148
for the impiety of Jacob.” For because of the impieties committed against him, immediately and not long after, both the mountains and those dwelling in them were besieged, and Mount Zion endured burning and utter desolation, and “the mountain of the house of God” became “a grove of the forest.” 6.13.16 Therefore, the present prophecy also signifies that these things would happen to them at the descent of the Lord from heaven, which also received a clear fulfillment after the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ. 6.13.17 If indeed our history is of any value, we have perceived with our own eyes that Zion, renowned of old, was being plowed with yokes of oxen by Roman men, and Jerusalem, just as the oracle itself says, was left like a “cucumber-patch,” having come to complete desolation. And these things happened to them for no other reason than because of their impieties, for which the heavenly Word also came forth from his own place. 6.13.18 And for another reason, the Word of God was said before to have come down from heaven and to have trodden “upon the heights of the earth,” so that the “mountains” that were formerly raised and exalted “against the knowledge of God” might be “shaken from under him,” that is, the opposing powers, which before his advent, along with the rest of humanity, had enslaved the Hebrew nation to the practices of impiety and idolatry; and that the wicked demons, called “valleys” because they dwell in dark chasms and the hollows of bodies, “melting like wax before the face of fire,” might flee from men by the power of the divine Word. And there would be another reason besides these, and not an insignificant one, for the Lord’s descent from heaven, which the Word indicates: so that all the nations on earth, with the demons driven out and the ruling spirits shaken, having breathed again from their former harsh and unmovable tyranny, might receive the knowledge of the God over all. 6.13.19 And the voices of the same prophecy proclaim these very things in this way, in order and in the same context, under one connection of thought: “and in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, prepared on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall hasten to it. And many nations shall go and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and they will show us his way, and we will walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge between the nations.” 6.13.20 Such are the things concerning the calling of the nations, and one might learn at leisure what meaning they hold and how they too were fulfilled after the advent of our Savior. Following these things, indeed, the word of the prophecy, beginning as though the Lord’s descent to mankind would be for the salvation not only of the Jewish nation but of all nations, cries out to all peoples and to all on the earth, saying: “Hear, all peoples, and let the earth give heed, and all who are in it.” 6.13.21 And he hinted at the testimony of the Lord’s passion, adding: “And the Lord your God shall be for a witness.” Then, in sequence, the same prophet, proceeding as one who has already taught about the existence of the Word of God and his descent from heaven, and as one who has foretold the reasons for his advent to mankind, consequently teaches about his coming birth among men and the very place where he was to be born, saying in this way: “and you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are too little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth for me a leader, to be a ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” 6.13.22 But pay careful attention to how he says that the goings forth of the one who would appear at Bethlehem—this is a place in Judea—subsisted from above and from eternity, the divine
148
δι' ἀσέβειαν Ἰακώβ». διὰ γὰρ τὰς δρασθείσας κατ' αὐτοῦ δυσσεβείας εὐθὺς καὶ οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν καὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ οἱ ἐν τούτοις οἰκοῦντες πεπολιόρκηντο, ἐμπρησμόν τε καὶ ἐσχάτην ἐρημίαν τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος ὑπέμεινε, καὶ γέγονεν «τὸ ὄρος τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ἄλσος δρυμοῦ». 6.13.16 ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ κυρίου ἐξ οὐρανῶν καθόδῳ περὶ ἐκείνους ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἡ παροῦσα προφητεία σημαίνει, ἃ καὶ ἐναργῆ τὴν ἔκβασιν εἴληφεν μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν. 6.13.17 εἰ γοῦν τι δύναται καὶ ἡ ἡμετέρα ἱστορία, καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς τὴν πάλαι βοωμένην Σιὼν ζεύγεσι βοῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἀνδρῶν ἀρουμένην ὀφθαλμοῖς παρειλήφαμεν, καὶ τήν γε Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὡς αὐτό γέ φησι τὸ λόγιον, «ὀπωροφυλακίου» δίκην ἀπολειφθέντος, ἐν παντελεῖ καταστᾶσαν ἐρημίᾳ. ἃ καὶ δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον αὐτοῖς ἢ διὰ τὰς δυσσεβείας αὐτῶν συμβέβηκεν, δι' ἃς καὶ ὁ λόγος ὁ οὐράνιος ἐκ τοῦ οἰκείου τόπου προελήλυθεν. 6.13.18 καὶ δι' ἑτέρας δὲ αἰτίας ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος οὐρανόθεν κατεληλυθέναι τε καὶ ἐπιβεβηκέναι «ἐπὶ τὰ ὕψη τῆς γῆς» ἤδη πρότερον ἐλέγετο, ὅπως τὰ μὲν πάλαι ἐπαιρόμενα καὶ ὑπερυψούμενα «κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ» «ὄρη σαλευθῇ ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτοῦ», αἱ δυνάμεις δηλονότι αἱ ἀντικείμεναι, αἳ πρὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὸ Ἑβραίων ἔθνος τοῖς τῆς δυσσεβείας καὶ εἰδωλολατρίας πράγμασιν καταδεδούλωνται, οἱ δὲ πονηροὶ δαίμονες, «κοιλάδες» ἐπικαλούμενοι διὰ τὸ ἐν χάσμασι σκοτίοις καὶ τοῖς τῶν σωμάτων κοιλώμασιν ἐνδιατρίβειν, «ὡς κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς» τηκόμενοι, τῇ τοῦ θείου λόγου δυνάμει ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀποφύγοιεν. καὶ ἑτέρα δ' ἂν εἴη παρὰ ταύτας αἰτία οὐχ ἡ τυχοῦσα τῆς ἐξ οὐρανῶν καθόδου τοῦ κυρίου, ἣν ὁ λόγος ἐπισημαίνεται, ὅπως πάντα τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἔθνη, τῶν δαιμόνων ἀπελασθέντων καὶ τῶν ἀρχοντικῶν πνευμάτων σεισθέντων, τῆς πάλαι αὐτῶν σκληρᾶς καὶ ἀκινήτου τυραννίδος ὑπαναπνεύσαντα, τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων ἀναλάβῃ θεοῦ. 6.13.19 καὶ αὐτὰ ὧδέ πως αἱ τῆς αὐτῆς προφητείας φωναὶ ἑξῆς καὶ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ὑπὸ μίαν συνάφειαν διανοίας κηρύττουσιν· «καὶ ἔσται ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος κυρίου, ἕτοιμον ἐπὶ τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων, καὶ μετεωρισθήσεται ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν, καὶ σπεύσουσιν ἐπ' αὐτῷ λαοί. καὶ πορεύσονται ἔθνη πολλὰ καὶ ἐροῦσιν, δεῦτε ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ κυρίου καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ, καὶ δείξουσιν ἡμῖν τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πορευσόμεθα ἐν ταῖς τρίβοις αὐτοῦ. ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται νόμος, καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ κρινεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν». 6.13.20 Τοιαῦτα καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως, ἃ καὶ ὁποίας ἔχεται διανοίας ὅπως τε καὶ αὐτὰ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίαν τέλος εἴληφεν, ἐπὶ σχολῆς ἄν τις καταμάθοι. ἀκολούθως γε μὴν τούτοις ἀρχόμενος ὁ τῆς προφητείας λόγος, ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ οὐ μόνον τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων τῆς τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀνθρώπους καθόδου γενησομένης, πᾶσι τοῖς λαοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἅπασιν ἐπιφωνεῖ λέγων· «ἀκούσατε, λαοὶ πάντες, καὶ προσεχέτω ἡ γῆ, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ». 6.13.21 καὶ τὸ μαρτύριον δὲ τοῦ πάθους ᾐνίττετο τοῦ κυρίου ἐπιφέρων· «καὶ ἔσται κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν εἰς μαρτύριον». Εἶθ' ἑξῆς ὁ αὐτὸς προϊὼν προφήτης, ὡς ἂν ἤδη προπαιδεύσας τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑπάρξεως τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου τῆς τε ἐξ οὐρανῶν αὐτοῦ καταβάσεως, καὶ ὡς τὰ αἴτια τῆς εἰς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ παρουσίας προειπών, ἑπομένως τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ ἐσομένην γένεσιν καὶ αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ χωρίον, ἔνθα τεχθήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν, ὧδέ πως διδάσκει λέγων· «καὶ σύ, Βηθλεὲμ οἶκος τοῦ Ἐφραθά, ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν Ἰούδα· ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται ἡγούμενος, τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος». 6.13.22 ἐπιμελῶς δὲ πρόσσχες, τίνα τρόπον τοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν Βηθλεὲμ χωρίον δέ ἐστι τοῦτο τῆς Ἰουδαίας φανησομένου τὰς ἐξόδους ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ αἰῶνος ὑφεστάναι φησίν, τὴν ἔνθεον