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all things by the common avenger of men. But Sabeir he again calls the land dedicated to God; and Apadanon a certain place so named, not far 81.1533 from Jerusalem; for there he will receive his destruction. "For he will come, he says, even to his portion, and there is no one to deliver him." For he who dared such and so many things, and who used such great presumption, will suddenly receive punishment, with no one being able to free him from it. And this the blessed Paul also says clearly: "Whom the Lord, he says, will consume with the word of his mouth." And: "With the Spirit through his lips he will slay the wicked one." CHAP. XII. 1. "And at that time, he says, Michael the great prince will arise, who stands over the sons of your people." For, he says, the archangel entrusted with your guardianship will arise to help those who are being warred against at that time. And this will become clear to those who are ignorant through another interpretation; for through Malachi the prophet God says to the Jews: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord, who will turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbor, lest I come and strike the earth utterly." And it teaches us that, when the Antichrist is daring those things, the great Elijah will appear, proclaiming to the Jews the coming of the Lord, and he will convert many; for this is what it means, "He will turn the heart of the father to the son," that is, the Jews to those who have believed from the nations; for these he called fathers, as being older in knowledge. For this reason it did not say: He will turn the heart of a son to a father; but, "The heart of a father to a son;" for he will join the believing Jew to the Church; and since according to knowledge the Jew is older, but the nature of both these and those is one, he fittingly added: "And the heart of a man to his neighbor," teaching that the nature of these and those is one, but the knowledge of God was given to the Jews first. But having disbelieved, they were shown to be last; but having believed through the preaching of the great Elijah, and being joined to the nations who seized the salvation sent to them, they will come into one Church. This is also hinted at here, that when these things are being done by the Antichrist, the holy archangel Michael will manage all things, so that Elijah will arrive and announce the coming of the Master, in order that the Jews of that time might obtain salvation. Then, describing the excess of the evils which that wicked one will perpetrate, he says: "And there will be a time of tribulation, such as has not been since the nation came to be on the earth, and until that time." And this the Lord also said in the holy Gospels. "For there will be, he says, a tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the age, nor ever shall be; and 81.1536 unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for my elect's sake I will shorten those days." The prophetic words therefore agree with the evangelical decrees. To these he adds: "And at that time your people shall be saved, every one who is found written in the book." Instead of, those worthy of salvation, those who will obey the preaching of Elijah, whom he foreknows from above and from the beginning; for he called the knowledge of God a book. 2. "And many, he says, of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame." Let those who attempt to apply these things to Antiochus say who rose under him, of whom some obtained eternal life, while others reaped reproach and eternal shame. But if they should say that the Maccabees coming out of the caves are indicated by these things, they will incur greater laughter; for the same men will be found to be both lovers of piety, and workers of impiety; for the prophecy says: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame." So if to the

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πάντα ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλάστορος. Σαβεὶρ δὲ πάλιν τὴν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακειμένην καλεῖ γῆν· Ἀπα δανὸν δὲ τόπον τινὰ οὕτως ὠνομασμένον, οὐ πόῤῥω 81.1533 τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων διακείμενον· ἐκεῖ γὰρ δέξεται τὸν ὄλεθρον. "Ἥξει γὰρ, φησὶν, ἕως μέρους αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ῥυόμενος αὐτόν." Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ὁ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα τετολμηκὼς, καὶ τοσούτῳ φρονήματι χρησάμενος, ἐξαίφνης δέξεται τὴν τιμωρίαν, οὐδενὸς αὐτὸν δυναμένου ταύτης ἐλευθερῶσαι. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ μακάριος σαφῶς λέγει Παῦλος· "Ὃν ὁ Κύριος, φησὶν, ἀναλώσει τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὑτοῦ." Καί· "Τῷ Πνεύματι διὰ χειλέων ἀνελεῖ τὸν ἀσεβῆ." ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΒʹ. αʹ. "Καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ, φησὶν, ἐκείνῳ ἀναστήσεται Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἄρχων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ἐφεστηκὼς τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ λαοῦ σου." Ὁ γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν ὑμετέραν κηδεμονίαν πεπιστευμένος ἀρχάγγελος, εἰς ἐπικουρίαν τῶν τηνι καῦτα πολεμουμένων ἀναστήσεται. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δι' ἑτέρας ἑρμηνείας δῆλον τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι γενήσεται· διὰ γὰρ Μαλαχίου τοῦ προφήτου φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους· "Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστελῶ ὑμῖν Ἠλίαντὸν Θεσβίτην, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίου, τὴν μεγάλην καὶ ἐπιφανῆ, ὃς ἀποκαταστήσει καρδίαν πατρὸς πρὸς υἱὸν, καὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὑτοῦ, μὴ ἐλθὼν πατάξω τὴν γῆν ἄρδην." ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ὅτι, τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου ἐκεῖνα τολμῶντος, φανήσεται ὁ μέγας Ἠλίας, κηρύττων Ἰουδαίοις τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου παρουσίαν, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐπι στρέψει· τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει τὸ, "Ἀποκαταστήσει καρ δίαν πατρὸς πρὸς υἱὸν," τουτέστι, τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν πεπιστευκόσι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους· τούτους γὰρ ἐκάλεσε πατέρας, ὡς πρεσβυτέρους κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἀποκαταστήσει καρδίαν υἱοῦ πρὸς πατέρα· ἀλλὰ, "Καρδίαν πατρὸς πρὸς υἱόν·" τὸν γὰρ Ἰουδαῖον πιστεύσαντα συνάψει τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ· καὶ ἐπειδὴ κατὰ μὲν τὴν γνῶσιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος πρε σβύτερος, μία δὲ καὶ τούτων κἀκείνων ἡ φύσις, εἰκότως ἐπήγαγε· "Καὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὑτοῦ," διδάσκων, ὅτι μία μὲν τούτων κἀ κείνων ἡ φύσις, ἡ δὲ θεογνωσία Ἰουδαίοις πρότερον ἐδόθη. Ἀπιστήσαντες δὲ, ἔσχατοι ἀπεδείχθησαν· πι στεύσαντες δὲ διὰ τῶν τοῦ μεγάλου Ἠλιοῦ κηρυγμά των, καὶ τοῖς τὴν πεμφθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς σωτηρίαν ἁρπάσασι συναφθέντες ἔθνεσιν, εἰς μίαν τελέσουσιν Ἐκκλησίαν. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα αἰνίττεται, ὅτι τού των γινομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου, ὁ ἅγιος Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος πάντα πραγματεύσεται, ὥστε τὸν Ἠλίαν ἀφικέσθαι καὶ προμηνύσαι τοῦ ∆εσπότου τὴν παρουσίαν, ἵνα τῆς σωτηρίας τύχωσιν οἱ τηνι καῦτα Ἰουδαῖοι. Εἶτα διηγούμενος τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν κακῶν, ὧν ὁ δυσσεβὴς ἐκεῖνος διαπράξεται, φησί· "Καὶ ἔσται καιρὸς θλίψεως, οἵα οὐ γέγονεν ἀφ' οὗ γέγονε τὸ ἔθνος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἕως τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνου." Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐ αγγελίοις ἔφη. "Ἔσται γὰρ, φησὶ, θλίψις, οἵα οὐ γέγονεν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αἰῶνος, οὐδὲ μὴ γένηται· καὶ 81.1536 εἰ μὴ ἐκολοβώθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι, οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ· διὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς μου κολοβώσω τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας." Συμφωνεῖ τοίνυν τὰ προφη τικὰ τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς θεσπίσμασι. Τούτοις ἐπάγει· "Καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ σωθήσεται ὁ λαός σου πᾶς ὁ εὑρεθεὶς γεγραμμένος ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ." Ἀντὶ τοῦ, οἱ τῆς σωτηρίας ἄξιοι, οἱ τῷ κηρύγματι τοῦ Ἠλία ὑπακουσόμενοι, οὓς ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς προ γινώσκει· τὴν γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν βίβλον ὠνόμασε. βʹ. "Καὶ πολλοὶ, φησὶ, τῶν καθευδόντων ἐν γῆς χώματι ἐξεγερθήσονται, οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὗτοι εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ εἰς αἰσχύνην αἰώ νιον." Εἰπάτωσαν οἱ τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ ταῦτα προσαρ μόττειν ἐπιχειροῦντες, τίνες ἀνέστησαν ἐπ' ἐκείνου, καὶ οἱ μὲν ζωῆς ἐτύγχανον αἰωνίου, οἱ δὲ ὀνειδι σμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον ἐκαρπώσαντο. Εἰ δὲ τοὺς Μακκαβαίους εἴποιεν διὰ τούτων δηλοῦσθαι ἐκ τῶν σπηλαίων ἐξιόντας, μείζονα ὀφλήσουσι γέλωτα· εὑ ρεθήσονται γὰρ οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ εὐσεβείας ἐρασταὶ, καὶ ἀσεβείας ἐργάται· ἡ γὰρ προφητεία φησί· "Πολλοὶ τῶν καθευδόντων ἐν γῆς χώματι ἐξεγερθήσονται, οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὗτοι εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον." Ὥστε εἰ εἰς τοὺς