列王紀與歷代志問答 第 1 章 第 9/11 段

'and the sons of Israel set up for themselves pillars and sacred groves, on every high hill, and under every leafy tree;'

'and they burned incense there in the high places, just as did the nations whom the Lord removed from before them.' I think that by 'partners' is meant the agreement made with the nations, and those who came from among them and taught the laws of impiety.

For this is what the following hints at:

'And they made partners, and began to provoke the Lord to anger, and served the idols, concerning which the Lord had said to them, You shall not do this thing.' And the other translators everywhere render 'grove' as 'Astaroth'.

As for 'They made an ephod and teraphim': the ephod was in imitation of the priestly vestment, while the teraphim was suited to divinatory predictions.

But lest anyone should put forward, in Israel's defense, that the division of the kingdom, and their living far from Jerusalem, was the cause of their impiety, he necessarily demonstrated the impiety of the tribe of Judah as well.

'And indeed Judah itself also did not keep the commandments of the Lord its God, but walked in the statutes which all Israel had made, and they thrust the Lord away from themselves.' And that the book was composed at a time later than the events of Kingdoms, compiled from what had been written by the prophets at each successive period, this passage too teaches.

'For Israel,' it says, 'was carried away from its own land to the Assyrians, until this day.' And this the writer of the history has said many times.

He also taught us the matters concerning those now called Samaritans: whence they were resettled, and how they were compelled to keep the law of Moses.

For being devoured by wild beasts, they entreated that one of the priests of the Israelites be sent to them, so that by teaching them the law of the God of the land, he might free them from the affliction that lay upon them.

For they supposed that the maker of all things was but a local deity.

When the priest had been sent and was teaching the law: 'They feared the Lord,' it says, 'and yet also served their own gods, according to the practice of the nations from among whom they had been carried away' — a practice that continued to this very day.

'Thus they did, according to their custom from the beginning.'

For he not only broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the sacred groves, but also removed the high places — a thing which none of those before him had done.

He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent which the great Moses had made — not that it should be worshiped, but that it might prefigure the saving Passion;

'To this,' it says, 'the people continued burning incense, and they called it Nehushtan.' This I found recorded in the interpretation of Hebrew names, meaning 'This is bronze.' But the other translators render 'Neesthan' as 'Naas'.

From this, I think, the Ophites too — and this is a most impious heresy — are called Naassenes.

What is meant by, 'At the end of three years'? The siege, it says, held against Samaria for three full years.

Why in the world did Hezekiah promise to give gifts to Sennacherib? Ahaz his father, having called Tiglath-pileser into alliance against the Syrians, had promised to pay him tribute.

This tribute Ahaz continued to pay.

But Hezekiah did not pay the tribute that was imposed;

yet when he saw the army, he promised to give it, and gave three hundred talents of silver, and three hundred talents of gold.

For that was the amount of tribute which the Assyrian commanded to be given.

Why in the world, though eager to serve the Divine, did he supply the tribute out of the sacred funds? The royal treasuries did not suffice.

It was, then, the custom, in such times of necessity, both to spend the sacred treasuries, and again to replenish them from the spoils of enemies.

Necessity also caused him to melt down the golden doors which he himself had made, and the door-posts.

For these, I think, were called 'the reinforced parts';

so that Sennacherib, should he prevail by war, might not burn down both the temple and the city;

And here again the writer of this history has made clear that they call 'high places' not only the precincts of the idols, but also the altars built for the God of all in high places.

'For if you say to me,' it says, 'We trust in the Lord our God' —

'is it not this very Hezekiah who removed his high places and his altars, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar you shall worship, in Jerusalem?' And these things the Rabshakeh was saying — being, I think, a Hebrew — who had deserted to them, or had already been swept along with those who were led captive, and, having shown goodwill toward the Assyrians, had been entrusted with the command;

for he was making his speech using the Hebrew tongue;

at once, then, the officials asked him to speak in Syriac, so that the people might not know what was said.

But he, perceiving that it distressed the officials that the people should understand what was being said, using the Hebrew tongue dared those impious blasphemies, likening the true God to the falsely-named gods.

But the most wise king opposed to his blasphemies, not weapons, but prayer and tears and sackcloth, and entreated the prophet Isaiah to become his intercessor.

His words too are worthy of admiration.

'For this day,' he said, 'is a day of affliction, and reproach, and rebuke, and provocation; for the children have come to the birth-pangs, and there is no strength for her that bears.' We are inflamed, he means, and set ablaze with wrath, having heard those unspeakable blasphemies, and yet we are not able to punish those impious men.

And at once the loving God, receiving his supplication, dispelled the king's fear.

'For behold,' he said, 'I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear an evil report, and shall return to his own land;'

'I will put a spirit in him' — meaning, I think, cowardice.

For the divine Apostle likewise said:

'For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice.'

And God's prediction immediately received its fulfillment.

For when a rumor spread abroad that the king of the Ethiopians had taken the field, Sennacherib, in fear, withdrew, having first sent a letter full of every impiety.

But the most wise king, unfolding this letter in the temple, offered up that wonderful utterance:

'O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, who sits enthroned upon the Cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth;'

'you made heaven and earth.' They, he means, consider you to be one of the many gods who do not really exist;

but I know you alone to be God, maker of all things;

'Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear;'

'open your eyes, and see;'

'and hear the words of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, which he sent to reproach the living God.' Now, 'Incline and hear' he has expressed in a human manner, entreating that his supplication be received with kindness.

'For in truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the nations, and their land, and have cast their gods into the fire;'

'for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they destroyed them.' This, he means, is what drove this unholy man to impiety.

For he supposed that you were like the gods that do not exist;

But indeed, I think it superfluous to repeat the same things.

For I have already set these matters forth in my interpretation of the prophet Isaiah.

But Sennacherib escaped death;

so that he might make known to all how great is the power of the God of the Jews.

And immediately he received the just stroke at the hands of his own sons.

For since he raged madly against his Maker, he suffered destruction at the hands of his own offspring.

And he called Armenia "Ararat."

For the prophecy of Isaiah gives this same interpretation.

And since I have already made clear the matters concerning the illness in the prophecy of the divinely-inspired Isaiah, I think it superfluous to give the same interpretation twice.

The marvel concerning the sun, however, ran throughout the whole inhabited world.

For the sun's turning back became known to all.

For this reason, indeed, the king of the Babylonians—having learned of the destruction, and having heard of the marvelous events concerning the sun—sent both ambassadors and gifts to the king of the Jews;

and those whom they were accustomed to enslave, these they now honored as their betters.

Thus did the God whom they served render them notable.

Why then did King Hezekiah incur blame for showing the treasures to the ambassadors of the Babylonians? Because, when he ought to have taught them the power of God, and the providential care he had received, he showed them instead his wealth—which has nothing lasting in it.

That it is not nature but the will that prevails in matters of the soul, Manasseh bears witness—he who abandoned his father's pious way of life and walked the opposite path.

"For he built," it says, "the high places which Hezekiah his father had thrown down and demolished, and he set up an altar to Baal;"

"and he made sacred groves, just as Ahab king of Israel had made;"

"and he worshiped all the host of heaven,"

"and served them." By "the host of heaven" he means the sun, the moon, and the stars.

And—most impious of all—he built an altar in the house of the Lord, of which He had said, "In Jerusalem I will set my name." And not one altar only, but very many.

For to all the host of heaven he built altars in the two courts of the house of the Lord;

and he practiced divination by omens, and augury, and he appointed mediums, and multiplied wizards.

A "kledon" is observation, or divination, carried out by means of words.

And I think that "those who know" are so called because they divine by means of the liver.

But the most unholy thing of all was to set up in the divine temple the image of the licentious demon—

the extremity of impiety.

How is one to understand: "I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria"? "With the same calamities," He says, "I will also encompass these."

And just as, of those Samaritans, famine consumed some, war consumed others, and the rest they enslaved and removed to another land—

so too upon those dwelling in Jerusalem will I bring so great punishments.

And just as I delivered up the house of Ahab to utter destruction,

so will I turn the pride of Jerusalem into abasement.

For Manasseh not only raged madly into the delusion of idols, but also shed innocent blood exceedingly, until he filled Jerusalem from end to end.

And he especially put to death those who clung to piety and who declared to them the divine wrath.

They say that this man also sawed the prophet Isaiah in two, using a wooden saw.

But this man, as the history in Chronicles has taught us, having repented, obtained forgiveness.

But Amon his son imitated his father's wickedness,

yet did not emulate his repentance.

And first he deemed all the things needing repair in the divine temple worthy of every care;

and all had drifted into such neglect of divine things, that they did not even give heed to the divine oracles.

This book, then, having been found cast aside in one of the sacred chambers by Hilkiah the high priest, was sent by him to the king.

And the king, upon learning what was contained in it, sent both the high priests and the officials to Huldah the prophetess.

And God, through her, pronounced the sentence against the people, and the temple, and the city, on account of the transgressions they had dared to commit;

but to the pious king He proclaimed good things beforehand.

"Because," He says, "you heard my words, and your heart was softened, and you humbled yourself before my face, when you heard all that I spoke against this place and against those who dwell in it, that it should become a desolation—and you tore your garments and wept before me—"

"indeed, I too have heard," says the Lord,

"behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace;"

"and your eyes shall not see all the evils which I am bringing upon this place, and upon those who dwell in it." So greatly do contrition and tears benefit those who resort to them;

so much does a pious king benefit his people, as much as the impious harm those they rule.

For just as Amon and Manasseh turned the people aside into impiety, planting sacred groves and setting up shrines for the demons,

so Josiah the pious king broke in pieces and melted down, in the wadi of the cedars, the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for Astarte, and for the other idols;

and in Bethel he burned the priests of the idols.

And "Mazzaroth," I think, is the name of a star, and I conjecture that the morning star was so called.

"And they burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the Mazzaroth, and to all the host of heaven." QUESTION.

What does he mean by "the house of the Kadesim," which were in the house of the Lord? By a play on the name, he called the demons "holy ones."

For "Kades" is interpreted as "holy."

"And in this house," it says, "the women wove robes for the grove." Now "the grove," as I have often said, the other translators call either "Asheroth" or "Astaroth."

And this is a name of Aphrodite;

for they call her Astarte.

And they set up her wooden image inside the divine temple.

But the admirable king both cut down the grove, and brought out the wooden image, and gave it over to fire;

Aquila and his associates interpreted "Kadesim" thus: "where they made garments for those who go a-whoring away from the Lord." And that not only the altars of idols were called "high places," but also the altars built to God in the high places—this the history again teaches.

For if they had served idols there, the pious king would not have deemed them worthy of pardon.

What does "Topheth" signify? In the interpretation of Hebrew names, I found that the name signifies "ruin."

And this was the place where they made their children pass through fire to Molech;

and this was the idol of the Ammonites.

And this the history has also made clear.

"For he defiled," it says, "Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, so that no man should make his son pass through fire to Molech." And "pharourim," Symmachus and his associates interpreted as belonging to the guard-post.

And how the pious king defiled this place, the history teaches:

"For he filled," it says, "their places with the bones of men." And again:

"He sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them upon the altar," according to the word of the Lord which the man of God had spoken, when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the feast. And that the one who deceived the man of God into partaking of food with him was not a false prophet, it is easy to learn from this.

Why, then, did he say the very same thing concerning both Hezekiah and Josiah—

that "there was none like him before him, and after him there arose none like him"? He compared neither the one to the other, nor the other to the one, but compared each to the others reputed for piety—to Asa, to Jehoshaphat, and to Jotham;

and having examined both this one and that one alongside them, he declared these to be superior.

But he compared them with the other pious kings.

But if anyone has supposed that Hezekiah was to be blamed for having exercised a haughty disposition, and for having displayed the treasures to the envoys of the king of Babylon, he will see that Josiah too is not entirely free of blame.

For when Pharaoh Necho took the field in the cause of the Assyrians, he was eager to bring the Assyrians assistance;

and, as the book of Chronicles has taught, Pharaoh said to him:

"What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come today to make war against you, but rather against the place of war, and God has told me to make haste."

"Take heed to yourself, because of the God who is with me, lest he destroy you."

But Josiah did not turn his face away;

but he strengthened himself to fight against him;

and Josiah did not listen to the words of Pharaoh Necho from the mouth of the Lord;

and he came to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

And the archers of Pharaoh shot arrows at King Josiah.

And the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am sorely wounded." Now Esdras says as follows:

"And the king of Egypt sent to Josiah, saying, 'What have I to do with you, king of Judea? I have not been sent against you by the Lord God;

for my war is at the Euphrates.

And now the Lord is with me, urging me on;

withdraw, and do not oppose the Lord.'"

But Josiah did not turn back in his chariot;

but undertook to fight him, not heeding the words of the prophet Jeremiah from the mouth of the Lord;

but joined battle with him in the plain, in an unjust cause. He therefore does not compare them with one another, nor set one above the other.

For to think in this way would be the height of folly;

but he examined them alongside the other kings.

But the events concerning Joachim, Joakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, the divine Jeremiah has recorded at greater length.

And that book too we have, by divine grace, entirely expounded.

Now Joachim, the son of Joakim, the divine Jeremiah calls Jeconiah;

but the book of Chronicles calls him Joakim.

This one, Evil-Merodach released from confinement, and kept him as a companion, sharing his own table.

For He who both smites and heals, having delivered him over to the enemy, again counted him worthy of freedom.

The title of the book of Chronicles makes clear its subject matter.

For whatever the writer of Kingdoms omitted, these things the one who undertook this labor has compiled, gathering them together from many prophetic books.

And he also joined together with these many things that had been written there, in order to preserve the coherence of the historical narrative;

And he began from the very beginning, with the genealogy, in order to show concisely that all the tribes of mankind sprang from one man.

And since he makes mention of the kingdom of Judah alone, he teaches which are their cities and villages, and from whom they received their names.

"The sons," he says, "of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel — for he was the firstborn."

For this hints at the ruler who was to come forth from him.

For the text does not signify only the kings who came from him, but also the eternal king, who neither had a beginning of days, nor will have an end.

He also states the cause of the victory: "For," he says, "they cried out to God in the battle, and He heard them, because they had trusted in Him." And he also recorded the number of the spoil:

"For," he says, "they took fifty thousand camels, two hundred and fifty thousand sheep, two thousand donkeys, and a hundred thousand human lives."

For there were many slain, because the war was from God; and they settled in their place until the captivity. He also traces the genealogy of the priests and the Levites;

And Azariah, who was a descendant of Zadok, was the first to serve as priest in the temple built by Solomon.

From these was also Josedek, who was led away captive to Babylon with the others.

His son was Joshua the high priest, who together with Zerubbabel led the captivity back, and built the divine temple.

From this we learn that Korah, who raised the rebellion against the great Moses, was a descendant of Izhar;

who was the son of Kohath, and brother of Amram the father of Aaron and Moses;

But he paid the penalty for his usurpation in the wilderness;

but his sons did not share in the punishment with their father;

For instance, the great Samuel traces his lineage from him;

And Heman the singer was also a descendant of Samuel the prophet;

for he was the son of Joel, the son of Samuel.

And Asaph, who was likewise one of the singers, traced his lineage from Gershon, who was a son of Levi, and brother of Kohath;

And Ethan, who likewise happened to be one of the singers, had as his ancestor Merari, the third son of Levi.

For it says that the Levites were given for all the service of the tabernacle, the house of God.

For he also makes mention of the captivity, and teaches its cause.

"For all Israel," he says, "were enrolled by genealogy, and behold, they are written in the book of the days of the kings of Israel and Judah, and they were carried away to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness, in which they transgressed;

and those who formerly dwelt in their possessions and in their cities — Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim."

Now this shows that the composition of this book is later than the captivity.

For no one composing the historical narrative speaks of things that come later, but rather of things prior, or of what has happened in his own time.

For it is proper to prophets to foretell future things.

He also said that, together with them, those who had possessed that land before them were also taken captive.

For many Canaanites, Hittites, and Jebusites dwelt among them, and shared in the calamity.

And together with Israel, the priests and the Levites also were led away captive.

And I think that those called Nethinim are those named "temple slaves."

For many dedicated themselves to the services of the priests and Levites.

For it was necessary that those from the other tribes also should carry water, and cut wood, and perform whatever other such tasks.

For if the all-renowned Joshua commanded the Gibeonites, who were foreigners, to be water-carriers and wood-cutters for the tabernacle, much more was such a service fitting for Israelites.

And I also found, in the interpretation of Hebrew names, that this name signifies "gift of Iao," that is, of God who truly Is.

And he also mentions the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and he says that these were from the sons of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh.

He also mentions the priests and Levites who had inhabited that city.

And he calls the descendants of Korah "Korahites."

From these, he says, gatekeepers were also appointed for the divine temple;

He also explained the courses of service.

For they were not relieved each day, but according to a reckoning of seven days.

"And their brethren in their settlements came at the seventh turn of the appointed times, to enter in with these every seven days, from time to time. And other Levites were entrusted with the vessels of the service."

"For some of them," it says, "were set over the vessels of the service;"

"because they would bring them in by number, and bring them out by number;"

"and some of them were appointed over the vessels — over all the holy vessels, and over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the frankincense, and the spices." The incense, however, the priests themselves prepared.

This has been recorded here afterward.

For in Kingdoms we read that they took his bones and buried them under the terebinth-field in Jabesh;

but here, under the oak in Jabesh.

And the matters concerning the medium have been set forth more clearly here.

"For Saul died," it says, "in his transgressions which he committed against the Lord, according to the word of the Lord, because he did not keep it, and because Saul inquired of the medium to seek guidance;"

but that he impiously and unlawfully asked through her that this should be done —

God, for His part, pronounced against him the sentence of punishment.

"For Samuel the prophet answered him," it says. I think the apparition was so named because Saul longed to learn from Samuel what he ought to do.

Whether it was an angel that appeared, exhibiting the form in the likeness of Samuel;

or whether it was Samuel's own soul in this apparition —

one must know that this did not come about by the sorcery of the medium;

but by the wisdom and power of God,

who has often foretold many future things even through impious men —

through Pharaoh, the abundance and the famine;

and through Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest kingdoms of the inhabited world.

But indeed we have spoken sufficiently about these matters in our interpretation of Kingdoms.

Let us, then, proceed to what remains.

For the all-holy Spirit called Him "the Lord Almighty."

And he said the Egyptian, whom Benaiah slew, was five cubits tall.

How then have some claimed that there never existed men of great stature? Now he called the band of the Amalekites "Gedour";

whereas the book of Kingdoms has called it a "troop."

And in listing those who assembled at Hebron, the writer said also this:

"From the sons of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, knowing what Israel ought to do at its beginnings — two hundred, and all their brethren with them." He has marveled at these for their wisdom, as being capable and skilled to discern what should be done, and to foresee — not prophetically, but with understanding — things to come, and to propose what was advantageous.

And when the ark was being transported, Uzzah, seeing it tilting, put out his hand to steady it;

but he was punished, since he was a Levite and not a priest, because he had dared to touch it.

For it belonged only to the priests to carry it upon their shoulders.

showing that God does not regard a distinction between an Israelite and a foreigner, but honors piety alone, He overwhelmed the house of the foreigner with blessings of every kind.

And he recognized the cause of Uzzah's punishment;

for which reason he transported it not by a cart, but by the priests.

"For they carried it," it says, "as Moses commanded by the word of the Lord God of Israel, according to the Scripture, on the poles, upon their shoulders." Then he also tells the arrangements of the singers, and who sang with lyres, who with harps, and who with cymbals.

But we have spoken of the differences among the musical instruments in our commentary on Kingdoms.

We have often said that Aquila rendered "ephod" as "outer garment."

But there were priestly outer garments, and there were also ordinary ones.

...alone, which they now call the "Arcadicum."

As for the word "cherchal," we have found this used in place of "kollyris" in Kingdoms.

For now the one choir, now the other, offered a hymn to the Maker of all things.

And he says that David also commanded Zadok the priest to offer sacrifices in Gibeon, since the tabernacle constructed by Moses had been pitched in that city.

But when the death sent by God was brought upon the people, and he saw the angel bringing destruction, he built an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan, and offered the sacrifice on behalf of the people;

not as transgressing the divine law, which commanded that sacrifices be offered on the altar before the tabernacle;

but because of the punishment upon the people, he hastened to propitiate God.

For this too the narrative has taught.

"For the tabernacle of the Lord too," it says, "which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the whole burnt offerings, were at that time on the high place that is in Gibeon;"

For the victims were consumed not by fire made by human hands, but by fire sent down from heaven.

And he appointed some as stonecutters, and ordered others to transport the stones once they were cut.

He commanded that the stones be dressed and smoothed at the very quarries, and only then be transported.

As for the saying, "You shall not build a house for my name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth before me" — I think this was spoken for the benefit of those who commit bloodshed.

For He who called the just slaying of Phinehas a sacrifice would not have blamed the king for a just slaying.

And yet Phinehas was a priest, and was praised for it.

"And Phinehas stood up and made atonement, and the plague was stayed, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to generation and generation forever." And Moses the lawgiver also slew three thousand who had been initiated into the calf, using the Levites as his agents;

and the great Samuel also became, with his own hand, the slayer of Agag;

and the great Elijah killed eight hundred and fifty prophets and priests of Baal.

But He commanded his son to do this — he whose very name prefigured the peace of our Savior.

For indeed "Solomon" is interpreted as "peaceful";

and our Lord is called "peace."

And the blessed Paul is witness, crying out: