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and his beginning was in the midst of clouds; water nourished him, the abyss raised him up, it led its rivers round about his plants, and sent forth its channels to all the trees of the plain. For this reason his size was exalted above all the trees of the plain, and his boughs were multiplied and his branches were lifted up from much water. When he stretched forth in his branches, all the birds of the heaven nested, and under his boughs all the beasts of the field gave birth, in his shadow dwelt every multitude of nations. 4.37 And he was beautiful in his height because of the multitude of his boughs, because his roots went into much water. And many cypresses in the paradise of God and pines were not like his branches, and firs were not like his boughs; every tree in the paradise of God was not like him in his beauty because of the multitude of his boughs, and the trees of the paradise of the delight of God were jealous of him.” 4.38 The same or similar things to what was said about the Assyrian are said also about Pharaoh in such a way. 4.39 It must not be ignored that most of our brethren refer Pharaoh and the Assyrian to the devil, allegorized according to different conceptions now as Pharaoh, now as the Assyrian. Let those who bring this interpretation say which trees of paradise were jealous of the devil, not being inanimate but evidently rational living beings. And it is no wonder if the names of trees are predicated of rational living beings, when the wisdom of God is at one time called the true vine, and at another the tree of life. 4.40 Zach. XI, 3: A voice of shepherds mourning, because their magnificence is wretched; a voice of lions roaring, because the pride of the Jordan is wretched. 4.41 The leaders of the peoples, both sacerdotally and didactically, happen to be their shepherds, as of sheep, while those who rule royally, or rather tyrannically, are lions. And since the rulers in both ways are called shepherds and lions, it is entirely necessary for the subjects to be called sheep and other cattle, with the sheep having reference to the grazing shepherds, and the cattle to the lions. For it is said in Proverbs: “A lion is mightier than beasts, which does not turn away nor cower before any beast.” 4.42 When those under the teachers, or rather the false teachers, and those who tyrannically preside over them fall into misfortune, the shepherds mourn, not sparing their flocks, but because they have been deprived of shameful gains and reprehensible pleasures, so that they might not serve God who legislates and has given them rule, but their own belly. 4.43 Concerning the heterodox, the divine Apostle writes, correcting the peoples of the Church: "Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is good to be established by grace," and again: "For such teachers serve their own belly, and not Christ, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple," who are cattle on account of their simplicity. 4.44 These men, therefore, having come into a want of the pleasures they long for, mourn, the magnificence they mistakenly thought they possessed having become wretched; likewise also the irascible rulers roar, the Jordan where they lay in ambush and hid themselves having become wretched, thinking to have shelter and security through ferocity. 4.45 With many trees already cut down and pulled down, as was recently said, the thick-grown forest was pulled down. 4.46 Many things can be found from scripture signifying those who preside cruelly and with savage passion, being justly called lions. For example, in the prophet Jeremiah both the cruel-minded ruler of Babylonia and the tyrant of Assyria are called lions; and it is as follows:

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καὶ εἰς μέσον νεφελῶν ἐγένετο ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐτοῦ· ὕδωρ ἐξέθρεψεν αὐτόν, ἡ ἄβυσσος ὕψωσεν αὐτόν, τοὺς ποταμοὺς αὐτῆς ἤγαγεν κύκλῳ τῶν φυτῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ συστέματα αὐτῆς ἐξαπέστειλεν εἰς πάντα τὰ ξύλα τοῦ πεδίου. Ἕνεκεν τούτου ὑψώθη τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῦ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ξύλα τοῦ πεδίου, καὶ ἐπλαθύνθησαν οἱ κλάδοι αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑψώθησαν αἱ παραφυάδες αὐτοῦ ἀφ' ὕδατος πολλοῦ. Ἐν τῷ ἐκτεῖναι αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς παραφυάσιν αὐτοῦ ἐνόσσευσαν πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ὑποκάτω τῶν κλάδων αὐτοῦ ἐγεννῶσαν πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ πεδίου, ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ αὐτοῦ κατῴκησεν πᾶν πλῆθος ἐθνῶν. 4.37 Καὶ ἐγένετο καλὸς ἐν τῷ ὕψει αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κλάδων αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐγενήθησαν αἱ ῥίζαι αὐτοῦ εἰς ὕδωρ πολύ. Καὶ κυπάρισσοι πολλαὶ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πίτυες οὐχ ὅμοιαι ταῖς παραφυάσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλάται οὐκ ἐγένοντο ὅμοιαι τοῖς κλάδοις αὐτοῦ· πᾶν ξύλον ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὡμοιώθη αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ κάλλει αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κλάδων αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐζήλωσεν αὐτὸν τὰ ξύλα τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ.» 4.38 Τὰ αὐτὰ ἢ παραπλήσια τοῖς λεχθεῖσιν περὶ τοῦ Ἀσσοὺρ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Φαραὼ ὑπὸ τοῖον εἴρηται. 4.39 Οὐκ ἀγνοητέον ὅτι οἱ πλείονες τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν τὸν Φαραὼ καὶ τὸν Ἀσσοὺρ εἰς τὸν διάβολον ἀναφέρουσιν, κατὰ διαφόρους ἐπινοίας ὁτὲ μὲν Φαραώ, ὁτὲ δὲ Ἀσσοὺρ ἀλληγορούμενον. Οἱ ταύτην κομίζοντες τὴν ἑρμηνείαν λεγέτωσαν τίνα τὰ ξύλα τοῦ παραδείσου ζηλώσαντα τὸν διάβολον, οὐκ ἄψυχα ἀλλὰ ζῷα ὄντα λογικὰ δηλονότι. Καὶ θαυμαστὸν οὐδὲν εἰ λογικῶν ζῴων κατηγορεῖται τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ξύλων, ὁπότε καὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία ὁτὲ μὲν ἄμπελος ἀληθινή, ὁτὲ δὲ ξύλον ζωῆς προσαγορεύεται. 4.40 Zach. XΙ, 3: Φωνὴ θρηνούντων ποιμένων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν ἡ μεγαλωσύνη αὐτῶν· φωνὴ ὠρυομένων λεόντων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν τὸ φρύαγμα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου. 4.41 Οἱ ἡγούμενοι τῶν λαῶν ἱερατικῶς τε καὶ διδασκαλικῶς ποιμένες αὐτῶν οἷα προβάτων τυγχάνουσιν, τῶν βασιλικῶς μᾶλλον δὲ τυραννικῶς ἐπιστατούντων ὑπαρχόντων λεόντων. Καὶ ἐπεὶ οἱ ἀμφοτέρως ἄρχοντες ποιμένες καὶ λέοντες καλοῦνται, πᾶσα ἀνάγκη τοὺς ὑπηκόους πρόβατα καὶ ἄλλα κτήνη προσαγορεύεσθαι, τῶν μὲν προβάτων ἀναφορὰν ἐχόντων πρὸς τοὺς βόσκοντας νομέας, τῶν δὲ κτηνῶν πρὸς τοὺς λέοντας. Εἴρηται γοῦν ἐν Παροιμίαις· «Λέων ἰσχυρότερος κτηνῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἀποστρέφεται οὐδὲ καταπτήσσει πᾶν κτῆνος.» 4.42 ∆υσπραγίᾳ ὑποπεσόντων τῶν ὑπὸ τοὺς διδασκάλους, μᾶλλον δὲ ψευδοδιδασκάλους, καὶ τοὺς τυραννικῶς ἐπικειμένους, θρηνοῦσιν οἱ ποιμένες, οὐ τῶν ποιμνίων φειδόμενοι, ἀλλὰ στερηθέντες αἰσχρῶν κερδῶν καὶ ἐπιλήμπτων ἡδονῶν ἕνεκα, ἵνα μὴ τῷ νομοθετοῦντι Θεῷ καὶ τὸ ἄρχειν αὐτοῖς δεδωκότι δουλεύωσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ. 4.43 Περὶ τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, ὁ θεσπέσιος γράφει Ἀπόστολος διορθούμενος τοὺς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας λαούς· «∆ιδαχαῖς ξέναις καὶ ποικίλαις μὴ παραφέρεσθε· καλὸν γὰρ χάριτι βεβαιοῦσθαι», καὶ πάλιν· «Οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι διδάσκαλοι τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ, ἀλλ' οὐ τῷ Χριστῷ δουλεύουσιν, διὰ χρηστολογίας καὶ εὐλογίας ἐξαπατῶντες τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀκάκων», βοσκήματα δι' ἁπλότητα τυγχάνοντας. 4.44 Οὗτοι τοιγαροῦν ἐν ἀπορίᾳ γενάμενοι ὧν ποθοῦσιν ἡδέων θρηνοῦσιν, ταλαιπωρησάσης ἧς ᾤοντο ἠπατημένως ἔχειν μεγαλωσύνης· ὡσαύτως καὶ οἱ θυμικῶς ἄρχοντες ὠρύονται, ταλαιπωρήσαντος τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἔνθα ἐλόχων καὶ ἐνεκρύπτοντο, δοκοῦντες σκέπην καὶ ἀσφάλειαν ἔχειν διὰ ἀγριότητα. 4.45 Ξύλων πολλῶν ἐκκοπέντων ἤδη καὶ κατασπασθέντων, ὡς ἔναγχος εἴρηται, κατεσπᾶσθαι τὸν δρυμὸν τὸν σύμφυτον. 4.46 Πολλὰ ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς ἔστιν εὑρεῖν σημαίνοντα τοὺς ὠμῶς καὶ ἀγρίῳ θυμῷ ἐπιστατοῦντας, λέοντας ἐν δίκῃ προσαγορευομένους. Αὐτίκα γοῦν ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ Ἰερεμίᾳ λέοντες εἴρηνται ὅ τε τῆς Βαβυλωνίας ὠμόθυμος ἄρχων καὶ ὁ τῆς Ἀσσυρίας τύραννος· ἔχει δ' οὕτως ἡ