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years old was David when he began to reign, and for forty years he reigned; in Hebron and over Judah for seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem for thirty-two years and six months, over all Israel and Judah." QUESTION 16. How is this to be understood, "Whoever smites a Jebusite, let him take him with the dagger." A certain Hebrew said that Aquila had rendered, "Whoever smites a Jebusite, let him take him with the dagger," as "Touching him at the stream;" saying this, that David, sparing the wall of the city, ordered the soldiers to enter into the city through the water channel. For the Jebusites held Jerusalem until that time. At any rate, as soon as the civil war had ceased, the king first marched against them. But they, despising the army, brought up to the wall those who were maimed in body 80.609 and ordered them to mock, and to say that David would not enter the city. Having therefore taken the acropolis—for he calls this the stronghold—he drove out the enemies by force, inciting the soldiers to bravery and ordering them to destroy all with the spear, according to the decree made by God from the beginning. And having conquered, and having freed the city from the foreigners, David named it the city of David. And so he names Zion, that is, the upper city. For the history also says this: "And David dwelt in the stronghold, and it was called the city of David. And he built the city round about from the citadel, and his own house." Then it also teaches of God's alliance: "And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord Almighty was with him." And this saying refutes the blasphemy of those who try to belittle the all-holy Spirit. For he was often named Lord Almighty. QUESTION 17. What does he mean by the Valley of Titans? They used to call them giants and Titans; but the Hebrew calls them Rephaim. And Hebron and Gath also had such men; and of these was also Goliath, and certain others, whom the writer mentioned among the heroes when writing of the valiant deeds of David. It is likely, therefore, that a battle of some of these took place long ago in this place, and that the place took its name from them. QUESTION 18. Why does God sometimes command David to engage with the foreigners, and sometimes forbid it? As an all-wise trainer, he exercises him toward virtue, and persuades him not to trust in his own power, but to await His assistance. Whence He also gives him signs of His own manifestation. "For when you see," he says, "the groves moving automatically without wind, then go down to the war; for then the Lord will go forth before you to smite the foreigners in the war." QUESTION 19. For what reason did Uzzah die by a blow from God? Some said that he paid the penalty for rashness, 80.612 for having tried to assist the ark, which, protecting the whole people, did not need the assistance of others. But Josephus says that, since he was not a Levite, he dared to touch the ark and received the punishment; but this is patently false; for he was the son of Abinadab, to whom the people in Beth-shemesh delivered the ark, when it was sent back by the foreigners; and he was of the Levitical tribe; and history teaches this: "For he consecrated," it says, "his son Eleazar to keep the ark of the covenant of the Lord." And that he also was the son of Abinadab, the history teaches: "And they placed the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was on the hill; and Uzzah and his brothers, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the cart with the ark of God. And Uzzah and his brothers went before and beside the ark." Therefore he was not of another tribe, as Josephus said, but was also a Levite. Nor indeed did he receive the punishment for rashness. For when the cart tilted, it was necessary to steady it with a hand; but he paid the penalty for another transgression. For God having commanded the priests to carry the ark on their shoulders, they carried it on a cart contrary to the law. But they were deceived by the thing from the

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ἐτῶν ∆αβὶδ ἐν τῷ βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν, καὶ τεσ σαράκοντα ἔτη ἐβασίλευσεν· ἐν Χεβρὼν καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰούδαν ἔτη ἑπτὰ μῆνας ἕξ· καὶ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τριάκοντα καὶ δύο ἔτη καὶ μῆνας ἓξ, ἐπὶ πάντα Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδαν." ΕΡΩΤ. Ι ϛʹ. Πῶς νοητέον τὸ, "Πᾶς ὁ τύπτων Ἰεβουσαῖον ἁπτέσθω ἐν παραξιφίδι." Ἑβραῖός τις εἶπε τὸ, "Πᾶς τύπτων Ἰεβουσαῖον ἁπτέσθω ἐν παραξιφίδι," ἐκδεδωκέναι τὸν Ἀκύλαν, "Ἁπτόμενος ἐν τῷ κρουνῷ·" τοῦτο λέγων, ὅτι φειδόμενος ὁ ∆αβὶδ τοῦ τείχους τῆς πόλεως, διὰ τοῦ ὁλκοῦ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπέταττε τοῖς ὁπλίταις εἴσω παρ ελθεῖν τῆς πόλεως. Οἱ γὰρ Ἰεβουσαῖοι μέχρις ἐκεί νου τοῦ καιροῦ κατεῖχον τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Παραυ τίκα γοῦν τοῦ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου παυσαμένου, κατὰ τούτων ἐστράτευσε πρῶτον ὁ βασιλεύς. Ἐκεῖνοι δὲ καταφρονοῦντες τῆς στρατιᾶς, τοὺς τὸ σῶμα πε 80.609 πηρωμένους ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἀναβιβάσαντες ἐπιτωθά ζειν ἐκέλευον, καὶ λέγειν, ὡς οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται ∆αβὶδ εἰς τὴν πόλιν. Ἑλὼν τοιγαροῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν· ταύ την γὰρ λέγει περιοχήν· ἤλαυνε κατακράτος τοὺς πολεμίους, εἰς ἀνδρείαν παραθήγων τοὺς στρατιώ τας, καὶ πάντας ἄρδην κατακοντίζειν κελεύων, κατὰ τὴν ἀρχῆθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενημένην ἀπόφασιν. Νενι κηκὼς δὲ, καὶ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν ἐλευθερώσας τὴν πό λιν, ∆αβὶδ αὐτὴν προσηγόρευσε πόλιν. Οὕτω δὲ τὴν Σιὼν ὀνομάζει, τουτέστι τὴν ἄνω πόλιν. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἡ ἱστορία φησί· "Καὶ ἐκάθισε ∆αβὶδ ἐν τῇ περιοχῇ, καὶ ἐκλήθη αὕτη ἡ πόλις ∆αβίδ. Καὶ ᾠκο δόμησε τὴν πόλιν κύκλῳ ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας, καὶ τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ." Εἶτα διδάσκει καὶ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ συμμαχίαν· "Καὶ ἐπορεύετο ∆αβὶδ πορευόμενος, καὶ μεγαλυνόμενος, καὶ Κύριος παντοκράτωρ μετ' αὐτοῦ." Οὗτος δὲ ὁ λόγος τῶν τὸ πανάγιον Πνεῦμα σμικρύνειν πειρωμένων ἐλέγχει τὴν βλασφημίαν. Κύριος γὰρ παντοκράτωρ ὠνομάσθη πολλάκις. ΕΡΩΤ. ΙΖʹ. Κοιλάδα Τιτάνων τίνα λέγει; Τοὺς γίγαντας καὶ Τιτᾶνας ὠνόμαζον· ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος Ῥαφαεὶμ αὐτοὺς κέκληκεν. Ἔσχε δὲτοιούτους ἄνδρας καὶ ἡ Χεβρὼν, καὶ ἡ Γέθ· καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἦν καὶ ὁ Γολιὰθ, καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς, ὧν ὁ συγ γραφεὺς ἐμνήσθη τῶν ἀριστέων, τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τὰς ἀνδραγαθίας συγγράφων. Εἰκὸς τοίνυν ἐν τῷδε τῷ χωρίῳ πάλαι τινὰ τούτων γενέσθαι παράταξιν, καὶ λαβεῖν ἐκ τούτων τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν τὸν τόπον. ΕΡΩΤ. ΙΗʹ. Τί δήποτε ποτὲ μὲν κελεύει τῷ ∆αβὶδ ὁ Θεὸς συμπλακῆναι τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις, ποτὲ δὲ κω λύει; Ὡς πάνσοφος παιδοτρίβης αὐτὸν γυμνάζει πρὸς ἀρετὴν, καὶ πείθει μὴ τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει θαῤῥεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ προσμένειν ἐπικουρίαν. Ὅθεν αὐτῷ καὶ σημεῖα δίδωσι τῆς οἰκείας ἐπιφανείας. "Ὅταν γὰρ ἴδῃς, φησὶν, αὐτομάτως ἀνέμου δίχα τὰ ἄλση κινούμενα, τότε κατάβηθι εἰς τὸν πόλεμον· ὅτι τότε ἐξελεύσεται Κύριος ἔμπροσθέν σου τύπτειν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους." ΕΡΩΤ. ΙΘʹ. Τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ Ὀζᾶν θεηλάτῳ πληγῇ ἐτελεύτησεν; Τινὲς μὲν προπετείας αὐτὸν δοῦναι δίκας εἶπον, 80.612 ὡς ἐπαμῦναι πειραθέντα τῇ κιβωτῷ, ἢ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ προστατεύουσα, τῆς ἑτέρων ἐπικουρίας οὐκ ἔχρῃζεν. Ἰώσηπος δέ φησιν, ἐπειδὴ Λευΐτης οὐκ ὢν ἐτόλμησεν ἅψασθαι τῆς κιβωτοῦ, τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐδέξα το· τοῦτο δὲ ψευδὲς ἄντικρυς· τοῦ γὰρ Ἀμιναδὰβ ἦν υἱὸς, ᾧ παρέδοσαν τὴν κιβωτὸν οἱ ἐν Βεθσάμοις, ἀφεθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων· τῆς δὲ Λευιτικῆς ἦν οὗτος φυλῆς· καὶ τοῦτο ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει· "Καὶ ἡγίασε γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν υἱὸν αὑτοῦ Ἐλεάζαρ, φυλάσσειν τὴν κιβωτὸν διαθήκης Κυρίου." Ὅτι δὲ καὶ οὗτος τοῦ Ἀμιναδὰβ ἦν υἱὸς, ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει· "Καὶ ἐπεβίβασαν τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ ἅμαξαν καινὴν, καὶ ἦραν αὐτὴν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Ἀμιναδὰβ τοῦ ἐν τῷ βουνῷ· καὶ Ὀζᾶν, καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ, οἱ υἱοὶ Ἀμιναδὰβ, ἦγον τὴν ἅμαξαν σὺν τῇ κιβωτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ." Καὶ Ὀζᾶν, καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύ οντο ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ ἐκ πλαγίων τῆς κιβωτοῦ." Οὐκ ἐξ ἄλλης τοιγαροῦν ἦν φυλῆς, ὡς ὁ Ἰώσηπος ἔφη, ἀλλὰ καὶ Λευΐτης ἦν. Οὔτε μὴν διὰ προπέτειαν τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐδέξατο. Κλιθείσης γὰρ τῆς ἁμάξης, ἐχρῆν προσερεῖσαι τὴν χεῖρα· ἀλλ' ἑτέρας παρα νομίας ἔτισε δίκας. Τοῦ γὰρ Θεοῦ προστεταχότος τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἐπ' ὤμων φέρειν τὴν κιβωτὸν, παρὰ τὸν νόμον ἐφ' ἁμάξης ἐκόμισαν. Ἐξηπάτησε δὲ αὐτοὺς τὸ παρὰ τῶν