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spirit, and they lived and stood upon their feet, a very great assembly. When I, he says, had conveyed the divine command, the bound bodies were brought to life, and obtained resurrection, and there was, he says, a not small multitude 81.1193 of those who had risen. Having thus seen the revelation, he is taught the interpretation. 11. And the Lord spoke to me, saying: Son of man, these bones are the house of Israel, and they themselves say: Our bones have become dry, our hope is lost, we have been utterly cut off. These are a type, he says, of Israel, O prophet; but while they despaired of their own situation, the type showed the hope of good things. 12-14. Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to them: Thus says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I will open your tombs, my people, and I will bring you up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, to bring you up from your graves, my people. And I will put my spirit upon you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your land, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will do it, says the Lord Adonai. If, he says, what seems much more difficult to you, I have shown to be done very easily by me, it is clear that I will do this also more easily with much facility, and as if leading you out from certain tombs of the bonds of captivity, I will bring you back to your own fatherland; for falsehood is alien to truth. Thus having promised the return, he foretells the harmony of the tribes after the return. 15-17. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take for yourself one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions, and you shall take for yourself a second stick, and you will write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel who have been added to them. And you shall join them one to another for yourself into one stick, to bind them, and they shall be together in your hand. In the time of Rehoboam the tribes were divided, and the ten became on their own, establishing their kingdom in Samaria, one of the cities of Ephraim, while Judah ruled itself and Benjamin. But after the return they all came under one rule. For this reason God commanded the prophet to take two sticks, and to inscribe one for Ephraim, and to add the subject tribes; and the other for Judah, and for those in agreement with him. then to join the sticks to each other, as the division would henceforth cease, and the union would come to be. Then he exhorts the prophet, when the people inquire and wish to know the interpretation, to say expressly: 81.1196 "Behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will put them under the tribe of Judah, and they shall become one stick in the hand of Judah." Those who long ago, he says, separated themselves from the kingdom of Judah, I will prepare to recognize his rule again, and I will put an end to the division that occurred, and I will make all the tribes harmoniously obey Judah. And again he interprets the same thing more clearly. Behold, I am taking all the house of Israel from the midst of the nations, where they went, and I will gather them into the land of Israel. (2.) And I will make them into a nation in my land, and in the mountains of Israel, and one ruler shall be king over all of them. These things came to fulfillment, typologically in the time of Zerubbabel, but precisely and truly in the time of the Lord Christ; for Zerubbabel was not a king, but became a leader of the people and a general. And they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided any longer into two kingdoms. (23, 24.) That they may no longer be defiled with their idols, and with their abominations, and with all their impieties; and I will deliver them from all their impieties, in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And my servant David, ruler

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πνεῦμα, καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τῶν ποδῶν αὑτῶν, συναγωγὴ πολλὴ σφόδρα. Ἐμοῦ, φησὶ, τὸ θεῖον διαπορθμεύ σαντος πρόσταγμα, καὶ ἐζωοποιήθη τὰ συνδεθέντα σώματα, καὶ ἀναστάσεως ἔτυχε, καὶ ἦν, φησὶ, πλῆ 81.1193 θος οὐκ ὀλίγον τῶν ἀναστάντων. Οὕτω θεασάμενος τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν, διδάσκεται τὴν ἑρμηνείαν. ιαʹ. Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρός με, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα οἶκος Ἰσραήλ ἐστι, καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγουσι· Ξηρὰ γέγονε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν, ἀπόλωλεν ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν, διαπεφωνήκαμεν. Τύ πος, φησὶ, τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ταῦτα, ὦ προφῆτα· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τὰ κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀπηγόρευσαν, ὁ δὲ τύπος ἔδειξε τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα. ιβʹ-ιδʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ εἰπὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· Τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύ ριος· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀνοίξω τὰ μνήματα ὑμῶν, λαός μου, καὶ ἀνάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν τάφων ὑμῶν, καὶ εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ γνώσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος, ἐν τῷ ἀνοῖξαί με τοὺς τάφους ὑμῶν, τοῦ ἀναγαγεῖν με ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν τάφων ὑμῶν, τὸν λαόν μου. Καὶ δώσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσεσθε, καὶ θήσω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν, καὶ γνώσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ἐλάλησα καὶ ποιήσω, λέγει Ἀδωναῒ Κύριος. Εἰ τὸ πολλῷ, φησὶ, παρ' ὑμῖν δυσκολώτερον φαινόμενον, εὐπετῶς ὑπ' ἐμοῦ μάλα γινόμενον ἔδειξα, εὔδηλον, ὡς καὶ τοῦτο ῥᾷον μετὰ πολλῆς ποιήσω τῆς εὐμαρείας, καὶ οἷον ἀπό τινων τάφων τῶν τῆς αἰχμ αλωσίας δεσμῶν ἐξαγαγὼν ὑμᾶς, εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανάξω πατρίδα· τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος, τῆς ἀληθείας ἀλλότριον. Οὕτω τὴν ἐπάνοδον ὑποσχόμενος, τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον τῶν φυλῶν προλέγει συμφω νίαν. ιεʹ-ιζʹ. Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με, λέ γων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, λάβε σεαυτῷ ῥάβδον μίαν, καὶ γράψον ἐπ' αὐτὴν τὸν Ἰούδα, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ, τοὺς προσκειμένους πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ ῥάβδον δευτέραν λήψῃ σεαυτῷ, καὶ γράψεις αὐτὴν τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ῥάβδον Ἐφραῒμ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ τοὺς προστεθέν τας πρὸς αὐτούς. Καὶ συνάψεις αὐτὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἑαυτῷ εἰς ῥάβδον μίαν, τοῦ δῆσαι αὐτὰς, καὶ ἔσονται ὁμοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου. Ἐπὶ τοῦ Ῥοβοὰμ διῃρέθησαν αἱ φυλαὶ, καὶ αἱ μὲν δέκα καθ' ἑαυτὰς ἐγένοντο, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν τοῦ Ἐφραῒμ πό λεων τῇ Σαμαρείᾳ καταστησάμεναι τὰ βασίλεια, ἡ δὲ τοῦ Ἰούδα ἑαυτῆς ἦρχεν καὶ τῆς τοῦ Βενιαμίν. Ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον ὑπὸ μίαν ἐτέλεσαν ἅπαν τες ἡγεμονίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δύο ῥάβδους προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ προφήτῃ λαβεῖν, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐπιγράψαι τοῦ Ἐφραῒμ, προσθεῖναι δὲ καὶ τὰς ὑπηκόους φυλάς· τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ἰούδα, καὶ τῶν ἐκείνῳ συμφωνούντων. εἶτα συνάψαι ἀλλήλαις τὰς ῥάβδους, ὡς τῆς διαιρέ σεως λοιπὸν παυσαμένης, καὶ τῆς ἑνώσεως ἐσομένης. Εἶτα παρακελεύεται τῷ προφήτῃ, πυνθανομένῳ τῷ λαῷ, καὶ γνῶναι βουλομένῳ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν, διαῤῥή 81.1196 δην εἰπεῖν· "Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ λήψομαι τὴν φυλὴν Ἰωσὴφ τὴν διὰ χειρὸς Ἐφραῒμ, καὶ τὰς φυλὰς Ἰσραὴλ τὰς προσκειμένας πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ δώσω αὐτὰς ὑπὸ τὴν φυλὴν Ἰούδα, καὶ ἔσονται εἰς ῥάβδον μίαν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ Ἰούδα." Τοὺς πάλαι, φησὶν, ἀποσχοινί σαντας ἑαυτοὺς τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα βασιλείας παρα σκευάσω πάλιν τὴν ἐκείνου ἐπιγνῶναι ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ παύσω μὲν τὴν γενομένην διαίρεσιν, συμφώνως δὲ ἁπάσας τὰς φυλὰς ὑπακούειν τῷ Ἰούδᾳ ποιήσω. Καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν ἑρμηνεύει σαφέστερον. Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ λαμβάνω πάντα οἶκον Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ μέσου τῶν ἐθνῶν, οὗ εἰσῆλθον ἐκεῖ, καὶ συνάξω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. (βʹ.) Καὶ δώσω αὐτοὺς εἰς ἔθνος ἐν τῇ γῇ μου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἄρχων εἷς ἔσται πάντων αὐ τῶν εἰς βασιλέα. Ταῦτα πέρατος τετύχηκε, τυπι κῶς μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ζοροβάβελ, ἀκριβῶς δὲ καὶ ἀληθῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ· οὐδὲ γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὁ Ζορο βάβελ, ἀλλὰ δημαγωγὸς καὶ στρατηγὸς ἐγένετο. Καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται ἔτι εἰς δύο ἔθνη, οὐδὲ μὴ διαι ρεθῶσιν ἔτι εἰς δύο βασιλεῖς. (κγʹ, κδʹ.) Ἵνα μὴ μιαίνωνται ἔτι ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὑτῶν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς προσοχθίσμασιν αὑτῶν, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἀσεβείαις αὑτῶν· καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ πα σῶν τῶν ἀσεβειῶν αὐτῶν, ὧν ἥμαρτον ἐν αὐ ταῖς, καὶ καθαριῶ αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαὸν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν. Καὶ ὁ δοῦ λός μου ∆αβὶδ ἄρχων