Ver. 16. The second woe is an irrup- tion of fiendish cavalry.
Ver. 17. Here only the writer refers to his “vision”. éyovras (horse and rider regarded as one figure: in the Per- sian heavy cavalry horses as well as men were clad in bright plate) κ.τ.λ., ‘they wore coats of mail, the colour of fire and jacinth and brimstone,” 1.6., gleaming red, dark blue, and yellow, unless tax. (a favourite Oriental military colour) is meant to denote the colour of dull smoke. Plutarch, in his life of Sulla, describes the Medes and Scythians with their πυροειδῆ καὶ φοβερὰν ὄψιν (cf. Sir. xviii. ϱ).--πΌρ, κ.τ.λ., like Job’s levia- than, Ovid’s bulls (Metam. vii. 104), or Diomede’s horses (Lucret. v. 29, cf. Aen. vii. 281). They are also as destructive as Joel’s locusts. The description is a blend of observation and fantastic popu- lar beliefs. Brimstone was a traditional trait of divine wrath among people who “associated the ozonic smell which often so perceptibly accompanies lightning
~ ~ ~ ή κ 18. ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τούτων ’ ἀπεκτάνθησαν τὸ
κ ΔΝ ο [ο 4 a q 6 [ή πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ "θείου 19. ἡ γὰρ ἐξουσία τῶν
~ lA > 20. Καὶ ot λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ot οὐκ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν
A ‘ 3/, I ‘iva Ἰ μὴ προσκυνήσουσι τὰ δαιμόνια καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα "τὰ
* kal
v Constr. iii. 9, Matt. xxi. 32, etc.; ἵνα μὴ of conceived
410 \ a p Plur. vb. καὶ θεῖον. withsing. , a i i a noun (η TpiTov τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκ τοῦ 4 collective if Me a genes) τοῦ ἐκπορευομένου ἐκ τῶν στοµάτων αὐτῶν. cy. on PS i om a SA We ς x viii.g. ἵππων ἐν τῷ στόµατι αὐτῶν ἐστιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς atT@v* αἱ γὰρ q xiv. 10 \ HM aNd ΑΜ te xix. 20, OUpal αὐτῶν " ὅμοιαι ὄφεσιν, ἔχουσαι "κεφαλάς, καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀδι- xxi. δ. nm τ Cf. above KOUGL. onver.I0.__~ = a ” ανα a s Sir. xxv. Ταῖς πληγαῖς ταύταις, "οὐ 1 * µετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν " έργων τῶν " χειρῶν σι Sue t xvi. 11, 21, αυτων, u Deut. iv. a νο - νι a NUL Ns, SLUR wr κ 28 Mic. Χρυσᾶ καὶ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ λίθινα καὶ τὰ "ξύλινα, 5, μα. ena ”ἃ οὔτε βλέπειν δύνανται οὔτε ἀκούειν οὔτε " περιπατεῖν ' 21. “AS, Isa. ii. 8, ‘ 20:= “idols”. Philo. vit. contempl. § 1. result. w From Dan. v. 4, 23, also from Ps. cxv. 4-7, etc., En. xcix. 7.
Apoc. Pet. 25, Ezek. xliii. 9.
x Cf. xxii. 15,
1 For (before µετεν.) ουτε (AP, 1, 36, etc., Bg., Lach.) read ov C, min., And, pal, Areth., WH, Bs., Bj. [ουδε SQ, 14, 38, 92, vg., Copt., Pesh., Syr., Cyp., Pr., etc.,
Ti., Al. Sw., Ws.].
discharges with the presence of sulphur” (E. Bi. 611). The symbolism is coloured by actual Parthian invasions (67. vi. 1 f.) and by passages like Sap. xi. 18 where God punishes men by sending “un- known, newly-created wild beasts full of rage, breathing out a fiery blast or snort- ing out noisome smoke or flashing dread sparkles from their eyes.” Mr. Bent recalls the curious superstition of the modern Therans, who during the erup- tions of last century saw ‘‘in the pillars of smoke issuing from their volcano, giants and horsemen and terrible beasts”’.
Ver. 19. Heads attached to their ser- pentine tails are an allusion not only to the well-known tactics of the Parthians (cf. Parad. Regained, iii. 323 f.) but to a trait of ancient Greek mythology; on the altar of Zeus at Pergamos (cf. note on ii. 12) the giants who war against the gods are equipped with snakes (instead of limbs) that brandish open jaws. The amphisbaena of ancient mythology was often described as possessing a headed tail (‘‘tanquam parum esset uno ore fundi uenena,” Pliny: H. N. viii. 35).
Vv. 20, 21. The impenitence of the surviving two-thirds of men, who per- sist in worshipping daemons and idols (Weinel, 3, 4). Hellenic superstition (Plut. de defectu ογαο. 14) attributed to malignant daemons these very plagues of pestilence, war, and famine. Plutarch is always protesting against the exces- sive deference paid to such powers, and on the other hand against the rationalists and Christians who abjured them entirely.