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was called a nation and a priesthood. But having cast off their holiness, he will sanctify them again, if they repent for what they have sinned. A groan alone is not sufficient for this, but also a turning of ways, when one becomes conscious of himself, having recognized where he was in deceit and evils. Such is also the knowledge of the disease with which we are sick, when one reconsiders with freedom of reasoning, and you will know this by taking refuge with those who are not strong enough to save themselves. But to those who trust in flight, and are unwilling to listen, he says: You will indeed flee, but you will not be able to escape the hand of the Babylonians. And you will flee them to such an extent, until they are left behind like a mast on a mountain, and like a banner on a hill. Or according to Symmachus, as a mast upon a mountain, and as sails on a hill. For just as the mast of a ship that has fallen apart from a shipwreck is a sign on a mountain, lying there uselessly, along with the sails; so he says their destruction will become conspicuous. Some say that signs are placed in high places for the soldiers by the generals, indicating what must be done. Or, as others say, in this way the punishment against you will be so manifest, that it is not possible for a mast on a mountain and a sign on a hill to be hidden. However, he does not say that all will be completely destroyed. For God will have mercy on some, taking pity on them, through which mercy he is glorified. For as a just judge, he punishes the worthy; but those who are able to receive mercy, he pities. Therefore he says: Blessed is he who does not despair in the circumstances that befall us. Some say these things were said on account of the remnant of Israel that will be saved. Some say it signifies the return through Cyrus. Others, the recompense for what we do in the general judgment 2268. By threatening he frightens, and by comforting he heals, so that the one might not produce despair, and the other dissipation. ιηʹκʹ. 9And again God will wait to have compassion on you. And for this reason he will be exalted to have mercy on you, because the Lord your God is a judge; and where will you leave your glory? Blessed are they that abide in him, for a holy people shall dwell in Zion, and Jerusalem wept with weeping9, etc. Accordingly, he prophesies the return of the people after the evils that occurred in the time of Jeremiah, when the city was filled with inhabitants, and the land with farmers. And again the temple of God was rebuilt in the time of Zerubbabel and Joshua, while Haggai and Zechariah were prophesying. After them, Ezra, then Nehemiah cooperated in the completion of the city, after which it remained unconquered for a very long time; which the prophet indicates, saying, And again God waits to have compassion on us. And that being our judge, he delivered up those deserving of captivity. But those whom it was just to pity, he saved. Therefore it is blessed to abide in him. Or, according to Symmachus, to wait for him. For having had compassion on Jerusalem, he will rebuild it again. But the word "holy," in the phrase "a holy people," is not added in the Hebrew, nor according to the editions of the others; reasonably so. For the people who inhabited the city after the return were not entirely holy. But also in the phrase, "wept with weeping," the Hebrew has "Did not weep." Therefore Symmachus says, "You will not weep." And Theodotion, "He will not be wept for." For it was a time of gladness, not of weeping, for those who had received back the city by the mercy of God. According to the verse: "But they who come shall come with rejoicing, bearing their sheaves." And instead of, "The voice of your cry when he saw it he heard you"; Symmachus says: "At the voice of your cry, as soon as it is heard, he hears you." Like unto, "According to your faith be it done to you." For the present, he says, "He will give you bread of affliction," speaking of the beginning of the return, when the surrounding peoples were oppressing them. For after these things he promises them all prosperity, and first, freedom from error, by having the knowledge that it has been established in error, even if some should pervert them, summoning them to strange paths. For you will travel, he says, on a middle and royal road, turning aside from those on either side, when you will also defile these polluted idols, considering them as something excessively unclean. Then the things of abundance will be extended to you, even to the irrational animals, and especially the agricultural ones. But physical things up to

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ἔθνος ἐλέγετο καὶ ἱεράτευμα. Ἀποβαλόντας δὲ τὸν ἁγιασμὸν αὖθις αὐτοὺς ἁγιάσει, ἐὰν μετανοήσωσιν ἐφ' οἷς ἥμαρτον. Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ δὲ μόνον πρὸς τοῦτο στεναγμὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρόπων ἐπιστροφὴ, ὅτε τις ἑαυτοῦ λαμβάνει συναίσθησιν, ἔνθα ἦν ἀπάτης καὶ κακῶν ἐγνωκώς. Οἵα καὶ τῆς νοσούμεθα νόσον ἡ γνῶσις ἀναθεωροῦντος ἐπ' ἀδείας τοῦ λογισμοῦ, καὶ σὺ δὲ γνώσῃ καταφυγὼν πρὸς τοὺς σώζειν ἑαυτοὺς οὐκ ἰσχύοντας. Θαῤῥοῦσι δὲ τῇ φυγῇ, καὶ μὴ βουλομένοις ἀκούειν φησί· Φεύξεσθε μὲν, οὐ μὴν διαφυγεῖν ἕξετε τῶν Βαβυλωνίων τὴν χεῖρα. Εἰς τοσοῦτο δὲ αὐτοὺς φεύξεσθε, ἕως ἂν καταλειφθῶσιν ὡς ἱστὸς ἐπ' ὄρους, καὶ ὡς σημαία ἐπὶ βουνοῦ. Ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, ὡς ἱστὸς ἐπάνω ὄρους, καὶ ὡς ἱστία ἐπὶ βουνοῦ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ νηὸς διαπεσούσης ἐκ ναυαγίας σημεῖον ἐπ' ὄρους ἱστὸς, ὡς ἄχρηστος κείμενος, μετὰ καὶ τῶν ἱστίων· οὕτως αὐτῶν ἐπίσημον γενήσεσθαί φησι τὴν ἀπώλειαν. Τινὲς δέ φασιν, ἐφ' ὑψηλῶν χωρίων τίθεσθαι τοῖς στρατιώταις παρὰ τῶν στρατηγούντων σημεῖα, τῶν πρακτέων δηλωτικά. Ἢ, καθά φασιν ἕτεροι, οὕτως ἡ καθ' ὑμῶν ἔσται τιμωρία περιφανὴς, ὡς οὐκ ἔστι λαθεῖν ἱστὸν ἐπ' ὄρους, καὶ σημεῖον ἐπὶ βουνοῦ. Πλὴν οὐ πάντη πάντας ἀπολεῖσθαί φησι. Τινὰς γὰρ ἐλεήσει Θεὸς οἶκτον λαβὼν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς, δι' ὧν ἐλεεῖ δοξαζόμενος. Ὡς γὰρ δίκαιος κριτὴς, τοὺς μὲν ἀξίους τιμωρεῖται· τοὺς δὲ δυναμένους ἐλέους τυχεῖν, ἐλεεῖ. ∆ιό φησιν· Μακάριος ὁ μὴ ἀπογινώσκων ἐν τοῖς καταλαμβάνουσιν ἡμᾶς περιστατικοῖς. Τινὲς δὲ ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαί φασι διὰ τὸ σωθησόμενον τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐγκατάλειμμα. Τινὲς δὲ τὴν διὰ τοῦ Κύρου σημαίνειν ἐπάνοδον. Ἄλλοι τὴν ἐν τῇ καθόλου κρίσει 2268 πρὸς ἃ πράττομεν ἀμοιβήν. Ἀπειλῶν δὲ φοβεῖ, καὶ θεραπεύει παραμυθούμενος, ἵνα μὴ τὸ μὲν ἀπαγόρευσιν, τὸ δὲ διάχυσιν ἀπεργάσηται. ιηʹκʹ. 9Καὶ πάλιν μενεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οἰκτειρῆσαι ὑμᾶς. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὑψωθήσεται τοῦ ἐλεῆσαι ὑμᾶς, διότι κριτὴς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν· καὶ ποῦ καταλείψετε δόξαν ὑμῶν; Μακάριοι οἱ ἐμμένοντες ἐν αὐτῷ, διότι λαὸς ἅγιος ἐν Σιὼν οἰκήσει, καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κλαυθμῷ ἔκλαυσεν9, κ.τ.λ. Ἀκολούθως θεσπίζει τὴν ἐπάνοδον τοῦ λαοῦ μετὰ τὰ γεγονότα ἐπὶ Ἱερεμίου κακὰ, ἡνίκα πεπλήρωτο τῶν μὲν οἰκητόρων ἡ πόλις, τῶν δὲ γεωργούντων ἡ χώρα. Πάλιν δὲ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνῳκοδομήθη ναὸς ἐπὶ Ζοροβάβελ καὶ Ἰησοῦ, προφητευόντων Ἀγγαίου καὶ Ζαχαρίου. Μεθ' οὓς, Ἔσδρας, εἶτα Νεεμίας πρὸς τελείωσιν τῇ πόλει συνέπραξαν, ἐφ' οἷς ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον ἀνάλωτος· ἅπερ δηλῶν ὁ προφήτης φησὶ, Καὶ πάλιν μένει ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οἰκτειρῆσαι ἡμᾶς. Καὶ ὅτι κριτὴς ὢν ἡμῶν, τοὺς μὲν ἀξίους αἰχμαλωσίας, παρεδίδου. Οὓς δὲ δίκαιον ἐλεεῖν, ἔσωζε. ∆ιὸ μακάριον τὸ ἐμμένειν ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἢ, κατὰ Σύμμαχον, τὸ ὑπομένειν αὐτόν. Οἰκτειρήσας γὰρ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἀνοικοδομήσει πάλιν αὐτήν. Τὸ δὲ ἅγιος, ἐν τῷ, λαὸς ἅγιος, οὐ πρόσκειται παρ' Ἑβραίοις, οὔτε κατὰ τὰς ἐκδόσεις τῶν ἅλλων· εἰκότως. Οὐδὲ γὰρ πάντως ἅγιος ὁ τὴν πόλιν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον οἰκήσας λαός. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ, κλαυθμῷ ἔκλαυσεν, τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν Οὐκ ἔκλαυσεν ἔχει. ∆ιὸ Σύμμαχος, Οὐ κλαύσεις, φησίν. Ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, Οὐ κλαυθήσεται. Εὐφροσύνης γὰρ ἦν καιρὸς, οὐ κλαυθμοῦ τοῖς ἀπειληφόσι τὴν πόλιν ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ. Κατὰ τό· "Ἐρχόμενοι δὲ ἥξουσιν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει αἴροντες τὰ δράγματα αὐτῶν." Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Τὴν φωνὴν τῆς κραυγῆς σου ἡνίκα εἶδεν ἐπήκουσέν σου· ὁ Σύμμαχός φησι· Πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν τῆς βοῆς σου, καθὼς ἂν ἀκουσθῇ, ἀκούει σου. Ὁποῖον τῷ, "Κατὰ τὴν πίστιν σου γενηθήτω σοι." Πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρόν φησιν, Ἄρτον θλίψεως δώσει σοι, κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐπανόδου λέγων, τῶν περιχώρων θλιβόντων αὐτούς. Μετὰ γὰρ ταῦτα πᾶσαν αὐτοῖς εὐετηρίαν κατεπαγγέλλεται, καὶ πλάνης πρῶτον ἐλευθερίαν, τῷ γνῶσιν ἔχειν, ὅτι πλάνῃ καθέστηκεν, κἂν διαστρέφοιέν τινες ἐπ' ἀλλοκότους ὁδοὺς προκαλούμενοι. Ὁδῷ γὰρ, φησὶ, πορεύσῃ μέσῃ τε καὶ βασιλικῇ τὰς ἑκατέρωθεν ἐκκλίνων, ὅτε καὶ μιανεῖς τὰ εἴδωλα μιαρὰ ταῦτα, καθάπερ τι τῶν ἄγαν ἀκαθάρτων ἡγούμενος. Τότε σοι τὰ τῆς εὐθηνίας, μέχρι τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων, γεωργικῶν δὲ μάλιστα, παρατείνεται. Σωματικὰς δὲ μέχρι