Here, too, the destruction of Libanus and the call of the Gentiles is connected with the birth of Christ, of the seed of Jesse and David. And Ezekiel actually calls Jerusalem Libanus when he says, "The great eagle, with great wings, that hath the dominion, cometh to Libanus, and tore off the tender boughs of the cedar." And he goes on to explain this himself, as happening when Nebuchadnezzar shall come to Jerusalem and take her rulers, and that which follows. But Ezekiel's prophecy is about the first siege, and Zechariah's about the second. When, then, after the time of Zechariah in the time of the Macedonian Empire was the Temple burnt? There was no such time. For after its burning by the Babylonians, it was not burned again till in the time of Titus and Vespasian, the Roman Emperors, it was utterly destroyed by fire, and it is in relation to this that the prophet summons the ancient rulers of the nation in a figure to mourn and weep, when he says: "Let the (c) pine weep because the cedar is fallen, because the great ones are in great misery. Let the oaks of Bashan weep, because the wood that is planted is torn down: a voice of shepherds that lament, because their greatness is in misery." Then truly Jerusalem was as a portico shaken by all nations around it, and there was a force encircling Judaea, and their venerated Temple and its Holy Place is even to-day a stone trodden under the feet of all nations, and all that mock are mocked according to the prophecy.