172

the word also declares that bees would come upon the nation of the Jews, some from Egypt, others from the Assyrians, ... that they would shave off the head and the feet and the beard, and that a man would raise "a heifer and two sheep," and that certain other things would happen at one and the same time, not at all understood literally, but contemplated by the mind alone. 7.1.54 So much for that; but how the present scripture prefigured the manner of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, the evangelist will testify, writing thus: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way. For when his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. But Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make a public example of her, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 7.1.55 For he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us." 7.1.56 Thus indeed, according to us, the things of divine foreknowledge are confirmed by the outcome of events, otherwise the prophecy would not be shown to be true. Next to these things, let us consider what and how many things are said to be "in that day," which is clearly in the time of the epiphany of Emmanuel. 7.1.57 "The Lord," he says, "shall hiss for the flies, that shall rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of the Assyrians; and they shall come, and shall rest in the valleys of the country, and in the holes of the rocks, and into the caves, and into every cleft, and in every tree. In that day the Lord shall shave with the great and hired razor, beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians, the head, and the hairs of the feet, and shall take away the beard. 7.1.58 And it shall be in that day, a man shall nourish a heifer of oxen and two sheep; and it shall be from making much milk, he shall eat butter, because everyone who is left on the land shall eat butter and honey. 7.1.59 And it shall be in that day, every place where there were a thousand vines of a thousand shekels, shall become a wasteland and thorns; with arrow and bow they shall enter there, because all the land will be wasteland and thorns; and every mountain that is ploughed will be ploughed; no fear shall come there, for from the wasteland and the thorns it will be for the grazing of sheep and the treading of the ox." 7.1.60 The present prophecy contains so many things that will be in the day of Emmanuel; it is time to go through what kind of contemplation it holds, summarizing the thought. "The Lord," he says, "shall hiss for the flies in that day, which shall rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of the Assyrians," 7.1.61 by the former, the souls of idolatrous men or even powers, I think, impure and unpleasant, called flies and Egyptian flies, delighting in sacrifices and the blood of idols; but by the bee, an animal that carries a sting, knowing how to rule and be ruled and to make war, and knowing how to defend itself and wound those who resist. 7.1.62 These therefore coming together, some from the land of the idolaters, others from the land of the guides, for "guides" is how the Assyrians are interpreted, at the command and as if by a hiss of the Lord and God of all, will prevail over all of Judea because of their unbelief in Christ, in the day of Emmanuel, he says. And by these things he signifies that foreign and military nations will inhabit Jerusalem and the land of Judea, 7.1.63 which our Savior also prophesied in clearer terms, saying, "And Jerusalem shall be

172

μελίσσας ἐπελεύσεσθαι τῷ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει καὶ ὁ λόγος θεσπίζει, τὰς μὲν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου, τὰς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων, ... τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὸν πώγωνα ἀποξυρήσειν, ἄνθρωπον δὲ «δάμαλιν βοῶν καὶ δύο πρόβατα» θρέψειν, καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ καθ' ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἔσεσθαι, οὐδαμῶς πρὸς λέξιν νοούμενα, κατὰ μόνην δὲ διάνοιαν θεωρούμενα. 7.1.54 Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα· ὅπως δὲ ἡ παροῦσα γραφὴ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσεως προεσήμαινεν τὸν τρόπον, μαρτυρήσει ὧδέ πως ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς γράφων· «τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ γένεσις οὕτως ἦν. μνηστευθείσης γὰρ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ Ἰωσήφ, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτούς, εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου. Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων παραδειγματίσαι αὐτήν, ἐβουλήθη λάθρα ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν. ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου κατ' ὄναρ φαίνεται αὐτῷ λέγων, Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς ∆αβίδ, μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου· τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου. τέξεται δὲ υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. 7.1.55 αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ θεός». 7.1.56 οὕτω δὴ καθ' ἡμᾶς τὰ τῆς θείας προγνώσεως ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως πιστοῦται, ἄλλως οὐκ ἂν τῆς προφητείας ἀληθοῦς ἀποφανθησομένης. Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις τίνα καὶ ὁπόσα λέγεται ἔσεσθαι «ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ», δῆλον δ' ὅτι ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, φέρε κατανοήσωμεν. 7.1.57 «συριεῖ», φησίν, «κύριος μυίαις, ὃ κυριεύσει μέρους ποταμοῦ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ τῇ μελίσσῃ ἥ ἐστιν ἐν χώρᾳ Ἀσσυρίων· καὶ ἐλεύσονται καὶ ἀναπαύσονται ἐν ταῖς φάραγξι τῆς χώρας καὶ ἐν ταῖς τρώγλαις τῶν πετρῶν καὶ εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν ῥαγάδα καὶ ἐν παντὶ ξύλῳ. ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ξυρήσει κύριος ἐν τῷ ξυρῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ τῷ μεμισθωμένῳ πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ τὰς τρίχας τῶν ποδῶν καὶ τὸν πώγωνα ἀφελεῖ. 7.1.58 καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ θρέψει ἄνθρωπος δάμαλιν βοῶν καὶ δύο πρόβατα· καὶ ἔσται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλεῖστον ποιεῖν γάλα, φάγεται βούτυρον, ὅτι βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται πᾶς ὁ καταλειφθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 7.1.59 καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ πᾶς τόπος οὗ ἐὰν ὦσι χίλιαι ἄμπελοι χιλίων σίκλων, εἰς χέρσον ἔσονται καὶ εἰς ἄκανθαν· μετὰ βέλους καὶ τοξεύματος εἰσελεύσονται ἐκεῖ, ὅτι χέρσος καὶ ἄκανθα ἔσται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· καὶ πᾶν ὄρος ἀροτριώμενον ἀροτριαθήσεται· οὐ μὴ ἐπέλθῃ ἐκεῖ φόβος, ἔσται γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς χέρσου καὶ ἀκάνθης εἰς βόσκημα προβάτου καὶ καταπάτημα βοός.» 7.1.60 Τοσαῦτα ἔσεσθαι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ ἡ παροῦσα προφητεία περιέχει· ἅπερ ὁποίας ἔχεται θεωρίας, ὥρα διελθεῖν, τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπιτεμνομένους. «συριεῖ», φησίν, «κύριος μυίαις ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, ὃ κυριεύσει μέρους ποταμοῦ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ τῇ μελίσσῃ ἥ ἐστιν ἐν χώρᾳ Ἀσσυρίων», 7.1.61 ταῖς μὲν προτέραις, εἰδωλολατρῶν ἀνδρῶν ψυχαῖς ἢ καὶ δυνάμεσιν, ὡς οἶμαι, ἀκαθάρτοις καὶ ἀηδέσι μυίαις ὀνομαζομέναις καὶ μυίαις Αἰγυπτιακαῖς, θυσίαις καὶ αἵμασιν εἰδώλων χαιρούσαις, τῇ δὲ μελίσσῃ, ζῴῳ κέντρον ἐπιφερομένῳ βασιλεύειν τε καὶ βασιλεύεσθαι καὶ πολεμεῖν ἐπισταμένῳ, ἀμύνεσθαί τε καὶ τιτρώσκειν εἰδότι τοὺς ἀνθισταμένους. 7.1.62 ταύτας οὖν ὁμοῦ συνελθούσας, τὰς μὲν ἐκ τῆς τῶν εἰδωλολατρῶν χώρας, τὰς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν κατευθυνόντων γῆς, «κατευθύνοντες» γὰρ οἱ Ἀσσύριοι ἑρμηνεύονται, κελεύσει καὶ ὥσπερ συρίσματι τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων, τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἁπάσης ἐπικρατήσειν διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, φησί. σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων ἔθνη ἀλλόφυλα καὶ στρατιωτικὰ οἰκήσειν τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γῆν, 7.1.63 ὅπερ καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν λευκοτέροις ὀνόμασιν ἐθέσπιζεν εἰπών· «καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἔσται