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my days; and my bones have been scorched like dry wood.” From this point, according to its own idiom, it narrates the future calamities as though they have already happened, and says that the time of life was consumed like smoke, and from despair the body has become a dry firebrand, as if burned up by the assault of some fire. For so also Aquila translated, *And my bones have been crumbled like something burnt*. εʹ. "I was struck like grass, and my heart was withered." For indeed I was extinguished like grass; and I lost my former bloom. 80.1677 "Because I forgot to eat my bread. [ʹ] From the voice of my groaning my bone has clung to my flesh." For I have lost my appetite for all food; and I have been completely stripped of my former well-being. For my body has been consumed by the wasting that comes from despondency. My skin is stretched over my bare bones. [The bread of our soul, therefore, is the Word of God; for just as bread of no quality nourishes the body, so the Word from heaven nourishes the substance of the soul. And it was this that Christ, when He delivered the prayer, said to the apostles, "Give us this day our daily bread." Whoever, then, forgets to eat this, that is, to work; for work has been established as the food of the spiritual bread; this He makes clear when the Lord said to the apostles, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life;" this person's heart is struck like grass and withers. And how is the grass struck and withered? When the rain upon it ceases. So also the heart, when it sickens from a lack of the Word, then it is struck and withers, not having the strength to put forth the flower of virtue.] ζʹ, ηʹ. "I have become like a pelican in the wilderness, I have become like an owl in a ruin. I have kept watch, and have become like a sparrow alone upon the housetop." He uses many parables, wishing to represent the calamities worthily; and through each of the said birds he indicates timidity, and the desolation of the guardian. For the sparrow drives away sleep out of anguish, and the owl, fleeing the inhabited parts of the houses, runs to the desolate and abandoned places. For Symmachus called the ruins, "ereipia"; thus also the other bird lives in the desolate places. θʹ. "All day long my enemies reproached me, and those who praised me swore against me." I have become a laughingstock to my adversaries; and I, who was once envied and admired, have now become an oath to those who formerly admired me; for they swear by my calamities: May I not suffer what these people have suffered. ιʹ, ιαʹ. "For I ate ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. Because of your wrath and your anger." These things the 79th psalm also said. "You will feed us with the bread of tears, and will give us tears to drink in measure." And through these words he shows the excess of his pain. For if the time for food was full of pain, scarcely would any other time be free from it. I am overwhelmed, he says, by these evils, because, O Master, you have moved your wrath against me. "Because having lifted me up, you have dashed me down." For having shown me to be high, and 80.1680 having made me conspicuous, you suddenly cast me down. For he has used "dashed me down" metaphorically, from those who lift something up to a height and dash it against the ground. ιβʹ. "My days have declined like a shadow; and I am withered like grass." I am at the very setting of my life, he says; and I am like a shadow that declines and at last ceases; and I have imitated the dryness of grass, inviting the hands of the reapers. ιγʹ. "But you, O Lord, abide forever, and your remembrance to all generations." But I both have such a nature and have been yoked with so many calamities; but you, being everlasting and eternal, could easily grant me some change from my present evils. For he adds this: ιδʹ. "You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have mercy on her, for the time has come." Grant, he says, a better change to this calamity; for the time demands mercy. And through these words he alludes to the end of the punishment which was limited to seventy years. Thus also the wondrous Daniel, having numbered the

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ἡμέραι μου· καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ὡσεὶ φρύγιον συνεφρύγησαν." Ἐντεῦθεν κατὰ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἰδίωμα τὰς ἐσομένας ὡς γεγενημένας συμφορὰς διηγεῖται, καί φησι καπνῷ παραπλησίως τὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀναλωθῆναι χρόνον, καὶ ἐξ ἀθυμίας δαλὸν ξηρὸν γεγενῆσθαι τὸ σῶμα, ὡς ὑπό τινος καταφλεχθὲν πυρὸς προσβολῆς. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας ἡρμήνευσεν, Καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ὡς καῦσις ἐψαθυρώθη. εʹ. "Ἐπλήγην ὡσεὶ χόρτος, καὶ ἐξηράνθη ἡ καρ δία μου." Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ χόρτῳ παραπλησίως ἀπ έσβην· καὶ τὸ πρότερον ἄνθος ἀπώλεσα. 80.1677 "Ὅτι ἐπελαθόμην τοῦ φαγεῖν τὸν ἄρτον μου. [ʹ] Ἀπὸ φωνῆς τοῦ στεναγμοῦ μου ἐκολλήθη τὸ ὀστοῦν μου τῇ σαρκί μου." Πάσης μὲν γὰρ τρο φῆς ἀπεβαλόμην ὄρεξιν· τῆς δὲ προτέρας εὐπαθείας παντελῶς ἐγυμνώθην. Τῇ γὰρ ἐξ ἀθυμίας τηκεδόνι κατηναλώθην τὸ σῶμα. Γυμνοῖς δὲ τοῖς ὀστοῖς ἐπίκειμαι τὸ δέρμα. [Ἄρτος οὖν ἡμῶν τῆς ψυ χῆς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἄποιος ἄρτος τὸ σῶμα τρέφει, οὕτως ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ λόγος τὴν οὐσίαν τῆς ψυχῆς. Καὶ τοῦτον ὁ Χριστὸς τὴν προσευχὴν παραδιδοὺς ἔλεγε τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, "Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον." Ὃς ἂν τοίνυν τοῦτον φαγεῖν ἐπιλάθηται, τουτέστιν ἐργάσασθαι· τοῦ γὰρ νοητοῦ ἄρτου βρῶσιν ἐργασία καθέστηκεν· δηλοῖ δὲ οὗ εἶπεν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ὁ Κύριος, "Ἐργά ζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, ἀλλὰ τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·" τούτου ἡ καρδία δί κην χόρτου πληγεῖσα ξηραίνεται. Πῶς δὲ ὁ χόρτος πλήττεται καὶ ξηραίνεται; ὅταν ὑετὸς ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐπ ανήσῃ. Ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ καρδία, ὅταν ἐνδείᾳ νοσήσῃ τοῦ λόγου, τότε πλήττεται καὶ ξηραίνεται, ἄνθος ἀρετῆς βλαστῆσαι οὐκ ἰσχύουσα.] ζʹ, ηʹ. "Ὡμοιώθην πελεκᾶνι ἐρημικῷ, ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ νυκτικόραξ ἐν οἰκοπέδῳ. Ἠγρύπνησα, καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματι." Πολλαῖς κέχρηται παραβολαῖς, ἀξίως βουλόμενος παραστῆσαι τὰς συμφοράς· δι' ἑκάστου δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων ὀρνίθων τὴν δειλίαν δηλοῖ, καὶ τοῦ κηδε μόνος τὴν ἐρημίαν. Τό τε γὰρ στρουθίον ὑπ' ἀγωνίας ἐξελαύνει τὸν ὕπνον, καὶ ὁ νυκτικόραξ τὰς οἰκουμένας φεύγων τῶν οἰκιῶν, ταῖς ἐρήμοις καὶ καταλελειμμέναις προστρέχει. Τὰ γὰρ οἰκόπεδα, ἐρείπια ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκεν· οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἄλλο ὄρνεον ταῖς ἐρήμοις ἐνδιαιτᾶται. θʹ. "Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ὠνείδιζόν με οἱ ἐχθροί μου, καὶ οἱ ἐπαινοῦντές με κατ' ἐμοῦ ὤμνυον." Καταγέλαστος ἐγενόμην τοῖς δυσμενέσι· καὶ ὁ ποτὲ ζηλωτὸς, καὶ περίβλεπτος, νῦν ὅρκος γέγονα τοῖς πάλαι θαυμάζουσι· κατὰ γὰρ τῶν ἐμῶν ὀμνύουσι συμφορῶν· Μὴ πάθοιμι ἃ οἱ δεῖνες πεπόνθασιν. ιʹ, ιαʹ. "Ὅτι σποδὸν ὡσεὶ ἄρτον ἔφαγον, καὶ τὸ πόμα μου μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ ἐκίρνων. Ἀπὸ προσ ώπου τῆς ὀργῆς σου, καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ σου." Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ οʹ καὶ θʹ ἔφη ψαλμός. "Ψωμιεῖς ἡμᾶς ἄρτον δακρύων, καὶ ποτιεῖς ἡμᾶς ἐν δάκρυσιν ἐν μέτρῳ." Τὴν δὲ τῆς ὀδύνης ὑπερβολὴν διὰ τούτων δηλοῖ. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τῆς τροφῆς καιρὸς ὀδύνης ὑπῆρχε μεστὸς, σχολῇ γε ἂν ἄλλος καιρὸς ταύτης ἐλεύθερος ἦν. Τούτοις δέ φησι περικλύζομαι τοῖς κακοῖς, ἐπειδὴ, ∆έσποτα, κατ' ἐμοῦ κεκίνηκας τὴν ὀργήν. "Ὅτι ἐπάρας κατέῤῥαξάς με." Ὑψηλὸν γάρ με δείξας, καὶ 80.1680 περίβλεπτον ἀποφήνας, ἐξαίφνης ἀπέῤῥιψας. Τὸ γὰρ κατέῤῥαξας ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τέθεικε τῶν ἐπαιρόντων εἰς ὕψος τι, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους καταῤῥηγνύν των. ιβʹ. "Αἱ ἡμέραι μου ὡσεὶ σκιὰ ἐκλίθησαν· κἀγὼ ὡσεὶ χόρτος ἐξηράνθην." Παρ' αὐτάς εἰμι, φησὶ, τὰς τοῦ βίου δυσμάς· καὶ ἔοικα σκιᾷ κλινάσῃ, καὶ ληγούσῃ λοιπόν· καὶ χόρτου δὲ μεμίμημαι τὴν ξηρότητα, τῶν θεριζόντων προσκαλουμένου τὰς χεῖρας. ιγʹ. "Σὺ δὲ, Κύριε, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένεις, καὶ τὸ μνημόσυνόν σου εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν." Ἀλλ' ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ τὴν φύσιν τοιαύτην ἔχω, καὶ συμφοραῖς συνεζύγην τοσαύταις· σὺ δὲ, ἀΐδιος ὢν καὶ αἰώνιος, μεταβολήν τινα τῶν παρόντων κακῶν ῥᾳδίως ἄν μοι χαρίσαιο. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπιφέρει· ιδʹ. "Σὺ ἀναστὰς οἰκτειρήσεις τὴν Σιών· ὅτι καιρὸς τοῦ οἰκτειρῆσαι αὐτὴν, ὅτι ἥκει καιρός." ∆ὸς, φησὶ, μεταβολὴν ἀμείνω τῇ συμφορᾷ· ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς τὸν ἔλεον ἀπαιτεῖ. Αἰνίττεται δὲ διὰ τούτων τῆς τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεσιν περιωρισμένης τιμω ρίας τὸ τέλος. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θαυμάσιος ∆ανιὴλ, ἀρι θμήσας τῆς