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Indeed the blessed David asked this very thing: "Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath." It is possible to see this difference also in the things recently interpreted. For to the others for the time being he promised nothing good; but to Israel recall, and reconciliation, and the building of houses, and agriculture, and planting, and the hope of good things, and the chief of all good things, the divine knowledge. For when these things come to pass, he says, "they will know that I am their Lord, and the God of their fathers." May we also have this knowledge continuously, that we may love him with our whole heart, and with our whole soul, and with our whole might, and with our whole strength, not dividing our affection, but offering it all there, that we may breathe him, and carry about an unquenchable memory of him, both sitting, and rising up, and lying down, and walking on the way; for thus we shall also enjoy his providence continuously, and we will obtain the promised good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father is the glory, with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 81.1104

VOLUME XII. CHAPTER XXIX. 1, 2. In the tenth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and speak against all of Egypt. Having put an end to the prophecies concerning Tyre, he transfers the word to Egypt. 3. And say: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, and says: 'The rivers are mine, and I made them.' Some of the interpreters have said the river in the singular, but the Seventy in the plural; and both are true: for the Nile is one, but its canals are many, and each canal is called a river by the natives. He rebukes, therefore, the arrogance of Pharaoh, and shows him boasting about the rivers, as if they had been made by him. He calls him a dragon, on account of his tyrannical and anti-godly nature. For thus also the divine Scripture addresses the devil: 'For on that day,' it says, 'God will bring the holy, and great, and strong sword, upon the dragon, the serpent,' and what follows. 4-5. And I will put a hook in your jaws, and I will make the fish of the river stick to your wings, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your river, and all the fish of your river, and they will stick to your scales. And I will cast you into the desert, you and all the fish of the river, and I will cast you down swiftly, and all the fish of your river; you shall fall on the face of the field, and you shall not be gathered, and you shall not be buried; to the beasts of the earth, and to the birds of the heaven I have given you for food. And all who dwell in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. The threats are fearsome and full of horror; for he threatened to deliver not only him, but also his subjects to slaughter; for he has called the subjects 'adhering fish'. 81.1105 And just as in the case of Tyre he took the starting points of the allegory from the sea (for the city is coastal), so here he uses the trope from a river. He called his scales and wings the sovereignty and the authority, in which the subjects of the king necessarily shared in the punishment. And through the hook he sufficiently hinted at the leapings before the hook. And he threatened to send some as captives of the spear to a desert land, and to deliver others to slaughter, and to leave them as food for the wild beasts. He also brings forth the cause: Because you became a staff of reed to the house of Israel. (7.) When they took hold of you with their hand, and you were broken, and when

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Ταυτὸ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος ᾔτει ∆αβίδ· "Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με." Ταύτην τὴν διαφορὰν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔναγχος ἡρμηνευμένοις ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοις τέως οὐδὲν χρηστὸν ἐπηγγείλατο· τῷ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ ἀνάκλησιν, καὶ οἰκείωσιν, καὶ οἰκιῶν οἰ κοδομὴν, καὶ γηπονίαν, καὶ φυτουργίαν, καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίδα, καὶ τὸ πάντων κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν, τὴν θείαν ἐπίγνωσιν. Τούτων γὰρ, φησὶ, γενομένων, "γνώσονται ὅτι καὶ αὐτῶν εἰμι Κύριος, καὶ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν." Ταύτην καὶ ἡμᾶς γένοιτο διηνεκῶς ἔχειν τὴν γνῶσιν, ἵν' ἐξ ὅλης αὐτὸν καρ δίας, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης δυνάμεως, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος ἀγαπήσωμεν, μὴ μερίζοντες τὸ φίλ τρον, ἀλλ' ὅλον ἀνατιθέντες ἐκεῖ, ἵν' αὐτὸν ἀναπνέω μεν, καὶ ἄσβεστον τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ περιφέρωμεν μνήμην, καὶ καθήμενοι, καὶ διανιστάμενοι, καὶ κοι ταζόμενοι, καὶ πορευόμενοι ἐν ὁδῷ· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ προμηθείας διηνεκῶς ἀπολαυσόμεθα, καὶ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων τευξόμεθα ἀγαθῶν, ἐν Χρι στῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 81.1104

ΤΟΜΟΣ ΙΒʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚΘʹ. αʹ, βʹ. Ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ δεκάτῳ, ἐν τῷ δωδε κάτῳ μηνὶ, μιᾷ τοῦ μηνὸς, ἐγένετο

λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, στήρισον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ βασιλέα Αἰγύπτου, καὶ προφήτευσον ἐπ' αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον ὅλην λάλησον. Πέρας ἐπιθεὶς ταῖς περὶ Τύρου προῤ ῥήσεσιν, ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον μεταφέρει τὸν λόγον. γʹ. Καὶ εἰπέ· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σὲ, Φαραὼ βασιλεῦ Αἰγύπτου, τὸν δράκοντα τὸν καθήμενον ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ποτα μῶν, καὶ λέγοντα· Ἐμοί εἰσιν οἱ ποταμοὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐποίησα αὐτούς. Τινὲς τῶν ἑρμηνευτῶν ἑνικῶς εἶπον τὸν ποταμὸν, οἱ δὲ Ἑβδομήκοντα πληθυντικῶς· ἀληθῆ δὲ ἀμφότερα· εἷς μὲν γὰρ ὁ Νεῖλος, αἱ δὲ τούτου διώρυγες πλεῖσται, ποταμὸς δὲ ἑκάστη διώρυξ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων καλεῖται. Ἐλέγ χει τοίνυν τοῦ Φαραὼ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν, καὶ δείκνυ σιν αὐτὸν μεγαλαυχούμενον ἐπὶ τοῖς ποταμοῖς, ὡς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγενημένοις. ∆ράκοντα δὲ αὐτὸν καλεῖ, διὰ τὸ τυραννικὸν καὶ ἀντίθεον. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὸν διάβολον ἡ θεία προσαγορεύει Γραφή· "Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκείνῃ ἐπάξει ὁ Θεὸς τὴν μάχαιραν τὴν ἁγίαν, καὶ τὴν μεγάλην, καὶ τὴν ἰσχυρὰν, ἐπὶ τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. δʹ-ʹ. Καὶ ἐγὼ δώσω χαλινὸν εἰς τὰς σιαγό νας σου, καὶ προσκολλήσω τοὺς ἰχθύας τοῦ ποταμοῦ πρὸς τὰς πτέρυγάς σου, καὶ ἀνάξω σε ἐκ μέσου τοῦ ποταμοῦ σου, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἰχθύας τοῦ ποταμοῦ σου, καὶ ταῖς λεπίσι σου προσκολληθήσονται. Καὶ ἀποῤῥίψω εἰς τὴν ἔρη μόν σε καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἰχθύας τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ καταβαλῶ σε ἐν τάχει, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἰχθύας τοῦ ποταμοῦ σου· ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τοῦ πεδίου πεσῇ, καὶ οὐ μὴ συναχθῇς, καὶ οὐ μὴ περισταλῇς· τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς, καὶ τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ δέδωκά σε εἰς κατάβρωμα. Καὶ γνώσονται πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες Αἴγυπτον, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος. Φοβερὰ τὰ ἠπειλημένα καὶ φρίκης μεστά· οὐ γὰρ μόνον αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἠπεί λησε παραδοῦναι σφαγῇ· ἰχθύας γὰρ προσκολλωμέ 81.1105 νους τοὺς ὑπηκόους προσηγόρευκε. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς Τύρου τὰς τῆς ἀλληγορίας ἀφορμὰς ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης ἔλαβε (παραλία γὰρ ἡ πόλις), οὕτως ἐνταῦθα ἀπὸ ποταμοῦ κέχρηται τῇ τροπῇ. Λεπί δας δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ πτέρυγας τὴν ἡγεμονίαν καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐκάλεσε, αἷς οἱ ἀρχόμενοι τῆς τοῦ βασι λέως ἀναγκαίως ἐκοινώνησαν τιμωρίας. Ἱκανῶς δὲ διὰ τοῦ χαλινοῦ ᾐνίξατο τὰ πρὸ τοῦ χαλινοῦ σκιρ τήματα. Ἠπείλησε δὲ τοὺς μὲν εἰς ἔρημον χώραν ἐκπέμψειν δορυαλώτους, τοὺς δὲ σφαγῇ παραδώσειν, καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις καταλείψειν βοράν. Ἐπάγει δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν· Ἀνθ' ὧν ἐγενήθης ῥάβδος καλαμίνη τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ. (ζʹ.) Ὅτε ἐπελάβοντό σου τῇ χειρὶ αὑτῶν, καὶ ἐθλάσθης, καὶ ὅτε