Letter 819

To the Same Person. "Behold," says the Lord, "I turn toward those who endure grievous things like a river of peace, and like an overflowing torrent the glory of the nations" [Isaiah 66:12]. Now Aquila [a second-century Jewish translator of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek] rendered it "from things of every kind"; Symmachus [another such translator] says "from grief"; and Theodotion [likewise], "from a multitude." Ponder these things, then, and console yourself.

Ἰδοὺ, φησὶ Κύριος, ἐκκλίνω πρὸς τοὺς ὑπομένοντας τὰ σκυθρωπὰ ὡς ποταμῷ εἰρήνης, καὶ ὡς χειμάρρους ἐπικλύζων δόξαν ἐθνῶν. Ὁ δὲ Ἀκύλας. λας ἡρμήνευσεν, ἀπὸ παντοδαπίας · ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος λέγει, ἀπὸ λύπης · Θεοδότιων δὲ, ἀπὸ πλήθους. Νήσον τοίνυν ταῦτα, καὶ σαυτὸν παρακάλει.