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and delightful, he compared the Babylonian to a gadfly, in order to show the weakness of Egypt, so that he might say: You who seem to be clothed with great strength, your strength will be brought down by those who are considered weak. Because they too. For he says this: From where, then, is the defeat? Or clearly from God; because though you were as numerous as a locust, you were defeated. Their voice is as a serpent's. That is, wailing and lamenting. Because in sand. That is, not securely. They will cut down her forest. You see the paradoxical defeat, and the victory beyond expectation; Do not fear, for I will bring you back? He secretly foretells to them, and rightly, "Do not fear," because it was near. *Behold, I will execute judgment on her Ammon, and on Pharaoh, and on Egypt, and on her gods, and the rest. The Ammonites were in treaty with the Egyptians; and they had great confidence in their alliance, and through honor all the other nations were with the Egyptian; for this reason, therefore, he mentioned Ammon.

CHAPTER 47

And I will make Tyre disappear. Not even when these things have happened do you preserve? He announced these things, in order to confirm both the desolation and the destruction of the idols. 64.1025 *For the Lord will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isles and of Cappadocia. That is, perhaps he thus calls the islands of the coast, and that from the islands they came to dwell there, being warred upon, having taken it from those who already dwelt there before; and they remained in the place. And he says Cappadocia, as though these had conquered and chosen to dwell there. For thus he also says through another prophet: I brought the Philistines from Cappadocia. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cast off, and the remnant of the Anakim. So that he might say, all the mighty ones. How will it be quiet? The prophet foretells the sacking of Idumea; and he says the same of Teman, which is the country of Esau.

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*Moab has been at rest from his youth, and he has been confident in his glory. Because he always enjoyed prosperity, and quiet, and for this reason he suffered these things, having used his comfort for no good purpose. *He wished to represent the unexpected evil. For he wishes to say that from the beginning until now he has suffered nothing, not that he was not already captured by Sennacherib; for he was not defeated in wars. For the prophecy of Isaiah against Moab came to pass at the time of Sennacherib; but he wishes to say that in comparison with the present things it has suffered nothing; for it was not possible for it to live completely without grief. Or he wishes to indicate the length of the period of rest; for it is not a small number of years from Hezekiah, in whose time the things concerning Sennacherib came to an end, until the final capture of Jerusalem, and the advance of Nebuchadnezzar against the other nations. That these things are so, what follows shows. And he has not been poured from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste will remain in him, and his scent has not departed. He used an example, in order to indicate the time of his rest; for as wine, he says, when put into a vessel and kept for a very long time, and not being changed, settles its lees to the bottom of the vessel, and becomes fragrant and sweet to drink; so, he says, has Moab also become; he has been left at rest for a long time and has his own constitution,

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καὶ ἐπιτερπεῖ, οἴστρῳ παρείκασε τὸν Βαβυλώνιον, ἵνα δείξῃ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἵνα εἴπῃ· Σὺ ἡ δοκοῦσα πολλὴν τὴν ἰσχὺν περιβεβλῆσθαι, ὑπὸ τῶν νομιζομένων ἀσθενῶν καθαιρεθήσῃ τὴν ἰσχύν. ∆ιότι καὶ αὐτοί. Καὶ γὰρ τοῦτό φησι· Πόθεν οὖν ἡ ἧττα; ἢ δηλονότι παρὰ Θεοῦ· ὅτι τοσοῦτοι ὄντες ὡς ἀκρὶς εἰς πλῆθος, ἡττήθητε. Φωνὴ αὐτῶν ὡς ὄφεως. Τουτέστιν, ὀδυρόμενοι καὶ θρηνοῦντες. Ὅτι ἐν ἄμμῳ. Τουτέστιν οὐ βεβαίως. Ἐκκόψουσι τὸν δρυμὸν αὐτῆς. Ὁρᾷς παράδοξον τὴν ἧτταν, καὶ παρὰ προσδοκίαν τὴν νίκην· Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅτι ἐπανάξω σε; λανθανόντως αὐτοῖς προλέγει, καὶ καλῶς, Μὴ φοβοῦ, ἐπειδὴ πλησίον ἦν. *Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐκδικῶ τὸν Ἀμμὼν αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ Φαραὼ, καὶ ἐπὶ Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῆς, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀμμωνῖται ὑπόσπονδοι ἦσαν Αἰγυπτίοις· ἐθάῤῥουν δὲ αὐτῶν σφόδρα τῇ συμμαχίᾳ, καὶ διὰ τιμῆς πάντα τὰ λοιπὰ ἔθνη ἐτύγχανον τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ· διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν τῆς Ἀμμὼν ἐμνημόνευσεν.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΜΖʹ

Καὶ ἀφανιῶ τὴν Τύρον. Οὐδὲ γενομένων τῶν πραγμάτων διασώζεις; Ταῦτα ἀπήγγειλεν, ἵνα πιστώσηται καὶ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν καὶ τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων ἀπώλειαν. 64.1025 *Ὅτι ἐξολοθρεύσει Κύριος τοὺς Ἀλλοφύλους, τοὺς καταλοίπους τῶν νήσων καὶ Καππαδοκίας. Ἤτοι ἴσ. οὕτως τῆς παραλίου νήσους καλεῖ, καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν νήσων αὐτόθι κατῴκησαν πολεμούμενοι, ἑλόντες τοὺς ἤδη πρότερον κατοικοῦντας αὐτόθι· ἐμμείναντες δὲ τῷ τόπῳ. Καὶ Καππαδοκίας δὲ λέγει, ὡς νενικηκότων τούτων, καὶ ἑλομένων αὐτόθι κατοικεῖν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ δι' ἑτέρου προφήτου λέγει· Τοὺς Ἀλλοφύλους ἀπὸ Καππαδοκίας ἤγαγον. Ἥκει φαλάκρωμα ἐπὶ Γάζαν· ἀπεῤῥίφη Ἀσκάλων, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἐν Ἀκήμ. Ἵνα εἴπῃ, πάντες οἱ ἰσχυροί. Πῶς ἡσυχάσει; Πόρθησιν μὲν τῆς Ἰδουμαίας προλέγει ὁ προφήτης· τὴν δὲ αὐτήν φησι καὶ Θαιμὰν, ἥτις ἐστὶ χώρα τοῦ Ἡσαῦ.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΜΗʹ.

*Ἀνεπαύσατο Μωὰβ ἐκ παιδίου, καὶ πεποιθὼς ἦν ἐπὶ τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ. Ὅτι διὰ παντὸς ἀπήλαυσεν εὐθηνίας, καὶ ἡσυχίας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα ἔπαθε, τῇ εὐπαθείᾳ πρὸς οὐδὲν δέον χρησάμενος. *Τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον κακὸν ἠβουλήθη παραστῆσαι. Βούλεται γὰρ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἐξ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τοῦ νῦν πέπονθεν οὐδὲν, οὐχ ὅτι καὶ ἤδη παρὰ τοῦ Σεναχειρεὶμ οὐχ ἑάλω· ἢ γὰρ οὐχ ἡττήθη ἐν πολέμοις. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς προφητείας τοῦ Ἡσαΐου κατὰ τῆς Μωαβίτιδος, ἐξῆλθεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Σεναχειρείμ· ἀλλὰ βούλεται κατὰ σύγκρισιν τῶν παρόντων μηδὲν αὐτὴν πεπονθέναι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνεδέχετο παντάπασιν ἀλύπως αὐτὴν διαγαγεῖν. Ἢ βούλεται σημᾶναι τὸ χρόνιον τῆς ἀνέσεως· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὀλίγος ἀριθμὸς ἐτῶν ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἐζεκίου, ἐφ' οὗπερ καὶ πέρας τὰ κατὰ τὸν Σεναχειρεὶμ ἔλαβε, μέχρι τῆς ἁλώσεως τῆς ἐσχάτης Ἱεροσολύμων, καὶ τῆς κατὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν ἀνόδου τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ. Ὅτι δὲ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, μηνύει τὰ ἐπαγόμενα. Καὶ οὐκ ἐνέχεεν ἐξ ἀγγείου εἰς ἀγγεῖον, καὶ εἰς ἀποικισμὸν οὐκ ᾠχήσατο· διὰ τοῦτο ἔσται γεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὀσμὴ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐξέλιπεν. Παραδείγματι ἐχρήσατο, ἵνα αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀνέσεως τὸν χρόνον σημάνῃ· ὡς γὰρ οἶνος, φησὶ, βληθεὶς εἰς ἀγγεῖον ἐπὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον φυλαττόμενος, καὶ μὴ μεταβαλλόμενος, τὴν μὲν τρύγα καθίστησιν εἰς τὸν τοῦ ἀγγείου πυθμένα, εὐώδης δὲ γίνεται καὶ ἡδὺς πρὸς πότον· οὕτω, φησὶ, γέγονε καὶ ὁ Μωάβ· ἀνείθη ἐπὶ πολλῷ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ ἔχει τὴν οἰκείαν σύστασιν,