19. "And⁵⁹, when He saw the city, He wept over it, and said, If thou hadst known, even in this day the things of thy peace. -- But now, they are (so) hidden from thine eyes, that the days shall come upon thee, in which thine enemies shall surround thee, and shall press upon thee from every part of thee: and they shall utterly root thee up, and thy children within thee." The things, prior to these, were predicted respecting the Temple; these, which are now before us, respecting the City itself; which the Jews named the City of God, because of the Temple of God that had been built within it. Over the whole of this then, the compassionate (Saviour) wept. It was not, that He had so much pity on the buildings, nor indeed upon the land, as He had first upon the souls of its inhabitants, and (then) upon (the prospect of) their destruction. He pointed out moreover, the cause of their desolation when He said, "If thou hadst known, even in this day, the things of thy peace:" intimating too His own coming, which should be for the peace of the whole world. For

this is He, of whom it was said, "In his days shall righteousness arise (as the sun), and abundance of peace⁶⁰. He came also for this purpose, that "He⁶¹ might preach peace to them that were near, and to them that were afar off." And, of them who received Him, He said, "Peace⁶² I leave to you I leave to you; my peace give I unto you:" the peace, which all nations who believed on Him throughout the whole creation, have received. But the people, who were of the circumcision and believed not on Him, knew not the things of their peace : and, on this account, He said afterwards, "It is now (so) hidden from thine eyes, that the days shall come upon thee, (in which) thine enemies shall surround thee⁶³." The things (I say), which were therefore to take hold on them, a short time after, in the reduction (of the city) : (and), because they had no previous perception of the peace, that had been formerly preached to them, it should now be concealed from their eyes. They had therefore, no previous perception of any thing, which should afterwards befall them; He then plainly foretold these things by His foreknowledge, and gave open intimation of the reduction (of the city), which should come upon them through the Romans, (when saying), "The days shall come upon thee...because thou knewest not the things of thy peace." For, for this cause "there shall come upon thee the days, (in which) thine enemies shall surround thee, and shall go round about thee, and shall press upon thee from every quarter of thee; and they shall root thee out, and thy children within thee⁶⁴." In these (words) then, has been recorded the form of war which should come upon them. And, how they were fulfilled, we shall presently find from the writings of Josephus, who was himself a Jew, and descended from a tribe of the Jews ; -- one of the well known and famous men among that people. At the time of the reduction (of the place), he committed to writing every thing that was done among them; and (so) shewed, that the predictions before us were, in their facts, fulfilled.

Again, on the reduction of the City. From the Gospel of Luke.