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they do worse; for, thinking they are being outshone by the writing of the young, they do not even deign to pay attention to it, even if those who are written about are written of very nobly; and every layman, carried away by ignorance, also criticizes things well said, and, to put it simply, slander is resourceful in all things and has many materials for mockery for the construction of censure, which envy supplies lavishly. 8.2 Considering these things to myself, I kept putting it off, though you often urged me and requested that the ode of the blessed Hezekiah be interpreted by us in writing. But I do not know how you yourself have now prevailed, O most admirable one, and taken away our hesitation, saying that those who have chosen to labor are not lacking in life, for whom it is an earnest concern to read all things and to "test what is excellent" according to the divine Apostle, of whom you yourself happen to be one. For this too is worthy of your love of labor, wishing to learn if there is anything useful to be gained from it; for to be persuaded that not even what seems to be the smallest part of the divine Scripture can provide little benefit would be a mark of your understanding in these matters, and indeed to be eager to learn about all things, what is useful in them, is not far removed from your love of labor. 8.3 I, therefore, since with God I was about to complete the interpretation of the Song of Songs, which our common and admirable friend Theophilus asked of us, as you yourself also know, put it off until now; but now having completed it, I will begin, by the will of the Holy Spirit, to fulfill your request also, without whom it is not possible for any good things to come to be in us. I will first state the purpose for which he uttered the ode, and then the interpretation part by part; and at the same time I will also announce what is useful in them; for in this way the meaning of what is said will become clearer. 8.4 Hezekiah, then, the blessed king of the Jews, being very pious and virtuous and of concern to God, considered that the blessed David had foretold many psalms concerning him, of which one happens to be the nineteenth and the twentieth likewise and very many others, and furthermore, the prophecy of Isaiah which came in the time of his father Ahaz, the one "behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb and bear a son," he applied to himself, and suffering something human he was lifted up in his thought, supposing himself to be the prophesied Christ. Wherefore at first he did not choose to have fellowship in life on account of another supposition being among the Jews, that when the Christ comes he never dies, but remains forever, as they also said in the Gospel: "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever." Hezekiah, therefore, holding this opinion, did not deign to take a wife and produce a succession of his line, that is, children, believing that he would live forever. 8.5 But when it happened that Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, made war on Judea, and came up even to Jerusalem to sack it, Hezekiah, hearing the things said by the god-fighting Rabshakeh, and also what was written to him by Sennacherib himself, tore his royal garment, and putting on sackcloth and sprinkling dust, entered the temple, supplicating God to be delivered from the Assyrians. And when he was heard, and one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian forces were destroyed in one night by the angel, and such a miraculous and great victory was given to him by God, he confirmed even more the supposition which he had before, saying that he himself was certainly the prophesied Christ. Wherefore again, from the pride of his thought imagining himself to be more than he was, he did not enter the temple after the victory, as was fitting, to give thanks and give glory to God, but thought great things of himself, as it is written in Chronicles that: "Hezekiah was humbled from the pride of his heart," and: "The Lord left him to test him, to know what was in his heart." 8.6 But the philanthropic God, who always works for the salvation of men, wishing to displace him from that supposition, which as a man overlooking

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χεῖρον ποιοῦσι· παρευδοκιμεῖσθαι γὰρ ἡγούμενοι τῇ τῶν νέων συγγραφῇ οὐδὲ προσέχειν αὐτῇ ἀξιοῦσιν, εἰ καὶ λίαν γενναίως συγγράφοιντο οἱ συγγραφόμενοι· πᾶς δὲ ἰδιώτης ἀγνοίᾳ φερόμενος καὶ τὰ καλῶς λεγόμενα ψέγει, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, πάντων εὔπορος ἡ διαβολὴ καὶ πολλὰς ὕλας τοῦ σκώπτειν ἔχουσα πρὸς τὴν τῶν ψόγων κατασκευήν, ἣν ὁ φθόνος ἀφθόνως χορηγεῖ. 8.2 Ταῦτα κατ' ἐμαυτὸν λογιζόμενος ἀνεβαλλόμην, πολλάκις σου ὀχλήσαντος καὶ τὴν ᾠδὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Ἐζεκίου ἐγγρά φως παρ' ἡμῶν ἑρμηνευθῆναι αἰτήσαντος. Ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως αὐτὸς νενίκηκας νῦν, ὦ θαυμασιώτατε, καὶ τὸν ὄκνον ἀφείλου τὸν ἡμέτερον, τοὺς τὸ πονεῖν προῃρημένους μὴ λείπειν φάσκων ἐν τῷ βίῳ, οἷς σπουδὴ τὰ πάντων ἀναγινώσκειν καὶ "δοκιμάζειν τὰ διαφέροντα" κατὰ τὸν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, ὧν εἷς τυγχάνεις καὶ αὐτός. Ἄξιον γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο τῆς σῆς φιλοπονίας, μαθεῖν βουλόμενος, εἴ τι χρήσιμόν ἐστι λαβεῖν ἐξ αὐτῆς· τό τε γὰρ πεπεῖσθαι ὡς οὐδὲ τὸ σμικρότατον εἶναι δοκοῦν τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ὀλίγην τινὰ παρέχειν τὴν ὠφέλειαν δύναται τῆς σῆς ἂν εἴη περὶ ταῦτα συνέσεως, καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ διὰ σπουδῆς ἔχειν περὶ ἁπάντων μανθάνειν τί τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς χρήσιμον οὐ πόρρω καθέστηκε τῆς σῆς φιλοπονίας. 8.3 Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, ἐπειδὴ τὴν τοῦ Ἄσματος τῶν ᾀσμάτων ἑρμηνείαν σὺν Θεῷ ἤμελλον πληροῦν, ἣν ὁ κοινὸς καὶ θαυμάσιος φίλος Θεόφιλος ἡμᾶς ᾐτήσατο, ὡς οἶσθα καὶ αὐτός, ἕως τοῦ νῦν ἀνεβαλλόμην· νυνὶ δὲ πληρώσας ἄρξομαι καὶ τὴν σὴν αἴτησιν βουλήσει τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος πληροῦν, οὗ ἄνευ οὐδὲν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡμῖν ἐγγενέσθαι δυνατόν. Τὸν σκοπὸν δὲ δι' ὃν τὴν ᾠδὴν ἐξεῖπε προλέγω πρῶτον, εἶθ' οὕτω τὴν κατὰ μέρος ἑρμηνείαν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ τί τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς χρήσιμον διαγγελῶ· οὕτω γὰρ σαφεστέρα τῶν λεγομένων ἡ δύναμις γενήσεται. 8.4 Ἐζεκίας τοίνυν ὁ μακάριος τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεὺς ὑπάρχων, εὐσεβὴς πάνυ γενόμενος καὶ ἐνάρετος καὶ τῷ Θεῷ μεμελημένος, ἐθεώρει τὸν μακαρίτην ∆αυῒδ πολλοὺς ψαλμοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν προειρηκότα, ὧν εἷς τυγχάνει ὁ ἐννεακαιδέκατος καὶ ὁ εἰκοστὸς ὁμοίως καὶ ἕτεροι πλεῖστοι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἀχὰζ γενομένην ὑπὸ Ἠσαΐου προφητείαν, τὴν "ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν", εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἑλκύσας καὶ ἀνθρώπινόν τι παθὼν ἐπήρθη τῷ λογισμῷ, οἰόμενος ἑαυτὸν εἶναι τὸν προφητευόμενον χριστόν. Ὅθεν τὰ πρῶτα κοινωνῆσαι βίῳ οὐχ εἵλετο διὰ τὸ ἑτέραν ὑπόνοιαν εἶναι ἐν Ἰουδαίοις, ὅτι ὁ χριστὸς ὅταν ἔρχεται οὐδέποτε ἀποθνῄσκει, ἀλλὰ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ ἔλεγον· "Ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ὅτι ὁ χριστὸς μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." Ταύτης οὖν τῆς δόξης ὢν ὁ Ἐζεκίας οὐ κατεδέξατο σύμβιον λαβεῖν καὶ ποιῆσαι διαδοχὴν γένους, τουτέστι τέκνα, ἀεὶ ζῆν νομίζων. 8.5 Ὅτε δὲ συνέβη τὸν Σεναχηρεὶμ τὸν τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλέα πολεμῆσαι τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ἀνελθεῖν δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἱερου σαλὴμ πορθῆσαι αὐτήν, ἀκούσας τὰ παρὰ τοῦ θεομάχου Ῥαψάκου λελεγμένα ὁ Ἐζεκίας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ παρ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σεναχηρεὶμ γραφέντα αὐτῷ, διαρρήξας τὴν βασιλικὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἐνδυσάμενος σάκκον καὶ χοῦν πασάμενος εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῷ ναῷ, ἱκετεύων τὸν Θεὸν ῥυσθῆναι ἐκ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων. Εἰσακουσθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀναιρεθέντων ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα πέντε χιλιάδων ἐκ τῆς βοηθείας τῶν Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ νίκης αὐτῷ παραδόξου καὶ τηλικαύτης γενομένης ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπεβεβαίωσεν ἐπὶ πλέον τὴν ὑπόνοιαν, ἣν εἶχε πρότερον, ἑαυτὸν πάντως εἶναι λέγων τὸν προφητευόμενον χριστόν. Ὅθεν πάλιν ἐκ τῆς ἐπάρσεως τοῦ λογισμοῦ φαντασθεὶς ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὸν οὐκ εἰσῆλθε μετὰ τὴν νίκην ἐν τῷ ναῷ, κατὰ τὸ δέον, εὐχαριστῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ μεγάλα ἐφρόνει καθ' ἑαυτόν, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν ταῖς Παραλειπομέναις ὅτι· "Ἐταπεινώθη Ἐζεκίας ἀπὸ ὕψους καρδίας αὐτοῦ", καί· "Κατέλιπεν αὐτὸν Κύριος τοῦ πειρᾶσαι αὐτόν, εἰδέναι τὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ". 8.6 Ὁ δὲ φιλάνθρωπος Θεός, ὁ ἀεὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πραγματευόμενος, ἐκστῆσαι αὐτὸν βουλόμενος τῆς ὑπονοίας ἐκείνης, ἣν ὡς ἄνθρωπος παριδὼν