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the excess of impiety. QUESTION 54. How should one understand, "I will stretch over Jerusalem the measure of Samaria?" With the same calamities, he says, I will also encompass these. And just as famine consumed some of them, and war others, and the rest they enslaved and moved to another land; so also upon those dwelling in Jerusalem I will bring so many punishments. And just as I delivered the house of Ahab to utter destruction; so I will change the arrogance of Jerusalem into insignificance. For Manasseh not only raged in the error of idols, but also shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from end to end. And he especially destroyed those who held to piety, and who indicated to them the divine wrath. They say that he also sawed the prophet Isaiah in two, using a wooden saw. But this man, as the history of the Chronicles taught, by using repentance obtained forgiveness. But Ammon, his son, imitated the wickedness of his father, but did not emulate his repentance. But the descendant practiced the highest virtue, and acquired the piety of his ancestor David. And first, he deemed the parts of the divine temple needing repair worthy of all care; then, having heard the divine oracles, those lying in Deuteronomy, he both tore his garment, and wept greatly, and sought to learn what must be done concerning the God of all. And all had drifted into such neglect of divine things, as not even to listen to the divine oracles. Indeed, Hilkiah the high priest, finding this book thrown down in one of the sacred houses, sent it to the king. And the king, having understood its contents, sent the high priests and the rulers to Huldah the prophetess. And God, through her, pronounced his sentence against the people, and the temple, and the city, because of the transgressions they had dared to commit; but to the pious king he foretold good things: "Because, he says, you have heard my words, and your heart was softened, and you were humbled before my face, when you heard what I spoke against this place and against those who dwell in it, that it should become a desolation, and you tore your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you, says the Lord. Not so; behold, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil that I am bringing upon this house and upon its inhabitants." So much do compunction and tears benefit those who use them; so much does a pious king benefit, as much as the impious harm those who are ruled. For just as Ammon and Manasseh turned the people aside to impiety, both by planting groves and by erecting precincts to demons; so Josiah the pious king shattered and melted down in the brook of Kidron the vessels made for Baal, and for Astarte, and for the other idols; and in Bethel he burned the priests of the idols. But Mazzaroth I think is the name of a star, and I conjecture that the morning star was so named. For he spoke thus: "And they burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to Mazzaroth, and to all the host of heaven." QUESTION 55. What does he mean by the house of the Kadeshim, those in the house of the Lord? He homonymously called the demons "holy ones." For Kadesh is interpreted as "holy." "In this house, he says, the women wove robes for the grove." But the grove, as I have often said, the other interpreters call either Ashtaroth or Astaroth. This is the name of Aphrodite; for they call her Astarte. And they set up her wooden image inside the divine temple. But the admirable king both cut down the grove, and brought out the wooden image, and gave it over to the fire; but Aquila and his circle interpreted kadeshim thus, "Where they made garments for those who prostitute themselves away from the Lord." But that not only the altars of the idols were called high places, but also the altars built to God in high places, the history again teaches. For it says thus: "Nevertheless

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τὴν τῆς ἀσεβείας ὑπερ βολήν. ΕΡΩΤ. Ν∆ʹ. Πῶς νοητέον τὸ, "Ἐκτενῶ ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὸ μέτρον Σαμαρείας;" Ταῖς αὐταῖς, φησὶ, καὶ τούτους περιβαλῶ συμφο ραῖς. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκείνων τοὺς μὲν ὁ λιμὸς, τοὺς δὲ ὁ πόλεμος ἐδαπάνησε, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐξανδραπο δίσαντες εἰς ἑτέραν μετέστησαν γῆν· οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκοῦσι τοσαύτας τιμωρίας ἐποίσω. Καὶ ὥσπερ τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ τὸν οἶκον πανωλεθρίᾳ παρέδωκα· οὕτω τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ μεταβαλῶ τὴν ὑπερ ηφανίαν εἰς εὐτέλειαν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον εἰς τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων ἐλύττησε πλάνην, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἷμα ἀθῶον ἐξ έχεε Μανασσῆς σφόδρα, ἕως οὗ ἐνέπλησε τὴν Ἱε ρουσαλὴμ στόμα ἐπὶ στόμα. Ἀνῄρει δὲ δια φερόντως τοὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀντεχομένους, καὶ τὴν θείαν ὀργὴν αὐτοῖς σημαίνοντας. Τοῦτόν φασι καὶ τὸν προφήτην Ἡσαΐαν διαπρίσαι ξυ λίνῳ χρησάμενον πρίονι. Ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν, ὡς ἡ τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἐδίδαξεν ἱστορία, μετα μελείᾳ χρησάμενος τῆς ἀφέσεως ἔτυχεν. Ἀμ μὼν δὲ ὁ τούτου υἱὸς, τὴν μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐμιμήσατο πονηρίαν· τὴν δὲ μεταμέλειαν οὐκ ἐζήλωσεν. Ὁ δὲ ἔκγονος τὴν ἄκραν ἤσκησεν ἀρετὴν, καὶ τοῦ προ γόνου ∆αβὶδ ἐκτήσατο τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ θεραπείας δεόμενα τοῦ θείου νεὼ πάσης ἐπι μελείας ἠξίωσεν· ἔπειτα τῶν θείων λογίων ἀκούσας, τῶν ἐν τῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ κειμένων, καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα διέῤῥηξε, καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐθρήνησε, καὶ μαθεῖν τὸ πρακτέον περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐζή τησεν. Εἰς τοσαύτην δὲ τῶν θείων ἀμέλειαν ἐξώκει λαν ἅπαντες, ὡς μηδὲ τῶν θείων ἐπακούειν λογίων. Τοῦτο γοῦν τὸ βιβλίον ἔν τινι τῶν ἱερῶν οἴκων Χελ κίας ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἐῤῥιμμένον εὑρὼν, ἀπέστειλε τῷ 80.796 βασιλεῖ. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὰ ἐγκείμενα γνούς, καὶ τοὺς ἀρχιερέας, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας πρὸς Ὀλδὰν ἀπ έστειλε τὴν προφῆτιν. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς διὰ ταύτης κατὰ μὲν τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ, καὶ τῆς πόλεως, τὴν ψῆφον ἐξήνεγκε διὰ τὰς παρ' αὐτῶν τολμηθείσας παρανο μίας· τῷ εὐσεβεῖ δὲ βασιλεῖ χρηστὰ προηγόρευσεν· "Ἀνθ' ὧν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἤκουσας τῶν λόγων μου, καὶ ἡπαλύνθη ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ἐνετράπης ἀπὸ προσώπου μου, ὡς ἤκουσας ὅσα ἐλάλησα ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῷ, τοῦ γενέσθαι εἰς ἀφανισμὸν, καὶ διέῤῥηξας τὰ ἱμάτιά σου, καὶ ἔκλαυσας ἐνώπιόν μου· καί γε ἐγὼ ἤκουσα, φησὶ Κύριος. Οὐχ οὕτως· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ προστίθημί σε πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας σου, καὶ συναχθήσῃ εἰς τὸν τάφον σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ· καὶ οὐκ ὄψονται οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου πάντα τὰ κακὰ, ἃ ἐπάγω ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας αὐτόν." Τοσοῦτον κατά νυξις καὶ δάκρυον τοὺς χρωμένους ὀνίνησι· τοσοῦ τον εὐσεβὴς εὐεργετεῖ βασιλεὺς, ὅσον οἱ δυσσεβεῖς τοῖς ἀρχομένοις πημαίνονται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ Ἀμμὼν καὶ Μανασσῆς εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἐξέκλιναν τὸν λαὸν, καὶ ἄλση φυτεύσαντες, καὶ τεμένη τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἀναστήσαντες· οὕτως Ἰωσίας ὁ εὐσεβὴς βα σιλεὺς τὰ τῷ Βάαλ, καὶ τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἰδώλοις κατασκευασθέντα σκεύη ἐν τῷ χει μάῤῥῳ τῶν κέδρων συνέτριψε καὶ ἐχώνευσεν· ἐν δὲ τῇ Βαιθὴλ τοὺς τῶν εἰδώλων ἱερέας κατέκαυσε. Τὸ δὲ Μαζουρὼθ ἀστέρος οἶμαι ὄνομα εἶναι, καὶ τοπάζω τὸν ἑωσφόρον οὕτως ὠνομάσθαι. Ἔφη γὰρ οὕτως· "Καὶ ἐθυμίων τῷ Βάαλ, καὶ τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ τῇ σελήνῃ, καὶ τοῖς Μαζουρὼθ, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ." ΕΡΩΤ. ΝΕʹ. Τίνα λέγει τὸν οἶκον τῶν Καδησεὶμ, τῶν ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου; Ὁμωνύμως ἐκάλεσεν ἁγίους τοὺς δαίμονας. Τὸ γὰρ Κάδης ἅγιος ἑρμηνεύεται. "Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῷ οἴκῳ ὕφαινον, φησὶν, αἱ γυναῖκες στολὰς τῷ ἄλσει." Τὸ δὲ ἄλσος, ὡς ἔφην πολλάκις, οἱ ἄλλοι ἑρμηνευταὶ ἢ Ἀσηρὼθ, ἢ Ἀσταρὼθ ὀνομάζουσιν. Ὄνομα δὲ τοῦτο τῆς Ἀφροδίτης· αὐτὴν γὰρ καλοῦσιν Ἀστάρτην. Ταύτης δὲ καὶ τὸ ξόανον ἔνδον ἔστησαν ἐν τῷ θείῳ ναῷ. Ἀλλ' ὁ ἀξιάγα στος βασιλεὺς καὶ τὸ ἄλσος ἐξέκοψε, καὶ τὸ ξόανον ἐξενήνοχε, καὶ πυρὶ παραδέδωκεν· οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν 80.797 Ἀκύλαν τὸ καδησεὶμ οὕτως ἡρμήνευσαν, "Οὗ ἐποίουν ἐνδύματα τοῖς ἐκπορνεύουσιν ἀπὸ Κυ ρίου." Ὅτι δὲ ὑψηλὰ οὐ μόνον οἱ τῶν εἰδώ λων ἐκαλοῦντο βωμοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς χωρίοις δομηθέντα τῷ Θεῷ θυσιαστήρια, πάλιν ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει. Λέγει γὰρ οὕτως· "Πλὴν