OF THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS: ENARRATION UPON NAHUM
BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS: INTERPRETATION OF NAHUM THE PROPHET.
AARGUMENT. When the threats of God, which the prophet Jonah had proclaimed to them, had cast fear upon the Ninevites, they performed acts of earnest repentance and found salvation; for in place of the utter destruction with which they were threatened, they obtained divine mercy. But a short time later, having forgotten this ineffable grace of God and having returned to their former wickedness, they committed countless other lawless acts, and dared to launch campaigns against the Israelite people. They led away the ten tribes into captivity, having enslaved them by the hand of Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser. Sennacherib, moreover, attacked Judea in war and captured other cities by siege, and having sent an army against Jerusalem, moved his tongue against the God of all things himself. B But suddenly, by an invisible power through one angel, many tens of thousands of them were delivered to death; and their own king, having escaped this plague and become a herald of the divinely-sent vengeance (for God permitted him to escape, so that he might act as such), received the blow in his own palace at the hands of his own sons. And not long afterward, the kingdom having been transferred to Babylon, the entire race of those kings was destroyed, while the city was overthrown and reduced to a wasteland. The blessed prophet Nahum, inspired by the divine Spirit, foretells this destruction of the Ninevites, and teaches through the themes of his prophecy that nothing is neglected or unprovided for by the Lord God; rather, exercising a just judgment, he demands from each person an account of their life. For this reason, he says, he delivered Israel to the Assyrians because it acted impiously; but he again exacted many penalties from the Assyrians through others, because they had invaded these people most savagely and used cruelty against them. For they did not wage war against Israel to serve the will of God, but to obey their own audacity and lust, and to extend their empire as widely as possible against all. Nor, indeed, did their [attempts...] C
God, the Lord of all, allow them to carry out their undertaking A without measure, as He was exacting punishment from Israel through them. Yet, lest they imagine that they had accomplished this by their own power, having overcome all other cities, He struck down many myriads of them at the very walls of Jerusalem. B Such are the predictions contained in the prophecy of the blessed Nahum; it remains for us to proceed to the explanation of the words.
CHAPTER ONE
B VERSE 1. "The burden of Nineveh: the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite." The grace of the All-Holy Spirit, working in diverse ways through the wondrous prophets, suggested certain visions to some, such as the inspired Isaiah, and Micah, and Daniel, and Ezekiel, and Zechariah; to others, it infused what it wished by means of sound, so that they seemed to hear someone speaking; while to others it breathed the prophecy, and through their tongue spoke what it willed. For the prophetic grace, suddenly seizing their mind and separating them from all human things, prepared them to serve and minister to the prophetic words. C This, then, the prophet called a "burden," as it were a taking hold of the mind and a departure from human things. For my mind, he says, having been taken by the divine Spirit, foresaw the things that were to befall Nineveh.
VERSE 2. "God is jealous, and the Lord is an avenger in His wrath, and the Lord takes away His enemies." Since, in their fury against Jerusalem, they had used blasphemous language against the God of all, He rightly calls them adversaries and enemies, and threatens them with destruction. He calls "jealousy" that rightful wrath. For thus says the Lawgiver: "You shall not make for yourself the likeness of anything, D whatever is in heaven above, and whatever is on the earth below, and whatever is in the waters under the earth; because I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, a consuming fire." So too the great Elijah says: "I have been very jealous for the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel," that is, I am wrathful against those who act impiously toward God.
VERSE 3. "The Lord is long-suffering, and His power is great, and He will by no means clear the guilty." He does not, he says, bring punishments straightway and immediately, but uses the greatest long-suffering. Of this you Ninevites are witnesses, who acted with repentance and found salvation, and having again acted with the greatest wickedness, did not immediately pay the penalty for it; but for a long time...
A bears the iniquities of men, and knows how to inflict punishment upon those who do not repent. For this is what he says: "Clearing, He will not make innocent"—that is, the Lord will not leave unpunished the one who has committed deeds worthy of punishment. "The Lord, in the consummation and in the commotion is His way." No longer, he says, will the God of the universe bestow mercy upon you, but He will bring destruction. Similar to this are the words of the Psalm: "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." For "truth" has not only mercy, but also just punishment. Therefore, by "way," the action is to be understood both here and there. "And clouds are the dust of His feet." Most appropriately did he add the mention of dust. He wishes to mean that He will no longer use long-suffering, but will bring destruction upon you, summoning a cloud of evils upon you from every side. And teaching that He easily accomplishes whatever He desires, he subjoins:
VER. 4. "Rebuking the sea and drying it up, and making all the rivers a desert." For if He should decide B that all the water of the sea and of the rivers ought to be dried up from the foundations, He would be able to do it in a moment of time: which, indeed, He demonstrated from things that have already come to pass. "Bashan is made weak, and Carmel, and all that were flourishing in Lebanon have failed." For when I had decided to exact penalties from those who dwell in Bashan, and Carmel, and Lebanon, I delivered them to you. But you, devastating their fields, and storming their cities, and leading their citizens into captivity, have reduced them to supreme desolation.
VER. 5. "The mountains were moved by Him, and the hills were shaken; and the whole earth was stirred up from His face, and all that dwell in it." For because some thought that He was the God of the Jews only, not without reason does the prophet teach that He shakes the mountains, the hills, and the whole earth with its inhabitants by His mere nod. Regarding what he says, "and the earth was contracted," Aquila said "trembled," while Symmachus said "it was stirred up."
VER. 6. "Who shall sustain the aspect of His wrath? And who will resist in the wrath of His indignation? His wrath consumes principalities, and rocks are broken by Him." C For if He most easily breaks and destroys those who exalt themselves because of their principalities and who imagine themselves to have the strength of rocks, who will be able to resist His correction? But as He destroys the proud without effort, so the Lord is good toward those who wait for Him in the day of tribulation, and knows those who fear Him. Showing, moreover, how God is disposed toward those who sustain inflicted corrections and speak nothing absurd against God, he again sets forth the punishments established against the impious.
A Ver. 8. "And with an overflowing flood he will make an end, and darkness shall pursue his enemies." For he shall deliver those who grow bold against Him to utter destruction and everlasting darkness; he called an overflowing flood and an end, the supreme destruction. Then by way of questioning:
Ver. 9. "What do you imagine against the Lord?" What kind of power, he says, do you suppose Him to possess? "He will make an end, and He will not take vengeance twice in the same thing in affliction." A cumulative punishment, he says, He will inflict upon you, so that there will be no need to add a second blow.
B Ver. 10. "For they shall be laid waste even to their foundation, and shall be eaten like a folded vine, and like stubble full of dryness." For just as fire easily consumes dry stubble, and the plant growing by the fences, and especially that which is entangled with the Christ-thorn, does not allow them to bloom, and itself is destroyed in time; so you, having destroyed the kingdoms of others, shall be stripped of your own kingdom, and shall be delivered to destruction. And showing the justice of the punishment, he subjoined:
C Ver. 11. "Out of thee shall come forth a device against the Lord, imagining evil things to the contrary." But you shall suffer these things because of the insane ravings of your mind. The history of the fourth book of Kings, as well as the divine Isaiah, teaches us these things. For in those books Sennacherib is described pouring forth that rabid blasphemy against the God of all: "Say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying that He will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand." And other things similar to these. Designating this arrogance of his, God said through the prophet: "I will visit upon the great mind, the king of the Assyrians"; thus He exposes the arrogance of his thoughts.
Ver. 12. "Thus saith the Lord, ruling over many waters, and so they shall be divided." He calls the multitude of the Babylonians the multitude of waters, which waged war against the Ninevites, and which, divided into cohorts like water, proceeded to the siege of the city. Having done this, he says, "Thy fame shall be heard no more," for you shall be delivered to total oblivion.
Ver. 13. "And now I will break his rod from off thee, and will break thy bonds asunder." For I will take from you the authority which I once gave you; and I will destroy your dominion, having broken its bonds. For he calls authority a "rod"; and he teaches us this clearly through the prophet Isaiah: D
A "Woe to the Assyrians! The rod of my fury and my anger is in their hands."
VERS. 14. "And the Lord shall give orders concerning you." For, he says, it is by my command that you will endure these things. "Your name shall no longer be sown." For your title shall no longer be imposed upon those subject to you; for it is the custom for the ruled to be named after their kings—thus, from Babylon, the Babylonians; and from Cyrus the Persian, the Persians; and later the Macedonians from Macedon; and now, from Rome, the Romans. "I will destroy the carved images from the house of your God, and I will place your sepulcher as a molten work, because you have been dishonored." Moreover, together with you, your man-made gods shall also perish utterly, whom you shall hide within the earth and bury as in some tombs, so that they themselves may not become booty for the enemies.
VERS. 15. "For behold, the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and publisheth peace, are swift upon the mountains." When these things happen against you, many shall run to those who inhabit Judea, bringing pleasant tidings of peace. "Celebrate, Judah, your feasts: pay your vows to God: for they shall no more pass into antiquity: he is consumed, he is taken away." You, he says, having heard of the destruction of your enemies, perform the customary festivals to God and offer the usual sacrifices; for he who launched many campaigns against you has perished utterly, and they will no longer attempt to consume and destroy you. C
CAPUT II.
VERS. 1. "He who breathes has ascended into your presence, delivering you from affliction." The author of these things for you is God, who by His own nod, like a certain breath, destroyed those others and liberated you from their dominion. For just as when He breathed the breath of life into Adam, He made him a living soul, so to you, by the inspiration of life, He provides salvation. The Lord Christ gave this also to the holy apostles after the resurrection. For because Adam lost the image which he had received through the divine inspiration, the Lord Christ, D rightfully renewing it, restored it to the holy apostles, and through them to all who believe. For He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Since, however, the old things are a type of the new, let us understand the kingdom of the Assyrians being destroyed as the tyranny of the devil being extinguished through the Lord Christ; and let us interpret Judah, insulting him and keeping feast days, as the whole world rejoicing for its salvation, as [those] who...
have received spiritual grace through the Lord’s insufflation, and have been delivered from the bitter tyranny of the demons. But let us return to the history. A “Contemplate the road, take hold of your loins, be strong in power mightily. (v. 2) For the Lord has averted the contumely of Jacob, as the contumely of Israel.” This, he does not say to the Assyrian, as some have supposed, but he is still conversing with Judah and exhorting him to watch the roads and await the messengers, and to receive the good news brought by them, and in place of the former cowardice to recover strength. For this is what he said, “Take hold of your loins,” that is, “Cast off your former cowardice.” Thus the blessed B Elijah bound his loins and ran before the chariot of Ahab. Thus God says to Job: “Gird up your loins like a man.” And the divine Paul exhorts us to gird our loins with truth. Here, therefore, it is that he bids Judah to take heart, “because the Lord has averted the contumely of Jacob, as the contumely of Israel.” It should be known that the name Jacob was given to the descendants of Jacob by his parents, but Israel by God. The people born of Jacob partook of both names. He says, therefore, that “I have exacted from them the penalties for the terrible things done against you, O Jacob, by the Assyrians, because of the virtue of your progenitor, for whose sake I also imposed upon you the name of Israel.”
“For those shaking them have shaken them, and have destroyed their branches. (v. 3) The weapons of his power are from among men.” Just as those who shake the branches of the vine, he says, destroy all the fruit, so the enemies who invaded these people both dissolved their power, and took away their panoplies, and forced those who had escaped death to serve. And showing that they will not suffer these things because of weakness, C but because of the sentence issued by Him against them, he added: “Strong men sporting in the fire.” For they used such boldness as to dare to approach the fire itself. “The reins of their chariots [are] in the day of their preparation, and the horsemen shall be troubled. (v. 4) In the roads the chariots shall be confounded, and shall be entangled in the streets.” For nothing, he says, will profit you, neither the multitude of the prepared chariots, nor the cavalry force; for because of the tumult of the encroaching enemies, everything will become useless, entangling itself in the roads and being trampled by one another. “Their appearance is as lamps of fire, and as lightnings they run to and fro.” And indeed, he says, you once had a noble spirit, and you showed your spirited nature through your eyes, and, as with certain lamps and lightnings, you inspired terror in your subjects.
but in the assault of the enemy, cowardice instead of courage will take hold of you. This is what he has revealed through the words that follow.
A Ver. 5. "For their nobles will be remembered," he says, "and they will flee by day, and they will be weakened on their journey; they will hasten to the walls, and they will prepare their bulwarks." For those who long ago were lifted up by their power will endeavor with all zeal to escape; and when they cannot achieve this, they will again ascend the walls and apply themselves to defending the city; yet none the less the gates will be opened, and the palace will fall into the power of the enemy, and the treasures within the palace will be plundered. He indicated this by saying: "The substance has been revealed." That is, what had once been hidden and secured by many bolts has become clear to all. "And she was ascending." He understands Nineveh; for it is of her that he is prophesying.
B Ver. 7. "And her handmaids were led, and like doves cooing in their hearts." Together with her, the subject cities and villages will also undergo captivity, groaning in their minds and imitating the sound of doves.
Ver. 8. "And Nineveh is as a pool of waters, her waters; and they themselves fleeing have not stood, and there was no one to look back." For so great was the number of those dwelling in that city, that it might be compared to a pool filled with waters and overflowing with the surplus; yet all looked to nothing but flight, and dared not so much as turn their eyes behind them. Then he explains their former iniquity.
Ver. 9. "They were plundering the silver, they were plundering the gold, and there was no end to her ornaments." But what she gathered unjustly will be handed over to others. "For they are weighed down above all her desirable vessels." Against these treasures, he says, the multitude of the enemy will advance. He speaks of future things as if they were past, according to the proper idiom of Scripture.
C Ver. 10. "An ejection, and a re-ejection, and a boiling, and a breaking of heart, and a loosening of knees, and pains upon every loin, and the faces of all like the charring of a pot." Things that are accustomed to happen in earthquakes, when the earth is convulsed and shaken, these same things he has set forth regarding the assault of the enemy—that because their hearts are struck with fear, the joints of their knees will be loosened, and they will suffer pains similar to those of women in labor, and their faces, because the blood has congealed, will turn black, so as to resemble that part of a pot which is accustomed to be exposed to the fire.
Ver. 11. "Where is the habitation of the lions, and the pasture that was for the lion's cubs?" He calls the habitation...
A of the lions Nineveh; the lions, the kings; the cubs, their sons; the pasture, their subject cities. You, who of old, he says, lived in Nineveh like lions, and attacked all without fear, and provided food for your cubs, why do you now do nothing of the sort, when enemies have come upon you? And persisting in the metaphor, "Where is the lion gone," he says, "to enter in?" Or, he says, did you happen to be absent on some expedition against someone when the troop of the enemy attacked? But it is not so. "For there," he says, "were the lion's cubs, and there was none to terrify them." For you were not the only one dwelling there at that time, but all your commanders, who of old feared no one, but were destroying other kingdoms and gathering tribute from them there, and providing food for their descendants. This he indicated by what he added:
Ver. 12. "A lion tore enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his den with prey, and his habitation with plunder." For beasts are accustomed to strangle the animals they hunt, and thus offer them as food for those from them. So also the Assyrians, while destroying the kingdoms of the nations, enjoyed the tribute from them. But for this iniquity I will exact punishment from thee.
Ver. 13. "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will burn thy multitude in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy lions, and I will destroy thy prey from the earth, and thy works shall no more be heard." Since B he earlier mentioned metaphorically lions, and cubs, and prey, and pasture, he rightly also predicts their destruction metaphorically. And since animals hidden in certain dens, and refusing to come out, are compelled to come out by hunters who apply smoke to the entrances, and upon coming out are met with spears, he rightly said that he would deliver the multitude to smoke, and the lions to the sword. He signifies by this C the burning of the city and the slaughter of the kings, the news of which…
CHAPTER III.
[1-3]. Then D he deplores the entire city and its malice, calling it mendacious and iniquitous, and narrates the looming evils: saying that the clatter of chariots, the neighing of horses, and the cry of horsemen were like an earthquake. He also strikes terror with the narration of arms, saying that arms and swords flash. Moreover, he predicts the multitude of the fallen and the slaughter of the nations which had come to bring help; and he says that few were saved from this war. For this is what he says:
A *“They shall be weakened among their nations”* (v. 4). *“Because of the multitude of whoredom.”* For he says that their multitude shall be reduced to a few, both because of their error concerning idols and because of their manifold wantonness; for he calls both of these things whoredom in this passage. And what follows teaches this more clearly: *“A fair and graceful harlot, mistress of sorceries.”* For while you were living in impiety and lawlessness, you seemed splendid and illustrious to those who did not know how to judge the nature of things rightly. And having abandoned the Creator and Savior, who counted you worthy of great mercy when you repented, you surrendered yourself to sorcery, and through it you continued to do all things. *“Which sells nations through her whoredom, and tribes through her sorceries.”* And not content with your own impiety, you also forced your subjects to think the same things as you. For this reason, he says, B (v. 5, 6) *“I, the Lord of all, will uncover your posterior parts before your face, and I will show the nations your shame, and the kingdoms your disgrace. And I will cast upon you an abomination according to your uncleannesses.”* The expression, *“I will uncover your posterior parts before your face,”* is said using a metaphor taken from servants who are stripped and scourged for greater ignominy. He says, therefore, that I will make your iniquity known to all through punishment, both to kings and to nations, so that you may become a useful example of this to others. For he added this: *“And I will make you an example.”* (v. 7) *“And it shall be that everyone who sees you shall descend from you and shall say, ‘Wretched Nineveh, who shall groan over her? Whence shall I seek comfort for her?’”* For I will deliver you to such great desolation that those who were formerly indignant because of your power will be moved to pity. For this is what he said: *“He shall descend from you,”* and he shall seek a manner of mourning worthy of such great devastation.
(v. 8) *“Fit the string, prepare yourself, part of Ammon, that dwells in the rivers: water is round about her, whose beginning is the sea, and water is her walls.”* He gives these commands to Egypt, which had suffered bitter and grievous things from the Assyrians. And we have learned this from the other prophets, who foretold to the Israelites that even if they fled into Egypt they would not find safety, but would be caught there by the enemy and delivered to death. Just as, therefore, in what was said previously, Judah is commanded to keep festival now that the kingdom of the Ninevites has been destroyed, so here too he commands Egypt to dance. But he calls it the *“part of Ammon,”* as I believe, because it was dedicated to the demon Ammon. D For he was famous in ancient times, so that many from Greece would set sail there for the sake of oracles. And those who have written down his affairs say that even Alexander, who was the first to rule the Macedonians, journeyed to that place and received responses from there. Since, therefore, as this imposture grew stronger, and the people depended especially upon this demon,
Egypt, he calls it the part of Ammon and encourages it to indulge in dancing because Nineveh has perished. He calls the rivers around it trenches. 9 Then he enumerates the auxiliaries: the Ethiopians, the Libyans, and the western Libyans, who are now called Africans; for he called them Phud. 10 But even though it has so many allies and is itself surrounded by the sea and rivers, it will not, he says, remain free from evils, but will be led away into captivity and will overturn the soil. And her little ones they shall dash against the ground at the beginning of her streets, and upon all her glorious things they shall cast lots, and all her nobles shall be bound in fetters. B Nabuchodonosor did these things to it, and later Cambyses, son of Cyrus, having overthrown its kingdom, compelled it to remain under his own dominion; and Alexander, after many generations, subjected it to the Macedonian empire. Having prophesied these things concerning Egypt, he again turns his discourse to Nineveh.
VERS. 11. « And you shall be drunk, and you shall be despised, and you shall seek for yourself a station from your enemies. » Just as if you were handed over to some drunkenness by calamity, running here and there, you will seek some deliverance from the evils that possess you, and you will not find it. And in like manner, your fortified cities will also be handed over to your enemies. For he explained this through the similitude.
VERS. 12. « All your fortifications are like fig trees that have early figs; if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater. » Like figs, he says, that are shaken by the wind and easily cast off their early fruit, so will you be stripped of your inhabitants; and your brave soldiers will differ nothing from women, being gripped by fear. And your gates will be opened easily, the fire having consumed the bars, and the adversaries will burst through them like a torrent.
VERS. 14. « For you shall draw for yourself the water of the siege. » And then, by irony: « And obtain your fortifications. » Use, he says, your strength, since you have walls and ditches outside the walls.
« Enter into the mud, and trample in the straw; obtain over the brick. » [15, 16.] There the fire shall consume you, the sword shall destroy you, and it shall consume you like a locust, and you shall be weighed down like a caterpillar. You have multiplied your trade more than the stars of heaven. D Do not, he says, trust in your fortifications; for they will be of no help to you. But just as mud, which is trampled with straw for the making of bricks, will be trampled by the hostiles rushing upon you; and they will indeed burn the city, but you, the inhabitants, they will slaughter with all sorts of weapons, and like the locust and the caterpillar, they will utterly destroy you; and like the stars of the heaven
A which can neither be easily numbered, the enemies will take them.
• The caterpillar has rushed and flown away. (Ver. 17.) Your mixture has leapt out like a locust, as a locust that climbs on a hedge on a day of frost. The sun has risen, and it has leapt away, and the place of it is not known. For, he says, just as a locust and a caterpillar, and those things similar to them, when there is dew, they settle on the bushes, unable to fly away; but when the solar ray strikes them, they rise up, and spread their wings, and move to another place: so those who came to your aid, when they see the assault of the enemies, will take thought for their own safety, and giving themselves to flight, they will leave you alone. Then with a compassionate feeling he says:
• Woe to them! (Ver. 18.) Your shepherds have slumbered, the king of Assyria has lulled your mighty ones to sleep; your people have gone off to the mountains, and there was no one to bring them back. From these things it is also plain that holy Scripture calls the Babylonian the Assyrian. And so too do outside writers name him. For he said that the kings of Nineveh slumbered; and he calls death sleep. For so also says the blessed David: “At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, they have slumbered who mounted horses.” And he has said that these kings were lulled to sleep by the Assyrian king: “The king of Assyria has lulled your mighty ones to sleep.” And when these were removed from the midst, taking to flight, your people went off to the mountains, and there was no one to receive them, nor one able to make a stand. Then, indicating the incurable nature of the evils:
Ver. 19. “There is no healing for your breakage.” Since he has used breakage and healing metaphorically, likewise he has added: “Your wound has festered.” They have been delivered, he says, to incurable evils. “All who have heard the report of you will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has your malice not passed always?” Remembering, he says, the evils that were done to them by you, they will rejoice that you are suffering these things, and they will clap their hands. Since, therefore, we perceive the equity of the Judge, let us fear the judgment, so that we may escape the sentence going forth from it against those who act unrighteously, and may enjoy the eternal goods, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father is the glory, together with the holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRUS, INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHET HABAKKUK. ARGUMENT.
A There are some who are greatly disturbed when they behold the unjust prospering; and there are those who doubt whether God, the Lord of all, provides for human affairs. Others, indeed, believe the teachings about providence but are at a loss as to why things are governed in this manner. The blessed prophet Habakkuk, taking on the role of these latter, as if he himself desired to learn the reason for what occurs, brings forward the question and appends the solution which the grace of the Spirit has provided. For he himself did not suffer from this malaise, as some have supposed; rather, he introduces the questionings of others and offers the doctrine concerning the matters in dispute. B The divine David did the selfsame thing; for he introduces the person of a man who takes it ill that the wicked should prosper, and says: "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped, my steps had near been spilled, because I envied the wicked when I saw the peace of sinners." And after adding many such things, he indicated the solution to the questions raised. "For this," he says, "is a labor before me, until I enter the sanctuary of God and understand their end." Instructed by the grace of the Spirit, he added: "Surely for their craftiness thou hast set evils for them; thou didst cast them down when they were lifted up. How are they become a desolation? They are suddenly failed; they perished because of their iniquity, as the dream of them that awake." And a little later, teaching that one should not curiously inquire into the divine dispensations, but accept the divine words with simplicity, C he says: "I was as a beast before thee, and I am continually with thee." It behooves me, he says, just as a beast of burden follows the one who leads and drives it, not troubling itself as to where it is walking, so to believe thy words—