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his round about his grave, and all his 81.1137 multitude, and all the wounded who have fallen by the sword, and the uncircumcised who have gone down into the depths of the earth. It was a custom in the wars among the nations for tombs to be made; for fellow countrymen, gathering their own people, would commit them to a single burial; therefore, he has shown here also that the nation of Elam did this; and this approaches the Assyrians. And he teaches that they also received death uncircumcised, in no way having been freed from impiety. Then, having said again that those who were formerly fearsome to all received their own torment, and died in like manner to the others, he added: 25. For each his burial is round about, all of them uncircumcised, wounded by the sword. And he speaks of the other nations that received this slaughter. 20. There were Meshech and Tubal given. Tubal are called the Iberians, and Meshech the Cappadocians. And again, having said the same things which he also said about the Elamites, he added: 27. And they placed their swords under their heads. For weapons are superfluous when those who used them have been slain. And he also states the cause of the slaughter: "And their iniquities came to be upon their bones." They paid the penalty, he says, for their impiety. Then he also indicates the form of the impiety: "Because giants terrified in their life, and they became a terror of the powerful in the land of the living." For they used such cruelty and audacity, he says, as to impose fear on all, not only on the humble, but also on those who pride themselves on strength and power. Therefore, he says, you received a similar slaughter to those slain by you. And the other nations also endured these things. 29. For there is Edom, and her kings, and all her rulers, who gave their strength to the wounds of the sword. That is, those who used their strength for bloodshed. And having shown that these also were slain in the same way, he similarly added: 30. There are all the rulers of the north themselves, all the generals of Assur, who were brought down with the wounded along with their fear. "For his spirit will go forth, and he will return to his dust, as the divine David says; on that day all his thoughts will perish." This also God said here: "Who were brought down with the wounded along with their fear;" for with death, the fear of their power was also dissolved. "Defeated," he says, "from their strength," that is, they became naked and bereft of their 81.1140 strength. "Ashamed, they slept uncircumcised." For nothing so fills one with shame as the accusation of an evil conscience. And again he called uncircumcised those who do not cut away the excesses of sin. Then, having said that they received their torment with those who go down into the pit, that is, their punishment, he added: 31, 32. King Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted for all their strength, Pharaoh and all his army, wounded by the sword, says the Lord Adonai; Because he set his terror on the land of the living, and he shall sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, wounded by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Adonai. For looking at those, he says, who had become greater and exceedingly more powerful, Pharaoh will receive some comfort, and with him his subjects; yet he will pay the penalty for his impiety, because having imposed great fear on his subjects, he himself did not accept my law, but left his soul uncircumcised. For this reason, he himself, along with such men and those who have thought the same things as he, will receive the slaughter of those who have lived in the same way as he. Therefore, having learned these things, and having known through the divine oracles what penalties those who have an uncircumcised soul pay, let us receive, I beseech you, the circumcision not made by hands of the all-holy Spirit, about which the blessed Paul says: "And circumcision of the heart in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God." And we have been taught that circumcision of the heart is the removal of sin, and the cutting out of the evil movements of the mind. And

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αὐτοῦ περικύκλῳ τοῦ μνήματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ πᾶν τὸ 81.1137 πλῆθος αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντες οἱ τραυματίαι οἱ πεπτωκότες μαχαίρᾳ, καὶ οἱ καταβεβηκότες ἀπερίτμητοι εἰς γῆς βάθος. Ἔθος ἦν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μνήματα γίγνεσθαι· τοὺς γὰρ οἰκείους συνάγοντες οἱ ὁμόφυλοι μιᾷ παρεδίδο σαν ταφῇ· τοῦτο τοίνυν καὶ ἐνταῦθα δεδήλωκε τὸ Αἰλὰμ ἔθνος πεποιηκέναι· Ἀσσυρίοις δὲ τοῦτο πελάζει. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι τὸν θάνα τον ἐδέξαντο, οὐδαμῶς τῆς ἀσεβείας ἀπαλλαγέντες. Εἶτα πάλιν εἰρηκὼς, ὅτι οἱ πάλαι πᾶσι φοβεροὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐδέξαντο βάσανον, καὶ παραπλησίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀπέθανον, ἐπήγαγεν· κεʹ. Ἑκάστῳ περικύκλῳ ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ, πάντων ἀπεριτμήτων τραυματιῶν μαχαίρᾳ. Λέγει δὲ τὰ ἄλλα ἔθνη τὰ ταύτην δεξάμενα τὴν σφαγήν. κʹ. Ἐκεῖ ἐδόθησαν Μοσὸχ καὶ Θοβέλ. Θοβὲλ δὲ καλοῦνται οἱ Ἴβηρες, Μοσὸχ δὲ Καππαδόκαι. Πάλιν δὲ ταὐτὰ εἰρηκὼς, ἃ καὶ περὶ τῶν Αἰλα μιτῶν εἴρηκεν, ἐπήγαγε· κζʹ. Καὶ ἔθηκαν τὰς μαχαίρας αὑτῶν ὑπὸ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὑτῶν. Περιττὰ γὰρ τὰ ὅπλα, τῶν τούτοις κεχρημένων, ἀνῃρημένων. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τῆς σφαγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν· "Καὶ ἐγενήθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀστῶν αὐτῶν." ∆ίκας, φησὶ, τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐξέτισαν. Εἶτα καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τὸ εἶδος παραδηλοῖ· "Ὅτι ἐξεφόβησαν γίγαντες ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὑτῶν, καὶ φόβος δυναστευόντων ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ γῆ τῶν ζώντων." Τοσαύτῃ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐχρήσαντο ὠμότητι καὶ θρασύτητι, ὡς πᾶσιν ἐπιθεῖναι φόβον, οὐ μόνον τοῖς εὐτελέσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ ἰσχύϊ καὶ δυνα στείᾳ μεγαλοφρονοῦσι. ∆ιὸ, φησὶ, τοῖς ἀναιρεθεῖσιν ὑπὸ σοῦ καὶ τὴν σφαγὴν ἐδέξω παραπλησίαν. Ταῦτα δ' ὑπέμειναν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἔθνη. κθʹ. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ Ἐδὼμ, καὶ βασιλεῖς αὐτῆς, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῆς, οἱ δόντες τὴν ἰσχὺν αὑτῶν εἰς τραύματα μαχαίρας. Τουτ έστιν, οἱ τῇ ἰσχύϊ εἰς μιαιφονίαν χρησάμενοι. Καὶ τούτους δὲ δείξας ὁμοίως ἀναιρεθέντας, ὁμοίως ἐπήγαγε· λʹ. Ἐκεῖ οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ βοῤῥᾶ πάντες αὐτοὶ, πάντες οἱ στρατηγοὶ τοῦ Ἀσσοὺρ, οἵτινες κατήχθησαν μετὰ τραυματιῶν σὺν τῷ φόβῳ αὑτῶν. "Ἐξελεύσεται γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπιστρέψει εἰς τὸν χοῦν αὑτοῦ, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος ∆αβίδ· ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἀπολοῦνται πάντες οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτοῦ." Τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Θεὸς ἔφη· "Οἵτινες κατήχθησαν μετὰ τραυματιῶν σὺν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτῶν·" τῷ γὰρ θανάτῳ καὶ ὁ τῆς δυναστείας συγ κατελύθη φόβος. "Ἡττηθέντες, φησὶν, ἀπὸ τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτῶν," τουτέστι, γυμνοὶ καὶ ἔρημοι τῆς 81.1140 ἰσχύος ἐγένοντο. "Αἰσχυνόμενοι ἐκοιμήθησαν ἀπερίτμητοι." Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως αἰσχύνης ἀνα πίμπλησιν, ὡς πονηροῦ συνειδότος κατηγορία. Ἀπε ριτμὴτους δὲ πάλιν ἐκάλεσε τοὺς τῆς ἁμαρτίας μὴ περιτέμνοντας τὰ περιττώματα. Εἶτα εἰρηκὼς, ὅτι ἔλαβον τὴν βάσανον αὑτῶν μετὰ τῶν καταβαινόν των εἰς βόθρον, τουτέστι τὴν τιμωρίαν, ἐπήγαγεν· λαʹ, λβʹ. Ἐκείνους ὄψεται βασιλεὺς Φαραὼ, καὶ παρακληθήσεται ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐ τῶν, τραυματίαι μαχαίρας Φαραὼ, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος· Ὅτι ἔδωκε τὸν φόβον αὑτοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς ζωῆς, καὶ κοιμη θήσεται ἐν μέσῳ ἀπεριτμήτων τραυματιῶν μαχαίρας Φαραὼ, καὶ πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος αὐτοῦ, λέ γει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Εἰς ἐκείνους γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀφ ορῶν ὁ Φαραὼ μείζους γεγενημένους, καὶ λίαν δυ νατωτέρους, παραψυχήν τινα λήψεται, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ὑπήκοοι· δώσει δὲ ὅμως τῆς ἀσεβείας δίκας, ὅτι πολὺν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐπιτεθεικὼς φόβον, αὐτὸς τὸν ἐμὸν οὐκ ἐδέξατο νόμον, ἀλλ' εἴασε τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπερίτμητον. Οὗ χάριν μετὰ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ αὐ τὸς, καὶ οἱ τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ πεφρονηκότες, τῶν ὁμοίως αὐτῷ βεβιωκότων δέξονται τὴν σφαγήν. Ταῦτα τοίνυν μεμαθηκότες, καὶ διὰ τῶν θείων ἐγνωκότες λογίων, οἵας τίνουσι δίκας οἱ τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχοντες ἀπερίτμητον, δεξώμεθα, παρακαλῶ, τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος τὴν ἀχειροποίητον περιτομὴν, περὶ ἧς ὁ μακάριος λέγει Παῦλος· "Καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι, οὐ γράμματι, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώ πων, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ." Περιτομὴν δὲ καρδίας ἐδι δάχθημεν εἶναι τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀφαίρεσιν, καὶ τῶν τῆς διανοίας κακῶν κινημάτων τὴν ἐκτομήν. Καὶ