Fragments on Lamentations

Fragmenta in Lamentationes

Origen of Alexandria · c. 230–250 AD · PG 13

Jeremiah laments captivity; the soul under hostile powers; release to captives§1

1Jeremiah, after his people had been taken captive and were dwelling in Babylon, laments the city, the land, and the people in light of the events that have befallen them. He mourns particular sections and divisions, tracing them in writing, beginning with the elementary elements as known among the Hebrews, and proceeding sequentially. After composing a lament for each of these elements individually, and then a lament over all things beginning with the letter Tau—which is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet—he returns to Aleph and laments again. He repeats this process four times, going through the twenty-two elements of the Hebrew alphabet.

If we observe the soul becoming subject to the devil, or even to his angels, and simply yielding to the hostile powers, thereby losing the capacity for intellectual contemplation and the ability to perceive and understand being, we shall in some way comprehend the nature of captivity and the one who has taken captive. Yet, by fleeing to Christ, who proclaimed, according to the prophet Isaiah, “Release to the captives,” we shall be set free from captivity, even if the captor manages to bind us before liberation arrives. For Jesus came “to bring out those bound in chains, and those sitting in darkness in the house of prison.”

Therefore, the Hebrews say that the books of the ancient Scripture correspond in number to the elements, so as to constitute a complete introduction to the knowledge of God, just as the elements serve as an introduction to wisdom for all who learn. And for this reason, the number is quadrupled, perhaps because the elements of the body are four in number. Shortly thereafter: the edition of Aquila and Theodotion is absent among the Lamentations; only that of Symmachus and the Seventy is present. Again: One might inquire how, given that the superscription of the book is plural—“Lamentations”—the singular “Lamentation” appears in the prologue. But some manuscripts have multiple readings, divided according to the elements, while all are ultimately brought back to one, toward a single hypothesis: Israel, as they are recalled.

Blessed is the tear shed from love, for the holy one says, “Weep with those who weep.” As the Lord drew near to Jerusalem, he wept and said: “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.”

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you—how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Now if “blessed are those who weep, for they shall laugh,” then it was fitting that Jeremiah, this mystic one, should weep a weeping of mourning and, according to “blessed are those who mourn,” should mourn those worthy of mourning. It seems, however, that the multitude of the people, insofar as it is spoken of, denotes the Israelites dwelling there, while the multitude of the nations, as we have said before, denotes the proselytes. For the purpose of uplift, since the theoretical things are more akin to the soul and more constant than the practical, the multitude of the people might signify the wealth of the doctrines of the blessed Jerusalem, and the multitude of the nations the great number of good works. And shortly after: The people, filled alone, sits; the bride, having cast away the bridegroom’s word, becomes like a widow who once multiplied among the aforesaid nations. As far as the words go, it is fitting to understand Jerusalem as being spoken of with wonder, due to her change toward the more grim, having sat down remembering the people who once were numerous, so that her solitude and desolation might be hers—having once had a husband, the vivifying preserver, when she followed him present and helping, and now being deserted and forsaken by him on account of her sins. And furthermore: These things, then, pertain to the literal sense; but for the intellectual sense, Jerusalem, enriching herself and multiplying among peoples and nations and ruling over regions, is the divine soul. And it is not marvelous, if not only a house, nor even a homestead, nor even this village, if it were called such, nor even the city that possesses such things, but rather Jerusalem, surpassing all cities and honored by God, is named the perfect soul—of a magnitude worthy of a great city, by the greatest surrounding that envelops it from

Greek · §1

Fragmenta in Lamentationes 1 Ὁ Ἱερεμίας αἰχμαλωτισθέντος τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ ὄντος ἐν Βαβυλῶνι, θρηνεῖ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν χώραν καὶ τὸν λαὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι, καὶ θρηνεῖ περικοπάς τινας καὶ διαστολὰς περιγράφων ἀρχομένας ἑξῆς ἀπὸ τῶν παρ' Ἑβραίοις στοιχείων. καὶ μετὰ τὸ τε λέσαι τὸν ἐφ' ἑκάστου στοιχείου Θρῆνον καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θαῦ ἀρχόμενον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τελευταῖον τῶν Ἑβραίων γράμμα, ἐπανέρχεται ἐπὶ τὸ Ἄλφ καὶ πάλιν θρηνεῖ, καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ τετράκις τὰ εἴκοσι καὶ δύο στοιχεῖα ἐπεξιών. 2 Ἐὰν ἴδωμεν ὑποχείριον γινομένην τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ διαβόλῳ ἢ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ταῖς ἐχθραῖς δυνάμεσι τὴν τῇ φύσει θεωρητικὴν καὶ συνορᾶν τὰ ὄντα <καὶ> ἐπιστῆσαι δυναμένην, νοήσομέν πως τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ τὸν αἰχμαλωτίσαντα . ἀλλὰ καταφυγόντες ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστόν, τὸν κηρύξαντα κατὰ τὸν προφήτην Ἡσαΐαν «αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν», ἐλευθερωθησόμεθα ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμα λωσίας, κἂν μέχρι τοῦ δῆσαι φθάσῃ ὁ αἰχμαλωτεύσας. ἦλθε γὰρ Ἰησοῦς «ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν δεδεμένους καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς καθη μένους ἐν σκότει». 3 ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φασιν Ἑβραῖοι τῆς παλαιᾶς γραφῆς ἰσαρίθμους τοῖς στοιχείοις εἶναι τὰς βίβλους, ὡς εἶναι πρὸς θεογνωσίαν πᾶσαν εἰσα γωγήν, καθάπερ τὰ στοιχεῖα πρὸς πᾶσαν τοῖς μανθάνουσι σοφίαν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τετραπλασιάζεται, τάχα διότι καὶ τῶν σωμάτων τὰ στοιχεῖα καθέστηκε τέσσαρα. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἔκδοσις δὲ Ἀκύλα καὶ Θεοδοτίωνος ἐν τοῖς Θρήνοις οὐ φέρεται, μόνου δὲ Συμμάχου καὶ τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα. Καὶ πάλιν· Ζητήσειε δ' ἄν τις, πῶς τῆς ἐπιγραφῆς τοῦ βιβλίου πληθυντικῶς ἐχούσης Θρῆνοι , ἑνικῶς ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ τὸν Θρῆνον τοῦτόν φησιν. ἀλλὰ μερικοὶ μὲν πλείους ὑπάρχουσι, τοῖς στοιχείοις διῃρη μένοι, εἰς ἕνα δὲ πάντες ἀνάγονται, πρὸς μίαν ὑπόθεσιν, τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἀναγόμενοι. 4 Τὸν ἐξ ἀγάπης κλαυθμὸν μακαριζόμενον· τοῦ γὰρ ἁγίου ἐστὶ «κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων». 5 Ἐγγίζων τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ κύριος «ἔκλαυσεν καὶ εἶπεν· εἰ ἔγνως καὶ σὺ τὰ εἰς εἰρήνην σου». «Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπι συνάγει τὰ νοσσία ἑαυτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε». 6 Εἰ τοίνυν «μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες, ὅτι γελάσονται», ἔδει Ἱερεμίαν τὸν μυστικὸν τοῦτον κλαῦσαι κλαυθμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὸ «μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες» πενθῆσαι τοὺς τοῦ πενθεῖσθαι ἀξίους. 7 Ἔοικε δὲ τὸ μὲν πλῆθος τοῦ λαοῦ , ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ λέξει, δηλοῦν τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας Ἰσραηλίτας, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν ἐθνῶν , ὡς προ ειρήκαμεν, τοὺς προσηλύτους. εἰς δὲ ἀναγωγὴν ἐπεὶ συγγενέστερά ἐστι τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ ἀπερίστατα τὰ θεωρητικὰ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ πρακτικά, τὸ μὲν πλῆθος τοῦ λαοῦ σημαίνοι ἂν τῆς μακαριζομένης Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὸν πλοῦτον τῶν θεωρημάτων· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν ἐθνῶν τὸν πο λὺν ἀριθμὸν τῶν καλῶν πράξεων. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἡ πεπληθυμμένη λαοῦ μόνη καθέζεται · τῷ τὸν νυμφίον λόγον ἡ νύμφη ἀποβεβληκέναι γινομένη ὡς χήρα ἥ ποτε τοῖς προειρημένοις ἔθνεσι πλήθουσα. 8 Ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ λέξει ἁρμόζει τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ νοεῖσθαι λέγεσθαι μετὰ θαυμασμοῦ διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ σκυθρωπότερον μεταβολὴν μεμο νῶσθαι καθίσασαν τήν ποτε πλήθουσαν λαῷ , ἵν' ἡ μόνωσις ἡ ἐρημία ᾖ αὐτῆς, ἐσχηκυίας μὲν ἄνδρα τὸν προστάτην ἔμψυχον λόγον, ὅτε αὐτῷ εἵπετο παρόντι καὶ βοηθοῦντι, κεχηρευκυίας δὲ καὶ καταλελειμμένης ὑπ' αὐτοῦ διὰ τὰ ἡμαρτημένα. Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸ ῥητόν· πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν, Ἱερουσαλὴμ εὐθηνοῦσα καὶ λαῷ καὶ ἔθνεσι πλήθουσα καὶ χωρῶν ἄρχουσα ἡ θεία ἐστὶ ψυχή. καὶ οὐ θαυμαστόν, εἰ οὐ μόνον οἰκία οὐδὲ ἔπαυλις οὐδὲ ἡ ταύτης μείζων κώμη ἂν προσαγορευθεῖσα οὐδὲ πόλις ἡ τυ χοῦσα ἀλλὰ πασῶν πόλεων διαφέρουσα καὶ παρὰ θεῷ τετιμημένη Ἱερουσαλὴμ χρηματίζει ἡ τελείᾳ ψυχή, μεγέθους ἀξιολόγου πόλει τῇ μεγίστῃ περιβαλλομένου αὐτῇ ὑπὸ τῆς

How the captivity of the contemplative soul is undone in Christ§2

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2Sophia and every virtue, when multiplied and being built up, produce manifold structures. And after a little while: just as one can see Jerusalem nourished, increasing in people and nations and ruling over lands, so too, if virtue is subject to change, it once was solitary, then widowed and enslaved, so that it must even pay tribute to the enemy who has seized it, according to the soul of the one who has fallen from the truth. What then need be said also about the fact that, having begun to rule over regions, it is enslaved by its enemies to such an extent that it continually pays tribute, serving cruel masters who command nothing good; and perhaps for each of its failures in this place, it pays a certain tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, who is interpreted as "Enclosure" and "knowledge of distress"; not only to Nebuchadnezzar, but also to his satraps. Upon the first Lament, beginning with Aleph, we have preserved the word. As for this, what could one say, when it is said that the city wept in the night, so that its tears were upon its cheeks? Unless, indeed, one says that the inhabitants of the city, mourning, are those who also pay tribute, having been reminded of the peace and liberty from which they have come into such slavery and humiliation. How then shall we recount the night-weeping, or that in the time of rest for all mankind, the city, remembering its sorrows—namely, those who dwell in the city do not rest, but weep, and weep with heads covered, as the tears flow upon their cheeks? Moreover, the lamentation especially intensified upon them, and the tears overflowed,

Not even one comforter existing to console them from among so many who loved them, and every lover rejecting their friendship and turning it into enmity—who then, as regards the wording, were the lovers of her formerly, from whom not one comforter existed to console her? Perhaps the other cities of Judea, therefore possibly loving the metropolis, did not call upon her in time of distress. And shortly after: These things, then, concerning the literal sense. But if the word, as we have set forth in the preceding passages, Jerusalem signifies the affectionate soul, then this soul would be said to weep, having been cast out from its native dwelling, become confused in disposition, and holding a state contrary to laughter—the laughter that comes from joy and cheerfulness, which our Lord promises will exist for those who mourn, saying: “Blessed are those who weep now, for they shall laugh.” And in the Book of Job it is said: “My mouth is filled with true laughter.” Perhaps for this reason also one of the patriarchs is named Laughter. Therefore, the one who groans because he is in the tabernacle, as the Apostle has declared, saying: “For indeed we who are in the tabernacle groan, being burdened,” longs for the laughter promised in the promise and the divine cheerfulness, and weeps a nourishing and beneficial weeping for the soul. We suppose, then, that to love is more divine and, so to speak, spiritual, whereas to be fond is bodily and more human. Yet perhaps, regarding those who are better, it is to be observed that no one who loves poorly exists to comfort her from among all those who love her.

As for the lesser ones: all who loved her betrayed her, becoming to her enemies. For the more humble among them not only betrayed her but also became her enemies; while the more distinguished merely refrained from offering comfort. This is how one might understand the literal sense: Judah exchanged her own place, these reasons having come upon her—her humiliation, which she brought upon herself by sinning, losing the standing and the exaltation she once possessed in piety, having abandoned it—and furthermore, her extensive servitude, to which she had subjected herself, enslaved to her passions. Having been transplanted among the nations, she was settled, yet found no rest there; all her enemies, who pursued, seized, and prevailed over her, having made her dwell among the nations who oppressed her. This is the understanding of the literal sense: when the law declares, "Three times each year every male of yours shall appear before the Lord your God," the people, after the temple had been rebuilt in Zion from the time of Solomon, eagerly undertook to observe the prescribed festival. And around Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, roads led from every direction toward Zion. These, the prophet says, by reason of the captivity, mourn in desolate places, dwelling in every wilderness,

Greek · §2

σοφίας καὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς † περιγινομένου πολλαπλάσια οἰκοδομήματα. Καὶ μετ' 1 ὀλίγα· Ὥσπερ δὲ ἔνεστιν ἰδεῖν Ἱερουσαλὴμ εὐθηνουμένην, πληθύνουσαν λαῷ καὶ ἔθνεσιν καὶ ἄρχουσαν ἐν χώραις , οὕτως, εἰ μεταπτωτή ἐστιν ἡ ἀρετή, μονουμένην ποτὲ αὐτὴν καὶ χηρεύουσαν καὶ δου λεύουσαν, ὥστε καὶ φόρους τῷ κρατήσαντι αὐτῆς ἐχθρῷ τελεῖν, κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ ἐκπεπτωκότος τῆς ἀληθείας. 9 Τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ὅτι ἄρξασα χωρῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δουλοῦται παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, ὥστε καὶ φόρον ἀεὶ αὐτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν, τελοῦσαν τοῖς κακοῖς δεσπόταις, ἃ ἂν ἐκεῖνοι προστάττωσιν; προσ τάττουσι δὲ χρηστὸν οὐδέν. καὶ τάχα καθ' ἕκαστον ὧν πταίει ἐν θάδε, φόρον τινὰ τελεῖ τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ὃς ἑρμηνεύεται Ἐγκα θισμὸς καὶ ἐπίγνωσις συνοχῆς· οὐ μόνῳ δὲ τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς σατράπαις αὐτοῦ. 10 Ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ πρώτου Θρήνου, τοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄλφ ἀρξαμένου, τὴν λέξιν σῶσαι δεδυνήμεθα. ἐπὶ δὲ τούτου τί ἄν τις εἴποι, λεγομένης πόλεως κεκλαυκέναι ἐν νυκτί , ὥστε τὰ δάκρυα εἶναι ἐπὶ τῶν σιαγόνων αὐτῆς ; εἰ μὴ ἄρα τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντάς τις ἐρεῖ πόλιν ὀνο μαζομένους, τοὺς καὶ φόρον τελοῦντας, κεκλαυκέναι ὑπομνησθέντας ἐξ οἵας εἰρήνης καὶ ἐλευθερίας εἰς ὅσην δουλείαν καὶ ταπείνωσιν ἐληλύθασιν. πῶς οὖν διηγησόμεθα καὶ τὸ ἐν νυκτί , ἢ ὅτι ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κοινῆς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀναπαύσεως ἡ πόλις ὑπο μιμνῃσκομένη τῶν συμφορῶν, τουτέστιν οἱ τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες οὐκ ἀναπαυόμενοι ἔκλαιον, καὶ ἔκλαιον κρουνηδὸν τῶν δακρύων καταρ ρεόντων ἐπὶ τῶν σιαγόνων αὐτῶν; ἐπετείνετο δὲ μάλιστα αὐτοῖς ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ἐπέρρει τὰ δάκρυα, οὐχ ὑπάρχοντος κἂν ἑνὸς παραμυθουμένου αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοσούτων ἀγαπώντων, παντός τε τοῦ φιλοῦντος ἀθετοῦντος τὴν φιλίαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ μεταβεβληκότος εἰς ἔχθραν . τίνες οὖν, ὡς πρὸς τὴν λέξιν, οἱ ἀγα πῶντες αὐτὴν πρότερον, ἀφ' ὧν οὐδεὶς ὑπῆρχεν παραμυθησό μενος αὐτήν ; τάχα αἱ λοιπαὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας πόλεις, διὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἴσως ἀγαπῶσαι τὴν μητρόπολιν, ἐν καιρῷ περιστάσεως οὐ παρε κάλουν . Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸ ῥητόν. ἐὰν δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων παρεστήσαμεν, Ἱερουσαλὴμ λέγῃ τὴν ποιὰν ψυχήν, αὕτη ἂν κλαίειν λέγοιτο, ἐκπεσοῦσα τῆς οἰκείας χώρας ἐν Συγχύσει γενομένη, καὶ κατάστασιν ἔχειν ἐναντίαν τῷ γελᾶν γέλωτα τὸν ἀπὸ χαρᾶς καὶ ἱλαρότητος, ὃν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται ὑπάρξειν τοῖς τὸν μακα ριζόμενον κλαυθμὸν κλαύσασι φάσκων· «μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες νῦν, ὅτι γελάσονται». καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰὼβ δὲ «ἀληθινῶν» φησὶ «στόμα ἐμ πλήσει γέλωτος». τάχα δὲ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ εἷς τῶν πατριάρχων Γέλως λέγεται. ὁ τοίνυν στενάζων διὰ τὸ εἶναι ἐν τῷ σκήνει, ὥσπερ ὁ ἀπόστολος δεδήλωκεν εἰπών· «καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει στενά ζομεν βαρούμενοι», τὸν ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ γέλωτα ποθῶν καὶ τὴν θείαν ἱλαρότητα, κλαυθμὸν κλαίει τροφιμώτατον καὶ ὠφελοῦντα τὴν ψυχήν. 11 Οἰόμεθα δὲ τὸ μὲν ἀγαπᾶν θειότερον εἶναι καί, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, πνευματικόν, τὸ δὲ φιλεῖν σωματικὸν καὶ ἀνθρωπικώτερον. τάχα δέ, οὐδενὸς φαύλου ἀγαπῶντος, παρατηρητέον ὅτι περὶ μὲν τῶν κρειττόνων φησί· οὐχ ὑπάρχει παρακαλῶν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἀγαπώντων αὐτήν , περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐλαττόνων· πάντες οἱ φιλοῦντες αὐτὴν ἠθέτησαν αὐτήν, ἐγένοντο αὐτῇ εἰς ἐ χθρούς . οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑποδεέστεροι καὶ ἠθέτησαν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐγένοντο αὐτῇ ἐχθροί· οἱ δὲ κρείττονες μόνον οὐ παρεκάλεσαν. 12 Πρὸς μὲν τὸ ῥητὸν τοιοῦτος ἂν εἴη ὁ νοῦς· τὸν ἴδιον τόπον ἡ Ἰουδαία ἤμειψεν, αἰτίων τούτων γενομένων αὐτῇ τῆς ταπει νώσεως αὐτῆς (ἣν τεταπείνωται ἁμαρτοῦσα καὶ τὸ ἀνάστημα καὶ τὸ ἐγηγερμένον, ὃ πρότερον εἶχεν ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ ὑπάρχουσα, κατα λιποῦσα), ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῆς πολλῆς δουλείας αὐτῆς , ἣν δεδούλωτο ὑποτεταγμένη τοῖς πάθεσιν. μετοικισθεῖσα δὲ ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἱδρύνθη, ἔνθα εὑρεῖν ἀνάπαυσιν οὐ δεδύνηται, πάντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν κα ταδιωκόντων αὐτὴν καὶ καταλαβόντων καὶ κατακεκρατηκό των, αὐτῆς γενομένης παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν οἳ ἔθλιβον αὐτήν . 13 Ὁ πρὸς τὸ ῥητὸν νοῦς οὗτός ἐστιν· τοῦ νόμου λέγοντος· «τρὶς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ὀφθήσεται πᾶν ἀρσενικόν σου ἐνώπιον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου», ἔσπευδον οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ, μετὰ τὸ οἰκοδομηθῆναι 2 τὸν ναὸν ἐν Σιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου Σολομῶντος, ἐπιτελεῖν τὸ προστε ταγμένον. καὶ κύκλῳ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ τυγχανουσῶν τῶν πόλεων τῆς Ἰουδαίας, πάντοθεν ὁδοὶ ἦσαν φέρουσαι ἐπὶ τὴν Σιών . ταύτας οὖν ὁ προφήτης διὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν <φησὶ> πενθεῖν σκυθρωπα ζούσας καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἐρημίᾳ ὑπαρχούσας † καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς

Alphabet threne structure and the turn from letter to spirit§3

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3In those times when great joy and cheerfulness were among them, they hastened to the feast, gathering Jews from every place to Mount Zion. Many of the gates, which had been built in Zion from all the regions, the word says, have been utterly destroyed; and the priests are groaning, clearly because they are unable to perform the priestly duties prescribed for the feasts and the other days—either because they have been led into captivity, or because there is no one coming to them who seeks their priestly services and demands their ministrations. Moreover, the virgins of Zion, it is said, are being led away, and it is evident that they are taken by the victorious enemies. As for reflection: of Zion, called the contemplative and theorizing power, there are many ways of the diverse doctrines, mystical and physical and ethical, and perhaps also logical, which lead to the understanding and contemplation of the things set before us. Therefore, when one, having lost the disciplined practice of these things, becomes confused, all these ways wander without being traveled, though a festival exists along the previously mentioned ways, when they are walked, examined, and, as I might say, tread upon in order; but they mourn when they are deserted, neither inquiring nor passing through, because those who walk have fallen away and been taken captive by the passions, dragged about toward worse things. Zion, possessing nothing sweet anywhere, endures bitterness by itself. One must not take the present bitterness as being upon some kind of anger. The clarity of the word is such as this: they wished to afflict, or were afflicting, the Jewish land before the times of the captivity.

But they did not prevail, even while God was defending the Jews, when they offered themselves as worthy helpers. Yet when they sinned and, in addition to not listening to the prophets, even killed them—the sons of Israel—then they were handed over, helpless, to those who oppressed them, so that their enemies became their heads, as Symmachus has declared, rulers. Others, perhaps, who were enemies while living among the oppressors, either by invention or by substance, prospered in prosperity, having become subject to those who oppress, namely, those who remain behind due to their sins, whom the Lord has humbled because of the multitude of their godless deeds, even those who have transgressed and done this to such an extent that not even mercy is left for their infants, but they are led away into captivity, driven by every oppressor. Beginning with those who started and rejoiced in the Lord’s handing them over to humility because of the abundance of their godless deeds—those who had made covenants with the holy oracles toward Him but did not keep them. The power of these words must be made clear to us: they examine who is the daughter of Zion, and in what she possesses her beauty; what is the pasture, which the rulers of the daughter of Zion do not possess, like sheep owners bewildered about grazing; and how these, deprived of strength, go forward against the face of the one who pursues. But we consider that the mountain of Zion is indeed the mother of the assembly within her, the daughter called Zion; and the beauty of the daughter of Zion is her possession, the garments she wears, which possession, taken in the time of pasturing, was seized by the enemies and went forth from them.

Of these, the world was, that is, it was carried off (for this is a more emphatic way of saying it went out), and the leaders of the synagogue, because the enemies pressed upon them and took them captive, being at a loss for their kin, could not find nourishment like sheep. Just as rams, driven and not fed, go weakly forward, yielding to the force of those pursuing them, so also the leaders, having become captives, being led away into the land of those who took them captive, went forward not in strength, in appearance to the pursuer. But for understanding, such a soul is the daughter of Zion; just as the daughter of righteousness is the righteous one, and the daughter of wisdom is the wise one, so (since Zion is the place of observation) the observant and theoretically investigating daughter might be called Zion. What, then, could I rightly consider as her beauty and worth, except the wealth of the holy doctrines of truth, examined together with wisdom? Therefore, when someone neglects, after having attained beauty and worth, both the continuity of these things and the increase of the divine wealth, the things that as yet the world has attained flow out and depart. But the leaders, those who have guided the word and have managed to attain the aforementioned beauty, like rams, the guides, not finding pasture for the flock, have established themselves in scarcity, having set aside the attention of those who could help them and the flock, so that I might say,

Greek · §3

καιροῖς, ὅτε πολλὴ εὐφροσύνη καὶ ἱλαρότης ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς, σπευδόντων ἐπὶ ἑορτὴν τῶν ἁπανταχόθεν Ἰουδαίων ἐπὶ τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος. πολλῶν δὲ οὐσῶν τῶν πυλῶν τῶν οἰκοδομηθεισῶν ἐν Σιὼν ἐκ πάντων τῶν κλιμάτων, φησὶν ὁ λόγος πάσας ἠφανίσθαι , καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς στενάζειν , δηλονότι τὰ ἱερατικὰ ἔργα τὰ κατὰ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἡμέρας οὐ δυναμένους ἐπιτελεῖν, ἤτοι τῷ ᾐχμαλωτίσθαι ἢ τῷ μηδένα εἶναι τὸν προσιόντα αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰς λειτουργίας τὰς ἱε ρατικὰς ἀπαιτοῦντα. ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ παρθένοι , φησί, τῆς Σιὼν ἀγόμεναί εἰσι, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι ὑπὸ τῶν κεκρατηκότων πολεμίων. 14 Πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν· τῆς σκοπευτικῆς καὶ θεωρητικῆς δυνάμεως Σιὼν καλουμένης πολλαὶ ὁδοί εἰσι τῶν ποικίλων δογμάτων, μυστι κῶν τε καὶ φυσικῶν καὶ ἠθικῶν, τάχα δὲ καὶ λογικῶν, αἱ φέρουσαι ἐπὶ τὴν κατανόησιν καὶ θέαν τῶν προκειμένων. ἐπὰν οὖν τις τὸ τούτων ἀσκητικὸν ἀπολέσας συγχυθῇ, πᾶσαι αὗται αἱ ὁδοὶ πεν θοῦσιν οὐχ ὁδευόμεναι, πανηγύρεως μὲν ὑπαρχούσης ταῖς προειρη μέναις ὁδοῖς, ὅτε ὁδεύονται ἐξεταζόμεναι καί, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, δια βαινόμεναι· πενθοῦσι δὲ ὅτε ἐρημοῦνται, οὐκ ἐρευνώμεναι οὐδὲ διεξοδευόμεναι διὰ τὸ ἀποπεπτωκέναι τοὺς ὁδεύοντας καὶ αἰχμαλω τισθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν περιεσπάσθαι περὶ τὰ χείρονα. 15 Ἡ Σιὼν γλυκὺ μηδαμῶς ἔχουσά τι, ἐν πικρίᾳ διάγει καθ' ἑαυ τήν . οὐ ληπτέον γὰρ τὸ πικραινομένη νῦν ἐπί τινος εἴδους ὀργῆς. 16 Ἡ τῆς λέξεως σαφήνεια τοιαύτη τίς ἐστιν. ἔθλιβον τὴν Ἰουδαίαν χώραν ἢ θλίβειν γε ἤθελόν τινες πρὸ τῶν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας χρόνων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκράτουν ὑπερασπίζοντος τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅτε παρεῖχον ἑαυτοὺς ἐκεῖνοι βοηθείας ἀξίους. ὅτε δὲ ἥμαρτον καὶ πρὸς τῷ μὴ ἀκούειν τῶν προφητῶν ἔτι καὶ ἀνῄρουν αὐτοὺς οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ, τότε παρεδόθησαν τοῖς θλίβουσιν ὑποχείριοι, ὥστε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν γενέσθαι κεφαλήν , τουτέστιν, ὡς Σύμμαχος ἡρ μήνευσεν, ἄρχοντας . ἕτεροι δὲ τάχα παρὰ τοὺς θλίβοντας οἱ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες ἤτοι τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ ἢ καὶ τῇ ὑποστάσει, ἐν εὐθηνίᾳ ἐτύγχανον, ὑποχειρίων τοῖς θλίβουσι γενομένων τῶν διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἐγκα ταλελειμμένων, τοῦ κυρίου ταπεινώσαντος διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀσεβημάτων τοὺς παρανενομηκότας καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν γε τοῦτο ποιήσαντος, ὡς μηδὲ τοῖς νηπίοις αὐτῶν ἔλεον καταλειφθῆναι, ἀλλὰ πορευθῆναι αὐτὰ ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ ἐλαυνόμενα ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ θλίβοντος . 17 Ἀρξάντων τε καὶ εὐφρανθέντων τῷ τὸν κύριον διὰ τὸ πλῆ θος τῶν ἀσεβημάτων εἰς ταπείνωσιν παραδεδωκέναι τοὺς τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις λογίοις συνθήκας πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐ τετηρηκότας. 18 Τὰ τῆς λέξεως ὅση δύναμις ἡμῖν σαφηνιστέον, ἐξετάζουσι τίς ἡ θυγάτηρ Σιών , καὶ ἐν τίνι ἔχουσα τὴν εὐπρέπειαν , τίς τε ἡ νομή , ἣν οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιὼν δίκην κριῶν ἀπορούντων βοσκήσεως· καὶ πῶς οὗτοι ἐστερημένοι ἰσχύος πορεύονται κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ διώκοντος . ἡγούμεθα δὲ τὸ μὲν ὄρος Σιὼν εἶναι μητέρα τῆς ἐν αὐτῇ συναγωγῆς θυγατρὸς χρη ματιζούσης τῆς Σιών, τὴν δὲ εὐπρέπειαν τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιὼν τὴν κτῆσιν τὴν ἐν πέπλοις αὐτῆς, ἥτις κτῆσις ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς προ νομῆς ληφθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ τούτων, ὧν κόσμος ἦν, τουτέστιν ἐξεκομίσθη (τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμφατικώτερον τῷ ἐξῆλθεν ὠνόμασε), τοὺς δὲ ἡγουμένους τῆς συναγωγῆς, διὰ τὸ ἐπικεῖσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζειν, ἀποροῦντας τῶν συνή θων ὡμοιῶσθαι κριοῖς οὐχ εὑρίσκουσι τροφήν . ὥσπερ μέντοιγε κριοὶ ἐλαυνόμενοι μὴ τραφέντες ἀσθενῶς πορεύονται, τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τῶν ἐπιδιωκόντων εἴκοντες, οὕτω δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αἰχμάλωτοι γενόμενοι, ἀπαγόμενοι εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν αἰχμαλωτισάντων, ἐπο ρεύοντο οὐκ ἐν ἰσχύϊ κατ' ὄψιν τοῦ διώκοντος . 19 Πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ θυγάτηρ ἐστὶ Σιών · οἷον ὡς θυγάτηρ δικαιοσύνης ἡ δικαία καὶ τέκνον σοφίας ἡ σοφή, οὕτω δὲ (ἐπεὶ Σιών ἐστι τὸ 3 Σκοπευτήριον) ἡ σκοπευτικὴ καὶ θεωρητικῶς διεξοδικὴ θυγάτηρ Σιὼν ἂν λέγοιτο. εὐπρέπειαν δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ ἀξίωμα τί ἂν ἄλλο δεόντως νομισαίμην ἢ τὸν πλοῦτον τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας μετὰ σοφίας τεθεωρημένων ἁγίων δογμάτων; ἐπὰν οὖν ἀμελήσῃ τις, μετὰ τὸ κτήσασθαι εὐπρέπειαν καὶ ἀξίωμα, τῆς τε τού των συνοχῆς καὶ τῆς τοῦ πλούτου τοῦ θείου αὐξήσεως, ἀπορρεῖ καὶ ἐξέρχεται τὰ τέως κόσμος αὐτῆς τυγχάνοντα. ἄρχοντες δὲ οἱ ἡγησά μενοι τοῦ λόγου καὶ χειραγωγήσαντες ἐπὶ τὴν κτῆσιν τῆς προειρη μένης εὐπρεπείας, δίκην κριῶν , τῶν ἡγησαμένων, τῆς τῶν προβάτων ποίμνης οὐχ εὑρισκόντων νομήν , ἐν σπάνει κατέστησαν καὶ αὐτοί, ἀνέντες τὴν προσοχὴν τῶν δυναμένων αὐτούς τε καὶ τὰ πρόβατα, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω,

Captivity, bonds, and the freedom proclaimed to prisoners§4

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4Drink. For this reason, having grown weak and been overtaken by the pursuer—who is “our adversary, the devil”—they go before him, being driven wherever he wishes to lead them. But if the aforementioned daughter Zion attends to her beauty and loveliness and takes care to guard her dignity, she scorns and sneers at the king of the Assyrians, as we have learned from Isaiah saying: “You have been made worthless and you have been mocked, virgin daughter Zion.” For the one who remembers suffering something in these present circumstances does not recall the present hardship, but the past. And shortly after: Having pondered these things in that place and seeking a reminder of her former lowliness and her removals, because her people have fallen into the hands of an oppressor and the events that have befallen her have occurred, we consider whether perhaps the proper lowliness is not something other than sin, just as exaltation is right action, and removal is not the doing of anyone except through wicked conduct—for this is sufficient to drive away from God and from all that is naturally most beautiful. Therefore, when Jerusalem, that is, its inhabitants, drunk and having turned away from sin, was brought low, she was not noticed in her stumblings; but when her repayments came, because her people had fallen into the hands of the oppressor, with no one helping her, then she remembered the causes of her suffering, recognizing them as the reasons why her people had fallen and why she herself had been left helpless.

And after a little while: But if the soul of such a kind is Jerusalem, it is worthy to seek her people, whose falling into the hands of the oppressor, when there is no helper present, she remembers the humility of her own people, and still also her own whom she has driven away in expulsions; and besides these, her desires which were from ancient days. See whether the doctrines in the scientific soul are not the people of Jerusalem, whoever, through neglect and carelessness having happened to the soul, falls prostrate under every oppressor. For the doctrines of the negligent flow away, crushed by the powers of the land of sins beside the neglectful of the better, not having at all the help from the word. The meaning of the word is such. Since Jerusalem has sinned, she has become in confusion and tumult to such an extent that all who formerly praised her have changed, desiring to destroy such a city, having seen her shameful conduct. But she herself, having suffered these things because of her sins, has fallen into confusion and dishonor from those who once praised her, groaning no longer to come forward from her sins, but having diminished them, has withdrawn backward. And after a little while: But if Jerusalem is called such a soul, she is anxious and perceptive and “understanding the peace of God which surpasses all mind,” for it is possible through many causes to sin in this way, thus it is shown that she has fallen into confusion, having departed from the good things and having become in the worse things.

Anyone who has fallen from virtue and now lives in fellowship with wickedness is said to enjoy sound health in the midst of filth. This indicates the cessation of Jerusalem’s sins—not the sins that were once stretching forward, nor those being committed in the pasture of transgressions, but rather the sins that are turning backward upon their own proper good. According to the bodily narrative, the statement concerning Jerusalem now is this: the uncleanness of Jerusalem is an impediment; but what it is an impediment to, the prophet has left for us to perceive. Perhaps it indicates that uncleanness is hindering her journey. Yet, being such, it also indicates that Jerusalem has not remembered her latter end. The one who has this before his eyes and sees what will be repaid because of the sins will not sin. Therefore, on account of this uncleanness as an impediment to her, and because she does not remember her latter end—her wonderful and great things, which she possessed when she was worthy of being inspected—she has been brought down and brought into lowliness, formerly being exalted and greater than all praise. Moreover, after all this, there was no one consoling her who had brought down her greatest things. Upon these things, consider my humiliation, Lord, because my enemy is magnified over the things that have happened to my homeland. And shortly after: It is necessary, however, to inquire according to the laws of the ascent,

Greek · §4

πιᾶναι. διὰ τοῦτο ἀσθενήσαντες, καταληφθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ διώκοντος , ὅστις ἐστὶν «ὁ ἀντίδικος ἡμῶν διάβολος», ἔμ προσθεν αὐτοῦ πορεύονται ἐλαυνόμενοι ὅπῃ ἐκεῖνος ἄγειν ἐθέλει. ἐὰν μέντοιγε ἡ προειρημένη θυγάτηρ Σιὼν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιήσηται τοῦ κάλλους αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς εὐπρεπείας αὐτῆς καὶ πρόνοιαν τοῦ φρουρεῖσθαι τὸ ἀξίωμα, φαυλίζει καὶ μυκτηρίζει τὸν τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλέα, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου μεμαθήκαμεν λέγοντος· «ἐφαύλισέ σε καὶ ἐμυκτήρισέ σε παρθένος θυγάτηρ Σιών». 20 Ὁ γὰρ μιμνῃσκόμενος ἐν τῷ τάδε τινὰ πάσχειν οὐ τοῦ ἐνεστη κότος μιμνῄσκεται , ἀλλὰ τοῦ παρεληλυθότος. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Τοιαῦτα διαπορήσαντες ἐν τῷ τόπῳ καὶ ζητοῦντες ὑπόμνησιν παρεληλυθυίας ταπεινώσεως αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπωσμῶν αὐτῆς , διὰ τὸ πεπτωκέναι τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς εἰς χεῖρας θλίβοντος καὶ τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα αὐτῇ συμβεβηκέναι, ἐπισκοποῦμεν μὴ ἄρα ἡ κυρίως ταπείνωσις οὐκ ἄλλη τίς ἐστιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὥσπερ ὕψωσις ἡ κατόρθωσις, καὶ ἀπωσμὸς οὐδενὸς ἐνεργοῦντος γίνεται ἢ τῆς μοχθη ρᾶς πράξεως· ἱκανὴ γὰρ αὕτη ἀπώσασθαι ἀπὸ θεοῦ καὶ παντὸς τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν καλλίστου. ὅτε τοίνυν μεθύουσα ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ, τουτέστιν οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτήν, καὶ ἐξεστηκυῖα ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐταπεινοῦτο, οὐκ ἐφήσθη τοῖς πταίσμασιν· ὅτε δὲ αἱ ἀνταποδόσεις αὐτῆς ἐληλύθασι διὰ τοῦ τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς πεπτωκέναι εἰς χεῖρας τοῦ θλίβοντος , οὐδενὸς αὐτῇ βοηθοῦντος , τότε ὑπεμνήσθη τῶν δι' ἃ ἔπασχεν, αἴτια ἐκεῖνα καταλαμβάνουσα εἶναι τοῦ τε πεπτω κέναι τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς καὶ τοῦ ἀβοήθητον αὐτὴν καταλελεῖφθαι. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐὰν δὲ ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ ᾖ ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἄξιον ζητῆσαι τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς , οὗ πίπτοντος εἰς χεῖρας θλίβοντος , τῷ μὴ ὑπάρ χειν βοηθόν, αὐτὴ μιμνῄσκεται τῶν τῆς ταπεινώσεως αὐτῆς ἡμε ρῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰδίων οὓς ἀπώσθη ἀπωσμῶν , πρὸς τούτοις καὶ ἐπιθυμημάτων αὐτῆς ὅσα ἦν ἐξ ἀρχαίων ἡμερῶν . ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ τὰ ἐν τῇ ἐπιστημονικῇ ψυχῇ θεωρήματα ὁ λαός ἐστι τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὅστις παρὰ τὸ ἐν ἀπροσεξίᾳ καὶ ἀμελείᾳ γεγονέναι τὴν ψυχὴν πίπτει καταβαλλόμενος ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ θλίβοντος. ἀπορρεῖ γὰρ τὰ δόγματα τῶν ἀμελούντων, ἐκθλιβόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν χώραν ἰσχόντων ἁμαρτημάτων παρὰ τῷ τῶν κρειττόνων ἀμελοῦντι, οὐδα μῶς ἴσχοντα τὴν ἐκ λόγου βοήθειαν. 21 Ὁ τῆς λέξεως νοῦς τοιοῦτός ἐστιν. ἐπεὶ ἁμαρτίαν ἥμαρτεν Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἐν σάλῳ γεγένηται καὶ ταραχῇ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς πάντας τοὺς πρότερον δοξάζοντας αὐτὴν μεταβαλόντας ἠτι μακέναι τὴν τοιαύτην πόλιν, θεασαμένους αὐτῆς τὴν ἀσχημο σύνην. αὐτὴ δὲ ἐφ' οἷς πέπονθε διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, σάλῳ καὶ ἀτιμίᾳ τῇ ἀπὸ τῶν ποτε δοξαζόντων περιπεσοῦσα, στενάζουσα οὐκέτι εἰς τὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἐλήλυθε τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀλλὰ μειώσασα αὐτὰ ὀπίσω ἀνακεχώρηκεν. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐὰν δὲ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ λέγηται, ἐντρεχής τις καὶ διορατικὴ καὶ «τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ εἰρήνης τῆς ὑπερεχούσης πάντα νοῦν» κατανοητική, ἐπεὶ δυνατὸν παρὰ πολλὰς αἰτίας καὶ ταύτην ἁμαρτεῖν, δηλοῦται τὸ εἰς σάλον αὐτὴν μεταπεπτωκέναι ἀποστᾶσαν τῶν κα λῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς χείροσι γεγενημένην. πᾶς δὲ ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐκπεσὼν καὶ τῇ κακίᾳ συμβιοὺς ἐν σάλῳ τυγχάνειν ὑγιῶς λέγεται. 22 ∆ηλοῖ τὴν ἀνακοπὴν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, οὐκέτι «τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινομένης» τῶν πταισμάτων οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ νομῇ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων γινομένης, ἀλλ' ἀποστρεφομένης 4 εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἐπὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ καλῷ. 23 Κατὰ μὲν τὴν σωματικὴν διήγησιν τὸ λεγόμενον περὶ τῆς Ἱε ρουσαλὴμ νῦν τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν. ἐμπόδιόν ἐστιν ἡ ἀκαθαρσία τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ· τίνος δὲ ἐμπόδιον, ἡμῖν καταλέλοιπε νοεῖν ὁ προφήτης. τάχα οὖν δηλοῖ ὅτι κωλυτική ἐστι τῆς πορείας αὐτῆς ἡ ἀκαθαρσία . ἀλλὰ καὶ τοιάδε τις οὖσα δηλοῖ ὅτι Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῶν ἐσχάτων αὐ τῆς οὐκ ἐμνημόνευσεν . ταῦτα δὲ ὁ ἔχων πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ὁρῶν τί διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἀπαντήσεται, οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται. διὰ ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν ἐμπόδιον αὐτῇ· καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ μνη μονεύειν αὐτὴν τῶν ἐσχάτων αὐτῆς , τὰ θαυμαστὰ αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ μεγάλα, ἅτινα εἶχεν ὅτε ἀξία τοῦ ἐπισκοπεῖσθαι ἐτύγχανε, κατεβίβασε καὶ εἰς ταπεινότητα ἤνεγκε, πρότερον ὑπέρογκα ὄντα καὶ μείζονα παντὸς ἐπαίνου. ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα οὐκ ἦν ὁ παραμυ θούμενος τὴν τὰ μέγιστα αὐτῆς καταβιβάσασαν. ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ κατανόησον τὴν ἐμοῦ τοῦ λέγοντος ταπείνωσιν, κύριε , ἐπει δήπερ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐπὶ τοῖς γενομένοις τῇ πατρίδι μου μεγαλύνεται . Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ζητητέον μέντοι κατὰ τοὺς τῆς ἀναγωγῆς νόμους,

Impurity blocking the holy way; first thoughts of the Threne§5

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5It may be possible to encounter impurity in someone who is not the cause of it. Let us also consider the first thoughts of the lament. A soul of such a kind, having fallen away, is necessarily in impurity, and this impurity prevents one from walking the holy path. Just as God commanded Moses the holy man and his successor Jesus to remove their sandals when treading upon holy ground—so that one would not carry dead skin upon the feet into the sacred place—so too, if someone wishes to walk unhindered, they ought not only to remove their sandals but also to wash away the impurity that has come from the dust around the feet. And we may regard this as a symbol: the Savior pouring water into the basin and washing the feet of the disciples, saying to Peter, who did not yet understand the mystery and therefore resisted: "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me," and "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand afterward." Therefore, we must gather around, as it were, the feet of the soul, cleanse them of impurity, and pray to Jesus that he may wash them, so that we may be able to have a share with him. For if this impurity remains, it is an obstacle to our walking the way according to sound reason—the way of which the Savior said, "I am the way." Indeed, it is evident that the healthy soul, or even one that wishes to be such, does not merely focus on the present but looks ahead to what it will encounter in the future from the things being accomplished. And if one considers something good in the present to be occurring, they foresee the bitter thing that will be in the future, and thus send away what seems pleasant, doing the opposite, in order not to fall later into some hardship. But if one encounters something painful in the present, good hopes take over the apparent harshness, and willingly subjects itself to the roughness of what may seem terrible to some, in order to attain the sweet things reserved for those who endure these things.

All these things, he says, the Jerusalem which is called more truly so, suffering, could not even find comfort in the one offering consolation; for, having turned away from the word within her and become wholly given over to passion, she lost her helper, the one who continually arms himself against pains and against the dreaded things deemed so, and the disposition she had toward him. Moreover, upon these things, behold my humiliation as a citizen—so that a relative of the soul might speak it—my citizen’s sorrow, through which I was taught philanthropy, is my own misfortune. Consider then, O Lord, and do not utterly abandon her who has suffered the aforementioned things; do not overlook her enemy, that is, wickedness magnified and poured out against her. For the words “look, O Lord, upon my humiliation” may be understood tropically as referring to the word dwelling within the soul, having been dishonored and humbled, and, to speak plainly, to her own royal estate having been lost.

The desires of Jerusalem, therefore, are to be understood as the things in the temple, and the holy things of the holies kept for the priestly ministry, properly ordered, and likewise the things otherwise destined to be kept in the temple, which are believed to be divine, such as the golden lampstand and the rest. For the people, having trusted these things to be stored in the temple for God’s glory, preferred above all to suffer something themselves at the hands of the enemies rather than see these things fall into hostile hands. And it is customary for those who are circumcised to call the temple holy.

Moreover, something most paradoxical has befallen Jerusalem in the time of her captivity: she saw nations, whom God had commanded not to enter the church, trampling the holy place, where even the Israelites were not permitted to enter, except only the priests who had been deemed worthy, together with those not chosen for purification, to become holy in that place. And the enemies advanced even as far as the forbidden zones, entering that spot which the high priest alone could enter, with great purification, once a year. And shortly thereafter—

Greek · §5

εἰ δυνατὸν ἔν τινι τυγχάνειν ἀκαθαρσίαν οὐκ αἰτίῳ ταύτης ὄντι. ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ πρῶτα νοήματα τοῦ Θρήνου. ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ ἐκπεσοῦσα πάντως καὶ ἐν ἀκαθαρσίᾳ ἐστίν, ἥτις ἀκαθαρσία κωλύει τὴν ἁγίαν ὁδὸν ὁδεύειν. καὶ ὥσπερ τὰ ὑποδήματα κελεύεται ὑπὸ θεοῦ ὑπολύσασθαι ἁγίῳ τόπῳ ἐπιβαίνων ὁ ἱερὸς Μωσῆς καὶ ὁ διάδοχος αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς, οὐ καθήκοντος περικεῖσθαι νεκρὰν δορὰν ἐν ἱερῷ τόπῳ τοὺς πόδας, οὕτως εἰ μέλλοι τις ὁδεύειν ἀνεμποδίστως, τάχα οὐ μόνον ὑπολύσα σθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποπλύνασθαι ὀφείλει τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν τὴν γενομένην ἀπὸ τοῦ χοῦ περὶ τοὺς πόδας. καὶ οἰόμεθά γε τούτου σύμβολον εἶναι τὸ τὸν σωτῆρα βαλόντα ὕδωρ εἰς τὸν νιπτῆρα πεπλυκέναι τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν, λέγοντα τῷ μηδέπω συνιέντι τὸ μυστή ριον καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κωλύοντι Πέτρῳ· «ἐὰν μὴ νίψω σε οὐκ ἔχεις μέρος μετ' ἐμοῦ», καὶ «ὃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ, σὺ οὐκ οἶδας ἄρτι, γνώσῃ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα». οὐκοῦν δεήσει περιαθροίσαν<τας> περὶ τούς, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, πόδας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀκαθαρσίαν [καὶ] δεηθῆναι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅπως αὐτὴν ἀποπλύνῃ καὶ δυνηθῶμεν μέρος ἔχειν μετ' αὐτοῦ. εἰ γὰρ παρα μένοι αὕτη, ἐμπόδιόν ἐστι τὴν κατὰ τὸν ὑγιῆ λόγον ἡμᾶς βαδίζειν ὁδόν, τὸν σωτῆρα τὸν εἰπόντα· «ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός». 24 ∆ῆλον δὲ ὅτι ἡ μὲν ὑγιαίνουσα ψυχὴ ἢ κἂν τοιαύτη γε εἶναι βουλομένη ταῦτα πράττει, οὐ τοσοῦτον τὸ παρὸν μόνον σκοποῦσα, ὅσον προορωμένη τί καὶ εἰς τὰ μέλλοντα ἐκ τῶν ἐπιτελουμένων ἀπαντηθήσεται. καὶ ἐὰν μὲν χρηστοῦ τινος νομιζομένου ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος γίνεσθαι προθεωρῇ τὸ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι πικρόν, παραπεμψα μένη τὸ δοκοῦν εἶναι ἡδὺ τὸ ἐναντίον πράττει, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ μετὰ ταῦτα χαλεπῷ τινι περιπεσεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιπόνου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ παρόντος ἀγαθαὶ ἐλπίδες διαδέχωνται τὸ φαινόμενον σκληρόν, ἑκου σίως αὑτὴν ἐπιδώσει τῇ τραχύτητι τοῦ δόξαντος ἂν εἶναι δεινοῦ παρά τισιν, ἐπὶ τῷ τυχεῖν τῶν διὰ τὸ ὑπομεμενηκέναι ταῦτα δια δεχομένων γλυκέων τὰ σκληρά. 25 Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα, φησί, παθοῦσα ἡ τροπικώτερον καλουμένη Ἱε ρουσαλὴμ οὐδὲ τοῦ παραμυθουμένου εὐπόρησεν· ἀποστραφεῖσα γὰρ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ λόγον καὶ ὅλη τοῦ πάθους γεγενημένη, τὸν βοηθὸν ἀπολώλεκε, τὸν ἀεὶ κατὰ τῶν πόνων ὁπλίζοντα καὶ τῶν νομιζο μένων δεινῶν τὴν προσέχουσαν αὐτῷ διάθεσιν. ἐπὶ τούτοις δ' ἐμοῦ τοῦ πολίτου τὴν ταπείνωσιν ἴδε · ὡς ἂν λέγοι συγγενὴς ψυχῆς· τὸ τοῦ πολίτου μου πάθος, δι' ἣν ἐδιδάχθην φιλανθρωπίαν, ἐμή ἐστι συμφορά. κατανόησον οὖν, ὦ κύριε , καὶ μὴ τέλεον καταλίπῃς τὴν τὰ προειρημένα πεπονθυῖαν· μὴ ὑπερίδῃς τὸν ἐχθρὸν αὐτῇ, λέγω δὴ τὴν κακίαν μεγαλυνθεῖσαν καὶ κεχυμένην κατ' αὐτῆς. δύνα ται δὲ τροπικώτερον λέγεσθαι τὸ ἴδε, κύριε, τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐνυπάρχοντος τῇ ψυχῇ λόγου, ἀτιμασθέντος καὶ τετα πεινωμένου καί, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, τὸ ἴδιον βασίλειον ἀπολωλεκότος. 26 Ἐπιθυμήματα τοίνυν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ νοητέον τὰ ἐν τῷ ναῷ, καὶ τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων ἀποκείμενα εἰς τὴν ἱερατικὴν λειτουργίαν εὔθετα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλως παρὰ τὸ ἐναποκεῖσθαι τῷ ναῷ θεῖα εἶναι πεπιστευμένα, οἷον τὴν 5 λυχνίαν τὴν χρυσῆν καὶ τὰ λοιπά. πεπει σμένοι γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ταῦτα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ ἐναποκεῖσθαι τῷ ναῷ, πάντων προέκρινον αὐτὰ ἐπιθυμοῦντες αὐτοί τι παθεῖν μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων χαλεπὸν ἢ τούτων ὑποχείριόν τι γενέσθαι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς. τὸ δὲ ἁγίασμα ἔθος τοῖς ἐκ περιτομῆς τὸν ναὸν καλεῖν. 27 Παραδοξότατον δέ τι πέπονθεν ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας. ἐθεάσατο γὰρ ἔθνη, ἃ ἐνετείλατο ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν μὴ εἰσέρχεσθαι , πατοῦντα τὸ ἁγίασμα, ἔνθα οὐδὲ τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις εἰσελθεῖν θέμις, μόνων ἀξιωθέντων τῶν ἱε ρέων ἐν ἐκείνῳ μετὰ τῶν οὐ τυχόντων ἁγνισμῶν γίνεσθαι τῷ χωρίῳ. ἔφθασαν δὲ οἱ πολέμιοι καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἀβάτων εἰσελθόντες εἰς τό πον ὃν μόγις «μετὰ πολλῆς ἁγιστείας ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυ τοῦ εἰσῄει». Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐὰν δὲ Ἱερουσαλήμ, καθάπερ

Unless I wash you: cleansing and share with Christ§6

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6We have set forth the proposition that when a soul of this kind happens to be encountered, it is necessary to recognize the natural good things belonging to it as a cosmos in its own right, through which it was healed by the divine, stored up in its inaccessible parts for everything except the word of the high priest, and called its desires. Moreover, upon all these things, the enemy who has gained mastery in the ancient contest, having afflicted the soul that wages war not well for itself but rather has been left behind worthily by divine aid, extends himself through the power of his activity into evil things, drags away the ruling faculty and leaves the soul that has departed from God desolate of good things. And the nations, according to the place, are to be understood allegorically as the crowd of vices that have entered into the formed ruling faculty, so as to be a receptacle and true sanctification of God for the pure mind wishing to rest again. These nations God utterly forbids from entering the church; for what else could we consider more forbidden by God from entering into a soul numbered in the church of God than the works and the mind of the flesh, which are truly nations hostile to God? For "the flesh wars against the spirit," "the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God"; "for to the law of God it is not subject, nor indeed can it be." They groaned because of famine and because of little food, the soul turning back and leaving behind provided the most precious things. But how did the previously mentioned desires, taken away by the enemies, provide for the purchase of food? Yet "the enemy stretched forth his hand against all things," and having been satisfied with taking what he wished, he left the rest behind, in exchange for which they bought food.

Jerusalem prays, Lord, look upon my shame, since you have destroyed the world by famine. Perhaps different desires preceded, first the foretold things which the enemy had stretched out his hand upon, secondly each person's own desires from among the people; and the common things were taken, but instead of the particular things, each one bought food for himself. Moreover, for guidance, just as Esau sold his birthright for red stew, of which he became surnamed (Edom meaning Red Earth; and indeed he became earthly, having despised the birthrights, having made earthly things which Jacob, as necessary, transferred to him in a second discourse because he happened to be in a body), so also Jerusalem. But the one who gives Jacob the worthy to obtain, which things he had desired, even if he did not previously choose them; but the people of Jerusalem have given indeed also themselves because of food, but not having sanctified this construction, but the Babylonians who were about to insult the given desires. For Jacob knows how to adorn the things from Esau, but the Babylonians do not use the given things for their own good. And so the soul, through lack of necessities, rejects the divine teachings to those who, out of curiosity, desire to learn for slander and mockery. 30 He has shown the one upon the conflagration of the strongest buildings touching or the fall of the superior ones in it of the city, to the soul and to those outside as if burning with the calamities. He also indicates the conception of those who have been subdued into slavery like in a field with nets,

Those who did not make good use of freedom. For these, "not stretching forward to the things that are ahead, but forgetting the things that are behind," they turned away from glory into dishonor, from freedom into slavery, and have become instead of honorable ones, darkened and obscure through dishonor and insolence; because of these things the city has fallen into endless grief. 31 Providence, he says, has not slept over my impious deeds; for God, as if taking them into his hands, has intertwined them through examination with the works of recompense. And these things have become to me like a yoke placed upon the neck and slavery imposed upon it; for just as I served slavery to Nebuchadnezzar, my sins are slavery, therefore I have become weak, delivered over to these things whose dominion I cannot withstand. And shortly after: His yoke upon my neck is shown. But it is indicated through the present expression that the things spoken of as concerning our passions ought to be taken more tropically in regard to God. For how otherwise could the impieties of Jerusalem be understood, joined to the hand of God, except tropically? For no one could speak these things literally. And how is it not absurd, that while the city of Jerusalem is said to lift up its neck tropically, the things spoken as concerning God do not hear the same manner? Let the present things be spoken as if by the soul sinking into impiety, in the act of becoming unconscious from the saving yoke of the wholesome word, which the Savior calls good, and putting on the

Greek · §6

προπαρεστήσαμεν, ἡ τοιάδε ψυχὴ τυγχάνῃ, νοητέον <τὰ> κατὰ φύσιν αὐτῆς ἀγαθὰ κόσμον αὐτῆς ὄντα, δι' ὧν ἐθεράπευε τὸ θεῖον, ἐναποκείμενα τοῖς ἀβάτοις αὐτῆς παντί τῳ πλὴν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως λόγου, ἐπιθυμήματα αὐτῆς καλεῖσθαι. ἐπὶ πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ὁ ἐν τῷ παλαίειν κεκρατηκὼς ἐχθρός, θλίψας τὴν οὐ καλῶς ὑπὲρ αὑτῆς στρατευομένην, ἀλλ' ἀξίως ὑπὸ τῆς θείας βοηθείας ἐγκαταλελειμμένην, ἐκτείνας αὑτὸν διὰ τῆς εἰς τὰ μοχθηρὰ δραστηρίου δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, ἐξέσπασε τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ καὶ ἔρημον τῶν καλῶν καταλέλοιπε τὴν ἀποστᾶσαν θεοῦ ψυχήν. καὶ ἔθνη δὲ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀλληγορητέον τὸν ὄχλον τῶν κακιῶν, εἰσελθόντα εἰς τὸ δημιουργηθὲν ἡγεμονικὸν ἐπὶ τῷ εἶναι θεοῦ χωρητικὸν καὶ ἀληθὲς ἁγίασμα τοῦ βουλομένου νῷ καθαρῷ ἐπαναπαύεσθαι. ἅπερ ἔθνη ἀπαγορεύει ὁ θεὸς παντελῶς εἰσιέναι εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν · τί γὰρ ἂν ἄλλο κυριώτερον ἀπαγορεύεσθαι νομίζοιμεν ἀπὸ θεοῦ εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς ψυχὴν ἀριθμουμένην ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ θεοῦ ἢ τὰ ἔργα καὶ τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός, ἀληθῶς ἔθνη ἐχθρὰ ὄντα τοῦ θεοῦ; «ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ στρα τεύεται κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος», «τοῦ φρονήματος τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρας οὔσης εἰς θεόν»· «τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται· οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται». 28 Ἐστέναζον διὰ λιμὸν καὶ μικρᾶς ἕνεκα βρώσεως ψυχὴν ἐπι στρεφούσης ἐκλείπουσαν παρεῖχον τὰ τιμιώτατα. πῶς δὲ τὰ προρρηθέντα ἐπιθυμήματα παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπενεχθέντα πα ρεῖχον εἰς ὠνὴν τροφῆς; ἀλλ' «ἐξέτεινε μὲν ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐπὶ πάντα τὴν χεῖρα», κορεσθεὶς δὲ τῷ λαβεῖν ἅπερ ἤθελε, τὰ λοιπὰ καταλέλοιπεν, ἀνθ' ὧν ἐπρίαντο τὴν τροφήν. 29 Εὐχὴ παρὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὸ ἴδε, κύριε , τὴν ἐμὴν ἀτιμίαν , ἀπολεσάσης τὸν κόσμον διὰ λιμόν. μήποτε δὲ διάφορα τὰ ἐπιθυ μήματα , προηγουμένως μὲν τὰ προδεδηλωμένα «ἐφ' ἅπερ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐξέτεινε τὴν χεῖρα», δεύτερα δὲ τὰ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ· καὶ τὰ μὲν κοινὰ παρείληφεν, ἀντὶ δὲ τῶν ἰδικῶν ἕκαστος ὠνεῖτο τροφήν. πρὸς δὲ ἀναγωγήν, ὥσπερ Ἠσαῦ ἀπέδοτο τὸ πρωτοτόκια πυρρᾶς ἕνεκα τροφῆς, ἧς ἐπώνυμος γέγονεν (Ἐδὼμ δὲ Ἐρυθρὰ γῆ· καὶ γὰρ ἐγένετο γήϊνος, καταφρονήσας μὲν τῶν πρωτοτοκίων, προη γούμενα δὲ ποιήσας τὰ γήϊνα, ἅπερ Ἰακὼβ ὡς ἀναγκαῖα μετήρχετο δευτέρῳ λόγῳ διὰ τὸ τυγχάνειν ἐν σώματι), οὕτω καὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν δίδωσι τῷ ἀξίῳ Ἰακὼβ τυχεῖν, ἅπερ εἶχεν ἐπιθυμή ματα , εἰ καὶ μὴ ταῦτα προείλετο· ὁ δὲ λαὸς Ἱερουσαλὴμ δέδωκε μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς ἕνεκα βρώσεως , ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἁγίου ταύτην κατασκευά σαντος, ἀλλὰ Βαβυλωνίων οἵτινες ἐνυβρίζειν ἔμελλον τοῖς δοθεῖσιν ἐπιθυμήμασιν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἰακὼβ οἶδε κοσμῆσαι τὰ παρὰ Ἠσαῦ, οἱ δὲ Βαβυλώνιοι οὐ χρῶνται τοῖς δοθεῖσιν ἐπ' ἰδίῳ καλῷ. οὕτω καὶ ψυχὴ δι' ἀπορίαν τῶν ἀναγκαίων χρειῶν ἀπορρίπτει τὰ θεῖα μαθή ματα τοῖς κατὰ περιεργίαν βουλομένοις ἐπὶ διαβολῇ καὶ χλεύῃ μαθεῖν. 30 Τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ἁλώσει δεδήλωκεν ἐμπρησμὸν τῶν ἰσχυροτάτων οἰκο δομημάτων ἁψάμενον ἢ τὴν ἅλωσιν τῶν ὑπερεχόντων ἐν αὐτῇ πολι τῶν, ψυχῇ τε καὶ τοῖς ἐκτὸς οἱονεὶ πυρουμένων ταῖς συμφοραῖς. δηλοῖ καὶ τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων τὴν σύλληψιν τὴν εἰς δουλείαν ὥσπερ ἐν ἄγρᾳ δικτύων , τῶν μὴ καλῶς χρησαμένων τῇ ἐλευθερίᾳ. οὗτοι γάρ, «οὐ τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενοι τῶν ὄπισθεν ἐπελανθά νοντο»· ἀπέστρεφον δὲ ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς ἀτιμίαν, ἀπὸ 6 ἐλευθερίας εἰς δουλείαν, καὶ γεγόνασιν ἀντὶ ἐνδόξων ἠμαυρωμένοι καὶ ἀφανεῖς ἐξ ἀτιμίας καὶ ὕβρεως· δι' ἅπερ εἰς διηνεκῆ πέπτωκε λύπην ἡ πόλις. 31 Ἡ πρόνοια, φησίν, ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἀσεβήμασιν οὐ κεκοίμηται· θεὸς γὰρ ὥσπερ εἰς χεῖρας λαβὼν αὐτὰ διὰ τῆς ἐξετάσεως τοῖς διὰ τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν ἐνέπλεξεν ἔργοις. καὶ γέγονέ μοι ταῦτα καθάπερ ἐπὶ τραχήλου ζυγὸς καὶ δουλείαν ἐπέθηκεν· ἣν γὰρ ἐδούλευσα τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ δουλείαν, τὰ ἐμά ἐστιν ἀσεβήματα, διόπερ ἄτονος γέγονα παραδοθεῖσα τούτοις ὧν ὑποστῆναι τὴν δεσποτείαν οὐ δύναμαι . Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ὁ ζυγὸς αὐτοῦ κατὰ τοῦ τραχήλου μου . δείκνυται δὲ διὰ τοῦ παρόντος ῥητοῦ τροπικώτερον δεῖν ἐκλαμβάνεσθαι τὰ ὡς περὶ παθῶν ἡμετέρων λεγόμενα <περὶ> τοῦ θεοῦ. πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως νοηθείη τὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀσεβήματα τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ συμπεπλεγμένα χειρὶ ἢ τροπικῶς; οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις λέγοι καὶ ταῦτα σωματικῶς. πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἄτοπον, τῆς μὲν Ἱερουσαλὴμ πόλεως οὔσης τὸν τράχηλον λαμ βάνεσθαι τροπικῶς, τὰ ὡς θεοῦ δὲ λεγόμενα μέλη μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀκούεσθαι τρόπον; λεγέσθω δὲ τὰ νῦν ὡς ὑπὸ ψυχῆς εἰς ἀσέβειαν ὑπνωσάσης, ἐν τῷ ἀφηνιακέναι μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ σωτηρίου ζυγοῦ τοῦ ὑγιοῦς λόγου, ὃν ὁ σωτὴρ ὀνομάζει χρηστόν, ὑποδῦναι δὲ τὸν

Defilement, washings, and the path back to holiness§7

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7The sins that have weakened me, having cast me away from the divine oversight and delivered me into the service of the sovereign of evils, are such that, due to the boundless and infinite nature of wickedness, I cannot fully minister to her nor satisfy her with sufficient provision. Indeed, sin truly humbles and presses down upon one, causing the gaze to fall low; yet the yoke and the ever-present, piercing conscience continually sting and urge one not to relent, stripping away all boldness. Moreover, as he says, permission and the strength with which I did not act well have been granted, and I behold the evils that hold me dissolving. He did not take them from my midst (for even if I had been deprived of them, I could have used them elsewhere), but in my midst he judged them guilty for the very acts of impiety I committed. My chosen ones have endured the most severe trials, having drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath, which He trod in the winepress until it filled me and the virgin daughter of the most royal Judah. One might say that the strong are those who wage war and defend the fatherland, while the elect are the noble or the wise. He clarifies the winepress by referencing what was said in the Psalms concerning the punishment of sinners: “A cup in the hand of the Lord, full of unmixed wine, mingled with spice,” pouring from the one being punished upon the one being punished, until all the sinners of the earth drink, while the remnants of the vintage remain for the lesser sinners still existing, to whom finally “the one who treads the winepress” shall be emptied. It is not difficult to see how the Lord trod the winepress upon the virgin daughter of Judah.

For indeed, as the proverb says, “Each one reaps what he sows,” and so too, perhaps, each one harvests what he cultivates. The one who produces superior wine will rejoice in the fruits of his own labor. But the one who cultivates “the vineyard of Sodom and the vine-dressing of Gomorrah, bearing fruit for the tribe of bitterness, yielding a cluster of gall and a wrath that shields cannot withstand—all of which the Lord gathers together”—into a single winepress, where his evil deeds are trodden underfoot and crushed, such a person, in keeping with such fruits, drinks in order to vomit up the gall, the bitterness, and the wrath. And he drinks, according to Jeremiah, to purge himself; according to Isaiah, to awaken and clothe himself in kindred glory. For the Lord does not tread the winepress in vain, and especially not for the virgin daughter of Judah. 34 Thus, the soul, having received many gifts from its Creator—both natural and chosen—yet deprived of them through wickedness and suffering punishment, acknowledges what it has endured. And the one called to be broken in the time of retribution is the moment when, according to Ezekiel, “none of the righteous deeds which the righteous one has done shall be remembered in the day of his sin.” Mourning what has befallen her, she is benefited, for to those who mourn and weep belongs the promise of consolation and laughter. 35 She declared that the cause of her lamentations was the absence of the one who turns back her soul—namely, the one who restores it according to Symmachus. And she says that her sons have perished through the strengthening of the enemy, by means of which they were exiled; for although we are pious, we do not prevail, for the weak, as they progress, are destroyed and utterly broken beneath the feet—“becoming thin as dust before the face of the wind,”

And as clay in the streets, becoming thin. For in proportion as we sin, it is nourished and gains strength; but when transgressions cease, it is, as it were, destroyed by famine. And from the opposing forces, the divine powers, when we act well, we strengthen ourselves and pursue those who sin. Therefore Symmachus, instead of "the obliterated ones," delivered "deserts." One might say these things of a contemplative soul that has attained the word of true divinity and, through slackness, has lost this joyful word and all its fruits, which it names as its children, because it has been strengthened against the evil that opposes it. Zion says the mountain, and the people of Jacob, and the mother-city Jerusalem. And God commanded Jacob with commandments by which, when transgressed, he was encircled by enemies; and according to Symmachus and another edition of the Seventy, the Lord commanded that those who oppress him should be round about him, namely, the powers appointed to do evil. The uncleanness of Jerusalem through sin, as through a sewer, he has shown. And in the midst, he speaks either of Zion and Jacob, or of the whole mountain as middle (for in part it is built upon), and of the whole people; now this signifies Jacob, the twelve scepters. And according to the word, it is possible to take Zion and Jerusalem in two ways: either the places or the inhabitants. But if Zion is a place, her hands are her works, for example.

Greek · §7

τῶν ἀσεβημάτων, δι' ὧν ἠτόνησεν ἀφεθεῖσα τῆς θείας ἐπισκοπῆς καὶ παραδοθεῖσα τῇ βασιλευούσῃ τῶν κακῶν ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἧς τοῖς θελήμασι διὰ τὸ ἀπεριόριστον καὶ ἄπειρον τῆς κακίας οὐ δύναται πάντῃ ὑπουργῆσαι καὶ κόρον αὐτῇ παρασχεῖν. ταπεινοῖ δὲ ὄντως ἡ ἁμαρτία καὶ ἄγχει καὶ κάτω βλέπειν ποιεῖ· ζυγὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ συνειδὸς ἄγχον ἀεὶ καὶ τιτρῶσκον καὶ ἀνανεύειν μὴ συγχωροῦν καὶ πάσης ἀφαιρού μενον παρρησίας. πάρεσιν δέ, φησί, καὶ τῆς ἰσχύος ᾗ μὴ καλῶς ἐχρησάμην ἐποίησε, καὶ λύομαι τὰ συνέχοντά με θεωροῦσα κακά. 32 Οὐκ ἐκ μέσου μου ἐξῆρεν αὐτούς (εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἀπεστερήμην αὐτῶν, ἀλλ' ἐξῆν εἰς ἕτερα καταχρήσασθαι), ἀλλ' ἐν μέσῳ μου πα θεῖν αὐτοὺς κατεδίκασε δι' ἅπερ ἠσέβησα, καὶ πεπόνθασιν οἱ ἐκλεκ τοί μου τὰ χαλεπώτατα, αὐτοῦ τοῦ κυρίου τὸν οἶνον τοῦ θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐν ληνῷ πατήσαντος εἰς πλησμονὴν ἐμοὶ καὶ τῇ παρθένῳ τοῦ βασιλικωτάτου Ἰούδα . λέγοι δ' ἂν ἰσχυροὺς μὲν τοὺς δυνα τοὺς ἐν πολέμῳ καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ὑπερασπίζοντας, ἐκλεκτοὺς δὲ τοὺς εὐγενεῖς ἢ σοφούς. σαφηνίζει δὲ τὸ ληνὸν ἐπάτησεν τὸ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τιμωρίας ἐν Ψαλμοῖς εἰρημένον· «ποτήριον ἐν χειρὶ κυρίου, οἴνου ἀκράτου πλῆρες κεράσματος», κλινόμενον ἐκ τοῦδέ τινος τοῦ κολαζομένου ἐπὶ τόνδε τὸν κολαζόμενον, ἕως πίωσι «πάν τες οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τῆς γῆς», τῆς τρυγὸς ὑπολειπομένης τοῖς ἁμαρτω λοτέροις ἔτι τούτων ὑπάρχουσιν, εἰς οὓς τελευταίους «ὁ τρυγίας» ἐκκενωθήσεται. 33 Οὐ χαλεπὸν δὲ ἰδεῖν, πῶς ληνὸν ἐπάτησε κύριος παρθένῳ θυγατρὶ Ἰούδα · ἐπεὶ γὰρ «ἃ σπείρει ἕκαστος, ταῦτα καὶ θερίσει», τάχα δὴ καὶ ἃ γεωργεῖ, ταῦτα καὶ τρυγᾷ. ὁ μὲν οὖν κρείττονα οἶνον ποιήσας εὐφρανθήσεται ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων γεννημάτων, ὁ δὲ γεωργήσας «ἄμπελον Σοδόμων καὶ κληματίδα Γομόρρας καὶ καρποφορήσας στα φυλὴν χολῆς καὶ βότρυν πικρίας καὶ θυμὸν ἀσπίδων ἀνίατον, πάν των ὑπὸ κυρίου συναγομένων» εἰς μίαν ληνόν , πατουμένων τῶν κακῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ θλιβομένων, τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀκολούθως καρποῖς πίεται ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὴν χολὴν ἐμέσαι καὶ τὴν πικρίαν καὶ τὸν θυμόν. καὶ πίεται, κατὰ μὲν τὸν Ἱερεμίαν εἰς τὸ ἐξεμέσαι, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν εἰς τὸ ἐξεγερθῆναι καὶ ἐνδύσασθαι δόξαν τὴν συγγενῆ· οὐ γὰρ μάτην ληνὸν πατεῖ κύριος , καὶ μάλιστα παρθένῳ θυ γατρὶ Ἰούδα . 34 Ἡ τοίνυν ψυχὴ πολλὰ παρὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτὴν λαβοῦσα δυ νατά τε καὶ ἐκλεκτὰ χαρίσματα, τούτων διὰ κακίαν ἐστερημένη καὶ τίνουσα δίκας, ὃ πέπονθεν ὁμολογεῖ. ὁ δὲ κληθεὶς εἰς τὸ συντρι βῆναι καιρός ἐστιν ὁ τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως, ὅτε κατὰ τὸν Ἰεζεκιὴλ «οὐ μνησθήσεται πάντων τῶν δικαιωμάτων ὧν πεποίηκεν ὁ δίκαιος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ». πενθοῦσα δὲ τὰ συμβεβηκότα ὠφελεῖται, τῶν πενθούντων καὶ κλαιόντων ἐπαγγελίαν ἐχόντων τὴν παράκλησιν καὶ τὸν γέλωτα. 35 Αἴτιον εἶναι τῶν ὀδυρμῶν ἔφη τὸ μὴ εἶναι τὸν ἐπιστρέφοντα τὴν 7 ψυχὴν αὐτῆς, ἤγουν τὸν ἀνακτώμενον κατὰ Σύμμαχον. ἠφανίσθαι δὲ λέγει καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς δυναμωθέντος τοῦ ἐχθροῦ δι' ὧν ἐξημάρτανον· εὐσεβούντων γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἰσχύει, ἀσθενεῖ γὰρ προκοπτόντων καὶ νεκροῦται τελειουμένων καὶ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας συντρίβεται «λεπτυνόμενος ὡς χνοῦς κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀνέμου, καὶ ὡς πηλὸς πλατειῶν λεπτυνόμενος». ἀναλόγως γὰρ ὧν ἁμαρτάνομεν καὶ τρέφεται καὶ δύναμιν ἴσχει, τοῦ δὲ πλημμελεῖν πεπαυμένων οἱονεὶ λιμῷ διαφθείρεται. ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων τὰς θείας δυνάμεις εὖ μὲν πράττοντες ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐνισχύομεν καὶ διώκομεν ἁμαρτάνοντες. διόπερ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἀντὶ τοῦ ἠφανισμένοι ἐξέδωκεν ἔρημοι . λέγοι δ' ἂν ταῦτα ψυχὴ θεωρητικὴ τυγχάνουσα τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀλη θείας καὶ διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν τὸν εὐφραίνοντα τοῦτον ἀπολέσασα λόγον καὶ πάντας τοὺς καρπούς, υἱοὺς αὐτῆς χρηματίζοντας, διὰ τὸ κατ' αὐτῆς ἐχθρὰν τὴν κακίαν δεδυναμῶσθαι. 36 Σιών φησι τὸ ὄρος, τὸν δὲ λαὸν Ἰακώβ , τὴν δὲ μητρόπολιν Ἱερουσαλήμ. ἐνετείλατο δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἰακὼβ ἐντολὰς δι' ἃς παραβαινομένας ὑπ' ἐχθρῶν ἐκυκλώθη, κατὰ δὲ Σύμμαχον καὶ καθ' ἑτέραν ἔκδοσιν τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα ἐνετείλατο κύριος κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι τοὺς θλίβοντας αὐτόν , δηλαδὴ ταῖς εἰς τὸ κακοῦν τεταγμέναις δυνάμεσιν. 37 Τὸ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ δι' ἁμαρτίας ἀκάθαρτον ὡς δι' ἀφέδρου δε δήλωκεν. ἀνὰ μέσον δὲ λέγει ἢ τῆς Σιὼν καὶ τοῦ Ἰακώβ , ἢ ὅλου μὲν τοῦ ὄρους μέση (ἐν μέρει γὰρ αὐτοῦ ᾠκοδόμηται), ὅλου δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ, νῦν τοῦτο σημαίνοντος Ἰακώβ , τὰ δυοκαίδεκα σκῆπτρα. διχῶς δὲ κατὰ λέξιν ἔστι λαβεῖν τὴν Σιὼν καὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ , ἢ τοὺς τόπους ἢ τοὺς οἰκήτορας. ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν τόπος ἡ Σιών, χεῖρας αὐτῆς τὰ ἔργα, οἷον

Purity restored and the soul share with the Word§8

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8Agriculture and any handiwork, he says, are left spread out and not gathered together, failing to perform the proper work with their hands, as if in an idle and desolate land. If, however, he is speaking of those dwelling within, the hands would be farmers and laborers, not withdrawing their hands from work due to surrounding circumstances. But if the hands of Zion are being counted, how much more the members according to Scripture of God are to be regarded. And indeed, the mountain itself, as it were, groans with the people, lacking comfort from God or from a holy man. The mouth of the Lord must be heeded in the prophets, of whom Isaiah, who exists, declared: "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." Yet Jerusalem, rewarded by the Savior as "having slain the prophets," moreover, provoked the mouth of the Lord to bitter pains by delivering them over. But the God who "seeks the blood of the prophets" delivers her to afflictions from wars and again to captivities, handing over her young men and virgins. Therefore, for what she has suffered, she confesses before others, presenting herself as an example to these, so that those who have learned God’s righteousness may not suffer similar things. After the perceptible, interpret virgins as those living in incorruptibility, and young men as those prospering in virtue. For often the holy ones also suffer with those responsible. The lovers, namely those who are such, Ezekiel has declared to Jerusalem, whom he calls Olivet, saying: "Thus says the Lord Lord: Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you from every side, sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans." For these, though formerly friends by divine providence, have turned into enemies.

It often happens, under the impulse of love, that one turns into hatred; for he speaks concerning Samaria thus: “And Oholah played the harlot away from me, and she set herself upon her lovers, the Assyrians”; and shortly after: “Therefore he delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of Assyria.” He also speaks concerning Jerusalem: “And her sister Oholibah saw it, and she defiled her illicit affection more than the harlotry of her sister, and she set herself upon the sons of the Assyrians.” 41 In the prophecy, indeed, the soul grieves as if being persuaded of obvious things; but in the present Lamentation, as though these things have already come to pass, she grieves bitterly and, through sin, confesses that she has brought upon herself the utmost bitterness of God’s goodness, as if she, who was abundantly fruitful, had been made barren, and as if the most terrible thing—war by hostile hand—had befallen her. Since personification is employed, one should not seek a literal city whose womb bore children and whose heart was loosened. 42 He divides the word into eight parts, addressing Jerusalem toward her enemies, whom he wishes to hear, and toward God. But what does he urge upon the enemies for their hearing? And what does he say to God about them, as if they had rejoiced? Perhaps, therefore (since “her transgression and Israel’s transgression have become the instruction of the nations to provoke them to jealousy,” and “when the fullness of the nations has entered in, then all Israel will be saved”), he speaks prophetically first to those from the nations, and then to God concerning the second matters: “You were left behind to suffer so that you might take possession of the land, and I have become, through you, an enemy of God, though according to the election, beloved for the sake of the fathers, I continue to exist.”

Therefore, you have heard my lamentation and perceived its cause; for I am entirely consumed on account of your salvation, left bereft, lacking the one who continually comforts me amid the trials of evil. Now the "leader has departed from Judah, and he who was reckoned from his loins" has come—He to whom belonged "the things stored up," "the expectation of the nations"—at whose blood’s vengeance, no one remains to console Jerusalem. This means: let not their wickedness be allowed to persist unchecked; rather, may it be granted to you in oversight, as if one were to pray for wounds to come before a physician, in order to attain complete healing. For this is the whole: blessed above all is the one who does not sin, and second, blessed is the one whom God examines wholly for wickedness. Moreover, glean after the vintage the small remnants of the grape clusters left behind, as the poor do. Just as when you carefully inspected my vines, you cleansed them, removing every worthless shoot down to the tiniest bits—“the cluster of gall and the bunch of bitterness”—so too, let me glean after my enemies. This would be beneficial to me, for if they were fully saved alongside me, then I, according to your judgment, O Lord, would obtain salvation’s verdict; whom I see, I am deeply grieved and condemn myself, the oversight I need from you. Likewise, as David said: “He will utterly crush all the horns of the sinners.” Now he speaks of the rulers, in whom resides the strength of the nation…

Greek · §8

γεωργία καὶ εἴ τι χειροποίητον, φησὶ διαπεπετασμένας καὶ οὐ συνεστραμμένας οὐδὲ τὸ πρέπον ἔργον χερσὶ ποιουμένας, ὡς ἐν ἀργῷ καὶ ἐρήμῳ τῇ χώρᾳ. εἰ δὲ τοὺς ἐν οικοῦντας λέγει, χεῖρες ἂν εἶεν γεωργοὶ καὶ ἐργάται, μὴ συστέλλοντες εἰς ἔργα τὰς χεῖρας διὰ τὰ περιστάντα. εἰ δὲ τῆς Σιὼν χεῖρες τρο πολογοῦνται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὰ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν μέλη τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ὄρος, ὡς εἰπεῖν, μετὰ τοῦ ἔθνους στενάζει, οὐκ ἔχον εἰς παραμυθίαν οὐ θεόν, οὐχ ἅγιον ἄνδρα. 38 Στόμα κυρίου τοὺς προφήτας ἐκληπτέον, ὧν ὑπάρχων Ἡσαΐας ἔλεγε· «τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα». Ἱερουσαλὴμ δὲ ὠνεί δισται ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ὡς «ἀποκτείνασα τοὺς προφήτας», καθὸ καὶ παρεπίκρανε τὸ στόμα κυρίου πόνοις αὐτοὺς πικροτάτοις ἐκδοῦσα. ὁ δὲ «τὸ αἷμα τῶν προφητῶν ἐκζητῶν» θεὸς ἀλγηδόσι ταῖς ἐκ πολέμων καὶ πάλιν αἰχμαλωσίαις παραδίδωσιν αὐτῆς νεα νίσκους τε καὶ παρθένους . ἀνθ' ὧν οὖν πέπονθεν, ἐξομολογεῖται τοῖς ἄλλοις ἑαυτὴν παράδειγμα τούτοις παρέχουσα, πρὸς τὸ μὴ πα θεῖν παραπλήσια τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μαθόντας δικαιοσύνην. 39 Μετὰ τὸ αἰσθητόν, παρθένους νόει τοὺς ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ βιοῦντας, νεανίσκους δὲ τοὺς ἐν ἀρετῇ εὐδοκίμους. πολλάκις γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι τοῖς ὑπευθύνοις συμπάσχουσιν. 40 Τοὺς ἐραστὰς οἵτινές εἰσι, δεδήλωκεν Ἰεζεκιὴλ λέγων πρὸς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἣν Ὀλίβαν καλεῖ· «τάδε λέγει κύριος κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐξεγείρω τοὺς ἐραστάς σου ἐπὶ σὲ κυκλόθεν, υἱοὺς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πάντας τοὺς Χαλδαίους»· οὗτοι γὰρ πρότερον ὄντες φίλοι κατὰ θείαν πρόνοιαν εἰς ἔχθραν μετέβαλον. ὃ δὴ πολλάκις ἐπὶ ἔρωτος γίνεται τρεπομένου πρὸς μῖσος· λέγει γὰρ περὶ μὲν Σαμαρείας· «καὶ ἐξεπόρνευσεν ἡ Ὄλλα ἀπ' ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐπέθετο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐραστὰς αὐτῆς τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους», καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «διὰ τοῦτο παρέδωκεν αὐτὴν εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἐραστῶν αὐτῆς, εἰς χεῖρας υἱῶν Ἀσσυρίων». λέγει δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ· «καὶ εἶδεν ἡ ἀδελφὴ αὐτῆς Ὀλίβα, καὶ διέφθειρε τὴν ἐπίθεσιν αὐτῆς ὑπὲρ τὴν πορνείαν τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἐπέθετο». 41 Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ προφητείᾳ ἀλγεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ὡς πεισόμενος δει νότατα· ἐν δὲ τῷ παρόντι Θρήνῳ, ὡς ἤδη τούτων συμβεβηκότων, ἄχθεταί τε καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὁμολογεῖ τὴν χρηστότητα τοῦ θεοῦ πικροτάτην ἑαυτὴν καταστῆσαι, ὡς καὶ ἀτεκνωθῆναι τὴν πολύ τεκνον, καὶ τὸ δεινότατον, πολεμίᾳ χειρί. προσωποποιίας δὲ οὔσης, οὐ δεῖ ζητεῖν πόλεως κοιλίαν τεκοῦσαν καὶ καρδίαν λελυμένην. 42 Μερίζει 8 τὸν λόγον Ἱερουσαλὴμ πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθρούς, οὓς ἀκοῦσαι βούλεται, καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. ἀλλὰ τί παρακαλεῖ πρὸς ἀκοὴν τοὺς ἐχθρούς; τί δέ φησι τῷ θεῷ περὶ αὐτῶν ὡς ἐχάρησαν ; μήποτε τοίνυν (ἐπεὶ «τῷ αὐτῆς καὶ Ἰσραὴλ παραπτώματι γέγονεν ἡ σω τηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εἰς τὸ παραζηλῶσαι αὐτούς», καὶ «ὅταν τὸ πλή ρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, τότε πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται») πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὰ πρῶτα λέγει προφητικῶς, πρὸς τὸν θεὸν δὲ τὰ δεύτερα. ἐγκατελείφθην παθεῖν ἵνα χώραν λάβητε, καὶ γέγονα δι' ὑμᾶς ἐχθρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, καίπερ κατὰ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ἀγαπητὴ διὰ τοὺς πατέρας ὑπάρχουσα. διὸ τὸν ἐμὸν ἀκούσαντες στεναγμόν , καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τούτου νοήσατε· τέλεον γὰρ ἐφ' ὑμετέρᾳ σωτηρίᾳ ἐγκα ταλέλειμμαι, μὴ ἔχουσα τὸν ἀεί με παραμυθούμενον μετὰ πεῖραν κακῶν. νῦν γὰρ «ἐξέλιπεν ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ»· ἦλθε γὰρ ᾧ ἦν «τὰ ἀποκείμενα», «ἡ προσδοκία τῶν ἐθνῶν», οὗπερ ἐκδικουμένου τοῦ αἵματος, οὐδεὶς ὁ παρακαλῶν ἔτι τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ. 43 Τουτέστι· μὴ ἐπὶ πλέον ἀφεθῇ χρῆσθαι αὐτῶν ἡ κακία , γέ νοιτο δέ σου ἐν ἐπισκοπῇ, ὡς εἴ τις εὔξαιτο τραύματα εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν ἰατροῦ πρὸς τὸ τυχεῖν τελείας ἰάσεως. τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ πᾶσα · μακάριον γὰρ μάλιστα μὲν τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ πᾶσαν ἡμῶν ἐπισκοπεῖσθαι παρὰ θεοῦ τὴν κακίαν. 44 Ἐπιφυλλίσαι δὲ τὸ μετὰ τρυγητὸν τὰ βραχέα τῶν κατα λειφθέντων ἐπιτρυγᾶν, ὅπερ ποιοῦσιν οἱ πένητες. ὥσπερ οὖν ὅτε μὲν ἐπεσκόπεις ἐπιμελῶς, ἐκάθαιρες τὰ κλήματά μου, πάντα τὰ χεί ρονα μέχρι τῶν σμικροτάτων περιαιρῶν «τῆς σταφυλῆς τῆς χολῆς καὶ τοῦ βότρυος τῆς πικρίας», οὕτω τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐπιφύλ λισον . τοῦτο γάρ μοι λυσιτελές, εἴγε μετ' αὐτοὺς τελείως σωθέντας κἀγὼ κατὰ τὴν σήν, ὦ κύριε, κρίσιν τεύξομαι σωτηρίας· οὓς ὁρῶσα λελύπημαί τε σφόδρα καὶ κατέγνων ἐμαυτῆς, τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τῆς παρὰ σοῦ δεομένη. 45 Ὅμοιον παρὰ ∆αβὶδ τὸ «πάντα τὰ κέρατα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν συνθλάσει». λέγει δὲ νῦν τοὺς ἄρχοντας, ἐν οἷς ἡ τοῦ ἔθνους ἰσχὺς

Horns of power, pride of the ruling mind, and kingdoms as horns§9

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9Just as in the horned beasts, and because the body is laid bare, as the subjects are stripped by their rulers; and Daniel, too, represented the kingdoms by horns. Moreover, the horn signifies the arrogance of the ruling power, as in the saying: “Do not lift up your horn on high.” Having turned away his saving hand from them to the enemies, he made them vulnerable; and these, indeed, he called those who consume all things with flame. One might also say that any thought that excels is a horn, and fire is the “passions of disgrace,” to which the transgressor surrenders, having destroyed every surrounding help, according to the word: “The angel of the Lord shall encamp around those who fear him.” For indeed, in the temple, the enemies dared to commit slaughter, while God was consenting. And well is it said that he acts as an enemy; for God does not punish out of hostility, but wishing to benefit either those who suffer or those who observe. He also calls the temple a tent, according to its original sanctification, and the bow, the punitive power, as in Habakkuk: “You have bent your bow, you have made ready your arrows against the scepters, says the Lord,” clearly referring to the opposing powers and authorities. But the Son, who exists at the right hand of God and as Father, has zealously contended, overthrowing and destroying whatever they had set up as idols in God’s temple (for these are the lust of the eyes), and slaying the demons who had taken their place instead of the idols. He says that burdens are laid upon the houses, which Symmachus had granted as kingdoms. He takes up again the laments, as if one, grieving in mourning, were wandering about. Again he shows how a humble reason and a humble conception have been taken up, after the demolition of dwellings and fortifications, just as those who filled the ruling power. For virtues are indeed the dwellings, for by them we are sheltered; but fortifications are the unyielding reasonings. For this dismantling is not now “the lifting up of high things, those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God,” nor is humility, by which one “learns the ordinances of God,” for these things are worthy of joy, not of lamentation. The tent, then, is the temple,

And he speaks of a vineyard and a vineyard when referring to Israel, according to the passage in David: “I brought a vine out of Egypt,” and in Isaiah: “The vineyard of my beloved became a wasteland.” And David adds: “Why have you broken down its wall?” and continues with the following words. But Isaiah says: “You have removed its hedge,” and then proceeds with what follows. These things the present Lamentation has also made clear. For having withdrawn his protection, God delivered Israel into the hands of its enemies, no longer encamping angels around it as guardians, because they did not fear God. Moreover, he abolished the appointed times for worship according to the law, as Isaiah declares: “My soul hates your fasts, your Sabbaths, and your appointed feasts.” This he called forgetfulness, yet not as a mere human passion. He also provoked the king and the priests, who, though they were portions of God, became indignant when they saw such things done by the impious, and they stood against them. He gave over the sacred vessels for liturgical use, no longer accepting the sacrifices of the wicked as pleasing, in accordance with the word: “I do not desire burnt offerings of rams, nor the fat of lambs, nor the blood of bulls and goats.” He also gave over the continuous wall of the city—the houses of the polis, that is, the royal palace—just as Symmachus had formerly delivered it. The enemies, having taken these things and the temple as if upon a complete victory, now celebrated with cries of wailing. But the rational soul within us is a spiritual altar, by means of which the passions are slain in sacrifice. For she has utterly removed all her safety, extending the measure of punishment; and this too Zechariah has beheld. And she mourns the wall and the outwork, which are worthy of lamentation, the causes of weeping and of becoming guilty before those who see—“Who can scatter the counsel of the Lord? And who can turn back his high hand?” according to the blessed Isaiah. And whether it be a city or a soul that thus mourns, it is fitting that it become a trampling underfoot for the enemies, and that the angels who once guarded it on other grounds—those who were once with her and now are subject—should mourn for her. For if they rejoice over those who are saved, how could they not mourn over those who have fallen? As if one were beneath the earth or—

Greek · §9

καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς κερασφόροις τῶν ζώων, καὶ διότι τοῦ σώματος ἐξέχει καθὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων οἱ ἄρχοντες. καὶ ∆ανιὴλ δὲ τὰς βασιλείας ἀπείκασε κέρασιν. δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν ὑπεροψίαν τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ τὸ κέρας , ὡς ἐν τῷ «μὴ ἐπαίρετε εἰς ὕψος τὸ κέρας ὑμῶν». ἀπο στρέψας οὖν αὐτοῦ τὴν σῴζουσαν χεῖρα τοῖς πολεμίοις εὐαλώτους ἐποίησεν, οὓς δὴ καὶ φλόγα πάντα δαπανῶσαν ἐκάλεσεν. εἴποις δ' ἂν καὶ πᾶν ἐξέχον νόημα κέρας , καὶ πῦρ τὰ «πάθη τῆς ἀτιμίας», οἷς ὁ πλημμελῶν παραδίδοται, πᾶσαν τὴν κυκλοῦσαν ἀπολέσας βοήθειαν κατὰ τὸ «παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβου μένων αὐτόν». 46 Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ναῷ τὰς σφαγὰς ἐτόλμησαν οἱ πολέμιοι, συγ χωροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ. καλῶς δὲ τὸ ὡς ἐχθρός · οὐ γὰρ ἐχθραίνων κολάζει ὁ θεός, ἀλλ' ὠφελῆσαι βουλόμενος ἢ τοὺς πάσχοντας ἢ τοὺς ὁρῶντας. σκηνὴν δὲ καλεῖ τὸν ναὸν κατὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἁγίασμα, καὶ τόξον τὴν τιμωρητικὴν δύναμιν ὡς ἐν Ἀμβακούμ· «ἐντείνων ἐντε νεῖς τὸ τόξον σου ἐπὶ τὰ σκῆπτρα, λέγει κύριος», τὰς ἀντικειμένας δηλονότι ἀρχάς τε καὶ ἐξουσίας. ὁ υἱὸς δέ, δεξιὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ὑπάρχων, σφόδρα κατηγωνίσατο, καταλύσας καὶ ἅπερ ἐν ναῷ θεοῦ ἔστησαν εἴδωλα (ταῦτα γὰρ ἐπιθύμημα ὀφθαλμῶν ), ἀποκτείνας ἀντὶ τῶν εἰδώλων τοὺς ἐνοικήσαντας δαίμονας. 47 Βάρεις τὰς οἰκίας φησίν, ἅπερ βασιλείας ἐξέδωκε Σύμμαχος. ἐπαναλαμβάνει δὲ τοὺς θρήνους, ὡς ἄν τις ἐπὶ πένθει περιαλγῶν. πάλιν δὲ δείκνυσιν, ὡς ταπεινὸν λογισμὸν καὶ ταπεινὴν ἀνείληφεν ἔννοιαν, καθαιρεθέντων τῶν ὡς οἰκημάτων τε καὶ φρουρίων, κα θάπερ πληρούντων τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. ἀρεταὶ μὲν γὰρ τὰ οἰκήματα, ὑπ' αὐτῶν γὰρ σκεπόμεθα, ὀχυρώματα δὲ οἱ ἀναντίρρητοι λο γισμοί. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ χειρόνων νῦν ἡ καθαίρεσις «ὑψωμάτων, ἐπαιρο μένων κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ», οὐδὲ ταπεινότητος καθ' ἥν τις «μανθάνει τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ θεοῦ»· ταῦτα γὰρ χαρᾶς, ἀλλ' οὐ Θρήνου πέφυκεν ἄξια. 48 Σκηνὴν μὲν τὸν ναόν, ἄμπελον δὲ καὶ ἀμπελῶνα λέγει τὸν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ τὸ «ἄμπελον ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετῆρας» παρὰ ∆αβίδ, καὶ «ἀμπελὼν ἐγενήθη τῷ 9 ἠγαπημένῳ» παρὰ Ἡσαΐᾳ. καὶ ∆αβὶδ μὲν ἐπάγει· «ἵνα τί καθεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτῆς;» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ὁ δὲ Ἡσαΐας· «ἀφεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτοῦ» καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτῳ. ταῦτα καὶ ὁ παρὼν ἐδήλωσε Θρῆνος. συστείλας γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν φρουρὰν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς πολεμίοις παρέδωκεν, οὐκέτι «κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ παρεμβάλλον τος ἀγγέλου» διὰ τὸ μὴ «φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θεόν». κατήργησε δὲ καὶ τοὺς κατὰ νόμον εἰς λατρείαν καιρούς, ὡς ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ φησί· «νηστείαν καὶ ἀργείαν καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου». ὅπερ λήθην ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς πάθος ἀνθρώπινον. παρώξυνε δὲ βασιλέα καὶ ἱερέα , ἀγανακτοῦντας εἰ μερὶς ὄντες θεοῦ τοιαῦτα παρ' ἀσε βούντων ὑφίστανται. 49 Τὰ λειτουργικὰ παρέδωκε σκεύη, μηκέτι ταῖς παρ' ἀσεβῶν θυσίαις εὐαρεστούμενος κατὰ τὸ «ὁλοκαυτώματα κριῶν καὶ στέαρ ἀρνῶν καὶ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων οὐ βούλομαι». παρέδωκε δὲ καὶ τὸ συνέχον τεῖχος τὰς οἰκίας τῆς πόλεως, ἤγουν τὰ βασίλεια καθάπερ ἐξέδωκε Σύμμαχος. οἱ δὲ δυσμενεῖς παραλαβόντες καὶ τὸν νεὼν ὡς ἐπὶ τελείᾳ νίκῃ λοιπὸν ἑώρταζον ἀλαλάζοντες. ψυχῆς δὲ θυσι αστήριον τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν λογικόν, δι' οὗπερ ἱερουργεῖται τὰ πάθη νεκρούμενα. 50 Πᾶσαν γὰρ αὐτῆς ἀφεῖλεν ἀσφάλειαν, τῆς τιμωρίας ἐκτείνας τὸ μέτρον · ὃ δὴ καὶ Ζαχαρίας τεθέαται. 51 Πενθεῖ δὲ τεῖχος καὶ προτείχισμα , τὰ πένθους ἄξια, τοῦ κλαίειν καὶ τοῖς ὁρῶσιν αἴτια γινόμενα· «τὴν γὰρ βουλὴν κυρίου τίς διασκεδάσει; καὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑψηλὴν τίς ἀποστρέψει;» κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Ἡσαΐαν. τὴν δὲ τοιαῦτα πενθοῦσαν εἴτε πόλιν εἴτε ψυχὴν ὡς εἶναι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καταπάτημα , πενθεῖν εἰκὸς ἀγγέλους τοὺς πρότερον αὐτὴν ἄλλους ἐπ' ἄλλοις φυλάττοντας, μεί ζους τε καὶ ὑποβεβηκότας. εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ σωθεῖσι χαίρουσιν, ἐπὶ πεσοῦσι πῶς οὐ πενθήσουσιν; 52 Ὡς γὰρ ὑπὸ γῆς ἢ

Do not lift your horn: arrogance judged and brought low§10

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10The sea has swallowed them, and they have become nothing. The king and the rulers, the false prophets, and even their law have been destroyed—compelled into slavery by necessity, though they had freely chosen and, even before their capture, had dissolved it. The gates of the soul are the senses; when the soul sins, these senses are overwhelmed by passions and become earthly. And the powers that guard these senses within the soul are dissolved when the mind, which once ruled, is lost, and the governing reasonings are overwhelmed in the passions. At that moment, the law and order of the soul perish, and it becomes Babylon, full of confusion, possessing nothing of divine providence to aid it.

It mournfully recounts the sights seen in the place of joy, now made so: for fear, they did not even allow the elders to lament, and they prepared the first virgins to see the earth, lest, appearing beautiful, they be seized by force from the very beauty in which they once excelled, and be dragged away. One might also say that those who long ago served in virtue, by which they were so named, have become like crowds, having implanted irrational passions within themselves according to reason, yet still doing nothing, and having expelled the guiding spirit within them, along with the worthy mourning they once possessed, having made themselves temperate and corrupted their reasonings—those very reasonings which once preserved them incorruptible.

The prophet says of his own opinion that it is the temple of God and the piety of the fatherland. As for the infants, their dissolution was brought about by famine. But if one looks higher, as one relates to kin by flesh, and considers the saying, “Who is weak, and I am not weak?”—then taking upon oneself their weak feelings, there arises a marring of true knowledge and a wandering instability of reason toward earthly things, and a deprivation of the opinion that lifts the head, according to the words, “But you,”

Lord, You are my defender, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. He fully revealed wickedness, showing that there is no virtue in rebellion, nor any similarity in the one who transgresses. For what likeness is there between sin and being far from God, then drawing near and yet becoming estranged? For He says, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin.” Therefore, “I will be sanctified among those who come near Me.” Because “the one who does not know the will of the Lord and does not do it will be beaten with few stripes, but the one who knows and does not do it will be beaten with many.” Thus, this suffering, which the prophets could not heal, requires only God. For this reason He took on flesh, as the prophets confessed their weakness, saying, “Lord, who has believed our report?” He also formerly declared concerning Jerusalem, “Behold, is there sorrow like My sorrow?” Therefore, “He who strikes will heal, for He Himself causes pain and then brings restoration.” For the one who takes hold is taken, whether on the sparse or on the nothing; no human can heal the wound that God inflicts. Prophecy that is vain is that which has no outcome and which fashions idols that are vain. And from themselves, some prophesied indeed, saying, “Because of the dragon of crushed barley and the fragment of bread,” according to what is written; those who do not know how to refute sin nor to rescue from the demonic captivity, through their Christology, are distorting souls. But as for the true word and the discourse which they receive from God, it is by nature true and joins to God; so too the false and elongated word of the demons, which opposes God’s inclination from there, is being driven out.

What then are the genuine outpourings, as has been shown, and the teachings? It is therefore evident that the things which expel error and lead to God are such. For 'our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour'; and like a serpent he sends forth his poisonings against us. Yet let it not be said that he has swallowed us whole, or that he has seized upon us in the day which the burning sun accomplishes; for it has been said: 'The sun by day shall not scorch you.' For he inflames us with pleasures and wrath, and he presents error to us as light and knowledge. Therefore, as we sing, we shall say: 'If the Lord had not been in us, then surely the living would have devoured us'; and 'the lamp of the wicked shall be extinguished.' Nothing, he says, did the enemies produce of themselves; for it seemed good to God, and it came to pass. Therefore he spoke, and also Nebuzaradan: 'The Lord your God has spoken these evils against this place, and the Lord has brought it, because you have sinned against him.' Everyone therefore who disbelieves the judgment of these words shall hear it. Indeed, all the prophets foretold these things; and from ancient days Moses, in Deuteronomy, proclaimed them beforehand. There are times when the scripture causes the words to suffer, and gives sensation to the lifeless things, bringing forth leaping hills and skipping mountains, and testifying of hills and stones; which, in these things, is impossible, as the wall beneath...

Greek · §10

θαλάττης καταποθεῖσαι γεγόνασιν ἀφα νεῖς. ἀπώλοντο δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ οἱ ψευδο προφῆται καὶ ὁ νόμος αὐτῆς ἀνάγκῃ δουλείας, ὃν δὴ προαιρέσει καὶ πρὶν ἁλῶναι κατέλυσαν. πύλαι δὲ ψυχῆς αἱ αἰσθήσεις, αἵτινες ἁμαρτανούσης κατακλύζονταί τε πάθεσι καὶ γίνονται γήϊναι . καὶ αἱ ταύτας δὲ τηροῦσαι τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεις ἐκλύονται ἀπολωλότος νοῦ τε βασιλεύοντος καὶ λογισμῶν ἀρχικῶν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσιν, ὅτε τῆς ψυχῆς νόμος τε καὶ τάξις ἀπόλλυται, καὶ γίνεται Βαβυλὼν πλήρης οὖσα Συγχύσεως, μηδὲν ἔχουσα προνοητικὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ βοηθούμενον. 53 Λυπηρὰ διηγεῖται θεάματα ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ τῆς εὐφροσύνης γε γενημένα· φόβῳ γὰρ οὐδὲ θρηνεῖν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις ἐπέτρεπον, καὶ τὰς πρώτας παρθένους εἰς γῆν ὁρᾶν παρεσκεύασαν, μήποτε φανεῖσαι πρὸς βίαν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κάλλους, ἐν ᾧπερ ἐπρώτευον, ἐπισπάσωνται. εἴποις δ' ἂν καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀρετῇ πάλαι πρεσβεύον τας , δι' ἣν οὕτως ἐλέγοντο, χοϊκοὺς γεγονότας καὶ πάθεσιν ἀλόγοις ἐνιδρυθέντας κατὰ λόγον ἔτι μηδὲν ἐνεργεῖν καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡγε μονικὸν ἀπογεώσαντας πνεῦμα καὶ πένθους ἀξίαν, ἣν εἶχον πάλαι, σωφροσύνην ποιήσαντας καὶ λογισμοὺς διαφθείραντας, οὓς πρὶν ἀφθόρους διέσῳζον. 54 ∆όξαν ἰδίαν φησὶν ὁ προφήτης θεοῦ τε ναὸν καὶ πατρίδος εὐσέβειαν. τῶν δὲ νηπίων τὴν ἔκλυσιν ὁ λιμὸς ἀπηργάζετο. εἴ ποις δ' ἂν ὑψηλότερον, ὡς οἰκειοῦται τῶν συγγενῶν κατὰ σάρκα τὰ πάθη κατὰ τὸ «τίς ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ;» τὰ κατὰ ψυχὴν ἐκείνων ἀναδεχόμενος δυσχερῆ, γνώσεως ἀληθοῦς μαρασμὸν καὶ φορὰν ἄστατον τοῦ λογισμοῦ πρὸς τὰ γήϊνα καὶ στέρησιν δόξης τῆς ὑψούσης τὴν κεφαλὴν κατὰ τὸ «σὺ δέ, κύριε, ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ, δόξα μου καὶ ὑψῶν τὴν κεφαλήν μου». 55 Τὴν παντελῆ κακίαν ἐδήλωσεν, ὡς μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ἀρετῆς μαρ τυρίαν μηδὲ τὸν πλημμελήσαντα παραπλήσια. τί γὰρ ὅμοιον ἁμάρ τημα τοῦ μακρὰν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ τὸ πλησιάζειν ἀφηνιάσαντος; «εἰ» γὰρ «μὴ ἦλθον» φησὶ «καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον». διὸ καὶ «ἐν τοῖς ἐγγίζουσί μοι ἁγιασθήσομαι»· ὅτι «ὁ μὴ εἰδὼς τὸ θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου καὶ μὴ ποιῶν αὐτό, δαρήσεται ὀλίγας· ὁ δὲ εἰδὼς καὶ μὴ ποιῶν αὐτό, δαρήσεται πολλάς». τὸ οὖν τοσοῦτον πάθος , ὃ μὴ προφῆται θεραπεῦσαι δεδύνηνται, μόνου δεῖται θεοῦ. διὸ καὶ σάρκα πεφόρηκε, τῶν προφητῶν ὁμολογούντων ἀσθένειαν ἐν τῷ «κύριε, τίς 10 ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν;» ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ πρότερον Ἱερου σαλήμ· «ἴδετε εἰ ἔστι πάθος κατὰ τὸ πάθος μου». ὁ τοίνυν «παίσας ἰάσεται· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀλγεῖν ποιεῖ καὶ πάλιν ἀποκαθίστησιν». τὸ γὰρ τίς λαμβάνεται καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σπανίου καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μηδενός· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἰάσασθαι δύναται τὴν ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἐπαγομένην πληγήν. 56 Προφητεία μάταιος ἡ μηδεμίαν ἔχουσα ἔκβασιν καὶ ἣν εἴδωλα παρασκευάζει τὰ μάταια . καὶ ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν δέ τινες προεφήτευον δῆθεν «ἕνεκεν δρακὸς κριθῆς καὶ κλάσματος ἄρτου» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμ μένον· οἵτινες οὐκ ἴσασιν ἁμαρτίας ἐλέγχειν καὶ τῆς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἀνασῴζειν αἰχμαλωσίας , διὰ τῆς χρηστολογίας τὰς ψυχὰς διαστρέ φοντες. ὡς δὲ τῶν ἀληθῶν τὸ λῆμμα καὶ ὁ λόγος, ὃν ἐκ θεοῦ λαμβάνουσιν, πέφυκεν ἀληθὲς καὶ συνάπτει θεῷ, οὕτω τὸ τῶν δαι μόνων ψευδές τε καὶ μακρῦνον θεοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖθεν ῥοπῆς ἐξωθού μενον. ποῖα δὲ ἐξώσματα τὰ μὴ μάταια , καθάπερ ἐδείχθη, καὶ λήμματα ; δῆλον οὖν ὡς τὰ πλάνης ἐξωθοῦντα καὶ προσάγοντα τῷ θεῷ. 57 «Ὁ» γὰρ ἐχθρὸς «ἡμῶν διάβολος περιέρχεται ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ» καὶ ὡς ὄφις ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἀφιεὶς τὰ συρίγματα . πλὴν μὴ γένοιτο λέγειν αὐτὸν ὡς κατέπιον , μήτε καταλαβεῖν ἐν ἡμῖν ἡμέραν ἣν ὁ συγκαίων ἥλιος ἀπεργάζεται· εἴρηται γάρ· «ἡμέ ρας ὁ ἥλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε». ἡδοναῖς γὰρ καὶ θυμῷ συγκαίει καὶ τὴν πλάνην ἡμῖν ὡς φῶς καὶ γνῶσιν παρέχεται. ψάλλοντες οὖν ἐροῦμεν· «εἰ μὴ ὅτι κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, ἄρα ζῶντας ἂν κατέπιον ἡμᾶς», καὶ τὸ «λαμπτὴρ δὲ ἀσεβῶν σβεσθήσεται». 58 Οὐδέν, φησίν, ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ἐποίησαν οἱ πολέμιοι· θεῷ γὰρ ἐδόκει καὶ γέγονεν. διόπερ ἔλεγε καὶ Ναβουζαρδάν· «κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐλάλησε τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, καὶ ἐπήγαγε κύριος, ὅτι ἡμάρτετε αὐτῷ». πᾶς οὖν ἀπιστῶν τῇ κρίσει τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων ἀκούσεται. πάντες μὲν οὖν οἱ προφῆται ταῦτα προὔλεγον, ἐξ ἡμερῶν δὲ ἀρχαίων ὁ Μωσῆς ἐν τῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ ταῦτα προε μήνυσεν. 59 Ἔστιν ὅτε περιπαθεῖς ἡ γραφὴ τοὺς λόγους ποιεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἀναι σθήτοις δίδωσιν αἴσθησιν, ἁλλομένους τε βουνοὺς εἰσάγουσα καὶ ὄρη σκιρτῶντα, καὶ βουνοὺς καὶ λίθους μαρτύρεται· ὅπερ ἐν τούτοις ἀδύνατον, τοῦ τείχους ὑπὸ

Exalted horn versus the humble economy of Christ§11

11The enemies have already been stripped bare. Therefore, here a wall is formed by the king and the rulers and all who, in power, surround this place with fortifications—those he deems worthy to weep unceasingly in repentanceo see them, constantly present a fallen state. These things, he says, belong to them; and if he does not again signify the sorrow of the formerly guarding power, he does so hyperbolically. “In distress,” he says, “they remembered the Lord from their whole heart.” Therefore, do this, he says: weep by night and by day, and “upon your beds, lament.” Do not regard the release from these things as sobriety; for repentance is unto salvation. Sobriety, however, belongs not to good things, but to ceasing from worse things. And let your mind be continually joined to Christ, that he may guard you as the pupil of the eye and become a wall for you. The night is watchful, as the soul is gathered within it in the stillness of the senses. Then he commands to meditate upon the commandments of God and to say with David: “By night, with my heart, I meditated; and my spirit was stirred.” And since the night is divided into four watches, say with David: “My eyes anticipated the watches,” and with Habakkuk: “I will stand upon my watch, and set myself upon the tower, and will look forth to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” For then you shall say: “That he will speak peace unto his people.” Therefore, meditate in silence during the night of this present age; for you do not have “a wrestling against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers.” “For you know not when the lord of the house comes, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.”

Do not suppose that the thief will come upon you unawares and find you sleeping; for if you knew at what hour the robber would come, you would have stayed awake and would not have allowed your house to be broken into. Moreover, lift up your hands to him through the work of good deeds. The struggle is not about trivial matters, but arises from the lack of understanding of the divine word, causing your little ones to falter and to stand at the beginning of all powers—the eleven commandments of God—being unable to advance without God’s cooperation and without the sustaining bread that strengthens the heart. When the prophet had exhorted, Jerusalem was persuaded and said to God: “Do not turn your face away from me,” “Look upon me and have mercy on me,” “Do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.” The wound is greater than human nature. I know that I have transgressed the law and am subject to the ensuing penalties, among which is the statement: “You shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters.” I once thought these words were merely threats, but Lord, I have come to know that “your law is truth.” Yet, as a priest and prophet, I did not learn of the slaughter taking place in the midst of the sanctuary. Upon the earth lay all those who, due to age, were unable to endure the labors—a pitiable sight, as if the slaughter of youths and virgins were not enough, and even these massacres should be led forth before entering a more bitter life. The exports of the land are the necessities of life, among which they had lain down without keeping watch or praying, having shut the eyes of the soul against sin and folly. And who are these? If they are children,

It is not at all surprising that, even now, before these events, those who seemed to have advanced in virtue and whose entire soul was blameless and capable in warfare have become subject to enemies. Yet you, as a good one, put an end to such a life for them, and you cut short every one of their establishments that is based on evil.

The ones dwelling around me in Judah, he says, who had taken refuge in me, hoping for salvation from this place—none of them remains, due to the anger you have brought upon them. For the very things by which they sinned, many and powerful enemies have now arisen against them.

Terrible things have happened to the prophet even before the city was captured and while it lay in ruins. Therefore, beginning with a different elemental instruction, he hides himself, seeing poverty and desolation in the city through the Lord’s discipline. And yet he himself has not become less in lack of good things, while at the same time having come into circumstances where he examined them, so as to say: “I spent the whole day being mocked,” and at the same time sharing in their terrible misfortunes and the sorrow that arises from compassion.

He also says, according to David: “The shadow of death has fallen upon me.” For when it seems he is giving them a brief respite from their labors, he again turns back and relentlessly pursues them, inflicting continuous punishment.

The phrase “all the day” indicates each day, as David says: “All the day fighting has oppressed me.” It would also suggest that he has turned his hand against them, and that long ago he provided me with good things, but now he brings disciplines upon me, as if he had changed his hand.

The treachery that has befallen us from sin is signified.

Greek · §11

πολεμίων ἤδη καθῃρημένου. τεῖχος οὖν ἐνταῦθα βασιλεύς τε καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ ὅσοι δυνάμει ταύτην περι τειχίζοντες, οὓς ἀξιοῖ χέειν μετανοίας ἀδιάλειπτα δάκρυα , ἃ τοῖς ὁρῶσι διὰ παντὸς προξενεῖ πεπτωκός. ταῦτα, φησίν, ὑπάρχει αὐτοῖς, καὶ εἰ μὴ πάλιν τὴν λύπην σημαίνει τῆς πάλαι φρουρούσης δυνά μεως, ὑπερβολικῶς τοῦτο δηλῶν. «ἐν θλίψει δέ», λέγει, «τοῦ κυρίου ἐμνήσθησαν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας». τοῦτο τοίνυν ποιήσατε, φησί, νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας δακρύοντες καὶ «ἐπὶ ταῖς κοίταις ὑμῶν κατα νύγητε»· μηδὲ νῆψιν ἡγεῖσθε τὴν ἀπὸ τούτων ἀπαλλαγήν· μετάνοια γὰρ εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐστίν. νήφει δέ τις οὐκ ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ χειρόνων παυόμενος. τῷ δὲ νῷ συνάπτου διὰ παντὸς πρὸς Χριστόν, ὅπως σε φυλάξειεν ὡς κόρην ὀφθαλμοῦ καί σοι τεῖχος γένηται. 60 Προσεκτικὸν ἡ νύξ, συστρεφομένης ἐν αὐτῇ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν τῇ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἠρεμίᾳ. τότε κελεύει μελετᾶν ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λέγειν μετὰ τοῦ ∆αβίδ· «νυκτὸς μετὰ τῆς καρδίας μου ἠδολέσχουν, καὶ ἔσκαλλε τὸ πνεῦμά μου». τῆς δὲ νυκτὸς εἰς τέσσαρας φυλακὰς διῃρημένης, λέγε μετὰ τοῦ ∆αβίδ· «προκατελάβοντο φυ λακὰς οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου», καὶ μετὰ τοῦ Ἀμβακούμ· «ἐπὶ τῆς φυλακῆς μου στήσομαι, καὶ ἀποσκοπεύσω, τί λαλήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ κύριος ὁ θεός». τότε γὰρ ἐρεῖς· «ὅτι λαλήσει εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ». ἀδο λέσχησον οὖν ἐν νυκτὶ τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος· οὐ γάρ ἐστί σοι «ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας»· «οὐκ οἶδας γάρ, πότε ὁ κύριος τῆς οἰκίας ἔρχεται, ὀψὲ ἢ μεσονυκτίου ἢ ἀλεκτοροφωνίας ἢ πρωΐ· μὴ ἐλθὼν ἐξαίφνης εὑρήσει ὑμᾶς καθεύ δοντας». καὶ πάλιν· «εἰ γὰρ ᾔδεις ποίᾳ φυλακῇ ὁ κλέπτης ἔρχεται, ἐγρηγόρησας ἂν καὶ οὐκ ἂν εἴασας διορυγῆναι τὴν οἰκίαν σου». 61 Ἆρον πρὸς αὐτὸν χεῖράς σου διὰ τῆς τῶν καλῶν ἐργασίας. οὐ περὶ τῶν τυχόντων ὁ ἀγών, δι' ἀπορίαν τοῦ θείου λόγου τῶν σῶν ἐκλειπόντων νηπίων , καὶ ἱσταμένων ἐπ' ἀρχῆς πασῶν ἐξό δων , τῶν 11 ἐντολῶν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ προβῆναι μὴ δυναμένων ἄνευ θεοῦ συνεργείας καὶ τοῦ στηρίζοντος ἄρτου καρδίαν. 62 Τοῦ προφήτου παραινέσαντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπείσθη καὶ λέγει πρὸς τὸν θεόν· «μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ», «ἐπί βλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με», «μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με». μείζων ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἡ πληγή. οἶδα παραβᾶσα τὸν νόμον καὶ τοῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἐπιτιμίοις ὑποκειμένη, ἐν οἷς ἐστι καὶ τὸ «φαγῇ τὰ ἔκγονα τῆς κοιλίας σου, κρέα υἱῶν σου καὶ θυγατέρων σου». ἐνόμιζον ἕως ἀπειλῆς εἶναι τὰ ῥήματα· ἔγνων, κύριε, ὅτι «ὁ νόμος σου ἀλήθεια». ἱερέως δὲ καὶ προφήτου σφαγὴν οὐκ ἐπυθόμην ἐν μέσῳ νεῷ. 63 Ἐπὶ γῆς ἦσαν ἐρριμμένοι πάντες οἱ δι' ἡλικίαν πρὸς τοὺς πόνους ἀδύνατοι, θέαμα λίαν ἐλεεινόν, ὡς καὶ νέων σφαγὴ καὶ παρθένων † εἴθε καὶ τούτων σφαγαὶ πρὶν εἰς ζωὴν πικροτέραν ἀπάγεσθαι. ἔξοδοι δὲ γῆς τὰ βιωτικὰ πράγματα, ἐν οἷς ἐκοιμήθησαν μὴ «γρηγορήσαντες μηδὲ προσευξάμενοι», κλείσαντες δὲ πρὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ ἀφροσύνην τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμούς. καὶ τίνες οὗτοι; εἰ μὲν παιδάρια , οὐ θαυμαστὸν ἄγαν. νυνὶ δὲ πρὸ τούτων οἱ δοκοῦντες προβεβηκέναι κατ' ἀρετὴν καὶ πᾶς δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀδιάφθορος καὶ δυνατὸς ἐν πολέμῳ γέγονεν ἐχθροῖς ὑποχείριος. σὺ δὲ ὡς ἀγαθὸς τὴν τοιαύτην αὐτῶν καταπαύεις ζωήν, καὶ κατατέμνεις πᾶσαν αὐτῶν σύστασιν τὴν ἐπὶ κακῷ. 64 Οἱ κύκλῳ μου, φησί, τὴν Ἰουδαίαν οἰκοῦντες τὴν εἰς ἐμὲ ἑορ τὴν ἐνόμιζον καταφυγήν, σωτηρίαν ἐντεῦθεν ἐλπίζοντες· ὧν οὐδεὶς ὑπολέλειπται διὰ τὴν σὴν αὐτοῖς ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ὀργήν . δι' ὧν γὰρ ἥμαρτον, πολλοὶ καὶ δυνατοὶ γεγόνασιν οἱ ἐχθροί . 65 ∆εινὰ συνέβη τῷ προφήτῃ καὶ πρὶν ἁλῶναι τὴν πόλιν καὶ ταύτης ἑαλωκυίας. διὸ στοιχειώσεως ἑτέρας κατάρχων, ἑαυτὸν ἀπο δύρεται, πτωχείαν ὁρῶν καὶ ἐρημίαν τῆς πόλεως διὰ παιδείαν κυρίου. καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον γέγονεν ἐν ἐνδείᾳ ἀγαθῶν, ἅμα μὲν ἐν περιστάσει γεγονὼς ἡνίκα τούτους ἐξήλεγχεν, ὥστε λέγειν· «διετέλεσα μυκτηριζόμενος πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν», ἅμα δὲ καὶ ταῖς τῶν δεινῶν αὐτῶν κοινωνῶν συμφοραῖς καὶ τῇ ἐκ συμπαθείας ὀδύνῃ. φησὶ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν ∆αβίδ· «σκιὰ θανάτου ἐπεσκίασέ με». ὅταν γὰρ δοκῇ πρὸς βραχὺ διδόναι τοῖς πόνοις ἀνακωχήν, αὖθις παλιν δρομεῖ διηνεκῆ τιμωρίαν ποιούμενος. 66 Τὸ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν δηλοῖ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ὡς παρὰ τῷ ∆αβίδ· «ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν πολεμῶν ἔθλιψέ με». σημαίνοι δ' ἂν τὸ ἔστρεψε χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅτι πάλαι μοι τὰ ἀγαθὰ χορηγῶν, νῦν τὰς παιδείας ἐπάγει, καθάπερ ἀλλάξας τὴν χεῖρα. 67 Τὴν σαθρότητα τὴν συμβᾶσαν ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας σημαίνει.

The horn cast down; rulers and the people under discipline§12

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12For sorrow, when it persists, induces a weakness akin to old age. For he did not allow me to escape the terrors that surround me on every side, besieging me. One might perhaps also say that the wall cast upon the city is a long, laborious burden. Yet he left me the same voice that David once uttered, saying: “He has made me sit in darkness as those who are dead of the age.” This is due both to the siege works raised against me from all sides and simultaneously to the afflictions that come from God; for the trials of the soul are darkness. Specifically, “Jeremiah was cast by Pashhur into the cistern,” a place dark and lightless, just as the cave in which David hid from Saul was dark. These two laments could also be understood as referring to Christ, of whom Jeremiah was a type, having suffered so much at the hands of the Jews and ultimately being handed over to the grave. He has clothed me in bitter things, placing upon my neck a people that is cruel and provoking, a burden heavier than what is due to me. Though I often prayed for relief, my cries were not heard; for even the prayers of the saints are sometimes hindered by circumstances. One might also liken this to the yoke and the iron chains, which God substituted for the wooden ones he had commanded, and they were placed upon me; for it is reported, and even written, that he weighed down the bronze of my neck. Indeed, he blocked my prayer and said to me: “Do not pray concerning them; for I will not hear you.” Moreover, having often been stirred to action, I was not permitted to withdraw from the burden. For he declared: “I will not name the name of the Lord,” and he was driven on as though by fire. He also obstructs the ways of the sinners, not allowing them to sin twelve times.

But such is not the prophet, who indeed says: "I did not sit in the council of those who revel." He declares that every arrow of his has been spent against me, piercing my desire and refusing to let me act as I wish. For in the Scripture, the kidneys represent the faculty of desire, and the arrows are the missiles. Moreover, they have driven me onward as a liar, having made me sing a song. And having come upon me, he said: "I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness," and what follows: the one indeed prayed for them, while the others plotted against them; yet nevertheless, the ministry was not to be declined. Thus, he prevailed and suffered all things at their hands, and he sympathized with them in their suffering, while he himself grew arrogant beneath them, acting impiously. He says, either by vote or by number, that for each tooth of the one gnashing against the cheek, there is either a hard stone. And concerning David, he says: "I ate my bread with ashes," meaning that he did not take bread with pleasure, but under affliction. Therefore, the soul could not be in peace, being troubled within and still seeing disturbances from without, and within, battles. Hence, hoping for nothing good, I have dismissed the voices of Job: "Mercy has departed from me, and my hope is from the Lord." For it was not possible to overcome the dreadful things that surround. For being good toward all, he demands our endurance. For the soul that seeks him, it is good to seek, which waits without being disturbed, until mercy answers it, and does not waver, until the saving appearance of the Lord is revealed, so that one may hope in another. Perhaps, too, he will be silent, saying that he does not meddle excessively in the providence of judgments.

It is therefore necessary, even if we are ignorant, not to neglect the Lord. For "His yoke is easy and His burden is light." Even if no one agrees with Him on this matter, we must not follow the crowd, but even if we are left alone in this stance, we must persevere and be firmly rooted in what has been decided. For the Lord says, as David declares, "He makes the solitary dwell in a house," and "I am alone until I pass over," clearly referring to those who attain the trials of philanthropy. For He humbles Himself by saying, "I am dust and ashes," if indeed He is truly a man, and the hope that does not shame is filled within Him, just as it is written, "My soul clings to the dust." This also applies to those in captivity who speak the words of the seventy-third Psalm: "Why, O God, have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?" Yet in agreement with this, it is said, "The Lord will not cast off forever, nor will He be angry to the end." And He will say to the one who has turned to worthiness: "Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears." Through these things we learn that the Lord did not say, nor is He the cause of the humiliation of the earth's prisoners under sin, nor does He incline human judgments against God; for the Lord loves justice and uprightness, and He does not even condemn the worthy man. For He says, it is impossible for opposites to proceed from the mouth of the Lord—both good and evil. For neither does a good tree produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree...

Greek · §12

68 Συμφορὰ γὰρ ἐπίμονος γεροντικὴν ἀσθένειαν ἐμποιεῖ. 69 Οὐ γὰρ ἀφῆκέ με διαφυγεῖν τὰ δεινὰ πανταχόθεν πολιορκού μενον. λέγοι δ' ἂν ἴσως καὶ τὸ περιβληθὲν τῇ πόλει τεῖχος πολέ μιον. τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ τῷ ∆αβὶδ ἀφῆκε φωνὴν εἰρηκότι· «ἐκάθισάν με ἐν σκοτεινοῖς ὡς νεκροὺς αἰῶνος». τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν πολε μίων εἱρκτάς, ἅμα δὲ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἐκ θεοῦ συμφοράς· ψυχῆς γὰρ σκότος οἱ πειρασμοί. ἰδικῶς δὲ «Ἱερεμίαν καὶ εἰς τὸν καταρράκτην ἐνέβαλεν ὁ Πασχώρ», σκοτεινὸν ὄντα καὶ ἀφεγγῆ, ὁποῖον ἦν καὶ τῷ ∆αβὶδ τὸ σπήλαιον ἐν ᾧ παρὰ Σαοὺλ ἀπεκρύπτετο. δύναιντο δὲ καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν οἱ δύο Θρῆνοι λαμβάνεσθαι, οὗ τύπος ἦν Ἱερεμίας τοσαῦτα παρὰ Ἰουδαίων πεπονθότος καὶ τέλος τάφῳ παραδοθέντος. 70 Ἀφύκτοις με κακοῖς περιβέβληκεν, ἐπιθεὶς τῷ τραχήλῳ μου λαὸν ἀπηνῆ καὶ παραπικραίνοντα καὶ μεῖζον ἢ κατ' ἐμὲ φορτίον. οὐκ εἰσηκούσθην δὲ κουφισθῆναι πολλάκις εὐξάμενος · εἰσακου σθῆναι γὰρ τοὺς ἁγίους ἔσθ' ὅτε κωλύει τὰ πράγματα. λέγοι δ' ἂν ζυγὸν καὶ τοὺς κλοιοὺς τοὺς σιδηροῦς, οὓς ἀντὶ ξυλίνων θεοῦ κε λεύσει περιεβάλετο, φέρεται γὰρ καὶ γραφή· ἐβάρυνε γὰρ τὸν χαλκὸν τοῦ τραχήλου μου. ἀπέφραξε γὰρ τὴν προσευχήν μου καὶ λέξας αὐτῷ· «μὴ προσεύχου· περὶ αὐτῶν· οὐ γὰρ εἰσα κούσομαί σου». 71 Ὁρμήσας γὰρ πολλάκις οὐ συνεχωρήθη παραιτήσασθαι τὴν δια κονίαν. ἔφασκε γάρ· «οὐ μὴ ὀνομάσω τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου», καὶ ὥσπερ ὑπὸ πυρὸς συνηλαύνετο. ἐμφράττει δὲ καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν ἁμαρ τωλῶν οὐ συγχωρῶν 12 ἁμαρτεῖν. ἀλλ' οὐ τοιοῦτος ὁ προφήτης, ὅς γέ φησιν· «οὐκ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου παιζόντων». 72 Πᾶν αὐτοῦ, φησί, βέλος ἐκένωσε κατ' ἐμοῦ, τὴν ἐμὴν τιτρώσκων ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ μὴ συγχωρῶν μοι πράττειν ὡς βούλομαι. 73 Νεφροὶ δὲ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν, ἰοὶ δὲ τὰ βέλη. καί με λοιπὸν ὡς ψεύστην διέσυρον ᾠδήν με ποιήσαντες. καὶ φθάσας δὲ ἔλεγε· «κατὰ μόνας ἐκαθήμην, ὅτι πικρίας ἐνεπλήσθην» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐδεῖτο ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, οἱ δὲ ἐπεβούλευον, καὶ ὅμως τὴν διακονίαν οὐκ ἦν παραιτήσασθαι. ἐπικραίνετο τοίνυν καὶ πά σχων ὑπ' αὐτῶν <καὶ> πάσχουσι συναλγῶν· καὶ ἀσεβοῦσιν ὑπερα χθόμενος. 74 Ψήφῳ φησὶν ἢ ἀριθμῷ, καθ' ἕκαστον ὀδόντα παιομένου κατὰ τῆς σιαγόνος, ἢ λίθῳ σκληρῷ. καὶ κατὰ τὸν ∆αβὶδ δέ φησι· «μετὰ σποδοῦ ἄρτον μου ἤσθιον», τὸ μηδὲ ἄρτον σὺν ἡδονῇ λαμβάνειν δη λῶν ὑπὸ θλίψεως. οὐκ ἦν οὖν εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν εἰρήνῃ , αὐτὴν ταραττομένην καὶ προσέτι βλέπουσαν ἔξωθεν θορύβους, ἔσωθεν μάχας. διὸ μηδὲν ἐλπίσας χρηστόν, τὰς Ἰὼβ ἀφῆκα φωνάς· «ἀπείπατό με ἔλεος, καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου παρὰ κυρίου». οὐ γὰρ ἦν νικῆσαι τὰ περιεστῶτα δεινά. 75 Πρὸς πάντας γὰρ ὢν ἀγαθὸς τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ὑπομονὴν ἀπαι τεῖ. τῇ γὰρ ψυχῇ, ἣ ζητήσει αὐτόν, ἀγαθὸν τὸ ζητεῖν, ἥτις ὑπο μένοι μὴ ταραττομένη, μέχρι τὸ ἔλεος ἀπαντήσειεν, μηδὲ μεθισταμένη, μέχρι τὸ σωτήριον ἐπιφανείη κυρίου , εἰς τὸ ἐλπίζειν εἰς ἕτερον. ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἡσυχάσει λέγει μὴ πολυπραγμονοῦσα τῆς προνοίας τὰ κρίματα. δεῖ τοίνυν, κἂν ἀγνοῶμεν, μὴ ἀφηνιάσαι κυρίου. 76 Ὅτι «ὁ ζυγὸς αὐτοῦ χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον ἐλαφρόν». κἂν οὖν μηδεὶς αὐτῷ συναινῇ περί του, δεῖ μὴ συναπάγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ κἂν μονωθῇ πρὸς τοῦτο, τοῖς δεδογμένοις ἐγκαρτερεῖν καὶ ἐνιδρῦσθαι βεβαίως. «κύριος» γὰρ «κατοικίζει μονοτρόπους ἐν οἴκῳ» φησὶν ὁ ∆αβίδ, καὶ «κατὰ μόνας εἰμὶ ἐγώ, ἕως οὗ παρέλθω», δηλονότι τοὺς πειρασμοὺς φιλανθρωπίας τυχών. 77 Ταπεινώσει γὰρ ἑαυτὸν φάσκων· «ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός», εἴπερ ὄντως ἐστὶν ἀνήρ , καὶ τῆς μὴ καταισχυνούσης ἐλπίδος πε πλήρωται, ὁποῖον καὶ τὸ «ἐκολλήθη τῷ ἐδάφει ἡ ψυχή μου». 78 Ἁρμόζει τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ λέγοντας τὰ ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ τρίτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «ἱνατί, ὁ θεός, ἀπώσω εἰς τέλος; ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου;» σύμφωνον δὲ τὸ «οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἀπώσεται κύριος οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μηνιεῖ»· ἐρεῖ δὲ τῷ πρὸς ἀξίαν μετανοήσαντι· «διαλειπέτω ἡ φωνή σου ἀπὸ κλαυθμοῦ, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ἀπὸ δακρύων». 79 ∆ιὰ τούτων μανθάνομεν μὴ εἰρηκέναι τὸν κύριον μηδὲ αἴτιον εἶναι τοῦ ταπεινωθῆναι τοὺς δεσμίους τῆς γῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, οὐδὲ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα κρίματα ἐγκλίνειν κατέναντι τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ γὰρ δίκαιον ἀγαπᾷ καὶ εὐθύ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦ ἄξιον γενέσθαι καταδικάσαι ἄνθρωπον · οὐ γὰρ δύναται, φησί, τὰ ἐναντία ἐκ στόματος κυρίου ἐξεληλυθέναι, τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὸ κακόν · οὔτε γὰρ «δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς πονηροὺς ποιεῖ, οὔτε δένδρον πονηρὸν

Unjust suffering under divine oversight; Israel and the enemies§13

13Therefore, since we have no longer possess any other excuse but ourselves, and since we recognize that the misfortunes that befall us come from our own actions, we ought to turn back and examine the wrongs we have committed. For it is impossible to return to the Lord while remaining ignorant of oneself; yet one comes to know oneself by reflecting on one’s actions, simultaneously observing them and engaging the mind in their consideration. At that moment, with unveiled face we behold and reflect the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, and we shall confess the things we previously acknowledged, saying: “We have sinned and we have acted lawlessly in turning away from you,” and “That you are righteous in all that you have brought upon us.” To take up the heart upon the hands seems to signify that, having taken hold of our own thoughts with our hands, we ought to examine them, if indeed they are pure. And these things constitute a part of the earlier confession: just as you, O God, brought upon us the circumstances of dreadful things by a cloud of darkness, and though we were far from you, you pursued us and destroyed the dead by means of punishment in their sins. And since our sins separate us from you, as if by a wall of cloud, our prayer did not reach you; for we did not possess “the wings of a dove” to fly upward and say, “In God I shall scale a wall.” For it was not easy to cast off sin, which is substantial, dark, and devoid of the Holy Spirit. Symmachus: destruction. With one mouth we have devoured you, and we have been brought down into the depths of evil, filled with fear and disturbance, as it is said: “He who falls into the pit which he dug,” the sinner reaping the wages of what he has committed. And since, according to Solomon, “pride precedes destruction,”

This means pride—being lifted up and then shattered. That is why David sings: “Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let the hand of the wicked not shake me.” And having endured so much from those who act arrogantly, he suffers deeply, for “love does not reckon evil.” Instead of saying my eye grew weary and would not cease from lack of vigilance, Symmachus declared: My eye endured, and it did not cease from lack of rest. The Seventy indicate that although the eyes were weakened from an abundance of tears, they did not cease, yet one could not muster the strength to resume weeping; but Symmachus says that he persisted in tears and did not cease, for a prolonged prayer and the intensity of tears draw God toward mercy. For my tears strike me, he says, like a meticulous grape gatherer striking a vine; but according to Symmachus, because the tears drowned me, using the metaphor of those who suffocate in water. Yet enduring, I will endure the Lord until He turns His face away from us. To wait for God is to hope that He will deem us worthy of His oversight. It is declared that He surpasses all in every respect—namely, upon the same afflictions—for the female nature is more compassionate than the male. Or he speaks of what he has endured: he was plunged into a pit, and as long as he remained there, he died in mind; but rescued from hope, he cried out with David: “My soul has been delivered like a bird from the snare of the fowlers,” for he was not “to fall upon the earth without the Father who is in heaven,” according to the voice of the Savior. Either he speaks of himself alone, or he also makes the sufferings of the people his own. Yet it would reasonably be said of him that he acted freely: what wrong have they done him? Rather, has he not failed to benefit them? God judged by destroying the false prophet and handing over the king, and by delivering the nation to Christ into captivity. And as for me, I—

Greek · §13

καρποὺς ἀγαθούς». τὸ οὖν ἀδικεῖσθαι ἄνδρας ὑπὸ πονηρῶν παρὰ τὴν θείαν κρίσιν ἐστί, γίνεται δὲ ὅμως ἐν τοῖς περιορωμένοις ὑπὸ θεοῦ, καθὰ τοῖς Ἰσραηλί ταις ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων συνέβη, καὶ ἐν ἐπιστροφῇ θεοῦ λύεται. διὸ χρὴ ταύτην ἀναζητεῖν τοὺς ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ παραδοθέντας. 80 Μάτην ἄρα γογγύζοντες ἐπὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν τὴν αἰτίαν ἀνά γομεν· ὅπερ ὁ ζῶν ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔχει ποιεῖν· νεκρῶν γὰρ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἡ τοιαύτη προαίρεσις, εἰ μὴ ἄρα διελέγχει τὸν ζῶντα καθ' ἁμαρτίαν , καὶ θεὸν αἰτιώμενον. ὡς οὖν ἑτέραν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχοντες ἢ μόνους ἑαυτούς, τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν γενόμενα κρίναντες ἐπιστρέψωμεν . 81 Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς κύριον τὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοή σαντα· ἐπιγινώσκει δέ τις ἑαυτόν, ἐπάγων ταῖς πράξεσι τὴν διάνοιαν, ἅμα μὲν ἐπισκοπῶν αὐτάς, ἅμα δὲ καὶ νοερὰς ἐργαζόμενος. τότε γὰρ «ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα» καὶ τὰ πρὶν ἐξομολογούμενοι λέξομεν ὅτι «ἡμάρτομεν καὶ ἠνομήσαμεν ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ σοῦ» καὶ «ὅτι δίκαιος εἶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ἐπήγαγες ἡμῖν». 82 Τὸ ἀναλαβεῖν καρδίας ἐπὶ χειρῶν δοκεῖ δηλοῦν τὸ οἱονεὶ μετὰ χεῖρας λαβόντες τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐννοίας ἐξετάσωμεν, εἴπερ 13 εἰσὶ καθαραί. 83 Καὶ ταῦτα τῆς φθασάσης ἐξομολογήσεως μέρος· ὡς γὰρ σκότος ἡμῖν ἐκ νεφέλης ἐπήγαγες τὰς τῶν δεινῶν περιστάσεις, καὶ μακρὰν ὄντας ἀπὸ σοῦ κατεδίωξας , ἀπώλεσας νεκρῶν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας. καὶ ἐπείπερ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν διίστων ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ σοῦ ὥσπερ διατειχιζούσης νεφέλης , οὐκ ἔφθανεν ἡμῶν ἡ προσευχὴ πρός σε· οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν «πτέρυγας περιστερᾶς» ὑπερίπτασθαί τε καὶ λέγειν· «ἐν τῷ θεῷ ὑπερβήσομαι τεῖχος». οὐ γὰρ ἦν εὐχερὲς παρελ θεῖν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, στερεάν τε οὖσαν καὶ σκοτεινὴν καὶ πνεύματος ἄμοιρον ἁγίου. 84 Σύμμαχος· πτόησις . ὅλῳ στόματι κατέπιον ἡμᾶς, καὶ εἰς βάθος κακῶν ὑπηνέχθημεν φόβου καὶ ταραχῆς ἐμπλησθέντες· «ἐμ πίπτει γὰρ εἰς ὃν ὤρυξε βόθρον» ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς διδοὺς ὧν ἥμαρτε δίκας. καὶ ἐπεὶ «πρὸ συντριβῆς ἡγεῖται ὕβρις» κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶντα, τουτέστιν ὑπερηφανία, ἐπήρθημέν τε καὶ συνετρίβημεν . ὅθεν ὁ ∆αβὶδ μελῳδεῖ· «μὴ ἐλθέτω μοι ποὺς ὑπερηφανίας , καὶ χεὶρ ἁμαρ τωλοῦ μὴ σαλεύσαι με». 85 Καὶ τοσαῦτα παθὼν τῶν δεδρακότων ὑπεραλγεῖ, οὕτως «ἡ ἀγάπη τὸ κακὸν οὐ λογίζεται». 86 Ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου κατεπονήθη, καὶ οὐ σιγήσε ται τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἔκνηψιν Σύμμαχος εἶπεν· ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐπέμεινε, καὶ οὐκ ἐπαύσατο τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἄνεσιν . δηλοῦσι δὲ οἱ μὲν Ἑβδομήκοντα ὅτι καίπερ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐκ πλήθους δακρύων ἠσθενηκότων οὐ διέλειπον ὅμως, ἀνανῆψαι τοῦ κλαυθμοῦ μὴ δυνά μενος, ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ὅτι ἐπέμεινά τε δακρύων καὶ οὐ διέλειπον· προσευχὴ γὰρ ἐκτενὴς καὶ δακρύων ἐπίτασις τὸν θεὸν ἐφέλκει πρὸς ἔλεον. 87 Κατακόπτει γάρ με τὰ δάκρυα, φησί, καθάπερ ἄμπελον ἀκριβὴς τρυγητής· κατὰ δὲ Σύμμαχον, ὅτι κατεπόντισάν με τὰ δάκρυα, τῇ τῶν ἐν ὕδασι πνιγομένων μεταφορᾷ. ὑπομένων δὲ ὑπομενῶ τὸν κύριον , μέχρι τοῦ ἀποστρέφειν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφ' ἡμῶν. τὸ διακύψαι δὲ τὸν θεὸν τὸ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἡμᾶς ἀξιῶσαι δηλοῖ. ἐξη γεῖται δὲ τὸ παρὰ πάσας ἐπὶ πάσας ἐπενεγκών, τουτέστιν ἐπὶ ταῖς αὐ τῶν συμφοραῖς· τὸ γὰρ θῆλυ γένος τοῦ τῶν ἀρρένων ἐλεεινότερον. 88 Ἢ ἃ πέπονθε λέγει· ἐνεβλήθη γὰρ λάκκῳ καὶ ὅσον ἧκεν εἰς ἐκεί νους ἀπέθανεν, σωθεὶς δὲ παρ' ἐλπίδα ἐβόα μετὰ ∆αβίδ· «ἡ ψυχή μου ὡς στρουθίον ἐρρύσθη ἐκ τῆς παγίδος τῶν θηρευόντων»· οὐ γὰρ ἦν «πεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς» κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος φωνήν. ἢ τοίνυν δι' ἑαυτόν φησιν ἢ καὶ τὰ τοῦ λαοῦ οἰκειούμενος πάθη. ἀλλὰ τὸ δωρεὰν περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰκότως ἂν λέγοιτο· τί γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἠδίκησεν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ εὐεργέτησεν; 89 Ἐδίκασεν ὁ θεὸς ἀποκτείνας τὸν ψευδοπροφήτην καὶ τὸν βασι λέα παραδούς, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραδοὺς τὸ ἔθνος εἰς ἅλωσιν. τὸ δὲ ἐγὼ ἐπ'

Unveiled face mirroring the Lord glory§14

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14Their eyes were closed to me, because I was a burden to them and seemed harsh. For long before, he had said: "Bring their days to an end, and your word will be to me a joy and gladness of heart." All this happened after the plot against the Savior, when they were scattered everywhere; for he came upon them, saying, "Every righteous blood poured out." The completion of this act shows that they received the full measure of the worship due against them, and that they no longer enriched the people of God. The defense of my heart was a labor to them, because you will give them toil as a sensation of how long you have been defending them, so that they may seek you again. But if not, you will pursue them in your wrath. Beginning the present fourth elementary instruction, he took up again the lament concerning the eminent ones, saying that the surface was to be darkened, declaring that the justice poured out like water had been wiped away. Yet the holy ones, as elect through the fathers or through those taken with Joachim, whom he likened to good figs. And shortly after: from the departures of those from the holy land, "leading them to destruction," and into the intellectual Babylon, "that they may be taught not to blaspheme." You might say the lament also applies to those who change from godliness, if indeed they are notable and lead others into error, "having left the fountain of living water, become cracked cisterns that cannot hold." Therefore, they pour out about the error, groaning early. The fourteen who adorn themselves with wealth, or even with gold more precious, how could they thus be brought low against the humble and broken, led into slavery, and be imagined as such? Yet he said to them that they should imagine themselves, and when he went down "to the potter's house," having taken a vessel, he broke it.

Origen continues his lament over the ruined state of Jerusalem, citing Isaiah’s prophecy that the city’s ruins would be like shattered pottery—worthless fragments of a broken vessel. He then turns to the famine that struck the noble citizens, describing how even infants suffered, so extreme was the deprivation that Jerusalem, once a mother to its people, could no longer provide nourishment—not even to beasts in the field, let alone to its own children. This overwhelming suffering and the resulting forgetfulness of human nature, he says, work together to produce a spiritual desolation. In this state, people begin to heed the whispers of evil spirits, likened to dragons or the Sirens as understood by Symmachus, whose seductive voices lead them astray. These evil influences are those who have introduced the teachings of the impious, corrupting the young with false doctrine. Origen asks rhetorically: how can those who have been made effeminate by such teachings—whom even Pharaoh once sought to destroy by killing the males—still be considered daughters? They have abandoned the true teaching of God, the desert wisdom, and instead wander the earth, feeding on falsehoods like ostriches that cannot fly. Symmachus, in his translation, used the term “ostrich” to describe such useless teachers, and Origen agrees, noting that just as the Sirens of myth lured travelers to destruction with sweet sounds, so too do these false teachers ensnare the innocent with pleasing but deadly words. He rebukes even the good teachers among them, saying they have not shown equal concern for those who wander in search of truth. These trials—of siege and exile—have been endured by the people. One might say, as the prophetic word declares, that they suffered famine not for lack of bread or water, but because they were deprived of hearing the word of the Lord. Therefore, Origen prophesies concerning their newborns, who inherit this spiritual barrenness. Historically, he reflects on the events of the captivity, but intellectually he turns to the famine of the teaching word—the absence of true doctrine. For, he insists, the poverty of those who suffer is not so much in material lack as in this deeper, more grievous spiritual destitution.

For these also Paul laments, saying, "Whose is the adoption and the glory." For now they engage in empty studies, not delighting in Moses and the prophets, as in the command, "Beat your breast for the Lord." Indeed, none of them breaks to them the nourishing word, nor do they partake of the fattened calf, though they themselves have sacrificed. He calls the dispersions "exoduses," or also the deviations of the legal writings. Formerly they were fed on the scarlet dye, they prophetically heard the future outpouring of the Savior’s blood, and now they tear themselves apart from earthly thoughts. Symmachus says the one, as if in haste, suddenly gave forth; the other, they did not labor, which they did not wound. For what more concise word of God has said, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate," and only to him who is willing to give? The lawlessness of Jerusalem has been magnified above that of Sodom. Those had only the natural law; these also had the written law and the prophets, as many marvelous things God worked in them. Those indeed erred toward angels and like men; but these toward the Savior and Redeemer long ago, indeed from Egypt, now to the worship of demons, if they received the One who came to them beforehand. For he says, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Symmachus: the chaste, set apart from her above snow, before milk,

Greek · §14

ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν , ὅτι βαρὺς ἤμην αὐτοῖς καὶ φαινόμενος. 90 Ἔλεγε καὶ πρόσθεν· «συντέλεσον αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσται σου ὁ λόγος ἐμοὶ εἰς εὐφροσύνην καὶ χαρὰν καρδίας μου». ταῦτα γέγονε μετὰ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐπιβουλήν, ὅτε πανταχοῦ διεσπάρησαν· ἦλθε γὰρ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς «πᾶν αἷμα δίκαιον ἐκχυθέν». τὸ τοίνυν συντελέσαι δηλοῖ τὸ τέλος λαβεῖν τὴν κατ' αὐτοὺς λατρείαν, καὶ τὸ μηκέτι χρη ματίζειν ἔθνος θεοῦ. 91 Τὸ ὑπερασπισμὸν καρδίας μόχθον αὐτοῖς , ὅτι δώσεις αὐ τοῖς μόχθον εἰς αἴσθησιν τοῦ πόσος ὑπῆρχες ὑπερασπίζων αὐτῶν, ἵνα σὲ καὶ πάλιν ζητήσωσιν. εἰ δὲ μή, καταδιώξεις αὐτοὺς ἐν ὀργῇ σου . 92 Τῆς νῦν παρούσης τετάρτης στοιχειώσεως ἀρχόμενος τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν ἐξαιρέτως ἐπανέλαβε Θρῆνον, ἠμαυρῶσθαι λέγων τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐκκεχυμένου τε δίκην ὕδατος ἠφανίσθαι. 93 Ἅγιοι δὲ ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ διὰ τοὺς πατέρας ἢ διὰ τοὺς σὺν Ἰωακεὶμ ληφθέντας ἁγίους, οὓς ἀπείκασε σύκοις χρηστοῖς. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἐξόδων δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας γῆς «ἀπαγουσῶν εἰς ἀπώλειαν» καὶ εἰς τὸν νοητὸν Βαβυλώνιον, «ἵνα παιδευθῶσι μὴ βλασφημεῖν». εἴποις δ' ἂν τὸν Θρῆνον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκ θεοσεβείας μεταβαλλόντων, εἴπερ εἶεν ἐπίσημοι καὶ πλάνης ἡγοῖντο τοῖς ἄλλοις, «καταλιπόντες μὲν τὴν πηγὴν τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος, γεγονότες δὲ λάκκοι συντετριμ μένοι οἳ οὐ δύνανται στέγειν». ὅθεν εἰκότως ἐκχέονται περὶ τὴν πλάνην ἀωρὶ στένοντες. 94 Οἱ 14 κομῶντες ἐπὶ πλούτῳ, φησίν, ἢ καὶ χρυσίου τιμιώτεροι πῶς οὕτω τοῖς εὐτελέσι καὶ συντριβομένοις ἀπαχθέντες εἰς δουλείαν εἰκάσθησαν; ἔφη δὲ τούτοις αὐτοὺς ἀπεικάζεσθαι καὶ ἡνίκα κατελ θὼν «εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κεραμέως» λαβὼν ἀγγεῖον συνέτριψεν. ἀπει κάζει δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ Ἡσαΐας πόλει πεσούσῃ, «καὶ τὰ πτώματα» λέγων «αὐτῆς ἔσται ὡς συντρίμματα ἀγγείου ὀστρακίνου». 95 Περὶ λιμοῦ τῶν ἐνδόξων λέγει βρεφῶν, ὡς τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ μηδὲ τοῖς ἀγρίοις ζώοις ὁμοίως θηλὴν αὐτοῖς προτεῖναι δεδυνημένης. ἡ δὲ τοῦ πάθους ὑπερβολὴ καὶ φύσεως λήθην ἐργάζεται. δράκοντας δὲ ἢ καὶ τὰς κατὰ Σύμμαχον Σειρῆνας ἀκούσει τὰ πονηρὰ πνεύ ματα, τὰ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεογνοὺς πονηρῷ θηλάσαντα γάλακτι. τοι οῦτοι δὲ οἱ ταῖς διδασκαλίαις τῶν ἀσεβῶν εἰσαγόμενοι. 96 Πῶς γὰρ οὐ θυγατέρες οἱ ἐκτεθηλυμμένοι, οὓς καὶ Φαραὼ περι ποιεῖται, φονεύων τοὺς ἄρρενας; οἳ καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, τὴν ἔρη μον θεοῦ, καταβόσκονται, ἀποπτῆναι κατὰ τοὺς στρουθοκαμή λους μὴ δυνάμενοι, ἀλλὰ τὴν γῆν ἀεὶ διαθέοντες; τὸ γὰρ στρουθίον οὕτως ἐξέδωκε Σύμμαχος, τοὺς δὲ τούτων διδασκάλους οὐκ ἀπεικότως Σειρῆνας ἐκάλεσεν. κατὰ γὰρ τὸν ἔξω μῦθον αὗται διὰ τῆς ἡδονῆς τοὺς προστυχόντας ἀπώλλυον, ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν ἰὸν ἐνδακόντες οἱ δράκοντες . ὀνειδίζει τοίνυν τοῖς δῆθεν ἀγαθοῖς διδασκάλοις, ὅτι μηδὲ τούτοις ὁμοίως περὶ τοὺς φοιτῶντας ἐσπούδασαν. 97 Ταῦτα πεπόνθασι πολιορκούμενοί τε καὶ ἀπαγόμενοι. λέγοις δ' ἂν καὶ ὡς «λιμὸν ὑπέμειναν οὐκ ἄρτου, οὐχ ὕδατος» κατὰ τὸ λόγιον τὸ προφητικόν, «ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον κυρίου». διὸ περὶ τῶν νεογνῶν αὐτῶν προφητεύει. 98 Ἱστορικῶς μὲν ἐπανῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὰ συμβάντα ἐπὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν περὶ τοῦ λιμοῦ τοῦ διδασκαλικοῦ λόγου φησίν. 99 Οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἐλεεινὸν οἱ πένητες οἱ κακούμενοι. τούτους δὲ θρηνεῖ καὶ Παῦλος, «ὧν ἡ υἱοθεσία» λέγων «καὶ ἡ δόξα». κενὰ γὰρ νῦν μελετῶντες οὐκ ἐντρυφῶσι Μωσεῖ τε καὶ τοῖς προφήταις, ὡς τὸ «κατατρύφησον τῷ κυρίῳ». οὐδεὶς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ πέττων τὸν τρόφιμον λόγον, οὐδὲ τοῦ σιτευτοῦ μεταλαμβάνουσι μόσχου καίπερ αὐτοὶ τεθυκότες. διεξόδους δὲ καλεῖ τὰς διασπορὰς ἢ καὶ τὰς τῶν νομικῶν γραμμάτων παρατροπάς. 100 Ἐτιθηνοῦντο τὸ πρὶν ἐπὶ κόκκου , τὸ μέλλον ἐκχεῖσθαι τοῦ σωτῆρος αἷμα προφητικῶς προακούοντες, καὶ νῦν ἐκ τῶν γηΐνων νοημάτων ῥακοδυτοῦντες. 101 Σύμμαχος τὸ μὲν ὥσπερ σπουδή, ἐξαπίνης ἐξέδωκε, τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἐπόνεσαν, ἣν οὐκ ἔτρωσαν . τί γὰρ θείου συντομώτερον λόγου φήσαντος· «ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν ἔρημος» καὶ μόνῳ παραδόντος τῷ βούλεσθαι; ἡ ἀνομία δὲ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὑπὲρ τὴν Σοδόμων ἐμεγαλύνθη . οἱ μὲν τὸν φυσικὸν νόμον εἶχον μόνον, οἱ δὲ καὶ γραπτὸν καὶ προφήτας ὅσα τε παραδόξως ὁ θεὸς ἠργάζετο ἐν αὐτοῖς. κἀκεῖνοι μὲν ἥμαρτον εἰς ἀγγέλους καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους ἀν θρώπους· οὗτοι δὲ εἰς τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ λυτρωτὴν πάλαι μὲν ἐξ Αἰ γύπτου, νῦν δὲ δαιμόνων λατρείας, εἴπερ ἐδέξαντο τὸν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐλθόντα προηγουμένως. «οὐκ ἀπεστάλην» γάρ φησιν «εἰ μὴ εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ». 102 Σύμμαχος· ἄχραντοι ἀφωρισμένοι αὐτῆς ὑπὲρ χιόνα, λαμ πρότεροι γάλακτος,

Glory reflected, the letter withdrawn, and the spirit sight§15

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15More fiery in nature than the things visible to the eye, sapphire are their limbs, their appearance darker than soot. Those who sanctified themselves to God, he says, are made holy—indeed, the term Nazirites conveys this, as Symmachus and Theodotion likewise rendered the sanctified in Amos as Nazirites. Moses also remembers these, of what sort he was, and even Samson. They were also prominent among the Judeans. Therefore, their purity was tested against snow, their brightness against milk; yet they were refined by ascetic discipline, having been proven in what they had promised to God. But the elect among them—this is indicated by the fragment—possess a heavenly commonwealth, for such is the color of sapphire. Moreover, they have golden veins, by which Symmachus represents their constitution, possessing incorruptibility and enduring fire through piety. From the spiritual radiance they have fallen, weakened by intellectual hunger, so as to resemble dry wood, like those not planted by the watercourses; such are now the priests among them, possessing no spiritual nourishment. And according to the explicit statement, their faces have grown blackened from utter shame, because, though sinning like others, they were led away; and even now, the custom among those being disgraced is to use the name in this way. For in war, it is better to die swiftly than to be subdued by famine due to lack of field produce. One might even say the sword and the dagger are the word of God—for Paul says: “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”—by whom,

The bride says, "I am wounded by love." And David also says, "Gird your sword upon your thigh, mighty one, in your splendor and your beauty." Those struck by such swords—spears of divine judgment—it is fitting that they fall beneath Jesus’ feet, as it is written: "The peoples shall fall under you." They have confessed his kingdom, yet they are not to be destroyed by spiritual famine. For Christ is the offspring of a land, he who was born in Bethlehem, which is called "House of Bread." The Jews, having become estranged from this bread, have been driven away into the land of demons. But the field blessed by the Lord, exceedingly fragrant, which Jacob breathed upon, signifies the Church of Christ. 105 Lest the women think they have eaten their children through cruelty, he says they are compassionate; yet he attributes this to the necessity of scarcity. The act of kindling and roasting indicates what came to pass during the Roman siege; therefore, he calls the complete destruction of the nation a shattering. And in the second chapter of Lamentations, he treats the present suffering as an element of sorrow. And this, along with all other passions, Josephus has transmitted with accuracy in his writings on the siege. 106 For after the coming of Christ, these things were completed. 107 Perhaps indeed because of the strength of the place, the fortress, and the strength of its inhabitants, but most of all because of the God who continually protects the city. Yet before Nebuchadnezzar entered, the Egyptian often took the treasures from the house of the Lord, but did not destroy the city; for he did not greatly oppress it, even if he was an enemy.

Origen reflects on the paradoxical nature of divine wisdom, noting how the rulers of the earth and the demonic powers that once governed the nations—those referenced in Scripture as having gathered together against the Lord and His Christ—acted in ignorance. Had they understood the true identity of the Lord of glory, they would not have crucified Him. Their lack of knowledge stemmed from a mistaken belief that Jerusalem would not ultimately fall, as they clung to the idea that God’s promise to the patriarchs would be fulfilled in their time, unaware of the deeper mystery surrounding Christ. Yet it is precisely the righteous blood of Christ the Savior, poured out completely, that those who shed it ultimately destroyed themselves, even as they attempted to find moderation by comparing their guilt to the blood of the prophets. Symmachus describes the aftermath: they became unstable, blind in their ways, covered in blood to such an extent that they could not even touch their own garments. Meanwhile, Scripture calls the angels “watchers,” as seen in Daniel, and it is possible that the law given through Moses was mediated by such beings, as suggested by the phrase “if the law spoken through angels was…” Those who persisted in clinging to the law and the temple, despite being shaken by these events, were eventually displaced. Josephus records that when the priests approached the temple as was their custom for the sacrificial rites, they first reported sensing a movement, and then suddenly heard a loud voice—

Greek · §15

πυρρότεροι τὴν ἕξιν ὑπὲρ τὰ περί βλεπτα, σάπφιρος τὰ μέλη αὐτῶν, σκοτεινότερον ἀσβόλης τὸ εἶδος αὐτῶν . τοὺς ἁγιάσαντας ἑαυτούς φησι τῷ θεῷ· Ἡγια σμένοι γὰρ τὸ Ναζιραῖοι δηλοῖ, οὕτω γὰρ Σύμμαχος καὶ Θεοδοτίων ἐν τῷ Ἀμὼς τοὺς ἡγιασμένους ἐξέδωκαν, Ναζιραίους εἰπόντες. μέ μνηται τούτων καὶ Μωσῆς· ὁποῖος ἦν καὶ Σαμψών. ἦσαν δὲ καὶ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἐπιφανεῖς. διὸ τὸ μὲν καθαρὸν αὐτῶν ἀντεξήτασε χιόνι , τὸ δὲ λαμπρὸν γάλακτι· ἐπυρώθησαν δὲ τῇ ἀσκήσει δοκιμα σθέντες ὧν ἐπηγγέλλοντο τῷ θεῷ, οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ δὲ αὐτῶν (ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ ἀπόσπασμα ) πολιτείαν οὐράνιον ἔχουσιν· τοιοῦτον γὰρ τῆς σαπφίρου τὸ χρῶμα. ἔχει δὲ καὶ χρυσιζούσας φλέβας, αἷς δὴ τὴν ἕξιν αὐτῶν ὁ Σύμμαχος ἀπεικάζει, τὸ ἀδιάφθορον ἔχουσαν καὶ τὸ διάπυρον κατὰ θεοσέβειαν. 103 Τῆς πνευματικῆς ἐξέπεσαν ἐλλάμψεως καὶ λιμῷ τῷ νοητῷ δι ετάκησαν, ὡς ἐοικέναι ξύλοις ξηροῖς , τοῖς μὴ 15 «πεφυτευμένοις παρὰ ταῖς διεξόδοις τῶν ὑδάτων»· ὁποῖοι νῦν οἱ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἱερεῖς μηδε μίαν ἔχοντες εὐτροφίαν πνευματικήν. καὶ κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν δέ, ὑπ' αἰσχύνης ἄκρας τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ἐμελαίνετο, ὅτι τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως ἁμαρτάνοντες ἀπήγοντο· ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῶν καταισχυνο μένων ἡ συνήθεια τῷ ὀνόματι κέχρηται. 104 Πολέμῳ γὰρ κρεῖττον συντόμως τελευτᾶν ἢ λιμῷ δαμασθῆναι δι' ἀπορίαν τῶν ἐν ἀγρῷ γεννημάτων . εἴποις δ' ἂν ῥομφαίαν εἶναι καὶ μάχαιραν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος· «καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα θεοῦ», ὑφ' οὗ, φησὶν ἡ νύμφη, «τετρωμένη ἀγάπης εἰμὶ ἐγώ». λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ ∆αβίδ· «περί ζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατέ, τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου». ὑπὸ τοιαύτης πληγέντας ῥομφαίας καλὸν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας πεσεῖν Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὸ «λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου πεσοῦνται», τὴν αὐτοῦ ὁμολογήσαντας βασιλείαν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἁλῶναι λιμῷ ψυχικῷ. γέννημα γὰρ χώρας ὁ Χριστός, ὁ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννηθείς, ὅπερ Οἶκος ἄρτου σημαίνεται, οὗπερ ἄγευστοι γεγονότες Ἰουδαῖοι εἰς δαιμόνων ἀπήχθησαν χώραν. ἀγρὸς δὲ ὁ εὐλογημένος ὑπὸ κυρίου καὶ λίαν εὐώδης, οὗπερ ἔπνεεν Ἰακώβ, δηλοῖ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. 105 Ἵνα μὴ δόξωσιν αἱ γυναῖκες δι' ὠμότητα βεβρωκέναι τὰ τέκνα, οἰκτίρμονας μὲν εἶναί φησιν· τῇ δὲ τῆς ἐνδείας ἀνάγκῃ προσάπτει τὸ πάθος. τὸ δὲ ἧψαν τὸ ἀνάψαι καὶ ὀπτῆσαι δηλοῖ, ὃ δὴ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιορκίας· διὸ καὶ σύντριμμα καλεῖ τὴν παν τελῆ τοῦ ἔθνους ἀπώλειαν. καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν Θρήνων στοιχειώσει τοῦ παρόντος μέμνηται πάθους. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τἄλλα πάθη μετ' ἀκριβείας Ἰώσηππος ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἁλώσεως παρέδωκεν. 106 Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν συνετελέσθησαν. 107 Ἴσως μὲν καὶ διὰ τὸ τῶν τόπων ὀχυρὸν καὶ τοῦ τείχους καὶ τὴν τῶν οἰκητόρων ἰσχύν, μάλιστα δὲ διὰ τὸν ἀεὶ τῆς πόλεως ὑπερησπικότα θεόν. καίτοι πρὸ τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ εἰσελθὼν ὁ Αἰγύπτιος πολλάκις ἔλαβε τοὺς θησαυροὺς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου κυρίου, ἀλλ' οὐ πορθήσας τὴν πόλιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄγαν ἔθλιβεν, εἰ καὶ ὑπῆρχεν ἐχθρός, πρὸς τὸ μηδὲ ἀπεμφαῖνον εἶναι καὶ δὶς καὶ τρὶς τὸ παράδοξον γενέ σθαι. λέγοι δ' ἂν βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας τοὺς τῶν χοϊκῶν βασιλεύσαντας, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· «παρέστησαν πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῶν συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ». περὶ ὧν οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐδήλωσε τὸ «εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν» καὶ τὸ «ἵνα γνωρισθῇ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ»· ᾤοντο γὰρ μὴ παραδίδοσθαι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς τέλος, μέχρι τοῦ ἔθνους τούτου τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐπαγγελίαν οἰόμενοι, μη δὲν εἰδότες περὶ Χριστοῦ. 108 Αἷμα δίκαιον κυρίως τὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, ὅπερ ἐκχέ αντες τελέως ἀπώλοντο, ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν προφητῶν αἵμασι μετρίως σωφρονιζόμενοι. 109 Σύμμαχός φησιν· ἀκατάστατοι ἐγένοντο, τυφλοὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις, ἐφύρησαν ἐν αἵματι, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἅψασθαι τῆς ἐσθῆτος αὐτῶν. ἐγρηγόρους ἡ γραφὴ τοὺς ἀγγέλους καλεῖ, ὡς παρὰ τῷ ∆ανιήλ. οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν, δι' ὧν ἴσως καὶ ὁ διὰ Μωσέως νόμος ἐδόθη κατὰ τὸ «εἰ γὰρ ὁ δι' ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς νόμος». οὗ τοι τοίνυν προσκαρτεροῦντες αὐτῇ καὶ τῷ θείῳ ναῷ, σαλευθέντες μετέστησαν. Ἰώσηππος γὰρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἁλώσεως ἱστορεῖ ὡς «νύ κτωρ οἱ ἱερεῖς προσελθόντες εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὥσπερ αὐτοῖς ἔθος ἦν πρὸς τὰς λειτουργίας, πρῶτον μὲν κινήσεως ἔφασαν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα φωνῆς ἀθρόας·

From affliction to contemplation with unveiled face§16

16Let us go from here. At the time when, according to Symmachus, they became unstable and wandering and blind, he says about their departures. For it is not "a vision that separates"; nor is it king, nor prophet, nor leader; for "they have failed" because "he came to whom they were looking forward, who was the expectation of the nations." To the apostles he commands to flee from among the Jews upon the blood of Christ having been defiled, but he permits their calling and also to the angels. If not, then he would be commanding the apostles to call the unclean to repentance, which they did, saying: "It was necessary for you first to speak the word." But if they are unwilling, he commands them to flee; therefore they say, as if unwilling, "Behold, we turn to the Gentiles." And it indicates that the one was lifted up—the fire of the destruction; the other was shaken—the migration into slavery; and the third will not add to dwelling here, because they will have permanent dwelling, no longer needing second things. He indicates the punishment from Christ: for David says, "The face of the Lord is upon those doing evil." They do not look upon him, remaining as they are; for "when the fullness of the Gentiles has entered, all Israel will be saved," and afterward he looks upon them as faithful. But if it were written: a part of them, it is clear that he speaks of those who have left. Concerning the enemies, the face of the priests they did not take, for he led them all away. From the captives, the word seems to be, of those repenting concerning the Egyptians and Assyrians to whom they gave aid. And it could be said, consistently, by those who believed from circumcision: they left the empty hope in the law, expecting.

For the law saves no one, as the apostle Paul has said. Therefore, those who cling to the law will not be able to help after grace has come. Under the Savior, those who were made fishermen of men—the disciples—went out hunting Jews with the nets of their minds, so that they would not walk upon the broad and spacious way of their fathers. Thus, even as the Savior himself inclined himself, saying, "Allow the children to come to me." For Josephus records that not even the mountains saved those who fled. There, therefore, as they dragged us, they seized us, or rather, they brought us before judgment against us. Let it be considered also concerning the apostles, of whom it was said, "Their youth was renewed like that of an eagle." Some have said that in the chosen ones, Josiah mourns more clearly, for they hoped that through his piety, Jerusalem would rise again in the midst of the nations for glory, since Jerusalem is in the midst of the nations. And this, they say, is a type of Christ, who died because of the lawlessness of the people. Yet he was not seized among the corruptions of the people, but as one who met the king of Egypt, Necho, after the prophet had forbidden it, even though he was unwilling to fight against him. Therefore, according to the divine apostle: "A veil lies upon the face of the Jews when Moses is read; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and the Lord is the Spirit." And through the prophet, the Lord is spoken of as the rational Spirit. Those upon whom the veil lies would not, if they could, say that Christ is the Spirit of our face, but rather, "we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory," and the Lord is ever before the eyes of our mind.

It is evident that the active force present in the prophets was the Spirit of Christ, who, having become incarnate, declares: “I myself, the one who speaks, am here.” He is the Spirit, the Lord, and the Christ. Those who corrupted the divine seed within themselves first seized him. But we, the prophets, do not regard another as the Spirit of our person; after our conception, we no longer possess a place among them. Instead, we live under the shadow of Christ, no longer among the Jews, but among all the nations, at the time when “the kingdom of God was taken from them” because of their boldness against Christ, and “it was given to the nations.” Behold, the prophets now live within us, speaking about him and proclaiming him, yet no longer among those who still, even now, envelop him in their own corruptions, blaspheming him day by day. Aquilas said that the Spirit is the breath of our nostrils; Symmachus said it is the breath of our nostrils. For the God-loving continually breathe in Christ, having him before their eyes. Know this: just as Christ, being Spirit, spoke in the prophets, so also the Father speaks; for Paul says in the letter to the Hebrews: “Long ago, God spoke in many and varied ways to our ancestors through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” And so too the Holy Spirit: for the Savior says, “Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand…’”

Greek · §16

μεταβαίνωμεν ἐντεῦθεν»· ὅτε καὶ κατὰ Σύμμαχον ἀκατάστατοι καὶ ἀλῆται γεγόνασιν καὶ τυφλοί , φησίν, ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις . οὐ γὰρ «ἦν ὅρασις διαστέλλουσα»; οὐ βασι λεύς, οὐ προφήτης, οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος· «ἐξέλιπον» γὰρ ἐπεὶ «παρεγένετο ᾧ ἀπέκειτο, ὃς ἦν προσδοκία ἐθνῶν». 110 Τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐντέλλεται ἐκ μέσου τῶν Ἰουδαίων φυγεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ αἵματι μολυνθέντων Χριστοῦ, τὴν δὲ κλῆσιν αὐτῶν καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέ λοις ἐπέτρεψεν. εἰ μὴ ἄρα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καλεῖν εἰς μετάνοιαν αὐτοὺς ἀκαθάρτους κελεύει, ὅπερ ἐποίησαν εἰπόντες· «ὑμῖν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον 16 λαληθῆναι τὸν λόγον». μὴ βουλομένων δέ, προστάττει φυγεῖν, διό φασιν ὡς μὴ θελόντων τὸ «ἰδοὺ στρεφόμεθα εἰς τὰ ἔθνη». 111 ∆ηλοῖ δὲ τὸ μὲν ἀνήφθησαν τὸ τῆς ἁλώσεως πῦρ, τὸ δὲ ἐσαλεύθησαν τὴν εἰς δουλείαν μετάστασιν, τὸ δὲ οὐ μὴ προσ θῶσι τοῦ παροικεῖν ὅτι διηνεκῆ σχήσουσι παροικίαν, δευτέρας μηκέτι δεόμενοι. 112 Τὴν παρὰ Χριστοῦ τιμωρίαν δηλοῖ· λέγει γὰρ ὁ ∆αβίδ· «πρόσω πον δὲ κυρίου ἐπὶ ποιοῦντας κακά». οὐκ ἐπιβλέπονται δὲ παρ' αὐτοῦ, μένοντες ὅπερ εἰσίν· «ὅταν» γὰρ «εἰσέλθῃ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν, πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται» καὶ λοιπὸν ὡς πιστὸς ἐπιβλέπεται. εἰ δὲ γράφοιτο· μερὶς αὐτῶν , δῆλον ὅτι τῶν ἐξιόντων ἐκ μέσου φησίν. περὶ δὲ τῶν πολεμίων τὸ πρόσωπον ἱερέων οὐκ ἔλαβον , πάντας γὰρ ἀπήγαγον. 113 Ἀπὸ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ὁ λόγος εἶναι δοκεῖ, μετανοούντων ἐφ' οἷς Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ Ἀσσυρίοις πρὸς βοήθειαν ἐπηρείδοντο. λέγοιτο δ' ἂν ἀκολούθως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς πιστευσάντων· ἐξελείπο μεν διακενῆς εἰς τὸν νόμον ἐλπίζοντες· ὁ γὰρ νόμος σῴζει οὐδένα, καθάπερ εἶπεν ὁ Παῦλος. οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ οἱ ἠρτημένοι τοῦ νόμου βοηθῆσαι μετὰ τὴν χάριν δυνήσονται. 114 Ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ σωτῆρος «ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων» ἀποδειχθέντες οἱ μα θηταὶ ἐθήρευον Ἰουδαίους ταῖς φρεσὶ νηπίους, μὴ τὴν πλατεῖαν καὶ εὐρύχωρον τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν βαδίζειν ὁδόν· οὕσπερ δὴ καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ὑπῃνίττετο λέγων· «ἐάσατε τὰ παιδία ἐλθεῖν πρός με». 115 Ἱστορεῖ γὰρ Ἰώσηππος ὡς οὐδὲ τὰ ὄρη τοὺς φεύγοντας διέσωσεν. ἐκεῖ τοίνυν ἡμᾶς ἕλκοντες ἥπτοντο , ἤγουν πρὸς δίκην ἀνήφθησαν καθ' ἡμῶν. νοοῖτο δ' ἂν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων ὧν «ἀνεκαινίσθη ὡς ἀετοῦ ἡ νεότης». 116 Τινὲς ἔφασαν ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἐξαιρέτοις διαφανέστερον τὸν Ἰωσίαν θρηνεῖ· ἤλπιζον γὰρ διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεοσεβείας ἀνασταθῆναι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν μέσῳ ἐθνῶν εἰς δόξαν, ἐν μέσῳ γὰρ ἐθνῶν ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ. τύπος δὲ οὗτος, φασί, Χριστοῦ, διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας τεθνηκὼς τοῦ λαοῦ. καίτοι οὐκ ἐν ταῖς τοῦ λαοῦ συνελήφθη διαφθοραῖς , ἀλλ' ὡς ἀπαγορεύσαντος τοῦ προφήτου συναντήσας Νεχαὼ Φαραώ, καίπερ πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐθέλοντι μαχέσασθαι. κατὰ τοίνυν τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον «κάλυμμα τῷ προσώπῳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπίκειται Μωσέως ἀναγινωσκομένου· ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιστραφῇ πρὸς κύριον, περιαιρεῖται τὸ κάλυμμα· ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν». διὰ δὲ τοῦ προφήτου ῥητὸν πνεῦμα λέγει τὸν κύριον. οἷς οὖν ἐπίκειται κάλυμμα, οὐκ ἂν εἴ ποιεν· πνεῦμα προσώπου ἡμῶν Χριστὸς κύριος , ἀλλ' οἱ «ἀνα κεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμενοι», ὧν ἀεὶ πρὸ τῶν τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμῶν ἐστιν ὁ κύριος· ὡς δῆλον ὅτι τὸ ἐνεργῆσαν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις πνεῦμα ἦν ὁ Χριστός, ὃς καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσας φησίν· «αὐτὸς ὁ λαλῶν πάρειμι», αὐτὸς ὢν πνεῦμα καὶ κύριος καὶ Χριστός. τοῦτον συνέλαβον οἱ διαφθείραντες πρῶτον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τῆς θεοσεβείας τὰ σπέρματα. ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς οἱ προφῆται οὐκ ἄλλον ἡγούμενοι τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ προσώπου ἡμῶν , μετὰ τὴν ἡμῶν σύλληψιν μηκέτι τόπον ἔχοντες ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὑπὸ τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σκιᾷ ζησόμεθα , οὐκέτι παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις, ἀλλ' ἐν ὅλοις τοῖς ἔθνεσιν , ὅτε «ἀρθεῖσα ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπ' αὐτῶν» διὰ τὸ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τόλμημα «ἐδόθη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν». ἰδοὺ γὰρ ζῶσιν ἐν ἡμῖν οἱ προφῆται, λαλοῦντες περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κηρύσσοντες, ἀλλ' οὐκέτι παρ' ἐκείνοις, τοῖς ἔτι καὶ νῦν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἑαυτῶν διαφθοραῖς περιβάλλουσιν, ὁσημέραι βλασφημοῦντες αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας ἔφη πνεῦμα μυκτήρων ἡμῶν , Σύμμαχος δὲ πνοὴ μυκτήρων ἡμῶν . οἱ γὰρ θεοφιλεῖς διὰ παντὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀναπνέουσι, πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτὸν ἔχοντες. ἰστέον δὲ ὅτι ὥσπερ ὁ Χριστὸς πνεῦμα ὢν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις ἐλάλησεν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ πατήρ· λέγει γὰρ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους ὁ Παῦλος. «πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λα λήσας ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ». οὕτως δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ σωτήρ· «καλῶς εἶπεν ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε, καὶ οὐ μὴ

One Spirit distributing gifts; prophecy among the charisms§17

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17You were told. Moreover, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, when Paul speaks of the spiritual gifts—among which is prophecy—he says: "All these things are energized by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each individually as He wills." This means authoritatively, not servilely. One might say that the Spirit is the person of Christ, the One who bestowed upon us the Spirit of prophecy; for this very Spirit of prophecy is the person of the prophets, while the Spirit itself is the gift, and the Law is but a shadow—since "the Law has a shadow of the good things to come." Thus, the prophets lived within us and within the shadow of the Law. Therefore, the prophetic gift, toward which every manifestation of prophecy looks as its goal, is Christ, that is, from Christ. For "Christ is the end of the Law and the prophets." Moreover, it could be said even from the person of the apostles and the believers: "For in Him we live and move and have our being"—of whom we said that we would live in His shadow.

Greek · §17

συνῆτε». ἐν δὲ τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους ὁ Παῦλος εἰπὼν τὰ χαρίσματα, ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ἡ προφητεία, φησίν· «ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐνεργεῖ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα, χορηγοῦν 17 ἑκάστῳ καθὼς βούλεται»· τουτέστιν αὐθεντικῶς, οὐ δουλικῶς. λέγοις δ' ἂν πνεῦμα προσώπου Χριστόν, τὸν δωρησάμενον ἡμῖν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς προφητείας· αὕτη γὰρ προφητῶν πρόσωπον, πνεῦμα δὲ τὸ χάρισμα, σκιὰ δὲ ὁ νόμος, «σκιὰν γὰρ ἔχων ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν». ἔζησαν οὖν ἐν ἡμῖν οἱ προφῆται καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ νόμου σκιᾷ. τὸ οὖν χάρισμα τὸ προφητικόν, πρὸς ὃ βλέπει πάσης τῆς προφητείας ἡ ἔκβασις, Χριστός ἐστιν, τουτέστιν ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ. «τέλος γὰρ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ὁ Χριστός». ῥηθείη δὲ κἂν ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν πιστῶν· «ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ καὶ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν»· οὗ εἴπομεν ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ αὐτοῦ ζησόμεθα ,

Become imitators; the word against Edom and Esau hatred§18

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18This is to say, according to his imitation. For the divine apostle says, "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." This word is directed to those from Edom and Esau, the brother of Jacob, proclaiming to them an excess of evils (for this is what the drunken one will pour out and drain), concerning which David also says: "Remember, Lord, the sons of Edom on the day of Jerusalem, of those saying, 'Strip her bare, strip her bare, until her foundation is laid bare.'" For being brothers and neighbors, they have preserved the ancestral hatred. And concerning Christ, having spoken, he remembered this at the opportune time. For the Christ was about to destroy the earthly one, so named, working heavenly things. For virtue and knowledge are threatening.

Greek · §18

τουτέστι κατὰ μίμησιν αὐτοῦ. λέγει γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος· «μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ». 117 Ὁ λόγος πρὸς τοὺς ἐξ Ἐδὼμ καὶ Ἡσαῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Ἰακώβ, ὑπερβολὴν αὐτοῖς προαγορεύων κακῶν (τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ μεθυσθήσῃ καὶ ἀποχεεῖς ), περὶ ὧν φησι καὶ ∆αβίδ· «μνήσθητι, κύριε, τῶν υἱῶν Ἐδὼμ τὴν ἡμέραν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τῶν λεγόντων· ἐκκενοῦτε, ἐκκενοῦτε ἕως οὗ ὁ θεμέλιος ἐν αὐτῇ». ἀδελφοὶ γὰρ ὄντες καὶ γείτονες, τὸ προγονικὸν διεφύλαξαν μῖσος. περὶ δὲ Χριστοῦ φήσας. εἰς καιρὸν καὶ ταύτης ἐμνήσθη. τὴν γὰρ Γήϊνον προσαγορευομένην πορθεῖν ἔμελλεν ὁ Χριστός, οὐράνιον ἐργαζόμενος. ἀπειλητικὸν γὰρ ἡ ἀρετή τε καὶ γνῶσις

Drunkenness of flesh, Edom penalty, and no second exile§19

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19To those who love falsehoods and passions, of whom drunkenness is indeed the mortification of the flesh, and overflow is also the making dead of its mind—You have measured out sufficient justice, in which Edom shall receive its turn. And the statement that it will not add to your exile or to your restoration says this (for you do not remain in captivity, having fulfilled the full measure; for God diminishes the justice, He does not add to it), that is, if it was said toward a second captivity as one that would not come to pass, how then did the captivity after it come about through the Romans? Perhaps, then, the word concerns the final event that has occurred through Christ, after which no other has happened. And "All Israel

Greek · §19

πρὸς τοὺς φιληδοῦντας πλάναις καὶ πάθεσιν, ὧν μέθη μὲν ἡ νέκρωσις τῆς σαρκός, ὑπερέκχυσις δὲ καὶ τὸ νεκρῶσαι ταύτης τὸ φρόνημα. 118 Ἱκανὴν ἐξέτισας δίκην, ἐν ᾗ Ἐδὼμ διαδέξεται. τὸ δὲ οὐ προσθήσει τοῦ ἀποικίσαι σε ἢ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάκλησίν φησιν (οὐ γὰρ ἐπιμενεῖς τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τὸ τέλειον μέτρον πληρώσασα· μειοῖ γὰρ τὴν δίκην ὁ θεός, οὐ προστίθησιν), ἤγουν εἰ πρὸς δευτέραν ὡς μὴ γενησομένην ἅλωσιν εἴρηται, πῶς ἡ μετ' ἐκείνην ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἐγένετο; μήποτε τοίνυν περὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ὁ λόγος τῆς γεγονυίας διὰ Χριστόν, μεθ' ἣν οὐ γέγονεν ἑτέρα. καὶ «πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ

All Israel saved; the Church as daughter of the synagogue§20

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20It will be saved after the full number of the Gentiles has come in, having abandoned lawlessness; then the consummation will follow, and the punishment of earthly things, as we await the judgment. Indeed, the word might also be spoken to the church, which is the daughter of the ancient synagogue, for “the gifts of God are irrevocable,” yet its lawlessness has departed through divine baptism; she whom the Speaker no longer hands over to the enemies says, “Here I will dwell, for I have chosen her,” and “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” when even impiety was established among those who mind earthly things.

Greek · §20

σωθήσεται μετὰ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν» τὴν ἀνομίαν ἀπολιπών· μεθ' ὃ λοιπὸν ἡ συντέλεια, καὶ τῶν γηΐνων ἡ κόλασις, ἐκδεχομένης τῆς κρίσεως. ῥηθείη δ' ἂν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὁ λόγος, ἥτις ἐστὶ θυγάτηρ τῆς πάλαι συναγωγῆς («ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα τοῦ θεοῦ», ἐξέλιπε δὲ ταύτης ἡ ἀνομία διὰ τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος), ἣν οὐκέτι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς παραδίδωσιν ὁ φήσας· «ὧδε κατοικήσω, ὅτι ᾑρετισάμην αὐτήν» καὶ τὸ «ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος», ὅτε καὶ τὴν ἀσέβειαν ἐστηλίτευσε τῶν φρονούντων τὰ γήϊνα. 18

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