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of rivers to the ends of the inhabited world”? At any rate, the other interpreters have shown this. At any rate, Aquila says: “and he will speak peace to the nations, and his authority will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the inhabited world.” 8.4.15 And with this agrees what is said somewhere in the seventy-first psalm concerning the Christ who would be born from the seed of Solomon: “In his days righteousness shall spring up, and abundance of peace until the moon be taken away. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the inhabited world”; for these things were said about the son of Solomon, in no way inferior to what was said in the prophet. 8.4.16 When, then, and how or in what times these things came to pass, let him who wishes interpret, or when else after the siege by the Babylonians did Jerusalem endure a second burning, and the temple in it was cast down. 8.4.17 Which itself also contains a great wonder, as the prophet hinted, saying: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire devour your cedars.” For in these passages he usually calls the temple itself Lebanon, since also through other prophecies the temple itself has been shown to be called Lebanon. 8.4.18 And this the children of the Jews themselves still admit now, since Isaiah also, prophesying something similar to the prophet at hand, said: “Behold, the Lord of Sabaoth shall confound the glorious with strength, and the high ones in their pride shall be crushed.” “But Lebanon with the high ones shall fall. And a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall spring up from the root. And the spirit of God shall rest upon him.” To which he adds: “And there shall be the root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule the nations, in him shall the nations hope.” 8.4.19 For here also the destruction of Lebanon and the calling of the nations are connected with the birth of Christ from the seed of Jesse and David. And Ezekiel plainly signifies Jerusalem as Lebanon, saying: “The great eagle with great wings, which had the lead to enter into Lebanon, and he plucked off the tender foliage of the cedar.” 8.4.20 At any rate, the same prophet, clarifying these things in order, adds “when Nebuchadnezzar comes against Jerusalem” and takes “its rulers,” and so on. But Ezekiel indicated these things about the first siege, after which Zechariah prophesies about the second. When, then, after the times of Zechariah, during the kingdom of the Macedonians, did the temple endure a burning? But it is not possible to say. 8.4.21 For after the burning by the Babylonians, it endured a second destruction by fire at no other time than under Titus and Vespasian, the Roman emperors, at which time again the word, speaking in a riddle, calls the former rulers of the nation to lamentations and wailing: “Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen, because the great ones have been greatly afflicted; howl, you oaks of Bashan, because the thick forest has been torn down. A voice of shepherds mourning, because their magnificence has been afflicted.” 8.4.22 Then indeed Jerusalem also became “like a threshold shaken for all the peoples round about, and in Judea” there was “a siege,” and the place considered holy and sacred by them is even to this day a stone trodden down by all the nations, and “everyone who treads it down, mocking, will be mocked,” according to the prophecy. 8.4.23 But also “because they danced against” the Lord who prophesied these things, wailing and lamentation and mourning have not ceased from them. At no other time, then, than after the coming of our Savior and into our own time have all the tribes of the Jewish nation suffered things worthy of mourning and wailing because of the blow that came upon them from God, by which also their metropolis was given over to foreign nations and the temple was razed, and they themselves were driven from their own land, serving enemies in a hostile land; for which reasons their whole house and every soul of theirs is even to this day subject to mourning. 8.4.24 Therefore the prophecy says: “and shall mourn” tribe by

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ποταμῶν ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης»; τοῦτο γοῦν ἐδήλωσαν οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταί. ὁ γοῦν Ἀκύλας φησίν· «καὶ λαλήσει εἰρήνην τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμοῦ ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης». 8.4.15 ᾧ συνᾴδει καὶ τὸ ἐν ἑβδομηκοστῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ περὶ τοῦ ἐκ σπέρματος Σολομῶνος γενησομένου Χριστοῦ ὧδέ πη εἰρημένον· «ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη. καὶ κατακυριεύσει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης, καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμοῦ ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης»· ταῦτα γὰρ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ Σολομῶνος ἐλέγετο, οὐδὲν λειπόμενα τῶν ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ εἰρημένων. 8.4.16 πότ' οὖν ταῦτα καὶ πῶς ἢ κατὰ ποίους χρόνους γέγονεν ὁ βουλόμενος ἑρμηνευέτω, ἢ πότε ἄλλοτε μετὰ τὴν ὑπὸ Βαβυλωνίοις πολιορκίαν δεύτερον ἐμπρησμὸν ὑπέμεινεν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ὁ ἐν αὐτῇ κατερρίφη νεώς. 8.4.17 Ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ θαῦμα μέγα ἔχει, ὡς ᾐνίξατο ὁ προφήτης, εἰπών· «διάνοιξον ὁ Λίβανος τὰς θύρας σου, καὶ καταταφαγέτω πῦρ τὰς κέδρους σου». Λίβανον γὰρ ἐν τούτοις συνήθως αὐτὸ τὸ ἱερὸν ὀνομάζει, ἐπεὶ καὶ δι' ἑτέρων προφητειῶν ἀποδέδεικται Λίβανος αὐτὸς ὁ νεὼς ἐπικεκλημένος. 8.4.18 τοῦτο δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ παῖδες Ἰουδαίων εἰσέτι νῦν ὁμολογοῦσιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἡσαΐας, ἐμφερῆ τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας προφήτῃ θεσπίζων, ἔφησεν· «ἰδοὺ κύριος σαβαὼθ συνταράσσει τοὺς ἐνδόξους μετὰ ἰσχύος, καὶ οἱ ὑψηλοὶ τῇ ὕβρει συντριβήσονται». «ὁ δὲ Λίβανος σὺν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς πεσεῖται. καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται. καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ». οἷς ἐπιλέγει· «καὶ ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν». 8.4.19 καὶ ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ὁμοῦ τῇ ἐκ σπέρματος Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ∆αβὶδ γενέσει τοῦ Χριστοῦ Λιβάνου καθαίρεσις καὶ ἐθνῶν κλῆσις συνῆπται. Λίβανον δὲ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ διαρρήδην ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ σημαίνει λέγων· «ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος ὁ ἔχων τὸ ἥγημα εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν Λίβανον, καὶ ἀπέκνισεν τὰ ἁπαλὰ τῆς κέδρου». 8.4.20 ταῦτα γοῦν ὁ αὐτὸς ἑξῆς διασαφῶν, ἐπιλέγει «ὅταν ἔλθῃ» Ναβουχοδονόσορ «ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ» καὶ λάβῃ «τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῆς», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ περὶ τῆς πρώτης ἐδήλου πολιορκίας, μεθ' ἣν ὁ Ζαχαρίας περὶ τῆς δευτέρας θεσπίζει. πότ' οὖν μετὰ τοὺς Ζαχαρίου χρόνους ἐπὶ τῆς Μακεδόνων βασιλείας ἐμπρησμὸν ὑπέμεινεν ὁ νεώς; ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. 8.4.21 μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ὑπὸ Βαβυλωνίων πυρπόλησιν οὐδ' ἄλλοτε δευτέραν ἢ κατὰ Τίτον καὶ Οὐεσπασιανὸν Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορας τὴν διὰ πυρὸς ὑπέμεινεν φθοράν, ἐφ' ᾗ πάλιν δι' αἰνίγματος τοὺς πάλαι ἄρχοντας τοῦ ἔθνους ἐπὶ θρήνους καὶ ὀλοφυρμοὺς ἀνακαλεῖ φάσκων ὁ λόγος· «ὀλολυξάτω πίτυς, διότι πέπτωκεν κέδρος, ὅτι μεγάλως μεγιστᾶνες ἐταλαιπώρησαν· ὀλολύξατε, δρύες τῆς Βασανίτιδος, ὅτι κατεσπάσθη ὁ δρυμὸς ὁ σύμφυτος. φωνὴ θρηνούντων ποιμένων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν ἡ μεγαλωσύνη αὐτῶν». 8.4.22 τότε γοῦν καὶ γέγονεν ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ «ὡς πρόθυρα σαλευόμενα πᾶσι τοῖς λαοῖς κύκλῳ, καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ» γέγονεν «περιοχή», ὅ τε νενομισμένος αὐτοῖς ἅγιος καὶ ἱερὸς τόπος εἰσέτι καὶ σήμερον λίθος τυγχάνει καταπατούμενος πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ «πᾶς ὁ καταπατῶν αὐτὴν ἐμπαίζων ἐμπαίξεται», ἀκολούθως τῇ προφητείᾳ. 8.4.23 ἀλλὰ καὶ «ἀνθ' ὧν κατωρχήσαντο» τοῦ ταῦτα θεσπίσαντος κυρίου, οὐ διαλέλοιπεν αὐτοὺς κοπετὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς καὶ θρῆνος. οὐ πώποτε γοῦν ἄλλοτε ἢ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίαν καὶ εἰς τὸν καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνον πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους θρήνων καὶ κοπετῶν ἄξια πεπόνθασιν διὰ τὴν καταλαβοῦσαν αὐτοὺς ἐκ θεοῦ πληγήν, ὑφ' ἧς καὶ ἡ μητρόπολις αὐτῶν ἀλλοφύλοις ἔθνεσιν ἐξεδόθη καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν κατεσκάφη, αὐτοί τε τῆς ἰδίας χώρας ἀπελήλαντο, ἐν τῇ πολεμίᾳ ἐχθροῖς δουλεύοντες· ὧν ἕνεκα πᾶς ὁ οἶκος αὐτῶν καὶ πᾶσα ψυχὴ αὐτῶν εἰσέτι καὶ σήμερον θρήνοις ὑποβέβληται. 8.4.24 διό φησιν ἡ προφητεία· «καὶ κόψεται» φυλὴ κατὰ