Глава II

Nahum.2:1–2. The destroyer is rising before your face, overseeing the siege; look at the road; strengthen your loins; gather all your strength. For just as the Lord rewarded arrogance in relation to Jacob, so he will reward arrogance in relation to Israel; because the desolators scattered them and destroyed their branches. Necessity forces me to direct the path of my speech between history and allegory, just as it happens between rocks and pitfalls, during a threatening shipwreck, and to make sure that I do not suddenly stumble upon something. For, according to the fables of the poets: Scylla is on the right hand, and the evil Charybdis is on the left If we avoid the rocks, we are carried away into the depths, and if we escape the whirlpools, we end up on the rocks. The Lord is my witness that everything that I expound in relation to the Jewish text, I do not say from my own head, for which the false prophets are exposed, but I follow the explanation of the Jews and, as having studied with them for quite some time, I consider it my duty to simply tell my 11 what I have learned. It will, of course, depend on the will of the reader - after reading both explanations, decide which should be followed more. So, now the speech turns to Nineveh (the darkness of the prophecies especially depends on the fact that suddenly, when talking about one subject, a person is replaced by other persons), and it is said to her: Nebuchadnezzar is rising up against you, who will besiege you, who in your presence will devastate fields, pursue farmers, destroy villages and keep you under siege. And since war threatens you, now I, the prophet, joyfully announce: carefully observe, pay attention and peer into what will happen to you. Strengthen your loins, that is, gird yourself, gather all your strength, that is, gather your troops, because just as the Lord took vengeance for Judah for the arrogance of Sennacherib, whose army was destroyed in Judah and who himself was killed by his sons, so He will take vengeance for Israel, that is, for the ten tribes that are under the rule of Nineveh. For the Assyrians devastated and ruined both, Judah and Israel, and - speaking metaphorically, like grapes - destroyed the branches of both 12. LXX: Keep your eyes on the road, hold your loins, strengthen yourself with all your strength, for the Lord has turned away the insult of Jacob, as well as the insult of Israel, because those who shook them shook them, and their branches destroyed them. Here three commands are given to Judas. First, that he should look at the road along which he will walk, and that he should carefully look at the path, in accordance with what is written in Jeremiah: “Stand on the path, and ask about the paths... eternal, and see who is the way of good things, and walk in it” (Jer. 6:16), so that after we have stood on many paths, we can come to the path that says: “I am the way” ( John 14, 6). Then he is told to restrain his loins, that is, after choosing the path, to mortify his body and enslave him, so that, preaching to others like a king and teacher, he himself does not prove unworthy (1 Cor. 9). It would be too long to talk now about the fact that the power of the devil lies mainly in the loins, and about the promise given to David: “I will set the fruit of your womb on your throne” (Psalm 131:11). The apostle also says: “Levi was still in the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met Abraham” (Heb. 7). John also girded himself with a leather belt (Matthew 3) and the Savior gave the command to his disciples: “Let your loins be girded” (Luke 12:35). And the apostle says to the Ephesians: “Gird up your loins with truth” (Eph. 6:14). For although asceticism (ἄσχησος) and abstinence in life are very important for the mortification of the loins, nothing mortifies them more than the knowledge of the truth. Therefore it is said: “Gird up your loins with the truth.” For if the truth is Christ, then he who believed in Christ with all his soul has mortified his loins in Christ. The third command is given regarding the strengthening of all forces. You have chosen, he says, the path, restrained your loins, strengthened your strength to be able to fight your enemies. And so that distrust does not arise in you, the reason why you should hope is indicated: “The Lord turned away the insult of Jacob, as well as the insult of Israel,” which has a double meaning: either the Lord turned away the insult of Jacob himself, who caused insults to others, or He turned away the insult that Jacob suffered from others. But, apparently, the better explanation is that the Lord averted the insult that Jacob usually inflicted on others. For it is not so much the virtue of enduring an insult inflicted by others as it is the effect of the grace of the Lord that one who has become meek, quiet and calm cannot inflict insult. The question is: how was the insult of Jacob averted, just as the insult of Israel was averted? After Jacob's struggle with the angel, he was honored to receive the name Israel (Gen. 32), and since he saw God, he stopped offending. So, just as Israel, that is, the soul or man who sees God and always thinks about God, cannot offend, so all arrogance and insult were turned away from Jacob, that is, from the initiator, - from him who, while still in the midst of the struggle, puts stumbling blocks to the enemies. How insult is understood in a bad sense, this can be seen from the testimony of Solomon, who says: “The eye (or eyes) of the vexer is the tongue unrighteous” (Proverbs 6:17). And how, in both senses, the insult, first turned away from Israel, was also turned away from Jacob, this can be seen from the following words: “because those who shook them shook them, and broke off their branches” or “destroyed them.” The angels of each, he says, seeing the face of the Father daily (Matthew 18), shook off all the dust that stuck to Jacob and Israel. That is why Peter’s feet are washed (John 13). And through the prophet it is said: “Shake the dust and arise... Jerusalem” (Is. 52:2). The Savior also commands the disciples: “Shake off the dust of your feet” (Matthew 10:14). And in the Psalms it is written: “Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, like the sons of the shaken” (Psalm 126:4). Thus the inclination to insult was turned away from the true Jacob and the true Israel; because everything that was earthly in them, and all the dirt, was shaken off and cleansed with the help of angels or teachers and leaders, shaking off not only them, but also the vices that attract the senses with their pleasantness only at the present time, and scattering them like branches and branches covered with leaves, but without fruit, according to the words of the Lord: “Every branch that abides in Me and bears fruit, My Father cleanses, so that she may bear more fruit, and she who does not remain in Me and does not bear fruit, My Father will cut off and throw into the fire” (John 15). Nahum.2:3–7. The shield of his strong shines like fire; warriors... in scarlet robes; The chariot reins sparkle with fire on the day of its preparation; and the drivers are immersed in sleep; they mixed on the roads; chariots collided in the squares; their appearance is like that of lamps, like flashing lightning. He will remember his brave men; They will rush along their paths, climb onto its walls, and a cover will be prepared. The river gates were dissolved, the church was destroyed to the ground, the warrior was taken captive and the slaves were threatened, moaning like doves cooing in their hearts. LXX: They destroyed the weapons of their strength from the people, the brave men who play with fire; drive their chariots on the day of its preparation, and the horsemen will be in fear at the departure, and the chariots will be mixed and collided in the squares: their appearance is like lamps of fire, and like flashing lightning. And they will remember their nobles, and flee in the middle of the day, and weaken on their way, and hasten to the walls, and prepare their defense. The gates of cities are dissolved, kingdoms are fallen and property is opened; She walked and her slaves were led away like doves, speaking in their hearts. In the historical sense, the speech continues against Nineveh and depicts the Babylonian army marching against it. In the words: “the reins of the chariots sparkle with fire,” through the sparkling reins, the speed of those preparing is indicated and the brilliance of the equipment (ὲπισχευῆς) of those preparing for war is depicted. Scripture alternately speaks of what Israel previously experienced, then of what the Assyrians did, and then of the vengeance carried out by the Babylonians on the Assyrians. It is not surprising, it says, that they come so quickly to devastate, when the drivers and the mighty, either of Israel, as was before, or of the Assyrians, as was after, were immersed in sleep. Then, returning to the continuation of the interrupted description, say: the number of those coming is so great that the army is mixed up on the way and nothing can be made out. Also, the chariots themselves, not finding a passage, will, due to their large numbers, collide with each other in the squares. The appearance of the Babylonians is like lamps, like flashing lightning, so that with their appearance they will terrify their opponents before they strike them with the sword. Then Assur will remember his brave men and will look for those who fell on the roads, and will quickly climb the walls of Nineveh and, due to the very long siege, will arrange coverings for protection from the heat. But what benefit will building a house bring if the Lord does not build it (Psalm 126)? What good will it do to lock the gates that the Lord opens? The gates of Nineveh, which had a multitude of citizens like roars, were opened, and the church, that is, its kingdom, was destroyed, and the warrior was taken captive, that is, everyone was taken to Babylon. By the slaves of Nineveh we should metaphorically understand smaller cities, towns and villages. Or, perhaps, the captured women were threatened in front of the eyes of the victors, and the horror will be so strong that sadness will not be expressed even in sobs and screams, but silently, silently, they will moan and swallow tears with a dull whisper like cooing doves. We said this in relation to Jewish tradition. Now let's move on to the translation of LXX. The shakers, who shook off Jacob and Israel and scattered their branches, also destroyed the weapons that those, when they were inclined to insult, usually had and with which they oppressed all the weak, and not only did they do this, but they also destroyed the brave people who played with fire. Consider whether by brave men who play with fire we mean the opposing forces who use the fiery arrows of the devil. These brave ones and those who play with fire once had the chariots and horses of Jacob and Israel, on which they quickly rushed to war on the day of their preparation. The reins of the chariots and the riders will mix on the roads and collide in the squares, when, after the enlightenment of Jacob and Israel with the light of the Lord, both the demons and those who serve their will will be overthrown by the Lord. We can understand this in relation to His first coming, when the brave men, chariot drivers and horsemen said: “What do we and You,... son of David? Thou hast come... to torment us before the time” (Matthew 8:29). But since we have already attributed the prophecy against Nineveh to the end of the world, it would be better to say that then the weapons of the devil’s power and his brave servants, who played with people through fire, will be destroyed from people, because the hearts of all adulterers are like an oven (Hos. 7); those bonds in which the captives and those sitting in the chariots were led away to vice will also be untied. For the horsemen will be afraid at the outcome, that is, at the end of the world, and they will mix, and the chariots will collide with each other in the marketplaces, because although the path leading to death is wide and wide (Matt. 7), however, being in an extremely difficult situation, they will not be able to find the proper path, but will collide with each other, and, nevertheless, they will breathe the same rage and rush like lightning into different sides. “I saw,” says the Lord, “Satan like lightning falling from heaven” (Luke 10:18). When the devil and all his nobles understand this, they will remember the death that was previously predicted, and they will flee in the middle of the day. They will no longer act at night, but the light of day will dispel the darkness, and they will weaken on the way, having no success and not being able to fulfill their aspirations, and will hasten into the walls. For the coming of the Lord will bring such fear upon them, and they will be so powerless to fight, that they will flee to the borders of the world, with which the world is fenced and surrounded like walls, and there they will prepare for resistance, just like someone who, running away from an enemy, does not dare to confront him, but when he reaches the desert, then if the enemy pursues him, he is forced to defend himself by necessity. But when they build these plans, everything that they acquired and owned will be revealed to everyone, and the gates that were locked by them will open, and their kingdoms will fall and their property, that is, wealth, will open. And that which contains the world, and all its slaves, having submitted to Christ and begun to serve Him, will be taken away with joy and gladness, believing and confessing with all their souls, so that they are compared to innocent doves and will whisper or speak in their hearts. Then what is said in the sixty-seventh psalm about the victory of the Savior will be fulfilled: “thou hast ascended on high, thou hast taken captivity captive” (Psalm 67:19). Nahum.2:8–9. The waters of Nineveh are like the waters of a pond, but they fled. “Stop, stop!” and but no one returns. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! and there is no end to the wealth of all precious vessels. LXX: The waters of Nineveh are like the waters of a pond, but they ran away and did not stop, and there was no one looking back. They plundered the silver, plundered the gold, and there was no end to her wealth; she was burdened with all her coveted vessels. It is obvious that after the cities that depended on Nineveh (which Scripture calls her daughters) were taken into captivity, for Nineveh itself, which nourished so many nations that it was compared to the waters of ponds, its large population was useless, because there is no one who would resist and withstand the onslaught of the invading Babylonians. For she had people who just ran, and when the mother shouted: “Stop, stop! Lock the gates, climb the walls, defend yourself from the enemies!” there was no one who would return, no one who would look back at the mother; but everyone, turning their backs to her, left the city as prey to the enemies. Since they fled, the Babylonians are told: plunder the silver and, through sudden devastation, plunder the wealth collected over a long time. For there is no end to the wealth, utensils and vessels accumulated in Nineveh, and you cannot steal as much as it provides for you to plunder. But since Nineveh, as we have already linked, means “beautiful,” that is, peace, let us consider what the pond of peace means. Scripture does not say that the waters of Nineveh are like the waters of the sea, or the waters of the river, or the waters of springs, or the waters of wells, but they are like the waters of a pond, so that, as in Jeremiah (Jer. 2), the people are convicted because they abandoned the source of living water and dug for themselves broken cisterns that could not hold water; so in Nineveh all the waters belong to those that fell from the sky and, leaving their former height, sank deep down. For all the teachings of this world, which are outside the source of the Church and the sealed garden (Song 4:12), about which it cannot be said: “river aspirations make glad the city of God” (Psalm 45:5) and which do not belong to the waters praising the name of the Lord in heaven, although they seem great, are small and confined within narrow limits. No one should be embarrassed by the fact that we understand the pond in a bad sense, while the pond that the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, is commanded to rise up is understood in a good sense (Is. 7). For it speaks of a pond with the addition: “water pipe pond” and “fuller’s pond,” in which stains or dirt were usually washed off from clothes. Since he was on an elevated place, the prophet is commanded to rise to him, go out to meet the king and promise him victory over two burnt brands. It follows: “they did not stop running away,” that is, the inhabitants of Nineveh. First of all, they should not have run from God, and then, if they had already run, they should have stopped someday, because there is a big difference between someone who ran and stopped, and someone who, while running away, never stopped. For whoever stops stops running, and whoever doesn’t stop constantly continues to run. Thus, in such a large crowd of those running, there was no one who would look back and repent and heed the words of the Lord: “Return to Me, you returning sons, and I will heal your grievances” (Jer. 3:22). Therefore, the saint in the Psalms says: “flight from me perishes” (Psalm 141:5). This, I believe, is the mysterious meaning of that leprosy that is spoken of in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 13, Lev. 14); “When the leper is excommunicated by the priest, then if the leprosy stops, the person will be clean,” and the one who, like a leper, was excommunicated, is cleansed, returns to the camp and lives among the people, “If,” he says, “the leprosy spreads,” that is, it does not stop, but will increase and deteriorate and change the previous color characteristic of a healthy body; then the certainty of leprosy is confirmed by those who have the ability to recognize and cleanse leprosy. The true Solomon also commands us to live in Jerusalem and never leave it. If that which was previously subordinate to us runs away from us and goes to foreigners, then we should not leave the walls of our city and follow in the footsteps of those fleeing, so that, wanting to save those fleeing, we ourselves do not perish; on the contrary, let us allow the dead to bury their dead (Matthew 8) and tear out the tempting eye, arm or leg as long as possible and separate it from ourselves (Mark 9). The words: “They plundered the silver, they plundered the gold, and there was no end to her wealth; she was burdened with all her coveted vessels” refers to the waters of Nineveh and to the fleeing people who ran and did not stop, and no one looked back; but they did not limit themselves to running and not looking back, but also plundered silver, that is, everything that was considered eloquent in the world, and plundered gold, that is, all the best thoughts in worldly teaching, in order to decorate Nineveh, in order to give their teaching the brilliance of thoughts and expressions. Therefore Nineveh was burdened with all her coveted vessels; for the more gold, silver and various kinds of utensils that were heavy, the more burdened she was who loved what was heavy. Therefore, wickedness sits, as Zechariah says (Zechariah 5), on the talent of lead, and the Egyptians, burdened with sins, sank into the sea like lead (Exodus 14), and the psalm on behalf of the sinner says: “As a heavy burden weighs me down” (Psalm 37:5). Also, Peter at first easily walked on the waves, but when he was weighed down by unbelief, he would have been devoured by the waves if the hand of the Lord had not supported him (Matt. 14). Nahum.2:10. She is devastated, ruined and tormented; the heart languishes; there was relaxation in the knees, exhaustion in all the loins, and everyone’s faces turned black like a pot. LXX: Shaking, new shock and rash, contrition of the heart, weakening of the knees, pain in all the loins, and the faces of everyone are like a burnt pot. Devastated, ruined and tormented Nineveh is described under the image (sub metaphora) of a captive woman: her heart languishes, her knees are weakened, her loins are crushed, and the faces of all its inhabitants, exhausted and disfigured, due to horror and strong fear of enemies, pale, seem like burnt pots. As for the translation of LXX, we must look for a more sublime meaning in what shaking and new shock means. Whoever belongs to the people of God and, as a man, once sinned, but again returns to his previous state, is said to him, as to Jerusalem: “Shake off the dust from your feet and arise... Jerusalem” (Is. 52:2). And whoever is such that, after being shaken, is worthy to go over to the arrows of God and is guided by the Lord against enemies, about him it is sung: “Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of those who have been shaken off.” (Psalm 126:4). When his feet, like those walking on the earth, become dusty, he will hear from the Savior the following words: “Shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony to them” (Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11), which, without a doubt, speaks of those who did not want to accept preachers. But whoever belongs to Nineveh, burdened with all her coveted vessels, shakes himself more than once, but often. And when it is shaken off again and its surface is cleaned (so that no dirt remains inside), then it develops a rash (ebullitio), which in the Greek text is more expressively called ἑχβρασμός, because ἐχβρασμός is actually used in such cases when what was hidden inside comes out. Therefore, also those pimples that appear on the lips after an illness are called ἐχβράσματα, and are considered a sign of health if the disease comes out. But not only this means of healing through frequent shaking and forcing the disease hidden in the entrails to come out is applied to Nineveh, but also the contrition of the heart and the relaxation of the knees or loins is foreshadowed so that, just as the cruel and stony heart of Pharaoh was broken, having which he did not let go of the people of God, so the heart of Nineveh, as a result of contrition, softened and turned into flesh and numb knees, not who had previously bent for God, relaxed and bowed before God, “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:15) and “every knee bows at the name of Jesus, in heaven, on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10), in order to know their Creator and after that hear: “strengthen your weak hands and knees.” relaxed” strengthen yourself (Isa. 35:3). “And pain,” he says, “in all the loins.” We have already said above that loins mean carnal union and that the name loins indicates everything that relates to mixing. Thus, at the end of the world there will be severe pain in the loins, because all the “strength of the serpent (draconis) is in the loins” (Job 40:11), and due to everything that precedes: shaking, new shock, rash, contrition of the heart, relaxation of the knees and pain in the loins, the face of everyone will have the appearance of a burnt pot, so that it will either be like a blazing fire, or, having lost the shine of oil, will turn black like coals and will be covered with eternal shame, from which the saint who says: “The light of Your countenance, O Lord, is marked upon us” (Psalm 4:7), because he looks with an open face at the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3). I believe that just as there is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, another of the stars, and star differs from star in glory (1 Cor. 15), so at the resurrection of the dead there will be a great difference in the degree of brightness between saints and in blackness between sinners. Nahum.2:11–12. Where is the dwelling of lions and that pasture for lion cubs, to which the lion went, so that the lion cub would come there, and no one would frighten them - the lion stole enough for his puppies and killed for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey and his lair with stolen things. Instead of “caves” and “lionesses” LXX translated “nests and puppies”, but otherwise kept the same meaning. We are also talking about Nineveh: it was the abode of kings and a palace for the nobility; A lion, that is, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and a lion cub, that is, the kings dependent on him, went towards her, and no one resisted them. “The lion stole enough for his puppies and killed enough for his lionesses,” that is, the same Nebuchadnezzar took possession of everything by right of victory and gave the captives as slaves to his children and his cities, or perhaps to his wives; he “filled his caves” or, as it is in the Hebrew text, “his pits” with spoils and his lair with stolen goods, filling both treasuries and cities with gold, silver, clothing and all kinds of ornaments, so that what Nineveh had, Babylon, after defeating it, would possess. But since in the mysterious sense (ἀναγωγή) both in Jonah and in this prophet we understood the world by Nineveh, and since according to John “the whole world lies in evil” (1 John. 5, 19); then after the world has passed away, this is the habitation of beasts, where lions grazed, we will say with joy and jubilation: where is the habitation of lions, where has the lion gone, the devil, about whom Peter says: “your adversary (or ours) the devil, like a lion walks roaring, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), and the lion cub, that is, the Antichrist and all the contrary teachings, a word hostile to God. “Hear,” says John, “that the Antichrist is coming, and now there are many antichrists” (1 John 2:18), because there are as many antichrists as there are false teachings. And before the coming of Christ, no one frightened them; but after our Lord came into the world and entered Nineveh. He saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luke 10) and “the star of the morning fell from heaven” (Isaiah 14:12). For the true Samson came to the foreigners, and when he went to “Tamnah,” which means “his end,” to take Delilah, a poor one from among the pagans, he killed the lion, whose death had come, and after his death he ate sweet honey (Judg. 14). Also, the true David, tending his father’s sheep, took a lion and killed him (1 Sam. 17), and Benaiah, which means “the creator of the Lord,” descended into the ditch of this age, which usually cooled hot waters, and killed the lion (1 Chron. 11:22). And in Isaiah's vision of the four-footed animals the oppression of these beasts is first spoken of; “in sorrow and in distress the lion and the lionesses” (Is. 30:6). This lion, before he was killed by Christ, took very many as prey for his puppies and killed them for his lionesses, for his minions, that is, demons. Look at the gatherings of heretics, and you will not ask what kind of numerous victims were stolen by the lion. Pay attention to those dead who have left life, and you will call their churches not the sheepfold of the shepherd, but caves filled with corpses and the blood of the dead. “Thou didst put it in darkness,” says David, “and it became night, in which all the wild beasts of the oak forests will pass through, and the roaring creatures will go through and snatch food for themselves from God” (Psalm 103:20-21). It is difficult to meet a lion in the middle of the day, but he constantly wanders at night to steal prey from the Church of Christ and to be satisfied, according to Habakkuk, with his chosen food (Habakk 1). So, Judas was from the sheepfold of Christ, but, being kidnapped by a lion, he was strangled by hanging (Matt. 27). Also, that prophet, whom the Lord commanded not to eat bread in that country where there were golden calves and false religion dominated, was killed by a lion for eating (1 Kings 13). And Jeremiah speaks of sinners: “The lion will strike them from the oak grove, and the wolf will destroy them even to their houses, and the lynx will roam over their cities; all that comes from them will be yat” (Jer. 5, 6). At the same time, pay attention to the fact that no one is kidnapped except those coming out of the cities of God. Also, according to the fourth book of Kings (chapter 17), those who lived in the cities of Samaria and did not know the law of the God of the land were killed by lions until they learned to honor God, after which they got rid of the lions. Therefore, as I believe, everything that was the prey of beasts is not sacrificed to God (Lev. 22:8), and the prophet says: “What is unclean and torn by beasts did not enter my mouth” (Jer. 4:14). Thus, the lion was killed and, after the false teachings were refuted, “from the eater came forth the edible, and from the strong came out the sweet” (Judges 14:14). Nahum.2:13. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your puppies (or lion cubs), and I will destroy your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard. LXX: Behold, I am against you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will burn your multitude in smoke, and the sword will devour your lions, and I will destroy your spoil from the earth, and your deeds will be heard no more. All that has been said, you, Ninevin, will experience through Me. I, the Lord, will burn in smoke and destroy your chariots and make the sword devour all the nobles and kings under you. You will no longer devastate the lands and exact tribute, and your messengers will not be heard in the countries, or I will not listen to the angels who guard you and will subsequently pray for you. But the same thing is said in relation to the world, in which many walk along the wide and spacious path to death (Matthew 7), whom the Lord threatens that they will be burned with fire and suffocate from the smoke of their malice due to their extreme vanity. Also, the sword, the living and two-edged word of God, will devour lions (Heb. 4:12); He also promises to destroy its spoil from the earth, so that no one will subsequently be captured in Niyaevi, and in His goodness destroys and destroys evil deeds, so that their voice and sound will no longer be heard. Therefore it is said: “And your deeds will no longer be heard.” Virgil. Aeneid. lib. III, vers. 420–421. In some manuscripts, instead of both (amborum) there is: trees (arborum). You might be interested in: