97

minds. And fear will fall upon all the Egyptians, with Tanis being set on fire, and Diospolis enduring utter destruction; of the most powerful city of Sais falling into the most grievous misfortunes; and, in short, the enemies consuming all of Egypt like a fire, so that even Syene, which lies furthest inland, will receive the turmoil from these things. And he sufficiently indicated the attack that would happen suddenly, having said: "There will be same-day wars in Memphis"; for at the same time as the news, the conflict will also occur. And the phrase, "In Diospolis there will be a breach, and waters will be poured out," alluded to the destruction of the walls, and the entrance of the enemies, like waters flowing in and pouring out into all its streets and houses. To these he added: 17. That the young men of Heliopolis and Bubastus will also fall by the sword. And it is clear that they were very proud of these men, as being excellent and powerful; but also, "The women," he says, "will go into captivity." Then he adds: 18. That in Taphnae the day will also grow dark. Signifying the darkness that comes from misfortunes. He signified this very same thing again, having said: "And a cloud will cover her." For those who fall into evils do not see the light in the same way, but consider the day to be gloomier than any darkness. Then he revealed the purpose of what was happening. 19. And I will execute judgments in Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. For all these things, he says, I will allow to happen, so that the Egyptians may also learn not to be proud of themselves, but to acknowledge my sovereignty. 20. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying. This form is also found in Jeremiah the prophet; for he too sets down the times sporadically, and having placed first the things that happened in the time of Zedekiah, who reigned last, he then relates the things concerning Jehoiakim, who held the kingship before him. The reason for this is that they were not simply writing a history, but prophecies that had come at certain times. And he now mentioned this time out of necessity and quite reasonably. For since he threatened such a cloud of misfortunes for Egypt in the twenty-seventh year, he teaches us the justice of the punishment. For in the eleventh, he says, year the Lord said to me: (21.) Son of man, I have broken the arms of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up to give it healing, to apply a plaster to it, to be bound, 81.1117 and to grow strong, and to take up a sword. I inflicted a moderate punishment upon him, he says, and he was unwilling to use the remedies of repentance in order to regain his former power. 22-24. For this reason Adonai the Lord says these things: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong and the outstretched, and the broken ones, and I will cast his sword from his hand. And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will winnow them among the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. For since he was unwilling to be disciplined by moderate chastisements, I will subject him to the greatest punishments, and I will strip him of all his strength, so that he is not even able to use the instruments of war, but I will fill the Babylonian with all strength and power; for by "arms," in the case of both the Egyptian and the Babylonian, he indicated power; for since it is by arms that acts of war are naturally carried out, "And I will give," he says, "my sword into his hand; and he will bring it against Egypt, and he will take her plunder, and he will seize her spoils." I, he says, will entrust to him the punishing power, so that he may do all the aforementioned things to Egypt; and he has added these things again, confirming the former things by the repetition. Therefore, as they are clear and have been made plain by what has already been interpreted, I have left them uninterpreted.

97

νοι. Καὶ φόβος ἅπασιν ἐπιπεσεῖται τοῖς Αἰγυ πτίοις, τῆς Τάνεως μὲν ἐμπιπραμένης, ∆ιοσπόλεως δὲ πανωλεθρίαν ὑπομενούσης· τῆς δὲ δυνατωτάτης Σαϊ τῶν πόλεως χαλεπωτάταις περιπεσούσης συμφοραῖς· καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς πυρὸς δίκην τῶν πολεμίων ἅπασαν κατανεμομένων τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ὡς καὶ τὴν ἐνδοτάτω κειμένην Συήνην τὸν ἐκ τούτων ὑποδέξασθαι θό ρυβον. Καὶ τὴν ἐξαπιναίως δὲ γενομένην ἔφοδον ἱκα νῶς παρεδήλωσεν, εἰρηκώς· "Ἔσονται ἐν Μέμφει πόλεμοι αὐθημερινοί"· ἅμα γὰρ τῇ ἀγγελίᾳ καὶ ἡ διαμάχη γενήσεται. Τὸ δὲ, "Ἐν ∆ιοσπόλει ἔσται ἔκ ρηγμα, καὶ διαχυθήσεται ὕδατα," τῶν τειχῶν ᾐνίξατο τὴν κατάλυσιν, καὶ τῶν πολεμίων τὴν εἴσοδον, δίκην ὑδάτων εἰσρεόντων, καὶ διαχεομένων εἰς ἁπάσας αὐ τῆς τὰς ἀγυιάς τε καὶ οἰκίας. Τούτοις προστέθεικεν· ιζʹ. Ὅτι καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι Ἡλιουπόλεως καὶ Βουβάστου ἐν μαχαίρᾳ πεσοῦνται. ∆ῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις μέγα ἐφρόνουν, ὡς ἀριστεῦσι καὶ δυ νατοῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ "Αἱ γυναῖκες, φησὶν, ἐν αἰχμαλω σίᾳ πορεύσονται." Εἶτα προστίθησιν· ιηʹ. Ὅτι καὶ τῇ Τάφναις συσκοτάσει ἡ ἡμέρα. Σημαίνων τὸ ἐκ τῶν συμφορῶν ἐπιγινόμε νον σκότος. Ταυτὸ δὲ τοῦτο πάλιν ἐσήμανεν, εἰρηκώς· "Καὶ αὐτὴν νεφέλη καλύψει." Οἱ γὰρ κακοῖς περι πίπτοντες οὐχ ὁμοίως ὁρῶσι τὸ φῶς, ἀλλὰ σκότου παντὸς ζοφωδεστέραν ὑπολαμβάνουσι τὴν ἡμέραν. Εἶτα τῶν γιγνομένων ἐδήλωσε τὸν σκοπόν. ιθʹ. Καὶ ποιήσω κρίματα ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, καὶ γνώ σονται οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος. Ταῦτα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἅπαντα γενέσθαι συγχωρήσω, ἵνα καὶ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι μάθωσι μὴ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς μέγα φρονεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐμὴν δεσποτείαν γνωρίζειν. κʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἑνδεκάτῳ ἔτει, ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ μηνὶ, ἑβδόμῃ τοῦ μηνὸς, ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέγων. Τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος καὶ παρὰ Ἱερεμίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ εὑρίσκεται· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος σποράδην τίθησι τοὺς χρόνους, καὶ τιθεὶς πρότερα τὰ ἐπὶ Σεδεκίου γεγενημένα, ὃς ἔσχατος ἐβασίλευσε, πάλιν τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωακεὶμ διηγεῖται, ὃς πρὸ ἐκεί νου τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπρυτάνευσεν. Αἴτιον δὲ τούτου τὸ μὴ ἱστορίαν αὐτοὺς ἁπλῶς συγγράφειν, ἀλλὰ προφητείας κατὰ χρόνους τινὰς γεγενημένας. Ἀναγ καίως δὲ καὶ μάλα εἰκότως τούτου νῦν ἐμνημόνευσε τοῦ χρόνου. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοσοῦτον νέφος συμφορῶν ἠπείλησε τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ καὶ εἰκο στῷ ἔτει. διδάσκει ἡμᾶς τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δί καιον. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ ἑνδεκάτῳ, φησὶν, ἔτει εἶπε Κύ ριος πρός με· (καʹ.) Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, τοὺς βρα χίονας Φαραὼ βασιλέως Αἰγύπτου συνέτριψα, καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐ κατεδέθη τοῦ δοῦναι αὐτῷ ἴασιν, τοῦ ἐπιθεῖναι αὐτῷ μάλαγμα, τοῦ δεθῆναι, 81.1117 καὶ κατισχύσαι, καὶ ἐπιλαβέσθαι μαχαίρας. Με τρίαν, φησὶν, ἐπήγαγον αὐτῷ τιμωρίαν, καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησε τοῖς τῆς μετανοίας χρήσασθαι φαρμάκοις ἵνα πάλιν τῆς προτέρας ἐπιλάβηται δυναστείας. κβʹ-κδʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῖ Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ Φαραὼ βασιλέα Αἰγύπτου, καὶ συντρίψω τοὺς βραχίονας αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἰσχυροὺς, καὶ τεταμέ νους, καὶ τοὺς συντετριμμένους, καὶ καταβαλῶ τὴν μάχαιραν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ διασπερῶ Αἴγυπτον εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ λικμήσω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς χώρας. Καὶ κατισχύσω τοὺς βρα χίονας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἐβουλήθη ταῖς μετρίαις σωφρονισθῆναι παιδείαις, μεγίσταις αὐτὸν ὑποβαλῶ τιμωρίαις, καὶ πάσης αὐ τὸν τῆς ἰσχύος γυμνώσω, ὡς μηδὲ τοῖς πολεμι κοῖς δυνηθῆναι χρήσασθαι ὀργάνοις, πάσης δὲ ἰσχύος καὶ δυνάμεως ἐμπλήσω τὸν Βαβυλώνιον· διὰ γὰρ τῶν βραχιόνων, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου τὴν δύναμιν παρεδήλωσεν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ διὰ τῶν βραχιόνων, καὶ τὰ πολεμικὰ πέφυκεν ἐνερ γεῖσθαι, "Καὶ δώσω, φησὶ, τὴν ῥομφαίαν μου εἰς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπάξει αὐτὴν ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον, καὶ προνομεύσει τὴν προνομὴν αὐτῆς, καὶ σκυλεύσει τὰ σκῦλα αὐτῆς." Ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ἐγχειρίσω αὐτῷ τὴν τιμωρητικὴν ἐνέργειαν, ὥστε τὰ προειρημένα πάντα τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ποιῆσαι· ταῦτα δὲ πάλιν προστέθεικε, τῇ δευτερώσει τὰ πρότερα βεβαιῶν. ∆ιὸ ὡς σαφῆ καὶ ἐκ τῶν προερμηνευθέντων δῆλα γεγενημένα, κατέλιπον ἀνερμήνευτα.