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the things done around the time of his passion and the siege that immediately came upon the nation of the Hebrews and the capture of Jerusalem, and in addition to these the calling of the gentiles, the knowledge of the one and only God for every race of men. 6.18.6 But the spirit-bearing prophet, lamenting more passionately as if for his own people of the circumcision, has made the beginning of the prophecy from the outcry against them. He therefore calls it "days of the Lord," just as in other places, so also here, thus signifying the time of the coming of Christ to men, and clearly showing that the Lord himself, being the "true light," will one day become the maker of his own days and will shine upon all men on earth, with all the gentiles receiving both him and the rays of his light, when all the gentiles are enlightened, according to, "I have set you as a light to the gentiles, for a covenant of the race," the nation of the Jews, on account of their unbelief in him, will fall into the most extreme calamities. 6.18.7 For such is the meaning of "Behold, the days of the Lord are coming, and your spoils shall be divided in you. And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war, and the city shall be taken and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled, and half of the city shall go into captivity." 6.18.8 And after the siege against Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jewish nation that followed it, he next proclaims good things for all, prophesying: "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth," and again: "The Lord shall be one, and his name one, encircling all the earth and the desert." 6.18.9 But when the prophecy declared that the Jewish nation would suffer such things in the days of the Lord, who would not marvel at the outcome of the prophecy? For at the same time that Jesus our savior and Lord was present, those of the circumcision acted impiously toward him, and all the things foretold came to pass for them at once after the five hundredth year of the prophecy, from Pilate himself until the siege under Nero and Titus and Vespasian, with all kinds of successive calamities not ceasing to afflict them, as one may gather from the history written by Flavius Josephus. 6.18.10 It is likely, then, that "half of the city" was destroyed in the siege, as the prophecy says. But not long after, under the emperor Hadrian, when another Jewish revolt occurred, the remaining half part of the city, being besieged again, is driven out, so that from that time until now the place has become completely inaccessible to them. 6.18.11 But if someone should say these things were fulfilled under Antiochus Epiphanes, let him consider if he is able to assign the rest of the prophecy to the times of Antiochus; such as the people having suffered captivity, and the feet of the Lord standing on the Mount of Olives, and if "the Lord became king over all the earth in that day," and if the "name" of the Lord "encircled all the earth and the desert," when Antiochus was ruling Syria. And what fulfillment the rest of the prophecy met with while Antiochus was reigning, how will anyone explain? 6.18.12 But in our view, these things have been fulfilled both literally and in another sense; for after the coming of our savior Jesus Christ their city, Jerusalem itself, and the whole system and polity of the religion according to the law of Moses was destroyed; and they immediately suffered a spiritual captivity in addition to the physical one, by not accepting the savior and redeemer of human souls, who came "to preach release to the captives" of wicked demons "and recovery of sight to the blind" in mind. 6.18.13 And while they suffered these things because of their unbelief, those who recognized their redeemer and became his own disciples and apostles and evangelists, and many others of the circumcision who believed in him, about whom the apostle says, "So also now a remnant according to

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τὰ περὶ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους αὐτοῦ πεπραγμένα καὶ ἡ παραυτίκα τῷ Ἑβραίων ἔθνει ἐπελθοῦσα πολιορκία καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ ἅλωσις, καὶ ἡ πρὸς τούτοις κλῆσις τῶν ἐθνῶν τοῦ τε ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου θεοῦ εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων ἐπίγνωσις. 6.18.6 ὅ γε μὴν πνευματόφορος προφήτης περιπαθέστερον ὡς ἂν ἐπ' οἰκείοις ὀλοφυρόμενος τοῖς ἐκ περιτομῆς, ἐκ τῆς κατ' αὐτῶν ἐκφωνήσεως τὴν καταρχὴν πεποίηται τῆς προφητείας. «ἡμέρας» δὴ οὖν «τοῦ κυρίου» ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις κἀνταῦθα ὀνομάζει, οὕτως τὸν χρόνον τῆς εἰς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας σημαίνων, καὶ σαφῶς δηλῶν ὡς ἄρα ὁ κύριος αὐτός, οἷα «φῶς ἀληθινὸν» τυγχάνων, ἰδίων ποιητής ποτε γενήσεται ἡμερῶν τοῖς τε ἐπὶ γῆς ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιλάμψει, τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων αὐτόν τε καὶ τὰς ἀκτῖνας τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτοῦ καταδεξαμένων, ὅτε τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων φωτιζομένων, κατὰ τὸ «τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, εἰς διαθήκην γένους», τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος διὰ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀπιστίαν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις περιπεσεῖται δεινοῖς. 6.18.7 τοιοῦτον γάρ ἐστιν τὸ «ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ διαμερισθήσονται τὰ σκῦλά σου ἐν σοί· καὶ ἐπισυνάξω πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ ἁλώσεται ἡ πόλις καὶ διαρπαγήσονται αἱ οἰκίαι, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες μολυνθήσονται, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς πόλεως ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ». 6.18.8 μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκίαν καὶ τὴν μετ' αὐτὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς ἀγαθὰ τοῖς πᾶσι, θεσπίζων· «καὶ ἔσται κύριος εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν», καὶ πάλιν· «ἔσται κύριος εἷς, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἕν, κυκλοῦν πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν ἔρημον». 6.18.9 ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος τοιαῦτα πείσεσθαι ἐν ταῖς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμέραις τῆς προρρήσεως ἀποφηναμένης, τίς οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειεν τῆς προρρήσεως τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα; ἅμα γὰρ Ἰησοῦς ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν παρῆν ἠσέβουν τε εἰς αὐτὸν οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, καὶ πάντα αὐτοῖς ἀθρόως τὰ προηγορευμένα μετὰ πεντακοσιοστὸν ἔτος τῆς προρρήσεως τέλους ἐτύγχανεν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ Πιλάτου καὶ μέχρι τῆς κατὰ Νέρωνα καὶ Τίτον καὶ Οὐεσπασιανὸν πολιορκίας οὐ διαλελοιπότων αὐτοὺς παντοίων καὶ ἐπαλλήλων συμφορῶν, ὡς πάρεστιν ἐκ τῆς Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου γραφείσης ἱστορίας ἀναλέξασθαι. 6.18.10 τότε μὲν οὖν εἰκὸς «τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς πόλεως» ἀπολωλέναι τῇ πολιορκίᾳ, ὥς φησιν ἡ προφητεία. μετ' οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον κατὰ Ἀδριανὸν αὐτοκράτορα κινήσεως αὖθις Ἰουδαϊκῆς γενομένης, τὸ λεῖπον τῆς πόλεως μέρος ἥμισυ πολιορκηθὲν αὖθις ἐξελαύνεται, ὡς ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ εἰς δεῦρο πάμπαν ἄβατον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι τὸν τόπον. 6.18.11 Εἰ δὲ λέγοι τις κατὰ Ἀντίοχον τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ ταῦτα πεπληρῶσθαι, σκεψάσθω εἰ οἷός τέ ἐστιν ἀποδιδόναι καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς προφητείας κατὰ τοὺς Ἀντιόχου χρόνους· οἷον τὸ αἰχμαλωσίαν πεπονθέναι τὸν λαόν, καὶ τὸ στῆναι τοὺς πόδας κυρίου ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν ἐλαιῶν ὄρος, καὶ εἰ γέγονεν «κύριος εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ», καὶ εἰ τὸ «ὄνομα» κυρίου «ἐκύκλωσεν τὴν γῆν πᾶσαν καὶ τὴν ἔρημον», ὅτε τῆς Συρίας Ἀντίοχος ἐκράτει. καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δὲ τῆς προρρήσεως ὁποίου τέλους ἔτυχεν Ἀντιόχου βασιλεύοντος, πῶς τις ἀποδώσει; 6.18.12 καθ' ἡμᾶς δὲ ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς λέξιν μὲν ἀποδέδοται, καὶ καθ' ἑτέραν δὲ διάνοιαν· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν ἡ πόλις αὐτῶν, αὐτή γε ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ τὸ πᾶν σύστημα καὶ πολίτευμα τῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον Μωσέως θρησκείας καθῃρεῖτο· αὐτίκα τε τὴν κατὰ διάνοιαν αἰχμαλωσίαν πρὸς τῇ σωματικῇ πεπόνθασιν, τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ λυτρωτὴν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν μὴ παραδεξάμενοι, τὸν ἐλθόντα «κηρῦξαι» τοῖς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων πονηρῶν «αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τοῖς» τὰς διανοίας «τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν». 6.18.13 ταῦτα δὲ πεπονθότων ἐκείνων διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν, οἱ τὸν σφῶν λυτρωτὴν ἐπιγνόντες οἰκεῖοί τε αὐτοῦ γενόμενοι μαθηταὶ καὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ εὐαγγελισταί, πλεῖστοί τε ἄλλοι τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότων, περὶ ὧν φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος «οὕτω καὶ νῦν λεῖμμα κατ'