82

the city. "Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid or dismayed before this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." Then he commands them to stand upon a certain summit, and to become spectators of the battle; "For it is not for you," he says, "to fight in this. Stand, and understand, and see the salvation of the Lord that is with you. Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear, nor be cowardly to go out tomorrow to meet him, and the Lord is with you." He gave the pledge of courage, and drove out human fear. When these things were spoken by Jezehel, all worshipped; and the Levites made use of hymns. And as they were going out on the next day, the king encouraged them, saying: "Hear me, sons of Judah, and you who dwell in Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, and trust 80.837 in his prophets, and you will prosper." Then he ordered, not the armed champions, but the singing Levites to lead the army. But he who scatters the tribes of nations, and brings to nothing the counsels of peoples, and brings to nothing the plans of rulers, and turns the wise backward, and makes their counsel foolish, stirred up the enemies against each other. And first the Ammonites and Moabites destroyed the Idumeans; then, turning against one another, they did similar things to each other. And the king with his subjects watched the slaughters of the enemies. And when all had fallen, and not even one had escaped to report the disaster to his own people, they fearlessly plundered the dead, and carried off all the spoil. Having done this for three days, on the fourth they praised the giver of victory. And that field also received its name from the blessing; for it was called the Valley of Blessing. The miraculous nature of the victory terrified all the neighboring kings. But even after this greatest miracle had happened, it says, "The people did not set their hearts aright toward the Lord, the God of their fathers." And the history again mentioned the written prophecy of Jehu son of Hanani. For it said thus: "And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, are they not written in the words of Jehu son of Hanani, which he wrote in the book of the words of the kings of Israel?" And again it blames Jehoshaphat, because he made an alliance with Ahaziah the son of Ahab; and it added: "And he did wrong to make and go to Tarshish; and he made ships in Ezion-geber." And I have already said that this was a city situated by the Indian sea, having Ethiopians as inhabitants. And they call it in the Greek language Berenice. And the physician of souls, sending Eliezer the son of Dodavah, the prophet, to Jehoshaphat, rebuked the friendship, and foretold the punishment: "Because you have allied yourself," he says, "with Ahaziah, and have associated with him, the Lord has broken your works, and your ships have been wrecked, and they were not able to go to Tarshish." And how many evils that impious relationship was the cause of, the following parts of the history teach; for Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, emulated the impiety of Ahab his father-in-law. This man also killed all his brothers, and walked in all wickedness. "For he walked," it says, "in 80.840 the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab did, because the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which he made with David, in the manner he said he would give him a lamp, and to his sons, all the days." From this we have learned how much the piety of ancestors profits. For the loving-kind one bears even with the wicked, remembering the virtue of those who have passed away. But he also reaped the fruits of his piety. For Idumea cast off the yoke of slavery; and Libnah, a city of Judea, also revolted. And the Master through Elijah the great has brought forth the sentence against him. But the prophet himself did not arrive, but through a letter he communicated the divine decision. "For there came," he says, "a writing from

82

τὴν πόλιν. "Τάδε λέγει Κύ ριος ὑμῖν· Μὴ φοβηθῆτε ὑμεῖς, μηδὲ πτοηθῆτε ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄχλου τοῦ πολλοῦ τούτου· ὅτι οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἡ παράταξις, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ Θεῷ." Εἶτα κελεύει ἐπί τινος στῆναι κορυφῆς, καὶ θεατὰς γενέ σθαι τῆς παρατάξεως· "Οὐχ ὑμῖν γὰρ, φησὶ, πολε μῆσαι ἐν ταύτῃ. Στῆτε, καὶ συνίετε, καὶ ἴδετε τὴν σωτηρίαν Κυρίου τὴν μεθ' ὑμῶν. Ἰούδα καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, μὴ φοβεῖσθε, μηδὲ δειλιᾶτε ἐξελθεῖν αὔριον εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὁ Κύριος μεθ' ὑμῶν." Ἔδωκε τὸ τοῦ θάρσους ἐνέχυρον, καὶ ἐξήλασε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον δέος. Τούτων εἰρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰεζεὴλ, προσεκύνησαν ἅπαντες· οἱ δὲ Λευῖται ταῖς ὑμ νῳδίαις ἐχρήσαντο. Ἐξιόντας δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ὁ βασι λεὺς περιεθάῤῥυνε, λέγων· "Ἀκούσατέ μου, υἱοὶ Ἰούδα, καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες Ἱερουσαλὴμ, πιστεύσατε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐμπιστεύ 80.837 σατε ἐν τοῖς προφήταις αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐοδωθήσε σθε." Εἶτα τῆς στρατιᾶς ἡγεῖσθαι προσέταξεν, οὐ τοὺς προμάχους ὁπλοφοροῦντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς Λευΐτας ὑμνοῦντας. Ὁ δὲ διασκεδάζων φυλὰς ἐθνῶν, καὶ ἀθετῶν λογισμοὺς λαῶν, καὶ ἀθετῶν βουλὰς ἀρχόν των, καὶ ἀποστρέφων φρονίμους εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῶν μωραίνων, κατ' ἀλλήλων τοὺς πολεμίους διήγειρε. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν Ἀμμανῖ ται καὶ Μωαβῖται τοὺς Ἰδουμαίους ἀνήλωσαν· εἶτα κατ' ἀλλήλων χωρήσαντες τὰ παραπλήσια ἀλλήλοις διέθηκαν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς σὺν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ἐθεώρει σφαγάς. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἅπαντες ἔπε σον, καὶ οὐδὲ εἷς διέφυγεν, ἵνα τοῖς οἰκείοις μηνύσῃ τὸ πάθος, ἀδεῶς τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐσκύλευσαν, καὶ τὴν λείαν ἀπήγαγον ἅπασαν. Ἐν τρισὶ δὲ τοῦτο δε δρακότες ἡμέραις, τῇ τετάρτῃ τὸν δοτῆρα τῆς νί κης ἀνύμνησαν. Ἔλαβε δὲ καὶ τὸ πεδίον ἐκεῖνο τῆς εὐλογίας τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν· Κοιλὰς γὰρ εὐλογίας ἐκλήθη. Τὸ δὲ τῆς νίκης παράδοξον ἐξεδειμάτωσεν ἅπαντας τῶν ὁμόρων τοὺς βασιλεῖς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς μεγίστης ταύτης θαυματουργίας γεγενημένης ἔτι, φησὶν, "Ὁ λαὸς οὐ κατηύθυναν τὴν καρδίαν αὑτῶν πρὸς Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν τῶν πατέρων αὑτῶν." Ἐμνη μόνευσε δὲ πάλιν ἡ ἱστορία τῆς τοῦ Ἰηοῦ τοῦ Ἀνανὶ ἐγγράφου προφητείας. Ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· "Καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ λόγοι Ἰωσαφὰτ, οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι, οὐκ ἰδοὺ γεγραμμένοι εἰσὶν ἐν λόγοις Ἰηοῦ Ἀνανὶ, οὓς κατέγραψεν ἐπὶ βιβλίου λόγων βασιλέων Ἰσ ραήλ;" Ἐπιμέμφεται δὲ πάλιν τῷ Ἰωσαφὰτ, ὅτι τῷ Ὀχοζίᾳ τῷ υἱῷ Ἀχαὰβ ἐκοινώνησε· καὶ ἐπήγαγε· "Καὶ αὐτὸς ἠνόμησε τοῦ ποιῆσαι καὶ πορευ θῆναι εἰς Θαρσεῖς· καὶ ἐποίησε ναῦς ἐν Γασίων Γαβέρ." Καὶ ἤδη δὲ ἔφην, ὅτι πόλις ἦν αὕτη τῷ Ἰνδικῷ πελάγει παρακειμένη, Αἰθίοπας οἰκήτορας ἔχουσα. Καλοῦσι δὲ αὐτὴν κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν Βερονίκην. Ὁ δὲ τῶν ψυχῶν ἰατρὸς, Ἐλιέζερ τὸντοῦ ∆ωδίου, τὸν προφήτην, πρὸς τὸν Ἰωσαφὰτ ἀπο στείλας, ἐπεμέμψατο τῇ φιλίᾳ, καὶ τὴν παιδείαν προεῖπεν· "Ὡς ἐφιλίασας γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ Ὀχοζίᾳ, καὶ ἐκοινώνησας μετ' αὐτοῦ, διέκοψε Κύριος τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ συνετρίβησαν αἱ νῆές σου, καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν τοῦ πορευθῆναι εἰς Θαρσεῖς." Ὅσων δὲ κακῶν πρόξενος ἡ δυσσεβὴς ἐκείνη συγγένεια, τὰ ἑξῆς διδάσκει τῆς ἱστορίας· Ἰωρὰμ γὰρ, ὁ τοῦ Ἰωσαφὰτ υἱὸς, Ἀχαὰβ τοῦ κηδεστοῦ ἐζήλωσε τὴν ἀσέβειαν. Οὗτος καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς κατέκτεινεν ἅπαντας, καὶ διὰ πάσης ὥδευσε πονηρίας. "Ἐπορεύθη γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν 80.840 τῇ ὁδῷ βασιλέων Ἰσραὴλ, ὡς ἐποίησεν οἶκος Ἀχαὰβ, ὅτι θυγάτηρ Ἀχαὰβ ἦν αὐτῷ γυνή· καὶ ἐποίησε τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καὶ οὐκ ἠβού λετο Κύριος ἐξολοθρεῦσαι τὸν οἶκον ∆αβὶδ διὰ τὴν διαθήκην, ἣν διέθετο τῷ ∆αβὶδ, ὃν τρόπον εἶπε δοῦ ναι αὐτῷ λύχνον, καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ, πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας." Ἐντεῦθεν ἐδιδάχθημεν ὅσον ὀνίνησιν ἡ τῶν προγόνων εὐσέβεια. Ἀνέχεται γὰρ καὶ πονη ρῶν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος, τῆς τῶν κατοιχομένων ἀρετῆς μεμνημένος. Ἐδρέψατο δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας καρπούς. Ἀπώσατο μὲν γὰρ Ἰδουμαία τὸν τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν· ἀπέστη δὲ καὶ Λομνὰ, πόλις οὖσα τῆς Ἰουδαίας. Ὁ δὲ ∆εσπότης διὰ Ἠλιοῦ τοῦ πάνυτὴν ψῆφον κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξενήνοχεν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ αὐτὸς ὁ προφήτης ἀφίκετο, διὰ γραμμάτων δὲ μεμήνυκε τὴν θείαν ἀπόφασιν. "Ἦλθε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐγγραφὴ παρὰ