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of darkness. But the present life is night; in which these things have been hidden. That one, therefore, he called incurable. For it is not possible to examine the labors brought forth in it. But this, they say, is by a certain economy, instilling fear so that one may work while it is day; for night comes, when no one can work; and bound hand and foot with the bond of his own sins, he is cast into the darkness. But then, he says, the stars of heaven will not give their light, as the Lord says. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the things that follow these, which he adds: and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. With which agrees this: The voice of many nations on the mountains. The voice of kings and nations gathered together. 12. 9And I will destroy the insolence of the lawless, and I will humble the insolence of the proud. And those who are left will be more honored than unrefined gold, and a man will be more honored than the stone from Ophir9, etc. And these things again, some say are added to what concerns the general judgment, while others say they are spoken more specifically of the Chaldeans, but it is of the goodness of God to destroy and humble the insolence of the lawless and the proud, so that he may restore His own creation, pure from all evil; just as he also sets aside the wisdom of the wise by refuting it, as it is not true as it seems to those who are deceived. Thus a disease is said to be destroyed by a physician, and darkness by the sun. Wherefore also Jacob, blessing the sons of Simeon and Levi, says, Cursed be their anger; for through the curse he consumes their wicked disposition, so that what is left in them may become worthy of the patriarch’s blessing. So also Noah says: Cursed be Canaan; and yet it was Ham who had grieved him, but nevertheless he does not curse him, but his offspring, 2084 and his work, which is symbolically named Canaan. For it is interpreted as, like a tossing. For the disposition, being in motion, brings the passion to completion. But the insolence, which he says he will destroy, is indicative of all lawlessness. For the lawless commit insolence against the temple, they commit insolence against their neighbor, and against that which is in the image. And through the image the insolence ascends to the Creator, just as also to a king, through his image being treated with insolence. And above all, through the things by which one sins, one treats oneself with insolence; every sin, therefore, is an offspring of insolence; and it first fastens upon the insolent one; and so also pride is the sister of lawlessness. For in whatever way one sins, one disdains the opposite virtue by the transgression. The Lord, therefore, who opposes the proud, and humbles sinners to the earth, promises to humble the insolence of the proud, delivering them from their likeness to the devil, who is the father of pride, leading them to be disciples of the one who said: Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. But these things, they say, have been spoken universally concerning the judgment at the consummation of the world; wherefore in them, remembering the whole inhabited world, he has made no mention of Babylon, and after the aforesaid things have been brought to pass, the men found out of many, having been in no way harmed in soul from their association with the lawless, but through countless temptations having given a precise testing of their own choice, will be more honored than anything thought honorable among men, having been found worthy of the name of man, and preserving what is rational according to nature, being called men, because they were not made beast-like in the same way as the others. Unrefined gold is that which, on account of being naturally pure and unmixed with other things, does not need refining by fire. And Ophir is a country of India, where he says the most precious stones are found. It signifies, therefore, either the rarity of those who have virtue, or of those who are living at all after the capture of Babylon; if indeed the discourse is about this, against which he places the wrath of heaven, not as though it were animate, as some think, but signifying the powers in it, just as we say, The city has gone out, or, The whole city asked something of the ruler, meaning the inhabitants. And creation is moved with the Master against the impious; just as also there is joy in heaven over those who repent. And elsewhere also at the lawless the heaven is astonished and shudders; and in

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σκότους. Ὁ δὲ παρὼν βίος, νύξ· ἐν ᾧ ταῦτα συγκέκρυπται. Ἐκείνην οὖν ἀνίατον ἔφησεν. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἐξετάσασθαι τοὺς προσαγομένους ἐν αὐτῇ πόνους. Οἰκονομικὸν δὲ τοῦτο, φασὶ, φόβον ἐμποιοῦν πρὸς τὸ ἐργάζεσθαι, ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστίν· ἔρχεται γὰρ νὺξ, ὅτε οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐργάσασθαι· δεδεμένος δὲ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας τῷ δεσμῷ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων, εἰς τὸ σκότος ἐμβάλλεται. Τότε δὲ, φησὶν, οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸ φῶς οὐ δώσουσι, λέγοντος τοῦ Κυρίου. Εὐθέως δὲ μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων, ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις, οἷς ἐπιλέγει· καὶ κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς. Ὧ σύμφωνον τό· Φωνὴ ἐθνῶν πολλῶν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων. Φωνὴ βασιλέων καὶ ἐθνῶν συνηγμένων. ιβιʹ. 9Καὶ ἀπολῶ ὕβριν ἀνόμων, καὶ ὕβριν ὑπερηφάνων ταπεινώσω. Καὶ ἔσονται οἱ καταλελειμμένοι ἔντιμοι μᾶλλον, ἢ τὸ χρυσίον τὸ ἄπυρον, καὶ ἄνθρωπος μᾶλλον ἔντιμος ἔσται ἢ ὁ λίθος ὁ ἐκ Σουφείρ9, κ.τ.λ. Καὶ ταῦτα πάλιν, οἱ μὲν τοῖς περὶ τῆς καθόλου κρίσεως προσκεῖσθαί φασιν, οἱ δὲ περὶ Χαλδαίων ἰδικώτερον λέγεσθαι, ἀγαθότητος δὲ Θεοῦ τὸ, ὕβριν ἀνόμων καὶ ὑπερηφάνων ἀπολεῖν τε καὶ ταπεινοῦν, ὡς ἂν ἀποκαταστήσῃ καθαρὸν ἀπὸ πάσης κακίας τὸ ἑαυτοῦ δημιούργημα· ὡς καὶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν ἀθετεῖ διελέγχων, οὐκ οὖσαν ἀληθῆ καθ' ἃ τοῖς πλανωμένοις δοκεῖ. Οὕτως ὑπὸ ἰατροῦ νόσος ἀπόλλυσθαι λέγεται, καὶ σκότος ὑπὸ ἡλίου. ∆ιὸ καὶ Ἰακὼβ εὐλογῶν τοὺς υἱοὺς Συμεὼν καὶ Λευὶ, Ἐπικατάρατος, φησὶν, ὁ θυμὸς αὐτῶν· τὴν πονηρὰν γὰρ ἕξιν διὰ τῆς κατάρας ἐξαναλίσκει, ὡς ἂν τὸ καταλειπόμενον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄξιον τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ πατριάρχου γένηται. Οὕτω καὶ Νῶέ φησιν· Ἐπικατάρατος Χαναάν· καίτοι Χὰμ ἦν ὁ λελυπηκὼς, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ αὐτῶ καταρᾶται, ἀλλὰ τῷ γεννήματι αὐτοῦ, 2084 καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ, ᾧπερ συμβολικῶς ὀνομάζεται Χαναάν. Ἑρμηνεύεται γὰρ, ὡς σάλος. Ἐν κινήσει γὰρ ἡ ἕξις γινομένη τὸ πάθος ἐπιτελεῖ. Ἡ δὲ ὕβρις, ἢν ἀπολεῖν φησι, πάσης ἐστὶν ἀνομίας ἐμφατική. Οἱ γὰρ ἄνομοι ὑβρίζουσι μὲν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, ὑβρίζουσι δὲ εἰς τὸν πλησίον, καὶ εἰς τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα. Καὶ διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ἡ ὕβρις ἀναβαίνει ἐπὶ τὸν κτίσαντα, καθὰ καὶ εἰς βασιλέα, διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ὑβριζομένης. Καὶ πρὸ πάντων, δι' ὧν τις ἁμαρτάνει, ἑαυτὸν καθυβρίζει· ὕβρεως ἄρα γέννημα πᾶσα ἁμαρτία· καὶ τοῦ ὑβριστοῦ πρώτου καθάπτεται· οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὑπερηφανία τῆς ἀνομίας ἐστὶν ἀδελφή. Ὧ γὰρ ἄν τις ἁμάρτῃ, τὴν ἐναντίαν ἀρετὴν ὑπερηφανεῖ τῷ πλημμελήματι. Ὁ οὖν ἀντιτασσόμενος ὑπερηφάνοις Κύριος, καὶ ταπεινῶν ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἕως γῆς, ἐπαγγέλλεται τὴν ὕβριν τῶν ὑπερηφάνων ταπεινώσειν, ῥυόμενος αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὸν διάβολον ὁμοιότητος, ὃς πατήρ ἐστιν ὑπερηφανίας, ἐνάγων αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ μαθητεύεσθαι τῷ εἰπόντι· Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι, καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Ταῦτα δὲ, φασὶ, καθολικῶς περὶ τῆς ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ κόσμου κρίσεως εἴρηται· διὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς, τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης μεμνημένος, οὐδεμίαν Βαβυλῶνος πεποίηται μνείαν, μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἐπενεχθῆναι τὰ εἰρημένα, οἱ ἐκ πολλῶν εὑρισκόμενοι ἄνθρωποι μηδὲν βλαβέντες τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἀνόμους κοινωνίας, διὰ δὲ πειρασμῶν μυρίων βάσανον δεδωκότες ἀκριβῆ τῆς ἑαυτῶν προαιρέσεως, παντὸς τιμίου δοκοῦντος ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔσονται τιμιώτεροι, τῆς ἀνδρὸς εὑρεθέντες ἄξιοι προσηγορίας, καὶ τὸ κατὰ φύσιν λογικὸν διασώζοντες, χρηματίζοντες ἄνθρωποι, τῷ μὴ τεθηριῶσθαι τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως. Ἄπυρος δὲ χρυσὸς, ὁ διὰ τὸ φύσει καθαρὸν καὶ ἀμιγὲς πρὸς ἄλλα, πυρώσεως οὐ δεόμενος. Σουφεὶρ δὲ χώρα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς, ἔνθα γίνεσθαι τὰς τιμιωτάτας λίθους φησί. ∆ηλοῖ τοίνυν ἢ τῶν ἀρετὴν ἐχόντων τὸ σπάνιον, ἢ τῶν ὅλως ζώντων μετὰ τὴν ἅλωσιν Βαβυλῶνος· εἴγε περὶ ταύτης ὁ λόγος, ἐφ' οἷς οὐρανοῦ θυμὸν ὑποτίθεται, οὐχ ὡς ἐμψύχου, καθ' ἃ δή τινες οἴονται, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεις δηλῶν, ὥσπερ φαμὲν, Ἡ πόλις ἐκβέβηκε, Πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ᾔτησέ τι παρὰ τοῦ ἄρχοντος, τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας σημαίνοντες. Συγκινεῖται δὲ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβούντων ἡ κτίσις· ὡς καὶ χαρὰ γίνεται ἐν τοῖς μετανοοῦσιν ἐν οὐρανῷ. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀνόμοις ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐξίσταταί τε καὶ φρίττει· καὶ ἐν