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he said they were rejoicing and glad. And everlasting joy shall be upon their head. For the expected good things have no end. For upon their head are praise and exultation; pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away. For that life is without sorrow, free from cares, admitting no storm, but having a continuous festival and celebration. But I, having decided to divide the interpretation of this prophecy into two books, give this as the end to the first one and I exhort those who will read it to run both intently and according to the rules and to reach the goal and to receive the prize and to obtain the crowns and to enjoy that blessed life so that we too may boast, which may it be by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father is due glory, with the all-holy and good Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

11 VOLUME 11 361And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, there went up

Sennacherib king of the Assyrians against the fortified cities of Judea, and took them. The fourth book of Kings also mentions this history. But the prophet, not doing something superfluous, attached this to the prophecy, but to show the truth of what was foretold. For since he had prophesied many things before concerning the Babylonians and Tyrians and Egyptians and many other nations, and especially concerning <the> incarnation of our Savior and the unbelief and punishment of the Jews and the calling and salvation of the nations, and he also foretold the attack of the Assyrians and the divinely-sent destruction brought upon them, here he rightly mentions the history, in order to show the truthfulness of the prophecy and that, just as the things concerning Sennacherib reached their conclusion, so indeed also all the other things which he foretold will be brought to pass. This Sennacherib, since he had enslaved some cities of the ten tribes and besieged some of Judea, now hoped to overcome Jerusalem as well. And he sent with a very large army a certain general, Rabshakeh, to besiege it. This man, having chosen a suitable place and encamped in it—and the prophet also mentions the place—conveyed the things declared by the king; for Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah had come out to him. And he mentioned this Eliakim also in the preceding parts and adorned him with many praises. And some said that this Shebna was the one accused above, but I do not think so; for that one received many reproaches for sluggishness and luxury, but this one did not even bear dispassionately the blasphemy dared by others but rent his garments. To these Rabshakeh gives a message to tell Hezekiah that the king of the Assyrians says these things: 4In what do you trust? 5Is battle array made by counsel <and> words of the lips? Make clear to us the reason for your boldness. There is no need now for counsel but for engagement; it is not a time for words but for deeds, not for an embassy but for battle array. But perhaps you trust in the help of the Egyptians; and yet they are like a reed, and a broken one at that, which not only does not support those who lean on it but also wounds their hand. And he offered this parable, accusing both the weakness and the wickedness of the Egyptians. For he says they are not able to help because of weakness, and they harm even those who flee to them through great wickedness. And so these words are full of great arrogance and wickedness; but what follows leaves no excess of malevolence behind, and it is this: 7But if you say to me: We have trusted in the Lord our God, is not this he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem: Before |144 a| the

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ἔφη εὐφραινομένους καὶ χαίροντας. Καὶ εὐφροσύνη αἰώνιος ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν. Τέλος γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει τὰ προσδοκώμενα ἀγαθά. Ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν αἴνεσις καὶ ἀγαλλίασις, ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός. Ἄλυπος γὰρ ὁ βίος ἐκεῖνος, φροντίδων ἀπηλ λαγμένος, ζάλην οὐδεμίαν δεχόμενος, ἀλλ' ἑορτὴν ἔχων διηνεκῆ καὶ πανήγυριν. Ἐγὼ δὲ εἰς δύο βίβλους τῆσδε τῆς προφητείας τὴν ἑρμηνείαν διελεῖν δοκιμάσας τοῦτο τῇ προτέρᾳ δίδωμι πέρας καὶ παρακαλῶ τοὺς ἐντευξομένους καὶ συντόνως καὶ ἐννόμως δραμεῖν καὶ τὴν νύσσαν καταλαβεῖν καὶ τὸ βραβεῖον λαβεῖν καὶ τῶν στεφάνων τυχεῖν καὶ τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης ἀπολαῦσαι ζωῆς ὡς καὶ ἡμᾶς μεγαλαυχεῖν γένοιτο χάριτι καὶ φιλαν θρωπίᾳ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ πατρὶ πρέπει δόξα σὺν τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

11 ΤΟΜΟΣ ΙΑʹ 361Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτου ἔτους βασι λεύοντος Ἐζεκίου ἀνέβη

Σενναχηρὶμ βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις τῆς Ἰουδαίας τὰς ὀχυρὰς καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτάς. Μέμνηται μὲν τῆς ἱστορίας καὶ ἡ τετάρτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης οὐ παρέλκον τι δρῶν ταύτην συνῆψε τῇ προφητείᾳ ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς τῶν προηγορευμένων τὸ ἀληθές. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πλεῖστα ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐθέ σπισε περί τε Βαβυλωνίων καὶ Τυρίων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν, διαφερόντως δὲ περὶ <τῆς> τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνανθρωπήσεως καὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀπιστίας καὶ τιμωρίας καὶ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεώς τε καὶ σωτηρίας, προηγόρευσε δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τὴν ἔφοδον καὶ τὸν ἐπενεχθέντα αὐτοῖς θεήλατον ὄλεθρον, ἐνταῦθ α εἰκότως μέμνηται τῆς ἱστορίας, ἵνα δείξῃ τῆς προφητείας τὸ ἀψευδὲς καὶ ὅτι, καθάπερ τὰ κατὰ τὸν Σενναχηρὶμ τετύ χηκε πέρατος, οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα προείρηκεν εἰς ἔργον ἀχθήσεται. Ὁ δὲ Σενναχηρὶμ οὗτος, ἐπει δὴ τῶν δέκα φυλῶν ἐνίας πόλεις ἐξηνδραπόδισε καί τινας τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐπολιόρκησεν, ἤλπισε νῦν καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ περιέσεσθαι. Ἀπέστειλε δὲ μετὰ στρατιᾶς ὅτι πλείστης καὶ Ῥαψάκην τινὰ στρατηγὸν ὥστε τ αύτην πολιορκῆσαι. Οὗτος ἐπιτήδειόν τινα ἐκλεξά μενος τόπον καὶ ἐν τούτῳ στρατοπεδευσάμενος-λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸν τόπον ὁ προφήτης- διεπόρθμευσε τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως δεδηλωμένα· καὶ γὰρ ἐξεληλύθεισαν πρ ὸς αὐτὸν Ἐλιακὶμ ὁ τοῦ Χελκίου καὶ Σομνᾶς καὶ Ἰωάχαζ. Τούτου δὲ τοῦ Ἐλιακὶμ καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρό σθεν ἐμνήσθη καὶ πολλαῖς αὐτὸν ἐταινίωσεν εὐφημίαις. Καὶ τὸν Σομνᾶν δέ τινες αὐτὸν ἔφασαν εἶναι τὸν ἄνω κατηγορούμενον, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ οἶμαι· ὁ μὲν γὰρ πολλὰς εἰς βλακείαν καὶ τρυφὴν λοιδορίας ἐδέξ ατο, οὗτος δὲ οὐδὲ τὴν παρ' ἄλλων τολμη θεῖσαν ἀπαθῶς ἤνεγκε βλασφημίαν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐσθῆτα διέ ρρηξεν. Τούτοις ὁ Ῥαψάκης παρεγγυᾷ τῷ Ἐζεκίᾳ εἰπεῖν ὅτιὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων τάδε φησίν· 4Τίνι πεποιθὼς εἶ; 5Μὴ ἐν βουλῇ <καὶ> λόγοις χειλέων παράταξις γίνεται; ∆ήλην ἡμῖν ποίησον τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ θράσους. Οὐ χρεία νῦν βουλῆς ἀλλὰ συμπλοκῆς· οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ καιρὸς λόγων ἀλλ' ἔργων, οὐ πρεσβείας ἀλλὰ παρατάξεως. Ἀλλ' ἴσως τῇ Αἰγυπτίων ἐπικουρίᾳ θαρρεῖς· καίτοι καλάμῳ ἐοίκασι καὶ τούτῳ τεθλασμένῳ καὶ τοὺς σκηριπτομένους οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐρείδοντι ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τούτων χεῖρα τιτρώσκοντι. Ταύτην δὲ προσήνεγκε τὴν παραβολήν, καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας καὶ τῆς πο νηρίας τ ῶν Αἰγυπτίων κατηγορῶν. Ἐπαρκέσαι μὲν γάρ φησιν οὐ δύνανται δι' ἀσθένειαν, λυμαίνονται δὲ καὶ τοῖς φεύγουσι διὰ πολλὴν πονηρίαν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ ῥήματα πολλῆς ἀλαζονείας καὶ κακίας μεστ ά· οὐδεμίαν δὲ κακοηθείας ὑπερβολὴν κατα λείπει τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα, ἐστὶ δὲ ταῦτα· 7Εἰ δὲ λέγετε πρός με· Ἐπὶ κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν πεποίθαμεν, καὶ μὴν οὗτός ἐστιν οὗ περιεῖλεν Ἐζεκίας τὰ ὑψηλὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπε τῷ Ἰούδᾳ καὶ τῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ· Κατὰ πρόσωπον |144 a| τοῦ