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1. Having spoken of the evils that would befall the city, and of the apostolic trials, and that they would remain unconquered, and would traverse the whole world, he speaks again of the Jewish calamities, showing that when these are glorious, having taught the whole world, then those will be in calamities. And see how he describes the war, representing its unbearable nature through things that seem to be small. For then, he says, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Then, when? When these things happen, when the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place. Whence it seems to me he means the armies. Flee then at that time, he says; for there is no longer any hope of safety for you. For since it often happened for them to recover in difficult wars, as for instance in the time of Sennacherib, and again in the time of Antiochus; (for then too, when armies had entered and the temple had been previously taken, the Maccabees, having rallied, turned matters to the contrary;) so that they might not now suspect 58.694 this, that there will be some such change, he forbids them any such thing. For it is a thing to be desired, he says, to be saved with one's bare body at last. For this reason he does not permit those on the housetops to enter the house to take their garments, showing the inescapable evils and the endless calamity; and that one who has fallen in must utterly perish. For this reason he also adds concerning the one in the field, saying, Neither let this one return to take his garments. For if those who are inside are fleeing, much more must those who are outside not take refuge there. But woe to those with child and to those who are nursing; to the former, because of their sluggishness and not being able to flee easily, being weighed down by the burden of pregnancy; to the latter, because they are held by the bond of affection for their children, and are not able to save their nursing infants along with themselves. For it is easy to despise money and simple to provide for it, and garments too; but the things of nature, how could one escape them? How could the pregnant woman become light? How will the nursing mother be able to neglect the one she has borne? Then again, showing the magnitude of the calamity, he says, Pray that your flight be not in winter, nor on the Sabbath. For there will be then a great tribulation, such as 58.695 has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. Do you see that his discourse is to the Jews, and he is speaking about the evils that will befall them? For the apostles were not going to keep the Sabbath, or be there when Vespasian did these things. For most of them had already departed beforehand; but if any was left behind, he was staying in other parts of the world at that time. And why not in winter, nor on the Sabbath? In winter, because of the difficulty from the season; on the Sabbath, because of the authority of the law. For since there was need of flight, and of a most swift flight, and the Jews at that time did not dare to flee on the Sabbath because of the law, nor in winter was such a thing easy, for this reason, he says, Pray. For there will be then a tribulation, such as has not been, nor ever shall be. And let no one think this was said hyperbolically; but let him read the writings of Josephus, and learn the truth of what has been said. For one could not say that either, that the man, being a believer, exaggerated the tragedy in order to confirm what was said. For he was a Jew, and very much a Jew, and a zealot, and of those after the coming of Christ. What then does this man say? That those terrible things surpassed every tragedy, and no such war ever befell the nation. For so great was the famine, that the eating of children became a thing fought over by the mothers themselves, and wars arose over this; and he said that many who had died had their bellies ripped open in the middle. I would gladly ask the Jews, then, from where such a divinely sent and unbearable wrath came upon them, and more grievous than all that had happened before, not only in Judea, but everywhere in the world? Is it not very clear, that it was because of the outrage of the cross and the decision

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αʹ. Εἰπὼν περὶ τῶν κακῶν τῶν τὴν πόλιν καταληψομένων, καὶ τῶν

πειρασμῶν τῶν ἀποστολικῶν, καὶ ὅτι ἀχείρωτοι μενοῦσι, καὶ πᾶσαν διαδραμοῦνται τὴν οἰκουμένην, λέγει πάλιν τὰς Ἰουδαϊκὰς συμφορὰς, δεικνὺς ὅτι ὅταν ὦσιν οὗτοι λαμπροὶ, τὴν οἰκουμένην διδάξαντες ἅπασαν, τότε ἐκεῖνοι ἐν συμφοραῖς. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς διηγεῖται τὸν πόλεμον, διὰ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναι μικρῶν παριστῶν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀφόρητον. Τότε γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη. Τότε, πότε; Ὅταν ταῦτα γένηται, ὅταν τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως στῇ ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ. Ὅθεν μοι δοκεῖ τὰ στρατόπεδα λέγειν. Φεύγετε τοίνυν τότε, φησίν· οὐδεμία γὰρ λοιπὸν ἐλπὶς σωτηρίας ὑμῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ συνέβη πολλάκις αὐτοὺς ἀνενεγκεῖν ἐν πολέμοις χαλεποῖς, οἷον ἐπὶ τοῦ Σεναχηρεὶμ, ἐπὶ Ἀντιόχου πάλιν· (καὶ γὰρ καὶ τότε στρατοπέδων ἐπεισελθόντων καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ προκαταληφθέντος, συστραφέντες οἱ Μακκαβαῖοι μετέστησαν εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον τὰ πράγματα·) ἵνα οὖν μὴ καὶ νῦν τοῦτο ὑποπτεύσω 58.694 σιν, ὅτι ἔσται τις μεταβολὴ τοιαύτη, πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτον αὐτοῖς ἀπαγορεύει. Ἀγαπητὸν γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ γυμνῷ τῷ σώματι σωθῆναι λοιπόν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων οὐκ ἀφίησιν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἰσελθεῖν, ὥστε ἆραι τὰ ἱμάτια, τὰ ἄφευκτα δηλῶν κακὰ, καὶ τὴν ἀπέραντον συμφοράν· καὶ ὅτι τὸν ἐμπεσόντα ἀνάγκη πάντως ἀπολέσθαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ προστίθησι λέγων, Μηδὲ οὗτος ἐπιστρεψάτω ἆραι τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ ἔνδον ὄντες φεύγουσι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοὺς ἔξωθεν οὐ χρὴ καταφεύγειν ἐκεῖ. Οὐαὶ δὲ ταῖς ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσαις καὶ ταῖς θηλαζούσαις· ταῖς μὲν, διὰ τὸ νωθρότερον καὶ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι φεύγειν εὐκόλως, τῷ φορτίῳ τῆς κυήσεως βαρουμένας· ταῖς δὲ, διὰ τὸ δεσμῷ κατέχεσθαι τῷ τῆς συμπαθείας τῶν παιδίων, καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι συνδιασώζειν τὰ θηλάζοντα. Χρημάτων μὲν γὰρ καὶ καταφρονῆσαι εὔκολον καὶ προνοῆσαι ῥᾴδιον, καὶ ἱματίων· τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως πῶς ἄν τις διαφύγοι; πῶς ἂν ἡ ἔγκυος γένοιτο κούφη; πῶς δὲ ἡ θηλάζουσα δυνήσεται τοῦ τεχθέντος ὑπεριδεῖν; Εἶτα πάλιν δεικνὺς τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς, φησί· Προσεύχεσθε, ἵνα μὴ γένηται ἡ φυγὴ ὑμῶν ἐν χειμῶνι, μηδὲ ἐν σαββάτῳ. Ἔσται γὰρ τότε θλῖψις μεγάλη, οἵα 58.695 οὐκ ἐγένετο ἀπ' ἀρχῆς κόσμου ἕως τοῦ νῦν, οὐδὲ μὴ γένηται. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ὁ λόγος αὐτῷ, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐκείνους καταληψομένων κακῶν διαλέγεται; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἔμελλον Σάββατον τηρεῖν, ἢ ἐκεῖ ἔσεσθαι, ἡνίκα Οὐεσπασιανὸς ταῦτα ἔπραξε. Καὶ γὰρ ἔφθασαν προαπελθόντες οἱ πλείους· εἰ δέ τις ἀπελείφθη, ἐν ἄλλοις τῆς οἰκουμένης διέτριβε μέρεσι τότε. ∆ιατί δὲ μηδὲ χειμῶνος, μηδὲ Σαββάτου; Χειμῶνος μὲν, διὰ τὴν δυσκολίαν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ· Σαββάτου δὲ, διὰ τὴν αὐθεντίαν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ φυγῆς χρεία, καὶ φυγῆς ταχίστης, οὔτε δὲ ἐν Σαββάτῳ τότε Ἰουδαῖοι φεύγειν ἐτόλμων διὰ τὸν νόμον, οὔτε δὲ ἐν χειμῶνι τὸ τοιοῦτον εὔκολον, διὰ τοῦτο, Προσεύχεσθε, φησίν. Ἔσται γὰρ τότε θλῖψις, οἵα οὐκ ἐγένετο, οὐδὲ μὴ γένηται. Καὶ μή τις νομίσῃ τοῦτο ὑπερβολικῶς εἰρῆσθαι· ἀλλ' ἐντυχὼν τοῖς Ἰωσήπου γράμμασι, μανθανέτω τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο ἂν ἔχοι τις εἰπεῖν, ὅτι πιστὸς ὢν ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸ συστῆσαι τὰ εἰρημένα ἐξώγκωσε τὴν τραγῳδίαν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Ἰουδαῖος ἦν, καὶ σφόδρα Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ ζηλωτὴς, καὶ τῶν μετὰ τὴν Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν. Τί οὖν οὗτός φησιν; Ὅτι πᾶσαν ἐνίκησε τραγῳδίαν ἐκεῖνα τὰ δεινὰ, καὶ πόλεμος οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε τοιοῦτος τὸ ἔθνος κατέλαβε. Τοσοῦτος γὰρ ἦν ὁ λιμὸς, ὡς αὐταῖς ταῖς μητράσι περιμάχητον εἶναι τὴν παιδοφαγίαν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτου πολέμους γίνεσθαι· πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ νεκροὺς γενομένους κατὰ μέσας ἀναῤῥήγνυσθαι τὰς γαστέρας ἔφη. Ἡδέως ἂν οὖν ἐροίμην Ἰουδαίους, πόθεν οὕτω θεήλατος ὀργὴ καὶ ἀφόρητος ἦλθεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, καὶ πασῶν ἔμπροσθεν γενομένων, οὐκ ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης χαλεπωτέρα; Οὐκ εὔδηλον, ὅτι διὰ τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τόλμημα καὶ τὴν ἀπόφασιν