332

to Shiloh on that day, his clothes torn, and earth upon his head. And behold, Eli was on the chair by the gate watching the road; for his heart was anxious concerning the ark of God. Then it says next: And Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, and he did not see. And the man approached and said: I am the one who has come from the camp, and I have fled from the battle-line today. And he said: What is the thing that has happened, child? And the young man answered and said: The man of Israel has fled from the face of the foreigners, and a great slaughter has occurred among the people, and both your sons are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that he fell from the chair backward beside the gate, and his back was broken, and he died; for the man was old and heavy, And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child to give birth; and she heard the report that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, and she cried out and gave birth, for her pains came upon her; and at the time of her dying. And the women who stood by her said to her: Do not fear, for you have borne a son; and she did not answer, nor did her heart understand. And next to these it is said: And foreigners took the ark of God, and brought it into Ashdod. And the foreigners took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Dagon. The present account summarizes the memory of all these things, and adds: And the Lord was roused as one sleeping, as a mighty man who has been overcome with wine After the ark was taken by the foreigners, and after the aforesaid things were done against the people, God, showing his visitation, pursues the foreigners, punishing them with an invisible power. Therefore it has been said: And the Lord was roused as one sleeping, as a mighty man overcome with wine; but according to Symmachus, As a mighty man shouting from wine; and according to Aquila, As a mighty man overcome with wine. Then having roused himself, he strikes his enemies, that is, those who took the ark of the Covenant; and he strikes them in their hinder parts, and gives them 23.937 an eternal reproach. But how he struck them in their hinder parts, the history in the first of Kings teaches in this way: And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Ashdodites, and he afflicted them, and struck them in their posteriors, Ashdod and its borders; and again: And the ark of the Lord, it says, went over to Gath. And it came to pass after it went over, that the hand of the Lord came to be in the city a very great destruction. And he struck the men of the city from the small to the great, and he struck them in their posteriors. And they send away the ark of God to Ashkelon; and the Ashkelonites cried out, saying: Why have you turned the ark of God to kill us? And it says next: For there arose a very grievous confusion of death in the whole city, when the ark of God entered there; and the living and the dead were struck in their posteriors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven. On account of these things, it has been said in the present psalm: And he struck his enemies in their hinder parts; he gave them an eternal reproach. For it was a reproach to be struck in their posteriors, as if they were being licentious in those parts. He punished his enemies in this way; but he pursued his own in another. Therefore it was said: And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph. And what is this but Shiloh? For it was of the inheritance of Ephraim; and Ephraim was the son of Joseph. Therefore it adds: And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; although he had first chosen it, and first honored the tabernacle of Joseph. Therefore Shiloh also was brought to utter desolation. And the word teaches through these things through the

332

εἰς Σηλὼμ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ διεῤῥωγότα, καὶ γῆ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἰδοὺ Ἡλεὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ δίφρου παρὰ τὴν πύλην σκοπεύων τὴν δίοδον· ὅτι ἦν ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ ἐξεστηκυῖα περὶ τῆς κιβωτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς εἴρηται· Καὶ Ἡλεὶ ὡς ηʹ ἐτῶν· καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπανέστησαν, καὶ οὐκ ἔβλεπε. Καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ προσελθὼν εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἥκων ἐκ τῆς παρεμβολῆς, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐκ τῆς παρατάξεως πέφευγα σήμερον. Καὶ εἶπε· Τί ἐστι τὸ γεγονὸς ῥῆμα, τέκνον; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη τὸ παιδάριον, καὶ εἶπε· Πέφευγεν ἀνὴρ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ προσώπου ἀλλοφύλων, καὶ πληγὴ μεγάλη γέγονεν ἐν τῷ λαῷ, καὶ ἀμφότεροι οἱ υἱοί σου τεθνήκασι, καὶ ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐλήφθη. Καὶ ἐγένετο, ὡς ἐμνήσθη τῆς κιβωτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἔπεσεν ἀπὸ τοῦ δίφρου ὀπισθίως ἐχόμενος τῆς πύλης, καὶ συνετρίβη ὁ νῶτος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπέθανεν· ὅτι πρεσβύτης ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ βαρύς, Καὶ νύμφη αὐτοῦ γυνὴ Φινεὲς συνειληφυῖα τοῦ τεκεῖν· καὶ ἤκουσε τὴν ἀπαγγελίαν, ὅτι ἐλήφθη ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὅτι τέθνηκεν ὁ πενθερὸς αὐτῆς καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἔκλαυσε καὶ ἔτεκεν, ὅτι ἐπεστράφησαν αἱ ὠδῖνες αὐτῆς ἐπ' αὐτήν· καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ αὐτῆς ἀποθνήσκει. Καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῇ αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ παρεστηκυῖαι αὐτῇ· Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅτι υἱὸν τέτοκας· καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη, καὶ οὐκ ἐνόησεν ἡ καρδία αὐτῆς. Καὶ ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγεται τούτοις· Καὶ ἀλλόφυλοι ἔλαβον τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ εἰσήνεγκαν αὐτὴν εἰς Ἄζωτον. Καὶ ἔλαβον οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι τὴν κιβωτὸν Κυρίου, καὶ εἰσήνεγκαν αὐτὴν εἰς οἶκον ∆αγών. Τούτων δὴ πάντων ἐπιτέμνεται τὴν μνήμην ὁ παρὼν λόγος, καὶ ἐπιλέγει· Καὶ ἐξηγέρθη ὡς ὁ ὑπνῶν Κύριος, ὡς δυνατὸς καὶ κεκραιπαληκὼς ἐξ οἴνου Μετὰ τὸ ληφθῆναι τὴν κιβωτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, καὶ μετὰ τὸ πραχθῆναι τὰ προλελεγμένα κατὰ τοῦ λαοῦ, τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ δεικνὺς ὁ Θεὸς, μετέρχεται τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους ἀοράτῳ δυνάμει κολάζων αὐτούς. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Καὶ ἐξηγέρθη ὡς ὁ ὑπνῶν Κύριος, ὡς δυνατὸς κεκραιπαληκὼς ἐξ οἴνου· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Ὡς δυνατὸς διαλαλῶν ἐξ οἴνου· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, Ὡς δυνατὸς κεκραιπαληκὼς ἐξ οἴνου. Εἶτα διεγείρας αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν, πατάσσει τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ, δηλαδὴ τοὺς τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς ∆ιαθήκης ἀπολαβόντας· καὶ πατάσσει αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, δίδωσί τε 23.937 αὐτοῖς ὄνειδος αἰώνιον. Πῶς δὲ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς, διδάσκει ἡ ἱστορία τοῦτον ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἔχουσα τὸν τρόπον· Καὶ ἐβαρύνθη χεὶρ Κυρίου ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀζωτίους, καὶ ἐβασάνισεν αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς ἕδρας αὐτῶν, τὴν Ἄζωτον καὶ τὰ ὅρια αὐτῆς· καὶ αὖθις· Καὶ μετῆλθε, φησὶν, ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς Γεθθά. Καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τὸ μετελθεῖν αὐτὴν, καὶ γίνεται χεὶρ Κυρίου ἐν τῇ πόλει κράτος μέγα σφόδρα. Καὶ ἐπάταξε τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς πόλεως ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου, καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς ἕδρας αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐξαποστέλλουσι τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς Ἀσκάλωνα· καὶ ἐβόησαν οἱ Ἀσκαλωνῖται λέγοντες· Τί ἀπεστρέψατε τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ θανατῶσαι ἡμᾶς; Καὶ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· Ὅτι ἐγενήθη σύγχυσις θανάτου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει βαρεῖα σφόδρα, ὡς εἰσῆλθεν ἡ κιβωτὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκεῖ· καὶ οἱ ζῶντες καὶ οἱ ἀποθανόντες ἐπλήχθησαν εἰς τὰς ἕδρας· καὶ ἀνέβη ἡ κραυγὴ τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. ∆ιὰ δὴ ταῦτα λέλεκται ἐν τῷ παρόντι ψαλμῷ· Καὶ ἐπάταξε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω· ὄνειδος αἰώνιον ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς. Ὄνειδος γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἐν ταῖς ἕδραις πληγῆναι αὐτοὺς, ὡς ἂν ἀκολασταίνοντας ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς μέρεσι. Τοὺς μὲν ἐχθροὺς οὕτως ἐτιμωρήσατο· τοὺς δὲ οἰκείους ἑτέρῳ μετήρχετο. ∆ιὸ εἴρητο· Καὶ ἀπώσατο τὸ σκήνωμα Ἰωσήφ. Ποῖον δὲ τοῦτο ἀλλ' ἢ τὴν Σηλώμ; Ἦν γὰρ αὐτὴ τῆς κληρονομίας Ἐφραΐμ· Ἐφραῒμ δὲ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς ἦν. ∆ιὸ ἐπιλέγει· Καιἀπώσατο τὸ σκήνωμα Ἰωσὴφ, καὶ τὴν φυλὴν Ἐφραῒμ οὐκ ἐξελέξατο· καίπερ αὐτὴν πρώτην ἐκλεξάμενος, καὶ τὸ σκήνωμα Ἰωσὴφ πρῶτον τιμήσας. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἡ Σηλὼμ εἰς ἐσχάτην ἐρημίαν κατέστη. Παιδεύει δὲ διὰ τούτων ὁ λόγος διὰ τοῦ