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Hab.1:2–3: How long, O Lord, will I cry, and You will not hear, I will cry to You, enduring violence, and You will not save? Why did You show me untruth and sorrow (Vulg.: labor), let me see robbery and untruth against me! LXX: “How long, Lord, will I cry and You will not listen? I will cry out to You, enduring violence, and You will not save me? Why did you show me labors and sorrows, let me see disasters and wickedness? According to the literal meaning, the prophet cries out against God regarding why Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the church and Judah, why Jerusalem will be destroyed, although it is the city of God. Why does the prophet cry out, but God does not listen to him? He cries out to the Lord, oppressed by the Chaldeans, but does not receive salvation? Why also did the prophet, or the people, on whose behalf he speaks now, live and be brought to the point where he saw the iniquities of his enemies and his own suffering? Why did falsehood prevail against him? But he says this in the torment of his soul, not knowing that gold is purified by fire, and that the three youths came out of the fiery furnace much purer than they were before (Dan. 3:94). We can understand this in general in the sense that the prophet loudly raises his mournful voice full of complaints, carried away by natural human impatience, for he sees the excessive number of sinners and the overwhelming power of wealth in this world, and the sons of sinners, as if a new branch of their youth, and their daughters, decorated like churches, their food cupboards, overflowing so that from some it flows into others; their overly fruitful sheep, which multiplied along their roads, and so on, which is described in more detail in the one hundred and forty-third psalm (verses 12-15). Why, O Lord, do You see these despisers of justice and remain silent when the wicked tramples on the one who is more just than him; and do you make people as the fish of the sea and as the creeping things that have no leader? We read the same thing in the seventy-second psalm: “My legs almost shook, and my steps were almost frustrated” (Ps. 72:2) and so on. And then again in the same psalm: “Is there knowledge on high, with the Most High, for behold, sinners and those who abound in the present age have seized wealth” (Ps. 73:11–12) and so on until the words: “my hands.” But this is what those say who do not know the unsearchable destinies of God (Rom. 11:33) and the depth of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge, because God does not see as man sees. Man contemplates only the present, God knows the future and the eternal (1 Samuel 16:7). And the man, as if sick in a feverish heat, asks for cold water and says to the doctor: “I am suffering greatly, as if crucified on a cross, I am burning and suffocating; oh doctor! How long will I scream and you won’t hear me?” But the wisest and most merciful doctor will answer him: “I know that at such a time I must give you what you require; only I will not have pity on you, because such condescension towards you is cruelty, and your desire requires it to your detriment.” So our Lord God, knowing the weight and measure of His mercy, sometimes does not listen to someone crying out, in order to test him and even more encourage him to ask, and thus, as if purified in fire, make him more righteous and pure. Understanding these trials as mercy coming from the Lord, the apostle says: “Let us not weaken in trials” (Eph. 3:13), and blesses God at all times (Ps. 33:2); he knows that he who firmly endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22) and glorifies [God] in labors and sorrows, and says with Jeremiah: “I will call upon tribulations and disasters.” Just as another person calls on God, this holy man and invincible warrior desires that suffering and sorrow should come for his exercise and testing. Hab.1:4: And judgment was carried out, and great enmity arose; therefore the law was torn to pieces and the judgment was not completed: for the wicked prevails against the righteous, which is why perverse judgment comes out. LXX: “A trial is being held against me, and the judge is receiving a bribe; therefore the law was torn to pieces and the judgment was not completed: for the wicked prevails against the righteous, which is why perverse judgment comes out.” Up to this point, the prophet or the people tells the Lord that the judgment against him took place not with justice, but with violence, and he received a decision that was in no way consistent with law or truth. Therefore, the judgment itself had no end; and the end or purpose of judgment is to judge justly. And why he dares to speak like this, he shows this in the following words, saying: For the wicked Nebuchadnezzar prevailed against the righteous Judah (2 Kings 24), and this is the reason why, according to him, the judgment was not completed: for he was unjust and corrupt; why the righteous king Josiah will be killed by the king of Egypt (2 Kings 23), and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah will be in slavery (Dan.3); and the ruler of Babylon will be the ruler, and Belshazzar, surrounded by lewd women and his concubines, will drink wine from the vessels of God (Dan.5). This is what the prophet says about the state of affairs in the days of his life (for we follow, as you once expressed your desire, the simplicity of the historical story). On the other hand, according to the meaning of the LXX translation, it speaks of the general complaint of holy people to God, why an unjust judgment is being carried out against them, and during persecution they shed innocent blood; and at the same time, but if they ever appear before the judges of their time, then the judge, having received gifts, condemns the innocent and acquits the guilty. This can also be applied not only to the judges of this age, but sometimes even to the heads of churches - namely: that for gifts they tear the law to pieces and do not bring the trial to completion, and the wicked prevails over the righteous, so that in court the sin of a rich man is defended more than the truth of a poor man. This is where the complaint comes from that the court can be perverted. But we should not be embarrassed by the injustice of this order of things, seeing that at the beginning of the World the wicked Cain killed the righteous Abel (Gen. 4), and later Esau dominated his father’s house, expelling Jacob from it (Gen. 28), and the Egyptians burdened the descendants of Israel with making clay and bricks; just as our Lord, against whom the complaint is now being expressed, was crucified by the Jews, and the robber Barabbas was set free. A whole day would not be enough for me if I wanted to calculate how much in this world the superiority of the power of the wicked causes oppression to the righteous. Hab.1:5: Consider the nations, look carefully, and you will be amazed and amazed, for in your days such a thing has been done that no one will believe when it is told. LXX: “O scoffers! look carefully and observe, and be amazed at the miracles, and be scattered, for I will do a work in your days that you will not believe if anyone tells you about it.” Symmachus, instead of our translation of the words: “for in your days such a work has been done,” translated: “for in your days such a work will be done,” the rest is the same. Then at the beginning of the passage where in Hebrew it is written rau baggoim ( ראנ בגוים) and we translated: “look closely at the nations,” and LXX used the expression: “O mockers! look carefully,” besides Avila, Symmachus and Theodotion, who agree with us in the translation, in some other nameless (ἀνωνύμη) edition there are the words: “Look, scolders!” and in another, also without the name of the author, the words: “Look, apostates!” So, to the above complaints of the prophet seeking judgment and saying: “How long, Lord, will I cry and you will not listen,” and other words to the end of this introduction, the words of the Lord are given in response, so that he, the prophet, would take a closer look and see among the nations that untruth, which, in his opinion, exists only among Israel alone, and that not only Judah and Israel were betrayed to the Chaldeans, as the prophet believed, but also all the surrounding nations. And only this people (the Chaldeans) will after that be so powerful and will cause such devastation that if anyone had predicted what was about to happen, they would not have believed him due to the enormity of the disaster that was about to happen. But also what LXX and other translators expressed with the words: look carefully, “O scoffers!” or “blamers,” or “apostates,” coincides with the meaning of the words of this place, so that these words expose the insolence and contempt for God of the people on whose behalf the prophet exclaimed, their bold rebellion against the majesty of God, their reckless speeches, their censure, as far as it is in their power, of the Providence of God and their apostasy from God with their accusation of injustice. So, despisers, you will see and then be surprised, and you will consider all your complaints as nothing when you see Me acting in your days. Wouldn't you say, perhaps, then: “What will the future bring us?” This deed will be so great, and will so greatly reject all your accusations, that even if someone now predicted what would happen, you will hardly find faith in his words. And what exactly this act will be is indicated in further words. Hab.1:6–11: For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a cruel and uncontrollable people, who walk throughout the breadth of the earth to seize other people’s settlements. He inspires fear and horror: from himself will come his judgment and heavy burden. His horses are lighter than leopards and faster than the evening wolves, and his horsemen will scatter everywhere, for his horses will come from afar: they will fly like an eagle rushing at its prey. They will all come to loot. Their face is like a burning wind, and he will gather captives like sand, and he will triumph over kings, and cruel rulers will be his laughing stock. He himself laughs at every fortress: he will surround it with a rampart and take it. Then his spirit will change: he will walk around and grieve - this strength of his is the strength of his God. LXX: “For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a cruel and unstoppable people who walk across the breadths of the earth to take possession of villages that are not their own, they are terrible and glorious. His judgment will come from himself and his seizures will escape from him. And his horses will rush out faster than the lynxes and wolves of Arabia, and his horsemen will sit on their horses, and will fly to plunder from afar, and will fly like an eagle ready to devour. The end will come of the wicked who resist their faces; and he will gather captives like sand, and he himself will laugh at kings, and cruel rulers will be his amusement; he will make a mockery of every stronghold and build a rampart and take it. Then he will change his spirit and walk around and humbly say: Such is the strength of my God.” What I said to you: “Look closely at the nations, look carefully and you will be amazed and amazed, because in your days a deed will be done that no one will believe when it is told,” - this is exactly what the following speech describes: Behold, I will raise up Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, a most warlike and unstoppable people, whose strength and military courage are witnessed by almost all the Greeks who wrote history barbarians. And his business is not to cultivate the land with the plow, but to live by the sword and robbery and to capture cities that do not belong to him. But before he imposes the rune, before he rushes into war, he terrifies with his appearance. And the words: “From himself will come his judgment and a heavy burden,” instead of which Symmachus translated: “he will judge on his own and will go out according to his own decision,” these words should be understood either in the sense that he will appoint princes from among his people, and that his power and his sword will not be guarded by guards from other nations, or in the sense that he will have the same thing that he did to others, and that he will be defeated just as he himself defeated others. His horses and riders, who will come from afar, will be more destructive in their speed of pursuit and ability to devastate than leopards and wolves running out to prey in the evenings. Indeed, when night approaches, wolves are much more ferocious, as they say, because throughout the whole day hunger excites them to steal prey. So, the horsemen will fly not to fight, because nothing resists them, but to increase their speed, like an eagle rushing to its prey, although all birds are completely susceptible to it. And just as when a burning wind blows, all greenery dries up, so in the face of them everything will be reduced to nothing, and the number of captives and booty will be so great that with some exaggeration (per ὑπερβολήν) it can be equated to sand. He himself, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar will reign in the universe, and, triumphing over the kings, he will drive them before his chariot and will mock them and will see in them one of the entertainments for himself: he will be so powerful and proud that he will imagine conquering nature itself and taking by force the troops of his city, the most fortified. For he will come to Tyre, and having made a mound in the sea, he will make a peninsula out of the island and prepare for himself from the earth an entrance into the city between the waves of the sea. Therefore, he will laugh at every fortification, surround it with a rampart and take it, i.e. fortification, or Tyr; this is clearly indicated by the prophet Ezekiel, who says: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, tired out his army with great work against Tyre. Every head has become bald and every shoulder is bare. But no reward was given to him, nor to his army at Tire for the work in which they served against him” (Ezek. 29:18). But when he builds an embankment and nothing will further hinder his strength, then his spirit will change to pride, and thinking that he is God, he will erect a golden image for himself in Babylon, and will call all nations to worship him. But when he does this, he will change into the image of an animal and then fall - instead of which Aquila and Symmachus translated χαὶ πλημμελήσει, i.e. “and will have shortcomings” - an expression that comes from the fact that vasam (אִם), meaning: “to have a shortcoming” is used instead of: “will cease to be” what it was before, which replacement is common in St. Scripture. This is a turn that is also found in the peculiarities of our language, when we say: “the army is beaten” instead of “broken” and “destroyed,” and also: “the vineyard and field have sinned” instead of “the grapes and fruits have no growth.” And the words at the end of the passage: “This power of his is the power of his God,” should be read in a mocking tone (εἰονιχο῀ς) and their meaning is: “This is his power that Bel his god gave him.” He called on all nations to honor this god with the strictest written order under the threat of death. So according to the Hebrew text; and now let’s move on to LXX in order to present individual thoughts and assimilate their figurative (mysterious) meaning. - “Behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a cruel and unstoppable people who walk across the breadths of the earth to take possession of settlements that are not their own.” God makes a threat to the despisers and blasphemers of His Providence by stirring up the Chaldeans, a word meaning: “like demons,” i.e. denotes either evil angels who serve His anger and rage and are sent for the torment that He assigns to the sinner, or the souls of the most wicked people, through whom, or through whom He cruelly punishes those who deserve it. The same Chaldeans, a cruel and unstoppable people, do not spare anyone and quickly do what they are ordered. And they walk across the breadth of the earth: “For broad and broad is the way that leads to death” (Matthew 7:13); along this path walked the rich man who, according to the Gospel, dressed in purple (Luke 16:19), as well as those about whom it is said: “They sleep on beds of ivory and drown in amusements on their beds; They eat calves fed on the milk of cattle and drink thick wine and anoint themselves with ointments of the highest quality” (Amos 6:4, 6). Since they walk on a broad path, they are called the breadth of the earth, trampled underfoot by the Chaldeans. They did not want to walk the narrow and cramped path that leads to life, and which the Apostle Paul walked, giving glory, or: glorifying God in his sufferings and oppressions (1 Cor. 6:20). But the Chaldeans travel across the breadth of the earth in order to take possession of settlements that are not their own. In fact, although every rational soul becomes a receptacle for the Chaldeans through vices and crimes, by its nature it is the dwelling place of God. And although in the Gospel the wicked demon says: “I will enter into my house from which I came” (Matthew 12:44), but he should not be believed, for in reality not a single rational soul was created to be the abode of a demon. The words follow: “He is terrible and glorious; His judgment will come from himself, and his seizures will go away from him.” The Chaldean is terrible because of the many different punishments that he inflicts on those who despise Providence, but he is glorious because he assimilates to himself the glory of the Divine. Among inexperienced people and those who despise God, he is famous for his prophecies and false answers, as well as for the healing of diseases that he himself caused. The judgment and punishment of the one who despises God will come from him, i.e. from himself, or from Chaldea. For, according to the apostle, they themselves will be given over to punishment, so that they will learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:3). But the one who repents and turns to God will leave Chaldea, even though he was initially held in his hands and was among his captors. If we ever see that someone worked for the devil for a long time, and then turned to God, then we will say about such a person: “His capture (prey) has left him.” For those who will repent and leave the demons - to whom they, like horses, offered their backs to ride - and with the speed of leopards and evening wolves will throw off their riders and smash them, and then with a free and lightened backbone will come to raise Him who meekly and modestly sat on the colt of a donkey (John 12:15; Zech. 9:9), - those, as it were, hastening from afar and dissatisfied with the run and attack, they will fly and arrive like an eagle to be satisfied with the flesh of the word of God and satisfy their long-term hunger. For in the words χαι ἐξιππάζονται οι ιππεῖς αὐτοῦ, which are translated in LXX: “and his horsemen will rush on horses,” Symmachus, according to the meaning you stated above, translated: “his horsemen will be scattered,” i.e. will fall and break on the ground. The wolves of Arabia, i.e. Evening or Western are rightly called those for whom the depraved life has become difficult, and who, having been in darkness, leave the darkness with all haste; when they leave him and with full readiness hasten to instill in the flesh the word of God, then the end of the wicked will come, i.e. The Chaldeans, who prevented the flight of the penitents, so that the latter would not turn to their God. When the wicked are destroyed, and the captives are plucked from their hands, then the word of God will gather up, as it were, the sand of the Chaldean captivity and will rejoice over the kings, and cruel rulers will be a joy for him, seeing that with the coming of the Savior the once powerful devil is crushed and his kingdom is destroyed, which he showed to the Savior with the words: “All this I will give you if you fall and worship me” ( Matthew 4:9). And indeed it is a pleasure for prudence and a pleasure for wisdom when stupidity is upset and the former power of cruel rulers is defeated and overthrown and made ridiculous. For not only the great dragon was created in order to be an object of triumph for the Lord; he is the firstfruits of God's creation, and became the cause of joy for the angels. And not only did God give him, like a sparrow to a child, but anyone who is cruel and has a tyrannical spirit will be given over to ridicule the word of God. And he himself says: “he will laugh at every fortification.” And what other kind of fortification is this, if not the one about which the apostle speaks like this: “For the weapons of our army are not carnal, but mighty in the sight of God for the destruction of fortifications, frustrating plans and every high thing that exalts itself against God” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). So, if there are any strong strongholds either in speech that seem to have exaltation or greatness contrary to the truth, or in all earthly glory, wealth and strength that are praised in this age, they will all be overthrown, and the word of God will laugh at every stronghold. And it will erect embankments and take possession of it with the help of embankments, like everything on earth that it uses, showing before everyone its fragility to those to whom it initially seemed that it had some semblance of a stronghold. And when this is accomplished, then the spirit will turn and will no longer punish as it previously punished, and passing by sinners will ask for them and will reconcile them with their former Lord; and in all this the strength of our Lord is revealed, which, or Who, will accomplish such great things. – You see how difficult these places are and how contrary to historical truth; and how what we formerly interpreted in a literal sense in relation to the Chaldeans, now in a figurative sense turns out to be a sounding divine mercy and freedom for those who escaped from the hands of the Chaldeans. History is distinguished by strict accuracy and does not give the right to deviate from its limits; the figurative meaning (tropologia) is completely free and limited only by those laws that force us to follow the understanding of piety, the connection of speech and not allow too violent stretches in the comparison of objects that are opposite to each other. Hab.1:12: Art thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my Holy One? and will we die? God! You set it up for judgment, and made it strong, to make it an instrument of punishment. LXX: “Are you not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my Holy One? and we won't die? Lord, You have placed him in judgment, or You have created me for judgment, so that I may convict him of his teaching.” Symmachus translated clearly: “Have you not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, that we should not die? God! You appointed him for punishment, and made him strong for correction.” - To the prophet’s complaints in the words: “How long, Lord, will I shout, and You will not hear?” God answered with the words: “Take a closer look at the nations and look closely,” and after this preface he shows: “Behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a cruel and uncontrollable people,” and then, after a full description, at the end he mentions - either this is about Nebuchadnezzar, or about the devil - in such expressions: “Then his spirit will change, and he will walk around and fall: this power of his is the power of his God.” Hearing this and understanding this, either in the sense that Nebuchadnezzar will prevail over Judah, or in the fact that the devil will prevail over the believers in order to punish them and in the end himself to suffer punishment after punishing others, the prophet answers the Lord: “Are you not, O Lord my God, my Holy One,” and this is said with a feeling of meekness, humility and repentance, “are you not who created you from the beginning and by whose mercy we are held to this day. For I did not know that our enemies were so powerful, and I did not know that Nebuchadnezzar or the devil would prevail over this world and over all nations. None of us can resist his powers; but as a result of Your mercy, we owe everything to You - both the fact that we live and the fact that we are not killed by him and are not brought to the deeds of death. For You, Lord, set him up for judgment, so that he would be both an enemy and an avenger, and so that through him You would punish everyone who sins against You.” But since we already understood the demons as the Chaldeans, and their king the devil as Nebuchadnezzar, we must now briefly describe the devil and his power in order to show how the prophet rightly says: “Lord! You set him up for judgment and established his strength, to make him an instrument of punishment.” A horde of demons, cruel in punishment and appearing everywhere, is erected against people who do not believe and despise God. It rushes across all latitudes of the earth in order to take possession of those people in whom Christ should dwell. It is terrible and terrible and with great difficulty can be defeated by anyone, and it is not crushed before only after it comes to exhaustion, burdened with a multitude of sins and the severity of its wickedness. His horses and riders, like leopards and wolves, will always be saturated with blood and greedily seek prey; they will pretend to be absent, but will quickly swoop in from afar when no one is expecting them. They will fly like an eagle, which, rising in height, wants to build its nest among the stars of heaven and always rushes at its prey. And in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the devil is described under the image of Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Egypt. There is not a single demon who would show leniency: everyone hastily rushes to the prey: in front of them is a burning wind: no matter what they look at, no matter what comes their way, they will all want to burn and destroy. Among the captives he will be an almighty king, and he and his companions will gather a multitude of them from everywhere, like the number of the sand of the sea, and he himself will triumph over the kings, and cruel rulers will be an object of amusement for him. For he will deceive many saints with his tricks, and will subject to his slavery and subject to reproach those who think of themselves that they are very strong, that they can control demons without limit and drive them out of the bodies that they have taken possession of. And he himself, the powerful one, having rallied his troops and gathered an army of ruinous people, will laugh at every fortification and will try to overthrow everything that is strong. For he will build a mound, i.e. He will surround you with earthly affairs, and when the earth is filled, he will easily take every fortification. But after such a great victory, his spirit will change and his face will rise even to heaven and, contemplating God in himself, he will begin to slander his Creator. When he does this, he will be overthrown, and his fall will show what is the degree of his strength and what is the deception in his idols, under the images of which he demanded that people worship himself. - So, hearing that the king of this world will be so great and of such qualities that he will gather captives like the sand of the sea, and will triumph over kings, and that cruel rulers will be mocked by him, and that he will laugh at every fortification, and first he will build an embankment, and then he will take it; and that he would reach such a degree of pride that he would dare to resist his Creator and make himself, as it were, God - hearing all this, the prophet - who had previously boldly cried out to the Lord and mentioned that he, or his people, or those on whose behalf he spoke, were righteous - now pours out his soul in words of meekness and humility and says: “Are you not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one! The fact that we do not die and do not become captives of such an enemy is a work of Your mercy. For you, Lord, made him the executor of punishment, and made him so strong that either no one, or only a rare one, can resist his strength.” Further, what LXX says at the end: “And he created me that I should reprove him in teaching him,” can be attributed to the person of the prophet, so that the meaning will be as follows: I am inspired for this purpose, as a prophet, to reprove those who waver and teach the commandments of the Lord. Some think that this is said about the Lord, or from the Lord, who was created by the Father and took flesh in order to teach people the commandment of God the Father. But as far as this does not agree with the previous text, and with the general content of the passage, I leave this not so much to my court as to the court of the reader. Hab.1:13–14: Your eyes are blameless, so that you, or they, should not see evil, and you cannot look at iniquity. Why do you not look at those who do iniquity and remain silent when the wicked swallows up those who are more righteous than him, and make people like fish in the sea, and like reptiles that have no leader? LXX: “Your eye is undefiled, so as not to see evil, and You cannot look upon sorrow. Why do you look at those who despise, and will you remain silent when the wicked devours the one who is more righteous than him? You make people like fish of the sea and like reptiles that have no leader.” Jeremiah says something similar to this to God: “You are righteous... You, O Lord, I openly confess this; and yet I will speak to You about justice. What does it mean that the path of the wicked is prosperous, and all those who pervert and commit crimes prosper in abundance. You planted them, and they took root: they gave birth to sons and brought forth fruit. You are close to their lips, but far from their hearts (renibus - kidneys) "(Jer. 12: 1-2). In the same meaning, Habakkuk says: “Your eyes are blameless, O Lord,” and I know how reluctantly You look at the evil and unjust, and no one can doubt Your justice. And yet why do You allow the Babylonians to be arrogant such great cruelty, and for righteous Israel to be oppressed by the wicked Nebuchadnezzar; this does not mean that the oppressed is completely righteous, or perfect, but only that he is more righteous than his oppressor. And like fish, without a leader, and foolish animals and a multitude of reptiles, without the guidance of Providence, are enslaved by the strongest, and the one who is superior in strength dominates over the other; so between people - rational animals created in Your likeness - it is not reason and not merit that matters, but bodily strength and unreasonable strength. If we would like to understand this in general in relation to Providence, it is as if the prophet were asking: “Why does the devil have such power in the world; and why, when the Lord rules, a cruel government belongs to another,” then the meaning will be of this kind, and with the above this interpretation can be connected like this: Lord, my God, my holy one! I know that under Your dominion and Your protection we will not die; I also know that You appointed an enemy for this purpose, so that through him, like through an executioner, you could only correct, and not kill, sinners. I also know that the unrighteous are not at all pleasing to You, and that Your eyes are pure from all unrighteousness and that You cannot see the suffering of those who are overcome by injustice. However, I cannot find a reason why the unrighteous Cain kills the righteous Abel (Gen. 4) and You remain silent? Why is it that when the whale is raging and devouring everything, it swallows not only small fish, but even Your Jonah (Jon.2). Why the wicked wins and the righteous is overcome. I am not saying that I could know that someone will be justified before You, and that he is without sin, and that I have no knowledge of human weakness; but just as Sodom and Gomorrah seem righteous in comparison with Jerusalem, and just as the publican in the Gospel is more justified in comparison with the Pharisee (Luke 18), so the one who is tormented by the devil is truly sinful; yet he is more righteous than the one who oppresses him. So, why is there no measure or weight to determine: if the righteous is already subjected to oppression and enslavement, then he would not be enslaved by the wicked, but by those who are more righteous than him? Could I say that something happens without You, and that the wicked receives such great power against Your will? but to think so is to blaspheme. So, if You are the Ruler and Lord of the universe, then it is necessary that You do so that without You nothing could happen. But all this is said not because the prophet himself thinks as he clearly expressed above; but because in his face he expresses human impatience: this is similar to how we often see the Apostle assimilating various human judgments; and, for example, here he says: But I “see another law in my members, rising against the law of my mind and taking me captive through the law of sin, which is in my members” (Rom. 7:23). And as if he were a beginner, he says: “Brothers, I do not think that I have comprehended” (Phil. 3:13), “for we understand in part and prophesy in part” (1 Cor. 13:9); but then he appears, as it were, perfect: “Therefore, insofar as we are perfect, we will comprehend this” (1 Cor. 13:10). But, of course, to say that he knows only in part, and at the same time is perfect, should not be a property of the same person. Also, his own words in the letter to the Corinthians: “Brothers, I took this as an example in myself and Apollos for your sake, that you might learn from us” (1 Cor. 4:6), you should not accidentally accept as if ordinary from the Apostle, but only as evidence characteristic of the human way. Otherwise, how can God deal with people, as if they were fish of the sea, and as if they were creeping things that have no leader, when the angels of each individual always (quotidie) see the face of the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 18:10), and when “the Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them” (Ps. 33:8). Consequently, just as in relation to people, God’s Providence concerns each individual individually, so in relation to other animals we must recognize the general distribution, order and course of affairs. So, for example: How are many fish born and live in the waters, how do reptiles and four-legged creatures live on earth and what kind of food do they eat? However, it is unreasonable to reduce the majesty of God to the fact that He supposedly knows at every single moment how many mosquitoes were born, or how many of them died, or what is the number of bedbugs, fleas and midges on the earth, how many fish are born in the water, and which of the smaller fish should become the prey of the larger fish. Let us not be such ugly worshipers of God as to reduce His power to such a low level, and be unfair to ourselves, claiming that the Providence for the rational is exactly the same as for the unreasonable. Therefore, there is a well-known apocryphal book in which it is said that an angel named Tyr was appointed to guard reptiles and that in the same way, for guarding or protection, special angels were appointed for fish and trees, as for all animals. Hab.1:15-17: He picked it all up on the boat, dragged it in his net, and gathered it in his net: over this he will rejoice and rejoice. For this reason, he will perform sacrifices to his net and sacred rites to his net, since through them his part has become fat and his food is luxurious. Therefore, for this reason, he spread his network, and never stops (Vulg.: does not spare) beating the nations. LXX: “He picked up the remainder on the oud, and drew it in his net and gathered it in his nets: therefore he will rejoice and rejoice. Therefore he will sacrifice [or: brought] his net and burn incense to his net, because through them he has fattened his portion, and his food has been refined. Therefore he spread out his net, and never ceases to beat up the nations.” Since [the prophet] above used the name: “fish” in the words: “And you will make people like fish of the sea and like reptiles,” or, as the Hebrew says more clearly, remes (רםש), i.e. χινούμενον, namely everything that can move; then in other words he uses comparison (μεταφορὰν) with fish; so that just as a fisherman throws out a hook, a net and a net in order to grab with the net what he could not catch with the hook, and surround with the nets what escaped from the net, the king of Babylon will devastate everything, and make the whole human race his prey (Dan. 3). Further, the words: “He will rejoice and triumph, he will make sacrifices to his net and perform sacred rites to his net,” refer to the idol, which he placed on the field of Dur [or: Duram] and to the image of Bel, to which he, like a huge net, brought the most fat sacrifices, forcing all the nations whom he defeated to worship him; this is because he thought that through them, i.e. he made his idols fat, and acquired his inheritance, i.e. He subdued all the riches, and some princes and even kings, to his power, like great fish, which the prophet calls exquisite dishes. And since once he had already had his fill of an abundant catch of fish, his net was full. those. his army, then he does not stop killing peoples, i.e. always fight and subjugate them to your yoke. – Then, according to the Seventy: the wicked devil (who oppresses the righteous and treats people like fish of the sea and devastates everything like reptiles that have no leader) threw away his fishing rod, which was not like the fishing rod with which the Apostle Peter caught the first fish, which had a statir in its mouth (Matthew 17:27); and Adam was caught by this bait, and the devil drew him out of paradise with his net, and entangled him with his nets, i.e. many different tricks and deceptions. Therefore, he will rejoice and will think that his deceptions are of much greater importance than the commandments of God, and therefore he will sacrifice not to his bait (which means perverted speech), but to his net, because with it he caught the fattest victims for himself. But: “Through one man very many became sinners” (Rom. 5:19), and in Adam we all died (1 Cor. 15:22), and all the saints were then expelled along with him from paradise. Therefore, the devil’s food is excellent in view of the fact that, as the Psalmist says, “you will seek food for yourself from God” (Ps. 103:21), striving to overcome the prophets and apostles. And since he deceived man from the beginning, he does not stop killing the entire human race every day. - But this passage can also be understood in relation to the many different perverted teachings of the heretics, because they, with their fish, their nets and their nets, capture very many fish and many reptiles, and then they will triumph; and their own word, with which they were able to deceive and persuade, they honor as God, but they honor it and [at the same time] rob it, they use all their art, with which, as they know, they have destroyed so many victims and deceived so many powerful and holy people, whom in this speech the Scripture calls the fat part and chosen dishes. Therefore, like beasts of prey, which are always thirsty for the blood they have once tasted, they spread their net, and their constant desire is to kill not a small number as in the beginning, but a much larger number. Anyone who sees such a large number of heresies and perverted teachings caught in the fish, net and snares of the devil will not doubt the murder of many nations. Nevertheless, the goal of their captures is death. Hab.2:1: I will stand on my watch and establish a step for strengthening, and I will contemplate to see what will be said to me, and what I will answer to him who accuses me. LXX: “I will stand on my watch and go up to the stone and will look to see what will be said against me, or in me, and what I will answer to my reproof.” Symmachus translated more clearly: “As a watchman I will stand on the watchtower and will stand as if chained, and will watch carefully to see what will be said to me and what I will answer and object to those who reproach me.” - Instead of “fortification” and “stone” - which Symmachus translated with the word: “chained” (inclusus, conclusus), - in Hebrew there is masur ( םצזר), which Theodotion translated “circle”, Aquila and the Fifth Edition translate: “a place surrounded by a compass.” To the first challenge from the prophet, the Lord answered: “Take a closer look at the nations and look, and be surprised, and be amazed.” In turn, the prophet responded to this, as if in repentance for what had been said before, although he softened his question with the words: “Lord my God, my holy one! and we will not die” (Hab. 1:5, 12); nevertheless, along with reverence and glorification of God, he persistently asked Him: “Your eyes are blameless so that you do not see evil, and you cannot look at iniquity” (Hab. 1:13). Why do you not look at those who do iniquity, and remain silent when the wicked devours the one who is more righteous in comparison with him? And what the absorption of the righteous consists of, he indicated in more detail in parts: people are like fish of the sea and like reptiles; and everyone is drawn to destruction by the fish, the net and the net, and there is no end to their beating. So, since he is a prophet, he urgently asks, but says that he doubts, so that later he can answer everyone what will be answered to him: He says: “I will stand on my guard,” i.e. in admiration of the Prophetic Spirit, and I will look at what will follow after the captivity of the people and after the fall of the city and the church. Or else: “With all diligence I will guard my heart and stand on the rock - Christ; and with this, or a circle, or a fortification, I will be protected so that a roaring lion cannot rush at me, and I will see what the Lord will answer me to the second question. And after He answers me and reproaches me for my persistent question, I will see that I, for my part, must answer him.” He describes perfectly and with amazing knowledge the human impatience that we are accustomed to always having in disputes, i.e. attempts to prepare to respond before the enemy objects to us and before we know what he accuses us of. Whence it is clear that the answer is a consequence not of a rational basis, but of a desire for verbal debate; because if the answer were a consequence of the reason, then the arguer would have to wait for the opponent’s answer and then see whether he should make an objection, or should agree with the opponent’s reasonable answer. On the other hand, from his above words: “To see what will be said in me,” it is necessary to notice that the prophetic vision and word of God was to the prophet not in an external, but in an internal way and was addressed to the inner man. Therefore, the prophet Zechariah says: “And the angel who spoke in me” (Zech. 1:9), and the Psalms say: “I will hear what the Lord says in me” (Ps. 84:9). Hab.2:2–4: And the Lord answered me; and said: Write down the vision and clearly place it on the tablets, so that... those who run lightly can easily read it; for the vision is still far off and will be revealed towards the end and will not deceive; if it tarries, wait for it, for the one who comes will certainly come and will not tarry. Here is the one who does not believe: his straight soul will not be in himself. The righteous will live by his faith. LXX: “And the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision and put it in plain sight on a beech board, or, on a beech board, so that the one who reads it can quickly re-read it; for the vision, or vision, is not yet time; and it will happen towards the end, and not in vain. If it does not come, then wait for it patiently, because the future will come and will not delay. If he deviates, then there will be no pleasure in him for My soul. The righteous will live from my faith." Instead of “tablet” and “beech board,” which in Hebrew is expressed by the word аlluoth (or: luth) (חלחות), Symmachus translated: “pages of the book.” And where the Seventy used: “The righteous will live from my faith,” all the others translated the same way: “he will live from his faith,” which in Greek is expressed by the words: ο δίχαιος τῆ έαστοῦ πίστει ζήσει, for the word baemunatho ( באםונתו) meaning “in my faith”, if it has the letter “iod” at the end and not “wow”, as the Seventy thought, and it will read: “baemunathi” ( באםונתי), they correctly translated: “in my faith”. The reason for the real error was the similarity of the letters “iod” and “wow”, which differ only in size. Why this remark was made will become clear in the following discussions. According to the promise that was made to the holy man in the book of Isaiah and consisted in the words: “Yet you will speak as I say: Here I am” (Is. 65:24), and now the Lord also answered the prophet and ordered him to write down the vision and arrange, or distribute on boards, i.e. write it down as clearly as possible. By these boards I mean those about whom the apostle speaks in his letter to the Corinthians: “You are our message, written in our hearts; it is recognized and read by all people. You have clearly testified, because you are the epistle of Christ, perfected or witnessed by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart of flesh” (2 Cor. 3:2-3). Solomon says the same thing in parables: “Describe it in the breadth of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3). It is ordered to write more clearly, so that the reader can run quickly, and so that his speed or desire to read is not hindered by any obstacle. He commands this because the vision is still far away and refers to a certain time. And when the end of events comes, then He will come, and the true prophecy will be confirmed through fulfillment in practice. And if by chance, reader, as a result of your impatience and ardent desire, it would seem to you that the promised has been somewhat delayed in fulfillment, then do not despair of its coming, but wait patiently: for I am with you, I am the one who promises and says: “What is coming will come and will not delay.” If anyone does not believe in this promise of Mine, and at My words: “What is coming will come and will not delay,” begins to doubt and silently express inner hesitation, thinking that what has delayed for a while will not come, he is not pleasing to My soul, just as: “My soul hates new moons and your Sabbaths” (Is. 1:14). And what God called his soul, we must attribute to His mind and thoughts, so that the meaning will be this: he is not pleasing to My thoughts. But just as I displease the one who, despite My promise, will doubt the occurrence of what I promise, so on the contrary, the righteous person who believes in My promises will live by his faith. Such clear lines describe the picture of this passage. What he says is of such a kind that we will only add here the translation of the Seventy. Write in your heart, and just as boys who learn the initial components of writing, study crooked lines on a beech board and exercise their trembling hand, and get used to correct writing with the help of deliberate exercises, and you, raising your voice on behalf of a doubting people, write on the tablets of your heart and on your hard chest what I say. Because a vision is that which is promised, and which is ordered to be described, and described in such a way that it is not shrouded in any cloud and not obscured by any mysterious ambiguity: an unshakable hope must have a clear basis for itself in the promise. But, O prophet! I command not because you do not know (for you would not be a prophet if you did not know), but because you must write as clearly as possible, so that the reader can read without obstacles and difficulties and even read fluently - which the Seventy translated in words: ὁπως γινω’σων, i.e. “so that he who reads may run quickly,” - according to the same meaning used in the epistle to Timothy in the words: Swiftly pursue righteousness, “godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Tim. 6:11) and in the epistle to the Romans: “Be zealous for hospitality” (Rom. 12:13) and in the epistle to the Corinthians: “Pursue love" (1 Cor. 14:1). The very same vision, about which I told you: “Write the vision and declare it clearly on a beech board, so that the reader can quickly read,” is still in the time appointed for it, about which the Savior says: “In a convenient time, or accepted, I listened to you and on the day of salvation I helped you” (Is. 49: 8) and it will happen at the end of the world, at the last hour of the day, about which John says: “Children! the last hour" (1 John 2:18). And it will not come in vain: for it will save many and, together with the remnants of the people of Israel, will gather together many tribes. Therefore, if the fulfillment of this vision is a little distant and not in accordance with your expectations, O reader, - receiving orders to read on the beech board and tablets that are inscribed by the prophet - begins later, then wait patiently for it: because what is coming will come and will not delay. If your faith wavers and you think that what I promise will not happen, the severe punishment for you will be that you will be displeasing to My soul. The righteous one who believes My words and does not doubt that what I promise will be fulfilled will have eternal life. And you should not rush to accuse Me of partiality when I kill you or give life to him; for he who lives from his faith is himself the reason for his life, just as you, on the contrary, became displeasing to My soul because he rejected himself and did not want to believe. – Obviously, here we have a prophecy about the coming of Christ. Hence, the proposed question is resolved in the sense that until He comes, unrighteousness will dominate the world, and judgment will not reach its end, and the true Nebuchadnezzar will capture people with his net and net, like small fish, and a rational animal, like a reptile, which has no leader. Then, let no one think that in the words: “for the vision is still far off, and if it is far off, wait for it,” i.e. fulfillment of the vision, due to a misunderstanding, I used visus, a word that is masculine and rarely used in Latin, instead of visio, which is feminine. This is because the word “hazon” (הоין), translated by Aquila ὁραμα τισμὸν, in the Hebrew language is masculine and means “seen” (visus) and the masculine declination in relation to the same “vision” is observed to the end, i.e. "seen". And the Seventy, translating: “write down the vision” (visionem) and after that saying: “if it is not there, wait for it” (eum): “for the one who comes will come and will not tarry: if he turns away, he will be displeasing to My soul,” they first translated “vision” into a word of the feminine gender, although, as we said, the Jews have a masculine gender, and then, in accordance with the gender of the Hebrew word, they themselves began to use the masculine declension in the words: “Wait for him” and: “My soul will not please”; but, of course, they should, in accordance with the original translation of the word: “vision,” and in other places use the feminine gender: “Wait for her, for she who is coming will come; and if she is distracted, then My soul will be displeasing.” I said this so as not to seem silent about what I know. However, I also know that according to their translation it can be understood this way. Write down the vision in which the promise of Christ is contained, and depict these words of your prophecy on a beech board or tablets, or “pages,” as Symmachus translated, namely: that at a certain time, at the end of the world, My Son will come, who will save the lost sheep of the house of Israel and will join other sheep to the former sheep and, forming one flock, will unite the two branches that Ezekiel, i.e. “the power of God” holds the prophetic hand united together and clinging to each other. But, O prophet, or, O people (on whose behalf My prophet also seemed doubtful), if Christ moves away a little and seems to be slowing down, then wait for Him, for the one who is coming will come and will not delay, etc., which we have already outlined. And then the fact that the Apostle in the Epistle to the Romans wrote on the basis of the LXX translation: “The righteous shall live by my faith” (Rom. 1:17), and not on the basis of the Hebrew text, is very clear: he wrote to the Romans, who did not know the Hebrew language, so there was no need for him to worry about the words when the meaning was complete and when this did not harm his reasoning. Note that in those places where the meaning is different, and where it is written differently in LXX, and otherwise in the Hebrews, he used only those testimonies that he received from Gamaliel, the teacher of the law. Hab.2:5-8: And as wine deceives the drinker, so shall the haughty man be, and he who has enlarged his soul shall not be adorned like the grave; he is like death, and will not be satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself and drive all nations to himself. Will not all of them speak a parable about him and his mysterious words: “Woe to him who multiplies wealth that is not his own. Until what time does he increase the thick mud against himself? Will not those suddenly arise who will bite you; will not those who torment you rise up and will you not be an object of robbery for them? Since you have plundered many nations, all those of the nations that remain will plunder you, for the blood of man and the iniquity of the land, the city and all those who dwell in it. LXX: “He who is arrogant and despises and boasts will not accomplish anything; He who, as it were, has expanded his soul, and who is like death, will not be completely satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself and receive all nations to himself. Will not all these accept parables and words of reasoning against him, and say: “Woe to him who multiplies for himself what does not belong to him! How long will he make his chains too heavy?” For suddenly those who bite him will arise and your enemies will watch, and you will be theirs to plunder. Since you have plundered many tribes, all other nations will rob you for the blood of people and the wickedness of the land, the city and all its inhabitants.” Since all this is a promise about the coming of Christ or, as some like to think, about the end of the vision and the fulfillment of God’s help; then he who believes in His coming will live by his faith, and he who does not believe will be displeasing to the soul of the Lord; and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon will be deceived by his pride. And just as wine produces such an effect on a drunkard that when he rises, neither his legs nor his thoughts fulfill their duties, and the speed of thought becomes disordered; so an arrogant person will not be proud, and will not bring his desire to fulfillment, and, as Symmachus says, οὐχ εὐπορήσει, i.e. "shall be in want" in every respect. He who is like death and hell will not be satisfied and will not see the end of his greed, even when he subjugates all tribes and all peoples under his rule. Will they not all make accusations against him (πρόβλημα), comparing his past greatness with his fall, when he was drunk with the cup of the Lord and lulled to sleep with whole wine? Woe to him who, having devastated the whole world, is not satisfied with robberies, and does not cease to rob even the naked, and at the same time is so furious that he tears them to pieces and oppresses himself with the weight of iniquities and spoils, as if with the heaviest fetters. At the same time, pay attention to how subtly he called the accumulated wealth thick mud. Will not the Medes and Persians suddenly rise up, who, when plundering the kingdom of Babylon, will first strike it and then tear it to pieces? And will not Nebuchadnezzar become the object of their robbery, and the desolator of the whole world will not be the object of prey for those other nations who were able to escape from his hand and cruelty? And it will be to him for the blood of a person, i.e. Judah, and for the iniquities of the land, i.e. Israel, and the city - which, without a doubt, means Jerusalem and, in general, all the people living in it. Let us now consider Seventy. Everything that we said about Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar can be attributed to this world and to the devil, who is truly arrogant and magnified, and thinking that he is something like that, will not achieve anything, or will not complete it, for all his effort and all his work will contain destruction. He who is like death and hell will not be satisfied with the slain: he delights in deceiving all nations and gathering all nations to himself. When they see him cast into the abyss and thrown into Tartarus, then, remembering the fulfillment of the parables and mysterious sayings (αὶνιγματωδῶς) they read in the prophetic books and referring them to him, they will unanimously cry out: “Woe to the devil, who has multiplied for himself wealth that is not his own! Woe to the partridge who gathered what she did not produce!“ “How long?” - this word belongs either to those who accuse, or to those who show the day of judgment. “And weighing down your chains with endless weight.” And this word is quite beautiful: since he is proud and majestic (pride is revealed in stretching his neck and raising his head), the chain will be very heavy, so that it will bend what was exalted. And this will happen because those who will torment him will suddenly rise up, i.e. or angels, with whom, or to whom, the devil will be given over to punishment, or captives by him, who will then bring repentance and who, returning to the banner of Christ, will torment him, as is said in another place: “The people who were in the world with you plotted intrigues for you” (Jer. 38:22); and then the words follow: “And those who plot your intrigues will stay awake,” i.e. you will subject to attacks those whom you previously lulled and intoxicated, who devastate your kingdom and return to the army of Christ those who were your captives. For you have made many nations your prey, and have taken away the garments and ornaments of the people of Judah, which I gave them: and therefore all the other nations that have not (or will not) subdue their necks under your power, will plunder you and strip you bare; this is because you have killed very many nations and shed their blood. But besides this, they will turn on your head and the reason for your robbery will be the wickedness of the earth, i.e. the land of Judah, and the city of Jerusalem, and all their inhabitants, who cried out against their Creator: “Crucify, crucify Him: His blood be on us and on our children” (John 19:6; Matt.27:25). But these words can also be interpreted in relation to the Antichrist, who will be so proud and arrogant that he will sit in the church of God, representing himself as God; and like hell and death he will destroy and gather so many to himself that, if it were possible, he would deceive even God’s chosen ones (Mark 13:22). And he will gather all the tribes to himself and subject all nations to his deception. But those who subsequently see that he was killed by the spirit of the mouth of Christ will understand that what was previously predicted about him was true, and will say the words that follow this in the text, understanding them in the sense in which we have explained them in relation to the devil. And the words: “And all other nations will rob you for the blood of people, for the wickedness of the land and the city and everyone living on it,” we will understand in relation to those other nations who did not serve the Antichrist, and through whom the wicked will be robbed for the wickedness that he spread throughout the whole earth, for the devastation of the city, i.e. Church, and for the persecution of all who lived in it. At the end of the world, the devastation in the Church will be so great, and wickedness will be so destructive, due to the raging of the Antichrist, and due to the multiplication of the unrighteousness of many, and love will cool to such an extent (Matthew 24:12), that the Lord, who knows the hidden secrets of the heart and knows what is to be, said: “Do you not think that the Son of Man at the time of his coming will find faith on earth” (Luke 18:8)? According to the words of the Apostle John, who writes: “And as you have heard that the Antichrist will come, now, behold... there are many antichrists” (1 John 2:18), from which we learn that this is the last time, we can also understand by proud and majestic all heretics and every perverted teaching of people who boast that they have knowledge and despise the simplicity of the faith of the Church, i.e. those who do not bring anything to the end, but enjoy the destruction of many, we can place the entire content of the passage in relation to their teaching: they in truth have increased for themselves wealth that is not their own, and collecting for themselves, as it were, the thickest dirt and preparing the most painful chains that drag them to destruction, they plunder many nations and shed the blood of people and commit wickedness in the church among all those who dwell in it. The rest of the peoples, i.e. people belonging to the church, but not under the influence of their seduction, will suddenly rise up, and, as it were, awaken from a heavy sleep and begin to tear them to pieces, and arrange intrigues for them, and seize them as prey for themselves. Some think that the words: “Woe to those who have increased wealth that is not their own,” can be understood in relation to the rich, who expand the boundaries of their possessions and collect for themselves what does not belong to a person, considering it to be his property, and of which they will suddenly be deprived. And that the earthly things do not belong to man, the rational animal, the Lord shows this in the words: “If you were not faithful in the things of others, then who will give you what is yours?” (Luke 16:12) - and these interpreters attribute the entire text of the passage to this rich person. But I don't know if they can maintain consistency between the prophet's question and its resolution. Hab.2:9-11: Woe to him who gathers up wicked greed for his house, that his nest may be in a high place, and who thinks to be freed from the hands of evil. You have planned turmoil for your home; you have destroyed many nations and sinned against your soul. For the stone from the wall will cry out and the tree in the ties of the building will answer. LXX: “Oh, he who multiplies the greed of the wicked in his house, to set his nest in a high place and escape from the hands of the wicked! You have planned confusion for your house; you have destroyed many nations, and your soul has sinned; therefore the stone from the wall will cry and the beetle from the tree will speak the following.” And again the prophetic speech turns to the one who accumulates atrocities and does not understand that the abundance of riches causes the destruction of his house; at the same time, under the image of arrogance, it is exposed that he builds his nest in elevated places like birds, and thinks to himself that he is avoiding the hand of the evil one, i.e. will never fall under the power of enemies, just as the advice of pride and majestic thoughts end in dishonor. You killed many nations and raged against your soul, killing others and reveled in such great cruelty (or so much) that, so to speak, the stones of the city and the trees in the fences that you overthrew will scream about your brutality. This is the same as in the Gospel and the Lord speaks against the Pharisees who reproach Him for the fact that He did not forbid the children to cry: “Hosanna in the highest to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest”; “Have you not read what is written” (Matthew 21:9, 16); “From the mouths of babes and sucklings have you made praise? And if they were silent, the stones would cry out” (Ps. 8:3). And although many think that this passage should be understood as follows: “If the Jews were silent, then a multitude of pagans would confess Me”; however, the understanding is clearer and truer in the sense that, although people would remain silent (or will remain silent), and an envious tongue would not speak about the multitude of My signs, yet these stones, the foundations of walls and the components of buildings could proclaim My greatness. To make this more understandable, let us also present several examples from secular literature. Crispus (Sallust) in history says: “The inhabitants of Saguntum are very famous for their faith and misfortunes, for their suicides and labors more than wealth, because they testified to the work of the Carthaginians in dilapidated walls, roofless houses and the fences of churches that were burned.” Tullius Cicero also says something similar to Caesar about Marcellus: “The fence of this curia will be witnessed by Phidias (son of Jupiter), - as it seems to me, they joyfully rush to give you thanks for the fact that in a short time the importance of their ancestors will be restored to the curule chairs among them.” Then the words translated by us: “And the tree in the connections of the building will answer,” instead of which the Seventy translated: “And the beetle from the tree will speak the following,” Symmachus, as usual, expressed it more clearly in the words: ὰποφθέγξεται αὐτὰ, i.e. "and the building's timber ties will speak volumes about it." Also Theodotion and the Fifth Edition translated: χαὶ συνδενσμὸς ξύλου φθὲγξεται αὐτὰ, - which translation agrees with both the translation of Symmachus and ours, this is because chaphis is used in the Hebrew language ( כסּּיס ), and it means “wood”, which is used to support walls among buildings and among the Greeks is usually called ίμάντωσις. So, in a historical sense, the prophetic word means the following: the stones of the fences that are destroyed by you and the burned tree from them will cry out about your cruelty. Excluding five well-known publications, i.e. Akila. Symmachus, Seventy, Theodotion and the Fifth Edition, I opened two other editions, in which it is equally written: “Because the stone in the fence (or: from the fence) will cry like a worm rustling in a tree,” and in the other: “For the stone will cry from the fence and (the worm) from the tree will say this.” But Aquila also uses something different than we do, namely: χαὶ μαζα, i.e. “a piece of dough from a tree will answer.” We will use any of these meanings in the interpretation of the text of the Seventy Interpreters; instead of “Woe!” used: "Oh!" and the speech is directed either to the devil, or to the Antichrist, or to heretics who increase their wicked stinginess. And this stinginess is called wicked, in contrast to good stinginess, such as the stinginess of the teacher of the Church, who is never satisfied with many followers, and the more followers he has, the more excited he is to study the doctrine. So, woe to him who increases the most wicked avarice in himself, so as to gather in his house the assemblies of wickedness, and builds his nest on high, to escape from the hands of the wicked. In fact, the devil, the Antichrist, and heretics promise that those who accept their teaching will have bliss in the kingdom of heaven and will not be subjected to the fire of Gehenna. But although they would promise this, their intention cannot be fulfilled; and their intention will be the cause of confusion, and their house (or house) will be a house of dishonor, after what was promised by them will appear as a lie at the end of the world, when (or then) it will be revealed that their advice was the cause of confusion and not salvation. As we have already said, this teacher of corruption will destroy many nations, and the more of them he has among his followers, the more he will sin against his soul. Then the main stones of this church and χάνθαρος, i.e. The “beetle” made of wood will cry out against the gluttony of the arrogant one, because by the power of his conviction he has deceived all the tribes. By stones we can understand the coarse hearts of those who believed in heretical teachings, and by a beetle from a tree - each of the corrupt teachers who speak from their belly, taking up the preaching of the cross for dishonest gain. For the belly is their God, and everything is done for the sake of food by those people who care about the eruption, for a beetle or a beetle is an animal of dung; they accept the cross only in order to proclaim with serpentine lips the stinginess and arrogance of their teacher the devil. If, therefore, you ever see any of the heretics speaking against the Church some secret and hidden teachings, and preferring the house of the devil to the house of Christ, then you must say: “The stone from the fence cries and the beetle from the tree speaks.” In the scroll of a certain writer, I read that the beetle refers to heretics because their teaching can be likened to droppings. Therefore, the Apostle says that he considers the errors of the old teaching to be garbage, i.e. for the litter (Phil.3:8). This is not because the Old Law, as the Manichaeans think, should be considered garbage in comparison with the Gospel (it would be wicked to say so, because these are the Testaments of the One and the same God), but because the teachings of the Pharisees and the commandments of men and the later traditions of the Jews (Deu terosis δευτερώσεις) by the Apostle are called litter. I know that some of our brethren understood the Lord the Savior under the stone crying out of the fence, and under the beetle speaking from the tree - the thief who reviled the Lord; It is true that this kind of interpretation is pious, but I do not see how it can be reconciled with the complete composition of prophetic speech. There are also some who think that the beetle speaking from the tree can also be attributed to the face of the Savior; but this is impious in view of the very disposition of the speech. For the words: “the beetle from the tree will say this” are understood not in a good way, but in a bad way, i.e. he will talk about the wicked stinginess of one who multiplies troubles against his house and about the confusion of the devil and about everything else that preceded his lawlessness and crime. And in the words of Aquila: “And a piece of dough from the tree will answer,” we attribute the word “dough” to the meaning that the Lord used in the Gospel: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” (Matthew 16:11); and when the apostles expressed doubt and did not know what it was, the Evangelist explained with the words: “He said this about the teaching of the Pharisees.” So, the teaching of heretics is correctly understood as originating, as it were, from wood, because they can convince others in no other way than by covering their perversity with the glory of the tree of the cross. Also in the words that we translated: “For the stone from the fence will cry out, like a worm that noises in a tree,” or: “The stone from the fence will cry, and the worm from the tree will speak this,” some of ours explain it as if the worm speaking from the tree is the one who says in the psalm: “I am a worm, and not a man” (Ps. 21:7); to the same person they also attribute the singing bird, which says: “I have become like a lonely sparrow on the housetop” (Ps. 102:7–8); and so on. Hab.2:12–14: Woe to him who builds a city on blood, and prepares a stronghold on iniquity; does this not come from the Lord of hosts? for the nations will labor with much sweat, and the nations in vain, and they will come to the end of exhaustion: for the earth will be filled with the fact that they will know the glory of the Lord, as if the sea were covered with waters. LXX: “Woe to him who triples a city with blood and prepares a fortification with iniquity. Isn't all this from the Lord Almighty? And many nations were made poor by the fire, and many nations were oppressed: for the earth shall be filled with that which shall know the glory of the Lord, as the seas with water that cover them.” No one will doubt that in the literal sense the prophetic speech here also speaks against Nebuchadnezzar, and bitterly cries out over him, because he is building a city on blood and erecting its walls from the ruins and destruction of many. Since he will do this for the city that he built on blood, he will then hear what is said from the Lord; in fact, the following words follow: “Is this”, i.e. what is said does not come from the Lord of hosts? The nations will labor in the fire, and the nations in vain,” i.e. after Babylon is burned, the nations will labor in vain and strive for worthless things; and the nations of the Chaldean tribe will come to the point of exhaustion, since the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, i.e. when Babylon is overthrown, the power of God’s power will become obvious to everyone, like the power of the waters covering the seas: the glory of God will fill the entire universe as the waters cover the endless depth of the sea. This is the literal, as we said, meaning. – On the other hand, it is also obvious that the devil, the Antichrist, and the perverted teachings of heretics are building a city on blood, i.e. their church for the destruction of those who are deceived, and prepare a stronghold for iniquities, speaking lies against God, and lifting up their face high. When they do this, it will clearly be revealed that they themselves are building a city on blood and preparing it on iniquities. For the following words follow: “Is not all this from the Lord Almighty?” those. This dispensation is not from the Lord of hosts (sabaoth), which name LXX translates with the word: “Almighty.” Indeed, many nations will become impoverished, and although an infinite number of tribes will be carried away by their delusion, they will either be driven to exhaustion, which is better denoted by the word δλιγοφύκησαν (became cowardly), or they will be reduced to extreme crowding, and cannot be compared with the multitude of members of the Church. Since they are exhausted in fire (which means either that they were engulfed in the fire of their leader the devil, or that they were burned by the fire of the Lord, about whom He says: “I have come to bring down fire on the earth and I want ... it to burn” (Luke 12:49) as well as the fact that they are distracted from their previous walk and bring repentance and leave their begun path, which means the word ὀλιγοφυκία - (cowardice), then the whole universe will be filled with the glory of the Lord when, during the preaching of the Apostles, “their message will spread throughout all the earth” (Ps. 18:5), like the waters that cover the sea, that is, so that the waters of the Lord will cover all the saltiness and bitterness of this age, with which they have drunk. earth, when the devil sent rain from above. Therefore, the psalm says: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered” (Ps. 31:1) But, although this does not agree with the order of reading and is not in connection with the present text of Scripture, the city full of the blood of the prophets can also be attributed to Jerusalem, about which St. Scripture mentions (Matt. 23:35) that the blood of saints is shed from gate to gate, as well as what is said about the suffering of the Lord: “His blood is on us and on our children” (Matt. 27:25); also what God says to him in the book of the prophet Isaiah: “When you lift up your hands to Me, I will not hear you, for your hands are filled with blood” (Is. 1:15). According to the words of the same prophet, the city in which justice seemed to have fallen asleep was built on iniquities. And the building of it is not of the Lord of hosts. Therefore, many peoples were exhausted in the fire and many tribes were reduced to powerlessness at a time when the city was surrounded by the armies of Titus and Vespasian, and they, who appeared on the solemn day of Easter, were imprisoned in the city, as if in prison, and were exhausted from hunger and poverty, and the siege of Hadrian brought them to extreme ruin. And after the destruction of the city of blood and the fortress of unrighteousness, after the destruction of nations by fire and after the scattering of the tribes that came to their aid, here and there, and who dropped their weary hands, the whole universe was filled with the glory of Christ and, as if with waters, the whole world was covered with His preaching and teaching. Hab.2:15–17. Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, mingling his gall and making him drunk, so that he may see his shame. He was filled with dishonor instead of glory: drink also, and fall into a heavy sleep; the cup of the right hand of God will surround you and the vomit of disgrace over your glory; for the iniquity of Lebanon will cover you and the destruction of the draft animals (or animals) will terrify them from the blood of people, and the iniquity of the land and the city and all those living in it (or: people). LXX: “Woe to him who brings drink to his neighbor with violent indignation and intoxicates him in order to look into their caves. You too drink the saturation of dishonor from (or instead of) glory: and you are shaken: the cup of the right hand of the Lord will go around you. And disgrace has gathered over your glory, because the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you and the misfortune of the beasts will frighten you because of the blood of people and the wickedness of the land and the city and everyone who dwells in it.” Symmachus, instead of the words: “with violent indignation,” translated: χαἰ ἀφιὼν ἁχρίτως τὸν θυμὸν ἐαυτοῦ, i.e. “and recklessly giving vent to his anger; Theodotion - ἀπὸ κυσεώς σου, which means: “from his outpouring”; Fifth edition – ἐξ ἀπροαδοχητου άνατροπῆς τῆς ὀργῆς σου, which means: “from the unexpected explosion of your anger”; Akila - ἐξ ἐπιτρέφεως κόλου σου - which we can translate: “from the outpouring of your rage or bile.” In another publication I found: i.e. what in our language means: “Woe to the one who gives his friend a flying whirlwind.” But in another place we read the following translation: “Woe to him who gives a drink to his friend,” ἒχστασιν ὀκλουμένην, i.e. "stormy madness" We say this so that it is known that the Hebrew word “maspha” (םססּּה), translated in the LXX with the word “outrage”, is translated so differently in all editions. So, again and again Nebuchadnezzar is reproached for the fact that, forgetting his position and as if not knowing that he is a man, he brings bile and bitterness to another person to drink; and by this person we can understand either the king of Judea or all people in general; for he made them drunk with wickedness, that he might see all the nakedness of Zedekiah and all the captives. Symmachus and the Fifth Edition translated instead: “to see their dishonor.” All this is presented in the image of a man intoxicated and dishonored by nakedness because Nebuchadnezzar intoxicated them with the cup of his wrath and saw them all robbed in the end and captives; and those who were once glorious have been brought to the extreme degree of slavery, for this is what the words mean: “He is filled with dishonor instead of glory,” by which we mean either a friend, or a neighbor, or an accomplice of power, who drank your cup, Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore, since you have intoxicated very many, drink also from the cup of the wrath of the Lord and fall into a heavy sleep: you will be surrounded by the punishments of the right hand of the Lord and with the dishonor of your vomit you will throw away everything that you have consumed, and from your highest glory you will be brought to extreme disasters. “For the iniquity of Lebanon will cover you,” your arrogance, the destruction of the church and the plunder of the sanctuary will plunder and devastate you. And since the prophet once named Mount Lebanon, by this same image he means sacrifices and sacred rites or the many nations that were killed in Jerusalem, comparing them to animals and beasts in the words: “And the destruction of animals will oppress you.” You will endure all this because you devastated Judah, devastated the promised land and the city of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. In Lydda I became acquainted with one of the Jews, who was considered a sage among them and was called “an expert in traditions” (δευτερώτης); he told the following fabulous story: Zedekiah, blinded by Nebuchadnezzar at Ravlaoi, i.e. Antioch, and desecrated in various ways, was taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:7; Jer. 39:7); in this city, when Nebuchadnezzar feasted on certain days, he ordered Zedekiah to be given a drink, after taking which the drinker’s stomach weakened; and then they suddenly brought him into the assembly of those feasting, and due to the inability to restrain the stomach pain, he became defiled - which is what the words of Scripture seem to mean: “Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, mixing his gall and making him drunk, so that he can see his nakedness and dishonor instead of glory,” precisely because through him a man who was a most powerful king was brought to such indecency. Therefore, God threatens him with the fact that he himself will drink the same kind of drink and endure what Zedekiah endured. How funny this is, you know even without my words. In fact, if the following words: “Drink you also and be cast into a heavy sleep, and the cup of the right hand of the Lord will surround you and the vomit of dishonor over your glory” mean not the cup in the proper sense, but the disasters that Nebuchadnezzar must drink, then consequently the cup presented to Zedekiah for drinking should be understood in the sense of disasters, and not in the sense χαθαρτιόν (laxative), as they think. If they say that this is incorrect, and that a drink of this kind was actually prepared, as I have already described above, then the cup that Nebuchadnezzar will drink should be understood in the sense of being filled with a drink to cleanse the stomach (χαθαρτιχῶ), as if the God of armies and the Lord Almighty, instead of great vengeance, will prepare for Nebuchadnezzar χαθαρτιχῶ and cause him to become defiled by his own impurities. This is against Jewish tradition. – Let us now move on to the spiritual meaning of the passage. Woe to you, devil, or Antichrist, or the perverted teaching of heretics, since you intoxicate with your teachings and muddy drink (either: intoxicating, or overthrowing, or giving) the deceived nations, and you overthrow their faith, giving them drink not from Siloam, not from the Jordan, but from the springs of Israel, but from the brook Kidron and from the river of Egypt, about which Jeremiah says: “What is the way of Egypt to you and to drink the water of Geon” (Jer. 2:18)? In Hebrew it is written instead sior (שיהור), i.e. “cloudy” or “dirty”; in fact, although we believe that the rivers of Egypt flowed out of paradise, however, since they were trampled underfoot by the pharaohs, they lost their purity and, defiled by the mud of Egypt, they turned into streams, fleeing from which the holy man joyfully says: “Our souls have passed through a stormy stream” (Ps. 123:4). But if someone were to contrast the stream Corath, from which Elijah drank (1 Kings 8) and another stream from which the Lord drank on the way - for it is written: “He will drink from the stream on the way” (Ps. 109:7) - then the following should be said to this. Whoever is in Egypt and on the path of this age, even if it were Moses and Aaron, or Jeremiah and Elijah, in any case must necessarily drink the cup of the trials of Egypt and the desert; Therefore, the Lord, who took on flesh for this purpose in order to drink from the stream, in contemplation of His greatness says: “Father... if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). But then, seeing Himself in Egypt and knowing that the waters cannot be purified unless He Himself drinks them, He says: However, “not as I want, but as You want” (Matthew 26:39). This is because the devil will intoxicate his neighbors with corruption and muddy drinking and some perverse teachings, i.e. intelligent animals and will force them, deceived by him, to look into their caves. In fact, the dogmas of the Church are free: they rejoice in the bright light of day: “But those who get drunk are drunk at night” (1 Thessalonians 5:7), and those who become drunk lead them not to the abodes of the Lord, which are not darkened by any shadow of coverings, but to caves. For they made My Father’s house, a house of prayer, a den of thieves (Matt. 21:13), because they promised to communicate something hidden and to reveal unknown secrets, known only to heretics, about which Isaiah also speaks: “They will hide all the works of their hands, carrying them into caves and into clefts of rocks and into ravines of the earth” (Is. 2:18-19). Therefore, let us not enter the caves of heretics, let us not hide where Saul used to lay out the dirt of his teachings (1 Samuel 24:4). On the contrary, let us enter the high cave of Mount Sin, where Elijah saw the Lord (1 Kings 19:11–13), where Moses also saw the shadow of His glory (Exodus 33:20–23); also Isaiah, exclaiming about the Lord, says: Here He will dwell in the lofty cave (Is. 32:16, 22:16). But if someone does not have dirty drinking and heretical teaching, but being a teacher of the Church, he does everything for the sake of profit and sells doves in the church - i.e. the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and improves the free sheep in the priestly seat; Although he does not make the house of prayer a den of thieves, he nevertheless makes the Father’s house a house of trade. - Then the words follow: “Drink the satiety of dishonor, and you too, and move forward,” this means: O devil, O corrupt teaching, O heretic, who considers himself a golden cup with which all nations become intoxicated, in order to see your dens and mysteries, instead of glory, be filled with the satiety of dishonor and let them consider you an earthen vessel, the work of a potter’s hands; drink also from the cup of the Lord, which is spoken of in the psalm: “The cup is in the hand of the Lord, filled with a mixture of pure wine, and He tipped it down to this (or that), but its thick moisture was not exhausted” (Ps. 74:9); leave behind your original opinion and do not think that what you previously thought to stand on is firm and stable, because the cup of the right hand (or gum) of the Lord will surround you. Further: since you offered your neighbor a drink with violent indignation, then disgrace will be gathered on you and on your glory, which initially you, in your opinion, seemed to have: you will endure all this because the misfortune of Lebanon will cover you in accordance with what is said in the psalm: “And let his prayer become sin” (Ps. 109:7); for Mount Lebanon in Greek by its meaning (ὀμώνυμος) is incense, and incense is a symbol of spiritual incense, i.e. worship services. And therefore, the perverted prayer of heretics, not corrected by the simplicity of the Gospel, will turn into sin for them, and they will be covered by the wickedness of their service to God. Therefore, the following words follow: “And the misfortune of the beasts will frighten you because of the blood of people and the wickedness of the land, and the city, and everyone who dwells in it.” And the meaning is this: When you see those people whom you deceived in disasters and bearing punishment for their errors, you will be frightened and weakened. And lest you think that by calling Lebanon and the animals I am not talking about wild animals, but about people, I will tell you more clearly: You will endure all this, because you shed the blood of many people whom you destroyed before God. You committed wickedness in the land of the living, in the land of the meek, and your wickedness spread destructively even in the kingdom of the Lord, i.e. in His Church; You made many who dwelt in it share in your wickedness. This is said in relation to the face of heretics. - However, if we want to attribute this to the Antichrist, or the devil, who will act in the Antichrist, then we will see that with his cup, with which he will want to overthrow the teaching of Christ, he will intoxicate very many, so that they will enter his dens in intoxication; but then, when the end comes, he will be filled with dishonor instead of the glory with which he was magnified. And it will be filled because it will drink the cup of punishment and will waver, and not due to weakness in its villainy, but due to trembling and late repentance. For the cup of the right hand of the Lord, who is Lord and Savior, will surround him when He slays him with the spirit of His mouth and the manifestation of His coming. Then all his dishonor, which he has accumulated for himself through thoughts, actions and words, will rise above his glory, so that as much as he was previously considered glorious, so later he will be full of dishonor. For he uttered blasphemies against God, and the wickedness that he committed in Lebanon will cover him, and the fury of many people in which they raged against the Church of God will be imputed to him: he will not be able to lift up his neck, but will be thrown to the ground in horror. For he killed many people and devastated the whole world with his wickedness, i.e. the Church of Christ and those who live in it. - So, it should be known that this passage we have just outlined: “Woe to the one who gives drink to his neighbor with violent indignation,” and the previous three, in which it is said: “Woe to the one who multiplies for himself what does not belong to him,” and: “Woe to the one who gathers up wicked greed for his house,” and: “Woe to the one who builds a city on blood,” both in historical and figurative meaning can equally be understood or in relation to Nebuchadnezzar, or in relation to the devil and the Antichrist, and heretics. Hab.2:18: What is the purpose of an image made by an artist - it is a cast fictitious image, and yet the artist who created it placed his hope in his invention, although he made a dumb likeness of something. LXX: “What is the purpose of the image, although they made it? They produced a fictitious cast image; and yet the artist trusts the fiction he has created, although he produces dumb idols.” Consistently in accordance with the above (or in the above), it is said about Nebuchadnezzar that he built a statue of the idol Bel and placed it in the field of Dur, or, as it is written in Hebrew, Dora, about which we read more fully in the book of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 3: 1). So, the Scripture expresses surprise at the madness and stupidity of the king, since he himself ordered the construction of a golden statue and he himself, who invented the statue, believes what he invented: however, we can understand this and in general against all worshipers of idols. But let’s not think that what is cut and smelted is one and the same; for by carved images we may understand those made of stones and marbles, and by cast images we mean those made of metals that can be melted and re-fused; such as, for example, gold, silver, copper, tin and lead. This is said for the purpose so that we can know what is figuratively denoted by a carved and cast image. In Deuteronomy we read: “Cursed is anyone who makes a carved or cast image, the work of an artist, and places it in a secret place” (Deut. 27:15). I think that carved and cast images are perverted dogmas, which constitute an object of veneration on the part of those who invented them. Look at Arius, who invented for himself a carved idol of the creature and revered his own invention. Look at Eunomius, who poured out a false image for himself and bowed his neck before this poured image. Scripture says significantly: “And he will place him in a mysterious place.” In fact, they have their own frantic ministries for him, and to some disciples, as if they were perfect, they convey secret mysteries, the lies of which are exposed immediately as soon as they come to light. So, their carved or cast images do not help them in any way. The carved image - standing in connection with the stones - is seen in those teachings, the absurdity of which is revealed at first sight. The cast image appears where, apparently, there are some foundations of the wisdom of this world, and where the idol is formed - as if from some gold - from the teachings of philosophers and with the help of brilliant eloquence. So, the artist’s invention will not help him at all; and a mute and deaf image of something will not be able to hear its admirer. If you ever see that someone does not want to believe the truth and stubbornly continues to stand in the lesson he has begun, although the falsity of his teachings has already been shown, then quite to the point you can say about him: “He puts his trust in his idol and creates dumb or deaf images,” because the word χωφὰ among the Greeks means both one and the other, although Symmachus, translating it into the word ᾶλαλα, apparently, meant mute rather than deaf images. Let no one be confused by that peculiarity of the language (ιδίωμα) of the Scriptures, which we have already spoken about several times, for example, in the words: “Who is a faithful and prudent steward” in your opinion (Luke 12:42); also in another place: “He who is wise” will understand (or understands) this (Ps. 107:43), a feature consisting in the fact that the words: “who” and “what” are used instead of “rarely,” although from other places we can prove that the same words are used instead of the word: “impossible”; for example: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ: tribulation or distress” (Rom. 8:35), etc. The same is true in the present passage: “What is the use of an image made by an artist?” for in both places the impossibility is shown, both that sorrow or distress would separate the Apostle’s love from Christ, and that there would be any benefit in idols. Hab.2:19–20: Woe to the one who says to a tree, “Awake,” and to a silent (or lying) stone, “Arise.” Will he teach... anything? Here it is covered with gold and silver, but there is no breath inside it. The Lord is in His holy church: let all the earth be silent at His presence. LXX: “Woe to him who says to a tree, “Watch and arise,” and to a stone, “Be up”; it is an invention and a work of gold and silver, but there is no spirit in it: but the Lord is in His holy church, let all the earth fear at His presence.” In different ways, these words can be taken as being spoken either against Nebuchadnezzar, or against all people who worship idols. And what is described here is a human error, which consists in the fact that, due to the brilliance of the material, silver, gold, precious stones and silk, with which idols are covered or shrouded, are revered as gods, since the artist actually managed to give them shape; but he could not put in the soul that animates the parts of the body. On the contrary, it is said about the Lord that He is in His holy church (Ps. 10:4), but not in a church made with hands, but either in heaven, or in each of the saints, according to the word of the Apostle: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16), and in another place: “Your body is the church” of God (1 Cor. 6:19), or in the Son, as He himself says: “The Father who abides in Me, He Himself does the works” (John 14:10); or maybe the whole world, consisting of heaven and earth and enclosed in heavenly circles, is recognized as the house of God, of course, because “the spirit inwardly nourishes” heaven and earth, the seas and the entire universe, “and thought, diffused throughout all the constituent parts, sets the whole mass in motion and mixes with the great body” (Virgil. VI. Aeneid.). Therefore, the Apostle says with complete faith: “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Therefore, if someone objects: “How is it said that there is no spirit in idols, when unclean spirits are present with all idols?” - let such a one learn the usual usage of St. Scripture, according to which the spirit of destruction is definitely never called just a spirit, but with some kind of addition, as for example, in the following place: “They are deceived by the spirit of fornication” (Hos. 4:12), and in the Gospel: “When the unclean spirit came out of a man” (Luke 11:24), and in other similar places. And wherever the word “spirit” is used without any addition, independently, it is always understood in a good way, i.e. in relation to the Holy Spirit, this is, for example, the place of the Apostle: “He who sows in the Spirit will from the Spirit also reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8) and in another place: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace” (Gal. 5:22), or: “Walk in the Spirit and you will not commit the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). What we are saying is not that the Holy Spirit is never designated by the word “spirit” with an addition, for, in fact, He is called both the Holy Spirit, and the Primordial Spirit, and the Right Spirit, and the Spirit of God, etc.; but we affirm that the Holy Spirit is often designated by only one word - “spirit” and with additions; The evil spirit is always designated in Scripture only with additions. But if someone stubbornly wanted to see an evil spirit in this place, then one can also say to this that the words mean one thing: “There is no spirit in him,” and another – “There is no spirit near him,” for he can be present with the idols, although he can never be inside them. Therefore, Aquila more significantly translated the Hebrew with the words: “And his spirit is not in his belly,” or: “in the midst of him.” In addition, it should also be known that in some Hebrew scrolls “no” is not added, but simply reads “spirit”. But if someone, convinced by my proof, begins to understand in this place the Holy Spirit and asks: why, if the Holy Spirit is spoken here, the word “spirit” is read with the addition: “There is no spirit in him,” let him know that by every spirit are meant the various grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, so the meaning of this place is: “He cannot have in himself any gift of the Spirit, no power.” This is also much better understood in a figurative meaning, namely, that there is no grace of St. There is no spirit in all the idols of heretics and their inventions; and although there is nothing moving or vital in them, they apparently have the image of divinity and the charm of true dogmas. And so as not to seem to hide from the reader what we know, let us also say that among the Hebrews “spirit” and “wind” are called by the same word: rua (רוה), and this word is usually understood either as spirit or as wind, according to the meaning of the place. So in the present case, we can understand spirit either in the sense of wind, since nothing breathes in idols, or in the sense of soul, since idols are inanimate. And that the word spirit is used in the meaning of the soul, this is clearly shown by the Savior’s prayer: “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit” (Luke 23:46). And since Jesus could not entrust to the Father either the evil spirit (which is even ungodliness to even imagine!), nor the Holy Spirit, Who is Himself God, He handed over nothing other than His soul, about which He said: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death” (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34), and: “No one can take My soul from Me: but according to My will I I lay down my life, and again willingly take it up” (John 10:17–18). You might be interested in: