COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET NAHUM

Book 1

Each of the holy prophets was taken up at times for some useful and necessary matter to minister to the divine commands, and to convey the voices from above to men. And some, frightening the sinning Israel, announced the calamities that would befall them, and if they did not choose to do what was pleasing to God, they openly threatened that they would fall into terrible and inescapable evils; others, bringing into the open the very things that had happened, and grieving with those who had suffered, skillfully persuaded them to be willing to live more equitably, and thus finally to ward off the wrath; while others nourish the suffering Israel with good hope, and prepared them to be disposed to believe that, having fared miserably because of their own sins, they would prosper again when their affairs were restored to their original state, by the mercy and grace and power of God who easily reshapes all things to whatever he wishes. We shall find some such purpose now also in the treatise before us. For since the land of the Jews was captured, and were carried off as captives into the land of the Persians and Medes, those who by their outrageous apostasies had grieved God who always presides over and champions them and shows them to be superior to their adversaries, some, having already suffered this, continued to be held in the evils of captivity and to have an unbearable misery; while others, who had barely managed to get out of the snares and escape the savagery of the Babylonians, were in unceasing terrors and in great suspicion, lest somehow they too should fall into the same or even worse evils, with the all-powerful God being wroth with them, not yet having let go of His indignation; and they came to such a point of fear as to be scattered in the lands of the neighboring nations, and to all but serve others, and these foreigners and idolaters. And this matter was not without penalty for them; for they learned to live by their customs, and among whomever each was found, to make their worship in the place of God. For this reason also the God of all, when Jerusalem had been burned at times by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, commanded those who had been saved not to go down to Egypt, but rather, having settled at home, to hold to their ancestral worship, with His help. So that, therefore, having the hope of returning in due time, those from Israel might not remain too disheartened, and that those who had become captives might rather reject despair, and might always be intent on prayers, and choose to worship Him who is mighty to deliver and able to redeem; and that those dwelling in Judea might no longer mix with the lands of the nations; the Prophet receives the vision from God against Nineveh; this is the chief city of the Assyrians; and he foretells that it will fall, with the whole country also being devastated with it, which indeed was also accomplished when Cyrus the son of Cambyses and Mandane armed the Persians and Medes and Elamites and certain other nations with them against Nineveh. For he took it by force, and released Israel from captivity, and commanded them to go home together with the sacred vessels. This, then, is our purpose for the present treatise; and we shall add the subsequent parts, as is possible, and in detail. The burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. First, he defines the purpose of the prophecy, and usefully clarifies what and where it looks to; then he makes clear who is speaking and from where. For he says "burden," that is, the prophecy that has been received and set forth and is at hand would be understood not about any others, but against Nineveh, or in other words, let the burden of the prophecy be understood as Nineveh. And the book is inscribed "The Vision of Nahum of Elkosh." This is doubtless a village somewhere in the land of the Jews. For we shall take 'of Elkosh' not as from a father, but rather as from a place. And we say this, having the tradition from the readings. God is jealous and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges with wrath; the Lord avenges his adversaries, and he cuts off his enemies. The Lord is long-suffering and his strength is great, and he will by no means clear the guilty. The saying is profound, and not easy to grasp, except only for those who are willing to examine closely the things in it. And if it should be understood as having been directed to the Jews, we will find the exhortation suitably mixed with moderate rebuke. But if someone should think it was made and spoken against Nineveh, the mind will be turned to another of the interpretations, and to those who have suffered the devastation it gives and confirms the hopes of recovering again. We shall therefore make the purpose of the meaning for both as clear as possible. For the Jews, having spurned love for God, and holding the genuineness of piety toward Him in no account whatsoever, descended into polytheism and strange error and a life outside the law, and they built altars, they set up precincts to the works of their own hands, they brought rites and sacrifices to Astarte, to Chemosh, to Baal-peor, to the golden calves, and what is even more irrational than these, to them they dedicated songs of thanksgiving. For the wretched ones said out of their madness, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of E- gypt." But by such terrible impious acts they have forgotten themselves, sharpening against themselves the God who of old presided over and saved them, to whom they have become enemies, and have been placed in the portion of adversaries, assigning themselves to gods that are not so by nature, although Moses long ago cried out concerning God, that He is a jealous God, and a consuming fire, and that He would not endure those who chose to grieve Him. For He proclaimed beforehand that, "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. And I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." Having therefore offended in many ways, they have also rightly perished. This is what the Prophet now says, practically rebuking and at the same time comforting the people of the Jews who are vexed at what has happened. For yes, he says, you are grieved, having suffered unexpectedly the desolation, driven out of homes and country and cities, although you were always conquering your opponents; but you have fallen under the feet of enemies. How then was it not necessary to understand before the experience, that God is a jealous God, and the Lord avenges with wrath, avenging His adversaries, and taking away His enemies? But if we have been taken away, he says, and removed from the midst, and are under the hand of our foes, yet we have stood as enemies, we have impiously warred against the one who is all-powerful, and we have gone to everything whatsoever that is discordant to Him. But you will say, that the Master is long-suffering. Yes, I myself agree, for He is such by nature. Nevertheless, He will not acquit the guilty, that is, He will not completely free from charges and justice those who have offended Him, and this unceasingly and beyond measure. For He defers His wrath out of His innate gentleness, and sometimes bears with those who transgress, awaiting their repentance; but those who delay and long put it off, He finally punishes and subjects to penalties as those who have become hardened. Thus then our discourse will be and be understood as being so, if it looks towards the Jews; but if it should be brought against Nineveh, we will understand it differently. For the Assyrians took the country of the Jews, God granting the victory to them, because the people of Israel were held by very many transgressions. But they were savage and arrogant and had a completely boorish mind, and they did not at all cease from practically trampling upon the very glory of God with harsh and accursed words. For they thought that they had conquered even against His will, and along with the Jews had overcome the hand that defended them. And so the Rabshakeh used blasphemous words, saying those things to those on the wall of Jerusalem which would befit only the impious foul mouths of those who do not know the God who is by nature and truly God. But he immediately paid the penalty for his arrogance. However, after capturing the cities in Samaria, the men with Shalmaneser, and also burning others in addition to these, boasted over the conquered, and acted insolently toward the divine glory. The Prophet therefore comforts the people of the Jews who are not moderately distressed, and that the God of all will in every way and entirely bring punishments upon those who warred against them, he teaches, saying, A jealous God and the Lord avenges with wrath, avenging His adversaries and He Himself taking away His enemies. The Lord is long-suffering and His strength is great. For He will somehow prevail, he says, having invincible power, and will overcome those who have caused grief. For even if He is long-suffering, and is seen for a time as forbearing, yet in the end He will not acquit; for He is jealous. And we will find the God of all Himself not moderately moved at what the people of Israel have suffered through the cruelty of the Babylonians. For He said through the voice of Jeremiah to the multitude or city of the Babylonians, "I gave them into your hands, but you showed them no mercy." And indeed also through the voice of Zechariah again He says thus "I have been jealous for "Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and with great "anger I am angry against the nations that join in the attack, "because I was a little angry, but they joined in "for evil." But the phrase 'a jealous God' and what follows, would fittingly apply also to those who are unwilling to go the gentle and God-loving path, but have rather turned aside to choose to live carnally. For that he will take vengeance, subjecting the unruly and sinful to punishments and penalties, how can one doubt, if it is true that "we must all appear "before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive "the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good "or bad." No less would the saying fittingly apply also to the teachers of the Jews, I mean the scribes and Pharisees, who, thrusting away faith in Christ, were found destroying both themselves and others. For they have thought hostile things, and have warred against the economy in the flesh of the Only-begotten, and they took the key of knowledge, as he himself says, and neither entered themselves, nor indeed allowed others to enter. Therefore, even if he is long-suffering, yet he will by no means clear those who have warred against the true faith. The Lord's way is in destruction and in shaking, and clouds are the dust of his feet. As the Prophet is about to proclaim beforehand the capture of Nineveh for the comfort of those who have suffered, and to make clear to the wronged that it will be shaken down by God, he usefully recounts first the all-powerful nature of the divine, and that for it, when it chooses to accomplish anything whatsoever, there is nothing that resists, but rather everything follows easily, and what seems good to it will prevail, even if some earthly matter seems difficult for us and for those like us to accomplish. For the Jews thought that the Babylonians would be most difficult to capture, and possessed a hand so invincible, that not even if God wished it, could they be weak against their enemies. For I think the things dared by them cruelly and savagely throughout their whole country called them to this despair. Therefore, so that they might know that they will lie down without a struggle when the wrath of God rises up against them, and they will be captured, and very easily, he necessarily says, The Lord’s way is in destruction and in shaking, and clouds are the dust of his feet. For if, he says, you should plan against some—for this is the way—it will surely run down upon them as in an earthquake. An earthquake and destruction are an invincible and altogether inescapable thing, and in addition to these, clouds flying like dust and covering the sky. And the Prophet seems to be bringing them to the remembrance of the flood that happened against the whole race of men in the time of Noah, for then God went forth, as it were, in destruction and in an earthquake against all, raising up clouds and, as the sacred scripture says, opening the floodgates of heaven, and inundating the world under heaven with irresistible rains. He, therefore, he says, who easily prevailed against the whole earth, and with a single decree destroyed all who were in it, how could he be weak against one nation, the Babylonian? And very fittingly for God he says, Clouds are the dust of his feet. For as it is easy for a man to stir up soil and dust with his foot, in the same way, I think, it is easy also for the God who has power over all things to cover the sky with a storm and clouds. But if it is fitting also to investigate the secret meaning of what has been set forth, I will think it necessary to say this, that we say the Only-begotten Word of God has made the way of the economy in the flesh, that is, its fulfillment, in destruction and in shaking. For since he became as we are, he has brought to an end and shaken "principalities and powers and the world-rulers of this age," driving out their advantage over us, and scaring away that ancient strength, having overthrown both the dominion of death itself and, in addition to this, sin. And clouds have become the dust of his feet. For just as dust flies up before one who is walking, so of the economy in the flesh The intelligible clouds went before the Only-Begotten, that is, the blessed prophets, using a more obscure and not very manifest word, yet with life-giving proclamations watering the mind of those able to understand. Rebuking the sea and drying it up, and laying waste all the rivers. He composes the account of the narrative from what they knew and had experienced, setting it apart from things too ancient. For when the protecting God brought Israel out from the impiety of the Egyptians and their unbearable greed, he led them through the middle of the sea, and commanded them to walk as on dry land; "for the waters were solidified like a wall," according to what is written. Therefore, he rebuked the sea, and it was passable like dry land. But if someone should wish to connect the first things with these thoughts, I mean the phrase "The Lord, in consummation and in shaking is his way," he will think what is fitting in this way too. For the Lord of all but consummated and shook the land of the Egyptians through the signs that happened in it and the death of the firstborn; for they perished in one night, and all things, as he said, were filled with lamentation and wailing; he led Israel through the middle of the sea, with the cloud from heaven suspended over them. The blessed David also said something like this. For he sings thus: "O God, when you went forth before your people, when you passed through the wilderness, the earth was shaken, and for the heavens dropped down." And by the earth being shaken, as I suppose, he means that of the Egyptians. But that a cloud also was hanging over, going before the sons of Israel, is unclear to no one, and the divine Paul will also confirm it, saying that all the fathers of Israel were baptized "in the cloud and in the sea." And the Prophet added to the drying up of the sea, also the laying waste of the rivers, recalling to memory another miracle. For when they were being brought into the land of promise, with Jesus presiding after Moses, then the Jordan stood again in its place, as the all-powerful God checked the flow of the streams with ineffable commands and bonds. And the blessed David esteems these things worthy of the greatest wonder, saying thus: "Come and see the works of God, how he is terrible in his counsels above the sons of men; who turns the sea into dry land, they shall go through the river on foot." For again they crossed the Jordan on foot. And if indeed he should say that all the rivers are dried up, he commands us to be disposed to the idea that what happened to one will also happen to all, if God so wills. But to some it seems to apply to the sense of the preceding things in another way. For if the Master of all, he says, should choose to make a raid against Nineveh, he will do it indeed with consummation and shaking; for he will consummate it and shake it easily; and since it is broad, and like a sea causing wars to surge against the other nations, he will dry it up without delay. And even if, he says, the nations from it should come up like torrents, they will in every way and altogether be laid waste. And we say that the sea and rivers that flood and drown are no less the wicked and opposing powers, and before all others, Satan. But Christ has dried up their whole power, and though it was once invincible, he has subjected it to the feet of those who worship him. Bashan and Carmel are diminished, and the flowering things of Lebanon have failed. The mountains were shaken by him, and the hills were moved, and the whole earth was removed from his presence, and all who dwell in it. And the discourse immediately comes through other proofs, testifying to the all-powerful and invincible authority of the divine nature. For Bashan is a flourishing and fertile land; and Carmel and Lebanon, the one a mountain of Phoenicia, the other of Judea, are both very well-wooded, and boast of abundant forests. But all these things, I mean Bashan, and the country itself lying beside the mountains, terrible and most warlike races inhabited it, and sons of giants, as it is written. Yet they have been removed and conquered by the sons of Israel, with God as their champion, and they have inherited their land. It is therefore as if he said again: The regions once teeming with terrible and most mighty men, and as it were proud with many forests of warriors within them, are gone and have been plundered, having suffered the desolation of their inhabitants. For this, I think, is what it means to say they have become few. Then how would the renowned Nineveh not be captured with God's assent? And besides Bashan and Carmel, the blossoms of Lebanon also failed. Lebanon, then, as I said, is a mountain of Phoenicia, but by it he means the entire land lying under it and around it. By the blossoms of Lebanon, then, he means those who reigned from time to time in Damascus and Phoenicia, who have also been given into the hands of the sons of Israel; for they too were conquered at times, although having a very great force, puffed up with terrible and irresistible reinforcements. And going through the books of the kingdoms, we will find the kingdom of the Damascenes plundered at times, by those who reigned from the tribe of Judah. Thus, the blossoms of Lebanon have failed, that is, the chosen ones of Phoenicia, or Lebanon, have been removed and have perished many times, that is, those who held power there. And why do I say these things, he says, when even very easily, if God wills it, the mountains themselves would be shaken and the hills will be moved, and the whole earth with its inhabitants will be destroyed, that is, it will pass into non-existence, and will be again as though it did not exist? For he who made it in the beginning will surely destroy it with ease, and great things are absolutely nothing to him. And the blessed David also seems to have understood and spoken in harmony with what is set before us: "What is it to you, O sea, that you fled? And you, O Jordan, that you turned back? The mountains, that you leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock? The earth was shaken at the presence of the Lord." For as he already said, "His way is in an earthquake." But that the whole earth is nothing, and the things in it would be considered of almost no account, if one were to measure the divine and ineffable glory, the prophet Isaiah will testify, saying, "If all the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and were considered as the turn of a scale, and will be reckoned as spittle; and Lebanon is not sufficient for burning, and all the four-footed beasts are not sufficient for a whole burnt offering, and all the nations are as nothing, and were reckoned as nothing; to whom have you likened the Lord, and to what likeness have you likened him?" But again, it seems right to others if these things were reckoned obliquely even of Nineveh itself. For they wish to compare it both to Bashan as an excellent and renowned country, and again to Carmel and Lebanon, as distinguished and most conspicuous mountains; and Nineveh was wonderful and distinguished. And he says it has become few, as it is about to be ravaged along with the blossoms in it, that is, the leaders and generals and the most illustrious of the other peoples. For since he made mention of mountains and of a very wooded country, I mean Bashan, he has maintained the figure of speech throughout the discourse; he called the richest and most flourishing those who were perhaps more distinguished by wealth, or preeminent in bodily strength, or in some other way raised above the others in superiority. But if one examines the audacious acts of the Jews against Christ, and the desolation brought upon them and their complete crushing and destruction, after he came back to life and ascended into heaven, one might reasonably apply these things to them as well. For Judea might reasonably be understood as Bashan and Carmel and indeed Lebanon; and Bashan, since it has also been named a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of wheat and oil and vineyards; and Carmel and Lebanon because it was raised high in glory, and became conspicuous and prominent, and as it were with unending forests to rejoice for its inhabitants. But he says that it has been diminished; for they have been consumed by the hand of the Romans, and having encountered, so to speak, dreadful and most mighty woodcutters, they have fallen just like plants. And the blessed prophet Isaiah hints at something of this kind, speaking as if to Jerusalem: "Open "O Lebanon, your doors, and let fire devour your "cedars. Howl, O pine, because the cedar has fallen, "because the great ones have been greatly afflicted. Howl, you oaks "of Bashan, because the dense forest has been torn down;" and somewhere else he says more clearly: "And the mourning "of Jerusalem will be like the mourning for a pomegranate grove in a plain that is being cut "down;" for since he again compares Jerusalem to Lebanon, he said that the falling cedars and pines are the exalted men in it, and he calls them oaks of Bashan; but the figure of speech, as I said, is metaphorical. Who can stand before his indignation? And who can withstand the fierceness of his anger? His fury melts rulers, and the rocks are shattered by him. He seals these words as truth for those who have experienced the divine wrath, saying that it is something bitter and hard to encounter. For I think that, falling upon them like fire, it would easily melt away principalities and powers, both earthly and spiritual, and it would effortlessly shatter even rocks, that is, those who have become hardened like rocks, and who have a relentless mind. And we shall find that such were the kings of the Assyrians, and indeed also the leader of the unclean spirits himself, Satan, about whom holy scripture says: "His heart is hardened like a stone, and it stands like an anvil "that cannot be hammered." But that the leaders of the Jews and those appointed among them to rule were also hard and obstinate and had become sick with the greatest insensibility, I mean the priests and the profane crowds of the unholy scribes and Pharisees, how is this not evident to all? They were also consumed by the war from the Romans, melting like wax in incurable misfortunes, but being exceedingly hard, they were shattered by evils, and they paid the penalty for their drunken violence against Christ. And in another way our Lord Jesus Christ also crushed for our sake "Principalities and powers and the world rulers "of the darkness of this age, the spiritual forces "of wickedness," so that he might deliver us and save us. And knowing this, the blessed David sings in a psalm: "You are fearsome, and who "will withstand you from the time of your wrath? From heaven "you made your judgment heard; the earth feared and was still, when "God arose to judgment, to save all the meek "of the earth." And he has given us "to tread upon snakes and scorpions, "and over all the power of the enemy." For he melted rulers, he shattered like rocks the arrogance of the unholy spirits. And as he was angry on our account and for our sake with those who had done wrong, it was necessary for them to give way, even unwillingly. The Lord is good to those who wait for him in the day of affliction, and he knows those who fear him. And in a flood of passage he will make an end; darkness will pursue those who rise up and his enemies. He admonishes usefully and very skillfully, neither cutting off the hope of prosperity, through which he said he would be good to those who wait for the Lord, nor yet permitting a dissolute and dissolute life; but rather leading one to good order and to choosing to live according to the law, by saying again that if he should make his way against some as in a flood, he will create something like a shock, and just as the rush of many and unbearable waters going down a steep place is something dreadful and altogether hard to escape, so if he should rush against certain people with things from divine wrath, he will utterly destroy all against whom he might go and be carried. Indeed, he says that his enemies will be pursued and overtaken by darkness. And certainly not entirely by the darkness of night, but I think of another, a spiritual darkness, conceived as a way of suffering. For he knows how to darken the human mind, and relentless a misfortune and a bitter and unexpected suffering, which indeed happened to the ancients, being carried off into captivity, and their land being captured. Therefore God, likening such evils to wine and strong drink, said very well to the blessed Jeremiah "Take the cup "of this unmixed wine from my hand, and you shall make "all the nations drink to whom I send you, "and they shall drink and vomit, and be mad because of "the sword that I send among them;" and indeed also through the voice of Isaiah to her "For you have drunk and drained the cup "of stumbling, the bowl of wrath." He says, therefore, that those who think hostile things toward God will be seized by drunkenness and darkness, very well frightening them toward choosing to think what it was better for them both to know and to do. And the God of all has also advanced against the Jews in a flood of marching, and has consumed them, exacting the penalties for what was done to Christ. And they have been in darkness, and being utterly deprived of the divine light, the wretched ones remain foolish and blind. For they were not willing to follow Christ when He cried out "While you have the light, "walk in the light, that darkness may not overtake you." But since they were disobedient and unruly, for this reason then, as the prophet says "When they waited for light, there was "darkness for them, and waiting for brightness, they walked in gloom." For they became enemies of the divine light, and unholily rose up against the glory of Christ. What do you devise against the Lord? He will make a full end; he will not take vengeance twice on the same thing in affliction. I have already said also at the beginning, that when Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians had sacked Samaria, and had also ravaged with it other cities and villages subject to the scepter of Judah, then those who were left from the war were in unbearable fears and fleeing to the lands of the neighboring nations; for they thought, as was likely, that they would fall into the same evils a second time when the Babylonians returned against them; God made the exhortation necessary through the voice of the Prophet, promising these two things: that He would have mercy in due time on those already taken by the war and in unbearable misfortunes, and would release them from the bonds of captivity, and that He would deliver Nineveh to desolation and destruction. So that, therefore, expecting to fall into the same evils again, they might not now make their flight from Judea to foreigners an easy matter, He, so to speak, inquires, saying what it is they are devising and have resolved to think about the Lord; Do you think, he says, that the Master of all is harsh and grievously wrathful, so as to demand double penalties for the same offenses? But you are very much mistaken about what is fitting. For if you have added nothing of all that is outside the law and provokes the law's establisher to wrath, He would not still inflict a second blow. He has afflicted you sufficiently for the impieties in which you were already caught. Stop the sin, and He will check his wrath. He has chastened sufficiently; He will now have mercy on those who have chosen to be prudent. The discourse is therefore mixed, and has a blended exhortation. For at the same time it both persuades them to choose genuinely to do what is pleasing to God, and gives courage to those who have chosen to do this, that He will be good to them, not letting loose unbridled wrath upon them, as they themselves thought. But observe how the discourse has again preserved the remnant for Israel. For that God will not make a full end of them, he has clearly proclaimed beforehand, speaking as if in a question, What do you devise against the Lord? Will He Himself make a full end? For he says He will not make a full end, nor, having shaken Israel from its very foundations, will He deliver it to utter destruction. But He will spare them for the sake of the fathers, and they will be saved in due time, entering after the gentiles through faith in Christ into sanctification and intimacy with God through the Son in the Spirit. For up to their foundations they will be laid waste, and as a bindweed intertwined, it will be devoured, and like a stalk full of dryness. From you shall come forth a thought against the Lord, plotting wicked things, contrary things. Having shown through many things that the ability to accomplish all things easily belongs to the God of all, and that nothing is at all impossible for him, he transfers the discourse now to Nineveh itself, and says that even if it should advance to such a point of splendor as to appear equal to the most wooded of mountains, I mean Lebanon and Carmel, boasting in its many and innumerable peoples; and even if it should lack nothing of Bashan, yet a time will come when it will be completely desolated. For I think this is what it means to be laid waste to its foundation, the discourse having maintained the trope as of mountains and earth, of woods and timber. He says it will be devoured when the Persians and Medes are in a way distributed. For these took Nineveh, when Cyrus was commander. And he compares the multitude of the Assyrians to bindweed, for they dwelt in Nineveh. And what could be the reason for such a thing again? For bindweed is an ivy-like plant, and it always creeps upwards and sends forth thin shoots, and it seizes upon the plants standing near, so that often even the tallest of trees are choked by it. And the Assyrians did this too, ever leaping upon countries and cities, and as it were choking and overwhelming them with the entanglements of wars and with unbearable tyrannies. And he said that it would be burned up, and like a stalk full of dryness. And the stalk is a thing most ready to be consumed by fire. And so, to Nineveh, as it were, being set on fire and suffering the things of wrath and being consumed, the Prophet then exclaims and clarifies the reason for suffering such things, saying, From you shall come forth a thought against the Lord, plotting wicked things, contrary things. You are destined for desolation, he says, and you will be like a wasteland, and indeed you will also be burned with fire, for you will devise dreadful and arrogant and contrary things against God. For the God of all, punishing a sinning Israel, made it vulnerable and brought it under your feet. But you will not be so disposed yourself, but you will think rather that you have taken Judea, and not with his consent. For we shall find the Rabshakeh's superfluous speech to be of this sort, when he mocked the glory of God, saying to those sitting on the wall, "Let not Hezekiah deceive you with words that will not be able to deliver you; and let not Hezekiah say to you that God will deliver Jerusalem from my hand." To this truly most senseless and unholy loose-tongued speech, God answered through the voice of Isaiah, saying, "Shall the axe glorify itself without him who hews with it, or shall the saw be exalted without him who pulls it?" For just as the axe, even if it were very sharp and of good bronze, would not be effective in cutting down trees, unless someone were to wield it with his own powers against something, and likewise the saw will accomplish nothing at all at its own task, with no one pulling it down or up; so also the power of the kingdom of the Ninevites, or rather of their army, would not have conquered Samaria, had not divine wrath brought it against its cities and villages, and used it as a tool, which is moved by another and is useful when taken for service, but would do nothing by itself. Nineveh is therefore punished for devising wicked things against God and contrary things rather than what the nature of the matter truly held. For the God of all handed over a sinning Israel, and she did not rather take it while God was defending and still wishing to save them. Thus says the Lord, who commands many waters: And so shall they be scattered, and your report shall no longer be heard. The discourse, then, is to the arrogant and God-fighting Nineveh. And he says that waters in this context are the innumerable multitudes throughout countries and cities and nations, poured out easily like rivers or the sea, of whomever God should choose. For he himself is their commander, as Creator, as Lord and God of all, as one who steers by his own commands the things that have come to be by him, and who changes the inclination of all hearts toward what seems good to him, thus distinguishing and shaping in whatever way he himself might wish. For this reason he says, O Nineveh, you will finally cease from being terrible, all-powerful and famous. For the report of you will no longer be heard, that is, there will no longer be much talk about you among all people. For long ago you were splendid, and on the tongues of all were great stories about you; but now no longer, but they will sound a mournful song over you. There will be nothing great and worth hearing about you any more. And now I will break his rod from off you, and I will burst your bonds, and the Lord will give command concerning you. Again the word of the Prophet has shifted to Israel. It is as if he were to say, Having put away the memory of those former transgressions, I will finally have mercy, as one who has paid the penalty; as one sufficiently punished I will release you from their greed, and you will in no way be subject to the rod of the Assyrians, that is, to their scepter or their kingdom; for the scepter is a symbol of kingship; and I will release you from the bonds of fears and slavery, and I will bring you again into the good day of freedom. As for the phrase, The Lord will give command concerning you, you will understand it thus. For to whom does he give command? Is it to good spirits and the armies of angels, which have been appointed by God to watch over Israel? Or rather, he gives command perhaps to the very one who at the appointed time released them from captivity; and this was Cyrus, the son of Cambyses; and he gives command not at all as speaking to a holy man and a prophet, but by putting his own will into his mind, and making him a minister of what seems good to him, although he was profane and an idolater. For just as he commanded the sea monster to swallow Jonah, and again the gourd to spring up over his head and to shade him, and indeed also the morning worm to strike the gourd; so we say he also gave command to Cyrus. And this is the historical sense; but God the Father might also proclaim to Jerusalem, which had become the killer of the Lord, that is, to the land of the Jews "That it shall be laid waste to its foundations, "and like intertwined bindweed it shall be devoured, and like a "stalk full of dryness. Out of you will come a calculation "against the Lord, plotting evil things in opposition." For it has been burned and laid waste, and like a dry stalk it has been consumed. For they dared to devise evil things against the Lord, and indeed to use an unbridled tongue; for at one time they called him a Samaritan and wine-sodden and born of fornication; and at another time they even said that "he is misleading the crowd," although for this very reason he was sent by God the Father, that he might deliver from wandering what was wandering and bring to God what had leaped away from him, and that he might bring through faith what had in many ways slipped into apostasy, and that he might enlighten what was in darkness, and bind up what was broken. But since he did not utterly destroy Israel, but, as I have already said many times, the remnant was preserved for him; for not a few even from the Jews have believed, and mingled with the Gentiles they glorify Christ; let those of the circumcision according to the flesh hear that I will break his rod from off you and I will burst your bonds and the Lord will give command concerning you. But what rod, he says, or what bonds at all, how is it not necessary to say? For they were subject as to a kind of scepter, being weighed down by the folly and savageness of the scribes and Pharisees, and being held, so to speak, in bonds by their commandments, they did not accept the faith. But the rod, that is, the rule, has been taken away, and the bonds have been burst, and finally with a free mind they have run to Christ, so to speak, headlong, calling out to one another, and saying that which is from the psalmist's lyre: "Let us break their bonds, and cast away their yoke from us." And besides those, let the gentiles no less hear, And now I will break his rod from you and your bonds I will break apart and the Lord will give command concerning you. For of old, yoked under the scepters of the devil, and bound tight with the chains of worldly pleasures, they used to worship "the creation rather than the creator;" they did not know God who is so by nature and in truth, and differing little from irrational beasts, they were enslaved to the pleasures of the flesh, living a pitiful and most irrational life. But they too have been set free, since Christ shattered that ancient rod and tore apart the bonds, and drew them out of sin, and transferred them from error to the knowledge of God, and justified them by faith, and henceforth gave command concerning them, clearly to the holy angels. For it is written that "He who dwells in the help of the Most High will lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven." For He will command the holy angels to guard us in all our ways and to take us up in their hands, lest we strike our foot against a stone. And it is true that "The angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him, and will deliver them." No more shall your name be sown. This is like saying again: You will no longer be scattered among all the nations, or taken captive by the spear and a wanderer and far from the land that bore you, enduring very harsh servitude in the cities of enemies, pitifully and wretchedly and miserably scattered. But it should be noted that the Prophet Nahum was before the second captivity in Babylon, and after these words of the Prophet, Judah was captured and went into captivity and served the Assyrians. For while Hezekiah was reigning in Jerusalem, Sennacherib campaigned against Samaria, and after plundering the cities in it, and burning others besides, he sent Rabshakeh from Lachish, who let loose his boorish tongue against God, and then by the hand of an angel one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the army of the Assyrians fell; but after the reign of Hezekiah, when no little time had passed in between, when Zedekiah, who was the son of Josiah, was reigning, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, having first plundered all of Judea, and then having taken the holy city by force, and having burned that famous temple, he deported Judah and added them to those who had been carried away from Samaria by Sennacherib. Does, then, the God of all falsify the promise, saying through the Prophet to those of the blood of Israel, 'No more shall your name be sown?' Then how is it not ignorant, but rather would reach the limit of all evil, to think God speaks falsely? For the divine is in no way prone to error in speech, far from it; but it will prove true in this way. For having first recalled the release which happened in due time, when Cyrus the Persian had destroyed the empire, he then says that after this Israel would no longer be a wanderer and an exile. For having been recalled to their own lands and having returned to Judea, they dwelt securely. And wars were indeed stirred up against them by Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, and by certain others after him; however, they did not depart into captivity; but, as I said, they have dwelt securely in the land that bore them. Thus, then, 'No more shall your name be sown' might be understood concerning Israel according to the flesh; but the spiritual Israel will also hear it, and very fittingly, that is, those who with the eyes of the mind see God and are amazed at the glory of the Only-begotten: 'No more shall your name be sown.' For before faith they were under the hands of enemies, having yoked the neck of their mind to Satan and the wicked powers with him, and having been bound in the evils of the love of the flesh. But henceforth the oppression of those who formerly held sway has been removed, sin has been shaken off and has fallen along with them, the power of the passions has been taken away. For Christ has set us free, He has gathered us through faith into holiness, although we were scattered in many ways into manifold and fleeting passions, and into immeasurable polytheism. But we will no longer be scattered, but we will remain in every way in Christ, having one faith, one baptism, and one Lord, Savior and Redeemer, and through him we are bound to God the Father in spiritual unity. From the house of your God I will destroy the carved images, and I will make the molten images your grave. Israel had stumbled not moderately, having inclined to apostasy, and having unholily departed from the God who saved them, but adhering to the worship of idols, for this reason also, having become captive, he has gone to his enemies, and was thus carried away to Nineveh. And those who were left behind in Jerusalem were no less indifferent towards the love of God, and insecure in reverence, and rejecting what is pleasing to God, and shaking off the yoke of slavery under him; but still sacrificing to Baal and to Astarte and to the host of heaven. But since threats came through the holy prophets, with God saying clearly that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and that its inhabitants would go captive along with the others in every way and altogether into the hands of foreigners, some of those who had reigned in it sobered up at times, and tore down the sacred precincts, overturned altars, and consumed the carved images with fire. But Josiah especially excelled among the others in these things, about whom the man of God also spoke to Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, while he was once sacrificing. For he was standing to offer sacrifices to the golden calves; but he says to the altar by the word of the Lord, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son is born to the house of David, Josiah is his name, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who sacrifice upon you, and he will burn the bones of men upon you." But that what was promised has come to pass, the sacred scripture has clearly testified. And it is written thus in the fourth book of Kings concerning Josiah: "And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out from the house of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and he took their ashes to Bethel, and he deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained, and they burned incense in the high places and in the cities of Judah and in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal and to the grove and to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook of Kidron, and he burned them in the brook of Kidron, and ground them to dust, and cast their dust on the grave of the sons of the people." Do you understand then, how the molten images were in a way made a grave, and the carved images were destroyed from the house of the Lord? And another scripture will confirm the word on this. For it said thus in the second book of Chronicles, "In the eighth year of his reign," clearly that of Josiah, "while he was still a boy, he began to seek the Lord, the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year of his reign he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves and from the molten images, and they tore down in his presence the altars of the Baals, and the high places that were on them, and he cut down the groves and the carved images, and he broke in pieces the molten images and ground them to powder and scattered it on the face of the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them; and he burned the bones of priests on the altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem." Therefore they were destroyed in their very precincts, as I said, and altars, and they were all but buried together with the molten images, according to the word of the Prophet. And it should be known that Nahum prophesied during the times of Hezekiah. Then from Hezekiah was born Manasseh, who reigned for fifty-five years; and the son of Manasseh Amos, who lived for barely two years, and after him Josiah, in whose time the things of the prophecy were fulfilled, as the discourse has just shown us. For behold, swift upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news and proclaims peace. The sons of Israel, having become captives, were indeed living in Babylon, yet they were in hopes of being brought back again in due time, and would return before long to their noble lineage from above and from their fathers, as this had been promised by the holy prophets as if God were speaking. And the time of their hope was the reign of Cyrus, who was about to take Nineveh by force, and this again Isaiah had proclaimed to them beforehand. For he said, "Thus says the Lord God to my anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations might hearken before him, and I will break the strength of kings, I will open doors before him, and cities shall not be shut. I will go before you, and I will level mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze, and I will shatter the bars of iron." And after other things, again, "This man shall build the city of Jerusalem, and he shall bring back the captivity of my people, not with ransom nor with gifts, said the Lord of hosts." Therefore, he says, a messenger of peace will come to those of Israel, signifying the expedition of Cyrus, when they also shook off the yoke of captivity, and broke the rod of their rulers, and having broken the bonds of their unaccustomed servitude, they returned home again and were saved. But if someone should choose to apply the meaning of the preceding words to the proclamations of the holy Baptist, he too would rightly take this course. For he spent his time in the desert, and as if crying out in the mountains he proclaimed the good news of peace, that is, Christ. Beautiful, therefore, and swift are the feet of him who says, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God." Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, pay your vows, because they shall no longer continue to pass through into ruin. Since the law had commanded that one must not sacrifice outside the holy and divine court, but "in the place which the Lord your God shall choose for his name to be called upon it," the people of Israel, being in a foreign land and inhabiting the country of the Persians and Medes, were in every way, I suppose, inactive and inert concerning their established customs, not fulfilling their customary feasts, not offering sacrifices, nor first-fruits, nor thank-offerings according to the law, not slaughtering the lamb in the new month; perhaps even hesitating at mere doxologies. And we say this from the inspired David, as speaking in the person of the people in Babylon: "By the river of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hung our instruments." And in addition to these things, also, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" For, as I said, since they were outside the holy land, outside the temple and tabernacle, and not having the sacred place, it was necessary for them to be inactive regarding the things of the law. But since the time for release was then revealed, someone fittingly proclaims to them, either the messenger of peace, whose feet are swift, or the Prophet himself, that it is possible for them to fulfill feasts, to kindle songs of thanksgiving, and to carry out very well the things in their vows, that is, their promises. And he also promises the imminent destruction of their enemies. For they shall not, he says, continue to pass through into ruin, that is, they will not remain for long times, nor indeed will they have a prosperity that grows old, that is, unending. For it will cease and come to an end, being curtailed. But let the spiritual Judah also hear such voices more fittingly. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God." Such a one, therefore, will celebrate splendidly, having his faith firmly fixed, clearly that which is in Christ, sanctified by the Spirit, and by the shining with the grace of adoption. He will offer spiritual sacrifices to God, dedicating himself as a fragrant aroma, and practicing every kind of virtue: prudence, self-control, courage, patience, love, hope, love for the poor, kindness, long-suffering; "For with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Let the spiritual Judah know, however, concerning every enemy and those who formerly prevailed, that they will no longer pass into old age, that is, they will be removed from the midst, being sent, clearly, to punishment. This Christ has fulfilled, commanding the unclean spirits to depart into the abyss, and giving to those who love him [the power] to rise up against their enemies, and to act manfully against passions and to overcome sin and "to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." It is finished, it is taken away; he has come up breathing into your face, delivering from affliction. As it was already fixed, and in every way and altogether about to happen that Nineveh must be destroyed, he says that it is finished, indicating by this its coming to an end, as it were. And indeed also that it is taken away, that is, that it has been cut off completely and utterly destroyed. And very well indeed he says "he has come up" concerning Cyrus, signifying something emphatic, I think, such as the prophet Jeremiah also said about him, foretelling what would happen in due time to Nineveh: "A lion has come up from his den, a destroyer of nations has set out, and has gone forth from his place, to make your land a desolation, and your cities shall be laid waste, so that none shall dwell in them." For like a wild beast leaping upon Nineveh, he devoured those in it. But to them he was a terrible and relentless enemy, and became unyielding in his wrath, but to those of Israel he was breathing into their face and delivering from affliction, that is, releasing them from their unusual servitude, loosing their bonds, recovering them as captives, by sending them home, and also commanding that the divine temple be rebuilt for them. But he says "breathing into the face" as from a Jewish tradition and custom. We will find mention of such things at times in the divinely inspired scriptures, such as the Jews thinking it necessary to tear their garments at blasphemies against God. And so Caiaphas, when Christ said he was the Son of God, tore his robe, crying out and saying, "He has blasphemed." And the divine disciples Paul and Barnabas also did this. For they were in Lycaonia. And when they had freed one of the sick from his suffering, and the thing was marvelous to those who saw it, the spectators of the divine sign wanted to sacrifice to them. For they said, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men! They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because," it says, "he was the chief speaker." But since what was being done was a kind of blasphemy, they tore their own garments, still following Jewish traditions and unwritten customs. But the custom has been disparaged, as not being from the law, and completely useless. And so the God of all said to the Jews who were fashioning such things and straying far from true piety: "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning, and rend your hearts, and not your garments." Just as, therefore, it was a custom for some to tear their garment when someone had blasphemed, so also was the practice of breathing into the face of the sick in some way or another. Those who were accustomed to exorcise and with curious incantations, pretending to release the weary from spirits and pains, did this especially, and quite strangely. He takes, therefore, the example from their custom, and says, "He has come up breathing into your face"; that is, Cyrus; "and delivering you from affliction." For some pretended to be able to accomplish this, as I said, by breathing on others. But it is wise and true to say that both that of the devil and that against us the power of sin which tyrannized has been curtailed, and death has been captured as it were, and corruption has been entirely removed. For Christ has risen from Hades and lived again, who breathes on the face of the holy apostles and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit." For in this way we have been delivered from all evil, and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, we are being restored to the ancient beauty of our nature, and are being mentally re-stamped into the first image. For our Lord Jesus Christ is being formed in us through the Spirit. Watch the road, brace your loins, be exceedingly courageous in your strength, because the Lord has turned away the insolence of Jacob, as the insolence of Israel. To those about to go very soon into Judea, and intending to go home, he necessarily adds that it is needful for the future both to watch the road and brace their loins, that is to be ready and prepared for the toils of the journey, and to be courageous against all hesitation, and to be seen to love being superior to long distances, using invincible eagerness for this. A sign of readiness is to have one's loins, as it were, well-ordered and girded. And indeed our Lord Jesus Christ says to the holy apostles, or rather to all who believe in him, "Let your loins be girded." For the posture is that of a traveler, and is most especially fitting for those who preach the divine gospel, and have their feet most ready for this. Therefore, he says, brace your loins, instead of, be prepared and, as it were, ready for a journey. For the Lord has turned away, he says, the insolence of Jacob as the insolence of Israel. Observe again in these words the distinction that is necessarily introduced. For by Jacob he means those who dwelt in Samaria, that is the ten tribes, over whom reigned those from the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh, who came from Joseph, who was from Jacob; but by Israel he names those in Jerusalem, I mean Judah and Benjamin. And since, when Sennacherib had sacked Samaria, Jerusalem was not captured, as God at that time defended it and destroyed the Assyrian by the hand of an angel; and Cyrus released not only the captives from Samaria who had been carried away to Nineveh, but also those from Jerusalem, when Nebuchadnezzar had captured the land; the Prophet necessarily says that the Lord turned away the insolence of Jacob as the insolence of Israel. And by insolence he means slavery or servitude. And that God will release all, not defending some while allowing others to languish in their toils, he teaches by saying thus: He turned away the insolence of Jacob as that of Israel is also turned away. For all, as we said, ran back to Judea, having escaped the harm of captivity. But I say that it is necessary, and very rightly so, for those who have been redeemed in Christ to no longer wish to live uncircumspectly; but rather to survey the road of the way of life that pleases God and to go on the good path and brace their loins, that is, to be seen to be superior to the belly and love of pleasure, "and to make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires," and to be courageous against passions and all hesitation; for in this way they will come to the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, and there they will offer spiritual sacrifices to God, and having shaken off the yoke of their former slavery, they will live a glorious and free life, delivered from all worthlessness. Because emptying they have emptied them out and their branches. They destroyed the weapons of their power from among men, mighty men mocking in fire. The reins of their chariots on the day of his preparation, and the horsemen shall be thrown into confusion in the ways, and the chariots shall be thrown into confusion and shall clash together in the broad ways; their appearance is like torches of fire and like lightnings running to and fro. As the God who knows all things sounded in the holy prophets the things that would be at various times, they necessarily announced them according to what seemed good to him. And many times they occurred even in the very with visions of things. Therefore they were astonished, and seeing them all but fulfilled, they made their pronouncements about them; something of which sort the Prophet now seems to have experienced concerning the inhabitants of Nineveh, and those who shielded themselves with Cyrus, that they both shook them off and their branches. But the account is made as from what is accustomed to happen to vines. For the cluster is shaken off and spits out the grapes, either when a most violent wind attacks, or when a scorching heat burns it, or when any other harm befalls it, so that the branch itself appears with the fruits, stripped even of its blossom. So then they shook them off like vines. And their weapons have been destroyed, that is, their power; for 'weapons' sometimes signifies power. But he says that being terrible horsemen, and knowing the battles from chariots, they were in such unbearable terrors, that they were turned to flight, and entangled with one another, and were shattered dashing against each other, and he thought he so gazed upon the phalanxes of the enemy, that they yielded in no way to torches, or even like lightning consumed them, darting with a swift and unrestrained course. And their nobles shall be mindful, and they shall flee by day and shall be feeble in their going, and they shall hasten to the walls, and shall prepare their defenses. When the war weighs heavily upon even the most powerful of them along with the others, he says, they will receive into their mind what they did when they took Judea, that is, the outrageous things they have said, uttering reviling words, and, as it were, slinging down the glory of God with their own unbridled mouths, the wretches. Then, being brought to the remembrance of these things, they will know at last that they have God as their enemy, who is putting them under the feet of those who war against them, although they were formerly exceedingly terrible, and had practiced making their attack completely irresistible against whomever they went. But if indeed they should turn to flight, finding the matter difficult to escape, and having grown weak in their journeys, they will betake themselves to other counsels. For they will take care of the walls, and will place guards upon them. And by these things he shows that they are at a loss in every way, and do not know at all what it is fitting to do, because their mind has been darkened, and all but drunk as with wine on the unmixed calamities, they lament the failure of their salvation and are scattered everywhere, changing easily from these things to those, and from those to others, and having unprofitable labor in all these things. But if he also says, 'And they shall flee by day,' I think it means this. For being terrible, as I said, hard to conquer and harsh, they will have sunk at last to such cowardice as to choose to flee openly, and to do this now without concealment, although formerly they refused it and were accused of it only by bare suspicions. But the wicked powers also have been defeated by the majesty of Christ, and being unable to act against his divine commands—on our behalf, that is—they were broken by terrors and have truly fled, no longer being saved by any security. For when God brings on punishments, who could escape? Or what manner of thing will deliver those who have offended? The gates of the cities have been opened, and the palaces have fallen, and the substance has been revealed. And she went up, and her handmaids were led away as doves, moaning in their hearts. The nobles, therefore, he says, finding flight impossible, will hasten to the walls, and will prepare their defenses. But their plan will be unprofitable for them, as God opens the gates of the cities to their adversaries, and delivers up the palaces, that is, the houses of the kings, revealing the things hidden in them, and setting forth their substance for plunder. And he calls 'substance' the wealth clearly gathered from plunder and greed against others. Then again, as being in contemplation of what will happen, being dragged now looks toward captivity, both the ruling city, I mean Nineveh, and those under it and around it, which he also calls handmaidens, because they were yoked and subject, perhaps, and served it. And he says they speak as doves in their hearts, that is, not openly but secretly. For it is the custom of the bird to cry out in its heart something heavy and grievous. Indeed, for those who have fallen into the hands of enemies, and are then being dragged off into captivity, it is not at all unlikely that something of this sort happens. For they lament their own misfortune, almost suppressing their lamentations within themselves, since at times it is not even free for them to weep. And Nineveh is like a pool of water, her waters, and they themselves fleeing did not stand, and there was no one who looked upon them. They plundered the silver, they plundered the gold, and there was no end to her adornment; they have become heavier than all her desirable vessels. He compares Nineveh to a pool both filled and poured out, because of the very great multitude inhabiting it, and the countless tribes of nations flowing in to assist. And he is astounded, as it were, or rather, he scoffs, as it were, at those who flee, that though they were very many and beyond number, they departed in cowardice, although long ago with their populous hand they had been confident in every war, and raised a high brow over themselves. But it was the God of all who was loading down their mind with cowardice and bringing it to baseness, and paralyzing their fighting spirit. For it is true that "A king is not saved by a great "force, and a giant will not be saved by the greatness of his "strength;" but rather the Lord of all saves whomever He might choose, and very easily. Then what does the Prophet say? they plundered the silver and they plundered the gold; and these things were their substance; And there was no end to their adornment, and in this he seems to also name the Indian stones, with which he says she was especially weighed down, although she was also disheartened by other vessels. For it was the custom of the Assyrians, that is, the Ninevites, to make a great and zealous collection of stones, and to adorn themselves like girls, so that even in battles themselves they strove for the splendor of adornment and were seen decked with flowers. But the Prophet speaks very concisely in these matters, according to a plan, and at one time he depicts in his account them falling, at another time entangled with one another, and at a loss for flight, and having their guards to no avail, and at another time even plundered, cutting short the sorrows of those in captivity, and artfully charming them with the prediction of such things, and leading them to cheerfulness with the sweetest narratives. ∆And satan has also been plundered, first through the Savior Christ, then after him through the holy Apostles, concerning whom the prophet Jeremiah also said somewhere, "Because suddenly those "who bite him will arise, and your plotters will awaken, "and you will be plunder for them." And Christ has also introduced the narrative as in the form of a parable in the evangelical preachings, for he said, "Or how can one enter "the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, "unless he first binds the strong man, and then plunders his "goods?" For those who worship satan, his choice and precious vessels, have run to the faith, as the Savior of us all, Christ, transfers them to the worship of God, and as the holy Apostles themselves persuade them to walk in this way. A shaking out and a shaking up and a boiling over and a breaking of heart and a loosening of knees and pains upon every loin, and the face of all as the scorching of a pot. He says every kind of crushing will be crushed. For what else could being shaken out and shaken up and indeed boiled over signify to us, but this? For what is shaken and shaken up is scattered everywhere. And he says a breaking of heart will follow, God clearly crushing them into cowardice, and a loosening of knees, that is, weakness and paralysis of bodies, and upon these things, pains, clearly those from unpleasantness; for how were they not going to be in such evils, who had been brought down to everything that is accustomed to grieve God? And in addition to these things he affirms, And the face of all as the blackness of a pot. For the faces of those in despondency are always darkened, and the assault of terrors terribly takes away the brightness of their eyes. And speaking the truth, we say that such things happened both to Satan himself, who tyrannized over us, and to the evil powers with him. For since they were being cast out from that ancient honor and glory, how was it not likely that they would suffer such things in every way and altogether? Where is the dwelling place of the lions, and the pasture that was for the cubs? Where the lion went to enter there; a lion's cub, and there was no one to frighten him? The lion seized enough for his cubs and strangled for his lionesses, and he filled his den with prey and his dwelling place with plunder. He calls Nineveh the dwelling place of lions. for in it have dwelt, and made for themselves a splendid and admirable habitation and a secure palace, those who reigned over it at various times: Pul and Shalmaneser and Sennacherib and indeed also Nebuchadnezzar; for these have warred against Judea. But the "Where is it" is not, I think, of one asking a question; for I think one must reject the simple-minded view; but rather of one mocking, and showing through this that it has been utterly destroyed, so that it is no longer even seen where it once was. for it has been finished and taken away, as he himself says. where then, indeed, he says, is the dwelling place of the lions, that is, Nineveh? And where is the pasture of the cubs? And cubs, as I think, he calls those acting and placed under the greatest king, and holding an honorable position with him in glory, I mean satraps and generals; and their pasture he calls those under their hand and subject to them, and paying tribute and making a collection of money; "For the poor are the pastures of the rich," according to what is written. Since, therefore, Nineveh has been completely taken away, and all the surrounding country, where then, he says, is the lodging of the lions? And where is the pasture of the cubs? But that Nineveh had become, as it were, a secure base of operations for the kings of various times, he has shown by saying, Where the lion went to enter there, a lion's cub, and there was no one to frighten him. For the wall of the city was impregnable, having been very well made with works of magnitude beyond description. But since Nebuchadnezzar, having ravaged all Samaria, and Judea itself, and the holy city, I mean Jerusalem, carried away those of the blood of Israel to his own land, and so disposed of those once captured under his authority, as to make some his own and hold them in bonds, and to give others to others and sell them, and to have his own country and city full of captives. For this reason he says that, The lion seized enough for his cubs and strangled for his lionesses and filled his den with prey and his dwelling place with plunder. And again the word is formed as from what naturally happens. For beasts, simply seizing what falls in their way, then having eaten enough, with the remainder they nourish their cubs, lending their own labors to them. And such things might be said again also of Satan himself, Christ having destroyed both him and his things, and having taken away his prey from the earth. For he broke the molars of the lions, according to the voice of the psalmist, "The Lord has shattered the molars of the lions." Behold, I am against you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will burn up your multitude in smoke, and the sword will devour your lions, and I will destroy your prey from the earth, and your deeds shall no longer be heard. God Himself opposes them, and rises up as the agent, turning them to despair of their salvation. For when God wills to do harm, who is there still to save? Or who will turn away the one who wills to ravage the Lord of hosts? "For who shall turn back his mighty hand?" according to what is written. He says indeed that he will burn up her multitude in smoke, so that we may again understand something of this sort. Beekeepers from time to time, when they wish to dig out the honeycombs from the hives, light a fire and drive away the bees with smoke, so that they may not fight and wound them with their stings, flying around them in a swarm. Something like this has also happened to those summoned to aid Nineveh in its danger. For they departed and fled as the smoke of war fell upon them, terrifying them into cowardice and casting them into unbearable fears. Indeed, he calls lions the most valiant and bold, who perhaps even took courage in their resistance; nevertheless, they have become the work of the sword of Cyrus. Since the discourse has brought to our minds the memory of lions, it necessarily says that their prey will also be utterly destroyed, so that nothing among them worth hearing of will any longer exist. For it was their habit to attack cities and countries, and to leap upon them beast-like, on whomsoever they might happen to choose, and to do countless things, so that the misfortunes of the sufferers became a song and a lament for many. Therefore, he says that their prey will be utterly destroyed. For how or whom were they going to hunt any longer, when the common folk were terrified and had fled as from smoke, and the most warlike had fallen, who like lions attacked those who resisted them? And the God of all has been roused against the Jews who killed the Lord, so that the multitude of the common folk was scattered to every wind, and those more distinguished than others, like savage beasts, were destroyed along with the many. For they have acted impiously in an intolerable way against the Savior of all, Christ. Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and injustice. He has called it a city of blood; for those who had reigned in Nineveh were most ready for murder and exceedingly bloodthirsty; and those in it were otherwise warlike, and always eager to make their attacks untamable against whomever they might go. And he says "full of lies," because it was also full of idols, in which falsehood is especially not unproven. For they are falsely named, and the handmade gods steal the glory of divinity, "Silver and gold, according to what is written, the works of men's hands." And the wise Jeremiah somewhere also called it a land of graven images. But "full of lies" might also be understood in another way, with falsehood being understood as villainy and guile and deceit hateful to God, with injustice clearly running alongside. For where there is deceit and guile, there injustice will surely follow. And a city of blood, full of lies and injustice, is also Jerusalem, which killed the Lord. For we remember Christ saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her." And he said somewhere through the voice of the prophets, "Woe to them, because they have departed from me; they are miserable, because they have acted impiously against me; I redeemed them, but they have spoken lies against me." For they have spoken against the glory of Christ, at one time saying that he casts out demons by Beelzebul; at another time calling him a winebibber, and in addition to this, a Samaritan, and things much more shameful. For it would be fitting for their foul mouths alone to babble those things which they have dared to say. The prey shall not be handled. The sound of whips and the sound of the rattling of wheels, and of a pursuing horse and of a jolting chariot, and of a horseman mounting, and of a gleaming sword and of flashing weapons, and a multitude of slain and a heavy fall; and there was no end to her nations, and they shall be weak in their bodies from the multitude of fornication. The discourse is again made from what naturally happens. For fowlers, covering the leafy bushes densely with nets, often seize those hidden beneath them by touching them with their hands. And this is a skill of theirs. Therefore, he says, the prey will no longer be handled by them, that is, they could no longer hunt as they did before some, that is, those who plunder the things of others for themselves, would not become a snare and a noose for the weaker, since another care has come upon them, and the struggle for the ultimate things is imminent. For there will be in it the sound of whips. And again the Prophet seems to me to be clearly describing the turmoil from the war, as if it were set before his eyes. For he sees the city as if it were resounding with horses, and being battered by the wheels of chariots, and those who ravage it flashing in brilliant armor, and the slain being beyond number, and the houses in it shaken down; for he also mentions a heavy fall. But he is astonished that while the multitude of the nations gathered in it is very great, they are all unmanly and strangely afflicted with cowardice, and far too prone to timidity. And he immediately gives the reason, saying that they will be weak in their bodies from the abundance of fornication. For since they have become base and wicked in their ways, and moreover idolaters, and have turned aside to error in an extraordinary way, for this reason they will justly be weak and terrified, not even enduring so much as to speak or even just to think of resistance. A beautiful and graceful harlot, a mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotry and tribes through her sorceries. Praise for shameful things is an intensification of the accusations, as for instance if someone should choose to say about one of his associates, that he is a skillful thief and a brave robber and an ingenious sorcerer. Therefore, even if it were said of Nineveh, "A beautiful and graceful harlot," the matter will not be for her praise—far from it—but rather will make the condemnation more severe. For courtesan women then especially seem to practice much grace, when they appear to be both talkative and elegant in speech. Such also was Nineveh, skilled in evildoing, and not incapable of capturing cities and countries, and persuading them to think what seemed right and pleasing to her. And these things were sorceries and false divinations and profane rites and the trifles of idols. For it reached such a point of foolishness as to make a claim of good repute out of seeming already to be a mistress of sorceries, and to make a boast of things so shameful and deserving of the utmost outcry. And it was the custom of some in it to sell nations and countries through their sorceries. But how or in what manner, we will say as we are able. It was the custom for the Assyrians, when they wished to make war and take up arms against others, to hasten to learn in advance what was to come by the arts of the magi, who, eagerly seeking honors from the king, commanded them to be of good courage for every war, and by their own practices they falsely claimed to have hamstrung their opponents beforehand. Something of the sort that Balak, the king of the Moabites, wished to do. For he hired the wicked Balaam and even brought him up to a mountain, "saying 'Come, curse Israel for me.'" For they thought that events would follow the curses of the magi. Therefore, in these matters he calls the art of sorcery and magic "fornication," by which those wise in these things sold nations and tribes, always promising victory to those who brought them wages. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord God Almighty, and I will lift your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your shame and the kingdoms your disgrace; and I will cast abominations upon you according to your uncleannesses, and I will make an example of you. That her word is not against man nor indeed her war, but rather the Lord of hosts has become angry, and is raising up against her Persians and Medes, he indicates again. But to the God who has authority over all and who holds power over all things, who can lead out an army against him, if he should choose to make war on some? Then he says that I will also lift your skirts over your face. And again the saying has been spoken as if about a courtesan woman, who, as far as her face and external adornment are concerned, seems to be lovely to those who see her; but if indeed she should suffer the disrobing and the removal of her adornment, she will surely be disgraced by her naked body, of her members showing its ugliness without concealment. Therefore, he says, I will uncover your backside, that is, everything that is unseemly in you, and I will show it to you before others. For what else could "to your face" signify to us than this? He said he would no less reveal her dishonor plainly to nations and kingdoms. For Nineveh seemed to be beautiful and lovely, proud in the arts of magicians, and seizing rule and dominion over all, exceedingly strong and taking victory from all without a fight. But when she was captured and fell, she appeared unseemly and unpleasant to those who knew her, who then considered her an abomination, having condemned her for boasting about nothing and for foolishly trusting in the help of magicians, or rather, in their impostures and deceptions. And it was affirmed that she would also be set forth as an example, so that some might sometimes say, if a city or country were destroyed, that it has been plundered and has fallen, just like wretched Nineveh. But, as I said, the God of all has also at times waged war against the Synagogue of the Jews, and exacted penalties for its impiety towards Christ, revealing it as naked and unseemly and utterly devoid of the covering from above. And he proclaimed this beforehand through the voice of Hosea, saying, "Therefore I will return and take away my grain in its season and my wine in its time, and I will take away my garments and my linen cloths, so that they may not cover her shame. And now I will uncover her uncleanness before her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand." For the church from the Gentiles will give glory, saying, "Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness;" but the other, as I said, is henceforth seen as naked and unseemly and ugly, not having the covering of the divine gifts, and has become both an example and most abominable, afflicted with every kind of worldly impurity. And it shall be that everyone who sees you will shrink from you and will say, Wretched Nineveh, who will bemoan her? From where shall I seek comfort for her? If someone, he says, of those who formerly knew your dominions were to see you fallen and desolate, he will lament greatly and depart quickly, saying this: Who will bemoan her? For as if there were no one, that is, left behind, who was even able to merely lament, he says such things. And very wisely he has added to this: From where shall I seek comfort for her? And the meaning of what has been said is something like this. When war and battle are joined against cities or countries, a part is sometimes wronged, but another part is saved and perhaps has escaped the victors; and this is a comfort to the inhabitants. For either not all of it has been burned, and a portion has remained unsacked, or some have fallen, but another multitude has been saved; but in the case of Nineveh, from where could one find comfort? Or what manner of thing will console her? For all of her was captured and all of her was sacked and everyone in her has perished. But "Who will bemoan her?" might be understood again in another way; for it is like saying: Will there be any artist so skilled in laments and funeral odes as to say something worthy of what has happened, and to shed a sufficient tear for her sufferings? Have you prepared a portion, have you fitted a string, have you prepared a portion of Ammon, who dwells among the rivers; water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea and water her walls;" and Ethiopia her strength and Egypt, and there is no end of your flight, and the Libyans became her helpers; and she herself will go into exile as a captive, and they will dash her infants to the ground at the head of all her streets, and they will cast lots for all her glorious things, and all her great men will be bound in manacles. The meaning of what is set forth is very obscure, and could not be understood otherwise, unless there were some preliminary narrative of the history in it; and it is as follows. When Israel turned to apostasy, and worshipped idols, and through countless impieties sharpened against itself the God of all things, Nebuchadnezzar was armed against Judea and against Jerusalem, with divine wrath stirring him to this. Then, when it was necessary for those of Israel to cease from the impiety at hand, and to refrain from desiring to worship other gods, but to overturn altars and burn down sacred precincts and shatter the molten images, and by their zeal for repentance and clemency to appease God and call upon him for aid. The wretched ones did not do this; but they thought that by being aided by the help of men, they would both be superior to the Babylonians and would prevail over their enemies, even if God should not choose to save them. Therefore they hired many of the neighboring nations, and sent embassies also to the Egyptians, and to the city called On, that is, Ammon, which is now Alexandria. And they promised to fight alongside them, and to be able to easily drive away the Babylonians, and they became an occasion for those of Israel to think that even if God would not save them, they themselves would be sufficient for this, needing nothing. But when Nebuchadnezzar took Judea, with God defending and subduing his opponents for him, he proceeded after this also against the land of the Egyptians, with divine wrath sending him, and he took all of it, and On itself, that is, Ammon; for so Alexandria was named at times, as I said; which indeed, more than the other cities of Egypt, was exceedingly splendid, and a safe and secure base, on account of being girded everywhere with water, and having the sea on its northern side, and on the southern side a wide and long and, as it were, another sea, I mean Lake Mareotis, and being fortified also by other rivers and surrounding marshes. And the inhabitants of neighboring Libya also assisted it, a land extending as far as the land of the Ethiopians, to the west and south; these are the Garamantes, situated behind the land of the Africans; and some of the Ethiopians to the east and south also took up arms with them, who inhabit Meroë, the innermost city, and possess a wild and black land. But let the account of the history end here for us, and let us now proceed to the clarification of the meaning of the contents. *Prepare a portion*, he says, as if he were to say, O wretched Nineveh, choose a portion for yourself; for since you have grown very proud, and think that you will be in every way and altogether impregnable on account of being surrounded by great walls and having countless men willing to fight alongside you; like which of the regions do you wish to be, which have been sacked by you, although they possessed, he says, the greatest aptitude for being able to be hard to capture and unconquerable. *Tune a string*, that is, become yourself a song and melody for cities and lands, having suffered such things from the Persians and Medes, as you yourself have done to others. *Prepare the portion of Ammon*, let Ammon, he says, be your portion and lot; what you have done to her, it is necessary for you to suffer the same things. And what was Ammon, she who dwells among rivers? That is, she who was very well fortified by sea and rivers, she who boasted in the aid of the Egyptians and the archery of the Ethiopians, she who possessed the most valiant multitude of the Libyans. But even though she was so well-situated and strong and had outside help, she has gone into exile, and she has become a captive, and her infants have been dashed to the ground, and her illustrious men have become lots, and her most glorious men the portions of the conquerors, and they have been bound with manacles. Therefore, just as you took Ammon, impregnable as she was with respect to aid and position; for it was God who delivered her up; so you too will certainly be given into the hands of enemies, even if you are very proud of the multitude of your warriors and your walls. For I am against you, and no one will turn back my hand. And you shall be drunken and shall be overlooked, and you shall seek for yourself a refuge from enemies. For in the same way, he says, that Ammon has suffered, enduring the arrows of your savagery and the calamities from your attack, so you too will be dizzy with darkness, and you will become as if drunk, not a refuge having, that is, being shaken and falling by enemies, and deprived of the oversight from above. For whom God would visit, He certainly pities and makes them stand in the things according to their prayer. But she is drunk, just as was the God-fighting Jerusalem, not being sober, because of not being illuminated by the divine light, nor indeed willing to hear Christ saying, "I am the light of the world." and again, "While you have the light, walk in the light, that darkness may not overtake you." Drunkenness could be understood as darkness in the mind and night in the heart, the ignorance of what is profitable, and the inability to perceive from anywhere the way of salvation. But that she is also shaken, and does not have a firm standing for the works of righteousness, how or from where could anyone doubt? For she has fallen from the foundation of all things, and does not have the unbreakable foundation, that is, Christ. And she has been overlooked and given over to enemies, either to the Romans perhaps, that is, to those who carry one away into any passion whatsoever, I mean, to the unclean spirits. Therefore, Christ, and faith in him, will deliver us from every evil, and will make us superior to the wickedness of our enemies, and sets us in the eyes of God. For He will in no way overlook those who love him. All your strongholds are fig trees with first-ripe figs. If they are shaken, they will even fall into the mouth of the eater. The ripe figs fall off easily if the plant is shaken, and they almost leap into the hand of the one shaking it, and they come automatically to those who need to eat. Therefore, since Cyrus was attacking and already besieging Nineveh, and was setting up siege engines or battering rams against its walls, the defenders were guarding the battlements; then the attackers, shooting arrows, easily brought them down to the ground. He takes the likeness from what naturally happens with ripe figs. For this reason he says that all your strongholds, that is, the walls, are fig trees with first-ripe figs, which rush into the hand of the one wishing to eat, and very easily, if one only shakes the plant. And so also will be every soul that falls away and is deprived of help from above, easy and vulnerable and taken without a sweat by the devouring Satan. For it is written that "His foods are choice." Behold, your people are like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be opened wide to your enemies; fire will devour your bars. He shows their hope to be in vain. For they thought that they would never be captured, having gathered an innumerable multitude of those fighting with them, and inhabiting a city fortified with unbreakable walls. But he has clearly proclaimed beforehand that these things would be completely useless to them, saying that the defenders would fall into such cowardice as to differ in no way from weak little women; and he says that the gates will be opened, with the enemies clearly forcing their way in. For it is true that, "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Therefore, we must have security from above, and trust least of all in ourselves, but rather in God who saves, and not boast in help from men, nor indeed think that we can escape wrath, if God should be provoked. For no one will deliver from trouble and evils the one against whom the Lord of all is wroth. And the divine David was very wise, singing and saying, "I will not trust in my bow, and my arm will not save me." "For I will find strength in God," according to his voice again. Draw for yourself water for a siege. They say that when Cyrus and those with him were ravaging the surrounding lands of Nineveh, and cutting off all their aid beforehand, the Ninevites, now fearing the sack of the city, then cut many long ditches in the areas around the city, and indeed they made them difficult for the enemies to cross, by diverting rivers, and filling them with water, and making the land full of marshes. But the attackers were superior even to such attempts, or rather, the will of God handing them over. Therefore, that this effort of theirs will also be nothing, he shows by saying "Draw water for yourself for the siege." But it seems to some that "water drawn" here means the gathering or multitude of the summoned nations for assistance. For in this way too our interpretation will not be off the mark, for in many places the multitude of the nations has been called waters. Strengthen your fortifications; go into the clay and tread in the straw, make it stronger than brick. God would not encourage such things; but since He knew beforehand what was to come, He mocks their plan, and that, as I just said, all their effort will be in vain, He shows through these things. For since it happened that the walls needed battlements, that is, some other care, they were making bricks, evidently from clay, but very strong ones; for a baked brick is most necessary for construction, and would not be easily crumbled. Therefore, it says, "tread in the straw, and make bricks." Become then so bold and unyielding for battle, just as indeed the brick itself is; for even so you will be easily captured, and by no means unbreakable, but very easy for those who know how to shake you down, and who have an impulse stronger than your hardness. There fire will devour you, the sword will destroy you, it will devour you like a locust, and you will be weighted down like a locust larva. You will understand "there" instead of "then," for we will accept the word in a temporal and not a local sense. For if indeed these things should happen, he says, and you should make bricks, you will be consumed even so as if by fire, and the enemy will portion you out and your land, in the manner of a locust. And you will be shackled by hesitation and slow to flee like a locust larva weighed down. For they say that when hail falls and rains pour down, the locust larva is inactive for flight, its wings having been weighed down. Therefore, he indicates again the Ninevites' helplessness in flight from what happens to the locust larvae. You have multiplied your trade beyond the stars of heaven; the locust larva attacked and flew away; your mixed multitude was driven away like the grasshopper, like a locust that has settled on a fence in a day of frost; the sun rose, and it flew away, and its place was not known. He seems to mean "trade" here not as transactions involving money, for profit and gain, but rather that which has come about from the gathering and assembling of nations. For, as I said, they hired the neighboring nations, trading, as it were, for those who were about to die, and gathering for battle those who would very soon perish; and these were very many and beyond number. Therefore they are also compared to the multitude of the stars. But even if they have been gathered, he says, and have run together, they will be terrified by the war, and will run away again like a locust larva and like a grasshopper. This is a type of small locust, which whenever it falls on fences or the walls of gardens, when there is frost, as I said, and rain pouring down, it is still and quiet, its flight taken away by the force of the moisture; but when the sun rises and sends a warm ray upon them, they make a swift departure, and fly away as is their custom. So, he says, will your mixed multitudes be. For they will fly away and run back home again, having made your hope void. "It is therefore good and true to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in man," according to the voice of the prophet. Woe to them. Your shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, he has put your mighty men to sleep; your people were scattered upon the mountains, and there was no one to gather them. He laments the crowds, as having slipped into such cowardice and fear, so as to be faint at the mere attack of war, and to leap up to the peaks of the mountains, and to make the difficult places a sort of rampart against the danger. Then giving the cause of their terror, he makes an elegant narrative of the destruction of those allotted to lead; as if speaking in character, instead of "they have been destroyed and utterly perished," and "they have become helpless in the arts of strategy," the phrase "they have slumbered" placing, and that those in powers and authorities and the demagogues and those who have obtained high and conspicuous honors have fallen asleep. And they have suffered this drowsiness by the king of Assyria, that is, one who has his lineage from them. For Cyrus is a native, and of Persian blood. And the prophetic word to us feigns, in short, to lament, that is, to smile at those easily given to panic. For he says, your people were scattered upon the mountains and there was no one to gather them, that is, one who holds them up to courage, one who cuts short the cowardice of the fugitives, and is able to rally the inactive and shield-throwing multitude of the traitors. For those accustomed to do this have perished beforehand, and the masters of skill in war. And it might be understood, and very likely, concerning the flock of the Jews, the 'Woe to them.' Your shepherds slumbered, the king of Assyria has put your mighty ones to sleep. For woe indeed to those who killed the Savior and Redeemer of all, and who unholily added to the blood of the saints even that of the Lord. And it happened that they suffered this, on account of the leadership and those taken up in the rank of shepherds having greatly slumbered towards ill counsel, I mean the scribes and Pharisees and those crowned with the boasts of the priesthood, whom the Assyrian king, that is, Satan, spiritually put to sleep. For the rule of the Babylonians is often taken for his person. And that the shepherds and the rulers among them slumbered, how is it possible to doubt, when the divinely-inspired scripture from top to bottom attributes the perdition of the peoples to them? For it is written, "O shepherds who scatter and destroy the sheep of the pasture." And again, "The priests did not say, Where is the Lord, and those who handle the law did not know me and the shepherds were impious against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal;" And Isaiah again says, "How has the faithful city Zion, full of judgment, become a harlot? In which righteousness slept in her, but now murderers. Your silver is dross, your vintners mix wine with water, your rulers disobey, companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing reward, not judging orphans and not attending to the judgment of widows." There is no healing for your fracture, your wound has festered. When something dreadful happens, if it proceeds with measure, and not at all beyond what is due, there is good hope for those who have endured the suffering, that they will be able to recover as from sickness to be able to live strongly and that they will pass over to prosperity, their affairs having been brought up to a better state. But when their affairs have come to the end of misery, then indeed the misfortune is hard to escape, or rather, completely indelible. This having happened to Nineveh, he says that it was both crushed and destroyed, with the hope of being able to obtain healing having been taken away, and as it were, the evil miserably festering and seeking the final cut upon itself. And that the Jerusalem that killed the Lord has come to this, is true to say. For it was often struck, with its enemies running it down, but healings followed, as God had compassion and, as it were, soothed the wound that had befallen them. But since they have acted insolently against the Master of all, it has been crushed and has fallen and there was no healing, according to the voice of the Prophet, and the inflammation of what happened to them has remained unsoothed. Therefore the blessed prophets also said, comparing it to that of the Babylonians, "We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed; let us each forsake her, and go to his own land, for her judgment has reached to heaven, and has been lifted up even to the stars." And the judgment is to heaven and the transgression on high. For they have acted insolently, as I said, not simply against one of the saints, but against the Master of the saints. All who hear the report of you, will rejoice and clap their hands over you; because upon whom has your wickedness not come continually? A decree that has become just from God, destroying the rule of the Babylonians, will testify brilliantly that absolutely no one is sad for her; but rather they applaud, and rejoice and smile at her lying fallen, on account of having endured unbearable calamities and greed, and having come to the experience of things most accustomed to cause grief. For she was burdensome and unbearable to all, sending even to those far off the sense of the perversity within her. And I would say that even the inventor of sin, that is, Satan, who widens the net of his own perversity everywhere, and has ensnared the world under heaven into error, and bound them in the snares of perdition, would fittingly hear, having been deposed by Christ, and driven out from his tyranny over us: All who hear the report of you will rejoice and clap their hands over you, for upon whom has your wickedness not come continually?