142

impersonating those who are called. For they will show something thin and shrill. But Symmachus has rendered the saying thus: And I will set a camp against you and I will raise a siege against you, and you will be humbled. From the earth you will speak, and your speech will be leveled under the ground, and your voice will be like a ventriloquist from the earth, and from the earth your speech will chirp. But the Savior weeps for Jerusalem, who is about to suffer the things now being said, saying: "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, that days will come upon you, and your enemies will build a rampart against you," and so forth. But suddenly, says the prophet, your calamities will be upon you, as in a moment of time. For it will happen by the visitation of God, and not from men. And he shows that it will be burned by fire, when thunder from God and earthquake and storm are brought upon it, that is, that the attack of the enemies will be like some thunder and earthquake, and a storm and a flame of devouring fire. Having prophesied these things concerning Jerusalem, he adds concerning those who besieged it, saying that the enjoyment of the luxury of the Roman rulers in this life is dreamlike. For it was necessary for us to learn the end of these things as well. For after the manner ..... 29. 9Be faint and be astonished, and be drunk, but not with strong drink, nor with wine. For the Lord has given you a spirit of deep sleep to drink, and he will close their eyes, and of their prophets, and of their rulers who see secret things9, etc. .... for those who ravaged them became like woodcutters to those from Jerusalem. Which Zechariah makes clear, saying: "'Open your hands, O Lebanon, and let the oak devour your cedars. Let the pine wail, because the cedar has fallen. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, because the dense forest has been cut down.'" Therefore, at that time, he says, in which this change will happen, of the aforementioned book, those formerly deaf will hear the words, indicating the gentiles, whom he called Lebanon, words sealed as Carmel to the people of the Jews, because those who were formerly wild, have become tame. But those formerly tame, on the contrary, are wild. And those who were formerly in mist and darkness, will see the light of the book. But those who formerly saw the mysteries of God will become blind to these things. And some will be rich in gladness and spiritual salvation, from which they were alienated from the Fathers. But others will be in want of these things. Having fallen from hope, within which those have come, who were before 2256 without hope, according to that which says: having no hope and without God in the world. And they have come within these things, not stumbling on the stumbling stone, those who believed in the seal placed upon the book, who is Christ. For the impious one who formerly ruled them has failed, that is, the devil whom he calls proud, and the impious under him. For all the demons were destroyed along with the ruler of impiety. But with the gentiles being saved, the Jews will not exist as accusers, And every proud one among them will fail, and he who scoffs at the word of Christ. For Symmachus has rendered it thus: And the scoffers were consumed and all were cut off who cause men to sin in a word by injustice, who, according to the Seventy, having transgressed the law, are called lawless, but proud, having boasted against Christ, saying: "'Is not this the carpenter's son? How then does he say, I have come down from heaven?'" And again: "'Abraham died, and the prophets died, and you say: If anyone hears my word, he will never see death?'" And they also said, "'He has a demon, and is mad. Why do you listen to him?'" And these were they, who ensnared those who taught them in the courts, that is, the prophets, against whom they sought opportunities for every kind of plot. And elsewhere he says: "'And they hated those who reprove in the gates, and they abhorred a holy word,'" who also, turning aside from the righteous word, and Christ himself, righteousness, rejected them in vain, having nothing to charge them with. But some say that 'in the gates' means not secretly, but with all boldness. And righteous, they say the law among the unrighteous

142

καλουμένας ὑποκρινόμενοι. Ὑποφανοῦσι γὰρ ἰσχνόν τι καὶ τετρηγός. Τὸ δὲ ῥητὸν οὕτως ἐξέδωκε Σύμμαχος· Καὶ χαρακώσω κατὰ σοῦ στάσιν καὶ ἀναστήσω κατὰ σοῦ πολιορκίαν, καὶ ταπεινωθήσῃ. Ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς λαλήσεις, καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν ἐδαφισθήσεται ἡ λαλιά σου, καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἐγγαστρίμυθος ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ φωνή σου, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ λαλιά σου ῥοίσεται. Τὰ δὲ νῦν λεγόμενα παθεῖν μέλλουσαν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἀποκλαίεται λέγων· "Εἰ ἔγνως καί γε σὺ τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην σου, ὅτι ἥξουσιν ἡμέραι ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ παρεμβαλοῦσιν ἐπὶ σὲ οἱ ἐχθροί σου χάρακα," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀθρόα δὲ, φησὶν ὁ προφήτης, ἔσται σοι τὰ δεινὰ, ὡς ἐν στιγμῇ χρόνου. Θεοῦ γὰρ ἐπισκοπῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γενήσεται. Παραδείκνυσι δὲ ὡς πυρίκαυστος ἔσται, βροντῆς ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ σεισμοῦ καὶ καταιγίδος ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἐνεχθείσης, ἤγουν τῶν πολεμίων τὴν ἔφοδον καθάπερ τινὰ βροντὴν καὶ σεισμὸν, καὶ καταιγίδα γενήσεσθαι καὶ φλόγα πυρὸς κατεσθίουσαν. Ταῦτα περὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ προειπὼν, ἐπιλέγει περὶ τῶν πολιορκησάντων αὐτὴν, ὀνειρώδη λέγων τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῆς ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ τρυφῆς τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ἀρχόντων. Ἐχρῆν γὰρ ἡμᾶς καὶ τούτων τὸ τέλος μαθεῖν. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸν τρόπον ..... θκαʹ. 9Ἐκλύθητε καὶ ἔκστητε, καὶ κραιπαλήσατε, οὐκ ἀπὸ σίκερα, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ οἴνου. Ὅτι πεπότικεν ὑμᾶς Κύριος πνεύματι κατανύξεως, καὶ καμμύσει τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτῶν οἱ ὁρῶντες τὰ κρυπτὰ9, κ.τ.λ. .... δρυτόμοι γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐγένοντο τοῖς ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἱ καταδῃοῦντες αὐτοῖς. Ὃ δηλοῖ λέγων ὁ Ζαχαρίας· "∆ιάνοιξον, ὁ Λίβανος, τὰς χεῖράς σου, καὶ καταφαγέτω δρὺς τὰς κέδρους σου. Ὀλολυξάτω πίτυς, διότι πέπτωκε κέδρος. Ὀλολύξατε, δρύες τῆς Βασανίτιδος, ὅτι κατεσπάσθη ὁ δρυμὸς ὁ σύμφυτος." Κατὰ δ' οὖν τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον, φησὶ, καθ' ὃν αὐτὴ γενήσεται ἡ μεταβολὴ, τοῦ βιβλίου τοῦ προῤῥηθέντος, ἀκούσονται τοὺς λόγους οἱ πάλαι κωφοὶ, τοὺς ἐθνικοὺς δηλῶν, οὓς ἔλεγεν Λίβανον, λόγους τοὺς ἐσφραγισμένους Χερμὲλ, τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαῷ, διότι οἱ μὲν πρὶν ἀνήμεροι, γεγόνασιν ἥμεροι. Οἱ δὲ πρὶν ἥμεροι, τοὐναντίον ἀνήμεροι. Καὶ οἱ πρὶν ἐν ὀμίχλῃ καὶ σκότῳ τυγχάνοντες, ὄψονται τοῦ βιβλίου τὸ φῶς. Οἱ δὲ πρὶν ὁρῶντες τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ μυστήρια, τυφλοὶ πρὸς ταῦτα γενήσονται. Καὶ οἱ μὲν πλουτήσουσιν εὐφροσύνην καὶ σωτηρίαν πνευματικὴν, ὧν ἦσαν ἐκ Πατέρων ἀλλότριοι. Οἱ δὲ τούτων ἐν ἐνδείᾳ γενήσονται. Ἐκπεσόντες ἐλπίδος, ἧς ἐντὸς ἐκεῖνοι γεγόνασιν, τὸ πρὶν 2256 ὄντες ἀνέλπιστοι, κατὰ τό· Ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν κόσμῳ. Γεγόνασι δὲ τούτων ἐντὸς, μὴ προσκόψαντες τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος, οἱ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἐπικειμένῃ τῷ βιβλίῳ σφραγῖδι, ὅς ἐστι Χριστός. Ἐξέλιπε γὰρ ὁ πρὶν αὐτῶν κρατῶν ἀσεβὴς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁ διάβολος ὃν ὑπερήφανον, φησὶ, καὶ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἀσεβεῖς. Τῷ γὰρ τῆς ἀσεβείας ἄρχοντι συναπώλοντο πάντες οἱ δαίμονες. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν σωθέντων οἱ κατηγορηθέντες οὐχ ὑπάρξουσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, Ἐκλείψει δὲ πᾶς ὑπερήφανος ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χλευάζων τὸν λόγον. Σύμμαχος γὰρ οὕτως ἐξέδωκεν· Καὶ ἀνηλώθησαν χλευάζοντες καὶ ἐξεκόπησαν πάντες οἱ εἰς ἀδικίαν ἐξαμαρτάνοντες ἀνθρώπους ἐν λόγῳ, οἳ, κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα, τὸν νόμον παραβάντες, ἄνομοι λέγονται, ὑπερήφανοι δὲ, τοῦ Χριστοῦ καταλαζονευσάμενοι λέγοντες· "Οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός; πῶς οὖν λέγει, Ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα;" Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανεν, καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον, καὶ σὺ λέγεις· Ἐάν τίς μου τὸν λόγον ἀκούσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ ἵδῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα;" Ἔλεγον δὲ καὶ, "∆αιμόνιον ἔχει, καὶ μαίνεται. Τί αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε;" οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν, οἱ τοὺς παιδεύοντας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐλαῖς παγιδεύοντες, τοὺς προφήτας δηλονότι, καθ' ὧν ἐπιβουλῆς ἁπάσης ἐθηρῶντο λαβάς. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δέ φησι· "Καὶ ἐμίσουν ἐν πύλαις ἐλέγχοντας, καὶ λόγον ὅσιον ἐβδελύσσοντο," οἳ καὶ τὸν δίκαιον λόγον, καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ Χριστὸν, τὴν δικαιοσύνην, μάτην ἐκκλίνοντες ἀπεσείοντο, μηδὲ ἔχοντες ἐγκαλεῖν. Τινὲς δὲ τὸ, ἐν πύλαις, οὐ λεληθότως, ἐν ἁπάσῃ δὲ παῤῥησίᾳ φασί. Καὶ δίκαιον, τὸν νόμον λέγουσιν ἐν ἀδίκοις