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He showed some of them completely and forever desolated, and others remaining for the most part uninhabited. And the things that are seen testify to the prophecy; for of some villages and cities not even the tracks are seen, while those that are inhabited have few inhabitants. 11And birds and hedgehogs will dwell in it, and ibises and ravens will dwell in it. These linger in the more desolate places. And a measuring line of a desolate survey will be cast upon it. But the Other Interpreters have put this thus: "And the measure of a surveyor and the stones of confusion will be stretched out upon it." The measure signifies the justice of the punishment; for he says, "With what measure you measure, it will be measured back to you." And the confusion of the stones indicates the destruction of the buildings. And onocentaurs will dwell in it. And we have already said before that the prophetic word makes use of the custom of men and addresses the demons by names current among men; therefore it calls onocentaurs what are called by some 'onoskelides'. We find the divine scripture also doing this with respect to the stars; and it calls one Orion, and another Pleiades, and one Arcturus, and another Hesperus, not itself applying the names but following the names given by men for the clarification of what is said. Then it teaches also the destruction of the kings and of the rulers, and that the cities will sprout thorny wood because of the multitude of inhabitants. 13And it will be a dwelling for sirens and a courtyard for ostriches, 14and demons will meet <with onocentaurs, and they will cry out one to another; there they will rest> onocentaurs, for they found rest for themselves; 15there the hedgehog has nested, and the earth has preserved her children with safety. Through all the things that have been said he has shown the great desolation. For thus he says it will be deprived of inhabitants, so that the hedgehogs give birth without fear and their offspring find safety, and the demons who transform themselves into many shapes, enjoying leisure, converse with one another. There deer met and saw one another's faces; 16they passed by in number, and not one of them perished, one did not seek the other, because the Lord commanded them and his spirit gathered them. 17And he himself will cast lots for them, and his hand has apportioned them for grazing; for all time to inherit it for generations of generations, and they will rest upon it. And these things similarly show the desolation of inhabitants; for the wild animals graze without fear since there are no hunters. And the prophetic word has shown this: and not one of them perished and one did not seek another; for the Lord, he says, has given them freedom of pasture, having condemned that land to be desolate of men. Having foretold these things to them, he transfers the discourse to the formerly desolate land, afterwards named Carmel and Sion and Jerusalem, and says: 351Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert exult and blossom as a lily. He calls it thirsty as not having received prophetic irrigation, and desolate as not having received divine cultivation. He exhorts it to rejoice and to imitate the flower of the lily. And the flower of the lily signifies the purity that comes from the all-holy Spirit through baptism. Then prophetically: 2And the desolate places of the Jordan will blossom and rejoice and exult, and the glory of Lebanon was given to it and the honor of Carmel. He shows the desert blossoming and being watered by the streams of the Jordan; for those |143 a| streams first received the grace of the holy Spirit, and through them the all-holy baptism is signified. And he says that the honor of Lebanon and the glory of Carmel have passed over to the desert. And Carmel, as we have often said, he calls Judea; for it was filled long ago with prophetic fruits. And Lebanon, the divine scripture often calls Jerusalem; "The great eagle, the great-winged, long of talons, which has the commission to enter

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Ἔδειξε τὰ μὲν αὐτοῖς παντε λῶς καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἠρημωμένα, τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀοίκητα μένοντα. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τὰ ὁρώμενα τῇ προφητείᾳ· ἐνίων μὲν γὰρ κωμῶν καὶ πόλεων οὐδὲ τὰ ἴχνη ὁρᾶται, τὰ δέ γε οἰκούμενα ὀλιγοστοὺς οἰκήτορας ἔχει. 11Καὶ κατοικήσει ἐν αὐτῇ ὄρνεα καὶ ἐχῖνοι, καὶ ἴβεις καὶ κόρακες κατοικήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ. Τοῖς ἐρημοτέροις ἐμφιλοχωρεῖ ταῦτα χωρίοις. Καὶ ἐπιβληθήσεται ἐπ' αὐτὴν σπαρτίον γεωμετρίας ἐρήμου. Οἱ δὲ Ἄλλοι Ἑρμηνευταὶ οὕτω τοῦτο τεθείκασιν· «Καὶ ἐκταθήσεται ἐπ' αὐτὴν μέτρον γεωμέτρου καὶ λίθοι συγχύσεως.» Τὸ μέτρον σημαίνει τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον· «Ὧ μέτρῳ» γάρ φησι «μετρεῖτε, ἀντιμετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.» Ἡ δὲ σύγχυσις τῶν λίθων δηλοῖ τῶν οἰκοδομῶν τὴν κατάλυσιν. Καὶ ὀνοκένταυροι οἰκήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ. Καὶ ἤδη προειρήκαμεν ὡς τῇ συνηθείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος κέχρηται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις πολιτευομένων ὀνομάτων προσαγορεύει τοὺς δαίμονας· καλεῖ τοίνυν ὀνοκενταύρους τὰς παρά τινων ὀνοσκελίδας καλουμένας. Τοῦτο εὑρίσκομεν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀστέρων ποιοῦσαν τὴν θείαν γραφήν· καὶ κα λεῖ τὸν μὲν Ὠρίωνα, τὴν δὲ Πλειάδα καὶ τὸν μὲν Ἀρκτοῦρον, τὸν δὲ Ἕσπερον, οὐκαὐτὴ τὰς προσηγορίας ἐπ ιθεῖσα ἀλλὰ ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὀνομασίαις ἀκολουθοῦσα εἰς δήλωσιν τῶν λεγομένων. Εἶτα διδάσκει καὶ τῶν β ασιλέων καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων τὸν ὄλεθρον καὶ ὅτι ἀκάνθινα ξύλα αἱ πόλεις βλαστήσουσι διὰ τὴν πολλὴν τῶν οἰκητόρων. 13Καὶ ἔσται ἔπαυλις σειρήνων καὶ αὐλὴ στρουθῶν, 14καὶ συναντήσεται δαιμόνια <ὀνοκενταύροις, καὶ βοήσουσιν ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον· ἐκεῖ ἀναπαύσονται> ὀνοκένταυροι, εὗρον γὰρ ἑαυτοῖς ἀνά παυσιν· 15ἐκεῖ ἐνόσσευσεν ἐχῖνος, καὶ ἔσωσεν ἡ γῆ τὰ παιδία αὐτῆς μετὰ ἀςφαλείας. ∆ιὰ πάντων τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν πολλὴν ἐρημίαν δεδήλωκεν. Οὕτω γάρ φησι στερηθήσεται τῶν ἐνοικούντων, ὡς ἀδεῶς τοὺς ἐχίνους τεκεῖν καὶ τὰ γεννώμενα ἀσφαλείας τυχεῖν καὶ τοὺς εἰς πολλὰς ἰδέας μετασχηματιζομένους δαίμονας σχολῆς ἀπολαύοντας ἀλλή λοις προσδιαλέγεσθαι. Ἐκεῖ συνήντησαν ἔλαφοι καὶ εἶδον τὰ πρόσωπα ἀλλήλων· 16ἀριθμῷ παρῆλθον, καὶ μία αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπώλετο, ἑτέρα τὴν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἐζήτησεν, ὅτι κύριος ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ συνήγαγεν αὐτάς. 17Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιβαλεῖ αὐταῖς κλήρους, καὶ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ διεμέρισεν αὐτοὺς βόσκεσθαι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον κληρονομῆσαι αὐτὴν γενεαῖς γενεῶν, καὶ ἀναπαύσονται ἐπ' αὐτῆς. Καὶ ταῦτα ὁμοίως τὴν ἐρημίαν τῶν οἰκητόρων δηλοῖ· ἀδεῶς γὰρ τὰ ἄγρια νέμεται ζῷα τῶν θηρευόντων οὐκ ὄντων. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ προφητικὸς δεδήλωκε λόγος· καὶ μία αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπώλετο καὶ ἑτέρα τὴν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἐζήτησεν· δέδωκε γὰρ αὐταῖς φησιν ὁ κύριος τὴν ἄδειαν τῆς νο μῆς καταψηφισάμενος τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης ἐρημίαν ἀνθρώπων. Ταῦτα ἐκείνοις προαγορεύσας με ταφέρει τὸν λόγον εἰς τὴν πάλαι ἔρημον, εἶτα Κάρμηλον καὶ Σιὼν καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὀνομασθεῖσαν, καί φησιν· 351Εὐφράνθητι ἔρημος διψῶσα, ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ ἔρημος καὶ ἀνθείτω ὡς κρίνον. ∆ιψῶσαν αὐτὴν καλεῖ ὡς μὴ δεξαμένην ἀρδείαν προφητικήν, ἔρημον δὲ ὡς γεωργίαν θείαν μὴ δεξαμένην. Ταύτῃ εὐφραίνεσθαι παρεγγυᾷ καὶ τοῦ κρίνου μιμεῖσθαι τὸ ἄνθος. Αἰνίττεται δὲ τοῦ κρίνου τὸ ἄνθος τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ παναγίου πνεύματος προςγινομένην διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος καθαρότητα. Εἶτα προαγορευτικῶς· 2Καὶ ἐξανθήσει καὶ ὑλοχαρήσει καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεται τὰ ἔρημα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ Λιβάνου ἐδόθη αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ τοῦ Καρμήλου. Ἀνθοῦσαν δείκνυσι τὴν ἔρημον καὶ τοῖς Ἰορδανείοις ἀρδομένην ῥείθροις· ἐκεῖνα |143 a| γὰρ τὰ ῥεῖθρα πρῶτα ἐδέξαντο τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος χάριν, καὶ δι' ἐκείνων τὸ πανάγιον μηνύεται βάπτισμα. Λέγει δὲ μεταβεβηκέναι εἰς τὴν ἔρημον τὴν τοῦ Λιβάνου τιμὴν καὶ τοῦ Καρμήλου τὴν δόξαν . Κάρμηλον δὲ ὡς πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν καλεῖ· αὕτη γὰρ ἐπεπλήρωτο τῶν προφητικῶν πάλαι καρπ ῶν . Λίβανον δὲ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολλάκις ἡ θεία προσαγορεύει γραφή· «Ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος ὁ πολὺς τοῖς ὄνυξιν, ὃς ἔχει τὸ ἥγημα εἰσελθεῖν