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like the sand of the seas, winged birds; and it fell in the midst of their camp, round about their dwellings. And they ate and were filled exceedingly, and he brought them their desire; they were not deprived of their desire. While their food was still in their mouth, the wrath of God also came upon them; and killed the most of them, and brought down the chosen ones of Israel. That He provided for them not only bread, but also meat, the Writing of Moses also teaches, saying in Exodus: And Moses and Aaron said to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel; In the evening you will know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, in that he has heard all your grumbling, in that the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning to the full. And it continues: And it was evening, and quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning, when the dew had ceased round about the camp, behold, upon the face of the desert, a fine thing like dust, white as frost upon the earth. But since after these things it is said in Numbers: -And the mixed multitude among them felt a strong craving, and the sons of Israel sat and wept, and said, Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for free, and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions. But now our soul is dried up. Then it continues: And Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. And a wind went forth from the Lord, and it cast quail from the sea, and threw it upon the camp, a day's journey from here, round about the camp, about two cubits from the ground. And the people arose all that day and all the night, and each gathered what was sufficient; he who had much did not have more, and he who had little 23.921 did not have less; he who had little, gathered ten cors. And he spread out in the drying places round about the camp the meat, which was there before it was consumed. And the Lord was angered. And the name of that place was called Graves of Craving, because there they buried the people who craved; - therefore, the passage at hand reasonably teaches these things, saying: He sent them provision to the full, and so on. And it teaches that the birds, being driven by winds, were brought down into the camp. And according to Symmachus it is said: Who raised the East wind from heaven, and by his power he brought on the South wind, like the sand of the seas, winged birds. And he threw it within their camp, round about their tents. And having eaten, they were filled exceedingly; and he brought them their desire, they did not depart from their desire. While their food was still in their teeth, the wrath of God came upon them, and killed their fattest ones and made the young men of Israel to bow down. And they suffered these things reasonably; for He paradoxically provided these things to them as a demonstration of his power; but they, indulging in insatiable meat-eating, were destroyed by a choleric passion, not paying attention to the miracle of the paradox, nor glorifying the one who worked the paradox; and being wholly of the flesh, for which reason they also brought destruction upon themselves. In all these things they still sinned, and did not believe in his wondrous works. And their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste. The argument, being a refutation and an accusation of the wickedness of the Jews, makes an enumeration also of their sins, showing that the effects of God's wrath did not come upon them in vain. And indeed it teaches that even after all the aforementioned things, increasing their own evils, they still sinned; and they sinned, because they did not believe his wondrous works. For seeing such things with their eyes, they were overcome by desire. Then, and their days failed in vanity. For it was necessary for spectators

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ὡσεὶ ἄμμον θαλασσῶν πετεινὰ πτερωτά· καὶ ἐπέπεσεν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς αὐτῶν, κύκλῳ τῶν σκηνωμάτων αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἔφαγον καὶ ἐνεπλήσθησαν σφόδρα, καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτῶν ἤνεγκεν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἐστερήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν. Ἔτι τῆς βρώσεως οὔσης ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνέβη ἐπ' αὐτούς· καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν ἐν τοῖς πλείοσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ συνεπόδισεν. Ὅτι μὴ μόνου ἄρτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὄψου προενόησεν αὐτοῖς, διδάσκει καὶ ἡ Μωσέως Γραφὴ, ἐν μὲν Ἐξόδῳ λέγουσα· Καὶ εἶπε Μωσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· Ἑσπέραν γνώσεσθε, ὅτι Κύριος ἐξήγαγεν ὑμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου· πρωῒ δὲ ὄψεσθε τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου, ἐν τῷ εἰσακοῦσαι αὐτὸν πάντα τὸν γογγυσμὸν ὑμῶν, ἐν τῷ διδόναι τὸν Κύριον ὑμῖν ἑσπέρας κρέα φαγεῖν, καὶ ἄρτους τὸ πρωῒ εἰς πλησμονήν. Καὶ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· Καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα, καὶ ἀνέβη ὀρτυγομήτρα, καὶ ἐκάλυψε τὴν παρεμβολήν· τὸ πρωῒ δὲ ἐγένετο καταπαυομένης τῆς δρόσου κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ προσώπου τῆς ἐρήμου, λεπτὸν ὡσεὶ κόνιον, λευκὸν ὡσεὶ πάγος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ μετὰ ταῦτα εἴρηται ἐν Ἀριθμοῖς· -Καὶ ὁ ἐπίμικτος ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπεθύμησεν ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ καθίσαντες ἔκλαον οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εἶπαν, Τίς ψωμίσει ἡμῖν κρέα; Ἐμνήσθημεν τοὺς ἰχθύας, οὓς ἠσθίομεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δωρεὰν, καὶ τοὺς σικυοὺς, καὶ τοὺς πέπονας, καὶ τὰ πράσα, καὶ τὰ κρόμυα. Νυνὶ δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν κατάξηρος. Εἶτα ἐπιλέγεται ἑξῆς· Καὶ ἀπῆλθε Μωσῆς εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν, αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ πνεῦμα ἐξῆλθε παρὰ Κυρίου, καὶ ἐξέβρασεν ὀρτυγομήτραν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ ἐπέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν παρεμβολὴν ὁδὸν ἡμέρας, ἐντεῦθεν κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς ὡσεὶ δίπηχυ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἀναστὰς ὁ λαὸς ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην καὶ ὅλην τὴν νύκτα, καὶ συνήγαγεν ἕκαστος τὸ ἀρκοῦν· ὁ τὸ πολὺ οὐκ ἐπλεόνασε, καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον 23.921 οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν· ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον, συνήγαγε δέκα κόρους. Καὶ ἔψυξεν ἐν τοῖς ψυκτῆρσι κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς τὰ κρέα ἦν πρὶν ἢ ἐκλιπεῖν. Καὶ ὠργίσθη Κύριος. Καὶ ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου, Μνήματα ἐπιθυμίας, ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἔθαψαν τὸν λαὸν τὸν ἐπιθυμητήν· - εἰκότως οὖν καὶ ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας περικοπὴ διδάσκει ταῦτα λέγουσα· Ἐπισιτισμὸν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοῖς εἰς πλησμονὴν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ, ὡς ἄρα ὑπ' ἀνέμων ἐλαυνόμενα τὰ πτηνὰ κατεφέρετο εἰς τὴν παρεμβολήν. Καὶ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον δὲ εἴρηται· Ὃς ἦρεν Εὖρον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἐπήγαγεν ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ αὐτοῦ Νότον, ὡσεὶ ἄμμον θαλασσῶν πετεινὰ πτερωτά. Καὶ ἐπέβαλεν ἔνδον εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν αὐτῶν κύκλῳ τῶν σκηνῶν. Καὶ φαγόντες, ἐνεπλήσθησαν σφόδρα· καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτῶν ἤνεγκεν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἀπέστησαν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν. Ἔτι τῆς βρώσεως αὐτῶν οὔσης ἐν τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτῶν, ὀργὴ οὖν Θεοῦ ἐπῆλθεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τοὺς λιπαρωτέρους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὤκλασε. Καὶ ταῦτ' ἔπασχον εὐλόγως· ὁ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως παραδόξως καὶ ταῦτα παρεῖχεν· οἱ δὲ ἀπλήστῳ χρώμενοι τῇ κρεωφαγίᾳ, χολερικῷ πάθει διεφθείροντο, μὴ προσέχοντες μὲν τῷ τοῦ παραδόξου θαύματι, μηδὲ δοξάζοντες τὸν παραδοξοποιόν· ὅλοι δὲ τῶν σαρκῶν γιγνόμενοι, διὸ καὶ ἐπεσπῶντο ἑαυτοῖς ὄλεθρον. Ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ἥμαρτον ἔτι, καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν ἐν τοῖς θαυμασίοις αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐξέλιπον ἐν ματαιότητι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτη αὐτῶν μετὰ σπουδῆς. Ἐλεγκτικὸς ὢν καὶ κατηγορητικὸς τῆς Ἰουδαίων μοχθηρίας ὁ λόγος, καταρίθμησιν ποιεῖ καὶ τῶν πεπλημμελημένων αὐτοῖς, παριστῶν, ὅτι μὴ μάτην αὐτοὺς τὰ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μετῆλθεν. Καὶ δὴ διδάσκει, ὡς καὶ μετὰ τὰ προλεχθέντα πάντα, αὔξοντες ἑαυτῶν τὰ κακὰ, ἥμαρτον ἔτι· καὶ ἥμαρτον, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν τοῖς θαυμασίοις αὐτοῦ. Τοιαῦτα γὰρ ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶντες, ἐνικῶντο ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας. Εἶτα, καὶ ἐξέλιπον ἐν ματαιότητι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν. ∆έον γὰρ θεωροὺς