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has established the meaning; for according to Aquila it is said: in three years of a hireling, and according to Symmachus: from then and now the Lord has spoken, saying, "In three years as with a hireling," and according to Theodotion: from then and now the Lord has spoken, saying, "In three years as the years of a hireling." Then, from another beginning, it is said among the other interpreters and according to the Hebrew language: and the glory of Moab will be dishonored with all its great multitude; for the conjunction "and" placed in the middle has presented another meaning starting from: and the glory of Moab will be dishonored. The preceding indicated that in three years the Lord spoke through the prophet all the things that were foretold concerning Moab, as if hiring him and engaging him for the service of the prophecy concerning these things, for it is not as we go through the whole reading by connecting it all at once, that the prophet also delivered the whole word of the prophecy in continuous sequence; but separately and in part, at different intervals of time, so that the whole fulfilled three years, in which the said things were spoken to him. The Lord therefore spoke these things in three years through the prophet, and the end of the words of God was this: "and the glory of Moab will be dishonored with all its great multitude, and it will be left small and not honored." Which has itself been fulfilled to the letter, as it is easy for those who arrive at the places to perceive by sight. 1.72 Just as fitting things were said to Babylon and suitable things to the foreigners who inhabit Palestine and likewise certain other peculiar things to Moab, in the same way the prophetic word concerning Damascus also threatens that a certain peculiar end will come upon it; for it says it will be removed from cities, but according to Theodotion it says it will be moved out of a city. It suffered this in the times of the Assyrians, as the present text indicated through the preceding parts, presenting the king of the Assyrians saying: "and I took Arabia and Damascus and Samaria; in the way I took these, I will also take all the dominions." History also bears witness to this word; for it is written in the fourth book of Kingdoms: "and the king of the Assyrians went up to Damascus and captured it and deported it to Cyrene," or according to Symmachus: "to Kirran," "and he put Rezin to death." But these things had reached their end before the present prophecy, while the present word is about things to come, likely to the letter in the times of Jeremiah the prophet, when the king of Babylon, coming against Jerusalem, also took Damascus again, utterly destroying it from its foundations. Which Jeremiah presents, saying something like this: "Damascus is undone, it has turned to flight, and has been cast out, trembling has seized it, and pains have taken hold of it as a woman in labor. Why has she not left my city? She loved a village," or according to Symmachus: "a praised city, a metropolis of gladness." "Therefore the young men will fall in your streets, and all the men of war will fall in that day, says the Lord of hosts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of the son of Hadad." Therefore the present prophecy also proclaims things similar to those foretold, saying: Behold, Damascus will be removed from cities and will be left as a ruin. The following has been said according to the interpretation of the Seventy alone, I mean the phrase: forever; for it is found neither in the Hebrew nor among the other interpreters. Therefore it is not necessary to think that the fall of Damascus is said to be eternal, since its fall was for a certain time during the siege of the Assyrians, in which Jerusalem was also captured. But just as the Jews, returning again, raised up Jerusalem and filled the land with inhabitants, in the same way Damascus also, having suffered then the things proclaimed by the prophecy, was rebuilt again in later times, so that also a palace in

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κατέστησε τὴν διάνοιαν· κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸν Ἀκύλαν εἴρηται· ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσι μισθωτοῦ, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· ἐκ τότε καὶ νῦν ἐλάλησε κύριος λέγων Ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσιν ὡς ἐπὶ μισθωτοῦ, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα· ἀπὸ τότε καὶ νῦν ἐλάλησε κύριος λέγων Ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσιν ὡς ἐνιαυτοῖς μισθωτοῦ. εἶτα ἀπὸ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς εἴρηται παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραϊκὴν φωνὴν τό· καὶ ἀτιμασθήσεται ἡ δόξα Μωὰβ σὺν παντὶ τῷ πλήθει τῷ πολλῷ· ὁ γὰρ καὶ σύνδεσμος μέσος παραβληθεὶς ἑτέραν διάνοιαν παρέστησε τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ· καὶ ἀτιμασθήσεται ἡ δόξα Μωάβ. τὰ δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐδήλου ὡς ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσι τὰ προλεχθέντα πάντα περὶ τῆς Μωὰβ κύριος ἐλάλησε διὰ τοῦ προφήτου ὥσπερ μισθωσάμενος αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπασχολήσας ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν τῆς περὶ τούτων προφητείας, οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς ἀθρόως συνάπτοντες τὸ πᾶν ἀνάγνωσμα διερχόμεθα, οὕτως καὶ ὁ προφήτης κατὰ συνάφειαν τὸν πάντα λόγον τῆς προφητείας ἀποτάδην ἐξηνέγκατο· διῃρημένως δὲ καὶ κατὰ μέρος ἐν διαφόροις χρόνων διαστήμασιν ὡς τὰ πάντα πληρωθῆναι τρία ἔτη, ἐν οἷς λέλεκται αὐτῷ τὰ εἰρημένα. ἐλάλησε τοίνυν ταῦτα ὁ κύριος ἐν τρισὶν ἔτεσι διὰ τοῦ προφήτου, τέλος δὲ τῶν λόγων τοῦ θεοῦ ἦν τό· καὶ ἀτιμασθήσεται ἡ δόξα Μωὰβ σὺν παντὶ τῷ πλήθει τῷ πολλῷ, καὶ καταλειφθήσεται ὀλιγοστὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔντιμος. ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸ πρὸς λέξιν πεπλήρωται, ὥς ἐστιν ὄψει παραλαβεῖν ῥᾴδιον τοῖς εἰς τοὺς τόπους ἀφικνουμένοις. 1.72 Ὥσπερ τῇ Βαβυλῶνι τὰ ἁρμόζοντα ἐλέγετο καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις τοῖς τὴν Παλαιστίνην οἰκοῦσι τὰ κατάλληλα καὶ τῇ Μωὰβ ὡσαύτως ἕτερά τινα ἰδιάζοντα, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ κατὰ ∆αμασκοῦ προφητικὸν ῥῆμα ἴδιόν τι τέλος ἐπελεύσεσθαι αὐτῇ ἀπειλεῖ· ἀρθήσεσθαι γὰρ αὐτήν φησιν ἀπὸ πόλεων, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Θεοδοτίωνα μεταστήσεσθαί φησιν ἐκ πόλεως. πέπονθε δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίων χρόνους, ὡς ἐδήλου διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας γραφὴ τὸν τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλέα παριστῶσα λέγοντα· «καὶ ἔλαβον Ἀραβίαν καὶ ∆αμασκὸν καὶ Σαμάρειαν· ὃν τρόπον ταύτας ἔλαβον, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀρχὰς λήψομαι». τούτῳ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἡ ἱστορία μαρτυρεῖ· γέγραπται γοῦν ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν· «καὶ ἀνέβη βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων εἰς ∆αμασκὸν καὶ συνέλαβεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀπῴκισεν αὐτὴν εἰς Κυρήνην», ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «εἰς Κίρραν», «καὶ τὸν Ῥαασσὼν ἐθανάτωσεν». ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς μετὰ χεῖρας προφητείας τετυχήκει τέλους, ὁ δὲ παρὼν λόγος μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι, πρὸς λέξιν εἰκὸς κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἰερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου, ὁπηνίκα ὁ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος βασιλεὺς ἐπιὼν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν ∆αμασκὸν αὖθις εἷλεν ἄρδην ἐκ βάθρων αὐτὴν ἀφείσας. ὃ δὴ παρίστησιν ὁ Ἰερεμίας ὧδέ πη λέγων· «ἐξελύθη ∆αμασκός, ἀπεστράφη εἰς φυγήν, καὶ ἐξερρίφη, τρόμος ἐπελάβετο αὐτῆς, καὶ ὠδῖνες κατέσχον αὐτὴν ὡς τίκτουσαν. πῶς οὐχὶ ἐγκατέλιπε πόλιν ἐμήν; κώμην ἠγάπησεν», ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «πόλιν ἐπαινετήν, μητρόπολιν εὐφροσύνης». «διὰ τοῦτο πεσοῦνται νεανίσκοι ἐν πλατείαις σου, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ πολεμισταὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, φησὶ κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων. καὶ καύσω πῦρ ἐν τείχει ∆αμασκοῦ, καὶ καταφάγεται ἄμφοδα υἱοῦ Ἄδερ». καὶ ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας τοίνυν προφητεία τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς προλεχθεῖσι θεσπίζει λέγουσα· Ἰδοὺ ∆αμασκὸς ἀρθήσεται ἀπὸ πόλεων καὶ ἔσται εἰς πτῶσιν καταλελειμμένη. τὰ δὲ ἑξῆς κατὰ μόνην τὴν τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα ἑρμηνείαν εἴρηται, λέγω δὲ τό· εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς φέρεται. διὸ οὐκ ἀνάγκη τὴν πτῶσιν τοῦ ∆αμασκοῦ αἰωνίαν λέγεσθαι νομίζειν, ἐπειδὴ χρονική τις γέγονεν αὐτῆς ἡ πτῶσις κατὰ τὴν Ἀσσυρίων πολιορκίαν, καθ' ἣν καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἥλω. ἀλλ' ὥσπερ αὖθις ἐπανελθόντες Ἰουδαῖοι ἤγειραν τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν χώραν ἐπλήρωσαν οἰκητόρων, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἡ ∆αμασκὸς παθοῦσα τότε τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς προφητείας θεσπισθέντα, αὖθις ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνοις ἀνῳκοδομήθη, ὡς καὶ βασίλειον ἐν