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“I was seen.” But the angels of peace cried out earnestly, wherefore they also wept bitterly, crying out in earnest prayers for the destruction of the former people; for the apostles of our Savior were angels weeping bitterly and mourning because those called by them to the peace of Christ did not obey nor believe them. Wherefore the Savior himself, weeping over Jerusalem, said: “If you, even you, had only known the things that make for your peace”; so, therefore, the angels of peace also wept bitterly, lamenting their destruction. Wherefore he adds: For their roads will be desolate; the fear of the nations has ceased, and the covenant with them is taken away, and you will not reckon them as men. Which Symmachus indeed interpreted more clearly, saying: Roads have vanished; he who travels the path has ceased, he has scattered the covenant, he has rejected cities, he has not reckoned men. But the phrase, “the fear of the nations has ceased,” is found neither in the Hebrew reading nor in the other interpreters. But that the roads of the people of the circumcision have ceased, and that the covenant with them, delivered to them through Moses, is taken away, and that no one will any longer reckon them as men. Then after this he adds: the land has mourned, accordingly because of the things spoken concerning it; Lebanon was ashamed, Sharon became a marsh; Galilee and Carmel will be manifest, but according to Symmachus: The land wept, it grew weak, Lebanon was put to shame, Sharon became useless as if impassable, and Bashan and Carmel were laid bare. All these happen to be parts of the country of Judaea, I mean Carmel and the so-called Bashan and Galilee and Sharon; and Lebanon, in the preceding text, being inserted between Sharon and Bashan and Carmel and Galilee, is specifically understood in the present context to refer to Jerusalem, on account of the sacrifice offered up in it, in which frankincense (libanos) was also offered according to the law of Moses. And indeed he says Lebanon was put to shame, as if he said more clearly the sacrifice and the altar, on account of the abolition of the worship according to the law of Moses. And in other places Jerusalem was called Lebanon, as it is said in Zechariah: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire devour your cedars.” And Ezekiel also says: “The great eagle with great wings, which has the lead, to enter into Lebanon and plucked off the tender shoots of the cedar.” Then, interpreting the meaning of the word, he adds, when Nebuchadnezzar comes to Jerusalem, clearly explaining that the eagle is the king of the Babylonians, and Lebanon is Jerusalem. But also the country called Sharon, or Assaron, he says, became a marsh or useless, by which he signifies that the richest places of the Jewish nation, that is, the things conceived in their souls, will be destroyed. But the phrase, “Galilee will be manifest,” is said because of the things prophesied about it before, according to “Galilee of the Gentiles”: “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light; for those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death a light has dawned.” For on account of these things Galilee will be manifest, and Carmel, he says, will likewise be manifest. But which is this, or about which was it said above: “and the desert will be like Carmel”? Therefore this “desert,” having become “like Carmel,” along with Galilee, will be manifest. The benevolent God, therefore, “sent angels of peace” to the Jewish people, “weeping bitterly and exhorting them” to accept the “peace” that was being proclaimed to them. But since they did not receive them, he adds, saying: Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be glorified, now I will be exalted; now you will see, now you will perceive, promising his second and glorious coming, at which they will see and will receive a perception of his divinity. Then he himself will be glorified and exalted. And then they will know that the strength of their spirit was indeed in vain; for fire will consume them, wherefore it has been said to their face:

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«ὤφθην». οἱ δὲ ἔκραξαν ἐκτενῶς ἄγγελοι εἰρήνης, διὸ καὶ πικρῶς ἔκλαυσαν βοῶντες ἐν εὐχαῖς ἐκτενῶς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπωλείας τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ· ἦσαν γὰρ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἄγγελοι πικρῶς κλαίοντες καὶ πενθοῦντες διὰ τὸ μὴ πείθεσθαι μηδὲ πιστεύειν αὐτοῖς τοὺς δι' αὐτῶν κεκλημένους ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰρήνην. διὸ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἀποκλαυσάμενος τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔλεγεν· «εἰ ᾔδεις καί γε σὺ τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην σου»· οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ἄγγελοι τῆς εἰρήνης πικρῶς ἔκλαυσαν ἀποδυρόμενοι αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν. ∆ιὸ ἐπιλέγει· ἐρημωθήσονται γὰρ αἱ τούτων ὁδοί· πέπαυται ὁ φόβος τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ἡ πρὸς τούτους διαθήκη αἴρεται, καὶ οὐ μὴ λογίσεσθε αὐτοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἃ δὴ σαφέστερον ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ Σύμμαχος εἰπών· ἠφανίσθησαν ὁδοί· ἐπαύσατο ὁ διοδεύων τρίβον, διεσκόρπισε διαθήκην, ἀπώσατο πόλεις, οὐκ ἐλογίσατο ἀνθρώπους. τὸ δέ· πέπαυται ὁ φόβος τῶν ἐθνῶν οὔτε ἐν τῇ Ἑβραϊκῇ ἀναγνώσει οὔτε ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς φέρεται. ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐπαύσαντο αἱ ὁδοὶ τοῦ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαοῦ καὶ ὅτι ἡ πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαθήκη αἴρεται ἡ διὰ Μωσέως αὐτοῖς παραδοθεῖσα καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς οὐκέτι αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀνθρώπους λογιεῖται. Εἶτα μετ' αὐτὰ ἐπιλέγει· ἐπένθησεν ἡ γῆ, ἀκολούθως διὰ τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς εἰρημένα ᾐσχύνθη ὁ Λίβανος, ἕλη ἐγένετο ὁ Σαρών· φανερὰ ἔσται ἡ Γαλιλαία καὶ ὁ Χερμέλ, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον· ἔκλαυσεν, ἠσθένησεν ἡ γῆ, κατῃσχύνθη ὁ Λίβανος, ἀχρεῖος ἐγένετο ὁ Σαρὼν ὡσεὶ ἄβατος καὶ ἐξέτειναν ὁ Βασὰν καὶ ὁ Κάρμηλος. ταῦτα πάντα τῆς Ἰουδαίας χώρας μέρη τυγχάνει, ὁ Κάρμηλος λέγω καὶ ἡ καλουμένη Βασὰν καὶ ἡ Γαλιλαία καὶ ὁ Σαρὼν καὶ ὁ Λίβανος δὲ ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις μεταξὺ τοῦ Σαρὼν καὶ τοῦ Βασὰν καὶ τοῦ Καρμήλου καὶ τῆς Γαλιλαίας παρεμβεβλημένος ἰδίως ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος νοεῖται ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ διὰ τὴν θυσίαν τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ ἀναπεμπομένην, ἐν ᾗ καὶ λίβανος προσεφέρετο κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον. καὶ δὴ κατῃσχύνθαι φησὶ τὸν Λίβανον ὡσεὶ σαφέστερον ἔλεγε τὴν θυσίαν καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον διὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῆς κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον λατρείας. καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις δὲ ἡ Ἰερουσαλὴμ Λίβανος ὠνομάσθη, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ζαχαρίᾳ εἴρηται· «διάνοιξον, ὁ Λίβανος, τὰς θύρας σου, καὶ καταφαγέτω πῦρ τὰς κέδρους σου». καὶ ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ δέ φησιν· «ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος, ὃς ἔχει τὸ ἥγημα εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν Λίβανον καὶ ἀπέκνισε τὰ ἁπαλὰ τῆς κέδρου». εἶτα ἑρμηνεύων τὴν τοῦ λόγου διάνοιαν ἐπιλέγει, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ δηλαυγῶς τὸν μὲν ἀετὸν διασαφῶν εἶναι τὸν τῶν Βαβυλωνίων βασιλέα, τὸν δὲ Λίβανον τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ χώρα φησὶν ἡ καλουμένη Σαρὼν ἢ Ἀσσαρὼν ἕλη φησὶν ἐγένετο ἢ ἀχρεῖος, δι' οὗ σημαίνει τὰ πιότατα χωρία τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους, δηλαδὴ τὰ ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν νοούμενα ἀφανισθήσεσθαι. τὸ δέ· φανερὰ ἔσται ἡ Γαλιλαία, εἴρηται διὰ τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν προφητευθέντα κατὰ τὸ «Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν»· «ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει, ἴδετε φῶς μέγα· τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς»· διὰ ταῦτα γὰρ φανερὰ ἔσται ἡ Γαλιλαία καὶ ὁ Χερμὲλ δὲ ὁμοίως φανερὸς ἔσται φησίν. ποῖος δὲ οὗτος ἢ περὶ οὗ ἐλέγετο ἀνωτέρω· «καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἔρημος ὡς ὁ Χερμέλ»; αὕτη οὖν «ἡ ἔρημος» γενομένη «ὡς ὁ Χερμὲλ» μετὰ καὶ τῆς Γαλιλαίας φανερὰ ἔσται. Ὁ μὲν οὖν φιλάνθρωπος θεὸς «ἀγγέλους ἀπέστειλεν εἰρήνης» πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν «πικρῶς κλαίοντας καὶ παρακαλοῦντας» ἀποδέξασθαι τὴν εὐαγγελιζομένην αὐτοῖς «εἰρήνην». ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἐδέξαντο αὐτούς, ἐπιφέρει φάσκων· νῦν ἀναστήσομαι, λέγει κύριος, νῦν δοξασθήσομαι, νῦν ὑψωθήσομαι· νῦν ὄψεσθε, νῦν αἰσθηθήσεσθε, τὴν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔνδοξον παρουσίαν ἐπαγγελλόμενος, καθ' ἣν ὄψονται καὶ αἴσθησιν αὐτοῦ τῆς θεότητος λήψονται. τότε δὲ δοξασθήσεται αὐτὸς καὶ ὑψωθήσεται. καὶ τότε γνώσονται, ὅτι ματαία ἦν ἄρα ἡ ἰσχὺς τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτῶν· πῦρ γὰρ κατέδεται αὐτούς, διὸ εἰς αὐτῶν πρόσωπον εἴρηται·