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with zeal; but those who came to despair celebrated according to the saying: "When the wicked one comes into a multitude of evils, he scorns." Therefore, they have suffered to the end what they should have suffered for a little while, supplicating God with tears and mourning, and crying out the words of David: "See my humiliation, and my labor, and forgive all my sins." For to those who do these things, as Micah says: "He is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and full of mercy and repenting of evils" upon these things. But some have explained the preceding saying thus, that the Lord, being no respecter of persons, placed the word concerning Zion in the midst of the reproofs against the foreigners, having treated the Jews as foreigners, to whom he says through Amos: "Are you not as sons of the Ethiopians to me, says the Lord, did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the foreigners from Cappadocia, and the Syrians from the pit? Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon all the kingdoms of the earth." Therefore, now showing their complete rejection, he has numbered them among the foreigners. Which is also shown by the ravine. For he did not simply say Zion, but ravine, showing the fall from the height of the godly polity and hinting at their lying in the valleys and depth of wickedness. For Zion is a [high] mountain upon which the temple of God was built; Wherefore he says: "Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion." And: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." It was also said to signify the evangelical word. But those who have fallen from this hope have fallen, 2176 lying in the ravine of Zion. For to every virtue vice lies near, into which one falls having missed that one, as one who falls from faith into unbelief. Into which those of the circumcision were brought down from the evangelical height and the heavenly Zion. Therefore they were ranked among foreigners, but even so being in distress, being puffed up in vain, they hear from the prophecy, What has happened to you, that you all went up to vain housetops? and of those who shouted against Christ, "Away with him, away with him, and crucify him," he says, the city was filled with those who were shouting. And since there is sin unto death, according to which the soul that sins, it shall die, your wounded, he says, are not wounded by the sword. And all, he says, your rulers have fled. But according to Symmachus they were thrown into confusion, and according to Theodotion they were moved. Whence no longer among them, no kings, no leaders, no high priests, no prophets, but not even Pharisees and Sadducees. But those still now captured by the besieger of souls are bitterly bound. But the prophet, seeing so great a fall of theirs, measures the lamentation to the suffering, foreseeing the rejection of the race, and the capture of the city, the disturbances, and the wandering, in which they wandered having been abandoned. Then, having mentioned the Elamites, he indicates unseen and hostile powers, to whom they were delivered up by God, who are also interpreted as overlooking, disregarding the salvation of those who are perishing, sparing no one. But these, he says, will enter your gates; but not now, but in that day, in the prophesied time, they will uncover both the hidden things of the citadel of David, the symbols of the kingdom, and the things lying in the sanctuary which are visible only to the high priest. But instead of, And they saw that they are more, Symmachus said: And the words of the house of David you will see, that it was multiplied. And there was water of an old pool in the city, the word of the old divinely-inspired Scripture, which having turned away from, they devised for themselves foreign water, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men, and having made void the word of God for their tradition. Concerning which he says to Jeremiah: "They have forsaken me, a fountain of living water, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns." And they devised the strange water between the two walls. And the two walls of the polity according to God are the Old and New Testament, in neither of which do the traditions of the elders partake, upon which those called deuterotai among them boast, and having dared something else, of the city

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σπουδῇ· οἱ δὲ πρὸς ἀπόγνωσιν ἐλθόντες ἐπανηγύριζον κατὰ τό· "Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἀσεβὴς εἰς πλῆθος κακῶν, καταφρονεῖ." Τοιγαροῦν πεπόνθασιν εἰς τέλος ἅπερ ἔδει πρὸς ὀλίγον αὐτοὺς παθεῖν τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύοντας μετὰ δακρύων καὶ πένθους, καὶ τὰ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἀνακράζοντας· "Ἴδε τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου, καὶ τὸν κόπον μου, καὶ ἄφες πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου." Τοῖς γὰρ ταῦτα ποιοῦσι καθὰ Μιχαίας φησί· "Ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων ἐστὶ, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ μετανοῶν ἐπὶ κακίαις" ἐπὶ τούτοις. Τὴν προκειμένην δὲ ῥῆσιν οὕτω τινὲς ἐξηγήσαντο, ὡς μὴ προσωπολήπτης ὁ Κύριος τὸν περὶ τῆς Σιὼν λόγον ἐν μέσοις τοῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐλέγχοις ἐνέθηκεν, ὡς ἀλλοφύλοις τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις χρησάμενος, πρὸς οὕς φησι δι' Ἀμώς· "Οὐχ ὡς υἱοὶ Αἰθιόπων ὑμεῖς ἐστέ μοι, λέγει Κύριος, οὐ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους ἐκ Καππαδοκίας, καὶ τοὺς Σύρους ἐκ βόθρου; Ἰδοὺ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς." Ὅθεν νῦν τὴν παντελῆ τούτων ἀποβολὴν παριστῶν, τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις αὐτοὺς ἐγκατέλεξεν. Ὃ καὶ δηλοῦται διὰ τῆς φάραγγος. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἶπε Σιὼν, ἀλλὰ φάραγγα, τὴν πτῶσιν δηλῶν τὴν ἐξ ὕψους τοῦ θεοσεβοῦς πολιτεύματος καὶ ἐν κοιλάσι καὶ βάθει τῆς κακίας κειμένους αὐτοὺς αἰνιττόμενος. Σιὼν μὲν γὰρ ὄρος ἐστὶν [ὑψηλὸν] ἐφ' οὗ ὁ νεὼς τοῦ Θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμητο· ∆ιό φησιν· "Ἐπ' ὅρος ὑψηλὸν ἀνάβηθι ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Σιών." Καί· "Προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ." Σημαίνειν δὲ καὶ τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν ἐλέγετο λόγον. Οἱ δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐκπεπτωκό 2176 τες ἐν φάραγγι τῆς Σιὼν παρακείμενοι πεπτώκασι. Πάσῃ γὰρ ἀρετῇ κακία παράκειται, εἰς ἢν ἐκπίπτει τις ἐκείνης διαμαρτὼν, ὡς ὁ εἰς ἀπιστίαν ἐκ πίστεως. Εἰς ἣν οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς κατηνέχθησαν ἐξ ὕψους εὐαγγελικοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐπουρανίου Σιών. ∆ιόπερ ἐν ἀλλοφύλοις ἐτάχθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτω δυσπραγοῦντες, εἰκῆ φυσιώμενοι παρὰ τῆς προφητείας ἀκούουσι, Τί ἐγένετό σοι, ὅτι ἀνέβητε πάντες εἰς δώματα μάταια; καὶ κατὰ Χριστοῦ τὸ, "Αἶρε, αἶρε, καὶ σταύρου," βοησάντων, φησὶν, ἐνεπλήσθη ἡ πόλις βοώντων. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον, καθ' ἣν ψυχὴ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὐτὴ ἀποθανεῖται, αἱ τραυματίαι σου, φησὶν, οὐ τραυματίαι μαχαίρας. Καὶ πάντες, φησὶν, οἱ ἄρχοντές σου πεφεύγασιν. Κατὰ δὲ Σύμμαχον ἀνεστατώθησαν, κατὰ δὲ Θεοδοτίωνα μετεκινήθησαν. Ὅθεν οὐκ ἔτι παρ' αὐτοῖς, οὐ βασιλεῖς, οὐχ ἡγούμενοι, οὐχ ἀρχιερεῖς, οὐ προφῆται, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ Σαδδουκαῖοι. Οἱ δὲ εἰσέτι νῦν ἁλόντες ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν ψυχῶν πολιορκητοῦ πικρῶς καταδέδενται. Τὴν δὲ τοσαύτην αὐτῶν πτῶσιν ὁ προφήτης ἰδὼν, συμμετρεῖ τῷ πάθει τὸν θρῆνον, τὴν τοῦ γένους ἀποβολὴν, καὶ τὴν ἅλωσιν προβλέπων τῆς πόλεως, τὰς τεταραχὰς, καὶ τὴν πλάνησιν, ἣν ἐπλανήθησαν ἐγκαταλειφθέντες. Εἶτα τοὺς Ἐλαμίτας εἰπὼν, ἀφανεῖς δυνάμεις δηλοῖ καὶ πολεμίους, οἷς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ παρεδόθησαν, οἳ καὶ παραβλέποντες ἑρμηνεύονται, τῶν ἀπολλυμένων παρορῶντες τὴν σωτηρίαν, φειδόμενοι μηδενός. Οὗτοι δὲ, φησὶν, εἰσελεύσονταί σου τὰς πύλας· ἀλλ' οὐχὶ νῦν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, τῷ προφητευομένῳ καιρῷ, ἀποκαλύψουσί τε τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς ἄκρας ∆αβὶδ τῆς βασιλείας τὰ σύμβολα, καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ ἁγιάσματι κείμενα τὰ μόνῳ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ θεατά. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Καὶ εἴδοσαν ὅτι πλείους εἰσὶ, Σύμμαχος ἔφη· Καὶ τὰ ῥήματα οἴκου ∆αβὶδ ὄψεσθε, ὅτι ἐπληθύνθη. Ὕδωρ δὲ ἦν παλαιᾶς κολυμβήθρας ἐν τῇ πόλει, τῆς παλαιᾶς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ὁ λόγος, ὃν ἀποστραφέντες, ἀλλότριον ὕδωρ ἑαυτοῖς ἐπενόησαν, διδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλ ματα ἀνθρώπων, ἀκυρώσαντές τε τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν παράδοσιν αὐτῶν. Περὶ ὧν πρὸς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν φησίν· "Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζῶντος, καὶ ὤρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους συντετριμμένους." Τὸ δὲ ξένον ὕδωρ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο τειχέων ἐπενόησαν. ∆ύο δὲ τείχη τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείας ἥτε Παλαιὰ καὶ Καινὴ ∆ιαθήκη, ὧν οὐδετέρας αἱ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων μετέχουσι παραδόσεις ἐφ' ἃς οἱ δευτερωταὶ λεγόμενοι παρ' ἐκείνοις ἀλαζονεύονται, καὶ ἄλλο δέ τι τολμήσαντες, τῆς πόλεως