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having prophesied concerning the unbelief of the Jewish nation in Christ, the word passes to the multitudes of the nations, those in Damascus itself and in the other lands who remained in unbelief and were about to persecute and besiege the church of God. It signifies, therefore, that like a surging sea these will be shaken and disturbed, being astonished at the evangelical proclamation, which is destructive of idolatrous error. Wherefore it says: Woe to the multitude of many nations; it will sound like water; for just as the backs of the sea, swelling up and rising to a height when it is stormed and disturbed by winds, makes a very great sound and fear for those sailing, so also the multitudes of the nations who remained in Damascus itself and in the other lands in unbelief and idolatry, being acted upon by invisible spirits, will roar like the waves of the sea, rising up against the church of God. wherefore it is said: it will sound like water and like much water, many nations, as of much water being carried along. But see how through many examples it reveals the godless and impious mind of those mentioned, first, comparing their rages to a surging sea, then likening their thoughts against the church to roaring water, and third, to much water carried along by force, thus hinting at the fleeting and perishing nature of their life. But by saying "as of much water carried along by force," it shows that, being acted upon and driven by others, they attempt these things against the church. Nevertheless, it sketches their end, saying next: "and He will scorn him and will pursue him far away," but according to Aquila: "and He will rebuke him, and he will flee from afar," but according to Symmachus: "and He will rage against him, and he will flee far away." But against whom will He rage or rebuke? either the aforementioned multitude of unbelieving nations or the devil working in them? And who will rebuke them but He, concerning whom it is said: "The Lord rebuke you, who has chosen Jerusalem"? And when the Lord has rebuked him, what will be, it says further: "and He will pursue him far away as the dust of chaff winnowed before the wind and as the whirling dust a tempest carries," or according to Symmachus: "and as a wheel before a tempest." Then it says next: "Toward evening there will be mourning, before the morning, and it will not be." For to those who rise up against the church like a surging sea, at the setting of life and at the very end there will be mourning, when they will no longer exist in the age to come, when a new light of dawn and morning then shines upon the just. This it says: "And this is the portion and the lot of those who plundered you." But who are "you," if not clearly the refugees of the church of God? In the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul once visited Rome and conversed with the leaders of the Jews about faith in Christ, they were recorded as having said to him: "We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brethren who came here reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere." And having said this, they showed that before Paul came to Rome they had been instructed not to accept the preaching about Christ and that not only they themselves had received this instruction, but also the Jews everywhere in the world. Therefore they said: "for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere." But from where did the Jews "everywhere" get this concord, for all of them, as if by one signal, to "speak against" the word concerning Christ? We found in the writings of the ancients, that the priests and scribes and elders of the Jewish nation dwelling in Jerusalem, having drafted letters, sent them out to all the nations to the Jews everywhere, slandering the

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εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀπιστίας τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους θεσπίσας ὁ λόγος μεταβαίνει ἐπὶ τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τε τῇ ∆αμασκῷ καὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς χώραις ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ ἀπομεινάντων καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐλαύνειν καὶ πολιορκεῖν μελλόντων. σημαίνει τοίνυν ὡς δίκην θαλάσσης κυμαινούσης κλονηθήσονται οὗτοι καὶ ταραχθήσονται ξενιζόμενοι ἐπὶ τῷ κηρύγματι τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ καθαιρετικῷ ὄντι τῆς εἰδωλολάτρου πλάνης. διό φησιν· Οὐαὶ πλῆθος ἐθνῶν πολλῶν· ὡς ὕδωρ ἠχήσει· ὡς γὰρ θαλάσσης τὰ νῶτα κυρτούμενα καὶ εἰς ὕψος αἰρόμενα ἐν τῷ χειμάζεσθαι καὶ ταράττεσθαι ὑπὸ ἀνέμων, ἦχον μέγιστον ἐμποιεῖ καὶ φόβον τοῖς ἐμπλέουσιν, οὕτως καὶ τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τε τῇ ∆αμασκῷ καὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς χώραις ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ καὶ εἰδωλολατρίᾳ μεινάντων ἐθνῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀοράτων πνευμάτων εὐεργούμενα δίκην κυμάτων θαλάσσης ἠχήσει κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπανιστάμενα. διὸ λέλεκται· ὡς ὕδωρ ἠχήσει καὶ ὡς ὕδωρ πολὺ ἔθνη πολλά, ὡς ὕδατος πολλοῦ φερομένου. ὅρα δὲ ὅπως διὰ πολλῶν παραδειγμάτων τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἄθεον καὶ δυσσεβῆ γνώμην ἐμφαίνει, πρώτως μὲν θαλάσσῃ κυμαινούσῃ παραβάλλων αὐτῶν τοὺς θυμούς, ἔπειτα ἐξομοιῶν ὕδατι ἠχοῦντι τὰς κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας σκέψεις αὐτῶν, καὶ τρίτον ὕδατι πολλῷ βίᾳ φερομένῳ, οὕτω τὸ ῥευστὸν καὶ ἀπολλύμενον αὐτῶν τοῦ βίου αἰνιξάμενος. λέγων δὲ ὡς ὕδατος πολλοῦ βίᾳ φερομένου παρίστησιν, ὡς ἄρα ὑφ' ἑτέρων ἐνεργούμενοι καὶ ἐλαυνόμενοι ταῦτα κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐπιχειροῦσι. πλὴν ὅμως τούτων τὸ τέλος ὑπογράφει λέγων ἑξῆς· καὶ ἀποσκορακιεῖ αὐτὸν καὶ πόρρω αὐτὸν διώξεται, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· καὶ ἐπιτιμήσει ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ φεύξεται μακρόθεν, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· καὶ ἐμβριμήσεται αὐτῷ καὶ φεύξεται πόρρω. τίνι δὲ αὐτῷ ἐμβριμήσεται ἢ ἐπιτιμήσει ἢ τῷ προλεχθέντι πλήθει τῶν ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν ἢ καὶ τῷ ἐν τούτοις ἐνεργοῦντι διαβόλῳ; τίς δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐπιτιμήσει ἀλλ' ἢ ἐκεῖνος, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· «Ἐπιτιμήσαι κύριος ἐν σοί, ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ»; τοῦ δὲ κυρίου ἐπιτιμήσαντος αὐτῷ, τί ἔσται ἐπιλέγει· καὶ πόρρω αὐτὸν διώξεται ὡς χοῦν ἀχύρου λικμώντων ἀπέναντι ἀνέμου καὶ ὡς κονιορτὸν τροχοῦ καταιγὶς φέρουσα, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· καὶ ὡς τροχὸν ἔμπροσθεν καταιγίδος. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγει· πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἔσται πένθος, πρὶν ἢ πρωῒ καὶ οὐκ ἔσται· τοῖς γὰρ δίκην θαλάσσης κυμαινούσης κατεπαρθεῖσι τῆς ἐκκλησίας πρὸς τῇ δύσει τοῦ βίου καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ τῷ τέλει πένθος ἔσται, ὅτε οὐκέτι ὑπάρξουσι κατὰ τὸν μέλλοντα αἰῶνα νέου φωτὸς ἀνατολῆς καὶ πρωΐας τὸ τηνικαῦτα τοῖς δικαίοις ἐπιλάμψαντος. τοῦτό φησι· καὶ αὕτη ἡ μερὶς καὶ ὁλόκληρος τῶν προνομευσάντων ὑμᾶς. τίνας δὲ ὑμᾶς ἢ δηλονότι τοὺς πρόσφυγας τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ; Ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν Ἀποστόλων ἐπιδημήσαντός ποτε Παύλου ἐν Ῥώμῃ καὶ διαλεχθέντος τοῖς ἄρχουσι τῶν Ἰουδαίων περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πίστεως ἀνεγράφησαν εἰρηκότες αὐτῷ· «ἡμεῖς οὐδὲ γράμματα περὶ σοῦ ἐδεξάμεθα ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, οὔτε παραγενόμενός τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀπήγγειλεν ἢ ἐλάλησεν περὶ σοῦ πονηρόν. ἀξιοῦμεν δὲ παρὰ σοῦ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ φρονεῖς· περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης γνωστὸν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἀντιλέγεται». τοῦτο δὲ εἰρηκότες ἐνέφηναν, ὅτι πρὶν ἐπιδημῆσαι τὸν Παῦλον τῇ Ῥώμῃ παρηγγελμένοι ἦσαν μὴ παραδέξασθαι τὸ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κήρυγμα καὶ ὅτι μὴ μόνοι αὐτοὶ εἰλήφασι τὴν παραγγελίαν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πανταχοῦ γῆς Ἰουδαῖοι. διὸ ἔλεγον· «περὶ γὰρ τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης γνωστὸν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἀντιλέγεται». πόθεν δὲ τοῖς «πανταχοῦ» Ἰουδαίοις τὸ συμφώνως τοὺς πάντας ὥσπερ ἐξ ἑνὸς συνθήματος «ἀντιλέγειν» τῷ περὶ Χριστοῦ λόγῳ, εὕρομεν ἐν τοῖς τῶν παλαιῶν συγγράμμασιν, ὡς οἱ τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ οἰκοῦντες τοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἱερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς καὶ πρεσβύτεροι γράμματα διαχαράξαντες εἰς πάντα διεπέμψαντο τὰ ἔθνη τοῖς ἁπανταχοῦ Ἰουδαίοις διαβάλλοντες τὴν