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Here you will turn your mind to how until the appearance of our savior Jesus Christ all of Egypt had its own kings, peculiarly and by herself, and the Egyptians lived in autonomy and in freedom, and their dynasty from of old was proclaimed to be long and great, but from the time of the first of the Romans, Augustus, in whose time our Lord was born, who subjugated Egypt, and when Cleopatra the last of the Ptolemies was captured, they came under the power of the Romans and under their laws and decrees, deprived of their former autonomy and freedom, so that in this too the prophetic oracle is fulfilled, saying concerning the governors and leaders sent to the places and concerning the other rulers in part: «and I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh lords,» and concerning those who administered the universal rule, what follows, 6.20.21 instead of which Aquila says: «and a strengthened king will rule in them,» and Symmachus: «and a strong king will rule them.» Thus I believe the Roman kingdom to have been called, by which, as though fettered by a bridle and bond, not only the most superstitious of all men, the Egyptians, but also all the rest of mankind are unable to dare to slander the church of our savior. 6.20.22 After these things, in succession, certain more obscure and enigmatic things are prophesied, requiring a longer and deeper interpretation according to the tropological sense, which at leisure and at the proper time will receive its proper exposition, whenever with God's help we render the account concerning the promises. 6.21.1 From the same. «Be glad, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice and blossom as a lily, and the deserts of the Jordan will blossom and rejoice; and the glory of Lebanon was given to it and the honor of Carmel, and my people will see the glory of the Lord and the height of God. Be strong, you slack hands and paralyzed knees; take courage, you of faint heart; be strong, do not fear; behold, our God repays judgment and will repay, he himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless will be clear, when water has broken forth in the desert and a ravine in a thirsty land, and the waterless land will become marshes, and in the thirsty land there will be a spring of water.» 6.21.2 And here the arrival of God is clearly foretold as salutary and the cause of many good things; for a healing for the deaf and sight for the blind is prophesied, and in addition therapy for the lame and for those whose tongues are tied, which things came to pass in no other way than through the presence of our savior Jesus Christ, by whom the eyes of the blind were opened and the deaf received their hearing. 6.21.3 Why must one speak of how many, even through his disciples, who were paralyzed and deaf and lame, received their natural steps, and countless others worn out by various diseases and infirmities were deemed worthy of healing and salvation from him, both according to the inspired prediction of the prophecy and according to the most truthful testimony of the holy gospels? 6.21.4 In these words the text alludes to the church from the gentiles as a «desert», which, having long been a desert of God, it evangelizes through the things at hand, and to this desert, in addition to the others, the text says that «the glory of Lebanon» will be given. 6.21.5 It is customary to call Jerusalem allegorically Lebanon, as we will demonstrate in due course through proofs from the divine scripture. Therefore, in the presence of God among men, the foregoing prophecy teaches that to the indicated desert, I mean the church from the gentiles, the glory of Lebanon will be given. And instead of «and the honor of Carmel» Aquila says: «the excellence of Carmel and of Sharon, they themselves will see the glory of the Lord,» 6.21.6 and Symmachus: «the comeliness of Carmel and of the plain, they themselves will see the glory of the Lord,» and Theodotion also: «beauty,» he says,

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Ἔνθα μοι τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστήσεις, τίνα τρόπον μέχρι μὲν τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιφανείας οἰκείοις βασιλεῦσιν ἰδίως καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὴν πᾶσα Αἴγυπτος κέχρητο, ἐν αὐτονομίᾳ τε καὶ ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ διῆγον οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, δυναστεία τε αὐτῶν ἐξ αἰῶνος μακρά τις καὶ πολλὴ βεβόητο, ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ πρώτου Ῥωμαίων Αὐγούστου, καθ' ὃν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν γεγέννητο, χειρωσαμένου τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ὑστάτης τε τῶν Πτολεμαίων Κλεοπάτρας ἁλούσης, ὑπὸ τὴν Ῥωμαίων γεγόνασιν ἐξουσίαν ὑπό τε τοὺς αὐτῶν νόμους καὶ ἐπι τάγματα, τῆς προτέρας αὐτονομίας καὶ ἐλευθερίας ἀφῃρημένοι, ὡς καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸ προφητικὸν ἐπαληθεύειν λόγιον, περὶ μὲν τῶν εἰς τοὺς τόπους ἐκπεμπομένων ἐπιτρόπων τε καὶ ἡγουμένων καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐν μέρει ἀρχόντων φάσκον· «καὶ παραδώσω Αἴγυπτον εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων κυρίων σκληρῶν», περὶ δὲ τῶν τὴν καθόλου διεπόντων ἀρχὴν τὸ ἑξῆς, 6.20.21 ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ Ἀκύλας φησίν· «καὶ βασιλεὺς κεκραταιωμένος ἐξουσιάσει ἐν αὐτοῖς», ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· «καὶ βασιλεὺς ἰσχυρὸς ἐξουσιάσει αὐτῶν». οὕτω δὴ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγοῦμαι κεκλῆσθαι βασιλείαν, ὑφ' ἧς ὥσπερ χαλινῷ καὶ δεσμῷ πεπεδημένους οὐ μόνον τοὺς πάντων ἀνθρώπων δεισιδαιμονεστάτους Αἰγυπτίους ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς πάντας ἀνθρώπους μηδὲν δύνασθαι τολμᾶν κατὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐκκλησίας δυσφημεῖν. 6.20.22 μετὰ ταῦτα προφητεύεται τούτοις ἑξῆς σκοτεινότερά τινα καὶ δι' αἰνιγμάτων, μακροτέρας καὶ βαθυτέρας τῆς κατὰ τροπολογίαν δεόμενα ἑρμηνείας, ἃ δὴ ἐπὶ σχολῆς κατὰ τὸν προσήκοντα καιρὸν τῆς προσηκούσης τεύξεται διηγήσεως, ἐπὰν σὺν θεῷ τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν ἀποδώσωμεν λόγον. 6.21.1 Ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ. «Εὐφράνθητι, ἔρημος διψῶσα, ἀγαλλιάσθω ἔρημος καὶ ἀνθείτω ὡς κρίνον, καὶ ἐξανθήσει καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεται τὰ ἔρημα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου· καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ Λιβάνου ἐδόθη αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ τοῦ Καρμήλου, καὶ ὁ λαός μου ὄψεται τὴν δόξαν κυρίου καὶ τὸ ὕψος τοῦ θεοῦ. ἰσχύσατε, χεῖρες ἀνειμέναι καὶ γόνατα παραλελυμένα· παρακαλέσατε, οἱ ὀλιγόψυχοι τῇ διανοίᾳ· ἰσχύσατε, μὴ φοβεῖσθε· ἰδοὺ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κρίσιν ἀνταποδίδωσι καὶ ἀνταποδώσει, αὐτὸς ἥξει καὶ σώσει ἡμᾶς. τότε ἀνοιχθήσονται ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν, καὶ ὦτα κωφῶν ἀκούσονται. τότε ἁλεῖται ὡς ἔλαφος ὁ χωλός, καὶ τρανὴ ἔσται γλῶσσα μογιλάλων, ὅτε ἐρράγη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὕδωρ καὶ φάραγξ ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἄνυδρος εἰς ἕλη, καὶ εἰς τὴν διψῶσαν γῆν πηγὴ ὕδατος ἔσται.» 6.21.2 Κἀνταῦθα διαρρήδην θεοῦ ἄφιξις θεσπίζεται σωτήριος καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτία· κωφοῖς γοῦν ἴασις καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψις, προσέτι τε χωλοῖς καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν συνδεδεμένοις θεραπεία ἔσεσθαι προφητεύεται, ἃ καὶ τέλους ἔτυχεν οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, ὑφ' οὗ καὶ τυφλῶν ἀνεῴχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ κωφοὶ τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀπειλήφασιν 6.21.3 τί δεῖ λέγειν ὅσοι καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν παρειμένοι καὶ κωφοὶ καὶ χωλοὶ τὰς κατὰ φύσιν βάσεις ἀπελάμβανον, ἄλλοι τε μυρίοι ποικίλαις νόσοις καὶ μαλακίαις τετρυχωμένοι τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ θεραπείας τε καὶ σωτηρίας ἠξιοῦντο, κατά τε τὴν ἔνθεον τῆς προφητείας πρόρρησιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀψευδεστάτην τῶν ἱερῶν εὐαγγελίων μαρτυρίαν; 6.21.4 «ἔρημον» δὲ ἐν τούτοις ὁ λόγος αἰνίττεται τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίαν, ἣν πάλαι θεοῦ ἔρημον οὖσαν διὰ τῶν ἐν χερσὶν εὐαγγελίζεται, καὶ ταύτῃ δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις τῇ ἐρήμῳ φησὶν ὁ λόγος δοθήσεσθαι «τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Λιβάνου». 6.21.5 Λίβανον δὲ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀλληγορικῶς σύνηθές ἐστιν ἀποκαλεῖν, ὡς ἐπὶ καιροῦ διὰ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας γραφῆς ἀποδείξεων παραστήσομεν. ἐν δὴ οὖν τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους παρουσίᾳ τῇ δηλωθείσῃ ἐρήμῳ, λέγω δὴ τῇ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίᾳ, τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Λιβάνου δοθήσεσθαι ἡ προκειμένη διδάσκει πρόρρησις. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ «καὶ ἡ τιμὴ τοῦ Καρμήλου» ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας φησίν· «διαπρέπεια τοῦ Καρμήλου καὶ τοῦ Σαρών, αὐτοὶ ὄψονται δόξαν κυρίου», 6.21.6 ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· «εὐπρέπεια τοῦ Καρμήλου καὶ τοῦ πεδίου, αὐτοὶ ὄψοντα τὴν δόξαν κυρίου», καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων δέ· «ὡραιότης», φησί,