120

he brought forth the decision in the preceding visions. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It is grievous therefore to trample upon the saints who are being scourged, or to think that the hand which always saves them is weak, and not to understand rather that they are often tempted by God's permission. For to the lawless it must be said: "Do not transgress; and to the sinners: Do not lift up your horn, nor speak injustice against the highest." For this reason Tyre was transferred from glory to dishonor. Do not be lifted up, he says, by wealth from the sea, but having been humbled, apply yourself to agriculture. For the profits from the sea have ceased, on account of which you were arrogant and youthful, provoking the kings around you, and you wronged Sidon your neighbor. May the experience of evils make you cease from these injustices. And wherever you may go, you will not have a refuge of rest, since God surrounds you with evils everywhere, and your Canaanite allies have been laid waste. And the Kittim, who were once your acquaintances, will deny you. And if you should desert to the Chaldeans, or rather, go as a captive, you will find evils from the Persians and Medes, and Babylon desolate, on account of which she was boastful. For her wall has fallen. Thus he calls the fortification or her royal power, by which she was formerly fortified. Therefore the Carthaginians 2188 will lament you, who have lost all hope of salvation, you who were formerly their stronghold. You will be chastised for as long a time as the city dedicated to God, against which you were lifted up, and you will pay an equal penalty. For they also prolonged the seventieth year in captivity. And the time of a man's life, in years, according to David, is seventy. For he says: "The days of our years are in them seventy years." And this is the same for the time of a long-lived kingdom. In which things the time appointed is not fulfilled by God, do not be shaken. For God is not subject to the limits of his own foretelling. For being good, he both appoints a time and threatens dreadful things, not as though he will bring them in any case, but as wanting them to turn back; which can be learned also from the sixty years appointed through Isaiah against Ephraim. For it was reduced to thirty. And Daniel, seeing the wickedness of those in captivity increasing, begs God not to add to the years appointed against them. For God either shortens the term for those who repent, or adds to it for those who persist in their impieties. Therefore, for those in the time of Noah He appointed the number of one hundred and twenty years, which He humanely cut short, stopping the evils for them, and preventing them from becoming greater. But for the Ninevites who repented, he dissolved the time of the threat, just as a doctor, even if he predicts something about cauterization or incision, no longer does this when the body has changed for the better. Then the prophet says, that In these years you will become a song, just like some woman who has fallen from her own honor. Then go about, wandering from place to place, playing the harlot among the rest of the nations, as if forgotten by God. But if you are able, take your cithara, no longer like a harlot, but with knowledge strike the instrument, supplicating God through many prayers. For thus he will remember you, who have used the members and senses of your body like a cithara, tuning them well through self-control. For God is pleased by these things, and remembering you he will restore you again to your former state, when the time in which you were chastised has been fulfilled. Some have explained the things concerning the harlot in this way, saying that often some courtesan who was distinguished in her prime, when her lovers ceased after her prime, devises songs and at times a cithara to remind them of their former desire. When Tyre does such things, there will hardly be any mention of her among men. But when the time of your chastisement has passed, you will again become a market for all the earth, when, remembering your former evils, you will no longer offer the firstfruits of your trade to demons, but rather to God, and the city of God will make you its revenue. Just as therefore 2189 Scripture also related concerning Hiram. And by repentance through better music it would be fitting to understand the way of life in Christ. For which reason Aquila,

120

ἐξήνεγκε τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἐν ταῖς προλαβούσαις ὁράσεσι. Θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτασσόμενος, ταπεινοῖς δὲ χάριν διδούς. Χαλεπὸν ἄρα τὸ μαστιγουμένοις ἐπεμβαίνειν ἁγίοις, ἢ τὴν ἀεὶ σώζουσαν αὐτοὺς ἀτονεῖν οἴεσθαι χεῖρα, καὶ μὴ νοεῖν μᾶλλον, ὡς Θεοῦ πολλάκις ἐφιέντος πειράζονται. Τοῖς γὰρ παρανόμοις λεκτέον· "Μὴ παρανομεῖν· καὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι· Μὴ ὑψοῦτε κέρας, μηδὲ ἀδικίαν εἰς τὸ ὕψος λαλεῖν." ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ Τύρος ἐκ δόξης εἰς ἀτιμίαν μετεκομίσθη. Μὴ οὖν ἐπαίρου, φησὶ, τῷ πλούτῳ ἐκ θαλάττης, ταπεινωθεῖσα δὲ πρόσκεισο γεωργίᾳ. Τὰ γὰρ ἐκ θαλάττης πέπαυται κέρδη, δι' ἄπερ ἦσθα σοβαρὰ καὶ νεανικὴ, τοὺς κύκλῳ βασιλεῖς παροξύνουσα, καὶ ἢν ἠδίκεις Σιδόνα τὴν γείτονα. Τῆς δὲ τούτων ἀδικίας ἡ τῶν κακῶν πεῖρά σε παύσειεν. Ἔνθα δ' ἂν ἀπέλθῃς, οὐχ ἕξεις καταφυγὴν ἀναπαύσεως, Θεοῦ σε πανταχοῦ κακοῖς περιβάλλοντος, καὶ τῶν σῶν συμμάχων Χαναναίων ἠρημωμένων. Ἀρνήσονται δέ σε καὶ Κίτιοι συνήθεις πάλαι τυγχάνοντες. Κἂν εἰς Χαλδαίους αὐτομολήσεις, ἤγουν ἀπέλθῃς αἰχμάλωτος, τὰ ἐκ Περσῶν καὶ Μήδων εὑρήσεις κακὰ, ἔρημόν τε τὴν Βαβυλῶνα, δι' ἅπερ ἠλαζονεύσατο. Πέπτωκε γὰρ αὐτῆς ὁ τοῖχος. Οὕτω δὲ καλεῖ τὸ τεῖχος ἢ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῆς τὴν βασιλικὴν, δι' ἧς ὠχύρωτο πρότερον. ∆ιό σε θρηνήσουσι Καρχηδό 2188 νιοι πᾶσαν ἀπολέσασαν σωτηρίας ἐλπίδα, τὴν πάλαι τούτων οὖσαν ὀχύρωμα. Παιδευθήσῃ δὲ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, ὅσον ἡ τῷ Θεῷ πόλις ἀνακειμένη, καθ' ἧς ἐπαρθεῖσα τὴν ἴσην δίκην ἐκτίσεις. Κἀκεῖνοι γὰρ ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ παρέτειναν ἔτος. Ἀνθρώπου δὲ ζωῆς χρόνος, ἔτη, καὶ κατὰ ∆αβὶδ, ἔστιν ἑβδομήκοντα. Λέγει γάρ· "Αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἐτῶν ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη." Ταυτὸ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ βασιλείας χρόνος πολυετοῦς. Ἐν οἷς δὲ χρόνος ὁρισθεὶς μὴ πληροῦται παρὰ Θεοῦ, μὴ σαλευθῇς. Οὐ γὰρ ὑπόκειται Θεὸς τοῖς τῆς προαγορεύσεως αὑτοῦ ὅροις. Ἀγαθὸς γὰρ ὢν, καὶ χρόνον ὁρίζει, καὶ ἀπειλεῖ τὰ δεινὰ, οὐχ ὡς πάντως ἐπάξων, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπιστρέψαι βουλόμενος· ὅπερ ἐστὶ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξήκοντα ἐτῶν τῶν δι' Ἡσαΐου κατ' Ἐφραῒμ ὁρισθέντων μαθεῖν. Συνεστάλη γὰρ εἰς τριάκοντα. Καὶ ∆ανιὴλ δὲ τῶν ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τὴν κακίαν αὐξανομένην ὁρῶν, δεῖται Θεοῦ μὴ προσθεῖναι τοῖς ὁρισθεῖσι κατ' αὐτῶν ἔτεσιν. Ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ ἢ μετανοούντων ὑποτέμνῃ τὸν ὅρον, ἢ ταῖς ἀσεβείαις ἐπιμενόντων προστίθησιν. Τοιγαροῦν τοῖς ἐπὶ Νῶε τὸν τῶν ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν ἐτῶν ὥρισεν ἀριθμὸν, ἂ φιλανθρώπως ἐπέτεμεν, ἱστῶν αὐτοῖς τὰ κακὰ, καὶ κωλύσας μείζω γινόμενα. Νινευΐταις δὲ μεταγνοῦσι τῆς ἀπειλῆς τὸν χρόνον διέλυσε, καθάπερ ἰατρὸς κἄν τι προείπῃ περὶ καύσεως ἢ τομῆς μηκέτι τοῦτο δρῶν μεταβαλόντος ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον τοῦ σώματος. Εἶτά φησιν ὁ προφήτης, ὡς Ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἔτεσιν ᾆσμα γενήσῃ καθάπερ τις γυνὴ τῆς ἰδίας ἐκπεσοῦσα τιμῆς. Τότε περίελθε ῥεμβομένη τόπον ἐκ τόπου εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐκπορνεύουσα, ὡς ἂν ἐπιλησθεῖσα παρὰ Θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ δύνασαι λαβοῦσα τὴν σεαυτῆς κιθάραν, μηκέτι πορνικῶς, μετ' ἐπιστήμης δὲ κροῦσον τὸ ὄργανον διὰ πλείστων εὐχῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύουσα. Οὕτω γάρ σου μνησθήσεται κιθάρας δίκην τοῖς μέλεσι καὶ τοῖς αἰσθητηρίοις χρησαμένης τοῦ σώματος, καλῶς ταῦτα διὰ τῆς σωφροσύνης ἁρμόττουσα. Θεὸς γὰρ τούτοις ἀρέσκεται, καὶ σοῦ μνησθεὶς ἀποκαταστήσει πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ πρότερα, τοῦ καθ' ὃν ἐπαιδεύθης χρόνου πεπληρωμένου. Τὰ δὲ ὡς περὶ πόρνης οὕτω τινὲς ἐξηγήσαντο, πολλάκις εἰπόντες ἑταίρα τις ἐν ὥρᾳ γενομένη διαπρεπὴς, παυσαμένων αὐτῆς μετὰ τὴν ὥραν τῶν ἐραστῶν, ᾠδὰς ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ κιθάραν ἐπινοεῖ τοῦ πάλαι πόθου τούτους ὑπομιμνήσκουσα. Τοιαῦτα ποιούσης τῆς Τύρου, μόλις αὐτῆς μνεία ἐν ἀνθρώποις γενήσεται. Ὅτ' ἂν δέ σου παρέλθῃ τῆς παιδείας ὁ χρόνος, ἐμπόριον αὖθις πάσης γενήσῃ τῆς γῆς, ὅτε τῶν πρὶν μεμνημένη κακῶν, οὐκέτι δαιμονίοις, Θεῷ δὲ μᾶλλον προσοίσεις τῆς ἐμπορίας τὰς ἀπαρχὰς, καὶ πρόσοδον ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σε ποιήσεται πόλις. Ὥσπερ οὖν 2189 καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χειρὰμ ἰστόρησεν ἡ Γραφή. Τῇ δὲ διὰ κρείττονος μουσικῆς μετανοίᾳ πρέπον ἂν εἴη τὴν ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ πολιτείαν νοεῖν. ∆ι' ὅπερ Ἀκύλας,