205

according to Symmachus. But some have interpreted the phrase, 'Man was led astray on his own, but for you there will be no salvation,' as if he were saying: Many men have been led astray in a human way, moderately falling away from God, being overcome by the passions of the flesh; but you have advanced to such a point of unholiness that no place of salvation is left for you. CHAPTER 48. 1. 9Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth from Judah. Who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel. Remembering not with truth, nor with righteousness, and holding to the name of the holy city, and leaning upon the God of Israel9, etc. Having spoken the things concerning the Babylonians, he speaks reproachfully to the Jews, as if to say, 'Because of the justice that is with me I pursue them, not because you have become worthy of help.' For he calls them the house of Jacob, as being unworthy of the forefather's name, and partaking of the mere title of Israel, and of the physical seed of Judah. For this is from water. And he designated Judah as the royal lineage. Just as they were falsely called by these names, being unworthy, so too, swearing and remembering the God of Israel, they honored him with their lips, while their heart was far from him, and in vain they seemed to lean upon the Lord, holding to a city dedicated to him. For after Hezekiah, Manasseh turned them to all impiety, and set up an idol in the divine temple itself. Therefore he says to them: "What has the beloved done in 2449 my house? She has wrought abomination?" and in many prophecies he reproached them for their impiety. Therefore he calls them back to piety with very many exhortations. And the Savior also rebuked them for priding themselves on their physical kinship, saying: "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." And now he continuously calls them by their fathers' names, bringing their piety to remembrance, so that they might not become the cause of destruction for themselves and for the city. And he shows that it is God who prophesies, not for display, but for their benefit, so that they might not attribute the events to idols, and so that, having foreknowledge, they might repent; for he could have punished the Babylonians even while remaining silent. For also when foretelling to Pharaoh, he added: "That he may know the one who brings it on." Know therefore, O unfaithful ones, he says, that whatever things I foretold through the former prophets, so that the words came to many ears, have come to pass in deed. For to foretell belongs to God alone; and in vain does Manasseh strive to know the future through divination; and what I foretold, he says, even if you did not expect it, nevertheless has happened suddenly. Some have said that the "former things" refer to the captivity, after which came the terrible things that happened to Babylonia. But to an unbending and shameless people, he says, I spoke beforehand, even though I knew that even so you would attribute the cause of what was to happen to the Babylonians to idols. Since, when Jerusalem was captured, the women who were left behind, when Jeremiah forbade them to go down to Egypt, retorted: 'Since we stopped sacrificing to the queen of heaven, all these evils have come upon us.' Therefore Jeremiah, being vexed, says: "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon faith? Thou hast scourged them, and they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, and they have refused to receive correction." Behold, therefore, although you are such a person, being a lover of mankind, I foretell what will happen to the Chaldeans who are about to wage war against you, so that you might then call upon the one who foretold it as a helper. Therefore, do not deceive yourself, saying that even before my prophecy idols commanded you—that is, they threatened, or announced beforehand—that they themselves will harm you. For because of these things you will suffer evil, because having departed from me you were added to them. However, my foretelling will not benefit you at all. For you will not know, that is, you will not become wise by changing for the better, not waiting for the end of the things threatened against you. Therefore I have made the new things audible to you. For they were new, being spoken before they came to pass. Therefore, when you suffer, do not say, 'Before I suffered, I did not hear,' or, 'I foreknew it, but learned it from idols.' For you knew nothing before I said these things; for I have not made this known to you through another. Behold, I call you even before

205

κατὰ Σύμμαχον. Τινὲς δὲ τὸ, Ἄνθρωπος καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἐπλανήθη, σοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔσται σωτηρία, οὕτως ἑρμήνευσαν, ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν· Πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνθρωπίνως ἐπλανήθησαν, συμμέτρως ἀποστάντες Θεοῦ πάθεσιν ὑπενεχθέντες σαρκός· σὺ δὲ εἰς τοῦτο προέβης ἀνοσιότητος, ὡς μηδένα σοι σωτηρίας τόπον περιλειφθῆναι. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΜΗʹ. αιαʹ. 9Ἀκούσατε ταῦτα, οἶκος Ἰακὼβ, οἱ κεκλημένοις ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐξ Ἰούδα ἐξελθόντες. Οἱ ὀμνύοντες τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου Θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Μιμνησκόμενοι οὐ μετὰ ἀληθείας, οὐδὲ μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ἀντεχόμενοι τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἀντιστηριζόμενοι9, κ.τ.λ. Τὰ κατὰ Βαβυλωνίων εἰπὼν, ἐλεγκτικῶς πρὸς Ἰουδαίους φησὶν, ὡς ∆ιὰ τὸ παρ' ἐμοὶ δίκαιον ἐκείνους μετέρχομαι, οὐχ ὅτι βοηθείας ὑμεῖς ἄξιοι καθεστήκατε. Οἶκον γὰρ καλεῖ Ἰακὼβ, ὡς καὶ τῆς τοῦ προπάτορος ἀναξίους ἐπωνυμίας, καὶ ψιλῆς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ προσηγορίας μετέχοντας, καὶ σπέρματος Ἰούδα σωματικοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξ ὕδατος. Ὡς βασιλικῷ δὲ γένει τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐπέγραψεν. Ὥσπερ δὲ ψευδῶς ἐλέγοντο ταῦτα τῶν ὀνομάτων ὅντες ἀνάξιοι, οὔτως ὀμνύντες καὶ μεμνημένοι τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτὸν ἐτίμων, ἀφεστηκότες αὐτοῦ τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ μάτην ἐδόκουν ἐπὶ Κυρίῳ στηρίζεσθαι, ἀντεχόμενοι πόλεως ἀνακειμένης αὐτῷ. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸν Ἐζεκίαν, Μανασσῆς αὐτοὺς εἰς πᾶσαν ἀσέβειαν ἔτρεψεν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ καθίδρυσεν ἄγαλμα τῷ θείῳ ναῷ. ∆ιό φησι πρὸς αὐτούς· "Τί ἡ ἠγαπημένη ἐν 2449 τῷ οἴκῳ μου ἐποίησε βδέλυγμα;" πολλαῖς τε προφητείαις ὠνείδισεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀσέβειαν. ∆ιὸ πλείσταις αὐτοὺς πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ἀνακαλεῖ παρακλήσεσιν. Καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ σωματικῇ συγγενείᾳ φρονοῦντας ἐξήλεγχε, λέγων· "Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐποιεῖτε ἄν." Καὶ νῦν δὲ συνεχῶς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν πατέρων καλεῖ, τῆς ἐκείνων ἄγων εὐσεβείας εἰς μνήμην, ὡς ἂν ἀπωλείας μὴ ἑαυτοῖς τε καὶ τῇ πόλεις παραίτιοι γένωνται. Θεὸν δὲ δείκνυσιν αὐτὸν προθεσπίζοντα, οὐκ ἐπιδεικτικῶς, ἀλλ' ὠφελῶν, ἵνα μὴ τοῖς εἰδώλοις ἐπιγράφωσι τὰ συμβαίνοντα, καὶ ὡς ἂν προγνόντες μετανοήσωσιν· ἠδύνατο γὰρ καὶ σιωπῶν τιμωρήσασθαι Βαβυλωνίους. Καὶ τῷ Φαραὼ γὰρ προλέγων ἐπέφερεν· "Ἵνα γνῷ τὸν ἐπάγοντα." Γνῶτε οὖν, ὦ ἄπιστοι, φησὶν, ὡς ὅσα διὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ἐθέσπισα προφητῶν, ὡς εἰς ἀκοὰς πολλὰς τοὺς λόγους ἐλθεῖν, εἰς ἔργον ἐξέβη. Θεοῦ γὰρ μόνον τὸ προλέγειν· καὶ μάτην ὁ Μανασσῆς διὰ μαντείας εἰδέναι σπουδάζει τὰ μέλλοντα· ἃ δὲ προέφην, φησὶν, εἰ καὶ μὴ προσέδοκας, ἀλλ' οὖν ἐξάπινα γέγονεν. Πρότερα δέ τινες τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν εἰρήκασι, μεθ' ἥν ἐστι τὰ τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ συμβάντα δεινά. Ὡς ἀκαμπεῖ δὲ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀναισχύντῳ προεῖπον, καίπερ εἰδὼς, ὡς καὶ οὕτως εἰδώλοις τὴν τῶν συμβησομένων Βαβυλωνίοις ἐπιγράψει αἰτίαν. Ἐπεὶ, καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἁλούσης, αἱ περιλειφθεῖσαι γυναῖκες, κωλύοντος Ἱερεμίου κατελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἀνθυπέφερον· Ἐπειδὴ διελίπομεν θύουσαι τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἐπῆλθεν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς πάντα τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα. ∆ιὸ καὶ δυσχεραίνων Ἱερεμίας φησί· "Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. Ἐμαστίγωσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπόνησαν. Συνετέλεσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλησαν δέξασθαι παιδείαν." Ἰδοὺ τοίνυν, καίπερ ὄντι τοιούτῳ, φιλάνθρωπος ὢν, προλέγω τὰ συμβησόμενα τοῖς μέλλουσί τε καταπολεμῆσαι Χαλδαίοις, ὡς ἂν τότε βοηθὸν τὸν προειπόντα καλέσεις. Μὴ οὖν ἀπάτας αὐτὸν λέγων, ὡς καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐμῆς προφητείας εἴδωλά σοι ἐνετείλατο, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἠπείλησαν, ἢ προαπήγγειλαν, ὡς αὐτά σε κακώσει. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα γὰρ πείσει κακῶς, ὅτιπερ ἀποστὰς ἐμοῦ προσετέθης αὐτοῖς. Πλὴν οὐδέν σε τὸ προλέγειν ὀνήσειεν. Οὐ γνώσῃ γὰρ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, οὐ γενήσῃ σοφὸς τῇ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβολῇ, μὴ περιμένων τῶν σοι προαπειλουμένων τὸ τέλος. Ἀκουστά σοι τοιγαροῦν ἐποίησα τὰ καινά. Καινὰ. γὰρ ἦν, πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι λεγόμενα. Πάσχων τοίνυν μὴ λέξῃς, ὡς Πρὶν παθεῖν οὐκ ἀκήκοα, ἤγουν, ὅτι Προέγνων μὲν, ἀλλ' ἐξ εἰδώλων μαθών. Οὐ γὰρ ἔγνως οὐδὲν πρὶν ἐμὲ λέγειν αὐτά· οὐ γὰρ πεποίηκά σοι τοῦτο παρ' ἑτέρου γνωστόν. Ἰδοὺ δέ σε καλῶ καὶ πρὶν