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of Judah, and he inherited the mountain, because he could not inherit from those dwelling in the valley, because Rechab commanded them”? Holy Scripture in many places mentions Rechab as exceedingly pious; and that piety ran through even to his descendants. This, it says, he proposed to the tribe of Judah: to leave the valley and dwell in the mountain. And he himself was of the tribe of Judah, as the book of Chronicles teaches. And I think that he advised fleeing the valley on account of the impiety of the neighbors, and certainly also on account of the proximity of the sea. For those who draw near the sea both receive those sailing in from afar and themselves long for seafaring. But the intermingling with foreigners corrupted the lawful way of life. VII Why did they not take all the cities, but a multitude of the foreign nations dwelt with them? First, through slothfulness they did not take possession of all the land; then also through greed. 292 “For,” it says, “they put the Canaanite to tribute, and in removing did not utterly remove him.” And this the writer said concerning each tribe. And in addition to these things, having transgressed the divine law and having served the gods of the foreigners, they were stripped of divine providence. For this reason, the all-wise Lord did not utterly destroy the race of the Canaanite nations, but allowed many to be their neighbors, so that, being warred against and forced to serve, they might perceive the harm that comes from error, and might be added to the God who had saved them and enjoy the support from him. And that I say these things not using human reasonings, but having been taught by the history itself, I will at once make clear. “For,” it says, “an angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the place of weeping and to Bethel and to the house of Israel from Gilgal.” And Gilgal was named the place of the foreskins. And the name, according to the Hebrew tongue, signifies freedom. From there he sends the angel, reminding them both of the crossing of the river and of the circumcision that had taken place. Then it also says what things were spoken by the angel: “The Lord brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land, which he swore to your fathers to give to you, and said to you, I will not break my covenant with you forever. And you shall not make a covenant with those who dwell in this land, nor shall you worship their gods, but you shall break their graven images and you shall tear down their altars; and you did not listen to his voice, when you did these things.” And “I,” he says, “will not proceed to remove the people, whom I said I would drive out from before your face; and they shall be to you for distress and their gods 293 shall be to you for a stumbling block.” You have transgressed my law, he says, you have not kept my commandments; you have made peace with the teachers of impiety, and you have served their gods. Therefore, enjoy what you have desired and reap the sheaves of your seeds. For those who have escaped death from war will continue to make war on you; and their gods will enslave your souls. When these things were said by the angel, the people mourned; whence the place was also named “Weeping.” From this I understood that most of the things said were a recapitulation of the things done in the time of Joshua. For the writer said: “And Joshua sent the people away, and the sons of Israel went each to his own place, and each to his own inheritance to inherit the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders, as many as lived long after Joshua, as many as knew all the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.” And it also says at what age he died, and where he was buried. And it has added that another generation arose after them and they did not know the Lord and the work which he had done for Israel. And that by dwelling with the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the other foreigners, they both made intermarriages with them and through intermarriage the

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Ἰούδα, καὶ ἐκληρονόμησε τὸ ὄρος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐδύνατο κληρονομῆ σαι τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν κοιλάδα, ὅτι Ῥηχὰβ διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς "; Τοῦ Ῥηχάβ, ὡς εὐσεβοῦς ἄγαν πολλαχοῦ ἡ θεία μνημονεύει γραφή· καὶ ὅτι μέχρι τῶν ἀπογόνων αὐτοῦ διέδραμεν ἡ εὐσέβεια· τοῦτο εἰσηγήσασ θαι λέγει τῇ Ἰούδα φυλῇ, τὴν κοιλάδα καταλιπεῖν καὶ τὸ ὄρος οἰκῆσαι. ἦν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς, ὡς ἡ τῶν Παραλιπομένων διδάσκει βίβλος. οἶμαι δὲ αὐτὸν συμβεβουλευκέναι τὴν κοιλάδα φυγεῖν διὰ τὴν τῶν περιοίκων ἀσέβειαν· καὶ μέντοι καὶ διὰ τὸ τῆς θαλάττης γειτόνημα. οἱ γὰρ θαλάττῃ πελάζοντες, καὶ τοὺς πόρρωθεν καταπλέοντας δέχονται, καὶ αὐτοὶ ναυτιλίας ὀρέγονται. ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν ἐπιμιξία, τὴν νομι κὴν ἐλυμαίνετο πολιτείαν. VII Τί δήποτε μὴ πάσας εἷλον τὰς πόλεις, ἀλλὰ πλῆθος αὐτοῖς συνῴκει τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν; Πρῶτον διὰ νωθείαν πάσης τῆς γῆς οὐκ ἐκράτησαν· ἔπειτα καὶ διὰ πλεο 292 νεξίαν· " ἔθεντο, γάρ φησι, τὸν χαναναῖον εἰς φόρον καὶ ἐξαίρων οὐκ ἐξῆρεν αὐτόν ". καὶ τοῦτο περὶ ἑκάστης ὁ συγγραφεὺς εἶπε φυλῆς. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὸν θεῖον παραβάντες νόμον, καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἀλλοφύλων δεδουλευκότες θεοῖς, τῆς θείας ἐγυμνώθησαν προμηθείας. οὗ δὴ χάριν ὁ πάνσοφος Κύριος οὐκ ἄρδην τὸ τῶν χαναναίων ἐθνῶν διέφθειρε γένος, ἀλλ' εἴασε πολλοὺς γειτονεύειν αὐτοῖς· ἵνα πολε μούμενοι καὶ δουλεύειν ἀναγκαζόμενοι, αἰσθάνωνται μὲν τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης γεγενημένης βλάβης, προστεθῶσι δὲ τῷ σεσωκότι Θεῷ καὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ ῥοπῆς ἀπολαύωσι. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα οὐ λογισμοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις κεχρημένος λέγω, ἀλλὰ παρ' αὐτῆς διδαχθεὶς τῆς ἱστορίας, αὐτίκα δη λώσω. " ἀνέβη, γάρ φησιν, ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἀπὸ Γαλ γὰλ ἐπὶ τὸν κλαυθμῶνα καὶ ἐπὶ Βαιθὴλ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ Γαλγάλων ". Γάλγαλα δὲ ὁ τῶν ἀκροβυστιῶν ὠνομάσθη τόπος. δηλοῖ δὲ τοὔνομα κατὰ τὴν ἑβραίων φωνήν, τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. ἐκεῖθεν πέμπει τὸν ἄγγελον, ἀναμιμνῄσκων αὐτοὺς τῆς τε τοῦ ποταμοῦ διαβάσεως, καὶ τῆς γεγενημένης περιτομῆς. εἶτα λέγει καὶ τίνα τὰ ῥηθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου· " Κύριος ἀνήγα γεν ὑμᾶς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ εἰσήγαγεν ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ὤμοσε τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν δοῦναι ὑμῖν καὶ εἶπεν ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ διασκεδάσω τὴν διαθήκην μου τὴν μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐ διαθήσεσθε διαθήκην τοῖς ἐγκαθημένοις ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ, οὐδὲ τοῖς θεοῖς αὐ τῶν οὐ μὴ προσκυνήσετε, ἀλλὰ τὰ γλυπτὰ αὐτῶν συντρίψετε, καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια αὐτῶν κατασκάψετε· καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσατε τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ, ὅτε ταῦτα ἐποιήσατε ". καὶ " ἐγώ, φησίν, οὐ προσθήσω τοῦ μετοι κίσαι τὸν λαὸν, ὃν εἶπον τοῦ ἐξῶσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ προ σώπου ὑμῶν· καὶ ἔσονται ὑμῖν εἰς συνοχὰς καὶ οἱ θεοὶ 293 αὐτῶν ἔσονται ὑμῖν εἰς σκάνδαλον ". παρέβητέ μου φησί, τὸν νόμον, οὐκ ἐφυλάξατε τὰς ἐντολάς μου· εἰρήνην ἐσπείσασθε πρὸς τοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας διδασκάλους, καὶ τοῖς τούτων θεοῖς ἐδουλεύσατε. ἀπολαύετε τοι γαροῦν ὧν ἐποθήσατε καὶ ἀμήσατε τῶν σπερμάτων ὑμῶν τὰ δράγματα. οἵ τε γὰρ διαφυγόντες τὸν ἐκ πολέμου θάνατον, πολεμοῦντες ὑμῖν διατε λέσουσι· καὶ οἱ τούτων θεοὶ τὰς ὑμετέρας ἐξανδραποδιοῦσι ψυχάς. τούτων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου ῥηθέντων, ἐθρήνησεν ὁ λαός· ὅθεν καὶ ὁ τόπος ὠνομάσθη " Κλαυθμών ". ἐντεῦθεν ὑπέλαβον τὰ πλείονα τῶν εἰρημένων ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν εἶναι τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πεπραγμένων. ἔφη γὰρ ὁ συγ γραφεύς· " καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν Ἰησοῦς τὸν λαὸν καὶ ἀπῆλθον οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ κατακληρονομῆσαι τὴν γῆν· καὶ ἐδούλευσεν ὁ λαὸς τῷ Κυρίῳ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας Ἰησοῦ καὶ πά σας τὰς ἡμέρας τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ὅσοι ἐμακρο ημέρευσαν μετὰ Ἰησοῦν, ὅσοι ἔγνωσαν πᾶν τὸ ἔργον Κυρίου τὸ μέγα, ὃ ἐποίησε τῷ Ἰσραήλ ". λέγει δὲ καὶ ὅσων ἐτῶν ἐτελεύτησε, καὶ ἔνθα ἐτάφη· καὶ προστέθεικεν, ὅτι ἀνέστη γενεὰ ἑτέρα μετ' αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν Κύριον καὶ τὸ ἔργον ὃ ἐποίησε τῷ Ἰσραήλ. καὶ ὅτι τοῖς χαναναίοις καὶ τοῖς φερεζαίοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις συνοικοῦντες ἀλλοφύλοις, τάς τε πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπιγαμίας ἐποιή σαντο καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐπιγαμίας τῆς