The Desolation of Women and Property
The wise man applies each word of the text to each of the fulfillments. It is possible to understand that the third remains in that day on which these things previously spoken shall occur.
Behold, days are coming of the Lord, and your dogs shall be divided in you (Zach. 14:1-2). And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for war, and the city shall be captured, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be violated, and half the city shall go out in captivity, but the remnant of my people shall not be destroyed from the city (Zach. 14:2). He says 'Days of the Lord' according to how the burdensome and punishing things come upon the guilty, and there are many witnesses to this by understanding. And in Isaiah, indeed, the time of God's punishments is called a day thus: 'A day of the Lord comes, unyielding, in fury and wrath, to lay the whole inhabited world waste and to destroy the sinners from it' (Isa. 9:3).
Since, therefore, he announces fearsome things shall be to those against whom God is indignant because of their grasping impiety and other sins, it is fitting he says there shall be days of the Lord in which there will be most pitiful wickedness toward Jerusalem and its citizens. For why is it so pitiful and unyielding, that the dogs which the coming enemies took, to be divided in its midst because of much existing weakness? But this does not always happen; for there is a time when those who plundered, far from the city, rather the land, having carried off the spoils, are divided, fearing that they might be prevented from dividing them in the city by those who have captured breathing.
After the word having spoken: 'Behold, days are coming of the Lord, and your dogs shall be divided in your midst' (Zach. 14:2), the Lord immediately says to gather against them all the nations for war, just as a day becomes one of mobilization, of the armies of the gathered nations toward the waging of war against Jerusalem. For toward it is announced the dividing of its dogs in it, and even the houses of the inhabitants shall be plundered, and their women shall be violated. For what manner of way is painful and extremely unyielding is the dividing of those who grasped, in the sight of the citizens, especially when not only the common and...
Not only public treasures but also those of each person, as their houses are being plundered; moreover, regarding all these things, it is both sorrowful and heavy to be shamefully violated, seeing those who live together being unable to prevent the lawless act after much weakness has taken hold, just as half of the city itself has been torn away outside its own town, seeing nothing of this kind among those being guarded by the right hand of God. These are the ones fulfilling the third part, it having been said that they shall be saved after the two parts have been destroyed and left behind.
5.26 Such a harsh providence the divine word threatens also in Isaiah; and thus the prophetic speech has: 'Those who are gathered together,' turned toward one another, 'shall fall by the sword; and your children shall be thrown down before you, and your houses shall be plundered, and your women shall be taken' (Isa 5:17).
5.27 The excess is shown in the women suffering violence from tyrannizing enemies in addition to the men living with them, and from what was said to the worthless priest Amaziah by the prophet Amos, seeing sharply: 'Your wife in the city shall commit fornication, and your land shall be measured with a cord' (Amos 8:2). Both the threatened things are painful and cause agony to those living together, seeing the cohabitants inside the city and not outside it, being corrupted in their lawful marital rights by the most savage enemies, and their own land being measured with a cord, while the owners are present and are not strong enough to prevent the violence.
5.28 It happened... such things happened many times to those dwelling in Jerusalem and in Judah, the Jews being taken by the nations because of the impiety they received, having killed the Lord. 'For having watched, and having studied the emptiness and futility of the peoples, and having brought forward the kings and the rulers, having been gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ, God incited them and stirred them up, speaking in wrath against them and in His own anger unsettling them,' just as the Apostle wrote the same concerning those killing the Lord and the prophets and driving out the apostles: 'The wrath has come upon them to its end' (Rom 11:22).
5.29 It was also said previously as a Jewish historian,
Greek
ἐπουρανίου» γένος. 5.19 Ἑκάστῃ τῶν ἀποδόσεων ἐφαρμόσει ὁ σοφὸς ἑκάστην λέξιν τοῦ προκειμένου. 5.20 ∆υνατὸν ἐκλαβεῖν τὸ τρίτον ὑπολείπεσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐν ᾗ ταῦτα τὰ προαναφωνηθέντα γενήσεται. 5.21 Zach. XIV, 1–2: Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ διαμερισθήσεται τὰ σκῦλά σου ἐν σοί. Καὶ ἐπισυνάξω πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ ἁλώσεται ἡ πόλις, καὶ διαρπαγήσονται αἱ οἰκίαι, καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες μολυνθήσονται, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς πόλεως ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, οἱ δὲ κατάλοιποι τοῦ λαοῦ μου οὐ μὴ ἐξο̣λεθρευθῶσιν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. 5.22 Ἡμέρας τοῦ Κυρίου λέγει καθ' ἃς ἐπιφέρεται τοῖς ὑπαιτίοις τὰ ἐπίπονα καὶ κολαστικά, καὶ ἔστιν ἐκ πλειόνων μαρτύρασθαι τῇ νοήσει. Καὶ ἐν Ἠσαΐᾳ γοῦν ὁ τῶν τιμωριῶν καιρὸς Θεοῦ ἡμέρα κέκληται οὕτως· «Ἡμέρα Κυρίου ἀνίατος ἔρχεται θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς θεῖναι τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἔρημον καὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἀπολέσαι ἐξ αὐτῆς.» 5.23 Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν φοβερὰ ἀπαγγέλλει ἔσεσθαι τοῖς καθ' ὧν ἀγανακτεῖ Θεὸς διὰ κρατήσασαν αὐτῶν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἁμαρτίας, εἰκότως φησὶν ἡμέρας ἔσεσθαι τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν αἷς οἰκτίστη ἔσται κακοπραγία τῇ τε Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τοῖς πολίταις αὐτῆς. Τί γὰρ οὕτως οἴκτιστον καὶ ἀνιαρὸν ὡς τὰ σκῦλα ἃ ἔλαβον οἱ ἐπελθόντες πολεμίοι διαμερίζεσθαι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς διὰ πολλὴν ὑπάρξασαν ἀσθένειαν; Οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ συμβαίνει τοῦτο· ἔστιν γὰρ ὃτε οἱ σκυλεύσαντες μακρὰν τῆς πόλεως, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς χώρας, τὰ λάφυρα ἀπαγαγόντες μερίζονται, δεδιότες μὴ διαιρούμενοι αὐτὰ ἐν τῇ πόλει κωλυθῶσιν ὑπ' ἀναπνευσάντων τῶν ἑαλωκότων. 5.24 Τοῦ λόγου φήσαντος· «Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ διαμερισθήσονται τὰ σκῦλά σου ἐν μέσῳ σου», ὁ Κύριος εὐθέως λέγει συνάξειν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη εἰς πόλεμον, καθὼς ἡμέρα γίνεται παρατάξεως, στρατευομένων τῶν συναγομένων ἐθνῶν πρὸς τὸ ἐκπολεμηθῆναι τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ. Πρὸς γὰρ αὐτὴν ἀπαγγέλλεται τὸ διαμερισθῆναι τὰ σκῦλα αὐτῆς ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἔτι τὰς οἰκίας τῶν οἰκητόρων προνομευθήσεσθαι, καὶ μολυνθήσεσθαι τὰς γυναῖκας αὐτῶν. 5.25 Ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ἐπώδυνον καὶ σφόδρα ἀνιαρόν ἐστιν τὸ ἐπ' ὄψεσιν τῶν πολιτῶν μερίζε̣σθαι τοὺς κρατήσα̣ντας, μάλιστα ὅτε μὴ μόνα τὰ κοινὰ καὶ δημόσια κειμήλια ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἑκάστου, προνομευομένων τῶν οἰκιῶν αὐτῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ τούτων ἁπάντων λυπηρόν τε καὶ ἐπαχθὲς ὑπα´̣ρχει τὸ μολύνεσθαι αἰσχρῶς τὰς γυ̣ναῖκας, ὁρώντων τῶν συμβιούντων κωλύειν τὸ ἀθ̣έμιτον μὴ δυναμε´̣νων, ἀσθενείας πολλῆς κρατησάσης, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς πόλεω̣ς αὐτῆς ἀποσπασθῆναι ἔξω τοῦ ἰδίου ἄστεως, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον πεισομένων τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ φρουρουμένων. Οὗτοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ συμπληροῦντες τὸ τρίτον, εἰρημένον σῴζεσθαι μετὰ τὸ ἐξολεθρευθῆναι τὰ δύο μέρη καὶ ἐκλεῖψαι. 5.26 Τοιαύτην τινὰ ὠμοτάτην προνομὴν καὶ ἐν Ἠσαΐᾳ ἀπειλεῖ ὁ θεῖος λόγος· ἔχει δ' οὕτως ἡ προφητικὴ λέξις· «Οἵτινες συνηγμένοι εἰσίν», συνεστραμμένοι πρὸς ἑαυτούς, «μαχαίρᾳ πεσοῦνται· καὶ τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν ῥήξουσιν, καὶ τὰς οἰκίας ὑμῶν προνομεύσουσιν, καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν ἕξουσιν.» 5.27 ∆είκνυται ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τοῦ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐπίπροσθεν τῶν συνοικούντων ἀνδρῶν βίαν πάσχειν ὑπὸ τυραννούντων πολεμίων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ λεχθέντος πρὸς τὸν φαῦλον ἱερέα Ἀμεσσίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ ὀξὺ καθορῶντος προφήτου Ἀμώς· «Ἡ γυνή σου ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐκπορνεύσει, καὶ ἡ γῆ σου σχοινίῳ καταμετρηθήσεται.» Ἀμφότερα δὲ τὰ ἠπειλημένα ἀνιαρὰ καὶ ὀδύνην ἐμποιοῦντα τοῖς συμβιοῦσιν ὁρῶσιν τὰς συνοίκους ἔνδον ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ μὴ 148 ἔξω αὐτῆς, φθειρομένων τῶν γαμικῶν δικαίων πρὸς ἀγριοτάτων ἐχθρῶν, καὶ ἰδίαν γῆν ἐν σχοινίῳ καταμετρεῖσθαι, παρόντων τῶν κτητόρων καὶ τὴν βίαν κωλῦσαι μὴ σθενόντων. 5.28 Συνέβη ····μα τοιαῦτα πολυ`̣ τὸ ἀπάνθρωπον ἔχοντα τοῖς οἰκο̣ῦσι τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τη`̣ν̣ Ἰουδαίαν, ἁλόντων τῶν Ἰουδαίων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν διὰ τὸ ἁ´̣γος ὃ ἀνεδέξαντο κυριοκτονήσα̣ντες. «Φρυαξάντων γὰρ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ κενὰ καὶ μάταια τῶν λαῶν μελετησάντων, παραστάντων τε τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συναχθέντων κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἐνεγέλασεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ἐξεμυκτήρισεν, ἐν ὀργῇ λαλήσας κατ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ θυμῷ συνταράξας αὐτούς», ὡς τὰ αὐτὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον γράψαι περὶ τῶν τὸν Κύριον ἀποκτεινάντων καὶ τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἐκδιωξάντων τοὺς ἀποστόλους· «Ἔφθασεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργὴ εἰς τέλος.» 5.29 Εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον ὡς ἰουδαϊκὸς ἱστοριογράφος,
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.