220

Hebrew reading. 8.3.11 Aquila, at least, says: “Because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones.” For, having been settled by foreign men, even to this day it is a heap of stones, since all who inhabit the city in our time gather the stones from its fall for their own, common, and public buildings. 8.3.12 And it is a grim sight to behold with one's eyes the stones from the very temple and from the ancient inner shrines and holy places taken away for the precincts of idols and for the construction of public spectacles. With these things so clearly seen by all, the new law and word of the new covenant of our Savior Jesus Christ, having come forth from there, would be evident. 8.3.13 At which, countless multitudes of peoples and nations of every kind, having departed from their ancestral gods and from the old superstitious error, call upon the God over all. 8.3.14 Therefore, it has also been deemed worthy of the deepest peace, so that there is no longer a multiplicity of rulers or kingdoms in various places, nor does "nation lift up sword against nation," nor as before do they occupy themselves with wars against one another, but each of the farmers rests "under his vine" and "under his fig tree," with no one to make them afraid, according to the prophecy. 8.3.15 Since these things were thus accomplished at no other time ever before than during the ascendancy of the Romans, from the time of the appearance of our Savior and until now, I consider it an irrefutable proof to have apprehended the time of the Lord's prophesied coming to mankind. 8.4.1 From Zechariah. "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, because behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations will flee to the Lord on that day and will be a people for him, and they will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." 8.4.2 And after many other things in between, he adds: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim it, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, just and bringing salvation; he is gentle and mounted on a beast of burden and a young colt. And he will destroy the chariots from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the war bow will be destroyed, and a multitude of peace from the nations; and he will rule from sea to sea and from the rivers to the ends of the earth." 8.4.3 Having prophesied these things about the coming of our Savior, the word now also, after other things about the final desolation of Jerusalem, cries out, sometimes cryptically and through riddles, and sometimes openly; through riddles in which it says: "Open your gates, O Lebanon, and let fire devour your cedars. Wail, O pine, for the cedar has fallen, for the mighty have been greatly devastated. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down. A voice of wailing shepherds, for their splendor has been devastated; a voice of roaring lions, for the pride of the Jordan has been devastated." 8.4.4 These things through riddles. But the same prophet adds the interpretation of these things openly, saying: "Behold, I am making Jerusalem like a shaking threshold to all the surrounding peoples, and in Judea there will be a siege against Jerusalem. And it will be on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone to be trampled on by all the nations; everyone who tramples on it, mocking, will be mocked, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." 8.4.5 And after a little, he adds: "And they will look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him with a mourning as for a beloved, and a sorrow as for a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo, and the land will mourn, tribe by tribe: the tribe of the house of David by itself, and their women by themselves; the tribe of the house of Nathan by itself, and their women by themselves; the tribe of the house of Levi by itself, and their women by themselves; the tribe of

220

Ἑβραικὴν ἀνάγνωσιν. 8.3.11 ὁ γοῦν Ἀκύλας φησίν· «διὰ τοῦτο χάριν ὑμῶν Σιὼν χώρα ἀροτριαθήσεται, καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ λιθολογηθήσεται». ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀλλοφύλων ἀνδρῶν κατοικισθεῖσα εἰσέτι καὶ σήμερον λιθολογεῖται, πάντων καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς τῶν τὴν πόλιν οἰκούντων τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πτώσεως αὐτῆς λίθους ἀναλεγομένων εἴς τε τὰ ἴδια καὶ κοινὰ καὶ δημόσια οἰκοδομήματα. 8.3.12 καὶ ἔστιν ὀφθαλμοῖς παραλαβεῖν σκυθρωπὸν θέαμα, τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν πάλαι ἀδύτων καὶ ἁγίων λίθους εἰς τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων τεμένη εἴς τε τὰ τῶν πανδήμων θεαμάτων κατασκευάσματα ἀπειλημμένους. ὧν οὕτως ἐναργῶς τοῖς πᾶσιν ὁρωμένων, καὶ ὁ καινὸς νόμος καὶ λόγος ὁ τῆς καινῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαθήκης ἐκεῖθέν ποθεν προελθὼν δῆλος ἂν εἴη. 8.3.13 ἐφ' ᾧ μυρία πλήθη λαῶν ἔθνη τε παντοῖα, τῶν πατρίων ἀποστάντα θεῶν καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς δεισιδαίμονος πλάνης, τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸν ἀνακαλεῖται. 8.3.14 διὸ καὶ κατηξίωται τῆς βαθυτάτης εἰρήνης, ὡς μηκέτι πολυαρχίας εἶναι μηδὲ βασιλείας κατὰ τόπους, μηδὲ «ἔθνος ἐπ' ἔθνος ῥομφαίαν» αἴρειν, μηδ' ὡς τὸ πρὶν πολέμοις τοῖς κατ' ἀλλήλων σχολάζειν, ἀναπαύεσθαι δὲ τῶν γεωργῶν ἕκαστον «ὑποκάτω ἀμπέλου» καὶ «ὑποκάτω συκῆς αὐτοῦ», μηδενὸς ἐκφοβοῦντος αὐτούς, κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν. 8.3.15 ὧν οὕτως οὐδ' ἄλλοτέ πω ἐξ αἰῶνος πρότερον ἢ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπικράτησιν, ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καὶ εἰς δεῦρο, συντελουμένων, ἀναμφίλεκτον ἡγοῦμαι τὴν ἀπόδειξιν εἰληφέναι τὸν χρόνον τῆς θεσπιζομένης εἰς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας. 8.4.1 Ἀπὸ τοῦ Ζαχαρίου. «Τέρπου καὶ εὐφραίνου, θύγατερ Σιών, διότι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἔρχομαι, καὶ κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου, λέγει κύριος. καὶ καταφεύξονται ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἔσονται αὐτῷ εἰς λαόν, καὶ κατασκηνώσουσιν ἐν μέσῳ σου, καὶ ἐπιγνώσῃ ὅτι κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἐξαπέσταλκέν με πρὸς σέ.» 8.4.2 καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα πλεῖστα μεταξὺ ἐπιλέγει· «χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών, κήρυσσε, θύγατερ Ἱερουσαλήμ· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων, αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον. καὶ ἐξολοθρεύσει ἅρματα ἐξ Ἐφραῒμ καὶ ἵππον ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται τόξον πολεμικόν, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης ἐξ ἐθνῶν· καὶ κατάρξει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμῶν δι' ἐκβολὰς γῆς.» 8.4.3 Ταῦτα περὶ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίας θεσπίσας καὶ νῦν ὁ λόγος, μεθ' ἕτερα περὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἐρημώσεως τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, τοτὲ μὲν ἐπικεκρυμμένως καὶ δι' αἰνιγμάτων, τοτὲ δὲ ἀκαλύπτως ἀναφωνεῖ, δι' αἰνιγμάτων μὲν ἐν οἷς φησιν· «διάνοιξον ὁ Λίβανος τὰς πύλας σου, καὶ καταφαγέτω πῦρ τὰς κέδρους σου· ὀλολυξάτω πίτυς, διότι πέπτωκεν κέδρος, διότι μεγάλως μεγιστᾶνες ἐταλαιπώρησαν· ὀλολύξατε, δρύες τῆς Βασανίτιδος, ὅτι κατεσπάσθη ὁ δρυμὸς ὁ σύμφυτος. φωνὴ θρηνούντων ποιμένων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν ἡ μεγαλωσύνη αὐτῶν· φωνὴ ὠρυομένων λεόντων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν τὸ φρύαγμα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου». 8.4.4 Ταῦτα μὲν δι' αἰνιγμάτων. τὴν δὲ τούτων ἑρμηνείαν ἀνακαλύπτως ὁ αὐτὸς προφήτης ἐπιφέρει λέγων· «ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ τίθημι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὡς πρόπυλα σαλευόμενα ἅπασι τοῖς λαοῖς κύκλῳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ καὶ ἔσται περιοχὴ ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ θήσομαι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ λίθον καταπατούμενον πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι· πᾶς ὁ καταπατῶν αὐτὴν ἐμπαίζων ἐμπαίξεται, καὶ ἐπισυναχθήσονται ἐπ' αὐτὴν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς.» 8.4.5 καὶ μετὰ βραχέα ἐπιλέγει· «καὶ ἐπιβλέψονται πρός με ἀνθ' ὧν κατωρχήσαντο, καὶ κόψονται ἐπ' αὐτὸν κοπετὸν ὡς ἐπ' ἀγαπητῷ, καὶ ὀδύνην ὡς ἐπὶ πρωτοτόκῳ. τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ μεγαλυνθήσεται ὁ κοπετὸς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὡς κοπετὸς ῥοῶνος ἐν πεδίῳ ἐκκοπτομένου, καὶ κόψεται ἡ γῆ κατὰ φυλάς· φυλὴ οἴκου ∆αβὶδ καθ' ἑαυτήν, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν καθ' ἑαυτάς· φυλὴ οἴκου Νάθαν καθ' ἑαυτήν, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν καθ' ἑαυτάς· φυλὴ οἴκου Λευὶ καθ' ἑαυτήν, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν καθ' ἑαυτάς· φυλὴ