95

among the peoples." When narrating and hearing of great misfortunes, we are accustomed to shake our heads, being compelled to do this out of astonishment. We are also accustomed to compare sufferings with sufferings, and to say that so-and-so suffered such things, just as so-and-so did. This is what they lament here too, that we have become a byword to men, and they shake their heads at us; some gloating, others marveling at the excess of what has happened. 10, 17. "All day long my disgrace is before me, and the shame of my face has covered me. From the voice of one who reproaches and reviles, from the face of the enemy and the persecutor." And I, seeing some making war, and others laughing and mocking, am filled with shame, and I am in pain all day long. Then those who escaped the snares of Antiochus, and who leaped over the nets of impiety, relate their own virtue. 18, 19. "All these things have come upon us, and we have not forgotten you, and we have not acted unjustly in your covenant. And our heart has not turned back." But being overwhelmed by so many terrible things, we have not accepted forgetfulness of your commandments, nor have we dared to transgress your law, nor have we turned aside from our former resolve. "And you have turned our paths from your way. [20.] Because you have humbled us in a place of affliction, and the shadow of death has covered us." The phrase "you have turned our paths from your way," Symmachus has thus interpreted: Our steps have not turned from your way. But that we may also interpret the meaning of the Seventy, let us understand it thus: You have encompassed us, he says, with many and various pains, which were sufficient even to turn us from your way; and you have also delivered us into slavery to impious men, who use cruelty against us, and inflict deadly punishments upon us. For he called the dangers that lead to death the shadow of death. 21, 22. "If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread out our hands to a foreign God. Will not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Because for your sake we are killed all day long, we are counted as sheep 80.1185 for the slaughter." This virtue was demonstrated by the Maccabees, and those with Mattathias, and the seven young men with their mother and Eleazar the priest. For they were neither charmed by flattery, nor bent by punishments, but they kept the worship of the true God inviolate, and they abhorred the service of idols as abominable. And these things, he says, you know, O Master. For to you not only are deeds manifest, but also the movements of the mind. It is fitting to note that the text has alluded to a dyad of persons. For having said, "Will not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart;" he added, "Because for your sake we are killed all day long." And this change of pronoun the Hebrew also has, and the other interpreters have put it. 23. "Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord? Arise, and do not cast us off forever." He calls long-suffering sleep; for just as one who is sleeping is not aware of what is happening, so he who exercises long-suffering, though insulted and abused, endures. And he names the movement towards punishment, resurrection. Then he says the same things again in another way. 24. "Why do you turn your face away? You forget our poverty, and our affliction." You overlook, he says, the things that are happening to us, O Master, and you seem like one turning away, and not watching, but having forgotten, and for this reason not caring; but we are impoverished, not having the wealth of assistance. 25. "For our soul has been humbled to the dust. Our belly has cleaved to the earth. We have been bent down to the very earth, so that our belly approaches the earth itself; and through these things he signifies the great humiliation, and the power of the enemies. 20. "Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for your name's sake." For which reason we beseech you, O Master, to appear, and to resolve our calamities, and to be shown superior to our enemies. But all these things that of the Spirit foretold

95

ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς." Τὰ μεγάλας συμ φορὰς καὶ διηγούμενοι καὶ ἀκούοντες, κινεῖν τὰς κε φαλὰς εἰώθαμεν, ὑπ' ἐκπλήξεως τοῦτο δρᾷν βιαζόμε νοι. Εἰώθαμεν δὲ καὶ πάθη πάθεσι παραβάλλειν, καὶ λέγειν ὅτι τοιαῦτα ἔπαθεν ὁ δεῖνα, οἷα ὁ δεῖνα. Τοῦτο κἀνταῦθα ὀδύρονται, ὅτι παραβολὴ γεγενή μεθα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καὶ κινοῦσιν ἐφ' ἡμῖν τὰς κε φαλάς· οἱ μὲν ἐφηδόμενοι, οἱ δὲ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν γεγενημένων θαυμάζοντες. ιʹ, ιζʹ. "Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐντροπή μου κατ εναντίον μου ἐστὶ, καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψέ με. Ἀπὸ φωνῆς ὀνειδίζοντος καὶ καταλα λοῦντος, ἀπὸ προσώπου ἐχθροῦ καὶ ἐκδιώκοντος." Ἐγὼ δὲ τοὺς μὲν πολεμοῦντας, τοὺς δὲ γελῶντας καὶ ἐπιτωθάζοντας βλέπων, αἰσχύνης ἀναπίμπλαμαι, καὶ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν ὀδυνῶμαι. Εἶτα τὴν οἰκεῖαν διεξίασιν ἀρετὴν οἱ τὰς Ἀντιόχου πάγας διαφυ γόντες, καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τὰς ἄρκυς ὑπερπηδήσαν τες. ιηʹ, ιθʹ. "Ταῦτα πάντα ἦλθεν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπελαθόμεθά σου, καὶ οὐκ ἠδικήσαμεν ἐν διαθήκῃ σου. Καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν." Ὑπὸ τοσούτων δὲ περικλυσθέντες δεινῶν, οὐκ ἐδεξάμεθα λήθην τῶν σῶν ἐντολῶν, οὔτε παραβῆ ναι τὸν σὸν ἐτολμήσαμεν νόμον, οὐδὲ τῆς προτέρας ἐξετράπημεν γνώμης. "Καὶ ἐξέκλινας τὰς τρίβους ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου. [κʹ.] Ὅτι ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τόπῳ κακώ σεως, καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς σκιὰ θανάτου." Τὸ "ἐξέκλινας τὰς τρίβους ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου," ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν, Οὐ μετεκλίθη τὰ ὑπορθοῦντα ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἐβδομήκοντα τὴν διάνοιαν ἑρμηνεύσωμεν, οὕτω νοήσωμεν· Πολλοῖς ἡμᾶς, φησὶ, καὶ παντοδα ποῖς περιέβαλες ἀλγεινοῖς, ἅπερ ἱκανὰ ἦν καὶ ἐκτρέ ψαι τῆς ὁδοῦ σου· παρέδωκας δὲ καὶ εἰς δουλείαν ἡμᾶς δυσσεβέσιν ἀνθρώποις, ὠμότητι καθ' ἡμῶν κε χρημένοις, καὶ θανατηφόρους ἡμῖν τιμωρίας ἐπάγου σιν. Σκιὰν γὰρ θανάτου τοὺς πρὸς θάνατον ἄγον τας κινδύνους ἐκάλεσεν. καʹ, κβʹ. "Εἰ ἐπελαθόμεθα ὀνόματος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰ διεπετάσαμεν χεῖρας ἡμῶν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀλλότριον. Οὐχὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκζητήσει ταῦτα; αὐτὸς γὰρ γινώσκει τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας. Ὅτι ἕνεκά σου θα νατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρό 80.1185 βατα σφαγῆς." Ταύτην ἐπεδείξαντο τὴν ἀρετὴν οἱ Μακκαβαῖοι, καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ματταθίαν, καὶ οἱ ἑπτὰ νεανίαι σὺν τῇ μητρὶ καὶ Ἐλεαζάρῳ τῷ ἱερεῖ. Οὔτε γὰρ κολακείαις κατεθέλχθησαν, οὔτε τιμω ρίαις ἐκάμφθησαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς Θεοῦ τὸ σέβας ἀνέπαφον διετήρησαν, καὶ τῶν εἰδώλων τὴν θερα πείαν ὡς μυσαρὰν ἐβδελύξαντο. Καὶ ταῦτα, φησὶ, σὺ οἶδας, ∆έσποτα. Σοὶ γὰρ οὐ μόνα τὰ πράγματα δῆλα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἐννοίας κινήματα. Ἐπισημήνασθαι δὲ προσήκει, ὅτι δυάδα προσώπων ὁ λόγος ᾐνίξατο. Εἰρηκὼς γὰρ, "Οὐχὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκζητήσει ταῦτα; Αὐ τὸς γὰρ γινώσκει τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας·" ἐπήγα γεν, "Ὅτι ἕνεκά σου θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέ ραν." Ταύτην δὲ τὴν τῆς ἀντωνυμίας ἐναλλαγὴν καὶ ὁ Ἑβραῖος ἔχει, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τεθείκασιν ἑρμη νευταί. κγʹ. "Ἐξεγέρθητι, ἱνατί ὑπνοῖς, Κύριε; ἀνάστη θι, καὶ μὴ ἀπώσῃ εἰς τέλος." Ὕπνον τὴν μα κροθυμίαν καλεῖ· καθάπερ γὰρ ὁ καθεύδων οὐκ αἰ σθάνεται τῶν γιγνομένων, οὕτως ὁ μακροθυμίᾳ χρώ μενος, καὶ παροινούμενος, καὶ προπηλακιζόμενος φέρει. Ἀνάστασιν δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν κίνησιν ὀνομάζει. Εἶτα τὰ αὐτὰ πάλιν ἑτέρως λέγει. κδʹ. "Ἱνατί τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀποστρέφεις; ἐπι λανθάνῃ τῆς πτωχείας ἡμῶν, καὶ τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν." Παρορᾷς, φησὶ, τὰ καθ' ἡμῶν γινόμενα, ∆έσποτα, καὶ ἔοικας ἀποστρεφομένῳ, καὶ οὐ θεωμέ νῳ, ἀλλ' ἐπιλελησμένῳ, καὶ τούτου χάριν οὐ κηδομέ νῳ· ἡμεῖς δὲ πτωχεύομεν, τῆς ἐπικουρίας τὸν πλοῦ τον οὐκ ἔχοντες. κεʹ. "Ὅτι ἐταπεινώθη εἰς χοῦν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν. Ἐκολλήθη εἰς γῆν ἡ γαστὴρ ἡμῶν. Μέχρι τῆς γῆς αὐτῆς κατεκάμφθημεν, ὡς τὴν γαστέρα ἡμῶν αὐτῇ πελάσαι τῇ γῇ· διὰ δὲ τούτων τὴν πολλὴν ση μαίνει ταπείνωσιν, καὶ τῶν πολεμίων τὸ κράτος. κʹ. "Ἀνάστα, Κύριε, βοήθησον ἡμῖν, καὶ λύτρω σαι ἡμᾶς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου." Οὗ δὴ χάριν ἀντιβολοῦμέν σε, ∆έσποτα, ἐπιφανῆναι, καὶ λῦσαι τὰς συμφορὰς, καὶ κρείττους ἀποφανῆναι τῶν δυσ μενῶν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἅπαντα προεῖπεν ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος