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Having mentioned in passing the prophecy of the universal judgment of God for those who had taken refuge, the word repeats the threat against them through the preceding passages and pronounces woe upon those going down to Egypt for the sake of help; for as though God were not able, while they remained in the place where he commanded them to remain, to rescue them from the hand of the enemy, † they fled to the idolaters as their saviors. Those who boasted of claiming the God of Israel as their own were trusting in Egyptian chariots and horses, not remembering how their God once “cast the chariots of Pharaoh and his power into the sea.” Therefore the word blames them, because they did this not trusting in the Holy One of Israel; for this reason it threatens that evils they did not expect will overtake them in Egypt itself. Therefore it is said according to Symmachus: And Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses are flesh but not spirit. And the Lord will stretch out his hand and the helper will weaken, and he who is helped will fall, and all together they will be consumed, calling the Egyptians the helper, and their refugees those who are helped. And through this entire preceding history, the word teaches that in times of persecutions, if ever God should decide to deliver his people or even his church to those who drive out piety, one must not depart from divinely-inspired faith nor abandon trust in God nor despair of God's reconciliations nor desert to the Egyptian way of life, I mean that of the idolaters; for many in such times, having apostatized from the word of piety, have hung their hopes on the help of idolaters. But after the aforesaid things, it again connects the return of those who will come back from captivity, with God defending him, and says that just as a lion, the royal and strongest of all beasts, having roused itself for the hunt for food, leaps upon a flock of sheep, paying no heed to the cries of the shepherds nor the multitude of those driving it away, so the Lord himself will set upon the enemies and will rescue his own people from them, restoring them to their own place in Jerusalem. Thus he will defend them as it is often possible to see in the nature of birds the mothers of the young flying around the nest and fighting for their young, for so he himself will also defend Jerusalem. Having promised to defend Jerusalem, God addresses those who had entered Egypt, saying next: Return, you who devise a deep and lawless counsel. For it is still possible even now, having repented, to return to your own land, having learned what things God has promised concerning it. Then it promises that at that time, when the return will happen for the people, idolatry will no longer be established among them. Therefore it says: For in that day men will put away the handmade things. And history also demonstrates this; for after they returned from Babylon and rebuilt the second temple in Jerusalem, they are no longer seen using idols. Then, since fearing the Assyrian they left their dwelling in Judea and fled to Egypt, it promises them the fall of the Assyrian, saying: And Assur shall fall by a sword not of man. And it signifies the destruction of the kingdom of the Assyrians and their fall, as if being carried from the height of their former royal dignity to a lowly state; and this, it says, will happen to them not from a human attack, but from the wrath of God against them. For even if men especially seemed to have become servants of their destruction, yet it was God himself who was destroying them through men. Therefore it was said above in the prophecy concerning Babylon: “Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against you.” And instead of: for by a rock

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καταφυγόντων προφητείᾳ τῆς καθολικῆς κρίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ μέσου μνημονεύσας ὁ λόγος ἐπαναλαμβάνει τὴν πρὸς τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀπειλὴν διὰ τῶν προκειμένων καὶ ταλανίζει τοὺς κατιόντας εἰς Αἴγυπτον βοηθείας χάριν· ὡς γὰρ μὴ δυναμένου τοῦ θεοῦ μένοντας αὐτούς, ἐν ᾧ αὐτὸς μένειν ἐκέλευσε τόπῳ ῥύσασθαι τῆς τῶν πολεμίων χειρὸς † κατεφεῦρον σωτῆρας αὐτῶν τοὺς εἰδωλολάτρας. οἱ τὸν θεὸν Ἰσραὴλ αὐχοῦντες ἐπιγραφόμενοι πεποιθότες τε ἦσαν ἐπ' Αἰγυπτίοις ἅρμασί τε καὶ ἵπποις οὐ μεμνημένοι ὡς «ἅρματα Φαραὼ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ ἔρριψέ» ποτε ὁ αὐτῶν θεὸς «εἰς θάλασσαν». διὸ μέμφεται αὐτοὺς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι μὴ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦτ' ἔπραττον· διὸ καταλήψεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἃ μὴ προσεδόκησαν κακὰ ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀπειλεῖ. διὸ λέλεκται κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ἄνθρωποι καὶ οὐ θεός, καὶ ἵπποι αὐτῶν σὰρξ ἀλλ' οὐ πνεῦμα. κύριος δὲ ἐκτενεῖ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀσθενήσει ὁ βοηθός, καὶ πεσεῖται ὁ βοηθούμενος, καὶ πάντες ὁμοῦ συντελεσθήσονται, βοηθὸν μὲν λέγων τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, βοηθουμένους δὲ τοὺς πρόσφυγας αὐτῶν. διδάσκει δὲ δι' ὅλης τῆς προκειμένης ἱστορίας ὁ λόγος ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς τῶν διωγμῶν, εἴ ποτε κρίνειεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἢ καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν αὐτοῦ παραδοῦναι τοῖς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἐλαύνουσι, μὴ δεῖν ἀναχωρεῖν τῆς ἐνθέου πίστεως μηδὲ τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν πεποιθήσεως ἀφίστασθαι μηδ' ἀπογινώσκειν τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ διαλλαγὰς μηδὲ ἐπὶ τὸν Αἰγυπτιακὸν βίον αὐτομολεῖν, λέγω δὲ τὸν τῶν εἰδωλολατρῶν· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις καιροῖς ἀποστατήσαντες τοῦ τῆς θεοσεβείας λόγου τὰς ἐλπίδας ἀνήρτησαν ἑαυτῶν τῆς τῶν εἰδωλολατρῶν βοηθείας. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ μετὰ τὰ προλεχθέντα πάλιν ἐπισυνάπτει τὴν ἐπάνοδον τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἐπανηξόντων προασπίσοντος αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ καί φησιν ὅτι ὥσπερ λέων τὸ βασιλικὸν καὶ πάντων ἰσχυρότατον θηρίων κινήσας ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τροφῆς θήραν ἐπιπηδᾷ προβάτων ποίμνῃ μηδὲ τὰς κραυγὰς τῶν ποιμένων μηδὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐλαυνόντων ἐπιστρεφόμενος, οὕτως αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐπιθήσεται τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν ἐξ αὐτῶν ῥύσεται ἀποκαταστήσας τε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ τόπον τὸν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ. οὕτως αὐτῶν ὑπερασπίσει ὥς ἐστιν ἰδεῖν πολλάκις ἐν τῇ τῶν ὀρνέων φύσει τὰς τῶν νεοττῶν μητέρας περιιπταμένας ἀμφὶ τὴν καλιὰν καὶ τῶν νεοττῶν ὑπερμαχούσας, οὕτως γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπερασπίσει τῆς Ἰερουσαλήμ. ἐπαγγειλάμενος τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ ὑπερασπίσειν ὁ θεὸς προσφωνεῖ τοῖς εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἰσεληλυθόσιν ἑξῆς λέγων· ἐπιστράφητε, οἱ τὴν βαθεῖαν βουλὴν βουλευόμενοι καὶ ἄνομον. ἔξεστι γὰρ εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν μετανοήσαντας ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν γῆν, μαθόντας ὁποῖα ἐπήγγελται περὶ αὐτῆς ὁ θεός. Εἶτ' ἐπαγγέλλεται ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον, καθ' ὃν τὰ τῆς ἐπανόδου γενήσεται τῷ λαῷ, οὐκέτ' εἰδωλολατρίαν ἐν αὐτοῖς συστήσεται. διό φησιν· ὅτι τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀφελοῦνται οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ χειροποίητα. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ παρίστησιν ἡ ἱστορία· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ ἐπανελθεῖν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ἀνεγεῖραι δεύτερον τὸν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ναὸν οὐκέτι φαίνονται εἰδώλοις χρησάμενοι. Εἶτα ἐπειδήπερ τὸν Ἀσσύριον φοβούμενοι κατέλιπον τὴν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ οἴκησιν καὶ κατέφυγον ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἐπαγγέλλεται αὐτοῖς τὴν τοῦ Ἀσσυρίου πτῶσιν λέγων· καὶ πεσεῖται ὁ Ἀσσοὺρ μαχαίρᾳ οὐκ ἀνδρός. σημαίνει δὲ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῆς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλείας καὶ τὴν πτῶσιν αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ ἀφ' ὕψους τοῦ προτέρου βασιλικοῦ ἀξιώματος ἐπὶ τὸ ταπεινὸν φερομένου· καὶ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς φησι συμβήσεται οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης ἐφόδου, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κατ' αὐτῶν ὀργῆς. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἐδόκουν ἄνθρωποι ὑπηρέται γεγονέναι τῆς καθαιρέσεως αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ θεὸς ὁ διὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καθαιρῶν αὐτούς. διὸ ἀνωτέρω ἐλέγετο ἐν τῇ περὶ Βαβυλῶνος προφητείᾳ· «ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπεγερῶ ὑμῖν τοὺς Μήδους». Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· πέτρᾳ γὰρ