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Zeph.1:1. The word of the Lord, which came to Zephaniah the son of Husha, the son of Godolin, Amori, Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amos 1 king of Judah. So, (I will outline in detail what is useful to readers) Hezekiah once reigned in Jerusalem, a man very devoted to God, a zealot of piety, a guardian of righteousness, an enemy of error and a destroyer of harmful idolatry. This is clearly attested to by the Holy Scriptures. When he reigned in Jerusalem, Sennacherib, the ruler of Assyria, made an invasion, took Samaria and resettled Israel, that is, the ten tribes, into the mountains of the Persians and Medes. But having set a considerable number of cities of the kingdom of Judah on fire, he could not take possession of Jerusalem, which was under the protection of God. Then, after the death of Hezekiah, his son Manasseh received royal power, who was so wicked that he did not leave a single type of wickedness unfulfilled. About him in the fourth book of Kings it is written like this: “And you have done evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked after the abominations of the tongues, which the Lord will drive away from the presence of the children of Israel. And he turned, and created a high thing, even as his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and raised an altar to Baal, and created oak groves, as Achaab the king of Israel had created, and bowed down to all the power of heaven, and served them. And I created an altar in the house of the Lord, as it was said: In Jerusalem I will place my name. And create an altar for all the power of heaven, in the two courts of the house of the Lord: and you lead your sons through the fire, and you make enemies, and you do magic,” etc. (2 Kings 21:2-6). For such wicked deeds of Manasseh, God was finally indignant and began to threaten to bring His wrath upon Jerusalem. It is written about it this way: “And the Lord spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying: For this cause Manasseh the king of Judah has created this wicked abomination..., behold, I will bring evil upon Jerusalem... and I will spread the measure of Samaria upon Jerusalem... and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies” (2 Kings 21:10-14). And God threatened that He would bring this upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem in a short time. When Manasseh died, his son Amon reigned, who was in no way inferior to his father in an ungodly life; on the contrary, he competed with him in wickedness to such an extent that finally, it seems, he even surpassed him. When he too died, Josiah his son reigned, who, however, was an imitator of Hezekiah’s piety and a zealous lover of his morals. So he destroyed the altars and churches and cleansed the divine church from the abominations of Manasseh, and commanded the priests to do what was established for the glory of God according to the law. In addition, he set the chariot of the sun on fire and expelled false prophets, bird tellers, wizards and healers from Jerusalem. Having put a considerable number of priests to the sword, he burned them on the altars of idols and overthrew the altar of the heifers of Bethel, which Jeroboam had built. Since he was so devoted to God, God put aside His anger and (in his presence) did not carry out any of His threats. When Josiah also died, Jehoahaz reigned, whom Pharaoh Necho defeated and made a prisoner, crowning Jehoiachin, another son of Josiah, with royal honor. And when this latter reigned, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea, who, having devastated the entire country, took Jerusalem, set the divine church on fire and sent Judah and Benjamin to his country along with the sacred vessels as prisoners of war. You need to know that the Babylonian cruelly crushed and destroyed the cities of the foreigners that lay by the sea, I mean Gaza and Ascalon, and others with them, also the Edomites and the Ammonites; for the prophetic word remembers this too. Zeph.1:2–3. Let everything from the face of the earth become impoverished, says the Lord: let man and beast become impoverished, let the birds of the air and the fish of the sea become impoverished; let the wicked fail, and I will take away the wicked from the face of the earth, says the Lord. Here, in hyperbolic expressions, he gives a prophecy that their country will be like a complete desert and will almost perish with all its inhabitants; for of course we will not say, if we are in our right mind, that the Lord of all directs His anger at dumb animals, and at fish, and at birds. On the contrary, this more encourages listeners to understand in the sense that no mercy will be shown to anyone at all. But just as when a ship is sunk along with the swimmers on it, nothing remains, so with the capture of Judea, nothing, he says, will be saved, neither man, nor animal, nor bird, nor fish. But since there were probably some in it who lived in accordance with the law and had decent and admirable behavior, then, so that it would not seem that He directs His wrath at everyone completely and indiscriminately and destroys the righteous along with the unjust, and destroys the pious along with the lawless and wicked, for this very purpose he expressively indicates on whom the consequences of His wrath will fall; for he said that “they will fail in wickedness, and I will take away the wicked from the face of the earth.” “They will be exhausted”, falling from the hands of their enemies: the lawless will be “taken away”, as those who died and became victims of the sword, or as those taken into captivity and who became slaves of their conquerors. But if anyone wanted to apply this to the morals and way of life of people, then by man and beasts and the rest he should understand people who live according to the flesh and have earthly wisdom, partial to the fleeting, with whom the divine word said: “I am God, and all are sons of the Most High: but you, like men, are dying” (Ps. 82:6-7); for the life of the saints is no longer human, but more divine and spiritual, if it is true that they “walk in the flesh,” they do not live according to the flesh (2 Cor. 10:3), but have citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20). And by brutes he must mean those living in great ignorance and slow in mind, about whom (God) speaks through the mouth of David: “This man of honor has no understanding” and further (Ps. 48:13) and commands, saying: “Do not be like a horse and a horse, 2 who have no understanding” (Ps. 31:9). By birds we mean people who have an exalted mind, as if floating in the air, who try to be arrogant and turn away from humility (Rom. 12:16). And such is everyone who is proud and who is completely devoted to the sins of God-hating pride. By fish you mean the most unreasonable crowd. Pisces are the most silent creatures. And such is the crowd, which, as if by some sea, being enveloped in the confusion of life and feeding on the salty and bitter pleasure of the deeds performed in it, is kept for the snares of death and has destruction as the end of life. Therefore, such people will become impoverished when God disciplines them and punishes them as leading a licentious life and never ceasing to grieve Him. Zeph.1:4–6. And I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all them that dwell in Jerusalem: and I will take away from this place the names of Baal, and the names of the priesthood and the priests, and them that worship the heavenly host on the veil, and those that swear by the Lord, and those that swear by their king, and those that turn away from the Lord God, and those that do not seek the Lord, and those that do not adhere to the Lord. What was said in secret now explains and directly says that divine wrath will befall the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem. He says that His hand will spread out over him, as if seizing and striking, and subordinating them to those who are soon expected and will cause devastation, and they, imprisoned in the bonds of slavery, will be taken away from their native country. But he also reveals their crimes: the names of Baal will disappear, he says, and the names of the priests will perish with them, and this indicates that they had a great many idols and various types of delusion. And that the people of Judah will be exterminated by war and reduced to such a small number that perhaps there will no longer be those who pronounce the name of Baal, or who can be at the idol churches, he subtly hinted at this, saying that the names of their idols and priests will be destroyed. The word: “names” is used instead of: “memory” or “glory”. Solomon also interprets this, saying: “Better is a good name than much wealth” (Proverbs 22:1). Together with the priests and the names of Baal, he says, those who worship on the roofs of the houses will perish. And these were probably those who had the custom of worshiping the moon and the constellation of the bear, and other heavenly hosts. “I will take away,” he goes on to say, “those who swear by their king.” It was the custom of those who fell into error to swear an oath to the sky and to say a lot in honor of it, and to exclaim with great respect: I swear by the king and ruler - the sun. And those who do this, of necessity, must move away from the love of God, although the law clearly says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and thou shalt serve that one..., and swear by his name” (Matthew 4:10; Deut. 6:13). So Jeremiah testifies to the observance of this commandment of Moses by the Israelites; he spoke to God, turning Him away from anger at them: “As the Lord lives, they say” (Jer. 5:2). And by “those who do not seek the Lord” and who do not care to cleave to Him (“those who do not adhere to the Lord”), in all likelihood, should be understood as those who lead a bad and shameful life and love lawless behavior; for we seek God not spatially, but on the contrary, I think, effectively, through true knowledge, which has nothing reproachful in itself, through faith and justice, striving and readiness for everything that is revered by the saints and pleasing to Him. It is necessary to know that this was also accomplished by Josiah, who was then reigning in Jerusalem, I say, during whose presence this prophetic word came. He destroyed altars and churches and idols made with hands; He put the priests, the false prophets, and the bird tellers to the sword. However, it seems that the prophet is not pointing out real things at all and is not talking about what has already happened, but, rather, foreshadows what will happen later, which was done by Nebuchadnezzar, who did not do this for the glory of God, for why and why did he burn the divine church? - He destroyed and burned those who worshiped them along with the idols. Zeph.1:7. Fear on behalf of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His sacrifice and sanctified those who are called. He adds exhortation to threats and, having frightened them with terrible events, hastens to predict the best, commanding them to look carefully (this, I think, means: “fear”) to the God of all and strive to correct the paths of life, and immediately turn to what is pleasant and pleasing to Him. They must, he says, turn out to be like this “from the presence of the Lord,” according to what was said through the mouth of Isaiah: “Wash yourself and be clean, take away the wickedness from your souls before my eyes, cease from your wickedness” (Is. 1:16); for it is not the same thing to remove wickedness from the eyes of men and from the sight of God. On the contrary, there is a very large difference between these actions, so that an evil and morally bad person sometimes acquires the glory of a God-fearing person and hides behind the name of a good person, without actually being such. Therefore, Christ says: “Take heed of those who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly there are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Such is the one who fears God in the eyes of men, but not in the eyes of God. But he who is truly pure before the face of God not only shows his kindness outwardly and takes on the appearance of goodness, but also has a pure heart and appears so (before God); for nowhere did Solomon say: “For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, but all his course beholds” (Prov. 5:21). The Day of the Lord calls the time of captivity, about which he says that it is close, leaving no opportunity for the more careless to think and think within themselves that there will be some long delay of what was foreshadowed and they will avoid suffering, having reached the end of their life; for on the occasion of predictions of very sorrowful events, the Jews were in the habit of thinking and saying something similar. Therefore, God nowhere said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is greatly grieved, they say, a vision that this hedgehog sees for many days, and for the times of this debt he prophesies, for this reason he speaks to them, this saith the Lord God, that all my sayings shall not last, even if I say, I will speak a word, and I will do it, saith Adonai. Lord" (Ezek. 12:27–28). And now, as I think (for the same purpose), he affirms that the day of the Lord is at hand, and His sacrifice is ready, and those who are called are sanctified. The sacrifice refers to the beating of the wicked that was carried out by His permission. And he calls the Chaldeans called, about whom he says that they are sanctified, not because they became saints, but because they were appointed and called by God to the burning of Judea and to the destruction without any mercy of its inhabitants. Holy Scripture says something similar in other places. The Persians, the Medes, and those who fought together with Cyrus were called against Nineveh, and God said about them: “They are sanctified, and I lead them, the giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing, together and reproaching” (Is. 13:3). So, in these words, sanctification does not mean the putting aside of sinfulness and not the receipt of the Holy Spirit, but, as it were, the predestination and appointment of famous people to perform such a task. Zeph.1:8–9. And on the day of the Lord there will be a sacrifice, and I will take vengeance on the princes, and on the royal house, and on all who are clothed in strange garments: and I will take vengeance on all those who are before the gates in that day, who fulfill the house of the 3 Lord God with their wickedness and flattery. There are the following three institutions on which the welfare of cities and countries depends: the royal power, the government offices subordinate to it, and the glorious priesthood. If they are in good condition, corresponding to each of them, then all affairs depending on them are in a comfortable state and the subordinates prosper. But if they want to choose the wrong path and immediately begin to walk along it, then everything will fall into disarray and, as if intoxicated, will rush towards destruction. Just as during a pain that affects the bodily head, the rest of the members must sympathize and sympathize with it, so when superiors have turned to evil and suffer from a tendency to vices, the subordinates are necessarily corrupted along with them, for the subordinates usually follow those in power and are carried away by their opinions. So, on the day of the sacrifice pleasing to God, that is, at the time when the slaughter of those who committed terrible crimes should take place, the wrath (of God) will then find itself on the very first, distinguished from others in glory and outstanding objects. These are the essence: the house of the king, then the closest to him the house of people clothed with glory and honor, and the third after them, which received more advantages from God than others, the house of the divine priests. After all, they are the rulers and leaders of the people according to the order of the priesthood. He strongly accuses them of putting on alien clothing, that is, they finally reached such an aversion to everything divine and began to neglect the ancient laws of Moses to such an extent that they did not even observe the outward appearance of the priesthood when a certain time called them to perform sacred service. Therefore, as the sons of Aaron were destroyed by fire, and their crimes and guilt were that they placed strange fire on the altar (Lev. 10:1-2); In exactly the same way, I think, these people about whom we were talking are being punished because, neglecting the decorum that befits them, they did not dress in a priestly manner, in accordance with the will of the legislator, but, having dressed in alien clothes, dared to perform sacred rites. And this serves as proof of extreme disregard and complete disrespect for their law. Likewise, how could others be concerned about observing the law when the leaders of the people had no respect for it? That is why he says: “I will take revenge on those before the gates.” By this He wants to express the following. He called Israel, who often sinned and did not follow the words of the prophets, to repentance, like his father, correcting them with external suffering, sometimes touching their very bodies. For example, He struck the fruits of the field with a harmful wind, or sometimes sent down locusts and grasshoppers, or sent caterpillars, or the so-called honeydew. He struck them with “desperation” and “golden fever” (fever and jaundice), according to the word of the prophet (Am. 4:9). Sending these disasters upon them from time to time, He punished them as if in secret. Now, he says, “I will take vengeance on those before the gates,” that is, I will not secretly bring wrath, it will no longer be locusts and honeydew on you, not bodily infirmity, but the naked and shining sword of the enemies, threatening with destruction those who wickedly acted against Me, and in the very courts of the church cruelly killing “those who fulfill the house of the Lord God with their wickedness and flattery.” What is wickedness and what is flattery? Another prophet makes this clear to us, speaking about Jerusalem: “its elders gave gifts to the judges..., and its prophets gave money to the sorcerer” (Mic. 3:11); and the wise Isaiah rebels against it (Jerusalem) and says: “Your princes do not repent, the commoners of Tatem” and further (Is. 1:23). So, the clergy of the divine altars must take care not to be accused of the same crimes; for the ancients clothed themselves in the attire appropriate to the priesthood in an educational manner. When the time has come for serving in the Spirit, let each of those called to priestly service have a bright vestment and some kind of sacred clothing, a right and immaculate faith, an evangelical life, true behavior and completely in accordance with the law, a straightforward disposition and free from predilection for shameful gains, a thought directed towards virtue and above all honoring what is pleasing to God. Zeph.1:10. And in the day there will be, says the Lord, a voice of crying from the goring gates 4 , and mourning from the second 5 , and great destruction from the hills. He clearly describes military disasters and depicts some as if falling and perishing, and mourning themselves, so that, struck by the greatness of future disasters, they would decide to move on to competition for better and more lawful deeds, and thus would finally get rid of anger (divine); for God is good and does not want “death... the dying..., but to turn him from his way and live” for him, according to the word of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:32). At this time, he says, from one of the gates “goring”, that is, stabbing those who come across, a menacing and terrible cry will be heard; for always, when cities are captured, the invading enemies utter terrible cries, terrifying their inhabitants and inciting each other to cruelty. From the other gates, he says, crying and tears will be heard, because the besieged will crowd each other and everyone will try to leave the city, as if from a sinking ship. “And there will be,” he says, “a great destruction from the hills”; by the hills, perhaps, he means the upper city in Jerusalem, otherwise called Zion 6. Or does this hint at something else: during times of enemy attacks, residents always flee to the tops of the mountains, thinking that the difficult terrain will serve as an obstacle to the enemies and delay the speed of their pursuit. So the Lord foretold to the Jews: “When you see Jerusalem at war, then... let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Luke 21:20–21). So, when God strikes those who decided to despise His commandments and demands punishment for their sins, then nothing will help those suffering - neither a very fortified city, nor the indestructible strongholds of the walls, nor the heights of the mountains and the wildness of the rocks, nor the impassability of the terrain; They are saved only by repentance, which bows the Judge to mercy and softens His anger, and easily inclines the Creator, who is good by nature, to His characteristic meekness. And the best thing is to be careful in every possible way so as not to offend Him. But, since human nature is always receptive to evil and “we all sin greatly” (James 3:2), not at all possessing steadfastness in virtue, then, at least by turning to the better, let us try to correct our morals and by our repentance let us bow to the mercy of the good by nature, as I recently said, the Lord of all. Zeph.1:11. Weep, you who live in the slaughtered world, for all the people have become like Canaan, and have all consumed the glory of silver. These words indicate that the sword of Babylon will show no mercy to anyone and will destroy all of Judea to the ground. And those who remained in Jerusalem and were able to escape (from them) by flight, he commanded to mourn Judea as if destroyed, and their glorious city as if cut down - because all the people in it were jealous of the customs of the Canaanites and tried to assimilate their morals - and thus become equal to him in everything, and even, perhaps, surpass them, and leave behind, although the foreigners of the Canaanites were God-hating, criminal and very devoted to everything most shameful. Therefore, in the Holy Scriptures, someone is subjected to the following reproach: “the tribe of Canaan, and not of Judah” (Dan. 13:56). And that wealth will not bring them any benefit, but will turn out to be an insignificant and fragile support, this is again indicated by asserting that “those who consume themselves in glory with silver,” that is, usually think a lot about themselves because of wealth and money and for this reason are overly arrogant. And since they were overcome by a passion for shameful profits and were devoted to it to the point that, as he says, “they filled the house of God with their wickedness and flattery,” he rightly exposes wealth as something powerless and useless, and unable to save anyone. So, “better is a good name than great wealth” (Proverbs 22:1); for “the treasures of the wicked do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 10:2), and truly a small share with the fear of God is more excellent than much acquisition with unrighteousness. Zeph.1:12. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will search out Jerusalem with a lamp, and will take vengeance on the men who are careless of their guards: those who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, but will be bitter.” What the enemies, led by unbridled rage against the captives, had to do, God attributes to His own person, not in the sense that He Himself will be the perpetrator of such shameful deeds, but, on the contrary, in the fact that He, at the demand of the truth, will allow the wicked consequences of His wrath to take place. It is true, therefore, what Solomon secretly said in parables: “It is not without righteousness that the depths of the birds are spread out. For these who partake of murder treasure up evil treasures for themselves” (Proverbs 1:17-18). Meanwhile, how could they avoid punishment and vengeance, having chosen evil instead of virtue, they arouse (divine) anger against themselves, and, according to the judgment of people who reason correctly, subject their souls to voluntary destruction. So, “Jerusalem with the lamp” is searched. The Jews had to experience something similar from the Romans precisely when Jerusalem was taken by Vespasian and Titus. The Romans, as Josephus (Flavius) tells us, who portrayed the Jews in great detail and touchingly, after defeats during battles and after the death of countless people in the city, with a lamp they looked for those hiding in caves and dungeons and, bringing them to light, cruelly and mercilessly killed them. He says that he will take revenge on them as those who are careless towards “their guards,” that is, or towards the laws assigned for execution on a certain occasion, which they wickedly violated, considering their preservation as nothing; or in particular “guards” he calls the priestly regulations, since they were required to strictly comply with the laws regarding vestments and the appearance appropriate for a priest, and the sacrifices that were offered in different ways on the altar. Everyone can learn the variety in this from the Scriptures of Moses. But they have no concern for the guards, since they have reached such idle talk and recklessness that they probably thought and dared to say that the God of all does not pay any attention to us and neglects earthly objects to such an extent that he does not approve of the good and does not give them rewards in retribution for their virtue, nor is he angry with sinners and does not send upon them punishments equivalent to their wicked deeds. This, I think, is what the words mean: “not to have goodness, the Lord has created, but to have bitterness.” So, there is only chance, and nothing else that is talked about so much. But this teaching is so shameful and terrible that even the Hellenic sages themselves did not like it, and their inventor was called godless. It was Epicurus, one of those renowned among them for his wisdom. So, it should be said that “in the sight of God they are the ways of a man, but everyone watches his course” (Prov. 5:21; Job 31:4) and rewards the workers of virtue, and makes the sinner hated and rewards “everyone according to his deeds,” according to what is written (Matthew 16:27). Therefore, we should walk in the right paths and adhere to the path pleasing to the Lord of all God, and thus living in accordance with the law and leading a truly excellent lifestyle, acquire mercy and favor from the Lord of all, and, turning away from evil, not allow His wrath against us, and correct sins committed due to laziness and negligence by repentance. Zeph.1:13. And their strength shall be spoiled, and their houses destroyed: and they shall build houses, and have no habitation in them, and shall plant vineyards, and shall not drink their wine. It seems that even now we can say in good time: “The treasures of the wicked are not used” (Proverbs 10:2); for wealth is always fleeting and has no permanence; but rather leads to intoxication, inclines to apostasy and has weak legs. It’s completely unreasonable to think a lot about it; for it will in no way deliver those who have fallen under divine wrath, nor will it free anyone from guilt when God determines punishment and subjects those who sin to appropriate retribution. So what is wealth? It pleases only the flesh, it is the servant of impious and nasty pleasure, it gives rise to pride and is the root and source of stupidity, it brings a transitory and empty glory, which, like a shadow, disappears from those who have it. It is true that “all flesh is like hay, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass” (Is. 40:6). And that the care of wealth is completely useless for the wicked, this is explained by saying: “and the Chaldeans will be spoiled for their strength”; for they really are such that what is said in the psalm can be quite rightly applied to them: “Behold, man, who has not made God a helper for himself, but trusts in the abundance of his wealth, and what is possible through his vanity” (Ps. 51:9). Although they had luxuriously furnished houses, these were no longer their houses, for they would be burned. Although they still had concerns about the vineyards, they would never drink wine from them, for they would be taken into captivity, leaving everything home and deprived of everything that could bring joy. And God Himself pointed to this, through the mouth of Jeremiah, speaking to one of the kings of Samaria 7: You created for yourself a spacious house, and wide chambers with open windows, and vaults of cedar, and painted with scarlet. Will you reign as king, because you are encouraged by your father Ahaz? They do not eat, they drink below: it was better for you to do justice and righteousness” (Jer. 22:14-15). So, we should not become attached to anything earthly, but move away as much as possible from fleeting pleasures and not acquire wealth, which is fleeting and in times of anger cannot provide any help to those who have it; but to consider life in Christ and the virtues of a virtuous life as praise, and to place communion with God above all else, and to proclaim and say: “Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you,” and to this add: “For it is better to have one day in your courts than a thousand: you are willing to hover in the house of my God rather than live in the villages of sinners” ( Ps.83:13, 11). Zeph.1:14–16. For the great day of the Lord is near, it is near and quickly: the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter and cruel. Strong is the day of wrath, that day, the day of sorrow and need, the day of hopelessness and disappearance, the day of darkness and gloom, the day of clouds and darkness, the day of trumpets and shouting against solid cities and on high corners. Again it destroys the hope of those who may sometimes be disposed to think that the fulfillment of (divine) words will be delayed for a long time. But He declares vengeance on those who are, as it were, at the door, and military disaster, as it were, on the heels of those who are running. The Day of the Lord calls the time when this will be fulfilled, and called it quick, as having to come without any delay and having to be revealed in a short time. He says that his voice is cruel and very strong, indicating by this, as I think, the cry of the enemies, and calls that day a day of wrath and sorrow “disappearance and hopelessness, darkness and darkness.” Indeed, what cannot happen to those who have reached such a calamity that they were among the most horrors of death and among the most extreme suffering? When enemies take control of a city, what cannot happen to the vanquished? Are little boys killed, are little girls thrown down dead, and, as it were, prematurely plucked from the earth like plants? A kind of sadness and darkness darkens the hearts of the captives, so that they have neither desires nor thoughts; darkening everyone's mind as if with fog and clouds, it does not allow them to understand where to go. Further, can there be any doubt that an attack by enemies will be unbearable both for cities that are very populous and for those experienced in the art of war? And to other cities, even if they were surrounded by the fences of fortress walls, he announced, adding that the day of the Lord would be “a day of trumpeting and shouting against solid cities and on high corners.” He calls cities strong if they abound in brave people and have a lot of people capable of war. “High corners” refers to cities fortified with walls; for always on the walls of fortresses the corners protrude upward and rise into towers that are higher than other buildings. So, “it is a terrible thing to fall into the hand of the living God” (Heb. 10:31); Absolutely no one can resist Him, for He is the Lord of hosts. Zeph.1:17–18. And I will offend men, and they will walk like blind men, having sinned before the Lord: and their blood will be poured out like a finger, and their flesh like a line 8 . And their good and their gold will not be able to take them away on the day of the wrath of the Lord, and the whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his zeal: for this he will bring destruction and destruction upon all who live on the earth. The meaning of the words read is very clear and, as I think, does not need any word for explanation. However, let's say something. He threatens them with excessive disasters and darkness of mind, and immediately explains the reason for this, adding: “I have sinned because of the Lord.” He seems to be saying this: those who acted cruelly against their brothers unbridledly dishonored the Lord of all himself and turned out to be opponents of divine glory. Truly, the height of wickedness and abomination is to deprive the Divinity itself of the honors that belong to Him and, as it were, to overthrow Him from the divine throne, erecting on it creatures and images of dumb animals. So, some gave divine honors to heifers, others to some Astarte and Beelphegor, others to the moon and stars. Therefore, he finally threatens to bring upon them the disasters of war, “death and exhaustion.” “Death” may indicate the complete destruction of the Jewish country, and “diligence” means, as it were, the immediate and immediate fulfillment of what was foretold. The word "trouble" in Scripture often means the onset of confusion. So it is a terrible thing to sin against the brothers. If the sins of some have reached such vileness that they have offended even the most ineffable Nature, then in no way will they escape divine wrath. Therefore, the God-hating heretics are worthy of tears, sharpening their tongue against the Son of God and saying that He is a creature and less than the Father. It’s as if they invent some kind of idol of their own volition and command them to bow down to it. After all, if the Son, by his nature, did not have any divine properties at all and was created, and yet receives worship from us and from the holy angels, then is it not clear that we serve the creature, just like the children of the Hellenes, under the image of the sun or some other creature, they invented an idol through vain and unnatural thoughts? Slav.: "church". (Chald. and Sir. mean their houses and their lords). In Hebrew: “gate of fish” or “fishy.” Probably in the second part of the city (2 Kings 22:14), behind the second wall, which went around Ophel (2 Chronicles 33:14). Wed. 2 Kings 22:14; Nehemiah 11 and Jos. Flav. Antiq. XV. 11.5.ed. Niese V. 406 words. You might be interested in: