλαι τρυφῆς τῶν Μωαβιτῶν σημαίνει, διὸ θεσπίζει πενθήσειν καὶ ὀλολύξειν τοὺς εὐφραινομένους ἐπ' αὐτῇ λέγων· ὀλολύξει Μωάβ, ἐν γὰρ τῇ Μωαβίτιδι πάντες ὀλολύξουσι, καὶ πάλιν· καὶ τὰ πεδία Ἐσεβὼν πενθήσει. ἰστέον δ' ὡς μέχρι τούτων Ὠριγένει προῆλθεν ὁ ἐννεακαιδέκατος τῶν εἰς τὸν προφήτην ἐξηγητικῶν τόμος. οἷς ἑξῆς ἐπιφέρεται· ἄμπελος Σαβαμά· καταπίνοντες τὰ ἔθνη καταπατήσατε τὰς ἀμπέλους αὐτῆς ἕως Ἰαζὴρ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. δι' ὧν καὶ αὐτῶν τὴν εἰς χέρσον καὶ παντελῆ ἐρημίαν τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν μεταβολὴν ᾐνίττετο, ἐφ' οἷς καὶ ἀποκλαύσασθαι αὐτοὺς προὔλεγεν. Εἶθ' ὥσπερ ὑπεραλγῶν ὁ προφήτης καὶ ἀνιώμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς πεπλανημένων ἀποθρηνεῖ, πρώτοις μὲν αὐτοῖς ὀλολύζειν παρακελευσάμενος καὶ ἐπὶ μετάνοιαν αὐτοὺς προκαλεσάμενος διὰ τὸ ἑαυτοὺς ἀποκλάεσθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο ἔπραττον ἐκεῖνοι, αὐτὸς τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀναλαμβάνει «κλαυθμὸν» φάσκων· διὰ τοῦτο κλαυθμῷ κλαύσομαι καὶ μεθύσω δὲ σὲ δάκρυσί μου. τὸ δὲ αἴτιον τοῦ κλαυθμοῦ διδάσκει λέγων· ὅτι ἐπὶ τὴν ὀπώραν σου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν θερισμόν σου πατητὸς ἔπεσεν». σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τῆς ὀπώρας καὶ τοῦ θερισμοῦ καὶ διὰ τῆς πολλάκις ὀνομασθείσης ἀμπέλου τὸ εὐθαλὲς καὶ ἀκμαῖον καὶ τὸ τρυφερὸν καὶ ὡραῖον τῆς τῶν δηλουμένων ζωῆς, ἐν ᾗ ὥσπερ μεθύοντες διῆγον ἐνευφραινόμενοι καὶ ἐντρυφῶντες ἐπὶ ταῖς ἀθέοις αὐτῶν δυσσεβείαις. ∆ιὸ ἀπεκλαίετο αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν φάσκων· διὰ τοῦτο ἡ κοιλία μου ἐπὶ Μωὰβ ὡς κιθάρα ἠχήσει, καὶ τὰ ἐντός μου ὡς τεῖχος ἀνεκαίνισας. καὶ ἔσται εἰς τὸ ἐντραπῆναί σε. τὰ γὰρ ἐμὰ δάκρυά φησι καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς κλαυθμὸς δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον γίνεται ἢ εἰς τὸ ἐντραπῆναί σε. εἶτα θεσπίζει αὐτοῖς τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῶν νενομισμένων αὐτοῖς θεῶν λέγων· ὅτι ἐκοπίασε Μωὰβ ἐπὶ τοῖς βωμοῖς καὶ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὰ χειροποίητα αὐτῆς, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς· εἰς τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ, ὥστε προσεύξασθαι, καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνηται ἐξελέσθαι αὐτόν. Καὶ τοῦτο τέλος τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃν ἐλάλησεν ἐπὶ Μωάβ, οἷς συνάψεις τὰ ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένα· τῆς γὰρ ἐρημίας τῶν βωμῶν καὶ τῆς τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν ἀπωλείας ἐνστάσης «διορθωθήσεται μετ' ἐλέους θρόνος, καὶ καθιεῖται ἐπ' αὐτοῦ μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐν σκηνῇ ∆αυὶδ κρίνων κρίμα καὶ σπεύδων δικαιοσύνην». ἅπερ ὡς ἐν μυστηρίοις κατὰ μέσου τῆς προφητείας παρεμβέβληται, τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος μόνοις τοῖς μέλλουσι συνιέναι καὶ τῆς τούτων ἀξιοῦσθαι θεωρίας τὴν τούτων γνῶσιν ταμιευσαμένου. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· ἐλάλησε κύριος ἐπὶ Μωάβ, ὁπότε καὶ ἐλάλησεν, οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταὶ ὃ ἐλάλησε κύριος περὶ Μωάβ, ἐκ τότε καὶ νῦν ἐλάλησεν ἡρμήνευσαν σφόδρα ἀναγκαίως ἐπιτηρησαμένης τῆς γραφῆς, ὅτι ἐκ τότε μὲν ἐλάλησε καὶ νῦν δὲ ὁμοίως κύριος τὰ αὐτὰ λαλεῖ διὰ τῆς προφητικῆς ἀναγνώσεως, καὶ ὅτι μὲν πάλαι λόγοις ἐθεσπίζετο, νυνὶ δὲ καὶ ἔργοις ἐπιτελεῖται. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς Ἑβδομήκοντα φάσκοντος λόγου· Ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσι μισθωτοῦ ἀτιμασθήσεται ἡ δόξα Μωάβ, κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραϊκὴν φωνὴν καὶ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς διαστολὴ μεταξὺ βληθεῖσα σαφεστέραν