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they tore down the houses to build their own wall. For taking the sayings of the divine Scripture, they fortify their own mythologies, not having paid attention to God who made the ancient pool of the divinely inspired Scriptures, 2177 which is poured forth from the springs of the divine Spirit. Therefore God, not wishing the death of the sinner as much as his repentance, urged them to lament their own destruction. But they did the opposite, as if they had despaired of their own salvation, not considering the judgment of God after this life. Therefore, Paul, using these sayings, said: "If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink. For tomorrow we die." And as their sin was bound by a bond of God, he adds: And your sin will not be forgiven you until you die. And see the greatness of God's threat, and how he nowhere accused the people of idolatry, but that they went up to vain rooftops, and filled the city with cries, and found strange water, having turned away from the ancient pool, and constructed a wall by tearing down the houses of the city. And they themselves were insensibly disposed to these things. But the prophet was weeping. The reason for the bitter tears was the threat against them, saying that this sin would not be forgiven. ιεκεʹ. 9Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: Go to the treasury, to Somnas the treasurer, and say to him: What have you here? and what business do you have here, that you have hewn out a monument for yourself here, and have made for yourself a monument on high, and have inscribed for yourself a dwelling in the rock?9 etc. Somnas and Eliakim, whom he mentions here, were contemporaries of Hezekiah the king, which can be learned from the history. Who also went out to the Assyrian who had come upon the city, as the prophet says in the following. The Hebrew said that Somnas was an unseemly and arrogant and luxuriously-living high priest, and that he deserted to Sennacherib, having betrayed the people. To whom the prophet is commanded to go to the treasury. It was a place in the temple. For which Symmachus says, 'the one who makes a tent.' And Aquila, 'the one who dwells in a tent.' And having hewn for himself a high monument in the rocks, he inscribed on it 'tent,' as if he would dwell in it after death, and he inscribed a fitting symbol of his own mind, as being brilliant only in externals. But in vain, he says, do you hew this. For you will not partake of it. For this is what 'what have you here' means. For the Lord will crush a man, for the most powerful went away as captives with the herds. And you also will be carried far away, stripped of your dignity, and of your position of ministering to God. What need then did you have of pride and money and a chariot? For the glory of the ruler will not be brought down. 2180 For you unworthily handled the stewardship of the high priesthood, becoming an unjust judge. But God, having tested your companion Eliakim to be his servant, will establish him in your place to hold the rank of a father to those under his hand. For he will not be arrogant, nor malicious. But being a meek person, he will have the glory of the most meek David. And he will rule with much authority, so as to have no one who speaks against him. And he will have power. That is, the ability to control the peoples under his hand. And he will be firmly established in his ministry. For this is what 'to stand in a sure place' means, having his rule unshaken. And all will be dependent on his care, as trusting in one who is good. And through these things we learn not to be puffed up by power, nor to be forgetful of the judgment of God. And reasonably these things are connected with the things concerning the valley of Zion, being referred to the time of the saving passion, in which the arrogant and avaricious ones like Somnas, ministering physically according to the law of Moses, have fallen. Concerning whom the prophet spoke in the preceding, among many other things, also this: 'Loving gifts,' and, 'not judging for orphans,' and, 'not attending to the judgment of a widow.' And he also called them murderers, as killers of the Lord. To whom the Savior also, pronouncing a woe, said: "And you have neglected the weightier matters of the law: judgment and mercy and faith." And Somnas prefigured these. But he

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τοὺς οἴκους, εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ ἰδίου τείχους κατέλυσαν. Τὰ γὰρ ῥήματα τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ἀπολαμβάνοντες, τὰς οἰκείας μυθολογίας περιτειχίζουσι, μὴ προσεσχηκότες Θεῷ τῷ πεποιηκότι τὴν παλαιὰν τῶν θεοπνεύστων Γραφῶν, 2177 κολυμβήθραν τὴν ἀπὸ πηγῶν τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος προχεομένην. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Θεὸς μὴ βουλόμενος τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὴν μετάνοιαν αὐτοῦ, θρηνεῖν αὐτοὺς παρεκελεύετο τὴν ἰδίαν ἀπώλειαν. Οἱ δὲ τοὐναντίον, ὡς ἀπεγνωκότες τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν, ἐποίουν, τὴν μετὰ τουτονὶ τὸν βίον τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσιν οὐ λογισάμενοι. ∆ιὸ τοῖς ῥητοῖς ὁ Παῦλος χρησάμενος εἶπεν· "Εἰ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται, φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν. Αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν." Ὡς δὲ δεσμῷ Θεοῦ καταδεθείσης αὐτῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπάγει· Καὶ οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῇ ἡ ἁμαρτία ὑμῶν ἕως ἂν ἀποθάνητε. Καὶ ὅρα τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἀπειλῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὡς οὐδαμοῦ τὸν λαὸν ἐπ' εἰδωλολατρείᾳ διέβαλεν, ὅτι δὲ εἰς δώματα ἀνέβησαν μάταια, καὶ βοῶν ἐπλήρωσαν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ξένον ὕδωρ ἐξεῦρον τὴν παλαιὰν κολυμβήθραν ἀποστραφέντες, καὶ συνεστήσαντο τεῖχος τοὺς οἴκους καθελόντες τῆς πόλεως. Καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν ἀναισθήτως ἐπὶ τούτοις διέκειντο. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης ἀπέκλαιεν. Τῶν δὲ πικρῶν δακρύων ἡ πρόφασις ἡ κατ' αὐτῶν ἀπειλὴ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην μὴ συγχωρηθήσεσθαι λέγουσαν. ιεκεʹ. 9Τὰδε λέγει Κύριος Σαβαώθ· Πορεύου εἰς τὸ παστοφορεῖον, πρὸς Σομνὰν τὸν ταμίαν, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Τί σοι ὧδε; καὶ τί σοι ὧδέ ἐστιν, ὅτι ἐλατόμησας σεαυτῷ ὧδε μνημεῖον, καὶ ἐποίησας σεαυτῷ ἐν ὑψηλῷ μνημεῖον, καὶ ἔγραψας σεαυτῷ ἐν πέτρᾳ σκηνήν9; κ.τ.λ. Σομνὰς καὶ Ἐλιακεὶμ, ὧν ἐνταῦθα μέμνηται, σύγχρονοι γεγόνασιν Ἐζεκίᾳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, ὅπερ ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας ἔστι μαθεῖν. Οἳ καὶ ἐξῆλθον πρὸς τὸν Ἀσσύριον ἐπιστάντα τῇ πόλει, καθὰ διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς ὁ προφήτης φησίν. Τὸν δὲ Σομνὰν ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἑβραῖος ἄσεμνόν τε καὶ ἀλαζόνα γενέσθαι καὶ ἁβροδίαιτον ἀρχιερέα, αὐτομολῆσαί τε πρὸς Σενναχερεὶμ προδεδωκότα τὸν λαόν. Πρὸς ὃν ὁ προφήτης κελεύεται βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τὸ παστοφόριον. Ἦν δὲ χῶρος ἐν τῷ ναῷ. Ἀνθ' οὗ Σύμμαχος τὸν σκηνοποιοῦντα, φησίν. Ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας τὸν σκηνοῦντα. Μνημεῖον δὲ κατὰ πέτρας ὑψηλὸν ἑαυτοῦ λατομήσας ἐπέγραψε τούτῳ σκηνὴ, ὡς δὴ σκηνώσων ἐν αὐτῷ μετὰ θάνατον, πρέπον δὲ σύμβολον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας ἐπέγραψεν, ὡς τὰ ἔξω μόνον ὑπάρχων λαμπρός. Μάτην δὲ τοῦτο, φησὶ, λατομεῖς. Οὐ γὰρ μεθέξεις αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ, τί σοί ἐστιν ὧδε, δηλοῖ. Συντρίψει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἄνδρα, ἀπῴχοντο γὰρ αἰχμάλωτοι μετὰ τῶν ἀγελαίων οἱ δυνατώτατοι. Κομισθήσῃ δὲ καὶ σὺ μακρὰν τῆς ἀξίας ἀφῃρημένος, καὶ στάσεως τῆς κατὰ τῷ Θεῷ λειτουργεῖν. Τί οὖν ἔδει σοι τύφου καὶ χρημάτων καὶ ἅρματος; οὐ γὰρ τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἡ δόξα καθαιρεθήσεται. 2180 Τὴν γὰρ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ἀναξίως μετῆλθες οἰκονομίαν, κριτὴς γενόμενος ἄδικος. Τὸν δὲ σὸν ἑταῖρον Ἐλιακεὶμ δοῦλον ἑαυτοῦ δοκιμάσας εἶναι Θεὸς, εἰς τὴν σὴν αὐτὸν καταστήσεται χώραν τοῖς ὑπὸ χεῖρα πατρὸς ἐφέξοντα τάξιν. Ἕσται γὰρ οὐκ αὐθάδης, οὐ βάσκανος. Πρᾶος δέ τις ὢν, τὴν δόξαν ἕξει τοῦ πραοτάτου ∆αβίδ. Ἄρξει δὲ μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας, ὡς μὴ ἕξειν τὸν ἀντιλέγοντα. Καὶ κράτος ἔξει. Τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ δύνασθαι κρατεῖν τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα λαῶν. Καὶ ἔσται βεβαίων ἱδρυμένος ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ λειτουργίαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ, Ἐν τόπῳ πιστῷ ἑστάναι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀσάλευτον ἔχοντα. Τῆς δὲ τούτου κηδεμονίας ἠρτημένοι πάντες γενήσονται ὡς ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ πεποιθότες. ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων μανθάνομεν μὴ χαυνοῦσθαι δυναστείᾳ, μηδὲ τῆς κρίσεως ἀμνημονεῖν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰκότως δὲ συνῆπται ταῦτα τοῖς περὶ φάραγγος Σιὼν τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἐπὶ τὸν καιρὸν ἀναγόμενα, καθ' ὃν οἱ κατὰ Σομνὰν ἀλαζόνες καὶ φιλοχρήματοι, κατὰ τὸν Μωσέως νόμον ἱερατεύοντες σωματικῶς, ἐκπεπτώκασιν. Περὶ ὧν ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἔλεγεν ὁ προφήτης μετ' ἄλλων ὅσων καὶ τὸ, Ἀγαπῶντες δῶρα, καὶ τὸ, ὀρφανοῖς οὐ κρίνοντες, καὶ κρίσιν χήρας οὐ προσέχοντες. Καὶ φονευτὰς δὲ, ὡς κυριοκτόνους, ἐκάλεσεν. Οἷς καὶ ταλανίζων ἔλεγεν ὁ Σωτήρ· "Καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου, τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὴν πίστιν." Προετύπου δὲ τούτους ὁ Σομνάς. Ὁ δὲ