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shrines? A wail is a sorrowful sound, representing anguish of heart with an indistinct utterance. How then shall carved things wail? Because to these pieces of wood (or stones, or perhaps also gold and silver, or ivory, or whatever other precious or less precious materials are worshipped as idols among the nations) shaped by human hands, certain demons, flying unseen, sit beside them, enjoying the pleasure from the defilements. For just as gluttonous little dogs linger around the places of butchers, where there is blood and gore, so too do gluttonous demons, hunting for the enjoyment from the blood and the savor of sacrifices, hover around the altars and the statues dedicated to them. For perhaps their airy bodies are nourished, or fiery ones, or ones mixed from both elements. The history of the Kingdoms also shows that demonic power attends the statues named for them. For (it says) the foreigners took the ark of God, and brought it next to Dagon. And the Ashdodites rose early the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen before it, upon the earth. Therefore, Dagon was the visible statue; but the one falling on his face was the demon, vanquished by the glory surrounding the ark of God; and falling on his face himself, he cast down the man-made object with him. For this reason, those who eat things sacrificed to idols are said to be partakers of the table of demons. Since the sacrificial victim offered to the idol was also shared in part with the attendant demon, from the vaporized blood and the rising smoke of the fat and the rest of the burnt offerings, the demon taking some portion. And he who drinks from the cup from which the libation is made, drinks the cup of demons. For this reason, the carved things will wail, that is, the demons homonymous with the carved things. And when it is said that the Lord will come to Egypt and the man-made things of Egypt will be shaken and their heart will be vanquished, we explain it with the same meaning. For the demons, who frequent the earthly place, will be shaken and put to flight, and will be driven away to their proper place of the abyss, at the coming of the Lord. For this reason, *Cursed is everyone who makes a carved or molten thing, the work of a craftsman's hands, and puts it in a secret place,* because he has stored up for himself a wicked treasure through the carved thing, bringing upon himself the demon that accompanies it, and has drawn down upon himself a curse to dwell with him through the demon. 10.238 And it shall be, when the Lord has finished doing all things on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, He will bring upon the great mind of the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the height of the glory of his eyes. After commanding the carved things in Jerusalem and in Samaria to wail, and with the threat upon them (as if Jerusalem had finally been cleansed and freed from the defilement of idols and chastised by the punishing plagues, which it endured by being handed over to the Assyrians), then, finally, the word threatens to transfer the plague upon the ruler of the Assyrians. For since he was lifted up in his pride and did not understand that their sin was the cause of so many evils, but thought that by his own device and power he had prevailed against Jerusalem, for this arrogance and the irrational height of the exaltation in his mind, *He will bring* (it says) *upon the great mind, upon the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the height of the glory of his eyes.* One person is great according to his own nature; another according to his conceit, and the excess of things that do not belong to him. A great mind, truly, is one that contemplates great things, one that is able to apply itself to the creative words, and from them to understand the beauty of the wisdom of the craftsman of all things. A great one is he who is able to apply himself to the economy of the things that come from God and to His providence extending even to the smallest details, and from there his righteous

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ἀφιδρύματα; Ὀλολυγμὸς δέ ἐστι φωνὴ λυπηρὰ, ὀδύνην καρδίας ἀσήμῳ τινὶ φθόγγῳ παριστῶσα. Πῶς οὖν ὀλολύξει γλυπτά; Ὅτι τοῖς ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων μεμορφωμένοις ξύλοις (ἢ λίθοις, ἤπου καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ, ἢ ἐλέφαντι, ἢ ὅσα ἄλλα τιμίας ἢ ἀτιμωτέρας ὕλης ἐστὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εἴδωλα προσ κυνούμενα) τούτοις ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς δαίμονές τινες προσ πτάντες παρακαθέζονται, τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν μιασμάτων ἡδονῆς ἀπολαύοντες. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ λίχνα κυνίδια περὶ τοὺς τῶν μακέλλων τόπους, ἐν οἷς αἷμα καὶ ἰχῶρες, διατρίβουσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ λίχνα δαιμόνια, θηρώμενα τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν αἱ μάτων καὶ τῆς κνίσσης τῶν θυσιῶν ἀπόλαυσιν, περὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς εἱλεῖται, καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα, τὰ αὐτοῖς ἀνακείμενα. Τάχα γάρ που καὶ τρέφεται τὰ ἀέρια σώματα αὐτῶν, ἤτοι καὶ πύρινα, ἢ καὶ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν στοιχείων μικτά. ∆είκ νυσι δὲ καὶ ἡ ἱστορία τῶν Βασιλειῶν, ὅτι προσεδρεύει ἡ δαιμονικὴ δύναμις τοῖς ἐπιφημισθεῖσιν αὐτοῖς ἀγάλμασιν. Ἔλαβον γὰρ (φησὶν) οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ εἰσήγαγον αὐτὴν ἐχόμενα ∆αγών. Καὶ ὤρθρωσαν οἱ Ἀζώτιοι τῇ ἐπαύριον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ∆αγὼν πεπτωκὼς εἰς τὰ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Οὐκοῦν ∆αγὼν μὲν ἦν τὸ ὁρώ μενον ἄγαλμα· ὁ δὲ πίπτων ἐπὶ πρόσωπον, ὁ δαίμων, ὁ νικώμενος ὑπὸ τῆς περὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης· καὶ πίπτων μὲν αὐτὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον, συγκαταβάλλων δὲ ἑαυτῷ τὸ χειροποίητον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οἱ τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίοντες, κοινωνοὶ τραπέζης λέγονται δαιμόνων. Ἐπειδὴ τὸ σφάγιον, τὸ προσαγόμενον τῷ εἰδώλῳ, προσεμερίσθη τι καὶ εἰς τὸν παρεδρεύοντα δαίμονα, ἔκ τε τοῦ ἐξαερουμένου αἵματος καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀναθυμιωμένης πιμελῆς καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, λαμβάνοντός τινα μερίδα τοῦ δαιμονίου. Καὶ ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ ποτηρίου πίνων, ἀφ' οὗ ἡ σπονδὴ, ποτήριον πίνει δαιμονίων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὀλολύξει τὰ γλυπτὰ, τουτέστι τὰ ὁμώνυμα τοῖς γλυπτοῖς δαιμόνια. Καὶ ὅταν λέγηται, ὅτι ἥξει εἰς Αἴγυπτον Κύριος καὶ σεισ θήσεται τὰ χειροποίητα Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ἡττη θήσεται, τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν ἐξηγούμεθα. Τὰ γὰρ δαιμόνια, τὰ προσδιατρίβοντα τῷ περιγείῳ τόπῳ, σεισθήσεται φυγαδευό μενα, καὶ εἰς τὸν οἰκεῖον τῆς ἀβύσσου ἀπελαθήσεται τόπον, ἐν τῇ ἐπιδημίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὅστις ποιήσει γλυπτὸν καὶ χωνευτὸν, ἔργον χειρῶν τεχνίτου, καὶ θήσει αὐτὸ ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ, ὅτι κακὸν ἑαυτῷ θησαύρισμα διὰ τοῦ γλυπτοῦ τὸν ἐπακολουθοῦντα αὐτῷ δαίμονα ἐπηγά γετο καὶ κατάραν σύνοικον διὰ τοῦ δαίμονος ἐπεσπάσατο. 10.238 Καὶ ἔσται, ὅταν συντελέσῃ Κύριος πάντα ποιῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιὼν καὶ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐπάξει ἐπὶ τὸν νοῦν τὸν μέγαν τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψος τῆς δόξης τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ τὸ προστάξαι τοῖς γλυπτοῖς τοῖς ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τοῖς ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ ὀλολυγμὸν, καὶ τῇ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἀπειλῇ (οἷον καθαρισθείσης λοιπὸν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώ λων μιάσματος ἐλευθερωθείσης καὶ παιδευθείσης ταῖς πλη γαῖς ταῖς κολαστικαῖς, ἃς διὰ τοῦ παραδοθῆναι τοῖς Ἀσσυ ρίοις ὑπέμενεν) τότε λοιπὸν ἀπειλεῖ ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τὴν πληγὴν μεταθήσειν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὑπερήρθη τῷ φρονήματι καὶ οὐκ ἐνόησεν, ὅτι ἡ ἐκείνων ἁμαρτία αἰτία γέγονε τῶν τοσούτων κακῶν, ἀλλ' ᾠήθη ἰδίᾳ ἐπινοίᾳ καὶ δυνάμει δεδυνῆσθαι κατὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, διὰ ταύτην τὴν ἀλαζονείαν καὶ τὸ ἄλογον ὕψος τῆς κατὰ τὸν νοῦν ἐπάρσεως, Ἐπάξει (φησὶν) ἐπὶ τὸν νοῦν τὸν μέγαν, ἐπὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψος τῆς δόξης τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ. Μέγας ὁ μέν τίς ἐστι κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν· ὁ δὲ κατὰ τὴν οἴησιν, καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν οὐδὲν αὐτῷ προσηκόντων. Νοῦς δὲ μέγας, ὡς ἀληθῶς, ὁ τὰ μεγάλα θεωρῶν, ὁ δυνάμενος τοῖς λόγοις τοῖς δημιουργικοῖς ἐπιβάλλειν, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν τὸ κάλλος τῆς σοφίας τοῦ τεχνίτου τῶν ὅλων κατανοεῖν. Μέγας ὁ τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ τῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ γινομένων καὶ τῇ μέχρι τῶν λεπτοτάτων διηκούσῃ παρ' αὐτοῦ προνοίᾳ ἐπιβάλλειν δυ νάμενος, καὶ ἐντεῦθεν αὐτοῦ τὰ δίκαια