Proof of the Gospel

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE TWENTY BOOKS, TEN. BOOK ONE

THINGS CONTAINED IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

Proem. 1. What and how many things are promised in this treatise. 2. What is the mode of piety according to Christianity. 3. That the Mosaic polity was not suitable for all nations. 4. For what reason we accept the oracles among the Jews, but have rejected their manner of life. 5. What is the mode of the New Testament of Christ. 6. What is the life according to the New Testament announced by Christ to all men. 7. How Christ, having fulfilled those things previously ordained by Moses, became the introducer of a new and fresh polity. 8. That the life according to Christianity is divided into two modes. 9. For what reason the pursuit of numerous offspring is not cultivated among us as it was with the ancients. 10. For what reason it is not permitted for us, as it was for the ancients, to burn incense and offer earthly sacrifices to God.

PROEM ^A

Behold here, you divine treasure of bishops, Theodote, holy man of God, with God and with His very Word, our Savior, together with whom, after the first Preparation for the Gospel which we labored over in fifteen books in their entirety, this great work is now being carried out by us. Accept then, O dear head, this request, and support us with your prayers, so that we may henceforth ^B proceed to the evangelical demonstration from the

^A prophecies long since deposited among the Hebrews, for those who strive to set them forth. And how, and in what manner, you know well—using as witnesses those ^B men beloved of God, I mean Moses and those who shone forth with divine grace after him, and the blessed prophets and mystagogues—we have resolved to demonstrate from them things that came to light many ages later, and were brought to pass through the evangelical demonstration of the Savior, things which are being fulfilled even now before our eyes, which they, taught by the divine Spirit, grasped long before; so that they saw what was not present as if it were present, and they beheld as clearly manifest things that were not yet in any way in existence; and not only this, but they also foretold by writing to those who would come after what was sometime to happen, so that others, too, could know and recognize the future from them, and look forward daily to the fulfillment of these oracles. And what are these? They would be countless, and of every variety, concerning all matters both common and particular—both regarding each individual man and concerning things in general; specifically regarding the affairs of the Hebrews, and again concerning the nations outside; such as the destruction of cities, changes of times, reversals of affairs, the coming of future blessings, and the onset of contrary evils, the enslavement of nations, the sieges of cities, the subversion or restoration of entire kingdoms, and countless other things that would happen long times later. But the present occasion does not require us to set forth ^C each of these specifically; therefore, having put off the majority of them for another time, the truth of those things which we shall bring forward will easily demonstrate the credibility even of those matters we pass over in silence.

Chapter I. What and how much is promised in this treatise.

Which, then, and how great are the things promised in this treatise?

It would be opportune, then, to set forth what things, from the prophetic predictions, it seems to us appropriate in the present to pursue for the evangelical demonstration. They asserted, certainly, that Christ—the same being the Word of God, and God and Lord Himself, and a certain Angel of Great Counsel—was one day to dwell among men, and was to be established as the Teacher of true knowledge of God and of piety toward God, the Creator of all, for the whole world, for nations both Greek and barbarian, just as the evangelical proclamation professes; and that He Himself would be a child, and would be called Son of Man, as one who would draw His lineage from men, and was to be born of a virgin in a new and unusual manner of generation. And—what is most worthy of admiration—they did not pass over in silence even the place of His birth, Bethlehem, which is sung of even today by all who hasten from the ends of the earth to see it, but they proclaimed it with clear words; just as indeed they also predicted through divine inspiration the times ^D of His manifestation, during which He precisely dwelt among men, as if, by the events themselves, they had anticipated and declared them. It is in your power, having taken up this task in your hands, to see before your eyes in the demonstrative prophetic pronouncements all [the matters now being contained, witnessed to by the divine evangelists...]

and his divine and most virtuous teachings concerning true piety. And what is there to wonder at, when they also explicitly proclaim the new mode of piety, commanded by him to all men, and the calling of his disciples, and the doctrine of the New Testament? Indeed, in addition to these, they also clearly foretell the unbelief and contradictions of the Jews toward him, the insurrections of the rulers, the envy of the teachers, the betrayal of one disciple, the slanders of his enemies, the accusations of false witnesses, the condemnations of the judges, the shameful insults, the scourging beyond measure, the defamatory taunts, and, above all, the most ignominious death; and, in response to these, his own marvelous silence, gentleness, and fortitude, and an incredible amount of patience and long-suffering. All these things, plainly and in detail, the most ancient Hebrew oracles reveal to be about one who was to come in the final times and to suffer such things among men; and they testify to his resurrection from the dead after his death, his appearance to his disciples, the impartation of the divine Spirit to them; his ascent into heaven, his establishment on the throne of the Father’s kingdom, and his second, glorious arrival which shall come to pass at the end of this life. ^B To all of these things you shall hear the laments and wails of each of the prophets, variously lamenting and bewailing the evils that the Jewish nation was to suffer on account of the impiety they committed against him who was proclaimed: how their kingdom, which had lasted from the time of their ancestors down to those days, would endure total destruction following the daring crime they committed against Christ; how their ancestral laws would be abolished; how they would be stripped of their ancient religion; how they would fall from the freedom of their forefathers; how, instead of being free, they would become slaves to their enemies; how their royal metropolis would be burned by fire; how their majestic and holy temple would endure burning and utter desolation; how, in place of its former inhabitants, the city would be inhabited by foreign nations; how they would be scattered among all nations throughout the whole world; how there would no longer be any end to their evils for them, nor would any relief from their calamities be hoped for, things which—as they say—are plain even to a blind man, and which even now show the power of the words in the events themselves, since from that very first day on which the Jews laid their impious hands upon Christ, they drew upon themselves the beginning of these evils. ^C Yet it did not please the divine men to rest their predictions upon gloomy things, nor to extend their power of prophecy only to sorrowful events; but rather, turning to the bright side, they again proclaimed in advance, for all men, the good news of the blessings to be bestowed through the coming of Christ, announcing that, in place of the rejection of one nation, ^D all nations and races of men would be evangelized in the knowledge of God, and foretelling the flight of demons, the departure from ignorance and error, and the rise of light and piety.

^A Likewise, ^A that Christ's disciples would fill the whole world with His teaching, that the Gospel would be preached to all men, containing a new and strange way of piety; that churches of Christ would be established by them among all nations, and that one people of Christians would be named throughout the whole inhabited world; and that the uprisings of the rulers and kings of the time against the Church of Christ would avail nothing for its overthrow, as it is strengthened by God. Seeing such things proclaimed by the Hebrew theologians, and their fulfillments being made manifest to all even to this day, who would not marvel at the divine inspiration of these men? Who would not acknowledge that their teachings and dogmas of piety and philosophy ^B are genuine and most true, since they offer proof not in elegant words, nor in power of speech, nor in the crafty sophistries of syllogisms, but in a simple and guileless teaching, the genuine and sincere truth of which is testified by the virtue and knowledge of God that was in those holy men? If, therefore, they were able to foresee with a spirit not human but divine, many thousands of years in advance, things which came to pass long ages later, why should they not be worthy of belief, so that the dogmas they taught their disciples might be believed to be true? I know well, moreover, that it is customary for all who endeavor to demonstrate, as is fitting, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus is the same truly as the Christ of God, first to establish faith by showing that they have believed in Him in no other way than in consistency with the prophetic testimonies delivered concerning Him; then, also, not to deny to all with whom they enter into discourse that to prove each point of the Gospel with demonstrations is a matter of singular study and labor. Wherefore, brought necessarily to this very point, with God as my helper, I shall attempt to deliver, according to those things foretold by these very Hebrew theologians, the complete treatise of the entire evangelical demonstration. ^C The zeal, however, which I expend upon the present work is not intended to oppose the Jews—far be it, this is far from my mind—but rather it acts in their defense, if they would bring a sound mind to it; for it affirms the Christian message by the testimony recovered from long-standing predictions, and it confirms the position of the Jews by the perfect fulfillment of the prophecies which they possess. It will also be useful to the sons of the Greeks, or the Gentiles, who approach with well-disposed minds, by showing through the wondrous foreknowledge of future events, and the outcome of affairs according to the predictions, both at once: the divine and unerring truth of our doctrine, and, at the same time, by a more solid demonstration, silencing the tongues of the patrons of falsehood, who contend that no such ^D proof is available to us, while they daily and fiercely persist in their attacks against us. For they assert that we are able to provide nothing by way of demonstration, but demand that those who approach us rely on faith alone. This present work, therefore, cannot be considered irrational in the face of such a slander. Indeed, it will also refute the godless

^A heresies and the blasphemies against the divine prophets by means of the harmony between the new and the old. The longer and more detailed exposition of the prophetic voices, however, the discourse will now postpone, leaving it to those who wish to examine these things for themselves, such as might be able to explain the manner of it. But for my part, making use of the divine mandate of the teacher who says, “Sum up many things in few,” I shall strive to emulate this, and shall only set forth the starting points for the contemplation of the passages, and, for what is urgent to the matter at hand, provide an interpretation that leads to clarity. ^B Enough, then, of prefaces; it is time now to begin the demonstrations. Since a large crowd of slanderers has been rushing upon us, claiming that we are unable to provide any clear proof of the truth through demonstrations, and that we demand that those who approach us rely on faith alone, and that we persuade them of nothing more than that, like irrational beasts, they should shut their eyes and bravely follow, without examination, all that is said by us, for which reason they even happen to call the faithful “credulous” on account of this irrational faith; ^C I have therefore rightly considered it necessary to separate the slanders cast against us in the *Preparation* of the entire argument. In the first place, I set forth the multitude of the nations who worship many gods, who reproach us, saying that we have become deserters of our ancestral gods, and they claim it is a great thing that we have preferred the “barbarian” to the Greek, by embracing the oracles found among the Hebrews. The second is the accusation from the Jews themselves, by which even they might seem to us to be justly finding fault, that we use their own Scriptures while not practicing a way of life similar to theirs. ^D Now that these matters have been clarified by us, we have already met the first accusation, as far as was possible, through the *Evangelical Preparation*, having acknowledged that we were formerly Greeks and had thought the opinions of the Greeks superior to those of other nations, and had been enslaved by our fathers to the error of polytheism; yet we showed that we had not changed our views with irrational and unexamined impulse, but by judgment and sober reason, and that we had embraced the study of the Hebrew oracles with prudent knowledge and sound counsel. It is time now, however, to arm ourselves against the second accusation and to fulfill the remainder of our struggle; this is with those from the circumcision, which has not yet been exhausted by us but shall be fulfilled at the appropriate time in these current books of the *Evangelical Demonstration*. Come, therefore, having called upon the God of all, both Jews and Greeks, through our Savior himself, let us first examine what the manner of our piety is, and at the same time we shall add the solutions to all the questions that arise.

CHAPTER II. What is the manner of worship according to the prescription of Christianity.

^A It has already been said by me before in the *Preparation for the Gospel* that Christianity is neither Hellenism nor Judaism, but bears in itself a special mark and a character proper to piety; and this is not new nor eccentric, but most ancient, and familiar and known to those men of old, dear to God and illustrious for the praise of piety and justice, who lived before the times of Moses. But it is helpful even now briefly to see and consider what Hellenism is, and what Judaism, and whether it is possible to find men dear to God among those attached to either of these, to whom Moses himself bears testimony of divine love and piety. ^B One might reasonably call Judaism the polity established according to the law of Moses, depending upon the one supreme God; and one might summarily call Hellenism the superstition of all the nations, which, according to ancestral customs, worships a plurality of gods. What, then, shall we say about those men dear to God before Moses and before Judaism, of whom Moses made mention? For example, about Enoch, to whom he gives testimony, saying: "And Enoch pleased God"; and about Noah, of whom he again says: "Noah was a just man in his generation"; and about Seth and Japheth, of whom he writes thus: "Blessed be the Lord God of Seth," and, "May God enlarge Japheth." And in addition to these, about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom it is reasonable to add Job, and any others who followed a life similar to theirs. ^C For these must have been either Jews or Hellenes. But they cannot justly be called Jews, since the legislation of Moses had not yet been introduced into human life. For if Judaism was nothing other than the observance of the laws of Moses, and Moses appeared a long time after those of whom I have spoken, it is evident that those who bore testimony of piety before his times could not be Jews. But it is not fitting to consider them Hellenes either, since they were not overcome by polytheistic superstition. For Abraham is said to have utterly left his father's house and kindred, and to have attached himself to the one God alone, whom he also confesses when he says: "I will stretch out (my hand) to the most high God, who created heaven and earth." And concerning Jacob, ^D it is written by Moses that he commanded his household and all his own: "Put away the foreign gods from among you, and let us rise and go up to Bethel, and let us make there an altar to the Lord, who answered me in the day of my tribulation, who was with me and saved me in the way in which I walked." And they gave to Jacob the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was in Shechem, and he destroyed them until this day. If, therefore, they were strangers to the error of idolaters, and as has been demonstrated, were placed outside of Judaism: nevertheless, although neither

^A Greeks nor Jews by birth, they have been witnessed to as having been dear to God, and righteous, and pious, if ever any others were. It is time, then, to conceive of a third mode of piety, through which it was likely they were able to attain success. Consider, therefore, if this very thing were not that middle way between Judaism and Hellenism, a third order demonstrated to us, the most ancient and indeed the eldest of all, yet newly proclaimed to all nations through our Savior. And this would be Christianity, being neither a kind of Hellenism nor Judaism, but the mean between them, a most ancient system of piety, and a most archaic philosophy, yet one newly legislated for all men throughout the whole world; so that he who transfers from Hellenism to Christianity does not fall into Judaism, nor again, upon withdrawing from the voluntary worship of the Jews, does he immediately become a Greek; but he who moves from either order, leaving behind both Hellenism and Judaism, enters upon the intermediate law and life of the men of old who were dear to God and righteous—a life which our Savior and Lord, after it had long lain dormant, awakened and restored again, in accordance with the predictions of Moses himself and the other prophets concerning these very things.

In the oracles to Abraham, at any rate, Moses himself records that it was decreed that in future, later times, not the descendants of Abraham, nor the Jews who are of his seed, but all the tribes of the earth and all nations, would be accounted worthy of a blessing from God, in the same manner of piety as Abraham. For he writes thus: “And the Lord said to Abraham: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and come into the land which I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation: and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and ^B all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in thee.” And again, God said: “Shall I hide from Abraham my servant what I am doing? And Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation. And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” But how would all the nations, and all the tribes of the earth, be about to be blessed in Abraham, if they had no connection with him, neither in the manner of the soul nor in kindred of the body? For as to kinship by the flesh, what, I pray, was the relationship between Abraham and the Scythians—to offer an example—or the Egyptians, or the Ethiopians, or the Indians, or the Britons, or the Spaniards? Or how would these nations, and those even more remote than these, have been about to be blessed on account of kinship with Abraham, as far as the flesh is concerned? But neither was it likely that all nations would share with Abraham in a blessing of the soul. For how could they? Seeing that some of them were defiled by unlawful marriages with mothers and cohabitation with daughters, others ^C by the intemperate intercourse of males with males, and others ^D defiled themselves with incestuous...

^A sacrifices, and the deification of irrational animals, and the installations of inanimate matter, and the superstitions of spirits of manifold error. Some thought it good and pious to burn the aged alive, others did not hesitate to commit their own dearest ones to the flames, and others thought it a beautiful and pious thing to consume the flesh of those they had despoiled of life. How, then, was it consistent for those who led such a beastly life to become partakers of the blessing of the man beloved of God, unless, having abandoned and forsaken that beastly life, they were at some time to embrace a piety similar to that of Abraham? For he too is described as having been an alien and a stranger who transitioned to the piety which he later professed, and as having turned away from his ancestral superstition, having left behind his home, his kin, his ancestral customs, and the mode of life in which he had been born and bred; having instead followed God, who had also given him the oracles handed down in writing. If, therefore, Moses, who came ^B after Abraham, and who founded and established a commonwealth for the Jewish nation through the laws promulgated by him, had enacted such laws as had been successfully kept by those who were beloved of God before him, and such as were capable of being applied to all nations, so that all the tribes of the earth and all the nations could worship God according to the ordinance of Moses, then it would have been possible to say that the divine oracles foretold that, through the legislation of Moses, those from all nations who worshipped God and sought to emulate Judaism, and who were to become joined to them according to the Law, would be blessed with the blessing of Abraham. And it would have behooved us also to observe the laws ordained by Moses. But since the condition of the Mosaic commonwealth was not suitable for the rest of the nations, but only for the Jews, and among those, not for all, but for those dwelling within the land of Judea, it was absolutely necessary that a different mode be established, besides the Mosaic Law, by which the nations inhabiting every part of the earth, who might lead a life similar to that of Abraham, could obtain the same blessing as he.

CHAPTER III

That the ordinances of Moses were meant for the Jews alone, as I have said, and not even for all of *them* (for they did not apply to those living in the Diaspora, but only to those dwelling in Palestine), will be evident to you if you reason as follows. Moses says somewhere in his legislation: "Three times a year every male of yours shall appear before the Lord your God." And he states it even more clearly regarding where all were required to assemble three times in the year, defining it when he says: "Three times in the year shall every male of yours appear before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord shall choose." You see that he does not command them to assemble just in any city or wherever ^D fate might land them, but "in the place which the Lord your God shall choose." There, he ordains that they must assemble at three times of each year, and the sea-

^Asons he determines in which it was fitting to gather at the place where the offices of divine worship were performed: one of the Pasch, the second after fifty days at the feast called by the name of Pentecost, and the third in the seventh month after the Pasch, on the day of atonement, a day on which even now all the Jews observe the fast. Moses also invokes curses upon those who might not observe what his laws have sanctioned. And yet, for those who were to be required to assemble at Jerusalem three times a year and to fulfill the rites, it was surely necessary that they live not far from Judea; but those who lived near the outer borders of Palestine, or even further from Palestine, were unable to fully perform the precepts of the Law; so far indeed is it from being the case that these things could have been suitable for all nations and for those who inhabit the furthest lands.

Hear, furthermore, how the same legislator again commands a woman after childbirth to approach and offer sacrifice to God, when he says: ^B "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: A woman who conceives seed and bears a male, shall be unclean seven days." Then, after having said some things in between, he adds: "And when the days of her purification for a son or for a daughter are completed, she shall bring a yearling lamb as a whole burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for sin, to the door of the tabernacle of testimony. She shall bring them to the priest before the Lord. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and he shall purify her from the fountain of her blood. This is the law for one who brings forth a male or a female."

Moreover, in addition to these things, the same man also commands that one contaminated by a funeral and the touch of a dead body cannot be purified in any other way than by the ashes of a heifer, for seven full ^C days, abstaining from customary business. He says therefore: "And it shall be a perpetual law for the sons of Israel and for the proselytes residing in their midst. He who has touched the corpse of a person departed shall be unclean for seven days: he shall be purified on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall be clean. But if he has not been purified on the third and the seventh day, he shall not be clean. Everyone who has touched the corpse of a dead person departed, and has not been purified, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That soul shall be cut off from Israel, because the water of sprinkling has not been sprinkled upon him: he is unclean, uncleanness shall be upon him. And this is the law. If a man dies in a house, everyone entering the house, and all things that are in the house, shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel, whatever is not bound with a tie, shall be unclean. ^D And everyone who in the field has touched one killed in battle by the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a tomb, shall be unclean for seven days. And they shall take for the unclean person some of the ashes of the burning of purification, and shall pour them into a vessel, and they shall take hyssop; and a clean man shall dip it, and he shall sprinkle upon the house and upon

^A vessels, and upon the souls, as many as shall be there, and upon him who has touched the bone of a man, or the slain by the sword, or a dead body, or a grave. And the clean shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall wash his garments and wash his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. And if a man be defiled and shall not be purified, that soul shall be destroyed from out of the synagogue, because the water of sprinkling was not sprinkled upon him. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto you. These things Moses having ordained, he further teaches the method of the water of sprinkling; commanding a red heifer without blemish to be burnt whole, and from its ashes water to be sprinkled, by which it is necessary for those who have been defiled by the dead to be purified. But in what place it is right that the heifer should be burnt, where the woman who has given birth should offer sacrifices, and where it is fitting that the rest of the rites prescribed by the law should be performed and carried out—since it is not permitted to do this indiscriminately in any place, but only in one alone, which He Himself appoints—is evident from those things which he ^B ordains by law, saying: "And the place which the Lord your God shall choose, that His name may be called upon there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you this day." And he goes on to distinguish accurately, adding: "Take heed to thyself, lest thou offer thy burnt offerings wherever thou mayest see, but in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, in one of thy cities, there thou shalt open thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command you this day." And he adds, saying: "Thou shall not be able to eat in all thy cities the tithe of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy oil, the firstborn of thy oxen, and of thy sheep, and all thy vows, as many as thou shalt vow, and your confessions, and the firstfruits of your hands; but thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for Himself, thou, and thy sons, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and ^C the proselyte who is in thy cities." And having advanced further, he secures the word, where he says: "Notwithstanding, thy holy things, whatever they may be, and thy vows, having taken them, thou shalt come to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for Himself." And again: "Thou shalt tithe all the produce of thy seed, the produce of thy field year by year. And thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that His name may be called upon there." Then, having considered what it behooves one to do if the place of which he speaks should be further off, and the harvest of the produce be great, so that it is necessary to bring the annual fruits of the offering from home to the place of God, he establishes this law concerning this: "If the way be long from thee, and thou shalt not be able to carry them, because the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to make His name called upon there is far from thee, that the Lord thy God may bless thee, thou shalt sell them for ^D money, and shalt take the money in thy hands, and thou shalt come

^A to that very place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul may desire, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul may desire, and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God.” And again He seals the place, speaking thus: “All the firstborn that shall be born in thy herds and in thy flocks, the males thou shalt offer to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not work with the firstborn of thy calf, and thou shalt not shear the firstborn of thy sheep. Before the Lord thy God thou shalt eat it year by year, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy house.” After this, observe again in what manner He also differentiates the matters pertaining to the festivals, that they should not celebrate the festivals elsewhere on earth, but only in the one place indicated. ^B He says, therefore: “Observe the month of new fruits, and thou shalt keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God, sheep and oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name there.” Again He reminds them, saying: “Thou shall not be able to sacrifice the Passover in any of thy cities, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, but in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover in the evening at the setting of the sun, at the time when thou camest out from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt roast and eat in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.” Such, then, is the law concerning the festival of the Passover; but as for that of Pentecost, hear what it says: “Seven complete weeks shalt thou count unto thyself, from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn, and thou shalt keep the festival of weeks unto the Lord thy God, according to what thy hand can do, as much as thou shalt give, according to how the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is in thy cities, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow that is among you, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for His name to be called upon there.” ^C And as for the third festival which He commands to be performed, listen: “The festival of Tabernacles thou shalt keep unto thyself seven days, in the gathering from thy threshing floor and from thy winepress, and thou shalt rejoice in thy festival, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant and thy maidservant, and the widow, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for Himself.” Since, then, He signifies the place by so many means, and has so often said that one must come to it with all one's kin and all one's household, how would it be appropriate for those of Judea and those living at a small distance, ^D not to mention the nations that are known to dwell in the whole world? Especially when He does not even grant any pardon to those who transgress what is prescribed, but brings a curse upon all who do not keep all things, saying in these very words: “Cursed be he who does not abide by all things written in this law to do them.” Consider also in another way the impossibilities for all mankind of the Mosaic legislation. Having differentiated the voluntary and the difficult

involuntary sins, and having attached a punishment to each of those worthy of the greatest penalty, he then sets down laws by which he may in another way also restore those who have sinned unintentionally. One of these is as follows: “If any soul sin unintentionally from the people of the land, in doing one of all the commandments of the Lord, which shall not be done, and shall offend, and the sin which he has sinned be known to him, and he shall bring his gift, a kid from the goats, a female without blemish, he shall bring it concerning his sin which he has sinned, in the place where they slaughter the burnt offerings, and the priest shall take of the blood.” See, then, how here too it is necessary for him who has offended against his will to appear in the place where they slaughter the burnt offerings. And this is that place of which he made mention at length already before, saying, “Whom the Lord thy God shall choose.” That this is impossible to be performed by all men upon the earth, the lawgiver himself, having perceived, precisely marked, not bringing forward the law indefinitely against all, but saying, “If a soul sin unintentionally from the people of the land.” And he sets down a second law, thus having it: “If a soul hear the voice of adjuration, ^B and he be a witness, or has seen, or has known, if he does not report it, he shall bear the sin.” What, then, is this man bound to do, but, taking the sacrifice in his hands, to hasten to the purification? Where, again, but in the place where they slaughter the burnt offerings? And a third again: “A soul,” he says, “which may touch any unclean thing, either of those of the unclean cattle which have been killed, and he has partaken of it, and he himself is defiled, and he shall offend, or if he shall touch the uncleanness of a man, from all his uncleanness with which he who touches him is wont to be defiled, and it has escaped him, and after this he has known and offended.” What, then, was it fitting for him who had been defiled to do, but to appear again in the place, and to offer for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, or a lamb, or a kid from the goats, for sin? And the same law ^C held also for the soul that may swear with its lips to do evil, or to do good, according to all that a man may determine with an oath, and it has escaped him, and he is aware and sins in one of these, and confesses the sin for which he has sinned—this person, too, he says, having taken the same sacrifice, let him hasten to the place, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and the sin shall be forgiven him. And another law, besides those mentioned, defines this somehow thus: “A soul that may escape him by forgetfulness, and he sins unintentionally against the holy things of the Lord, and he shall bring a ram of his trespass to the Lord; and he shall bring it again to the high priest, in the place, namely, that has been chosen.” And a sixth law he adds to these, saying: “A soul if it shall sin, and shall do one of all the commandments which one must not do, and knew not, and shall offend, ^D and shall take his sin upon him, and he shall bring again a ram to the high priest, and the priest shall make atonement for him, for his ignorance which he was ignorant of, and this one knew not, and it shall be forgiven him.” And now he says a seventh: “A soul if it sin…

^B and having disregarded the commandments of the Lord, shall lie to his neighbor regarding a deposit, or communion, or robbery, or has wronged his neighbor, or found something lost and lied concerning it, and has sworn falsely concerning any one of all the things which a man may do, so as to sin in these; and when he shall have sinned and transgressed and shall restore the robbery which he robbed, or the injury which he did, or the deposit that was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found, from everything about which he swore falsely, he shall pay it in full, and will add the fifth part.” But after having confessed the sin, and after having made restitution, he ought to have hastened immediately, putting all else aside, to the place which the Lord God chose, and to offer for the trespass a ram without blemish; and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and it shall be forgiven him. These things, too, the admirable Moses regulated with precision ^C concerning those who have sinned unwillingly, and concerning those who have sinned through ignorance, keeping them far removed from those transgressions committed by choice, for which he also appoints inexorable punishments, restraining those who belong to him. For if he does not grant forgiveness to those who have sinned unwillingly unless they first confess the sin, and then, as a sort of minor punishment, exacts from the sinner the sacrifice that was prescribed, and by the immediate journey to the holy place intensifies at once the zeal and the reverence of those who had chosen to serve God under his guidance, how could he not have much more restrained the impulses of those acting voluntarily? What then is it necessary to reason concerning these things, when, as has been said, summarizing everything, Moses charges them, saying, “Cursed is everyone who does not persist in all the things written in the law, to do them”? For, was it necessary for those who were to worship God according to Moses from the ends of the earth, so that they might escape the curse and attain the blessing promised to Abraham, to do all these things, and three times a year to appear in Jerusalem? And were women from all nations chosen to worship God, just having ceased from birth and labor, required to undertake such a long journey, so as to offer the sacrifice prescribed by Moses for each of the children born? Or were those who have touched a dead body, or those who have sworn falsely, or those who have done something involuntarily, to come from the ends of the earth, to run and hasten to the legislated purification, so that they might escape the imposition of the curse? But you perceive that even for those dwelling around Jerusalem, and those making their sojourn solely ^D within Judea, the life according to Moses was difficult to accomplish; much less was it possible for the other nations to fulfill it. Hence...

^A our Savior and Lord Jesus, the Son of God, after His resurrection from the dead, having said to His own disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," added, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." For He did not command them to teach all nations the Mosaic ordinances, but whatever He Himself had commanded. These, moreover, are the things contained in His Gospels. Deservedly, therefore, did His disciples and apostles, when they wished to take into account the situation of the nations, agree among themselves that the things contained in the laws of Moses could in no way be adapted to the nations, since it was evident that they could not be preserved ^B either by our forefathers or by us. Therefore, in the Acts, Peter speaks: "Now therefore, why do you test God, to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" And deservedly did Moses himself, for these very reasons we have mentioned, say that another prophet would arise besides himself, and he evangelically predicts that this one would be the lawgiver to all nations—hinting at the Christ—and he exhorts his own people to obey Him, thus prophesying: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from your brothers like me; Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He shall speak to you. And every soul, whoever will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed ^C from his people." And that this prophet is clearly the Christ, who came forth from the Jews, and who would gain mastery over all nations, he proclaims again, saying: "How beautiful are your houses, O Jacob, your tents, O Israel, as shadowing glens, and as a garden by a river, as tents which the Lord fixed. A man shall come forth from his seed, and he shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted." Furthermore, out of which tribe, when there were twelve in all among the Hebrews, the Lawgiver for the nations—who is perceived by the prophet—was to come forth, and at what times—namely, after the failure of those who had held the empire of the Jewish nation as handed down by their ancestors—he clearly indicates: ^D "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until what is reserved for him shall come, and he is the expectation of the nations." And what was this expectation, if not that which was promised to Abraham, that in him all the nations of the earth were to be blessed? Moses himself, then, has shown that he understood well that the legislation established by him was too weak to be adapted to all the nations, and that, for the fulfillment of the oracles given to Abraham, another prophet was needed. This, then, was he who he foretold would come forth from the tribe of Judah and would rule over many nations.

^A

CHAPTER IV.

For these reasons, therefore, we have accepted and embraced the sacred books of the Hebrews as our own, inasmuch as they contain oracles concerning us, the Gentiles; and all the more because not only did Moses prophesy regarding the lawgiver who would come after him to the Gentiles, but even the prophets who came after Moses, to speak briefly, all of them together foretold similar things. As, for instance, David, who says: "Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them, so that the nations may know that they are but men." ^B Observe, I pray you, how he too makes mention of another lawgiver of the nations. Wherefore, in another psalm, he also bids the nations to sing not that old Mosaic song, but another, a new one, saying: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is terrible above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens. Ascribe to the Lord, O you families of the nations, ascribe to the Lord glory to His name." And again: "Say among the nations that the Lord has reigned; for He has set firmly the habitable world, which shall not be shaken." And again: "Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things. The Lord has made known His salvation; in the sight of the nations He has revealed His righteousness. ^C All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." Observe, too, in what way he proclaims the new song in these instances not to the Jewish nation, but to all nations, whereas the old song through Moses belonged only to the Jews. This new song, Jeremiah, another prophet among the Hebrews, calls a New Testament, saying: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new Testament, not according to the Testament which I established with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not remain in My Testament, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the Testament which I will establish with the house of Israel, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their understanding and will write them upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." ^D Do you see how he, too, by distinguishing between two Testaments, names the one old and the other new? And he says that the new will not be like the old one which He established with the fathers. For the former was legislated for the Jews who had fallen away from the piety of their ancestors and had emulated the Egyptian life and way, and had slipped into the error of polytheism and the superstition concerning the idols of the nations; it was given, as it were, to raise up and set upright those who had fallen and were lying prostrate, with fitting instructions—"For to the righteous," he says, "the law is not..."

^A laid down, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, and such like." But the New Covenant leads by the hand those who, by the grace and gift of God through our Savior, have been raised up to walk and hasten toward the promised kingdom of God, calling all men equally into one and the same communion of good things. This New Covenant is also called a new law by another prophet among the Hebrews, Isaiah, who says: ^B "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among the nations; and all nations shall come, and all, peoples shall be gathered together, and shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob." What, then, could this law be that has gone forth from Sion, being different from that which was legislated through Moses in the desert on Mount Sinai, if not the Evangelical word, which went forth from Sion through our Savior Jesus Christ and his apostles, and passed through all the nations? For it is clear that from Jerusalem, and from Mount Sion adjoining it—where our Savior and Lord spent most of his time and delivered the greatest part of his teachings—the law of his New Covenant began, and proceeding thence, shone forth upon all men in accordance with his own words which he spoke to his disciples, saying: "Go and teach all nations, teaching them to keep all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And what were these things, if not the teachings and disciplines of the New Covenant? Since, therefore, it has been demonstrated that these things are so, it is now time to look at the manner of the New Covenant, and of the new song and law that was foretold.

CHAPTER V.

It has already been shown how the Old Testament and the Mosaic law were demonstrated to be suitable only for the Jewish nation, and for them while living in their own land, and were not suitable either for the rest of the nations who are spread over the whole earth, or for those Jews who lived in foreign lands. And it was necessary that the manner of the New Covenant be instituted in such a way that it could benefit all nations unto life, that they who wished to enter upon this manner of life might not be hindered in ^D any way or for any reason whatsoever; nor could they be excused on account of region, or race, or place, or any other matter at all. Such, moreover, was the law and life that was instituted by our Savior Jesus Christ, by which that ancient religion, older than Moses himself, is restored, according to the standard of which Abraham and his ancestors are easily shown to have lived. For if you should wish to compare the Christian way of life, and the religion which Christ has spread among all nations, with that manner of piety and justice for which Abraham and those around him were renowned, you will find it to be one and the same. For they, having departed from the error of polytheism, and having abandoned the superstition regarding [(end of page)]

are preached by the divine scriptures, you will easily recognize one and the same. For since they departed from the worship of many gods and from error, and turned themselves away from the superstition which was addicted to idols, ^A they lifted up the eyes of their minds above everything that can be perceived by the eyes, and did not indeed worship the sun, or the moon, or any other part of the universe as God; but they did not hesitate to lift themselves up to one supreme Being, namely, to the most high Creator of heaven and earth. This very thing Moses himself also commends in his histories of antiquity, when he introduces Abraham himself saying: "I will lift up my hand to the Most High God, who created heaven and earth" (Gen. xiv, 22), and when before him he introduces Melchizedek, whom he calls the priest of the Most High God, blessing Abraham in almost these same words: "Blessed be Abraham by the Most High God, who created heaven and earth" (Ibid. 19). You will also find that Enoch and Noah, by the same reasoning as Abraham, both proved righteous and pleased God. Furthermore, Job, a man righteous, true, blameless, and ^B abstaining from every evil thing, is celebrated before the age of Moses, who, having been tried by the sudden loss of all his goods for the sake of his piety towards the God of all, constantly endured everything, and left a greatest example of the true religion to all his posterity, inasmuch as he once uttered that truly philosophical word: "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it happened; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job i, 21). And worshipping the Lord of all, he gave vent to these cries, which the same text later clarifies, by which he says: "For He is wise in mind, strong and great, who shakes the earth from its foundations, and its pillars tremble; who speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and seals the stars as if with an impression; who alone stretched out the heaven" (Job ix, 3-9). If, therefore, the word of Christ has lately commanded all nations to worship only this very God whom those ancient friends of God, and those older than Moses himself, worshipped, it has become evident how we have become partakers ^C of that same piety of theirs; and having partaken of that piety, it is clear that we shall also partake of the blessing. But also the Word of God, whom we are accustomed to call Christ, was shown by the testimony of the sacred scriptures to have been known to them just as to us; inasmuch as they were held worthy far more excellently to behold his manifest advent and divine presence. Hear, therefore, how Moses himself again calls him who appeared to the friends of God, and who often declared to them the things recorded, sometimes God and Lord, and sometimes ^D the Angel of God; being invoked as God and Lord by the friends of God, but as the Angel of the highest Father. He says, therefore, in these words: "And Jacob went to Charran, and encountered a place, and slept there; for the sun had set; and he took from the stones of the place, and put them at his head, and slept in that place, and dreamt; and behold a lad-

ladder fixed on the earth, the head of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. And the Lord was supported upon it, and said: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; fear not, the land on which thou sleepest upon it, I will give it to thee and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the sand of the earth. ^A To which he subsequently adds: “And Jacob rose in the morning, and took the stone which he had placed at his head, and set it up as a pillar.” Then, in the morning, the very same one who had appeared to him as God and Lord, he calls the Angel of God. Jacob says, then: “And the Angel of God said to me in a dream: Jacob. And I said: What is it?” And further: “I have seen, he says, everything that Laban is doing to you. I am the God who appeared to thee in the place of God, where thou anointedst a pillar for me, and didst make a vow to me there.” This same one, who also appeared to Abraham, is invoked as God and Lord, initiating his friend into the mysteries concerning the authority of the Father, and instructing him as if of another God, which things we shall timeously consider. ^B Indeed, it is not permissible to say that anyone other than this one spoke to Job after his sufficiently long training. For he who previously had appeared to him through a whirlwind and clouds, indicated that he himself was the God of the universe. But proceeding further, he presents himself to be seen in such a way that Job himself then says: “Hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak. I had heard the report of thy voice before, but now my eye has seen thee.” But if it is impossible for the Most High God, invisible and unbegotten, and the King of the universe, to be seen by mortal nature, who then could this one be, who was thus seen, other than the Word of God, who for a time lowered himself from his own magnitude, as must also be spoken of elsewhere? ^C But what need is there for more to be gathered on this subject in this place, when it is not difficult to take the confirmation of these matters from the sacred books? These we ourselves have set out at leisure in the matter proposed, in order to show that it was no other than the Word of God who was seen by the ancient fathers, the friends of God. Therefore, after the name of the Maker of all things, those things which pertain to Christ are equally delivered to us as they were to them, and by a common reasoning. For which reason you will find those very men who were friends and intimates of God before Moses called "christs," just as we are "Christians." But hear, I pray, what the oracle says about them in the Psalms: ^D “When they were few in number, very few, and sojourners in it; and they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people, he did not allow man to harm them, and he rebuked kings for their sake, saying: Touch not my christs, and do no evil among my prophets.” For the whole consistency of the passage shows that these things were spoken with regard to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. So that they shared with us in the appellation of Christ in the same way.

CHAPTER VI. What is the kind of life announced by Christ to all men in the New Testament.

^A But the way of life according to virtue, and the manner of living according to piety, which has been proclaimed to all nations through the instruction of Christ, apart from the ordinance according to Moses, was in like manner successfully attained by those men of old through the same method of piety. ^B Therefore, they were not concerned with the circumcision of the body, because neither are we, nor with abstaining from the eating of such and such animals, because neither are we. Immediately, Moses introduces Melchisedech as priest of the Most High God, one who was not circumcised in body, nor anointed with prepared ointment according to Moses, nor did he know what the Sabbath was, nor heard anything at all of the things which were later ordained through Moses for the entire Jewish nation, but he lived straightforwardly according to the Gospel of Christ. Yet, nevertheless, Moses says that he was a priest of the Most High God, and greater than Abraham. For he is introduced as blessing Abraham. Such also was Noe, a just man in his generation, whom God, the God of all, preserved in the devastation of the flood—as a rekindling spark and a certain seed for the race of humans—while all who were upon the earth were perishing. ^C Therefore, even he, although he knew nothing of the Jewish customs, neither the circumcision of the body, nor the other things ordained by Moses, was nevertheless pronounced just, if anyone ever was. And before him, furthermore, was Enoch, who is also said to have pleased God and to have been translated, so that his death was nowhere to be found. Being such a one as this, he had neither his body circumcised, nor did he follow the legislation of Moses, but he appeared living in a Christian, and not a Jewish, manner. And Abraham himself, born after those who have been mentioned, and younger than them in time, but advanced in age, for the sake of those who were to be born from him, was the first to undergo the circumcision of the body as a kind of seal, handing it down as a sign for his posterity who were to be born from him according to the flesh to bear; but before the procreation of children, and before the circumcision, he himself also, through his withdrawal from idols, and his confession of the one God over all, and through the life according to virtue alone, is shown to have lived in a Christian, ^D and not a Jewish, manner. It is testified, then, that he observed the precepts and the commandments, and the ordinances and the statutes of God, before the ordinance of Moses. For the God who called to him says to Isaac: "And I will give to thy seed all this land, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because Abraham thy father hearkened to my voice, and kept my commandments, and my ordinances, and my statutes."

^A For there were, both before the law of Moses, other commandments of God, and ordinances, not like those delivered by Moses, and other laws, and precepts of the Lord, through which they attained righteousness. But that they were not the same as those which were legislated through Moses, Moses himself clearly indicates, where he says to the people: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments, which I speak in your ears this day, and ye shall learn them, and observe to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with you in Horeb; the Lord made not this covenant with your fathers, but with you." And hence how accurately he calls it "this covenant," since He did not make the same covenant with their fathers. But if he had said absolutely that no covenant had been given to their fathers, his statement would indeed have been false. For a covenant was given to Abraham, and to Noah, as the sacred oracles testify. For this reason, Moses says with an addition that *this* was not given to their fathers, hinting at another, superior and differing covenant, whereby they were also declared to be friends and beloved of God. Immediately, it was testified by Moses himself that righteousness was perfected in Abraham through his faith in the God of all, when he said: "And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." And that after that full observance of righteousness, and after the testimony of piety rendered to him, he received the sign of circumcision, and that this contributed nothing toward his attaining piety and righteousness, the words themselves clearly show. ^B You will find, moreover, Joseph also, before the times of Moses, living in the royal houses of the Egyptians, without any concern for Jewish observances, and untroubled. If you wish, you may also recognize Moses himself, the supreme lawgiver of the Jewish nation, having passed his time from his tenderest age with the daughter of the king of Egypt, and having been brought up by her in a manner purely Egyptian, without Jewish observances. But what shall we say of the thrice-blessed Job—that true man, that blameless, just, and God-fearing man? What, then, was the cause of his supreme piety and righteousness? Was it the Mosaic precepts? By no means. Was it the observance of the Sabbath day, or of any other Jewish superstition? How could it be, when he is older in time than Moses, and was born before the laws established by him? For Moses is reckoned as the seventh from Abraham, but this man is the fifth, preceding Moses by two generations. ^C Contemplate, therefore, the life of this man, which by no means drew upon the legislation of Moses, but was not foreign to the evangelical teaching of our Savior. He himself, therefore, recounting his own life in his apology to his friends, says: "For I delivered the poor from the hand of the oppressor, and I helped the fatherless, who had no helper. The mouth of the widow blessed me, and I had put on righteousness. And I clothed myself with judgment as with a mantle; I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame; I was a father to the helpless." And these very things are, quite directly, to all of us through the evan- ^D

- ^A gelical teaching—matters that were preached.

But also, as one who knows well "weeping with those who weep," and "Blessed are those who weep, for they shall laugh," and ^A "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it"—all these things contained in the lessons of evangelical teaching—he demonstrated his humanity toward those who were enduring misery in life, saying: "And I have wept for every hopeless person; and I groaned when I saw a man in distress."

Then again, the evangelical teaching forbidding unseemly laughter, this blessed man, having ^A already attained it, says: "If I have walked with mockers, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, but I stood in a just balance, and the Lord knows my integrity."

Since indeed the word through Moses legislates, saying, "You shall not commit adultery," ^B and decrees death against adulterers, but he who expands the law of the evangelical teaching says: "It was said to the ancients, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you, do not even desire from the beginning"—consider well him of whom the discourse is now, who, living according to the Gospel of Christ, guarded against looking with licentious desire, in which he also boasted, saying: "And if my heart has followed my eye toward the wife of another man." And he provides the reasoning, adding hereafter: "For the spirit of a man is unrestrained in defiling another man's wife; for it is a fire burning in all parts; and wherever it enters, it ^C destroys from the roots."

But he also presents the incorruptibility of his manner thus: "If I have touched gifts with my hands, then let me sow, and let others eat; and may I be rootless upon the earth."

That he also conducted himself toward his own household is possible to learn from what he teaches, saying: "And if I disregarded the judgment of my servant or maid, when they were arguing with me." And again he provides the reasoning: "For what shall I do, if God makes an examination of me? Whether they were not also born in flesh just as I was born? And we were created in the same womb."

To these ^D he adds: "I have not caused the eye of the widow to melt; and if I ate my morsel alone, and did not share it with the orphan; and if I saw the naked perishing, and did not clothe him." And again, having gone down, he says: "And if I have trusted in a precious stone; and if I have rejoiced when much wealth became mine; and if I have set my hand upon countless things." And he adds the reasoning again: "Or do we not see the sun rising and withdrawing, and the moon also waning?"

Then again, the evangelical teaching having said, "It was said to the ancients, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies," the marvelous man fulfilled the work by a natural teaching, having attained it beforehand. Therefore he says: "And if I have been joyful at the fall of my enemy, and my heart said, Well done; my ear had heard my curse."

And he adds: "And a stranger did not lodge outside, but my door opened to everyone who came; since not a stranger...

[was] to him who said: 'I was a stranger, and you gathered me in.'" ^A And listen to what he says also concerning involuntary errors: "If indeed, having sinned involuntarily, I hid my sin; for I did not shrink from the great crowd of the multitude, so as not to confess before them. And if I allowed a needy person to go away with an empty bosom, and if I did not fear the hand of the Lord; and the bond which I had against someone, if I did not, having torn it, return it, having received nothing from the debtor." Such and such were the things concerning those men before Moses who were friends of God (for it is fitting to infer the life of the rest from one), the celebrated prizes of piety, through which they were deemed worthy to be friends of God and prophets. Since they were such, what further need was there of the precepts handed down by Moses to common and depraved men? ^B It is therefore clearly demonstrated through all these things that the Word of Christ has announced to all the nations the most ancient manner of the piety of the forefathers, so that the New Testament is not a different thing from that most ancient pious way of life of the times before Moses; so that it is at once both old and new: most ancient, indeed, because of the things demonstrated; and again new, because, having been as it were hidden from men for the long intervening periods of time, it has come to life again through the teaching of our Savior. Through this whole intervening time, however, of which we have spoken, as long as the manner of the New Testament happened to be hidden from men and was held as it were in quiet and silence, the law of Moses meanwhile entered in, like the tutor and steward of childish and imperfect souls, or even as a physician to the whole Jewish nation suffering from a grievous and Egyptian disease—to the very descendants of Abraham themselves, who were not able to direct their lives ^C as the first forefathers had done, and to whom a lower and imperfect life was handed down. For because, while dwelling among the Egyptians after the death of the holy fore-fathers, they had been led away into Egyptian customs and had fallen into that polytheistic superstition, as I have said, so that they seemed to have nothing more than the Egyptians, and were in all things like them, in both the error of idols and in other practices; naturally, Moses, drawing them up as it were from an abyss of evils, turned them away from godless polytheism and led them up to the Creator of all things, God, promoting that first level of piety, as if in an introduction and a porch for those who were more perfect. Thereafter, he permitted them to commit none of those things that it was then allowed to do without fear—not to murder, not to commit adultery, ^D not to steal, not to commit perjury, not for males to rage after males, not to defile themselves with mothers, not with sisters, nor with daughters, nor all such things. Taking them from a ferocious and bestial life, he was the first on earth to establish through writing a more rational and orderly way of life for those times, a manner of living which was not yet manifest to all men. Then, as if having forbidden idolatry to the immature, he called them to the one and...

^A all-encompassing God, prescribing through certain more secret symbols that they perform the worship according to him. And, having wondrously understood by the Divine Spirit that it was not necessary to extend this practice indefinitely, he circumscribed it to one place, decreeing that the ordinances according to him should not be performed elsewhere than in that one single place. This was the one in Jerusalem; and outside of it, no more. Whence even to this day it is not permitted for the children of the Hebrews, outside their now-destroyed metropolis, to sacrifice according to the law, nor to raise a temple or altar, nor to anoint priests or kings, nor to perform the solemnities and feasts according to Moses, nor to be purified from defilement, nor to be absolved from transgression, nor to offer gifts to God, nor to be propitiated according to the things ordained. Wherefore they have also fittingly fallen under the curse of Moses, attempting to observe some things in part, but in the whole failing the law, as Moses expressly declared: “For cursed is everyone who does not abide in all things that are written in the law, to do them.” ^B Indeed, they have fallen into all these things, Moses himself having foreseen by the Divine Spirit that, with the New Testament brought in through Christ and proclaimed to all nations, the legislation according to him would be superfluous. For this reason he fittingly confined it to one place, so that if ever they were deprived of this, and excluded from their own liberty, it would no longer be lawful for them to perform the ordinances according to him in a foreign land, so that it might even be necessary to accept the second Testament which was proclaimed through Christ. Now, Moses having predicted this very thing—and at the same time Christ being present in this life, and the doctrine of the New Testament being put forth to the nations—immediately the Romans captured the city, destroyed Jerusalem by siege, and took away the temple that was there. At once all the ordinance of Moses ^C was dissolved, the things of the Old Testament were removed, and the things of the curse pursued those who were lawless by performing the things of Moses out of season, forcing themselves to them; and at the same time, the ordinances of the new and complete doctrine were introduced. Wherefore, quite fittingly, our Savior and Lord says to those who think that God must be worshipped only in Jerusalem, or in certain mountains or designated places: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem; for God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” And when He had said these things, immediately, though Jerusalem was not long after besieged, and the sanctuary that was there, and the altar ^D by it, and the worship according to Moses were removed according to the ordinance of Moses himself, the archetype of the piety of the God-loving men before Moses appeared and shone forth to all men, and the blessing announced through it to all the nations from the primary degree and from the first rudimentary stage of the worship according to Moses reached upward to the better and more perfect.

^A Indeed, those blessed men beloved by God, I mean those around Abraham, did not worship in any restricted place, nor through symbols and types, but as our Savior and Lord says, in spirit and in truth; or rather, this appeared to all the nations through the manifestation of our Savior, which the prophets of old had already beheld. For Sophonias speaks outright: "The Lord will appear upon them, and will destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth, and they shall worship Him, each one from his place." Malachias, likewise, addresses those from the circumcision and makes these predictions concerning the nations, saying: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands, because from the rising of the sun even to its setting My name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice." For what else does the offering of incense and sacrifice to God in every place signify, except that it will not be in Jerusalem, nor restricted to only this place, but in every land and among all nations, they are to offer to the God over all the incense of prayers and the sacrifice called pure, not by means of blood, but through pious actions? And Isaias cries out explicitly, prophesying at the same time and saying: "There shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt, and the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and He shall send them a man who will save them; and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall offer sacrifices, and they shall offer vows to the Lord, and shall perform them, and they shall turn to the Lord, and He shall ^C hear them, and shall heal them." Are we not thought to speak truly when we say that a change of the Law of Moses—or rather, a cessation and ending—is prophesied through the prophetic voices? For Moses legislates that an altar and sacrifices are to be established nowhere else on earth except in Judea alone, and specifically in only one city thereof; yet the prophecy says that an altar shall be established to the Lord in the land of Egypt, and that the Egyptians themselves shall perform the sacrifices to the Lord of the prophets—but no longer to the ancestral gods—and that the cause of their knowledge of God shall be neither Moses nor any other of the prophets, but a certain new and recent man sent from God. And when the altar is transferred, contrary to what seemed good to Moses, it is entirely necessary that a change of the Law of Moses should also come about. Furthermore, in sacrificing to the God over all, the Egyptians shall certainly be deemed worthy of the priesthood as well. Indeed, if the Egyptians are to be priests, the regulations regarding the Levites and those in the succession of Aaron, which Moses ordained, would no longer be of use to the Egyptians. It is time, therefore, to declare the necessity of a new legislation for the establishment of the things ^D foretold. But what then? Have these things been uttered in vain? Or has a goal been brought to these words? Consider, then, if today—I say in our own time—

not only the Egyptians, but also the entire race of men who were formerly idolaters, whom the prophecy hinted at through the Egyptians, are seen by our eyes to have been delivered from the ^A polytheistic and demonic delusion, and are calling upon the God of the prophets. And they no longer pray to many lords, but to the one sole Lord, according to the sacred word; and to Him an altar of bloodless and rational sacrifices, according to the new mysteries of the new and fresh Covenant, has been raised throughout the whole world of men, and in Egypt itself, and in the remaining nations that imitate the Egyptian manner of superstitious delusion. Now, in our time, the knowledge of the God of the universe shining forth seals the indubitable faith of the things foretold.

Seeing these things accomplished in deeds, and no longer expected by report, you will not find any other time when the beginning of these events took place than that of the saving manifestation. He, then, was that person whom the oracle indicated, saying that the God of the universe would send to the Egyptians a man who would save them. This is also what the oracles of Moses indicated, through which he said: "A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall rule over many nations," ^B among which nations the Egyptians would certainly be counted. But to speak of these things would be a long discourse, to be rendered more fully at a suitable time. Let it be noted, however, for the present, that the preceding things were not fulfilled at any other time than after the manifestation of Jesus our Savior. For from that time even to the present, among the Egyptians, and the Persians, and the Syrians and Armenians, and among the barbarians inhabiting the extremities of the earth—and even among those nations which were formerly the most uncivilized and beast-like—and indeed among those living on the islands (for the prophecy deigned to make mention of them, too), that very way of life according to Abraham, and the most ancient and primordial manner of piety, is being cultivated. ^C And who would not be struck with wonder at the paradox of the affair, if those who from ages past offered reverent worship to stones and woods and demons, and man-eating beasts, and venomous reptiles, and animals of every kind, and hideous monsters, and fire and earth, and the lifeless elements of the universe, now, after the presence of our Savior, call upon the most high God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the very Lord of the prophets, the God of Abraham and of his forefathers? And those who a little before were wallowing in mother-marriages and daughter-incests, and mutual slaughters and all kinds of blood-guiltiness—they who differed in no way in their manner from wild beasts—are now, through the divine power of our Savior, transformed; and as if having become different from different beings, they come together ^D to common schools to learn the lessons of virtue and temperance, so that the highest philosophy—the one that does not even permit one to look with licentious eyes...

nor to utter an idle word, nor to practice those things which are common and customary to all—might exhort them not to be indifferent even in words, nor to perform acts common and usual to all people. It exhorts not only men, but women, the poor and the rich, the learned and the unlearned, even children and slaves, to be instructed in their public and rural gatherings, and to learn the true way by which it is fitting to worship and serve the God over all in every place, according to the prophecy which said, “And they shall worship him, every man from his own place.” ^B Everyone, therefore—barbarian and Greek—worships the God over all, not by running to Jerusalem, nor by performing ritual purifications with blood and sacrifices, but, remaining at home and in their own place, they offer to Him their bloodless and pure worship in spirit and in truth. And this was, in fact, the New Covenant, existing not as the old one. Yet, do not consider the "old" to be that of the God-loving men before Moses, but rather that which was legislated by Moses himself for the Jewish nation. The Word therefore continues, clarifying what it meant by the "old," which it teaches the New will in no way resemble, saying, “I will establish a New Covenant, not according to the covenant which I established with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” ^C It is not, therefore, according to this one legislated by Moses. For that was the one delivered to the Jews at the time of their exodus from Egypt. One might have thought, then, that the New Covenant introduced a mode of piety contrary to that of the God-lovers around Abraham, had it not precisely identified it, saying, “Not according to the covenant which I established with their fathers at that time, when I led them out of the land of Egypt.” ^D Therefore, it was not the one legislated by Moses at the time of the exodus and during their sojourn in the wilderness that it prophesied would be replaced by the New, but rather that one which had been practiced long before, through which the men before Moses lived rightly and were revealed.

With confidence, therefore, I now posit that the intentions of those professing to be pious should be divided, not into two, but into three ranks: first, that of the absolute idolaters who have fallen into polytheistic error; second, that of those from the circumcision who, through Moses, had ascended to the first degree of piety; and third, that of those who have ascended further through the evangelical teaching. By inserting this third rank between the two, do not consider that those departing from Judaism must necessarily fall into Hellenism, nor that those withdrawing from Hellenism must necessarily become Jews. By choosing the way of the middle, you will find it standing above, as if it had ascended a very high mountain peak, having left the rest below on either side. Indeed, it has escaped the godless and manifold superstition of the Greeks, and their unrestrained lewdness and indecency; and likewise, it has escaped the incomplete ‘will-worship’ of the Jews, which was legislated by Moses as being appropriate only for children and the weak. It is the way established from above, fitting not only for Jews, but for Greeks, for barbarians, and for all the nations under the sun.

^A ...and the whole race of mortals, the Law of Moses began from the single race of men, the Jewish race first of all, for the sake of the promise made to their God-beloved forefathers, inviting them to the knowledge of the one God, and delivering those who obeyed from the bitter slavery of demons. But I, in proclaiming to all men, and to the nations throughout the entire world, the knowledge and piety of God that have been brought back, exhort them to live according to the ages of those around Abraham and those even older than Moses, among whom many from foreign nations are recorded as having shone forth in piety. And again: The Law of Moses enjoined those who aimed to be pious to hasten from every place to one single place on the earth set apart for this purpose; but I teach all men to seek for the God over all, for the sake of liberty, not in a specific region of earth, nor on mountains, nor in some temples made by hands, but to worship and adore Him from their own homes. ^B And again: The old Law enjoined them to worship the God over all with sacrifices of slaughtered animals, or of frankincense and fire, and certain other corporeal purifications of a similar kind; but I command them to honor the Divine with the mysteries of the soul, in the purest state of mind and with a clear understanding, in temperance, in a life according to virtue, and in right and pious doctrines. And again: Moses counseled those who were then murderous not to murder; but I, for those who have been tutored in this and have successfully fulfilled the first commandment, legislate the more perfect way, commanding not even to be subject to the passion of anger. And again: Moses ordained for adulterers and the licentious not to commit adultery, nor to practice sodomy, nor to pursue unnatural pleasures, inflicting the penalty of death upon those who transgress; but I desire that my disciples not even look upon a woman with licentious desire. And again: He said: "Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths"; but I say unto you, swear not at all; but let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one. ^C And again: He enjoined those who were wronged to take vengeance and to do wrong in return, saying: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth"; but I say unto you, not to resist the evil one; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; and to him that would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, leave him thy cloak also. And again: He counseled to love one’s friend, but to hate one’s enemies; but I, by an excess of philanthropy and long-suffering, legislate for you to love your enemies, and to pray for those who persecute you, that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven, who makes His sun to rise on the wicked and good, and rain on the just and unjust. And furthermore: He was suited to the hardness of the many, and ordained things appropriate for the passionate, an extraordinary...

^A and inferior mode of religion compared to the ancient one, providing instruction in it. But I recall all men to the pious and God-beloved life of those men of old who were beloved of God. And above all: He promised a land flowing with milk and honey, as if to infants; but I offer the kingdom of heaven to those who are able to receive it. These things, and those like them, the discourse of the New Testament proclaimed to all the nations through the teaching of Christ. And these were the things that the Christ of God exhorted his disciples to proclaim to all the nations, saying: "Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to keep all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And by delivering this to all men, both Greeks and barbarians, to observe, he clearly revealed what Christianity is, who we are, and what sort of person the teacher ^B of such words and doctrines is—the Savior himself and our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, who established this new and all-virtuous polity throughout the whole world; so that not only men, but also women, the rich and the poor, and slaves along with their masters, may learn and philosophize about such things.

And indeed, the one who introduced this new legislation does not, in any way, appear to have lived contrary to the law of Moses; which is itself worthy of admiration, that, being about to become the lawgiver of a new polity according to his New Testament gospel, he did not reject the things of Moses as hostile or contrary. For otherwise he might have been thought to be ordaining things in contention with Moses, and thus might have provided the godless heretics with an occasion for the utmost slander against Moses and the prophets, and also given to those of the circumcision a reasonable cause for ^C their conspiracy against him—those who, as if he were a transgressor and an apostate from the law, plotted his death.

CAPUT VII. How Christ, after he had fully observed the things which were delivered by Moses, became the introducer of a new reason and law.

^A Now, however, after he had fully proved the law of Moses in his whole life, he used his apostles as ministers of his new legislation, in this indeed teaching at the same time that the things which were delivered by Moses were neither to be thought abhorrent to his own religion, nor hostile to it, and at the same time constituting himself the author and introducer of a new law, one saving for all men; so that it could in no way be said that he had done anything against the laws or decrees of Moses. Rather, he had put an end to them first, and had perfectly observed them, and thus had passed on to the institution of the evangelical law. And no one else is to be heard on the manner observed by him than himself. ^B "I came," he says, "not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." For if he had existed as a contemner of the law of Moses, although he might have been thought with probability to be destroying it and acting against it, yet, presenting a certain wicked nature foreign to the laws, he would not have been believed to be the Christ. Furthermore, destroying those things which were set down by Moses, how could he have been considered to be the one whom Moses and the prophets had announced? Or how could he have had the authority for laying down new laws? For it might have been rightly thought that he had come to a innovation of things for the sake of derogating from the law, so that he might escape the punishment of the sins he had committed against the law. ^C But now, derogating from the law in no way at all, and fully observing what is contained in it, and, as one might say, being perfected according to the standard of Moses, after it was no longer possible that the things which are in the law of Moses should be accommodated to the remaining nations, for the reasons which have already been stated (and it was necessary, surely, for the goodness of the supreme God that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth), he sanctioned laws of his own which were fit and accommodated to all. Nor would he have forbidden his own apostles to proclaim to all men even those things which were commanded by Moses, if that matter had not been an impediment, because those things could not be done, ^D just as the Apostle teaches, where he says: "For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh," and the rest. It was impossible, surely, that all the nations should meet in Jerusalem three times every year according to the law of Moses, and that a woman delivered of a child should hasten thither from the farthest ends of the earth to render the purifications—and ten thousand other things, which a man might gather for himself at his leisure. Since, therefore, these things could not be kept even by those among the nations living far from Judea, even if they wished, the Savior and Lord of ours rightly, having destroyed none of these things by himself, but having become the fulfiller of the things in the law, and having provided proof to those who see that he is indeed the Christ of God,

^A of whom the prophets of the Jews long ago bore witness, he then set forth the appropriate commandments to all nations through his own disciples. Hence, we have also declined to Judaize, as it was not legislated for us, nor could it apply to the nations; yet we have gladly accepted the prophecies among the Jews, as they contain the predictions concerning us.

But our Savior and Teacher also appears in another way as the fulfiller of the Law of Moses and of the prophets after him. For since the things that had been divinely predicted lacked their fulfillment, and the event of the oracles was awaited, it was surely necessary that he should also be the fulfiller of these. For example, the prophecy in Moses says: « The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me; you shall listen to him in everything that that prophet may say to you. » He fulfilled this which was lacking, having appeared as a second Lawgiver after Moses, ^B for men regarding the true piety of the God of the universe. For by Moses not speaking simply that a prophet would be raised up, but with the addition, "as me" (for he says, « The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet, as me; you shall listen to him »), what else was he indicating, but that the one being prophesied was about to appear compared to Moses himself? Now Moses was a lawgiver of piety to the God over all. Therefore, it was reasonable that the one being prophesied, who was to become like Moses, should emerge as a lawgiver similar to him. Indeed, although countless prophets arose after Moses, no one has been testified to as being like Moses; for all directed those who were listening toward him. And the Scripture truly testifies that no prophet has ^C risen like Moses. Neither Jeremiah, therefore, nor Isaiah, nor any other of the prophets could be like him, since not one of them is shown to be a lawgiver.

When, therefore, the prophet and lawgiver who was to be raised up according to Moses was awaited, this one was present: Jesus the Christ of God, legislating for all nations, and performing things beyond the law. For the saying, « It was said to the ancients, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you, do not even desire; » and the saying, « It was said to the ancients, You shall not kill; but I say to you, do not even be angry; » and the saying that one should no longer worship in Jerusalem, but in every place; and that one should not worship with incense and sacrifices, but « in spirit and truth »—whatsoever things of this kind are contained in his teaching were clearly ^D those of an all-wise and most perfect Lawgiver. Wherefore the divine Scripture also says, « and they were amazed, » because he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes and Pharisees. This, therefore, which was lacking, he fulfilled as an utterance to the prophecy of Moses; and likewise also the remaining predictions concerning him, and the decrees concerning the calling of the nations. He has therefore become the fulfiller of the Law and the prophets, having brought the predictions concerning himself to an end; and having established the former law until his own time, he appeared as the leader of a second [law] to those—

^A—who were of all nations and were being called to the New Covenant: so that he became the cause of the law and of the principle of both subjects, I mean Judaism and Christianity. This is indeed also worthy of wonder, as the divine prophecy is thus revealed: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chosen stone, a cornerstone, precious; and he who believes in him shall not be put to shame." ^B Who might this cornerstone be, if not this living and invaluable stone, building up one [structure] from two, having established it by his own teaching? For having established the law of Moses that had extended up to him, he added our own [law] from the other side, the structure according to the Gospel. Whence he is fittingly called the cornerstone. And it is also said in the Psalms: "The stone which the builders rejected, the same became the head of the corner: this was from the Lord, and it is wondrous in our eyes." ^C There the oracle clearly explained both the plot from the Jewish nation which he who was foretold suffered: that he was rejected by some of the scribes and Pharisees, chief priests, and all the Jewish rulers among them, who were building the old wall; yet nevertheless, after the dishonor and rejection from them, it was foretold that he would become the head of the corner, having been established as the leader of the New Covenant, in accordance with the theories set forth. We, therefore, having departed from Hellenism, have not fallen into Judaism; nor, in accepting the law of Moses and the Hebrew prophets, while not living in the Jewish manner but rather according to the way of life of those men who were beloved of God before Moses, would we be sinning. Further, in this very thing we demonstrate that Moses and the prophets who came after him were truthful, by accepting the Christ who was proclaimed by them, and by obeying his laws, and by purposing through our prayers to walk in the footsteps of his teaching, in this doing what is dear to Moses himself; for he, having foretold that "the Lord thy God shall raise up a prophet like unto me," ^D adds: "And every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be rooted out from its people." Immediately the Jews, not having accepted the prophet, nor having obeyed his holy words, underwent ruin in the end, having suffered in accordance with the prophecy. For they could neither accept the law of the New Covenant of Christ, nor could they keep the commandments of Moses without lawlessness; wherefore they are also subject to the curse of Moses, in that it is not possible for them to fulfill the things legislated by Moses, their mother-city having been taken away, and the Jewish worship, which was permitted to be performed only therein, having been shut off. But we, having accepted him who was proclaimed by Moses and the rest of the prophets, and making it our desire to obey him, would be the fulfillers of the commandment of Moses, by which he said: "Him shall ye hear; and every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be rooted out from its people." And what, then, is the [instruction] that the prophet ordained, which he [Moses commanded] to heed—

ordained to be heeded—instruction, ^A indeed, filled with all wisdom, and perfect, and heavenly in its teachings? These he did not desire to be committed to stone tablets, as Moses did, nor to ink and paper, but to the purified souls of his own disciples, [souls] that possess an intelligent nature. In these, having written the laws of the New Testament, he fulfilled in deed the prophecy which said through Jeremiah: "I will establish a New Testament, not according to the Testament that I established with their fathers; for this is the Testament which I will establish with the house of Israel: giving my laws into their mind, and upon their heart I will write them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." [31-33]

CHAPTER VIII.

That the life which has embraced Christianity is divided into two manners of life.

^B The former [Moses] inscribed the law upon inanimate tablets, but this One [Christ] the perfect teachings of the New Testament upon living minds. His disciples, strictly accommodating their teaching to the nod of their Master and to the ears of the multitudes, delivered to those who were able to receive them such things as had been commanded by the perfect Master [to those who had] advanced beyond the [common] habit. But whatever things they judged to be suitable for those who still bore souls subject to passions and in need of healing, these, by accommodating themselves to the weakness of the many, they handed down to be kept partially in writing and partially without writing, as by a certain unwritten law. Hence, ^C there have been established in the Church of God two ways of life: the one beyond our nature and above the common and human way of living, admitting neither marriage, nor procreation of children, nor possession of property, nor the existence of wealth; rather, it is utterly and totally set apart from the common and accustomed way of life of all men, and is dedicated solely to the service of God by an excellence of heavenly love. Those who pursue this way, seeming to be dead to the life of mortals, bearing only their body upon the earth, but in thought and mind dwelling in the very heaven, like certain celestials, look down upon the life of other men; for they are consecrated for the whole race to the God over all—not by the slaughtering of oxen, nor by blood, nor by libations and savors, nor again by smoke and the devouring of fire, ^D and the destruction of bodies, but by the upright sentiments of true piety, and by the affection of a purified soul, and further by deeds and words in accordance with virtue: [by means of] which they propitiate the Divine, and perform the sacred ministry on behalf of themselves and those of their own kin. Such is the perfect state [...] as it has been established according to the Christian life.

^A There is yet another, more moderate and human way of life; this involves modest marriage and the begetting of children, and the assumption of care for the household, while also advising those who are engaged in lawful military service about what ought to be done. It does not neglect agriculture, commerce, or other more civic modes of living, provided that religion is added to them. For those who choose this way of life, specific days are assigned for exercises and for learning and hearing the divine word; and to these, a second degree of piety is attributed, providing a utility suited to this very sort of life, so that no person at all might be separated from the saving advent, but that every race of men, both Greeks and barbarians alike, might enjoy the fruit of the evangelical teaching.

CHAPTER IX.

Since these things are so, one might rightly ask: if we truly say that the evangelical teaching of our Savior instructs us in the same manner of divine worship as that which the ancient men, who lived religiously and holily before Moses, followed, and that both our own religion and theirs — and their opinion concerning God — is one and the same, why then did they apply the greatest diligence to marriage and the begetting of children, while for us this part is neglected? And again, since it is written of them that they propitiated God through the sacrifice of animals, why are we forbidden to do the same, as if it were something impious and sacrilegious? For these two things alone, which are surely of no small consequence, might seem to contradict what has been said by us, implying that we do not preserve the ancient way of piety in accordance with these practices. ^C And so, against these points, it is possible to gather a solution of this kind from the oracles of the Hebrews themselves: those who before Moses were attested for their piety are recorded as having lived when life was at its beginning and being established, whereas the things concerning us are driving toward the end. Therefore, it was of great concern to them to increase their descendants toward a multitude, as the human race in that time was growing and multiplying and advancing toward its prime; for us, however, this is not of great concern, as things are already waning and coming to an end, driving toward the ultimate limit, and the end of the life of the world is explicitly said to be at the gates, with the evangelical teaching being proclaimed before it, and the renewal and regeneration of another age being announced as about to arrive at any moment. This, then, is one explanation; but there would be a second of this kind. To the men of old, who lived a relaxed and freer life, there was nothing to prevent them from overseeing their house and children while simultaneously having time for the Divine; ^D they were able to attend to religion undistractedly along with their wives, children, and households, and were in no way torn away from their intention toward better things by outside matters. But our affairs have innumerable

^A For it is these things that press in from the outside, and draw the mind in every direction toward alien cares, and lead it away from the study of those things which are pleasing to God. The word of evangelical doctrine therefore demonstrates that this is the cause why the practice of marriage is restricted, where it says: "But this I say, brethren, the time is short; it remains that even they who have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as they that rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it. For the fashion of this world passes away. But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried is careful for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married is careful for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." ^B In these words, therefore, he clearly sets forth the reason for abstinence from marriage, by rebuking the senselessness of the times and the external circumstances, to which none of those ancients were subject.

Furthermore, a third reason may be added to these, on account of which those ancient worshippers of God placed a great deal of effort in the procreation of children. When the rest of men had fallen into an ever-increasing perversity of morals, and had lapsed into a savage, inhuman, and truly beastly life, and had readily collapsed into a completely impious and godless manner of living, those very few who survived—who were easily numbered—following the principles previously mentioned by us, removed themselves from the custom of the multitude and from a life shared in common with the rest of men. ^C Living separately, therefore, from other nations and in a singular manner, they established a new sort of commonwealth, a life studious of wisdom, and one truly of worship of God Himself, unmixed with the rest of men. In order, therefore, that a spark of their own religion might be preserved for their descendants, like a seed for rekindling a fire, so that their piety might not fail and perish at the same time as their passing, they rightly introduced a concern for bearing and rearing offspring, that they might thus become teachers and masters of their own children, considering it a beautiful and honorable thing to leave behind for later generations successors of their piety and heirs of their own virtue. Hence, indeed, innumerable prophets and just men—nay, even the Savior and Lord Himself, and His disciples and apostles—have emerged from their discipline. But if some who were wicked also emerged from them, as chaff growing up along with the wheat, the progenitors and those who reared them are not for that reason to be blamed; ^D since we know that even among the disciples of the Savior there were some who fell away through a self-willed corruption.

The reason, therefore, for the child-bearing of the ancient God-fearing men is thus related—a reason which no longer holds a place in our own time; because, with God’s help, through the evangelical teaching of our Savior, myriads of nations and peoples, throughout cities and regions and fields, are before our eyes, hastening to the same goal and running together toward the instruction of the evangelical teaching according to God, for whom it is enough that the teachers and heralds of the word of godliness are able to lead the way, being released from all

^A Indeed, it is precisely for these reasons that the withdrawal from marriage is now so earnestly sought by those who have the leisure for the higher life, since they have taken upon themselves the task of a divine and incorporeal generation—not of one or two children, but of the nurture and education of an immense multitude, that they may lead them toward God, and of assuming responsibility for the entire conduct of their lives. If anyone were to examine closely the lives of those men of old of whom we are speaking, he would find that in the beginnings of their youth they sired children, but that they soon desisted and ceased. For it is written that “Enoch pleased God after he begat Methuselah,” ^B where Scripture clearly indicates that the person mentioned pleased God after the birth of the child, and bears witness that no other children were born to him thereafter. Moreover, Noah, a righteous man, after the birth of his children, being the only one saved with his kin while all things upon the earth perished, is brought forward as having lived for many years after this, yet it is nowhere recorded that he begat any other sons. It is said, too, that Isaac, after becoming the father of twin offspring by one wife, ceased having intercourse with her. And Joseph, even though he lived among the Egyptians, is found to have been the father of no more than two children, having had only one mother for them. Even Moses himself, and his brother Aaron, are recorded as having sired children before the appearance of God to them; but after they had received the divine oracles, you will not find that any more children were born to them. ^C What need is there to speak of Melchizedek, of whom neither son, nor lineage, nor succession is recorded? Nor of Jesus, the successor of Moses, nor of many other prophets. Regarding the questions about the procreation of Abraham and Jacob, we have already provided a more leisurely account in other writings, where we discussed the polygamy and multiple offspring of those holy men of old; to these writings we now refer those who are eager to learn, noting only this much: that even according to the laws of the New Testament, the procreation of children is not entirely forbidden, but that even in this, those things which are established are consistent with the institutions of those holy men of old. ^D “For,” says the divine word, “a bishop must be the husband of one wife.” Nevertheless, for those who are consecrated and occupied with the worship of God, it is fitting that they henceforth abstain from marital intercourse. As for those who have not been deemed worthy of such a high priestly ministry, the word relaxes its hold for them, proclaiming almost explicitly to all that “Marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Let this be said for our first proposition.

^A sacrament of the priesthood have been called, to them the same divine word grants indulgence, and almost publicly proclaims to all that marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled, and that God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Let these things, therefore, have been said by us in response to the first doubt.

CHAPTER X

But why do we not also offer animals to the most high God, since those ancient lovers of God, whose piety we claim to imitate, were accustomed to do this? Let the following answer be given by us. Regarding the very worship which the ancients and the first men offered to the divine nature, the view held by the Greeks is not the same as that which is found in the sacred books of the Hebrews. For the former indeed maintained that the first men were not accustomed to sacrifice or burn any kind of animal to the gods, but that to the sun and the rest of the stars in the heavens, having gathered in their hands green grass and, as it were, certain drippings of a fecund nature, they were wont to burn herbs with their leaves and roots in fire. They held that later men, straying far from such a correct practice, defiled altars with the slaughter of animals. Moreover, they claimed that this was impious, unjust, and a sacrifice in no way acceptable to God; for the soul of brute animals differs not at all from the rational soul of men. Wherefore, they said that those who sacrificed animals were to be accused of murder, just as if one and the same soul existed in man and in the brute animal. And such indeed is the opinion of the Greeks regarding the men of old; but the story of the Hebrew Scripture is not such. For it records that the very first men, as soon as they came into life, honored the Divine with sacrifices from animals. It says, therefore: "And it came to pass after days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his sheep. And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts; but upon Cain and his sacrifices He did not look." ^B Here you may observe that he who sacrificed animals is said to have been more acceptable to God than he who brought a sacrifice from the field. And Noah also, immediately from all the clean cattle and from all the clean birds, offered most perfect gifts upon the altar, and the Lord smelled an odor of sweetness. Abraham also is described as sacrificing; so that, if we follow the testimony of the divine Scripture, we must say that the first sacrifice of all, from among animals, was devised by those ancient friends of God. Nor is it to be thought that this device existed rashly or arose in a human manner, but rather that it was suggested by a divine inspiration. For since they were preeminent in the holiness of their conduct, and were thoroughly devoted to God, and for that reason, as if enlightened by the divine Spirit, they perceived that a great duty was required of them if they wished to wash away their own human transgressions, they considered that a price for their own salvation should be offered to the provider of life and soul; then, that nothing is better and more precious than one's own soul,

^A they offered instead, for the time being, the sacrifice through irrational animals, presenting them as substitutes for their own souls; they did not consider that they were committing any offense or doing any injustice in this, because they had not been taught that the soul of irrational animals was similar to the rational and intelligent faculty of human souls, nor had they learned that it was anything other than their blood, and the vital power within the blood, which they offered to God as if it were soul for soul. This same point Moses clarifies most clearly in a certain place, saying, "The soul of all flesh is its blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your sins; for the blood of them shall make atonement for the soul. That is why I have said to the sons of Israel: No soul of you shall eat blood." ^B Observe, therefore, diligently in these words how it is said, "I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for the blood shall make atonement for the soul." For clearly he says that the blood of the slaughtered animals is offered as an atonement in place of the human soul. The law concerning sacrifices also prompts one to understand this same thing, if one considers it more attentively. For it commands everyone who is sacrificing to lay their hands upon the head of the animal being sacrificed, and to bring the animal to the priest while holding its head, as if he were offering the victim on behalf of his own head. Therefore he says in each case, "He shall bring it before the Lord, and lay his hands upon the head of his offering." And this is observed in the case of every victim, with no sacrifice offered otherwise. ^C Through these words, the divine discourse means to be understood that irrational animals were accustomed to be offered as a substitute for their own souls. Now, he who teaches that the blood of irrational animals is their soul in no way indicates that these share in a rational and intellectual substance similar to that of human beings; for he teaches that their constitution consists of matter and bodies, similar to the growths and plants of the earth. In one word, then, Moses again represents God as saying, "Let the earth bring forth grass for hay, sowing seed, and fruit-bearing wood." And again in like manner, "Let the earth bring forth four-footed beasts, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind." ^D So that one must consider irrational animals to be of the same race, of the same nature, and of the same substance as the growths and plants from the earth; wherefore those who sacrifice animals are in no way committing an offense. It was said, therefore, even to Noah, to eat flesh just as the herbs of the field. So long, then, as the better, and the great and precious and God-befitting sacrifice was not yet present to men, it was fitting for them to pay to God the sacrifices through animals as a ransom for their own lives and as a substitute for their own nature; just as the lovers of God of old were doing, having perceived beforehand by the divine Spirit that a venerable, God-beloved, and great sacrifice would one day come to men, the propitiation for the whole world, the symbols of which they were performing for the time being by acting as prophets and foreshadowing what was to be. But since the perfect one had arrived, in accordance with the prophecies of the prophets, the first things had ceased and were dissolved immediately through the

^A more excellent and true sacred rite. And this was the Christ of God, who was long ago, from earliest times, foretold to come to men and to be slaughtered like a sheep for the whole of mankind, just as Isaiah the prophet says concerning Him: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb." And he adds, "This man bears our sins and suffers for our sake; and we reckoned him to be in labor, and in a blow, and in affliction; but he was wounded for our sins, and has been weakened for our iniquities. The discipline of our peace was upon him; by his stripe we were healed, and the Lord delivered him over to our sins; for he did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth." Similar to these things, Jeremiah, another prophet of the Hebrews, proclaims clearly in the person of Christ, saying, "I am as an innocent lamb led to be sacrificed." ^B John the Baptist seals the predictions of these men at the coming of our Savior. For, having seen Him and pointed Him out to those present as the one being prophesied, he cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Since, therefore, according to the testimonies of the prophets, the great and precious ransom for the redeemed, both Jews and Greeks, has been found—the atonement for the whole world, the sacrifice for the soul of all men, the victim pure from every stain and sin, the Lamb of God, the God-beloved and pure sheep, the prophesied Lamb, through whose divine and mystical teaching all we who are from the Gentiles have found the remission of our former sins, and for which reason even those of the Jews who have hoped in Him are released from the curse of Moses—rightly, therefore, performing daily the memorial of His body and His blood, and being judged worthy of a sacrifice and sacred rite far ^C more excellent than that of the ancients, we do not think it holy to fall back upon those first and weak elements, which were symbols and images, not containing the very truth itself. ^D And rightly, too, those of the Jews themselves who have taken refuge in the Christ of God, if they would no longer turn back to the commandments of Moses, but live according to the New Covenant, would be outside the curse ordained by Moses; forasmuch as the Lamb of God has taken upon Himself not only the sin of the world, but also the curse for those who are in transgression of the commandments of Moses. The Lamb of God has thus become both sin and curse: sin for the sinners of the world, and a curse for those who persist in all that is written in the Law of Moses. Therefore the Apostle says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us." And, "Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin for our sake." For what was this, which was to be the atonement for the world, the ransom for sinners, which was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb led to be sacrificed, if not all these things for our sake?

^A Hence, those ancient men who were beloved of God reasonably clung to symbols because they lacked the greater things. Our Savior himself teaches this, saying: "Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them." But we, having received the true things and the archetypes of the images through the mysterious dispensation of Christ, no longer have need of the old things.

He alone, then, being the Word of God who has existed from before the world, and the high priest of every intellectual and rational creature, having separated from the flock of men that which was made like us, as a sheep and a lamb, and having inscribed upon it all our sins, and having attached to it the curse pronounced in the Law of Moses—since Moses himself said, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"—He suffered this, having become for our sake a curse on our behalf. And indeed, making Him sin for our sake—"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us"—and having imposed upon Him for our sake all the punishments hanging over us, bonds and dishonors and shames, scourges and strange stripes, and above all, the trophy of the curse. After all these things, as a wondrous victim and a sacrifice ^B surpassing all others, He sacrificed Himself to the Father for the salvation of us all, and handed down to us a memorial to offer to God instead of sacrifice continually.

This, too, the wondrous David among the prophets, having foreseen the future through the divine Spirit, prophesied, saying: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heeded me; He heard my prayer and brought me up from the pit of misery and from the mire of clay; and He set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps, and He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God." And he clarifies what the new song is, saying further: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me; burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not approve. Then I said, 'Behold, I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me, to do Your will, O God.' I willed it." And he adds: "I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great assembly." ^C He clearly taught that, instead of the ancient sacrifices and burnt offerings, the incarnate presence of Christ and the body prepared for Him were offered to God, and he proclaims this very thing to His Church as a great mystery, having been announced beforehand in the volume of the book by the prophetical voice.

Having received the tradition to perform the memorial of this sacrifice upon a table through symbols, both of His body and of His saving blood, according to the ordinances of the New Covenant, we are again instructed by the prophet David who says: "You prepared a table before me in the presence of those who afflict me. You anointed my head with oil, and Your cup is intoxicating as the best." ^D In these words, he openly signifies the mystical...

^B anointing and the sacrifices of the table of Christ, which inspire awe, through which—as we have been taught—we labor to offer to God over all, through His supreme high priest, bloodless and rational victims that are acceptable to Him throughout our whole life. This same thing the great prophet Isaiah also wonderfully foresaw and proclaimed by the divine Spirit. He says thus himself: "O Lord my God, I will glorify You, I will sing praise to Your name, for You have done wonderful works." And he makes clear what these truly wonderful things are, saying thereafter: "The Lord Sabaoth will prepare a feast for all the nations; they shall drink gladness, they shall drink wine, they shall be anointed with ointment on this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations, for this is the counsel for all the nations." Such were some of the wonders of Isaiah, promising the anointing of a good fragrance and of ointments not to Israel, but to all the nations; whence, for the anointing of the ointment, they were deservedly deemed worthy of the name of Christians. But he also prophesies the gladness of wine to the nations, dimly signifying the mystery of the New Testament of Christ, which is celebrated manifestly at the present time among all the nations. ^C Again, the prophetic oracles proclaim these incorporeal and intellectual sacrifices, having them in a certain place as follows: "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High; and call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." And again: "The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice." And elsewhere: "A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit." All these things, therefore, which were divinely foretold from the beginning, are celebrated at the present time by all nations through the evangelical teaching of our Savior, with the truth bearing witness to that prophetic voice by which God, having rejected the sacrifices according to Moses, prophesies what would be among us, saying: "Because from the rising of the sun even to the setting, my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice." We do indeed, therefore, sacrifice to the God over all a sacrifice of praise; we sacrifice the divine, ^D sacred, and god-befitting victim; we sacrifice in a new way, according to the New Testament, the pure sacrifice. For it has been said, "A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a heart that is contrite and humbled God will not despise." And indeed we also offer the prophetic incense, offering to Him in every place the sweet-smelling fruit of all-virtuous theology, presenting it through the prayers directed to Him. This is what another prophet also teaches, who said, "Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You." Therefore, we both sacrifice and offer incense: at one time celebrating the memorial of the great victim, according to the mysteries delivered by Him, and bringing to God our thanksgiving for our salvation through pious hymns and prayers; at another time consecrating ourselves wholly to Him, and to His high priest...

devoted to him in Word, in body, and in soul. Therefore, we strive to keep the body untarnished and immaculate for him, free from all shameful acts, and we offer to him our intellect, cleansed of every passion and every stain arising from wickedness, worshiping him with unwavering reasoning, with sincere disposition, and with the doctrines of truth. For we have been taught that these things are more pleasing to him than a multitude of sacrifices accomplished with blood, smoke, and fat. ^A

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS: EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION, BOOK TWO

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR

PROCEM.—That it is not by chance nor in vain that we have studied the prophetic books of the Hebrews with all diligence. CHAP. I.—How their prophets, in advance, proclaimed the better things concerning us, the foreign nations. 1. From Genesis. 2. From the same. 3. From the same. 4. From Deuteronomy. 5. From the 21st Psalm.

^B The truth bearing witness, by which voice God, having rejected the Mosaic sacrifices, divinely announces what was to be our own institution, saying: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering." [Malach. 1, 11]. Therefore, we sacrifice to the most high God the sacrifice of praise; we sacrifice to God a full and awesome and most holy sacrifice; we sacrifice in a new way, according to the New Testament, a pure offering. But it has been said that the sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; therefore, God will not despise a contrite and humbled heart. And now we also kindle that prophetic fragrance in every place, and we offer to him a fragrant fruit abundant in every virtue of theology, doing this very thing by prayers directed to him. Which, indeed, another prophet also teaches, who says: "Let my prayer be set forth as incense in thy sight" [Ps. 140, 2]. Therefore, we both sacrifice and kindle: at times indeed celebrating the memory of that great sacrifice according to the mysteries delivered by him, and giving thanks to God for our salvation and offering to him religious hymns and holy prayers; and at other times consecrating ourselves entirely to him, and dedicating ourselves to his high priest, the Word himself, in body and soul. Hence, we strive to preserve the body intact and immaculate from all obscenity for him, and we render to him our mind, purged of every passion and every filth that might arise from wickedness, and we worship him with sincere thoughts, with unfictional affection, and with the decrees of truth. For we have been taught that these things are more pleasing to him than a great number of sacrificial victims, by the blood and smoke and fat of which they went about their business.

6. From Psalm 45. 7. From Psalm 85. 8. From Psalm 95. 9. From Zechariah. 10. From Isaiah. 11. Item.

Chapter II. How they prophesied that at the advent of Christ, all nations would receive the knowledge and worship of that same God who was once known only to the Jews.

12. From Psalm 2. 13. From Psalm 19. 14. From Psalm 97. 15. From Genesis. 16. From Zephaniah. 17. From the same. 18. From Zechariah. 19. From Isaiah. 20. From the same. 21. Item. 22. Item. 23. Item from the same.

Chapter III. How, upon the calling of the nations, which was to take place through Christ, the Jewish nation was to fall away from its own ritual and the worship of God.

24. From Jeremiah. 25. From the same. 26. From the same. 27. From Micah. 28. From Zechariah. 29. From Malachi. 30. From Isaiah. 31. From the same. 32. Similarly. 33. Item. 34. Item. 35. Item.

Chapter IV. That the divine promises do not extend to the entire Jewish nation, but to a few among them.

36. From Isaiah. 37. From the same. 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, from the same similarly. 50. From Micah. 51. From the same. 52. From Zephaniah. 53. From Zechariah. 54. From Jeremiah. 55. From the same. 56. From Ezekiel. 57. From the same. 58. From the same. 59. From the same. 60. From the same.

PROOEMIUM. That it is not by chance or rashly that we have embraced the prophetic books of the Hebrews with all diligence.

^A Having discussed in the previous book the manner of true piety, which is set forth to all men through the evangelical doctrine, and the mode of life in Christ, and having set it forth, and, if I am not mistaken, persuaded my readers that it was by no means possible for all nations, even if they had wished, to live according to the laws of the Jews; I now return again to the testimonies of the prophetic voices, starting my discourse from a little further back, so that I may provide a more abundant and complete reply to those of the circumcision who accuse us. Since it is by no means...

^A permitted that we should be partakers in the promises which are openly written in their own books; for they assert that the prophets were theirs, that Christ was announced to them—whom they gladly call Savior and Redeemer—and that it is to them that the recorded promises are expected to be rendered; whereas we are supernumeraries to these things, being of a foreign race, to whom the worst things are foretold throughout all the prophecies. Come, then, let us confront these claims from their own prophetic books. That the Christ of God was promised to them, and that His arrival is preached as a redemption for Israel, we certainly do not deny, as this is clearly evident throughout their entire Scripture. But that they should exclude the nations from the good things expected in Christ, as if they were promised to Israel alone and not also to the nations, is something we cannot justly concede to them, especially since they advance this claim without the authority of the Divine Scriptures.

Chapter I. How their prophets, coming beforehand, announced better things concerning us, the foreign nations.

First, then, since they are accustomed to gathering the more favorable utterances for themselves and repeatedly citing them, let us oppose to them the demonstrations concerning the nations found in their own prophecies, which openly present countless oracles whereby good and saving things are proclaimed to all the nations, and show ^C that the things promised to the nations could not possibly be fulfilled in any other way than through the sole advent of Christ. Having established our argument here, we will have demonstrated that the expectation of the Christ of God pertains no more to them than it does to us. And once the hope of the promised things has been shown to be of equal weight for both Jews and Greeks, and that in this respect those who expect salvation from the nations are in no way behind those of the circumcision, we shall then proceed to show, with greater abundance and, as it were, a wealth of arguments, how the divine oracles ^D foretell that, upon the advent of Christ and the calling of the nations, the entire Jewish nation is to fall and be utterly cast aside; and that those better things are promised only to a few of them, and such as are easily numbered, signifying that their city, together with their temple, is to be captured, and that all those things which require a more severe observance are to be taken away. This, indeed, has already appeared to be truly predicted in reality. As to how one and the same reasoning in the very advent of Christ foretells both the liberation of Israel from evils and the enjoyment of good things, and, conversely, the deprivation of goods and the ruin of their religion, we shall make plain in its proper time. For the present, however, let us return to the first point, having collected a few things out of the countless prophecies to demonstrate what has been said. Since, therefore, they are accustomed to cast before us the more favorable prophecies concerning themselves, as if the things promised were theirs alone, it is time for us to bring forward and oppose to them the promises concerning the nations, as they are recorded thus among their own prophets.

This, however, will be done in the following way.

45 I. From Genesis.—How the nations shall be blessed in a manner similar to the naming of Abraham.

And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham my servant what I am doing? Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him" (Gen. xviii, 17-18). The oracle says that it ^A will not hide a mystery that is secret and hidden from the many, but will reveal it to the friend of God. And this was the blessing concerning all the nations, which for a long time lay hidden because, in the days of Abraham, all the nations were held fast by an unspeakable error of superstition. But now it has come into the open in our own times, when through the evangelical teaching of our Savior, those who keep the same manner of divine worship as Abraham come to be partakers of the same blessing as he. As for the fact that it was impossible for the entire body of nations to receive a way of life according to the laws established by Moses, we have discussed this most fully in the previous book, so that no one might perhaps suspect that this oracle was spoken concerning the proselytes who lived among the Jews. And having established at the same time that the blessing promised to Abraham concerning all the nations applies only to those who are gathered from all the nations through Christ, we refer studious readers back to those arguments.

II. From the same.—How all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in that seed which is to come forth from the offspring of Isaac.

The Lord, answering Isaac, among other things says this: "And I will establish my oath which I swore to Abraham your father, and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your seed all this land, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed" (Gen. xxvi, 3-4). ^B Our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ of God, was born of the seed of Isaac according to the flesh, in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed, having learned through Him the God of all, and having again been taught by Him to bless the friends of God. Wherefore they in turn are blessed, enjoying the same blessing as those whom they themselves bless, according to the saying of God to Abraham: "Whoever blesses you shall be blessed."

III. From the same.—Concerning the very many nations and collections of nations which shall be constituted from Jacob, even though only the Jewish nation has come forth from him.

And God said to him—it is clear that He spoke to Jacob— "I am the Lord God; be fruitful and multiply; nations and congregations of nations shall arise from you" (Gen. xxxv, 11). ^C According to what is apparent and obvious, only one nation, the Jewish, came into being from Jacob. How then can the oracle be true, speaking in the plural? Since Christ, the *of God, being born of the seed of Jacob, [is] many congregations of nations through the evangelical...

teaching he has gathered; reasonably so, in him and through him, the things of prophecy have already obtained their end beforehand, and shall hereafter obtain it even more.

IV. From Deuteronomy. — Declaration of the joy of the nations according to God.

« Rejoice, O heavens, with him, and let all the sons of God worship him; rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God strengthen them. » For the phrase, « Rejoice, O nations, with his people, » Aquila saith, « Cry aloud, O nations, with his people; » and Theodotion, « Exult, O nations, his people. »

^B

V. From Psalm XXI. — That there shall be a conversion of the ends of the earth, and of all nations, to God, and a generation to come, and the people that shall be born shall receive his righteousness.

« All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the master of the nations. » And he adds straightway: « A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord, and they shall declare his righteousness to the people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made. » These things are clear, and need no interpretation.

VI. From Psalm XLV. — A promise of piety and joy to the nations, and of God's kingdom over the nations.

« O all ye nations, clap your hands, shout unto God with a voice of exultation; for the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth. » And he adds straightway: « For God is king of all the earth, sing ye with understanding. God has reigned over the nations. God sitteth upon his holy throne. The princes of the peoples were gathered together with the God of Abraham. » And these things are clear, and need no interpretation.

^C

VII. From Psalm LXXXV. — Declaration of the piety of the nations.

« There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord, and there is none according to thy works. All the nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name; for thou art great, and doing wonders; thou art God alone. » Likewise these things are clear.

VIII. From Psalm XCV. — Declaration of the piety of all the nations, and of a new song, and of the kingdom of God, and of the correction of the inhabited world.

« Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name, preach the good news of his salvation from day to day; declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples; for ^D the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; he is terrible above all gods. » And he adds: « Bring to the Lord

^A families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory in his name. And next: « Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned. For he has established the world, which shall not be shaken. » And these things are clear.

IX. From Zechariah. — The recognition of the one and true God, and of the spiritual worship and solemn celebration according to the divine law, by all the nations, and even by the Egyptians who are the most superstitious of all.

« And it shall be, that all who are left from all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up year by year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whosoever will not go up from all the tribes of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and even they ^B shall be added to those; there shall be no rain upon them. But if the tribe of Egypt shall not go up, and shall not come, and upon these shall be the ruin with which the Lord shall strike all the nations, as many as shall not go up to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations, as many as shall not go up to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. » These things clearly contain the calling of all the nations, if we look only to the meaning of what is said concerning Jerusalem and the feast of Tabernacles, things which will also receive their appropriate interpretation in due season.

X. From Isaiah. — Declaration ^C that the apostles are chosen, and the nations are called.

« Drink this first, act quickly, region of Zabulon, land of Nepthalim, and the rest who inhabit the seacoast beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, the people sitting in darkness. See a great light, you who dwell in the region and shadow of death, light shall shine upon you. »

XI. From the same. — Declaration of the calling of the nations.

« Hear me, O islands, and attend, O nations. After a long time it shall stand, says the Lord. » To which he adds immediately concerning both the nations and Christ: « Behold, I have given thee for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, that thou mayest be for ^D salvation unto the end of the earth. »

You yourself will find countless other things scattered throughout all the prophets that are contained in the promises to the nations, things which there is no time at present either to collect or to interpret, although many things that demonstrate what is proposed have been held in the preceding pages. Now this was to show those who, because they are of the circumcision, boast and are greatly proud of themselves, as if God had preferred them alone over the rest of the nations, and had deemed them alone worthy to have predicted to them by divine inspiration what was to come, that He has promised nothing to them in the divine [promises] apart from all the others. Since, therefore, it has been demonstrated that the nations have been deemed worthy of the divine promises, come then now

and let us contemplate what that is, by which the nations are said to become partakers of the calling of God and of the divine promises. For it is good to discern the cause which is said to procure such good things for the nations; and what else could this be but the coming of Christ, by whom even those who are of the circumcision confess that their own redemption will take place? It must be demonstrated, therefore, that the expectation of the calling of the nations was nothing other than Christ ^A himself of God, who was to appear as Savior not only to the Jews, but also to all the nations. I shall now use the bare testimonies of the prophets without any interpretation, intending to interpret each one at length at a more leisurely time, when, God willing, I shall have gathered together all the predictions concerning the nations, and I shall propose to interpret them all at once.

CHAPTER II

XII. From the second Psalm. A declaration of the plottings against Christ, where he is himself heralded as the Son of God, and receives the nations as an inheritance from the Father. "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ," and the rest; to which he adds: "The Lord said to me, You are my Son, this day have I begotten ^B you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession."

XIII. From the seventy-first Psalm. A declaration of the kingdom of Christ, and of the calling of the nations, and a blessing for all the tribes of the earth. "O God, give your judgment to the king, and ^C your justice to the king's son, to judge your people," and the rest; to which he adds: "And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." And again: "All the nations shall serve him." And again: "And all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him, all the nations shall call him blessed." And at the end of the Psalm: "And all the earth shall be filled with his glory; so be it, so be it!"

XIV. From the ninety-seventh Psalm. A declaration of a new song, and of the arm of God, and of the manifestation of his salvation to all the nations; for salvation is shown by the name of the Son in the Hebrew tongue. "Sing to the Lord a new song, for the Lord has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have wrought salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his justice in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy toward Jacob, and his truth toward the house of Israel; all the ^D

^A ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God; make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth. And he adds: Let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof, the world, and all that dwell therein. The floods shall clap their hands; the mountains shall be joyful together before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with equity.

XV. From Genesis. — That when the kingdom of the Jews shall have failed, Christ himself coming shall be the expectation of the nations. ^B « The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations. »

XVI. From Zephaniah. — A declaration of the advent of Christ, and of the removal of the worship of idols, and of the piety of the nations towards God. « The Lord will appear unto them, and will destroy all the gods of the nations; and they shall worship him, every one from his place, all the isles of the nations. »

XVII. From the same. — A declaration of the day of Christ's resurrection, and of the gathering of the nations, and of the acknowledgment of God by all men, and of one way of piety; and that the Ethiopians shall offer sacrifices unto him. « Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, in the day of my resurrection for a testimony: for my judgment is to gather the nations, that I may admit the kings, and pour out upon them mine indignation, all the wrath of my fury; for in the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be consumed: for then will I turn to the peoples a language, in its generation, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him under one yoke: from the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring sacrifices unto me. »

XVIII. From Zechariah. — A declaration of the advent of Christ, and that many nations shall flee unto him, and that there shall be nations created for the Lord from among the Gentiles. « Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord: and many nations shall flee unto the Lord in that day, and shall be his people; and they shall dwell in the midst of thee; and thou shalt know that the Lord Almighty hath sent me unto thee. »

XIX. From Isaiah. — A declaration of the birth of Christ, who is to come forth from the root of Jesse, and the calling of all the nations through him. « A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, » and what follows, to which he adds: « And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to reign over the nations; in him shall the nations hope. »

XX. From the same. — A declaration of the advent of Christ, and of the benefit by which all the nations are to be affected through him. « Behold my servant, I will take hold of him: my chosen,

^A whom my soul hath admitted. I have put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor shall he lift up his voice, nor shall it be heard abroad: he shall not break a bruised reed, and he shall not quench the smoking flax, but shall bring forth judgment unto truth: he shall shine out, and shall not be broken, until he set judgment in the earth: and in his name shall the Gentiles trust. » And he adds directly: « I the Lord God have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will strengthen thee: and I have given thee for a covenant of the kind, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the bound from their bonds, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord God, this is my name: my glory I will not give to another, neither my virtues to graven things: the things from the beginning, lo, they are come to pass: new things which I now declare, and before they begin to sprout, I have showed them unto you. »

^B XXI. By the same. — A declaration of Christ, both of his birth and of the calling of the Gentiles.

« Give ear unto me, ye islands, and hearken, ye Gentiles: for a long time it shall stand, saith the Lord: from the womb of my mother he hath called my name as a sharp sword, and under the shadow of his hand he hath hidden me: he hath made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he hath covered me. » And he adds directly: « Behold I have given thee for a covenant of the kind, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth. »

^C XXII. By the same. — A declaration of the advent of Christ, and of the calling of the Gentiles.

« Thus saith the Lord, who delivered thee, the God of Israel: Sanctify him who despiseth his soul, who is abhorred by the servants of princes: kings shall see him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, » and the rest; to which he adds: « In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have given thee for a covenant of the Gentiles, to establish the earth, and to possess the desolate heritages, saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth: and to them that are in darkness, to be revealed. And they shall be fed in all the ways, and their pasture shall be in all the paths. They shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, ^D neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them, but he that is merciful shall comfort them, and through fountains of water he shall lead them: and I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture for them. Lo, these shall come from far, these from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians. Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth exult. Let the mountains break forth into joy, because the Lord hath had pity on his people, and hath comforted the humble of his people. »

XXIII. By the same. — A declaration of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles.

« Attend with your ears, and follow my ways: hearken unto me, and your soul shall live in good things,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the Gentiles, a leader and commander to the Gentiles. Nations that know not thee shall call upon thee, and peoples that do not know thee shall flee unto thee, for the sake of the Lord thy God, and for the holy one of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. » Since, therefore, we have learned from these texts also that the advent of Christ was prepared not to be saving for the Jews alone, but for all the Gentiles, come, let us demonstrate a third point: how, in the times of His manifestation, not only were better things prophesied for the Gentiles, but also the contrary for those of the circumcision. For the oracles which they possess clearly foretell that there will be a downfall and rejection of the Jewish nation, because of their disbelief in Christ, so that now we may appear not as their equals, but as far superior to them. And for now, I shall use only the bare passages of the Prophets, and not enter into any exposition of them, both because of their clarity and because, at a more opportune time, we intend to produce a most full examination of them.

CHAPTER III

XXIV. From Jeremiah. — A declaration of the rejection of the Jewish nation, and of the adoption of the Gentiles in their place.

« Thus saith the Lord: Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord; and see which is the good way, and walk in it, and you shall find cleansing for your souls. And they said: We will not walk. I have set watchmen over you; hearken to the voice of the trumpet; and they said: We will not hearken. Therefore the nations heard, and those who feed the flocks among them. »

XXV. From the same. — A declaration of the piety of the Gentiles, and an accusation of the impiety of the Jewish nation, with a prediction of the evils that were to come upon them after the advent of Christ.

« O Lord, my strength, and my help, and my refuge in the day of evils, to thee shall the Gentiles come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have inherited lying idols, and there is no profit in them; shall a man make gods for himself, and these are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will show them at this time, I will make known to them my hand and my power; and they shall know that my name is the Lord. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with an adamant point; it is graven upon the breadth of their heart, when they shall remember their groves on the dense wood, and on the high hills, and the mountains in the field. Thy strength and thy treasures I will give for a spoil, and thy high places, because of thy sins, in all thy borders. And thou shalt be left alone, and thou shalt be humbled from thine inheritance, which I gave thee; and I will make thee serve thine enemies in the land which

thou hast not known: for a fire has been kindled in my wrath, and it shall burn forever.

XXVI. From Amos. — Concerning the dispersion of the Jewish nation into all nations, and concerning the renewal of the advent and kingdom of Christ, and the calling of all nations which has come to pass in him.

«Behold I command, and I will winnow the house of Israel among all nations, as one winnows with a winnowing fan, and not a grain shall fall to the ground. By the sword shall all the sinners of my people die, who say: "Evils shall not draw near or come upon us." In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruined parts, and I will raise up what has been torn down, and I will rebuild it as in the days of old, so that the remnant of men may seek me, and all the nations upon whom my name has been called, saith the Lord, who does these things.» ^{A B}

XXVII. From Micah. — An accusation against the rulers of the Jewish nation, and a declaration concerning the desolation of their mother city, the appearance of Christ and the house of God—which is His Church—and the coming forth of the Word and the Law, and a declaration of all the nations.

«Hear these things, you rulers of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel, you who abhor judgment and pervert all that is upright, you who build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquities. Her rulers have judged for a reward, and her priests have answered for silver, and her prophets have divined for money; and they have rested upon the Lord, saying: "Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come upon us." Therefore, on your account, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become as a place for keeping fruit, and the mountain of the house [shall become] as a thicket of the woods. And it shall be in the last of the days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, prepared on the tops of the mountains; and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall hasten to it, and many nations shall go, and they shall say: "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and they will show us his way, and we will walk in his paths," for from Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.» ^C

XXVIII. From Zechariah. — A declaration concerning the advent of Christ, the destruction of the warlike equipment of the Jews, peace for the nations, and the kingdom of the Lord reaching unto the ends of the earth.

«Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; preach, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King comes to thee, just and saving; he is meek, and mounted upon a beast of burden, and a young foal; and he shall destroy the chariots from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and he shall destroy the bow of war, and a multitude of peace from the nations; and he shall have dominion from sea unto sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth.» ^D

^A

XXIX. From Malachi. - The rejection of the Jewish nation, and the repudiation of their bodily worship according to the Law of Moses, with the introduction of the spiritual worship delivered through Christ to all the nations.

«For I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands; for from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty; but you profane it.»

XXX. From Isaiah. - The ruin of the Jewish nation, the spreading abroad of the word of God, of the new Law, and of His house, and the declaration of piety for all nations.

«And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a booth in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a city besieged;» and subsequently he adds: «How has the faithful city Sion become a harlot? In which justice slept, but now, murderers.» And to these: «For they shall be as a terebinth having cast its leaves, and as a garden that has no water. And their strength shall be as the chaff of tow, and their works as sparks of fire; and the lawless and the sinners shall be burned together, and there shall be none to quench them.» To all these he adds: «And it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, and the house of God on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills. And all the nations shall come upon it; and many nations shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will declare to us His way, and we will walk in it. For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge between the nations.» ^C

XXXI. From the same. - The removal of the glory of the Jewish people, and the conversion of the nations from the worship of idols to the God of the universe, and regarding the desolation of the Jewish cities and their disbelief toward God.

«Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: And it shall be as when one gathers an ear of corn in a solid valley, and stubble is left in it, or as when two or three olive berries are left on the top of the high branches, or four or five on their boughs. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: In that day, man shall trust in Him who made him; and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, and they shall not trust in the altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers have made; nor shall they look to the trees, nor to their ^D abominations in that day. Thy cities shall be forsaken, in the manner that the Amorites and the Hivites forsook them from before the sons of Israel; and they shall be desolate because thou hast forsaken the God thy Savior, and hast not been mindful of the Lord thy God. Therefore thou shalt plant an unfaithful plantation; but in the day that thou shalt plant, thou shalt be deceived.»

^A

XXXII. By the same. — Exposition of the destruction of Jewish cities, and the joy of the nations according to God.

«O Lord my God, I will glorify thee, I will sing praise to thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel. Be it, O Lord, for thou hast laid cities in a mound, strong cities, that their foundations may fall. The city of the ungodly shall never be built; therefore the needy people shall bless thee, and the cities of men who suffer injuries shall bless thee. For thou hast been a helper to every humble city, and a shelter to those who were disheartened by poverty. And the Lord Sabaoth will make for all nations upon this mountain, they shall drink joy, they shall drink wine, they shall be anointed with ointment upon this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations; for this counsel is upon all nations; death hath prevailed and swallowed them up.» And again: «God hath taken away every tear from every face, God hath taken away the reproach of the people from all the earth. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things.»

^B

XXXIII. By the same. — Promise of good things to the Church, formerly deserted by the nations, and the despair of the Jewish race, and the reproof of their sins, and the calling of all the nations.

«Remember not the former things, and do not reason about the ancient things: for behold I do new things, which shall now spring up, and ye shall know them: and I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in the waterless land. And the wild beasts of the field shall bless me, the sirens and the daughters of the ostrich: because I have given water in the desert to give drink to my elect kin, my people whom I have acquired; tell ye my virtues. I have not now called thee, Jacob, nor have I made thee to labor, Israel. Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy whole-burnt offering, nor in thy sacrifices hast thou glorified me; ^C thou hast not served me with gifts, nor have I wearied thee with frankincense, nor have thou purchased for me silver incense, nor have I desired the fat of thy sacrifices, but I have stood before thee in thy sins and in thy iniquities.» And in what follows he says: «Turn to me, and ye shall be saved, ye who come from the end of the earth. I am, and there is no other; I swear by myself, justice shall surely go forth from my mouth. My words shall not turn back: for to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by the true God, saying: Justice and glory shall come to him, and all who separate themselves from the Lord shall be put to shame.»

^D

XXXIV. By the same. — Declaration of the coming of Christ to men. And the reproof of the Jewish nation, and the promise of good things to all the nations.

«Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of divorce of your mother, in which I sent her away? Or to what creditor have I sold you? Behold, by your sins ye have been sold, and by your iniquities I sent your mother away: for I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to hear,» and the rest; to which he adds: «They that walk in darkness, and there is no light for them: trust in

^A the name of the Lord, and stay yourselves upon your God. Behold, all you kindle a fire, and strengthen the flame: walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled. For my sake this has happened to you; you shall sleep in sorrow,» and the following; to which he adds: «Hear me, hear me: my people and kings, incline your ears unto me; for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near quickly, and my salvation shall go forth as a light, and the nations shall hope in my arm.»

XXXV. By the same. — A refutation of the impious injuries of the Jewish nation, and the ruin of their religion: and the manifestation of the calling of all the nations.

^B «Is the hand of the Lord then not strong to save? or is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear? But your iniquities have divided between you and God, and because of your sins he has turned his face from you, that he should not have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditates wickedness: no one speaks what is just, nor is the judgment true: they trust in vain things, and speak vanities: for they conceive labor, and bring forth iniquity: they have broken the eggs of asps, and weave a spider's web, and he who would eat of their eggs, when he has broken them, finds an adder, and in it a basilisk; their web shall not be for a garment, ^C nor shall they cover themselves with their works. For their works are works of iniquity; and their feet run to wickedness. They are swift to shed blood, and their thoughts are the thoughts of fools. Destruction and misery are in their ways; their paths are distorted, through which they pass, and they do not know peace. Therefore judgment is removed from them, and righteousness does not overtake them. When they waited for light, it became darkness to them: waiting for brightness, they walked in the gloom of night; they will grope for the wall as blind men, and as if they had no eyes, they will grope: they will fall at midday as if in midnight: they shall groan as if dying; and they shall go as a bear and a dove together,» and the following; ^D to which he adds: «And they that are from the setting of the sun shall fear the name of the Lord, and they that are from the rising of the sun the glorious name.» But since there are very many prophecies concerning the same subject, we shall be content with these testimonies which we have here provided: and we shall explain them again when the time comes. Meanwhile, however, since we have used such testimonies more than enough for the word, we consider that it is sufficiently demonstrated that the Jews have nothing more than the other nations. For if they say that they alone are partakers of the blessing of that friend of God, Abraham, because they are descended from him: yet God has already openly promised that he would impart an equal blessing to the nations, not only that granted to Abraham himself, but also to Isaac and to Jacob: having explicitly foretold that all the nations would be blessed in like manner, and under one and the same...

^A joy as those blessed men, who are friends of God, it invites the remaining nations as well, according to the passage: "Be glad, O nations, with his people," and that other: "The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham." Or, if they boast of the kingdom of God, as having become his inheritance, the divine oracles show that God is going to reign also among the remaining nations, saying: "Say among the nations, that the Lord has reigned." And again: "God has reigned over all the nations." Or if they declare themselves chosen for the priestly office and to render worship to God, it will be demonstrated how the divine word promises to impart an equal ministry to the nations as well, where it says: "Bring to the Lord, O families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor; take up sacrifices, and enter into his courts." To these you may also add that oracle in Isaiah, which says: "There shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord, and shall make sacrifices, and shall vow vows to the Lord, and shall perform them." ^B Here you should also note carefully that the prophecy signifies that an altar to the Lord is to be established outside of Jerusalem, in Egypt, and that the Egyptians there will sacrifice, make vows to the Lord, and perform them. Therefore, not only in Egypt, but also in the true Jerusalem herself—whatever she may be understood to be—all the nations, and even the most superstitious of all, the Egyptians, are called by prophecy to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles, interpreted according to the spirit and not according to the letter. But if of old the people of Jacob was made "the portion of the Lord, the line of his inheritance, Israel," yet in the future it is said that all the nations also are to be assigned to the Lord as his portion, where the Father says to him: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance." For the prophecy proclaims that he is destined to rule not only in Judea, but "from sea to sea, and unto the ends of the earth," and that all nations are to serve him, and all the tribes of the earth ^C are to be blessed in him. The reason for this was to make known the salvation of the God of the universe before all the nations. We have already noted before that the name Jesus, if translated from the Hebrew language into Greek, means "Salvation," so that the "Salvation of God" is nothing other than the appellation of our Savior Jesus Christ. To this fact, Simeon in the Gospel also bears witness; having taken the child, Jesus himself, into his arms, he prayed thus: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revelation of the nations." This same salvation the Psalmist also indicated, saying: "The Lord has made known his salvation; before the nations he has revealed his righteousness." And according to Isaiah, it is said that all men, having seen this very salvation, shall worship the God of the universe, who imparts his salvation ^D to all in abundance.

^A And they shall worship him, not at the lower Jerusalem which is in Palestine, but each from his own place, and all those in the islands of the nations; at which time that oracle ^B shall be fulfilled, which affirms that all men shall no longer call upon the gods of their fathers, nor upon idols and demons, but upon the name of the Lord, and shall serve him under one yoke, and from the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia shall offer to him rational and bloodless sacrifices through the New Testament of Christ—not in the lower Jerusalem, nor upon the altar that is there, but to be offered in those mentioned ends of Ethiopia. And if it is a great thing to be and to be called the people of God, and this indeed is one of the greatest of divine promises, to be spoken of by God himself regarding those worthy of him: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people," ^C and Israel formerly boasted with reason in being the only people of God; yet this blessing too the Lord, having arrived, promises to bestow upon the nations, saying: "Behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you; and many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord, and shall be to him for a people." Concerning whom it shall also be fitting to say: "And I will say to those who were not my people, You are my people; and he shall say, You are the Lord my God." But if it is Christ himself, and no other, who is prophesied to sprout from the root of Jesse, and this is acknowledged even by the Hebrews themselves, so that no one in any way disputes this: observe how he is also proclaimed to rise up to rule not Israel, but the nations, and that it is the nations that are said to set their hope on him, but not Israel, inasmuch as he himself was the expectation of the nations; wherefore he is also said to bring forth judgment to the nations, and to become a light to the nations; and again: "In his name shall the nations hope," and that he would be given for salvation not to the Jews only, but to all men unto the end of the earth. Wherefore it was also said to him by the Father who sent him: "I have given you for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to establish the earth, and to inherit the desolate heritages." And he mentions a testimony to the nations, so that all the nations that had never learned anything about Christ, having come to know the dispensation concerning him and what power was in him, might call upon him, and peoples who had not known him before might flee to him for refuge. And why need I draw out the discourse, when it is possible, ^D from the prophetic utterances themselves—both those which I have set forth, and those which, having found more leisure, I shall set forth, which are carried in the divine Scriptures—for whoever is pleased to collect the words of the prophets, to easily impose silence upon those of the circumcision who assert that the promises of God were given to them alone, and that we, who are from the nations, are superfluous and strangers to the divine promises? For it has been demonstrated, on the contrary, how it was prophesied that while all the nations would enjoy the presence of Christ, the multitudes of the Jews would fall away from the promise made to their ancestors.

^A They would, through Him, attain the promised spiritual redemption—a truth concerning which the wondrous Apostle also teaches somewhere, saying: "Isaiah cries out over Israel: 'If the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved; for He shall finish and cut short the word in righteousness, because the Lord will make a finished word upon the earth.' And as Isaiah predicted: 'Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been made as Sodom, and we would have been likened to Gomorrah.'" Regarding them, after other things, he adds, saying: "Has God cast away His people? God forbid! For I am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying: 'Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, they have torn down Thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away'? But what does the divine oracle say? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' ^B Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Through these words, the Apostle clearly declares that, in the downfall of the entire Jewish nation, he himself, along with those similar to him, the apostles and evangelists of our Savior, and all those who even now among the Jews believe in Christ, are that very seed which was named by the prophet, in accordance with the saying: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed." This also is what is meant in the remaining prophecies by the "remnant of the whole," which he says was preserved according to the election of grace. Concerning this remnant, let us again expand upon what the prophets have said, so that it may be more widely understood that God did not promise the saving advent of Christ to the entire Jewish nation, but to a few and very rare individuals among them, namely, those who have believed in our Savior and Lord; just as the event itself has declared its agreement with these very predictions.

CHAPTER IV. XXXVI. From Isaiah: That the fulfillment of the divine promises has not reached the entire Jewish nation, but only a few among them: ^D "Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it before you, and it is desolate, having been overturned by foreign peoples. And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a booth in a vineyard, and as a watch-tower in a cucumber patch, as a city being besieged. And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been made as Sodom, and we would have been likened to Gomorrah."

fuissemus. ^A Exordiens, the great and ^B wondrous prophet, at the beginning of his own book, teaches that the entire theme of his prophecy involves a vision and contemplation directed against Judea and against Jerusalem. Then he rebukes the whole Jewish nation, first saying: "The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel has not known me, and the people have not understood." Then, lamenting for the whole nation, he adds: "Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, lawless children." ^B Using these rebukes against them at the beginning of his book, and having provided the reasons for the prophecy that was to be brought against them, he commences his next remarks by saying: "Your land is desolate"—though it was not desolate at the time when he spoke the prophecy—"your cities are burned with fire," though this had not yet come to pass, nor were aliens even then devouring their territory. Yet he says: "Your land—aliens devour it in your presence," and so on. If, however, you move forward to the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ and the times that have followed until today, you would easily find all these things to have been fulfilled. For the daughter of Zion (this being the worship conducted upon the mountain called Zion) has been abandoned, from the time of the coming of our Savior Jesus, like a booth in a vineyard, and like a lodge in a cucumber garden—or if anything can be conceived more desolate than these. And strangers devour their land before them, at one time demanding tolls and taxes, and at another time making the land, which was once the property of the Jews, their own possession. But also that ^C admirable temple, which had been in their metropolis, has collapsed, razed by foreign peoples; their cities have been burned by fire, and Jerusalem has truly become a city under siege. But since, after these things befell them, the choir of the apostles and those of the Hebrews who believed in Christ were preserved from them like a fertile seed, and, spreading throughout the whole earth and among every race of men, filled every city, place, and region with their own Israelitic seed, so that from them, like ears of wheat, the Churches established in the name of our Savior have sprung up—the divine prophet rightly adds to the aforementioned threats against them: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah." ^D This, the holy Apostle, gathering it into a clearer meaning, interprets in the Epistle to the Romans: "Isaiah cries out over Israel: Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved. For the Lord will perform and condense a word upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before: Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah." To which he again adds, saying: "Has God rejected his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israe-

^Alite, from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew; or do you not know what the Scripture says in the account of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 'Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.' But what does the divine answer say to him? 'I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too, then, in the present time, a remnant has been made according to the election of grace."

That the prophecy does not point to another time, but to the time of the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ, the discourse following this—after saying, "Unless the ^B Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah"—in calling the whole Jewish people Gomorrah and their leaders the princes of Sodom, brings forward the setting aside of the Mosaic rite and the mode of that Testament which was announced to all men by our Savior. I mean the mode by the laver of regeneration; and it introduces a word and law clearly new in the prediction concerning such things.

It says, therefore: "Hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom; attend to the law of God, people of Gomorrah; what is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?" and the rest. These things, as being specific to the legislation set down by Moses, he removes, and introduces in their place another way of the remission of sins, that which is brought about by the saving laver and the life preached along with it, saying: "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away your wickedness from your souls," and the rest.

But for what reason he named them the princes of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, he clearly explained at once by saying: "For your hands are full of blood." And again, further down, he says: "They have made known and revealed their iniquity like those of Sodom. Woe to their soul: for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying, 'We shall bind the just, because he is unprofitable to us,'" in which he clearly makes mention of a certain blood and of a plot against a certain just man. And whom else should he be understood to mean, if not our Savior Jesus Christ? On account of whom and after whom all things that were predicted against them came to pass.

^D

XXXVII. By the same Isaiah. That it is on account of our Savior Jesus Christ, and after his advent, that all things spoken by the prophet happened to them.

"In that day, God shall shine forth in counsel with glory upon the earth, to lift up and to glorify the remnant of Israel, and that which has been left in Jerusalem; and all who are written unto life in Jerusalem shall be called holy." And what the remnant of Israel might be, the prophet himself explained, saying: "All who are written unto Jerusalem."

and the called holy. What then is this day ^B in which God is to glorify and exalt the remnant of Israel, and those who are to be called holy, and those to be written unto life, will be manifest to you if you trace through the whole narrative of the passage. At the beginning, then, of the whole book, the prophet, having seen the vision against Judaea and against Jerusalem, and having enumerated at great length the impious deeds of the whole Jewish nation, and having uttered threats and spoken concerning their destruction and the utter desolation of Jerusalem, brings the contemplation regarding them to an end, saying: "For they shall be as a terebinth that has cast its leaves, and as a garden that has no water. And their strength shall be as a shoot of tow, and their works as sparks of fire; and the lawless and the sinners shall be burned together, and there shall be none to quench them." Having here circumscribed the prophecy against them, he checks himself; and making a new beginning, he takes up a second subject, and employs a preamble of the following kind: "The word that came to Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, concerning Judaea and concerning Jerusalem," or, as Symmachus interpreted it, "over Judaea and over Jerusalem." Perchance some one might suspect that regarding those concerning whom he previously prophesied sad things, he is now, by a changed method, foretelling better things for the same. But the context of what follows will by no means allow one to say this; for it contains nothing at all good concerning the Jewish nation, or concerning him who is called Israel, nor yet concerning Judaea, nor concerning Jerusalem; but on the contrary, it recounts numberless complaints and accusations against Israel, and ^C sad threats against Jerusalem. And it divines the salvation that was to befall all the nations, their calling, and the knowledge of the God over all; and in addition to these things, it indicates the manifestation of a new mountain, and the construction of another house of God besides that which is in Jerusalem. He says, therefore, after mentioning Judaea and Jerusalem: "It shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, and the house of God upon the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall come unto it, and many nations shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob." And regarding all the nations he makes such predictions; but regarding the Jews, ^D hear what he adds next: "For He has abandoned His people, the house of the God of Jacob, because their land was filled, as from the beginning, with divination, like that of the foreigners, and many foreign children were born to them. For their land was filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures," and the things that follow these, which are many; to which he appends: "And they worshipped that which their own fingers made; and the man bowed down, and was humbled, and I will not forgive them; and now enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the face of His glory, when He arises"

^A to shake the earth. By these words He clearly teaches that there shall be a resurrection of the Lord, in which the whole land of the Jewish nation shall be shaken; for all the discourse was about them, as also follows, where he says: "For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is high and lifted up," and what follows these. In this day, therefore, of the resurrection of the Lord, having foretold the things against those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, he says: "In that very day," he says, "the Lord shall be exalted, and all things made by hands they shall hide, bringing them into the caves," ^B signifying almost the aversion from idols, which both the Jews themselves and all other men felt after the appearance of our Saviour, having spat upon all superstition. "In that day, therefore," he says, "a man shall cast away his abominations of gold and silver, which they made to worship vanities." And altogether, as is likely, he is proclaiming these things concerning every man because of the calling of the Gentiles which was to be. But specifically again he adds in one thought following this concerning the Jewish nation: "Behold, the Sovereign Lord of Hosts shall take away from Judæa and from Jerusalem the mighty man and the mighty woman, the stay of bread and the stay of water, the giant and the strong man, the man of war, and the judge, and the prophet, and the soothsayer, and the elder, and the captain of fifty, and the wonderful counsellor, and the wise architect, and the prudent hearer," and the things following these. ^C When you have attended to this more diligently, set alongside it the things foretold at the beginning of the prophecy, where it is said: "The word that came from the Lord to Isaiah, the son of Amos, concerning Judæa and Jerusalem," so that the things brought upon them are rather against them than for them, unless perhaps some hidden sense is contained in these things. For how is it possible that He who is about to take away from Judæa and from Jerusalem the mighty man and the mighty woman, the stay of bread and the stay of water, and all things that formerly flourished in them, should have been predicting that the things prophesied would be for the sake of Judæa and Jerusalem? Or how are the things which are said next for them? "Jerusalem is loosened, and Judæa has fallen, and their tongues with iniquity, not believing the things that pertain to the Lord." ^D But at such a time, in which the mountain of the Lord must be preached to all nations, and the house of God upon the mountain, to which they say that all the nations coming together, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob," the word, having used such accusations against the Jewish nation, and having threatened them with the ultimate things, appends to all these the words we have previously set forth, teaching that while the whole Jewish nation is about to fall away from the piety according to God, some will remain among them who have not shared in the evils with the rest; but on the contrary, as it were, saved from wicked and lawless men, and having received the sincerity of piety, [which is in the Lord's...]

they shall be held worthy of the Scripture from God, and shall be called holy servants of God. By these words, he signifies the apostles and disciples of our Saviour, and the evangelists, and all the rest who out of the circumcision believed in Him, at the time when their whole nation fell. These things the word hints at, saying: "In that day (in which, clearly, all those things predicted concerning the calling of the nations and concerning the fall of the Jews shall come to pass) God will shine forth in counsel ^B with glory upon the earth, to lift up and glorify that which is left of Israel; and it shall come to pass that what is left in Zion and what is left in Jerusalem, all who are written unto life in Jerusalem, shall be called holy." And it is with good reason that the preface of this prophecy indicates it is spoken of out of Judaea and over Jerusalem, or indeed of the true Jerusalem and the Judaea that is contemplated in accordance with it in mind; concerning which we shall see in due time.

And who, indeed, among those who perceive the divine power of the apostles of our Saviour and of the evangelists, according to which their sound went forth into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world, and all the Churches of Christ from that time even until now that have their words and teachings in their mouths, and the laws of Christ of the New Testament published through them—who would not bear witness to the truth of the prophecy, which says manifestly, "in counsel" and "with glory," God will exalt and glorify upon all the earth "that which is left of Israel"? And how it is that "what is left in Zion and what is left in Jerusalem, all who are written unto life, shall be called holy"? In place of what is said by the Seventy, "in counsel with glory," Aquila and Theodotion, agreeing with one another, translated "into power and glory," indicating the power given by God to the apostles, and the glory which they were to have with God after such power, according to that: ^C "The Lord will give the word to those who bring good tidings with great power."

XXXVIII. Item, that which came to pass in deed:

are to suffer devastation, are said alone to be multiplied. But these too would be the disciples of our Savior, who, having gone forth from the Hebrews to all men, and being left as seed, brought forth abundant fruit—the Churches of the nations throughout the whole world. And observe, indeed, how at the same time he affirms that these, having been left as a remnant from the fall of the Jews, would be multiplied, but that those [the Jews] would be altogether desolate: "For their land," he says, "shall be left desolate." This also was spoken to them above by the same prophet, in the passage: "Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence." When, however, were these things finally fulfilled, if not after the times of our Savior? For before they had dared such impious deeds against Him, their land had never been desolate, nor were their cities burned with fire, nor did strangers devour their land; but from that divine voice, through which our Savior and Lord Himself foretold to them what was to be, saying: "Your house is left desolate," from that time, and not long after the prediction, they were besieged by the Romans and reduced to desolation and ruin. The prophetic word also reproaches the cause of their desolation, where it interprets it almost openly and sets forth what that was which brought ruin upon them. For since they, hearing our Savior teaching among them, did not hear with the ears of the mind, nor understood who He was, and seeing Him with the eyes of the flesh, did not behold Him with the eyes of the soul, they made their own heart fat, and almost closed the eyes of their mind, and made their ears heavy, as the prophecy says. On this account, he says that their cities would be desolate, so as not to be inhabited, and the land would be made desolate, but that a few of them would be left behind, preserved like fertile and living seed; who, having gone forth to all men, are said to be multiplied upon the earth. Nevertheless, even after the departure of these very people, namely the apostles of our Savior, he yet says that a tenth part would remain in the very land of Judea, and after this, again, they would be for a spoil, like a terebinth, and like an oak when it falls from its husk. I think, however, the word signifies by these things that after the first siege, which they are recorded to have suffered in the times of the apostles and under the Roman Emperor Vespasian, they were again, under Hadrian, besieged a second time and were utterly excluded from the place, so that they were not even permitted to set foot upon the soil of Jerusalem. This, then, he hints at, saying: "And it shall be again for a spoil, like a terebinth, and an oak, when it falls from its husk." ^A

XXXIX. "And it shall be in that day: a man shall nourish a young cow of the oxen, and two sheep; and it shall be from that which plu-

^A much as he makes of milk, he shall eat butter, and honey, every one that is left in the land." ^A Here, if you seek the day which the prophet signifies, you will find the time of the advent of our Savior. For when the prophet said, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son," he proceeds to prophesy many things intervening concerning the events of that same day—that is, the time of the advent of our Savior. For he says that invisible powers and certain enemies and foes—called by the laws of allegory "flies" and "bees"—would invade the land of the Jews, and that the Lord, as the razor of these enemies, would shave the head of the Jewish nation, as if it were a great body, and the hair of their feet, and their beard, and, in short, their entire adornment. But since these things are to come to pass on that day of which we are speaking—that is, the day on which He of whom he speaks shall be born of the Virgin—he prophesies that the man who is left from the destruction of the whole nation, that is, everyone of them who has believed in the Christ of God, will nourish a young cow of the oxen and two sheep, and from the fact that it yields much milk, he will eat butter and honey. If you contemplate these things mystically, you will understand them to have reached their fulfillment in the apostles of our Savior. Each of them, in the churches which they established by the power of Christ, ^B brought together two orders—like sheep—to the flock of Christ: the one still being instructed in the first elements, and the other already enlightened through the laver; and in addition to these, one young cow, representing the ecclesiastical primacy of those who preside, nourishing them ^C with divine and rational foods, and from these he took the fruit of the milk which they produced, and the honey ^D of the food which he himself had prepared. That the divine Word is accustomed to liken the multitudes of the more imperfect ones to sheep, there is no need for me to say, for all Scripture teaches this. But that He likens to the rustic labor of oxen the leader of the church, who is more perfect and cultivates the many like a good farmer—this the holy Apostle demonstrates, saying, "Does God care for oxen? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes, in hope of partaking." If anyone is offended by figures of speech of this kind, he might as well contemplate the flies, and the bees, of which it is written, and the razor, and the beard, and the hair of the feet, not according to their sense, but according to the text, and thus fall into ridiculous and groundless myths. But if it is necessary to accept these only in a spiritual sense, it is evident that the following things must also be taken in a similar way.

XL. "In that day the mountains shall be extinguished, and the hills, and the woods, and they shall devour from the soul even to the flesh; and there shall be one who flees, as one fleeing from a burning flame; and those who are left of them shall be a number, and a little child shall write them; and it shall be in that day, the remainder of Israel shall no longer add, and those who are preserved of Jacob shall no longer confide."

^A They shall no longer be confiding in those who have treated them unjustly, but they shall be confiding in the God the Holy One of Israel in truth; and the remainder of Israel shall return unto God the Mighty. And if the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remainder of them shall be saved. For He is completing and cutting short the word in righteousness; because God will make a word shortened in all the inhabited world. Observe here, too, that in the threat of troubles, He says there shall be one who flees, as one who flees from a burning flame; and those who are left over from them shall be a number, and a little child shall write them. By these words He represents the scarcity of those who are to escape the destruction of the people of the circumcision, along with the burning of Jerusalem. ^B "But these who are left over," He says, "shall be a number," that is to say, they shall be capable of being numbered, being so few and easily counted. And so many, therefore, in comparison with the entire multitude of the Jewish nation, are those who have come to believe in our Savior and Lord, who were even accounted worthy of the Scripture from Him, as the discourse declares, saying: "And a little child shall write them." Having previously taught what this child was, in the words where it said: "Behold, the Virgin shall have in her womb, and shall bring forth a son; and before the child knows how to call father or mother..." And since here it says, "A little child shall write them," it was reasonably said in the preceding parts: "And it shall be that what is left in Zion, and what is left in Jerusalem, all who are written to life shall be called holy." Just as, then, in those passages the remainder was named, and these same were those written to life, ^C so also here, "those who are left over from them shall be a number, and a little child shall write them." And this remainder from Israel, and those who were preserved from Jacob, "shall no longer," He says, "be confiding in those who treated them unjustly, but they shall be confiding in God the Holy One of Israel." And observe now whether it is not with this very confidence that those who came forth from the Jewish nation, both the disciples and apostles of our Savior who were left over from the ruin of Israel, having made no account of the rulers of this age, or of the rulers of the people of the circumcision who had formerly been treating them unjustly, went forth into all the nations preaching Christ the Word, and with the confidence toward God (seeing that, according to the ^D prophecy, they were confiding in God the Holy One of Israel in truth; for they had not deceitfully nor with hypocrisy, but with truth, wholly committed themselves to hope), they not only went forth from their own land, but they accomplished that which was proposed to them. And this very thing again, the remainder, as if it were the seed of the ruin of Jacob, has become, confiding in God the Mighty; and this very remainder of their entire nation, having become as the sand of the sea, but not as the stars of the heaven, was deemed worthy of the salvation from God, just as the Apostle bore witness, when he said: "Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, if..."

the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." ^A For there were two promises given by the oracle to Abraham concerning those who should be born of him, namely, that they would be as the stars of heaven, and that they would be as the sand of the sea. By the former, the friends of God are compared—those who shine like the heavenly luminaries—such as the ancient prophets and the apostles of our Savior, to whom He bore witness when He said, "You are the light of the world." ^B By the latter, those who are earthly and look toward the ground are compared to the sand of the earth. Naturally, therefore, in these passages the prophetic word, when the entire multitude of the children of Israel—about to fall from their dignity and the magnificence of their virtue—is entirely reduced to looking toward the earth, as the prophetic discourse concerning them says, and is compared to the sand of the sea; then, indeed, only a remnant of them shall be saved, and it is concerning this remnant that we have labored much. ^C And He says that these things shall come to pass when the Lord Himself, contracting and perfecting the Word throughout the whole world, shall clearly manifest the Evangelical proclamation; in which, all the Mosaic cycle being removed—which consisted of images and signs and bodily worship—the concise Word of the Gospel, handed down to all men, confirmed the truth of the prophecy.

XLI. "And it shall be in that day, a root of Jesse, and he that rises to rule over the nations, in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be honor. And it shall be in that day, that the Lord shall add to show His hand, to emulate and to seek the remnant of His people, which shall be left by the Assyrians, and by Egypt, and by Babylonia, and by Ethiopia, and by the Elamites, and from the rising of the sun, and from the islands of the sea; and He shall lift up a sign to the nations, and shall gather the dispersed of Judah from the four wings of the earth." ^D Since we have often shown, when certain things are said to happen in a notable day—that is, when the manifest time has arrived—by considering the sequence of the things signified, that they refer to the coming of God, in which it is shown by the divine oracles that while the entire Jewish nation would fall, a few of them remaining would be saved. Yet the passage which is now in our hands reveals most plainly both the day itself, and the time signified by it, and the things that were to happen in that time; for when it sings of the future birth of Christ from the seed of David, it simultaneously foretells the ruin of the Jews; it speaks as follows: "Behold, the Lord of Hosts shall trouble the glorious with might, and the high shall be humbled, and the high shall fall by the sword, and Lebanon shall fall with the high." By Lebanon here He intimates Jerusalem, as we have demonstrated elsewhere, which the word threatens shall fall with all its dignified and glorious things. And when the prophet has set forth those previous things, he adds in sequence: "And there shall come forth"

a rod ^A out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall ascend from his root," and the rest. Most clearly, in this—the genesis of Christ from the root of Jesse (for this man was the father of David)—he depicts the birth of Christ, in which birth he first explains the calling of the nations through a certain prophetic obscurity of speech. For that which says: "The wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall rest with the kid," and things of that sort, indicates nothing other than the future conversion of the nations, which are wild and savage in their manner and in no way different from beasts, into pious and meek ways filled with all charity. But he teaches this same thing more plainly in what follows, saying: "The whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." And further, the prophetic word, interpreting itself, adds: "And it shall be in that day, the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule the nations, ^B in him shall the nations hope; and his rest shall be honor."

Since, therefore, he had previously signified the downfall of the Jewish nation in a veiled manner, and after that the calling of the nations, now more veiled and now more openly, he deservedly takes up the discourse again, and makes mention of those from the circumcision who are about to believe in Christ, so as not to exclude their hope in Christ in every way. For "there shall be," he says, "he who arises to rule the nations." And who was this one arising, if not the root of Jesse, whom he clearly says will rule the nations, but not Israel? Since, therefore, he taught in various ways this conversion of the nations to the one who was to spring and sprout from the root of Jesse, but had not yet said anything concerning those from the circumcision, he deservedly provides what was missing from the prophecy, saying: "And it shall be in that day," that is, in the time of the appearance of the one who was to sprout from the root of Jesse, "the Lord will add to show his hand, to seek, and to be zealous for the remnant of the people that ^C is left, which may be left from these and those enemies." Instead of which, Aquila has rendered: "And it shall be in that day, the Lord will add a second time his hand to acquire the remnant of his people, which shall be left by the Assyrians," and the rest.

But you should understand here also that the enemies of the people of God are to be considered as certain intelligible and spiritual ones—that is, evil demons or powers opposed to the word of piety—who long ago, invisibly presiding over the aforementioned nations, besieged the souls of Israel, enfolding them in various passions, and drawing them away, and taking them captive into a lifestyle similar to the behavior of the foreigners. Since, therefore, I might almost say that this whole people had been taken captive in soul by those whom we have called enemies, those who are guarded and left ^D unwounded and inviolate shall, according to the prophecy, obtain the promised blessing, being about to see the hand of the Lord and becoming his possession, according to the word that says: "The Lord will add to show his hand, to be zealous for the remnant of the people that is left." But what is he adding to show

^A if not those things which he ^A once before revealed through the prophets? "The hand of the Lord was brought near," and to those who had been saved from the downfall of the entire people, he added that which was lacking to their predecessors. These things were the mysteries of the New Testament, shown by the hand of the Lord to that part which was left of the people. But he also says, "to be zealous for the remnant of the people that is left." Regarding this, Aquila and Theodotion agree, saying: "To acquire the residue of his people, whatever shall have been left by the Assyrians and from the remaining hostile nations." And this residue of the people that has been left, he says, "he will exalt as a sign to the nations," clearly because through them the Lord exhibits his own sign to all nations; and through them he will gather together those of Israel who had perished, and those of Judah who were scattered from the four wings of the earth unto the Christ of God, having fled for refuge through the preaching of his apostles; he calls these the ones gathered together, those formerly deported and separated from the Israel and Judah of the mind. And the manner of such souls demonstrates the true Israel of God, just as, on the contrary, a vicious and depraved disposition causes that Israel which is so called by reason of the body to be termed "rulers of Sodom" and a "people of Gomorrah" in the oracles. The remnant, therefore, according to the election of grace, and what is called in the ^B prophecy "the remnant left of the people," proclaimed the sign of the Lord to all ^B nations, and by drawing such souls of the nations away from destruction to the knowledge of the Lord, they gathered one people to God, which even now is being brought together from the four wings of the earth by the power of Christ. These very disciples and apostles of our Savior who were saved from the lost part of the Jewish nation, being from different tribes, having been deemed worthy of one calling and one grace and one Holy Spirit, were to cast away all the love which the tribes of the Hebrew nation formerly had toward them, as the prophecy says. Since, therefore, they were perfected in the same understanding and the same purpose, they traversed not only the continent but also the islands of the nations, plundering and leading captive the souls of men from all sides, so that they might be subjected to the empire of Christ. Indeed, in this they acted in accordance with that oracle which says: "And they shall fly in ships of aliens, at the same time plundering the sea, and those who look ^C toward the rising of the sun." ^C But you will also observe that the rest of the prophecy corresponds to these things in proportion, if you carefully weigh each word with yourself, and reject whatever appears in it to be inconsistent or lowly, while understanding the meaning of the Spirit, insofar as the Spirit of God himself provides for you to contemplate it. For the time does not allow us to linger longer on these points, for we are hastening to complete the subject ^D proposed. ^D

[XLII]. "And I will command the whole world with evils, and for the impious their sins; and I will destroy the injury of the lawless, and I will humble the insolence of the proud. And those who are left shall be more precious than gold that suffers no fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone from Suphir." And it continues: "And those who are left shall be as a fleeing gazelle, and as a wandering sheep." Through these words, the passage most clearly indicates the scarcity of those who will be saved at the time of the destruction of the impious, so that there is no room to suppose that all those of the circumcision without discrimination, and the entire Jewish nation, will attain to the promises of God.

[XLIII]. "And it shall be in that day, the glory of Jacob shall fail, and the fat things of his glory shall be shaken. And it shall be as when one gathers the standing harvest, and reaps the seed of the stalks; and it shall be as one who gathers stalks in a solid valley, and stubble remains in it; or as berries of an olive, two or three, or four or five, left on the tips of their branches." Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "On that day a man shall be confident in him who made him; and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel; and they shall not be confident in the altars, nor in the works of their own hands, which their fingers made." Through these words, it is clearly prophesied that the glory of Israel and all their fat things will be taken away, but that a few, again, and countable in number—like a few berries left on a tree—will be said to be left behind; and these would be those from among them who have believed in our Lord. Following the things said concerning them, prophecy ensues concerning the whole race of men who shall turn away from the error of idols, and shall acknowledge the God of Israel.

[XLIV]. "Hear, O islands, you who are left and are in pain: hear what I heard from the Lord Sabaoth; the God of Israel has told us." See how even here He does not invite all those of the circumcision to the hearing of these mysteries, but only those whom He calls "left" and "in pain," such as were those who, according to the Apostle, were groaning and lamenting over the wickedness of the life of men.

[XLV]. "The high places of the earth have mourned, and the earth has acted unjustly by reason of those who dwell upon it. Therefore, those who dwell on the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left." And here, having rebuked those who transgressed the law and the covenant of God from among the people of the circumcision, and having threatened them with the things written, He prophesies that few men shall be left from among them; and these would be the "remnant according to the election of grace" mentioned by the Apostle.

^A

XLVI. "Cities shall be left desolate, and the houses that shall have been left shall perish. All these things shall be in the land, in the midst of the nations; as if one should glean an olive tree, so shall they glean them; and if the vintage shall cease, these shall cry out with a voice; but they that have been left upon the earth shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord." Here also, those who alone shall be left are said to rejoice, while all the rest are to be delivered over to the things which are prophesied.

XLVII. "The crown of pride shall be trodden underfoot, the hirelings of Ephraim; and it shall be the flower that shall fall from the hope of glory on the summit of the high mountain, as an early fig; he who saw it, before he received it into his hand, would desire to devour it. In that day the Lord shall be ^B the crown of hope, woven with glory for him who has been left of His people; for they shall be left in the spirit of judgment." Here also, He prophesies that the Lord shall be a crown of hope and glory not to the whole nation of them, but solely to those who are signified by the name of the "remnant" of the people whom He has left; calling the others, besides the remnant of the people, the "crown of pride" and the "hirelings of Ephraim."

XLVIII. "And they that have been left in Judæa shall send forth a root downward, and shall make fruit upward, because from Jerusalem shall be they that are saved from Mount Sion. The jealousy of the Lord of Sabaoth shall do these things." He prophesies that those who were left from the Jewish nation according to the election of grace ^C shall send forth a root downward and make fruit upward, most clearly representing the election of the Apostles and disciples of our Savior. For these, being left from among those of the circumcision, cast the roots of their doctrine down into the earth, in such a way that their very doctrine was planted and firmly rooted throughout the whole world, while they exhorted [believers] to bear the seed and fruit upward to the heavenly promises. These same people, left from the Jewish nation while the rest perished, are said to be the only ones saved. And all these things the jealousy of the Lord did. For, in order to provoke to jealousy the impious ones from among the circumcision, the jealousy of the Lord chose these, and provoked those others, according to that which is said by Moses: "They provoked ^D me with that which is not God, and I will provoke them with that which is not a nation; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."

XLIX. "Thus says the Lord: As a berry shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing of the Lord in it; so will I do for the sake of him who serves me; for his sake I will not destroy all; and I will bring forth the seed from Jacob, and from Judah; and he shall inherit my holy mountain; and my chosen and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there. And there shall be in the forest a fold for flocks, and the valley of Achor for a resting place for the herds of cattle for my people, who have sought me. But you, who

^A who have forsaken me, and forgotten my holy mountain, and prepare a table for fortune, and fill a mingled cup for the demon, I will deliver you to the sword. You shall all fall in slaughter; because I called you, and you did not answer, and you did the evil in my sight, and you chose the things that I did not will. ^B Now, in these things also, the divine word makes a distinction; saying that a certain small remnant from Jacob shall obtain the things promised; and that those who have dwelt in the forest are the elect. For thus it designates the calling of the nations, in which are the elect of the Lord and the seed of Jacob—and these would be the apostles and disciples of our Savior. All those remaining besides these are subject to the declared threats; the word showing most clearly that the promises of God were not to come, as it were by chance, upon the whole Jewish race, but only upon that which is named the seed and upon those who are called the elect of God; since "many are called, but few are chosen." And the word next foretells that a new name will be imposed upon these, saying to the impious: "For your name shall be left for a satiety to my elect; but the Lord shall slay you; and to those who serve me, a new name shall be called." ^C What, then, could this new name be, which was unknown to the ancients, if not the name of Christians, which, derived from the appellation of our Savior Jesus Christ, is celebrated with praise and favor throughout the whole world?

L. From Micah

LI.

^A lambs upon the grass, so that no one may gather, nor stand among the sons of men: and the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a lion's whelp among the flocks of sheep, in the manner that when it passeth through, and disparting, snatcheth away, and there is none to rescue: thy hand shall be lifted up over those who afflict thee, and all thine enemies ^B shall be destroyed." Indeed, nothing could be more luminous than this, which relates the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem, and his generation from eternity, and the birth from the Virgin, and the calling of his apostles and disciples, and the proclamation concerning Christ which was brought by them to the whole world. For since that Prince of whom the prophecy speaks, and whose exit he declares to be from days of eternity, was to proceed from Bethlehem, and this same holy Virgin who is called the one bringing forth was to bear him, he affirms that not all who pertain to the circumcision, but only those who shall have remained, will be saved, whom he also declares shall be a remnant of Jacob, and granted like dew unto all nations. "For there shall be," he says, "the remnant of Jacob among the nations, as dew falling from the Lord, and as lambs upon the grass," for which Aquila provides, "and as drops upon the herb," while Theodotion renders, "as snow upon the hay." And again, for that which says, "so that no one may gather, nor stand among the sons of men, nor shall the son of man offend," Theodotion has substituted, "who shall not wait for man, and shall not hope in the son of man." But Aquila: "Who shall not wait for a man, and not [hope] concerning the sons of men": in which is demonstrated that the entire hope of the apostles of our Savior was not in man, but in their Savior and Lord, who was indeed the Word of God. To these, he forthwith adds: "And the remnant shall be of Jacob ^C among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a lion's whelp among the flocks of sheep: in the manner that when it passeth through, and disparting, snatcheth away, and there is none to rescue": by which words, I think, the boldness and intrepid strength of the apostolic preaching is declared. For truly, like a lion and a cub in the forest of the nations, and falling into the flocks of human sheep, and separating the worthy from the unworthy, they subjected them to the Word of Christ. To whom, thereafter, are proffered things that were to flow from him: "Thy hand shall be lifted up over thy persecutors, and all thine enemies shall be destroyed": which very thing one may indeed behold with one's own eyes. For although many, although innumerable, have afflicted the Word of Christ in time past, and do still oppose it today, yet it has ascended higher and has been made more powerful than all. But also the hand of Christ is placed on high against all who have afflicted him; and all his enemies, rising up at various times against his Church, are said to be destined for destruction. ^D LII. From Sophonias. "For then I will turn to the peoples a tongue—

of the Lord, that they may serve him under one yoke. ^A From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring me suppliants; they shall bring me offerings. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed of all thy works, with which thou hast acted impiously against me; for then I will take away from thee the insults of thy reproach, and thou shalt no longer add to boast upon my holy mountain, and I will leave in thee a people meek and humble; and they who are the remnant of Israel shall fear in the name of the Lord, and shall not do injustice, nor speak vain things, and a deceitful tongue shall not be found in their mouth; because they shall feed and lie down, and there shall be none to make them afraid. And in these words the Lord promises that he will leave for himself a meek and humble people, signifying none other than those from the circumcision who were to believe in his Christ. And again, he signifies that those who are the remnant of Israel alone are to be saved along with the calling of the remaining nations, which he indicated at the beginning of the prophecy.

LIII. From Zechariah.

^B “Behold, a day is coming upon thee, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee; and I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled, and half of the city shall go out into captivity; but the remnant of my people shall not be destroyed from the city.” These words also harmonize with those previously set forth regarding the destruction of the entire Jewish nation, which reached fulfillment after the coming of Christ. For Zechariah prophesies this after the return from Babylon, predicting that final laying waste of the people which was to be inflicted by the Romans; in which, while the entire Jewish nation was to fall under the power of the enemy, he says that only those who were the remnant of the people would be safe, ^C thus most clearly signifying the apostles of our Savior.

LIV. From Jeremiah.

“Turn back, O wayward children, saith the Lord; for I will rule over you, and I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you into Sion, and I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you, feeding with knowledge. And it shall be, when you have multiplied and increased, saith the Lord, in those days they shall say no more: The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; it shall not come into their heart, nor shall it be named, and it shall not be made any more.” ^D In these words, too, he proclaims the conversion of Israel that was to take place at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, in which, having chosen one from a city and two from a family, very few and small in number, as shepherds of the nations who had believed in him, and when the nations on earth had increased by the calling of the nations that was to come through them: “They shall say no more,” he says, “The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord”; for they shall no longer return to the more corporeal adorations of Moses,

inasmuch as a new Testament is to be delivered to them.

LV. By the same. “They have multiplied their impieties, they have prevailed in their aversions. With which of these shall I be propitious to you? Your sons have forsaken me, and have sworn by them that are no gods, and I satisfied them, and they committed adultery, and dwelt in the houses of harlots; they became stallions, they neighed everyone after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, says the Lord, or shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Ascend her battlements, and slaughter; but do not make a full end; leave her supports, for they are the Lord’s.” In these words, at once the accusation of their whole nation is set forth, and the siege that overtook them is indicated, and again the remnant, which he calls her support, which belongs to the Lord. Now this remnant was that which, through faith in Christ the Son of God, was strengthened and made firm, so as not to undergo the same things that the whole of that nation suffered.

LVI. From Ezekiel. “And the wounded shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when there shall be those of you who are saved from the sword among the nations, and when you shall be scattered through the countries. And they that are saved of you among the nations where they shall have been taken captive, shall remember me.” It seems to me that here also this agrees with what has been accepted from the other prophecies. For whom would you call those who are saved, other than that which is termed in other places the “remnant,” and the “drop” and “dew” of that people, by which the establishment of the apostles of our Savior was signified? These, therefore, having been saved from the destruction of their whole nation, and in their dispersion, remembered God, so that it must be acknowledged that the things written were spoken concerning them.

LVII. From the same. “Thus says the Lord Adonai: I will cast them out to the nations, and I will scatter them into all the nations, and I will scatter them into every land; and I will be to them a small sanctuary in the countries wherever they shall have entered.” Here too, he has called the same persons by another name, where he said “a small sanctuary,” meaning those among them who were to be saved and remain.

LVIII. From the same. “And all that take them I will scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword behind them, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and I will disseminate them in the countries; and I will leave of them men in number, from the sword, and from famine, and from death, that they may relate all their iniquities among the nations wherever they have entered; and they shall know that I am the Lord.” In the dispersion of the whole people, here too he says that he will leave for himself a few in number, signifying none other than those who were mentioned before.

^A LIX. From the same. “Thus saith Adonai the Lord: Even if I send upon Jerusalem my four evil judgments, the sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and death, to destroy from it man and beast, and behold, those who are left in it, those who have been preserved,” and so on. These words too do not differ at all from those previously stated.

LX. From the same. “Thus will I judge you, saith the Lord, and I will lead you under my rod, and I will bring you into the count of my Covenant, and I will choose from among you the rebels and the impious; for I will lead them out of the land of their sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel.” ^B In these things also, he clearly affirms that only a few in number will come under the rod of God, while the rest of Israel shall fall away from the promises.

But indeed, since it has been demonstrated by us that the divine oracles did not prophesy those promises of good things to all those of the Jewish nation simply, indiscriminately—whether the vicious and impious or those who are not such—but only to a few of them, and those easily numbered—namely, those who have believed in our Savior and Lord from among them, or those who were justified before his appearing—I think I have sufficiently declared that the things pertaining to the divine promises did not meet their fulfillment in all Jews indiscriminately; ^C and that the responses of the prophets apply not so much to them as to those from the nations who, when they accepted the Christ of God, were taken in. As to what was the meaning of the divine promises, I shall set it forth when the time is appropriate.

These things I have collected of necessity to refute those of the circumcision who, puffed up by an absurd arrogance, stubbornly boast that Christ would come only to them and not to all men; and also to demonstrate that it is with good reason that we occupy ourselves with their books and oracles. In the previous book, I have already established the reason why we do not fall into the Jewish custom, even though we rejoice in their prophetic writings; ^D and I have explained to the best of my ability what kind of life this is which, with Christ as its author, has been announced and preached to all nations, and how ancient is the character of the evangelical polity.

Since these things have been set forth by us, it is now high time to touch upon more mysterious matters, those concerning the mystical dispensation of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and so that we may learn why he made his manifestation to all men now, and not before this; and what the reason was why he did not begin the calling of the nations in long-past times, but only recently, after a long age; as well as all other things that pertain to the secret theology concerning him. Furthermore, let us now come to consider, as if calling upon the Word of God himself to assist us as we draw near to unbelievers, the matters concerning his incarnation—which themselves form the first part of another beginning of our discourse.

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA DEMONSTRATION OF THE GOSPEL BOOK THREE

THESE ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE THIRD BOOK OF THE GOSPEL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

I. That the Hebrew prophets preached the Gospel. II. That they uttered prophecies concerning Christ. III. How we should answer those who think him a deceiver. IV. Concerning his divine deeds. V. That his disciples did not invent, but truthfully recounted, the miracles performed by him. VI. That he performed those miracles not by any trickery, but by divine virtue and power. VII. That the efficacy itself and the evidence of that divine power clearly manifest it to lovers of truth.

PROOEMIUM

Since I have abundantly treated those matters which were to serve as a kind of preface to the Gospel Demonstration, and have also demonstrated the manner of the Gospel teaching of our Savior, and have set forth the reasons why we who have embraced the oracles of the Jews have rejected their way of life, and furthermore have made plain how their prophetic writings, appearing before that which was to come, made mention of our future calling through Christ—so that we lay claim to them as our own, and not as belonging to others—the time now admonishes me to approach the proposed subject and to make a beginning of the things that were promised. ^A Furthermore, these things were: those which pertain to the account of the humanity of Jesus, who is the Christ of God, and likewise those proofs of his divinity which exist among the Hebrew prophets, and what they declared concerning his advent to men; which things we shall presently demonstrate as applying to him alone, from the clear evidence of their fulfillment, having first necessarily considered that—

^A how the prophets took up the mention of the Gospel in Christ.

That the prophets took up the mention of the Gospel in the Christ Himself.

1. Let the witness of this truth be the prophet Isaiah, speaking exactly in his own words from the person of Christ, crying out: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." Our Savior, having one day read this prophecy in the synagogue before the multitude of the Jews, and having folded the book after the reading, spoke thus: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears," ^B and immediately, starting from this, began his own teaching, preaching the gospel to the poor, preferring them to the rest by praising those who would be with him, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Furthermore, to those who were vexed by evil spirits, and who had been long held as captives by demons, he proclaimed in advance their release, inviting all to freedom and release from the chains of malice with these words: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And to the blind he granted recovery of sight, restoring the power of seeing to those whose bodily eyes were corrupted, ^C as a sign that he was bestowing upon those who previously could hardly look upon the truth the power by which they might behold the light of true piety.

The prophecy set forth, therefore, declares Christ first of all to be the author and leader of the whole evangelical work. But after him, the same prophet prophesies that his disciples would be ministers of this same purpose, saying: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good things, or those who preach peace." Here, he very accurately said that the feet of those who preach the good things of Christ would be beautiful; for how were they not destined to be beautiful, having in a small and short time traversed the whole world, and filled every place with that holy teaching ^D about the Savior of the world?

But that they did not use human speech to persuade their hearers, but that it was the power of God that worked with them as they preached the Gospel, another prophet cries out in turn: "The Lord shall give the word to those who preach with great power." And again, Isaiah: "Get thee up into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings, O Zion; lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings, O Jerusalem; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord cometh with strength, and his arm with power; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall comfort those that are with young." But in what sense these things are to be understood, by the way...

as we proceed further in the evangelical teaching, we shall see. In the meantime, this is established, that the Gospel itself, and the name of the Gospel, have been confirmed by prophetic voices. You have, moreover, manifest and clear demonstrations ^A of the source from which the Gospel would take its beginning—namely, from Christ himself—and by whom it would be preached—namely, by his apostles—but also by what power it would prevail—not, of course, by human power. This is itself established by that saying: "The Lord will give the word to those who preach the Gospel with great power."

What remains, then, is to anticipate by taking a few examples from the many things which were divinely foretold among the Hebrews long ago concerning Christ, that you may learn what those things were which in later times would announce the future Gospel, and at the same time the miracle of the prophets who discerned future events so long before, and likewise the fulfillment of those oracles, just as they are completed ^B in our Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God.

II. That the prophets of the Hebrews prophesied concerning Christ.

The first of the prophets, Moses, declares that another prophet like unto himself will be raised up. Since the laws laid down by him were suited only to the Jewish nation, and that only in the land of Judea, or around it, and not to the nation which dwelt in the most distant and remote lands, as could be known from the things previously discussed by us, and since it was fitting that He who was the God not only of the Jews but also of other nations should provide for the lives of men, for the sake of knowing and worshipping Him, those things which would be useful to all nations as well, he rightly foretells by an oracle that another prophet, who would yield in no part to his own reason and institution, would be raised up from the Jewish nation. God himself answers in this manner: "I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them according to all that I shall command him; and the man whosoever will not hearken to his words, ^C whatsoever that prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance on him."

But Moses himself also, interpreting this oracle to the people, says: "A prophet from among your brethren like unto me will the Lord your God raise up; him you shall hear in all things, whatsoever you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly." Was then any of the prophets who existed after Moses—Isaiah, for example, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel, or any other of the twelve—constituted an author of the law comparable to Moses? By no means. But did any of them perform works similar to Moses? It is not possible to say. For each of them, from the first to the last, used to send their hearers back to Moses, and they made their reproof ^D of the people for their transgressions according to the law of Moses, and they urged them to nothing else but to adhere to the things legislated by Moses. None of these, therefore, is like him, while Moses explicitly proclaims concerning one. Whom, then, does the oracle foretell will be a prophet like unto Moses, if not only the

Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ? ^A But it is necessary to examine carefully how this has been said. Moses was the first to lead the Jewish nation. And finding them engaged in the polytheistic error of the Egyptians, he was the first to turn them away from it, deterring the worshippers of idols with unavoidable punishments; and he was the first to announce to them the theology concerning the monarchy, commanding them to worship only the Creator and Maker of all things; and he was the first to ordain for them a certain manner of religious life, proving himself to be the first and only lawgiver of a pious commonwealth for them. But Jesus Christ also, in a manner similar to Moses, and indeed far more excellently, was the first to provide instruction in piety to the remaining nations, and he was the first to effect the overthrow of the idolatry practiced throughout the whole inhabited world; and he was the first to present to all men the knowledge and piety of the one God, who is King over all, and he proved himself to be the first introducer and lawgiver of a new life and a commonwealth becoming to pious men. ^B And as for the other things regarding the creation of the world, and concerning the immortality of the soul, and whatever other philosophical dogmas Moses was the first to hand down to the Jewish nation, these Jesus Christ, in a manner more divine, was the first to announce to the rest of the nations through his disciples; so that it is with reason that Moses is proclaimed the first and only lawgiver of piety for the Jews, while Jesus Christ is the lawgiver for all the nations, in accordance with the prophecy that spoke concerning him: *Set, O Lord, a lawgiver over them; let the nations know that they are men. Again, Moses confirmed the piety announced by him with wondrous works and marvels. Likewise, also, Christ, having used the written miracles for the faith of those who saw him, established the new teachings of his evangelical doctrine. Again, Moses translated the Jewish nation from the ^C bitter slavery under the Egyptians into freedom; and Jesus Christ also recalled the entire human race from the godless and Egyptian idolatry, which was held by evil demons, into freedom. Again, Moses promised a holy land and a life therein that is pleasing to God and blessed for those who keep the laws; likewise also Jesus Christ, saying, *Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.* He promised a far better land, truly holy and pleasing to God, not that one in Judea—which certainly does not differ from any other—but that which is appropriate for souls that love God in heaven, for those who accomplish the life announced by him. This, too, he demonstrated more clearly, by announcing ^D the kingdom of heaven to those considered blessed by him. And you might find other deeds performed by our Savior with power greater than or like unto those that Moses also performed. For instance, as an example, Moses fasted for forty days in succession, as the Scripture bears witness, saying: *And he was there

before the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water* (Exod. XXXIV, 28). ^A Likewise also Christ. For it is written: *And he was led into the wilderness forty days, being tempted of the devil, and he ate nothing in those days* (Luc. IV, 1-2). And again, Moses provided food for the people in the wilderness. For the Scripture says: *Behold, I give you bread from heaven* (Exod. XVI, 4). And after a little: *It came to pass, when the dew had settled round about the camp, and behold, upon the face of the wilderness it was small, like white coriander seed, like frost upon the ground* (Exod. XVI, 13-14). And our Savior and Lord likewise says to his own disciples: *Why reason ye among yourselves, O ye of little faith, that ye have taken no bread? Do ye not yet understand, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took? Neither the seven of the four thousand, and how many hampers ye took?* (Matth. XVI, 8-10). ^B Again, Moses entered through the midst of the sea, and led the people. For thus the Scripture has it: *Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord brought the sea down with a violent south wind all the day, and made the sea dry, and the water was divided, and the children of Israel went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and the water was a wall to them on the right hand and a wall on the left* (Exod. XIV, 21-22). In like power, and even more fittingly for God, Jesus who is the Christ of God, walking upon the surface of the sea, caused Peter also to walk upon it to come to him. For it is written: *But in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them walking upon the sea; and seeing him walking upon the sea, they were troubled* (Matth. XIV, 25-26). And after a little: *But Peter answering him said: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters. And he said, Come. And Peter descending from the ship walked upon the waters* (Ibid. 28-29). Again, Moses made the sea solid by a violent south wind. For the Scripture says: *And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord brought the sea down with a violent south wind.* And he adds: *The waves stood in the midst of the sea* (Exod. XIV, 21-22). ^C In the same manner, and much more excellently, our Savior rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm (Matth. VIII, 26; Luc. VIII, 24). Again, when Moses was descending from the mountain, his face was seen to be full of glory. For it is written: *And Moses descending from the mountain, he did not know that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified while he was speaking to him; and Aaron and all the elders of the children of Israel saw Moses, and the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified.* In like manner, and much more differently, our Savior, having brought his own disciples up into a very high mountain, was transfigured before them, and his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. Again, Moses...

^A cleansed a leper. For it is written: “And behold, Miriam was leprous, white as snow.” And a little later: “And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: O God, I beseech thee, heal her.” By a like method, and indeed with far greater power, the Christ of God, when a leper approached him and said: “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,” answered: “I will; be thou cleansed,” and his leprosy was cleansed. Again, Moses affirmed that the law was written by the finger of God. For it is thus written: “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking to him on Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God.” And in Exodus: “The magicians therefore said to Pharaoh: This is the finger of God.” Likewise also Jesus, who is the Christ of God, said to the Pharisees: “But if I by the finger of God cast out demons.” ^B Over and above all these things, Moses renamed Jesus Nave. By a like method, the Savior also renamed Simon, Peter. And again, Moses appointed seventy leaders for the people. For the Scripture says: “Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel, and I will take of the spirit that is upon thee, and I will put it upon them; and he gathered seventy men.” Likewise, the Savior also designated His own seventy disciples, and sent them two by two before His face. And again, Moses sent out twelve men to explore the land. Likewise, our Savior, by a much more excellent way, sent out twelve apostles to inspect all the nations. ^C Again, Moses legislates, saying: “Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not forswear thyself.” But our Savior, extending the law, prohibits not only killing, but even being angry; and instead of not committing adultery, He exhorts not even to look upon a woman with wanton desire; and instead of not stealing, He commands to bestow one’s own goods upon the needy; and, going beyond even not forswearing oneself, He legislates not to swear at all. And why need I extend my discourse to demonstrate the things that are similar, and how nearly Moses and Jesus our Savior and Lord have acted in the same way, when it is easy for anyone who wishes to collect these things at his leisure? ^D For since they say that no one knew of the death of Moses, nor even his sepulcher, so also no one could know of our Savior’s change into the divine state after his return to life. If, therefore, in so many things, no one else—but our Savior alone—can be brought forward as having had a similarity of deeds with Moses, it remains that we should look to Him alone. And we should not refer to anyone else the prophecy which exists in Moses, through which God ordained that He would show one like him, saying: “I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them as I shall command him. And the man who will not listen to his words, whatever the prophet shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” And Moses himself, to the people,

^A interpreting the voice of God, said: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers. You shall listen to him in all things that you asked from the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly.” That no prophet like Moses has arisen among those after Moses before our Savior, the ancient Scripture clearly teaches, saying: “And there has not arisen since a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders.” It is demonstrated, therefore, that the divine Spirit prophesied through Moses concerning our Savior; for indeed, it has already been proven that he alone, and no other who had arisen, was like Moses, just as the words of Moses himself describe.

But consider also another written prophecy. For since countless multitudes in all the nations call our Savior and Lord—a man, according to his humanity, born of the seed of Israel—Lord, on account of his divine power ^B attributing this name to him; and Moses, likewise perceiving this by the divine Spirit, foretold it through his own writing in this way: “A man shall go forth from his seed (he says, of Israel), and he shall rule over nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted.” If, therefore, no other one of the rulers and kings who reigned under the circumcision ever became lord over many nations (for no history records this), but the truth cries out and proclaims concerning our Savior alone—that countless multitudes from all the nations confess him as Lord, and not only with their lips, but with most sincere affection—what then stops us from saying that he is the one who is prophesied?

That Moses does not predict these things indefinitely, nor shadow out the prophecy for an immense and indeterminate time, ^C but most providently circumscribes the outcome of the things he predicted in definite times, those things which he sings concerning this matter also, most plainly indicate: “A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it is set aside; and he is the expectation of the nations.” By these words he announces that there will not be a lack of leaders and princes hereafter, who succeed one another in a continuous series from the Jewish race, until the advent of him who is expected. And if the princes among the Jews should fail, then he who is expected from the oracles will arrive. But he does not here mean the tribe of Judah itself, but because by a certain naming ^D in later times, the entire status of the Jews was called from the royal tribe of Judah, such that even today [/D] the entire nation of the Jews is named Jews, just as we also call them Jews—in a very wondrous and prophetic way he named the entire nation of the Jews. He says that leaders and princes will not fail from their nation before the one who is prophesied is present; and that once he has stood by, the rule of the Jews will immediately be destroyed, and he himself will no longer be the expectation of the Jews, but of the nations. And this, indeed, could not be applied to the prophets, but only to our Savior and Lord. For both he was present among men, and at the same time the kingdom of the Jews was taken away; and the ancestral rule vanished immediately.

^A And the expectation of the nations throughout the whole world, according to divine prediction, has appeared; so that still even now, all who from every nation have believed in him place the hope of their expectation towards God upon him. And Moses indeed announces these things, and many others besides these, concerning Christ to us all; but Isaiah, as his brother in spirit, specifically foretells these things concerning some one who is to arise from the seed and lineage of David the King: "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of his root; and the spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding," and the rest. ^B And then, proceeding further in the prophetic manner, he foretells the change of the foreign, barbarian, and Greek nations—and of the most wild and beast-like men—into mild and gentle ways through the teaching of Christ. He says, therefore: "And the wolf shall feed together with the lamb, and the leopard shall rest with the kid, and the calf and the bull and the lion shall feed together," and things similar to these, which he also explains immediately, saying: "And there shall be one rising up to rule over the nations; in him shall the nations hope." Clearly, he meant that the irrational beasts and the wild creatures previously mentioned were none other than the nations themselves, because of their beast-like character; and over these nations he says one shall rule who rises from the seed of Jesse, from whom our Savior and Lord is genealogically reckoned, in whom the nations that believe in him still now hope, in harmony with the prophecy: "And there shall be one rising up to rule over the nations; in him shall the nations hope." ^C This, then, compare with what is found in Moses, distinguishing them: apply the phrase "There shall be one rising up to rule over the nations" to "A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall hold dominion over many nations"; and the phrase "In him shall the nations hope" to "And he shall be the expectation of the nations." For what difference is there in saying, "In him shall the nations hope," or "He shall be the expectation of the nations"? Again, the same Isaiah, proceeding further concerning Christ, prophesies these things: "Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased; he shall bring forth judgment to the nations," and adds, "until I place judgment upon the earth, and in his name shall the nations hope." Thus, the prophet here establishes for the second time that the nations will hope in Christ, having said earlier, "In him shall the nations hope." ^D And here, "And in his name shall the nations hope." It has been said also to David that "Of the fruit of his loins shall there arise one," concerning whom God next says, "He shall call upon me, Thou art my father; and I will place him as my first-born." And concerning this it has been said again, "And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from"

the rivers unto the ends of the earth." And again, "All the nations shall serve him, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed." ^C And again, a certain place is assigned and predicted by Micah for the birth of him who is prophesied, saying, "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of thee shall come forth to me a leader, who shall shepherd my people Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." And it is acknowledged by all that Jesus the Christ was born in Bethlehem, inasmuch as the cave is shown there by the locals to those who arrive from foreign lands to see it. And this place, where he was to be born, was predicted; but what was clearer, Isaiah also sets forth, ^D sometimes by riddles, when he says, "Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have announced before him as a child, as a root in thirsty ground." For which Aquila interpreted thus: "And he shall be proclaimed as one being suckled before his face, and as a root from an impassable land." And Theodotion: "And he shall ascend as that which is nourished by milk before him, and as a root in thirsty ground." For by these words, when the prophet had made mention of the arm of the Lord, which was the Word of God, he says, "Before him, we have announced as a child being suckled and fed at the breast, and as a root from an impassable land." The child being fed at the breast and suckling directly signifies the birth of Christ; but the impassable and thirsty land signifies the virgin who brought him forth, whom no man has approached, from whom, even though she was impassable, the blessed root came forth, and the child being fed at the breast and suckling. But these things he signified in a shadowy way; more clearly, however, the same prophet interprets his own meaning when he says, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel." For this interprets "God with us." Let such things regarding the birth of Christ among men have been pondered by the Hebrews of old. Does one therefore describe the one prophesied as some illustrious potentate, or tyrant, or one of those who are otherwise able to do great things in this life? It is not possible to say; for no such person ever appeared. But such as he appeared in life, such they prophesied he would be, in no way falling short of the truth. Having said then, Isaiah, "We have announced before him, as a child, as a root in thirsty ground," he follows by saying, ^D "He has no form nor glory; and we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty; and his appearance was dishonored and failing beyond the sons of men. Man, being in a blow, and knowing how to bear infirmity, he was dishonored, and not esteemed." What then remains after these things? For if they foretold his tribe, and family, and manner of birth, and the

^A miracle of the Virgin, and his manner of life, it followed in order that they should not be silent regarding his death. What, then, does Isaiah sing even concerning this? "A man," he says, "being in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity, was dishonored and not esteemed; he bears our sins, and suffers for us: and we thought him to be in labor, and in plague, and in affliction; but he was wounded for our sins, and was made infirm because of our iniquities. The correction of our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we were healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord delivered him over to our sins; and he, because of his being ill-treated, does not open his mouth. As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he does not open his mouth; who shall narrate his generation? because his life is taken away from the earth," and the rest. ^B By these words he signifies that Christ, although existing apart from all transgression, would take upon himself the sins of men on behalf of those same men. Wherefore he will also suffer those things which those who have sinned are wont to suffer, and he will be in pain for our sake, but not for his own sake. And if he shall be wounded and struck with insulting words, this likewise will happen for the sake of our sins, since he has also been made infirm because of our sins, so that we, having taken up his bearing of our errors and the wounds of our own wickedness, might be healed by his bruise. These, therefore, were the causes for which he, the sinless one, would suffer at the hands of men. But the wonderful prophet, having no regard for the Jews who prepared death for him, explicitly convicts them, and this he does openly, lamenting and saying: "Through the iniquities of my people he was led to death." Then, since immediately, and not long after the daring deed against Christ, the total destruction was coming upon them after being besieged by the Romans, he does not overlook this either, but adds: "And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death." ^C It would have sufficed to write the prophecy at this point, if he had foreseen nothing more to occur after the death of Christ; but since he was about to return again and come to life after his death or after his burial, he adds these further things concerning him, continuing and saying: "And the Lord wills to cleanse him of the plague. If you offer for sin, your soul shall see long-lived offspring; and the Lord wills to take away from the sorrow of his soul, to show him light." Having said above, "a man being in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity," now after his death and burial, he says, "the Lord wills to cleanse him of the plague." And how shall this be? "If you offer," he says, "for sin, your soul shall see long-lived offspring"; for it is not granted to all to perceive the long-lived offspring of Christ, but only to those who have confessed and brought the gifts for sins to God. For of these alone the soul shall see the long-lived offspring of Christ, that is to say, ^D

^A His eternal life which is after death, or the word of His gospel sown throughout the whole world, which is to be long-lived and to endure forever. Again, having said above, “And we considered him to be in labor,” now after His slaughter and His death, he says: “And the Lord wills to take away from the labor of his soul, to show him light.” Since, therefore, the Lord, the God of all, willed to cleanse Him from the plague and to show Him light, in every way, since He willed it, He would surely do what He willed. For there is nothing that does not come to pass of those things which He wills; but He willed to cleanse Him and to show Him light, therefore He did these things, and having cleansed Him, He showed Him light. ^B And since He willed, and willing took away the labor of His soul, and showed Him light, the Prophet reasonably adds: “Therefore He shall inherit many, and He shall divide the spoils of the strong.” Here, then, he now records the inheritance of Christ, in agreement with the second Psalm, through which the Word, having prophesied by name concerning the plot constructed against Him in the passage: “The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ,” continues by adding: “The Lord said to me: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession.” These nations, then, the prophet also hinted at, saying: “Therefore He shall inherit many,” and he adds, “And He shall divide the spoils of the strong.” For having snatched the souls that were subject to the opposing powers, which formerly ruled over the nations, as it were certain spoils, He distributed them to His own disciples. Wherefore Isaiah says concerning them: ^C “And they shall rejoice before thee, as those who divide the spoils.” And the author of the Psalms says: “The Lord shall give a word to those who preach the gospel with great power; the king of the powers of the beloved, for the beauty of the house, to divide the spoils.” With good reason, therefore, does he here also say concerning Christ: “Therefore He shall inherit many, and He shall divide the spoils of the strong.” But for what reason this is, he again teaches in what follows, saying: “Because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the lawless; and He bore the sins of many, and for their sins He was delivered.” For in return for these things, the Father, rewarding Him for His obedience and His patience, has bestowed upon Him the things that lie before us. For He became obedient to the Father even unto death; ^D wherefore He shall also inherit many, and it is prophesied that this will happen not before, but after His soul was delivered to death and He was reckoned among the lawless. For these things it has been said that He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong. I consider that the resurrection from the dead of the One prophesied is clearly presented through these things. For how otherwise is it possible to conceive of the One led as a sheep to the slaughter and delivered to death by the lawlessness of the Jewish people, and reckoned with the lawless

and being committed to burial; and then being purified by the Lord, and seeing light, and inheriting many, and distributing spoils to his own? And David also speaks elsewhere ^A regarding His resurrection after death, prophesying from the person of Christ: "You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You give Your Holy One to see corruption." And again: "O Lord, You brought my soul up from Hades; You saved me from those going down into the pit." And again: "You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may proclaim all Your praises." I do not think that even the most ungrateful of men could contradict all these things.

However, the conclusion of the prophecy of Isaiah provides the good news for the woman who was formerly barren and forsaken by God, or rather for the Church from the Gentiles, in accordance with the contemplation of what has been said. For since Christ endured all things for her sake, naturally after the predictions concerning Him, he adds, saying: "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one will be many more than those of her who has a husband. For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of your tent and of your curtains, stretch it out, do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; for you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations." ^B Here the Word proclaims the Church from the Gentiles, spread out over the whole inhabited world and stretching from the rising of the sun to its setting, most clearly manifesting this through: "And your seed will inherit the nations."

Because the matters in this passage require more detailed treatment, these suffice for our present purpose. I could also collect many more things at my leisure regarding the subject at hand. And this present treatise of Evangelical Demonstration will deliver and interpret each thing in due time. For now, however, what has been said is sufficient regarding the prophecies of the prophets concerning our Savior, and how He proclaimed to all men the presence ^C of the future good things, foretelling the arrival of a certain Prophet, and a lawgiver like Moses, and His race, and tribe, and the place from which He will come forth, and the time when He will arrive, and prophesying His birth, and death, and resurrection, and rule over all nations—all of which have been manifested, and will be manifested even more through what follows, as fulfilled in our Savior and Lord alone.

But these things ^D indeed will be placed before those who believe the sacred oracles themselves; but we shall answer those who disbelieve the prophetic Scriptures separately, discussing them for the time being as if concerning an ordinary man, similar to the rest, so that when He appears far superior and differing by an incomparable excellence from all those who have ever helped men, then we may at the appropriate time discuss the matters concerning His more divine nature, demonstrating from clear proofs how

^A His power was not of human nature.

III. Against those who imagine that the Christ of God was a seducer.

One must ask them, has any other such seducer ever been recorded who was the teacher to the deceived of gentleness, kindness, temperance, and every other virtue ^B—and if it is right to call that man by such names, who did not even allow one to look upon women with wanton desire? And if he is a seducer who handed down the highest peak of philosophy, teaching his disciples to share their possessions with those in need, and to value diligence and communal spirit most highly? And if he is a seducer who forbids being involved in popular, vulgar, and noisy assemblies, teaching them instead to cherish only the study of divine oracles? He who turns men away from every falsehood, and urges them to value the truth above all else, to the point that one need not even take an oath, let alone commit perjury? "For let your word be: Yes, yes; no, no" (Matt. v, 37). How, then, could he be justly called a seducer?

Why do I need to say more, when it is possible to discern from what has been said already what the character of the way of life he introduced among men was? From this, every lover of truth would confess him to be not a seducer, but a truly divine person, and an introducer not of common and vulgar, but of a divine and godly philosophy. ^C For he uniquely renewed the life of the ancient God-loving Hebrews, which had already somehow perished from among men, and he is proven, through the first book of the present treatise, to have spread it not to a few and limited people, but to the whole world; through which it is possible for men everywhere throughout the whole inhabited world, to [see] the many who are imitators of those God-loving men from the time of Abraham, not only from among the Greeks but also from the barbarians. ^D

^A And the more ethical part of his teaching is of this kind. Come, let us consider whether, after all, the "deceiver" was perhaps occupied with the most important points of his doctrines. For has it not been recorded that he was himself devoted to God alone, the King of all, the Creator of heaven and earth and the entire universe, and that he led his disciples to Him? Even now, the words of his teaching lift up the mind of every Greek and barbarian toward God most high, who surpasses all visible nature. Was the "deceiver", then, truly such, or is it because the one who is truly a deceiver does not permit those who have fallen into error to worship more gods than the supreme and only true theology allows? But this is not a new or peculiar doctrine of his, but one long accustomed to the God-loving Hebrews of old, as has been shown in the *Preparation*; and from this, even the recent philosophers have already derived great benefit and have approved this very kind of teaching. Indeed, the most learned of the Greeks themselves boast of the oracles of their own gods, which make mention of the Hebrews in this way:

Solis Chaldæis sapientia contigit, atque Hebræis, qui ex se genitum, regemque deumque Pura mente colunt, atque unum numen adorant.

^B He called them the same as the Chaldeans because of Abraham, since he was a Chaldean by descent, as is recorded. If, therefore, even from ancient times the Hebrews—who were especially testified to by the oracles as possessing wisdom—directed their worship toward the one God, the Creator of all things, why must we regard this man as a deceiver, and not rather as a marvelous teacher of piety? He who, by an invisible and divine power, brought forth and spread abroad to all men those things that were formerly known only to the God-loving Hebrews; so that no longer, as before, do only a few, easily numbered, have correct opinions about God, but countless multitudes of barbarians, who were once most savage, as well as learned Greek men, have all been instructed in piety, just as those ancient prophets and just men were, solely by the power of his teaching. ^C But let us consider the third point, to see if perhaps this is why they call him a deceiver: because he did not command that the Divinity be honored with the sacrifices of oxen, or the slaughter of brute animals, or with blood and fire, or with incense rising from the earth. Judging these things to be lowly and earthen, and in no way consistent with an immortal nature, he decided that the most pleasing and delightful offering to God is the fulfillment of His own commandments: by means of which, having purified those who followed him in body and soul, and having adorned them with a clear mind and pious doctrines, he taught them to imitate the likeness of God, saying expressly: "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." ^D If any of the Greeks should blame these things, let him be known as one who does not hold opinions friendly to his own teachers [if he considers them such].

who, as is right, having learned many useful things from us—seeing that they were later in time than we—I mean from the doctrine which our Savior has set forth to us, hear now what sort of things they acknowledge in writing.

105 ^A That nothing of those things which proceed from the earth ought to be burnt or sacrificed to the God over all. From Porphyry’s *On Abstinence from Animal Food*.

"To the God over all, as a certain wise man said, we should neither sacrifice nor name any sensible thing (for nothing which consists of matter is not immediately unclean to Him who is devoid of all matter. Wherefore, not even any word—whether you speak of that which consists in sound or that which is conceived ^B within, whenever it is polluted by some vice of the soul—is worthy of Him), but we shall worship Him by pure silence and by pure thoughts concerning Him. We must, therefore, having been joined and made like unto Him, offer this manner of our life as a sacred sacrifice to God. And the same shall be both His praise and our preservation: for it shall be offered with the stability and quietude of the virtue of the soul. For this sacrifice is perfected by the contemplation of God Himself."

Item on the same, from the *Theology* of Apollonius of Tyana.

"From that, therefore, one might best apply the care suitable to the Divine, and from that best obtain Him as propitious and benevolent to ^C anyone among men, if he should not offer any sacrifice at all to God—I mean this One, who is one and separated from all things, after whom it is necessary for all the rest to be known—nor kindle fire, nor name any of the sensible things. For He needs nothing, not even from those who are better than we are; nor is there anything which the earth sends forth, or plant which it rears, or animal, to which impurity does not immediately attach, nor air which does not have a stain; but one should always use the better word towards Him—I mean not that which is sent forth through the mouth, but that which proceeds from the best of things that are, through the best of the goods that are in us. And this is the Mind, which needs no instrument. ^D If, then, these things are confessed even by those among the Greeks who are distinguished as philosophers and theologians, how could he be a deceiver, who taught his disciples not only words, but deeds much earlier than words; and by which, as right reason commands, they were to worship God Himself? Now, as to how and by what reasons the ancient Hebrews are recorded to have sacrificed, we have discussed in the first book of the present undertaking, and we must be content with the things said there. But since, besides those things which have now been discussed, we know (that which we have learned from Christ) that the world was made, and that the heaven

^A itself, and the sun, and moon, and stars, are the works of God, and that we must worship not these, but their Maker, we must consider whether we are deceived in having been taught by Him to think in this way regarding the nature of things. And yet, this was the doctrine not only of the Hebrews, but also of the philosophers, and especially the most illustrious ones, who, in agreement with the Hebrews, affirmed that the heaven itself, and the sun, and moon, and stars, and the entire world, had an origin and were made by the Maker of all things; but He (our Savior) taught us to expect also the consummation and the change of this universe for the better, in this respect also agreeing with the Hebrew Scriptures. What then? Did not Plato also, by his own nature, perceive that the heaven itself, and the sun, and moon, and the remaining stars, were subject to dissolution and corruption, even if he affirmed that they would not be dissolved, because He who composed them knows [how to]? But if he desired us to consist of such a nature, and to have an immortal soul, in no part similar to brute animals, but bearing the images of the virtues that are in God; and if he taught us to consider it to be so, and to be so disposed, and instructed every barbarian and layman to think thus; has he not ^B made those who think his thoughts throughout all the world wiser than those who knit their brows and show a stern countenance? Those who have maintained that the human soul differs in nothing, as far as its substance and nature are concerned, from the soul of a gnat, or a worm, or a fly—nay, even from the soul of a serpent, and a viper, and a bear, and a leopard, and a swine—and that there is no difference in any respect in their own souls, which they claim to be the souls of the wisest men, as far as their nature and essence are concerned? And, in addition to these things, by continually reminding us of the divine judgment, and the coming tribunal, and by portraying inescapable punishments and torments for the ungodly, and for the pious the promise of eternal life from God, and the kingdom of heaven, and a blessed life with God himself, whom could He ever deceive? Would He not rather have encouraged them to apply themselves to virtue for the sake of the rewards expected by the pious, and to turn away from all wickedness because of the punishments hanging over the impious? We have learned from His doctrines that there are certain powers after the supreme God, incorporeal in their nature, and intelligent, rational, and endowed with every virtue, ^C which move in chorus around the King of the universe; many of whom are sent even as far as to men by the nod of the Father for the sake of certain saving dispensations; whom we have indeed been taught to recognize and to honor according to the measure of their dignity, while rendering the worship of adoration solely to God, who is the King of all. Furthermore, we have learned from Him that there are certain hostile powers inimical to the human race, which fly about in the air around the earth, and that there are powers of demons and evil spirits, and those who hold dominion among them, who dwell with wicked men—whom we are instructed to flee with all our might; even though they, as much as possible, usurp to themselves the titles and honors of gods. For this reason, even more, they are to be avoided on account of this very God-fighting and enmity toward God, concerning which we have made demonstrations ^D through many arguments in the *Preparation*. Such are the things which are found in the dogmatic teachings of our Savior, they being the clearly pious doctrines of the Hebrew men and prophets, who were beloved by God of old. If, then, these things are venerable, if they are profitable, if they are philosophical, if they are full of virtue, to whom could the Teacher of these things plausibly be given the name of a deceiver? But these things have been said as concerning a common

repugnancy to God and enmities against God: as we have shown more extensively in the *Preparation*. Indeed, such things as are reported in the precepts and institutions of our Savior are truly the pious and holy documents of the ancient Hebrews, who were pleasing to God, both men and prophets. But if these have gravity, if they have utility, if they have a zeal for wisdom, if finally they are filled with every virtue: by what right or by what reason, then, could the name of "deceiver" be ascribed to him who taught such things? And let these things be argued as concerning a man who differs not in nature from the rest, as they clearly exhibit a doctrine that is grave and useful to life itself; now let us consider those things that are more divine.

IV. Regarding the more divine deeds of Christ.

^A And first of all, let us contemplate, at the time he lived with men, how many and what kind of wondrous works he performed; at one time cleansing lepers from their bodies by divine power, at another time expelling demons from men by the command of his word, and at yet another time abundantly bestowing healing upon those laboring under all manners of infirmities. And at one time he said to a paralytic: "Arise, take up your bed, and walk," ^B and he did what was commanded. And at another time he granted to the blind the capacity to see the light. Once, too, a woman who suffered from a flow of blood and had been vexed by that sort of illness for many years, when she saw the innumerable multitude surrounding him, which nowhere permitted her to approach him and supplicate and ask for liberation from her disease, thought only of touching the hem of his garment; and she drew near, and when she had laid hold of the fringe, she straightway obtained the healing of her ills and was immediately made well, thus carrying away the greatest sign of the divine power of our Savior. Another royal man, ^C when he had fallen at the feet of Jesus, immediately received his son, who was ill, back in sound health. Another as well, who was a ruler of a Jewish synagogue, had his daughter raised, even though she was already dead. What need is there to say that another, dead for four days, was raised by the power of Jesus? Or how he traveled on the sea as if on a public highway of land, while his disciples were sailing? And as they were being tossed about by an adverse storm, he rebuked the sea and the waves and the winds, and all things immediately stood still, as if fearing the voice of the Master? And when he had once abundantly satisfied five thousand men, along with an ^D innumerable multitude of women and children, with no more than five loaves, to such an extent that the remaining fragments were enough to fill twelve baskets, who would not be struck with amazement? And who would not be justifiably moved to seek out the secrets of his hidden power? But that my discourse may not now be drawn out to too great a length, let the last of all his events be set forth: his death, which did not occur in the common manner of the rest of men. For he was not consumed by disease, nor indeed by a noose, nor by fire; nor, according to the custom of others who are punished for their crimes with the suffering of the cross, did he have his legs broken with iron, nor did he endure a violent end in any way as men are accustomed to be destroyed, but as if he only willingly delivered his body to those who were plotting against him, he was immediately raised up from the earth, and then, having cried out upon the gibbet

with a loud voice and committed his spirit to the Father, saying these things word for word: ^A «Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,» he himself, thus loosed and free, departed of his own authority from the body. Then, when his acquaintances had taken his body and committed it to a decent burial, on the third day he resumed that very same body which, as is evident, he had willingly abandoned. And thus, he again showed himself to his own disciples in the flesh, in a body, the same one he had been before. Having conversed with them for a short time and spent some days with them, he ascended to where he had been before, having set out on his journey to the heavens before their eyes. ^B To them he also delivered instructions concerning what must be done, and declared them to be teachers for all the nations of the loftiest piety. Such are these much-hymned miracles of our virtue; these are the evidences of the divinity that was in him; these are the things which we ourselves have admired with a sober mind, and have accepted with a tested and scrutinized judgment. These things have been examined by us, scrutinized and confirmed by other events which veil all reason, through which our Lord himself, even now, with whomsoever he might deem worthy, is accustomed to show small glimpses of his own power. Yet, furthermore, with the more reasonable method which we are accustomed to apply to those who do not accept the aforementioned things, but who either disbelieve them entirely and declare that nothing of the sort was ever done by him, or—if they allow that they occurred—claim that they were magical illusions aimed at the deception of observers, as if imposed by a deceiver—if it is necessary in the present instance to stand briefly against the aforementioned, we shall not abandon our zeal; for how else could we answer them?

V. Against those who do not believe the narrative of our Savior’s disciples concerning his miraculous deeds.

If, indeed, they should say that our Savior did nothing wondrous from the beginning, nor anything miraculous of the sort to which his acquaintances testified, let us consider whether their argument will be plausible, seeing that they have no reason to provide as to why the disciples were disciples or why he was their teacher. ^D For he who teaches professes to be a master of some discipline, and the disciples, desiring such instruction, approach the master and commit themselves to be trained by him. What reason, then, can they give for the fact that Jesus’ disciples were associated with him and were constantly in his company? Or what, pray, was it that compelled them to give their attention to such a man? Of what disciplines will they say he was the teacher? Or can this be doubted by anyone? For clearly, he must have been the teacher of those things which the disciples, having learned from him, brought to the rest of mankind: the precepts of a philosophical life, which he outlined for them, saying: «Provide neither gold nor silver in your belts, nor a bag for your journey,» and such things. Having entrusted themselves to the providence that governs all things, and being anxious for nothing concerning their necessities.

^A He also exhorted them to think more highly than those things which had been enjoined to the Jews by Moses. For he said that he, seeing them prone to murder, had legislated not to kill; likewise, not to commit adultery, as they were lecherous and deeply debased; and again, not to steal, as they were most servile in character. ^B But he insisted that they themselves ought to consider these laws not to be suitable for them, but rather to value highly the soul’s freedom from every malady, and from the deep roots of their thought, as if from the very foundation, to cut away the sprouting weeds of malice; to strive to overcome anger and every unseemly desire, or rather, not even to be angry because of the supreme impassibility of the soul, nor to look upon a woman with wanton desire, nor to steal, but on the contrary, even to bestow one's own possessions upon those in need. Moreover, they should not even boast in not defrauding others, but rather in bearing without resentment those who were the first to defraud them. And why is there any need for me to gather all that he taught and they learned? He exhorted them, among other things, to hold to the truth in such a way that they would not even have need of an oath, much less perjury. ^C Indeed, they were to conduct their lives and morals in such a way that what they said would be held as more certain than any oath, advancing their speech to the point of saying "Yes" for an affirmation and "No" for a negation, using such words with truthfulness. Let us ask, therefore, what probability there is that the hearers—or rather, those who had now become the masters—of such teachings have been suspected of lying regarding whatever they testified their teacher had done? Or how credibly do they act, if anyone thinks they all conspired together in a lie? Twelve chosen from the whole number, and seventy others? They who are also said to have been sent two by two before his face, into every place and region to which he himself was about to come. ^D Yet no reason will ever be brought forward why such a multitude of men should not be believed, who indeed embraced a religious and grave life, despised all their own affairs, and for the sake of their most beloved—I mean wife, children, and every kin—chose a destitute life, and bore witness to their teacher, with one voice, before all mankind.

This, therefore, is the first and true reason. But let us also look at the contrary, in which at least the first premise might be established, and might be agreed upon by us and them: that he was indeed the teacher, and they the disciples. Next, let us imagine that he did not teach what has already been said, but taught them to do the very opposite—namely, to act against the laws, to behave impiously and unjustly, to exceed, to despoil others, and anything else that might be said to pertain to malice; yet to strive in all these things to remain hidden, and to cleverly conceal such character under the guise of solemn teaching and the profession of a new piety. But let them pursue these things, and those even worse than these.

^A For the inclination toward malice is great, and it is easy to learn it even without a teacher. Yet they extol their own master with feigned words, sparing no falsehood whatever. They artfully attribute all kinds of miracles and portents to him, so that they themselves might be held in admiration and be accounted blessed, as having been deemed worthy to be the disciples of such a man. Come then, let us see if it were at all possible for an undertaking of this kind to be maintained by them, if they were such men as have been described. “Evil,” they say, “is not a friend to evil,” nor indeed to what is good. Whence, then, in such a multitude of men, was such a concord of malice found? Whence among them all was there a unanimous testimony regarding the same things? And a resolve that persisted even unto death? For who would have paid any mind from the beginning to a man who was a sorcerer and who made such claims? You might say that they themselves were sorcerers no less than their instructor. ^B Did they not, then, know the end of the teacher, and what sort of death he suffered? Why then, even after that most shameful end of his, did they persist, theologizing about one who was dead, seeking to suffer the same things? And who would ever, for any reason at all, choose4 such a manifest punishment? But let it be granted that they honored him while he was still with them and living in their company, and while he was able—to use their own expression—to lead them astray by deception. Why, then, did they honor him much more after his death, and much more then than before he had died? For they are said to have been living with men, and even to have denied him once when the plot against him was being formed. But after he had departed from among men, they themselves preferred to die willingly rather than recede from the good testimony they bore concerning him. ^C If, therefore, they were conscious of no good in their teacher—neither in his life, nor in his doctrine, nor in his actions, nor in any work worthy of praise—and had been benefited by him in nothing save for malice and the deception of other men, why did they die so readily, so long as they could proclaim certain solemn and notable things about him? When, meanwhile, it was open to each of them to live at leisure, and in his own home among his most beloved, to lead a much safer and more secure life? But how could men who were deceivers and steeped in frauds have desired to die for another, whom they themselves knew most fully and certainly beyond all men? Especially one who, to use their own language, had been to them the author of no good, ^D but on the contrary, the instructor of all malice? For a man who possesses reason and virtue might perhaps reasonably endure death with glory for the sake of a noble achievement. But one who is depraved in character, and who is a lover of life and a lover of pleasure, pursuing only this fleeting life and the pleasures associated with it, would never choose death over life, nor would he endure punishment for the sake of his own kin and dearest, much less for the sake of one whom he knew to be condemned for wickedness. How then did the disciples of the aforementioned man, if he was indeed a deceiver and a sorcerer—and they, not being ignorant that he was such, but themselves even having their souls snared in a worse mode of wickedness—endure to accept at the hands of their compatriots every kind of outrage and every form of torment for the sake of testifying for him, if this were not something alien to the nature of wicked men? And consider this too: if they were indeed themselves deceivers and tricksters, add to this that they were also uneducated and altogether simpletons—nay, rather that they were barbarians, and understood no more than the Syrian tongue—and how did they proceed over the whole world...

^A Or by what cleverness did they devise this, or venture upon it? And with what strength did they accomplish what they dared? For suppose they might have been able to deceive and wander about among rustic men in their own land, and to sow the matter not idly or in vain. But to preach the name of Jesus to all, and to teach His wondrous deeds both in cities and in countrysides; and for some of them to invade the Roman Empire and the very queen of all cities, others the kingdom of the Persians, others of the Armenians, others the nation of the Parthians, and again others that of the Scythians; and for some to have come even to the very ends of the earth, and to have reached the land of the Indians; and others to have crossed over the Ocean to the islands called British—these things I no longer think to be human, much less the acts of mean and uneducated men, and far from those of deceivers and impostors.

But those who had experienced a base and crooked teacher, and had seen the outcome of his life, with what words, I ask, did they reach an agreement to forge consistent stories about him among themselves? For all with one mouth testified that the cleansings of lepers, the casting out of demons, the raising of the dead, the giving sight to the blind, and myriads of other healings of the sick were performed by him, and above all, that his return to life after death was witnessed first by them. ^B For how could they, if these things had not happened nor even been heard of in their own times, testify with one mouth that they had occurred, confirming their confession even unto death, unless perhaps they had met and formed a conspiracy to the same purpose, entering into a pact with one another to feign and lie about things that had never happened? And with what words is it plausible to say they used in their pact, unless perhaps words such as these:

"Friends, as for the man who until yesterday and recently was a deceiver and a master of error, and who underwent the ultimate punishment before all our eyes—whoever he was, we know most accurately, as we were the initiates of his secrets—he ^C appeared venerable to the many, and thought he possessed something more than the rest, but he brought nothing great or worthy of resurrection, unless one speaks of his guileful and treacherous character, and his teaching us crooked things, and the arrogance born of deception. Wherefore, come, let us join hands and all together agree to spread a consistent deception about him to all people, and let us say that we saw him granting sight to the blind, which none of us ever witnessed; and providing hearing to the deaf, which none of us ever heard; and cleansing lepers and raising the dead; and in a word, let us aggressively assert as truly performed those things which we neither saw done by him nor heard spoken. And since his ultimate end involved a notorious and manifest death, so that it was impossible to conceal it, let us also firmly misinterpret this, testifying quite shamelessly that he lived again among us all after rising from the dead, ^D and partook of familiar discourse and food."

^A Let our shamelessness and our persistence in this state remain with us all, and let our delirium continue even unto death. For what is so terrible about dying for nothing? And why should it trouble one, for no reasonable purpose, to receive lashes and torments upon the body? If it should be required to endure prisons, indignities, and insults for the sake of nothing true, let this also be fully rehearsed by us. Let us all lie together in concert, and let us fabricate [our story] to the benefit of no one—neither ourselves, nor those deceived, nor indeed the one who is being divinized by us through these lies. Let us extend the lie, not only toward those of our own race, but let us go forth to all men, and let us fill the entire inhabited world with the things that we have concocted about him. ^B And now, let us henceforth legislate for all nations things contrary to the opinions they have held about their ancestral gods since the beginning of time. Let us command the Romans themselves, first of all, not to worship those whom their forefathers held to be gods. Let us pass on also to Greece, and let us publicly preach the opposite to their sages; let us not leave the Egyptians alone, but let us wage war also against their gods, not by bringing forth the things that happened against them in the time of Moses, but by setting against them the death of our teacher as a sort of phantasm; and let us overturn—not by words and clever arguments, but by the power of our crucified teacher—the reputation concerning the gods which has come down from them to all men since the beginning of time. Let us go also to the rest of the barbarian world, and let us overturn what has been decreed among all peoples. Let no one of us be wanting in zeal; for the struggle of those who dare these things is no small one, since no ordinary prizes await us, but rather, as is to be expected, the punishments of the laws in every land—to wit, chains and torments and prisons, fire and sword, and crosses, and wild beasts; all of which we must be most eager for, and we must advance to meet these evils, taking our teacher as our model. For what could be better than this: to make oneself an enemy to both gods and men for no reason, never to enjoy anything pleasant, never to benefit from one's dearest ones, never to obtain wealth, never to possess any hope of any good at all, but only to go astray and lead others astray in vain and for nothing? For this was the advantageous course: to set oneself against all nations, to war against the gods who have been acknowledged by all since the beginning of time, and to preach as God and Son of God the teacher who was before our own eyes, for whose sake we are ready to die, having learned nothing true or useful from him. ^C By this means, therefore, he is all the more to be honored, if he did nothing to help us; and we must do everything to glorify his name, and we must endure all tortures and punishments, and we must accept every manner of death, for the sake of no truth. For perhaps truth is an evil, and the lie possesses the opposite of evil; therefore let us say that he raised the dead, and cleansed lepers, and cast out demons, ^D and became the author of other miraculous deeds, having known nothing of the sort about him, but having taken all these things upon ourselves.

^A

Do these things seem credible to you, or even like the truth, that obscure and common men, after having invented such things and agreed upon them among themselves, should have invaded the Roman Empire? Or that human nature, which possesses a love of life as something proper to it, could ever, for no reason, voluntarily undergo death, as the disciples of our Savior were able to do? Would you believe that they had come to such a state of stupor that, although they had observed nothing done by him worthy of admiration, they themselves should have invented all things of that kind by agreement, and then, having collected certain trifles about him, should have been ready and prompt to undergo every kind of death for them? But what, pray, do you say in answer to this? Surely they neither imagined nor hoped that they would suffer anything of the sort on account of the recommendation of Jesus. Wherefore, then, were they so intrepid in preaching about him? But how is this to be granted, that they did not hope to suffer all things for him, who were about to bring ^B the overthrow of the gods among the Romans, the Greeks, and the barbarians? But the history which exists concerning them openly says this, that after the death of the Master, they were seized by certain plotters, and were first thrown into prison, and then released, with the command that they should not speak to any man in the name of Jesus. But afterwards, when they saw them speaking publicly about him again to the multitude, they seized and scourged them, and rebuked them for their type of teaching—at which time Peter, answering them, again said: "We ought to obey God rather than men." After this, Stephen is put to death, pelted with stones, as he spoke freely before the multitude of the Jews, and no small persecution was stirred up against those who openly commended the name of Jesus. And at another time, Herod, who was king of the Jews, killed James the brother of ^C John with the sword; and the same man cast Peter into bonds, as is written in the Acts of the Apostles. And though they had suffered these things, the rest of the disciples, holding fast to Jesus, remained even more, declaring both him and his miraculous deeds to all. Concerning these things, James the brother of the Lo^Drd...

whom those inhabiting Jerusalem of old called the Just because of the excellences of his virtue, when questioned by the high priests and teachers of the Jewish nation as to what opinion he held concerning Christ, and having answered that he was the Son of God, he too was pelted with stones by them and killed. Peter also was crucified head-downward at Rome, Paul was beheaded, and John was relegated to an island. And though these suffered such things, no one of the rest desisted from his purpose; but, supplicating, they themselves prayed to obtain the same fate as those mentioned before for the sake of piety toward God, and with even greater boldness they bore witness to Jesus and his miraculous works.

But if these things were lies, devised by agreement among them, it is worth marveling how so great a multitude preserved their agreement in these fabrications even unto death; and that not one of them ever, trembling at the things that had happened to those previously mentioned, fell away from the fellowship, nor spoke in contradiction to the others, bringing to light the things they had fabricated. But even he who had dared to betray him while alive, by his own hand immediately drew upon himself the penalty. ^B And is it not full of astonishment, that men, deceivers and unlettered, who knew how neither to speak nor to hear anything beyond their native tongue, not only dared to conceive of setting out upon a journey around all the nations of the world, but, having set out, succeeded in the undertaking? Consider further how immense and of what nature it is that they uttered no word discrepant in any point concerning the deeds performed by Jesus. For if, in all matters that are in dispute, both in legal courts and in common controversies, the agreement of witnesses confirms that which is disputed (for "on the mouth of two and three witnesses every word is established"), why should not the truth be likewise established in these matters, there being twelve apostles and seventy disciples, and a countless multitude besides these, all of whom have shown a wondrous agreement and have testified to the things performed by Jesus—not without sweat, but through endurance of tortures and of every outrage and death, and who were finally, more than all, testified to by God, who even now and for all eternity strengthens the message proclaimed by them?

These things, then, by way of allowing a preposterous premise for the sake of argument, may serve as a demonstration. ^C For to assume the things contrary to what is written—and to say that Jesus was not a teacher of sober words, but of injustice and greed and all licentiousness, and that his disciples, having been taught such things, became the most rapacious and most wicked of all men who have ever lived—even if it were allowed to us by way of hypothesis, would be the most absurd thing of all. It is similar to if someone, while Moses says in the laws, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness," were to slander him, saying that he said these things in irony and pretense; that he wished his subjects indeed to kill, and to commit adultery, and to do the things contrary to what he commands, but that he was merely pretending and modeling himself and acting out a virtuous life. ^D In this way, anyone might slander the enduring life and the words of all of them, alleging that...

the philosophers among the Greeks were not of the character their precepts suggested, but were possessed by injustice, pride, and every form of intemperance, and that their disciples, taught such things by them, surpassed all men who have ever existed in every greed and wickedness. Since this is the most absurd of all things that are absurd, we have nevertheless thought it could be granted for the sake of argument. This is similar to someone saying, while Moses in his laws ^A says: "You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness," that he is twisting these into the opposite sense and slandering him, claiming he gave other precepts with mockery and pretense. For he would claim he wanted those over whom he ruled to both kill and commit adultery, and to do exactly the opposite of what he established in his laws, but that he was meanwhile pretending to adopt the habit and persona of a more grave life. Yet, by the same reasoning, anyone could also slander the precepts of the Greek philosophers, their tolerance of life, and indeed all their writings, saying that they had in their minds the opposite of what they wrote, and lived a life contrary to reason, but had pretended to put on another persona, having chosen a philosophic way of life for themselves. 118 In short, I say that it is easy to slander the histories of the ancients, to detract from the truth that is in them, to contend that it is nothing, and finally to turn everything narrated into its opposite. But just as no one in his right mind would fear to declare anyone who says such things insane and senseless, so too, regarding the sermons and precepts of our Savior, if someone should twist and pervert the truth and attempt to impose a meaning contrary to what He taught, let this also be granted by us for the sake of illustrating the truth, as is customary in disputations: that when we have granted what is absurd to say, the inconsistency of the contrary reasoning may be discerned.

Having, therefore, sufficiently ^C rebuked him who slanders in this way, it is now time that we return to the truth of the sacred books, and contemplate in them the character of the disciples of Jesus. Who, then, that is of sound mind, judging immediately from them themselves, would not deem them worthy of all belief? Men admittedly of humble station, and unlearned in letters and unskilled in speech, yet who had entered into a love for holy and philosophic teaching, and embraced a strenuous and laborious life, which they had corrected and perfected—by fasts, by abstinence from both wine and meat, and by a great deal of other humbling of the body, and through prayers and supplications to God, and much more through extreme temperance and purity of body and soul alike. Who then would not admire their philosophy, in that they withdrew themselves even from their legitimate wives out of the ^D excess of their philosophy, and were neither beguiled by natural pleasure, nor broken and subdued by the desire for children and grandchildren? For they yearned not for mortal grandchildren, but for immortal ones. And who would not be astonished at their way of life being alien to the greed for money of every kind? He who might also infer this from the fact that they did not flee, but followed a Teacher who deterred them from possessing gold and silver, and established a law that they should not increase their property even to two tunics; a thing which, to any other person, might seem intolerable even to hear, because of the severity of the command: yet it is clear that they fulfilled what was said in reality: therefore, at one time, when a certain lame man requested something from those around Peter (this man was one of those who begged for food because of extreme poverty), Peter, not having anything to give, acknowledged that he was free from all possession of gold and silver, saying: "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, this I give you: in the name of Jesus

^A Christ, rise up and walk." But when they heard from their Preceptor things that were sorrowful to hear, if they only attended to what He said to them, "In the world you will have tribulation," and again, "You will lament and weep, but the world will rejoice," did they not clearly demonstrate the character of their own souls? For they were of a more solid and noble nature, not fleeing the labors of the soul, nor pursuing pleasure, and their Master did not trick them with fraudulent charm or offer them His own possessions to attach them to Himself, but with sincere and truthful speech, foretelling what was to come, He fixed in their minds the reason and purpose of His own commonwealth. Of such a sort also were the things He foretold would happen to them for His name’s sake, testifying that they would be brought before governors and would reach even to kings, and would endure every kind of punishment—not for any evil thing, nor for any other reasonable cause, but entirely for this, for His own name. And ^B since we are spectators of this happening even to this day, why do we not stand in awe of the prediction? For the confession of the name of Jesus is wont to inflame the temper of rulers. For even if he who has confessed Christ has done nothing worthy of rebuke, yet they punish him—inflicting penalties for the sake of that name, more harshly than they do to all other evildoers. But if one abjures the appellation and denies that he is a disciple of Christ, he is dismissed immediately and set free, even if he is found to be held liable for innumerable crimes.

And why should I, attempting to describe the character of the apostles of our Savior, need to gather thousands of arguments? Is it not sufficient, along with what has been said, to demonstrate the point before us? To these I will add a few things that follow, and then I shall move to another class of slanderers. ^C The apostle Matthew did not choose for himself a previous way of life filled with any solemnity or habit of study, but he was among the publicans and those who were at leisure only for the collection of money. No one of the evangelists revealed this—not his co-apostle John, not Luke, not Mark—but Matthew himself, not concealing his own life and becoming his own accuser. Hear, therefore, how he explicitly mentions his own name in the Gospel written by him, telling of the manner: "And Jesus, passing on from there, saw a man sitting at the tax office named Matthew, and said to him: 'Follow me.' And he arose and followed Him. And it came to pass, as He was reclining in the house, that behold, many publicans and sinners were reclining together with Jesus and His disciples." And again, progressing thereafter, when recounting the list of the disciples, he ^D himself adds to his own name that of "the publican." He says, therefore: "Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; first Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John

his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew the publican." Thus, out of an abundance of modesty, Matthew, demonstrating his zeal for the truth in identifying his own character, called himself a publican, not wishing to hide his former life, and he listed himself in the second place after his equal; for when they are compared one with another, Matthew puts Thomas before himself, granting to him, although a fellow-apostle, the first place, as if to one more honorable, even though the other evangelists act differently. ^B Hear then Luke, how, when making mention of Matthew, he does not call him a publican, nor does he place him after Thomas, but knowing him to be more excellent, he names him first, adding Thomas in the second place, which is what Mark also did. For his words are as follows: "And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose twelve of them, whom also he named apostles: Simon, whom he also called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, and Matthew and Thomas." Thus Luke honored Matthew, according to what those who were from the beginning eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered to him. And you would find John also to be similar to Matthew. For in his epistles he makes no mention of his own name, or he calls himself an elder, but nowhere an apostle or evangelist; and in the Gospel, when signifying the one whom Jesus loved, he did not name himself. Peter, indeed, out of excessive reverence, did not even deem himself worthy of the writing of the Gospel. But Mark, who became his associate and disciple, is said to have recorded the discourses of Peter concerning the deeds of Jesus. Coming to that place in the history where Jesus asked whom men said He was, and what opinion His own disciples had concerning Him, and Peter had answered as concerning Christ, [Mark] does not describe Jesus as responding to him or saying anything to him, but only as warning them that they should tell no one about Him. For Mark was not present at the things said by Jesus, but neither did Peter deem it right to bring forward as his own testimony the things said to him and about him by Jesus. But what those things were which were said to Peter, Matthew indicates in these words: ^D "But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." So many things having been said to Peter by Jesus, Mark, mentioning none of these,

nor (as it is likely) did Peter himself recount such things in his own teachings—but what does it say, when Jesus asked? "Peter answering says: Thou art the Christ. And He warned them that they should tell no one about Him." ^A Peter, therefore, rightly judged that these things should be passed over in silence; wherefore Mark also omitted them. But he proclaimed everything regarding his own denial to all men, since he also wept bitterly over it. And so you shall find Mark narrating the following concerning him: "And when Peter was in the courtyard, there comes to him one of the maidservants of the high priest, and seeing him warming himself, looking at him, she says: 'And you were with Jesus the Nazarene.' But he denied it, saying: 'Neither do I know, nor do I understand what you are saying,' and he went out into the forecourt, and the cock crowed. And again, the maidservant seeing him, began to say to those standing by: 'This man is one of them.' But he denied it again. And after a little while, those standing by said again to Peter: 'Truly you are of them, for you are also a Galilean.' But he began to curse and to swear: 'I do not know this man whom you speak of.' And immediately the cock crowed a second time." ^B Mark writes these things, and Peter testifies these things concerning himself; for all things that are found in Mark are said to be commentaries of the discourses of Peter. Those, therefore, who reject things that would appear to bring them good repute, but record for everlasting memory the accusations against themselves, and the charges of their own errors—which no one of those who came after would have known, had they not learned them from their own confession—how would they not justly be admitted to be free from all vanity and falsehood, and to have provided clear and manifest proofs of a truth-loving disposition? But those who indeed think that such things were fabricated and falsely told by them, and who try to blaspheme them as if they were deceivers, how could they not turn out to be ridiculous? Caught as friends of envy and malice, and enemies of the truth itself, they who—while these men have shown by their own words such guileless, and truly unfeigned and sincere character—suppose them to be certain crafty and cunning sophists, ^C as if they had fabricated things that did not happen, and had gratified their own Teacher by attributing to Him things He never did. How well, it seems to me, has it been said: "One must either put full faith in the disciples of Jesus, or none at all; and if one must disbelieve these men alone, then one must disbelieve all men, whosoever they may be, among the Greeks or the barbarians, who wrote down the lives, discourses, and recollections of those who at different times excelled in reaching some good end; or, it is reasonable to believe the others, but only to disbelieve these men." And how is the envy not evident? What then? Those who falsely accuse the Teacher, and deliver things that did not happen in their own writing, did they also falsely represent His sufferings? I speak of the betrayal by one of His disciples, and the accusations of the slanderers, ^D the mockery and derision of the judges, the insults and the blows to the face, and the scourging on the back

of the crown of thorns, which was placed upon Him for ignominy; of the purple garment, which was wrapped around Him like a ^A chlamys; and finally, of Him carrying the very trophy of the cross upon His shoulders, being fastened to it, and having His hands and feet pierced through, and being offered vinegar to drink, and being struck on the head with a reed, and being insulted by those who looked on? But indeed, must these things, and all that pertains to them, also be considered as having been fabricated by His disciples alike, or must we believe them in these matters as being most truthful, and yet disbelieve them in those things which render Him more glorious and more venerable? And from whence will such a contradictory opinion concerning them be established? For to say that the same men are both reporting the truth and lying regarding the same subject, is nothing else than to say the opposite things about the same matters. How, then, shall these things be refuted? For if their purpose was to fabricate, and to adorn their Teacher with false tales, they would never have recorded the things mentioned above, nor would they have revealed to those who lived ^B after them that He was sad, and weary, and troubled in soul, and that they themselves, having abandoned Him, fled; or that their foremost apostle and disciple, Peter, despite neither torments nor threats of the authorities, denied Him three times. For even if others had said these things, they would surely have had to be denied by those who, in their writing, had proposed to themselves nothing other than to secure reverence for their Teacher. But if they appear truthful in their accounts of His sorrowful experiences, how much more would they be the same in those which are more glorious? For those who had once chosen to lie ought rather to have avoided painful matters, either through silence, or by denying them, since those who came after them could not otherwise have exposed what was kept silent. For why did they not lie, and say that Judas, who betrayed Him with a kiss, having dared to show the sign of the betrayal, ^C was immediately turned into stone? Or that he who dared to strike Him, immediately had his right hand wither? Or that the high priest Caiaphas, because he joined in the false accusations against Him, was blinded in his sight? Or why did they not all lie, saying that nothing truly dismal had happened to Him? But rather, that He disappeared, having mocked their tribunal, and that those who were plotting against Him, being led astray by a divinely-sent delusion, imagined they were acting against Him when He was not present? What of this? Would it not have been more dignified than to fabricate, that He was the creator of such paradoxical works, to write that nothing human nor mortal happened to Him, but that, having bound all things by divine power, He made His return to the heavens with greater glory? For those who had believed their other accounts would not have been likely to disbelieve these. And if they did not falsify the truth in these matters that seem unseemly and grim, how would they not be worthy to be considered, in those other matters where they bore witness to His ^D paradoxes, to be beyond base suspicion? This testimony of theirs concerning our Savior is indeed sufficient; but there is nothing like using the extra, abundant testimony of Josephus the Hebrew, who, in the eighteenth book of his Jewish Antiquities, concerning the times of...

Pilate, refers in his history to our Savior in these words:

Concerning Christ, by Josephus.

^A "Existing at that time was Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is proper to call him a man, since he was a worker of wonderful deeds, a teacher of men who receive the truth. He drew to himself many of the Jewish people and many of the Greek faction, and this was the Christ. And when Pilate condemned him to the cross on the indication of those who were leaders among us, those who had loved him first did not cease; for ^B he appeared to them on the third day again alive, the divine prophets having spoken these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him; and from that time even to the present, the tribe of the Christians has not ceased."

If, therefore, he is witnessed to even by the historian, as having won over not only the twelve apostles and the seventy disciples, but also many of the Jewish and many of the Greek faction, it is clear that he possessed a certain excellence beyond the rest of mankind. For how else could he have won over many of the Jewish and Greek nations, ^C if not by certain wonderful and extraordinary deeds and an unusual teaching? The writing of the Acts of the Apostles also testifies that there were many myriads of Jewish men who were convinced that he was the Christ of God, the one who had been proclaimed by the prophets. And history also records that there was a very great Church of Christ in Jerusalem, gathered together from the Jews, up to the time of the siege under Hadrian. Indeed, it is said that the first bishops who presided there in succession were Jews, ^D whose names are still remembered even now by the local inhabitants.

Thus, from these facts, every slander against his disciples is cleared away, since, both by their own testimony and apart from it, countless multitudes of Jews and Greeks are acknowledged to have been drawn to the Christ of God himself by the wonderful deeds which he performed. But having said this much regarding these things, let us move on and refute the second category of unbelievers. This is that of those who indeed acknowledge that Jesus performed wonderful deeds, but claim that he deluded the eyes of the beholders by sorcery, and just as enchanters and poisoners are accustomed to do, drew those present into wonder of himself.

VI. Against those who think that Christ of God was a sorcerer.

^A But first of all, it must be asked of these people what answer they would give to the points already advanced. For is it possible to conceive that a man who was a teacher of a grave and most virtuous life, and of holy and true doctrines such as we have previously set forth, could have been in his manner of life a sorcerer? And if indeed he were a practitioner of magic, a poisoner, a cheat, and a sorcerer, how could he have become the cause of such a teaching among all nations, such as we ourselves see with our eyes and hear with our ears to this day? Furthermore, who would be so confident in himself as to attempt to combine things that cannot be combined in any way? For who is truly a sorcerer, if it be not one who is of wicked and nefarious character, and who addresses himself to matters that befit despondent and nefarious men, and is accustomed to do everything for the sake of base and sordid gain? Is our Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, then subject to such things? ^B Whence, or how, could he be held guilty, seeing that he commanded his own disciples, as is apparent from their own testimony, saying: "Possess not gold, nor silver in your purses, nor scrip for your way, nor shoes"? How would they have obeyed him when he spoke thus, and thought it worthy to transmit these things in written memoirs, if they had seen their teacher greedy for profit and acting in opposition to what he taught others? Surely, they would not have contained themselves for long, but would have held him in derision, scorned his words, and departed from his instruction; and rightly so, had they seen him imposing the most severe laws upon them, while the author of the laws himself in no way followed the words of his own laws. ^C Again, the sorcerer and true deceiver permits himself to be with despondent and nefarious men, so that he may the more freely pursue wicked and unspeakable pleasures, and by sorceries and enchantments subject weak women and draw them under his malice. But indeed, of the temperance of our Savior and Lord, one could never speak in sufficiently abundant terms. For again, the disciples testify that he commanded not even to look upon a woman with lust, saying: "It was said to those of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." And when, on one occasion, for a necessary reason, so that he might be of service to many, ^D they saw him conversing with the Samaritan woman, they marveled that he spoke with a woman, thinking they were beholding something unexpected and unusual, as they who had never seen the like before. For the speech of our Savior commended nothing else but gravity and austerity in his ways. Moreover, that teaching of his was also a great proof of his temperance, by which he taught men to be chaste from the very depths of their mind and to cut off passionate desires, saying: "There are eunuchs who were born so; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." Again, the sorcerer and true deceiver attempts and does everything for the sake of vainglory, for the most part performing illusions, and boasting that he knows and possesses something more than the multitude; but our Savior and Lord, because he was not vainglorious, arrogant, or an illusionist, from his healing actions exhorted no one—

neither to speak of them, nor to reveal him to many. This might be made manifest from the fact that he pursued his life of seclusion in the mountains, and shied away from the harmful interactions of the crowds in the cities. If, therefore, he had not set himself to teaching for the sake of glory, money, or pleasure, what room is left for the suspicion that he was a deceiver and an illusionist? ^A Consider also this point again: when an illusionist imparts his own wickedness to others, what kind of men does he produce? Are they not illusionists, deceivers, and sorcerers in all respects similar to him? Who, then, has ever yet discovered the whole race of Christians to be practicing sorcery or witchcraft as a result of his teaching? It is not possible to say so; rather, as has been demonstrated, they pursue philosophical discourses. He, then, who became the cause of a solemn and temperate life and of the highest piety for others, who could he justly be considered to be, if not the foremost of philosophers and the teacher of pious men? For indeed every teacher must surely be better than those being taught. Our Savior and Lord might therefore be acknowledged as a philosopher and truly pious, and far from being a deceiver and illusionist. ^B If, then, he was such a person, how could he have attempted his miraculous works by any other means than by a divine and ineffable power and by the highest piety toward the God of the universe? That he honored and revered Him as Father is notably demonstrated by the words he spoke concerning Him. To such a degree, therefore, were his disciples who adhered to him from the beginning, and those who succeeded them in their way of life afterwards, established far removed from such base and wicked suspicion, that they do not even permit those among the sick—as many people in many places attempt to do—to use leaf inscriptions, or to use amulets, or to pay heed to those who promise to cast spells, or to procure for themselves cures of their ailments ^C by the wonders of roots and herbs and other such methods. All these things have been banished from the teaching of Christ; nor is it possible ever to behold a Christian using an amulet, nor charms, nor curious inscriptions on leaves, nor any other things whose use the multitude has deemed indifferent. What reasoning, then, would lead one to consider them to be disciples of such an illusionist and deceiver? And yet, the fellowship of students is a great proof for everyone who professes anything. For men who are skilled and knowledgeable surely manifest a cause of their knowledge that is much greater than themselves; just as, for instance, could medical doctors be witnesses of their teacher’s mastery of the subject? And what other man would geometricians name as their leader than a geometer? And arithmeticians the arithmetician? ^D By the same token, the students of an illusionist would be the greatest witnesses, as they themselves would be pursuing things similar to their teacher. But among so many thousands of years, no disciple of Jesus has yet been revealed as an illusionist, although the governors and kings through the passage of time have made an exact examination of matters here among us by the trial of torture. And truly, no one was such an illusionist that he could be released and left free of all danger by the only act of sacrificing, if he had been compelled by them.

inscriptions, nor in other similar matters, the use of which many consider indifferent: what reasoning, therefore, will ever convince one that those who were disciples of such a teacher should be judged to have been the disciples of a trickster or an impostor? And yet, what the character of anyone who professes something is, no thing will prove more clearly than the conduct of his disciples: for if they be men endowed with arts and sciences, then certainly the one who was the author of such arts and sciences for them will prove himself to have been far more excellent than they. For example, those who learned medicine from someone have to be considered suitable witnesses of the teacher’s excellence in such a discipline; those who learned geometry will prove that they had no other master of such a discipline than a geometer; and arithmeticians, none other than an arithmetician: by the same reasoning, the best witnesses to judge whether someone was an impostor are those who learned from him and who exercise the same art as their teacher. But in so many years, no disciple of Jesus has yet appeared as a trickster, even though at different times both kings and governors have investigated most diligently everything that pertains to us: thus, no such trickster ever existed who would be set free and placed beyond all danger, provided only that he was forced by them to sacrifice according to their rite. And if none of our people—as many as we ourselves have been able to see, as well as those who were formerly disciples of Jesus—was ever condemned for sorcery or trickery, then therefore neither was the Teacher himself such a person. But lest our entire discourse proceed from unwritten things, let us see also what proof can be elicited from history which is contained in writing.

Therefore, the first disciples of Jesus himself are mentioned in the book which contains their Acts ^B, as having so greatly changed the conduct of as many as they accepted from the Gentiles into their discipline—even though most of them were infamous for the crime of trickery—to such an extent that they dared to bring out into the open the books which they [the disciples] had forbidden them, and to burn them in the sight of all. Let us hear, therefore, what that Scripture contains: "Many also of those who had practiced curious arts brought their books and burned them before all, and having counted the prices of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver." Such, indeed, were the disciples of our Savior, and such was the power of their speech when they addressed their hearers, that they would penetrate the innermost parts of the soul, and touch and wound the conscience of each person, to such a degree ^C that no one could any longer conceal anything, but each of them would bring out into the open whatever secret he was conscious of, and would provide himself as an accuser of his own crimes which he had previously committed: such also were those who were instructed by them, endowed with pure and sincere minds, so that nothing feigned or fraudulent lay hidden in them; but on the contrary, they would glory and trust in their own transformation from a worse life to a better one. Those, therefore, who burned the magical books, and by their own public judgment confirmed the complete destruction of them, why should they not henceforth offer to all a most certain argument that they are held by no study of magical things at all? But on the contrary, that they are, from that time, pure and removed from every suspicion of that kind? If, therefore, it is already established that the disciples of our Savior were such, why was the Teacher himself not so much earlier? But if, regarding the disciples, you wish to know what kind of teacher they had, you possess even today countless disciples of the words of Jesus, from among whom exist very many assemblies of men, who, as if in battle array against the natural pleasures of the body, and having kept their mind unscathed and free from every shameful passion—men who, having grown old in temperance throughout their whole life, provide brilliant proofs of the nourishment derived from His words—

not only do men philosophize in this way ^A under Him, but also untold myriads of women throughout the whole inhabited world, who, like certain priestesses of the God of all, have embraced the highest wisdom and, captivated by the love of heavenly wisdom, have disregarded the offspring of the flesh, and having made every effort for the soul, have dedicated themselves entirely, in body and soul, to the King of all and God of all, to practice perfect purity and virginity.

Now, the Greeks ^B tell of one who left his own country as a vagabond under the pretext of philosophy, carrying himself here and there; this was their Democritus. And one Crates is admired among them, because, having left his possessions to his fellow citizens, he claimed to have set himself, Crates, free. But the followers of the words of Jesus are countless in number—not one or two—who, having sold their possessions, have distributed them to the poor and needy, of whom we ourselves are witnesses, having associated with such people and observed the achievements of the discipleship of Jesus not only in words but in deeds themselves. ^C What must one say of the myriads even of barbarians, and not only of Greeks, who through the words of Jesus have leaped over all polytheistic error and have borne witness that they know the Savior and Creator of this universe as the only God? Plato, the only one among the philosophers of old who knew Him, confessed that he did not dare to proclaim Him to all, expressly saying: “To find, then, the Father and Creator of this universe is a task, and to declare Him to all is impossible.” To him, indeed, the matter seemed a task and truly the greatest of things; but it was impossible for him to declare it to all because he lacked that power of piety which the disciples of Jesus possessed, to whom, through the cooperation of the Master, it became easy to find and know the Father and Creator of all, and having found Him, to bring Him forth to every race of mankind, to reveal and fulfill [the truth], and to preach the knowledge to all. ^D So that, from their very teaching, even now, at the present time, in all the nations upon the earth, myriads of multitudes—not only of men but also of women, and children, and servants, and country folk—are so far from obeying Plato that they recognize as the only God the Maker and Creator of this universe, and worship Him alone, and through Christ alone theologize about Him. These are the achievements of this new and strange sorcerer; such are the enchantments of the one who is considered a deceiver; and such are the disciples of Jesus, from whom one must recognize what kind of person the Teacher was.

Come, let us further examine the argument in this way. You call him a sorcerer, my friend, and you also call him a clever poisoner and a deceiver. Was he, then, the first...

^A and only inventor of this matter? Or must we necessarily and logically refer the causes back to his teachers? For if, with no one to teach him, he became the first and only inventor of the undertaking, having learned absolutely nothing from others, and having borrowed nothing from the ancients, how ought we not to confess him to be of divine nature, who, without books, or words, or teachers, emerged as an autodidact and was found to be the inventor of such things by his own natural intelligence? And yet it is impossible to acquire even a base art, or a rational science, or even the first elements of learning, without some guide and teacher, unless one has exceeded the common nature of man. For example, no one has ever appeared to us as a self-taught teacher of grammar, nor an orator who had not learned from someone, nor a self-originated physician, nor a builder, nor a craftsman of any other art. And these are all small and merely human things. But to say that the teacher of true piety for men—who performed such wonders during the time he lived upon earth, and who worked such paradoxical prodigies as we have just recounted—arose to such a state spontaneously, neither having borrowed from the ancients nor having been helped by later teachers who had done the same or similar things before him, is this anything other than testifying and confessing that he was truly something divine and that the one we are inquiring about surpassed the entire nature of man? ^B But you say that he had impostors for teachers, and that he did not shrink from the wisdom of the Egyptians, nor was he ignorant of the arcana which their antiquity possessed, and that having collected these, he turned out to be the man that the tradition describes. What then? Have there appeared others greater than he, prior in time, and his teachers, whether in Egypt or elsewhere? Why, then, did the fame of those men not reach all people before the accusation against this one? Or why is the glory of those men not sung even now in the same way as that of ours? Who among the sorcerers who have ever existed from the beginning of time—whether barbarian or Greek—became the teacher of such disciples, and the author of such laws and doctrines, as the power of our Savior has shown itself to be? And who among those who ever lived is recorded to have accomplished such healings and such marvelous benefits as our Savior is remembered to have done? And whose followers confirmed the truth of the things they witnessed by the trial of fire and iron, as did the disciples of our Savior, who endured every ignominy, ^C and suffered every form of torture, and finally poured out their own blood to confirm the things they had testified concerning him? Furthermore, let whoever opposes this argument of ours say, I ask, what sorcerer among those who have ever lived ever even entertained the thought of establishing an organization of a new nation in his own name? And as for not only thinking this, but also succeeding in what he intended, how would this not transcend the entire nature of man? Who has ever, in opposition to the decrees of kings, and of ancient lawgivers, philosophers, poets, and theologians, set up laws against the worship of idols, and established these laws, and shown them to be invincible and unconquerable for a long age? ^D

^A Yet our Savior and Lord did not merely contemplate this, nor did he fear to attempt it; nor did he attempt it, yet fail to accomplish it. Rather, having said to his disciples in one word and with one voice: "Go, and teach all nations in my name, teaching them to keep all things that I have commanded you," ^B he added deed to his word, and immediately the whole race of Greeks and barbarians alike was taught in a short time. Laws were sown among all nations that were contrary to the superstition of the ancients; laws that were enemies to demons and hostile to every error of polytheism; laws that were disciplinarians for the Scythians, the Persians, and other barbarians, and deterrents from all lawless and beastly living; laws that overturned the customs held by the Greeks from the beginning of the human race, and introduced a new and true piety. What, then, was attempted by the magicians of old before the time of Jesus, or even after, that was such, or even similar, so as to make it plausible to claim that he was assisted by others in matters of magic? But if no one can be named who was like unto him (for there was no one with such power of virtue as he), then it must be admitted that some strange and divine nature walked among men, which alone and first accomplished those things which had never before been heard by human ears. And let these things be said thus far.

^C Now again, we must go to meet the opposing adversary, and we must ask him: when has he ever seen with his own eyes or heard with his ears magicians and sorcerers working anything without libations, sacrifices, and the invocation and presence of demons? Can anyone, therefore, cast such a slander against our Savior, or against his teachings, or even against those who today follow his life? Is it not clear even to the blind that we who are followers of Jesus practice the complete opposite of these things, preferring to let our souls face death rather than offer sacrifice to demons, and preferring to depart from this life rather than submit to being enslaved by wicked demons? Who does not know that it is our custom to drive away all harassment of demons by the very name of Jesus and by most pure prayers? This word of Jesus, and his teaching, has made us all, by that invisible type of power, far stronger, making us foes and enemies of demons, not friends or acquaintances, let alone making us their subjects and servants. ^D Having brought us to be such as these, how could he himself have been a slave to demons? How could he have sacrificed to wicked spirits? Or how could he have called upon demons as helpers in his wondrous works, when even to this day every demon and every unclean spirit, as one of those - [133]

^A which have by nature the power to chastise and torture, shudders at the name of Jesus, withdraws and gives way before the power of his naming? Even as of old, when he was living his life among men, they could not bear his presence, but from this side and that they would cry out: “Leave us alone! What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” But if a man were utterly intent on sorcery, applying his mind to things forbidden, would he not clearly be a person of unholy conduct, polluted, shameful, godless, and impious? But if he were such a one, whence or how would he be able to teach others about piety, or about temperance, or about the knowledge of God, or about the divine tribunal and the judgment of the God of all? Would he not rather commend and prefer to all these things the opposite, doing what is consistent with his own wickedness? Would he not deny God, and God’s providence, and God’s judgment, and would he not mock all words about virtue and the immortality of the soul? If indeed it were possible to see such things in our Savior and Lord, nothing would be left to be said. But since it is certain that in every deed and word he was accustomed to invoke God the Father, the Creator of the universe, and that he trained those whom he received into his discipleship to be such as he was himself, being both temperate and a teacher of temperate words, and being the author and herald of justice, truth, humanity, and all virtue, and the guide to the religion of the God who is King of all; does it not follow that we should believe that nothing of what we admire in him was accomplished by him through the deceit of sorcery, but confess it to be through a secret and truly divine power? But if you are driven to such a pitch of defiance that you are unwilling to heed sound reasoning or the necessity of the words, nor to listen to probable arguments—because perhaps you suspect us as being advocates of our own cause—then listen at least to your own demons, to those very gods, I say, who give oracles, who attributed to our Savior not the deceit of sorcery, as you do, but piety and wisdom and an ascent into heaven by their own testimony. And what testimony could be given to you, more worthy of your credence, than the confession of our enemy, which he placed in the third volume of those that he entitled, *On the Philosophy from Oracles*, where he records these words verbatim. For the efficacy itself and the evidence of his divine power clearly reveals it to the lovers of truth.

Oracles concerning Christ

VII. ^D Perhaps it will seem strange to some people what we are about to say. For the gods declared Christ to be most pious and to have become immortal, and they make mention of him with praise. And as he proceeds in his discourse, he adds: “Therefore to those who inquired concerning Christ, whether he is God, he replied:”

^A Immortal the soul travels after the failing body, Knowing it honored by the light of wisdom, but that soul Of an illustrious man is adorned by piety.

He declared him, then, to be most religious, and that his soul, just as those of others, was made immortal after death, and that the Christians were ignorant for worshipping him. And then, to those asking why he was subjected to punishment, he returned an oracle:

Body is always subjected to feeble tortures; But the soul of the pious dwells in the heavenly plain.

And after the oracle he adds immediately: “He is therefore pious, and has ascended to heaven, as the pious are wont to do. Wherefore will you not abhor him, but rather pity the ignorance of men?” These are the words of Porphyry even now. I ask you, therefore, was he an impostor? Let at least the words of your own friends turn you around. You have, therefore, our Savior Jesus, ^B who is the Christ of God, corroborated even by the testimony of men, not as a trickster or a sorcerer, but as pious, most just, and wise, and an inhabitant of the heavenly regions. Who, being such, could have been the author of such marvelous deeds by any other means than divine power? This is what the sacred oracles also testify concerning him, bearing witness that he as the Word of God and the highest Power of God dwelt in the form and guise of a man, or rather in his very flesh and body, and accomplished all that dispensation for the sake of humanity. You yourself may also easily learn the divinity of the power that is attributed to him, if you consider what kind of nature he had, and ^C what sort of men he took from their fishing and humble life and attached to himself. Then he used them as ministers to accomplish that undertaking which escapes all reason. For since he had conceived of what no one had ever conceived—to disseminate his own laws and a new doctrine to all nations, and to teach the entire human race that piety which venerates the one supreme God, and to exhibit himself as the teacher of this—he thought best to use as ministers of this counsel those who were most rustic and most humble of all. It is likely that someone might think he acted in a most unreasonable manner. For how could those who were not able even to open their mouths to teach a single person be teachers, let alone of an assembly of men; and how could those who were entirely devoid of all learning address a multitude? But this was, in fact, what demonstrated the divine counsel, and the divine power that was working in them and accomplishing the work with them. ^D When, therefore, he had called them, at the very first he said: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” But when he had finally obtained them as followers, and, having breathed his divine power into them, had filled them with courage and confidence of mind, he—as one truly the Word of God and God himself, the author of such great miracles—having made them hunters of intelligent and rational souls, and having fixed the work by his voice—by that voice which said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”—and having made them at once laborers and teachers of piety, he already sent them out into all nations, having appointed them heralds of his own doctrine. And who would not be struck with amazement, and would not reasonably become a believer in the paradox of the miracle, when no one among men ever...

of any renown—neither king, nor legislator, nor philosopher, nor Greek, nor barbarian—is recorded to have conceived of such a thing, or even to have let a similar thought enter his imagination? For it was satisfying enough for each of them if he could establish his own profession within his own land alone, and be capable of confirming the laws which appeared to him good and useful, even if only among his own single nation. But our Lord, planning nothing mortal or human, consider, I pray you, if he did not again utter a voice as if truly God, when he said verbatim to those most humble disciples of his: "Go, teach all nations." ^A And how, the disciples might naturally have answered the Teacher, would this be possible for us? For how, pray, shall we preach to the Romans? How shall we converse with the Egyptians? What language shall we use to address the Greeks, men who were reared in only the Syrian tongue? And the Persians, and Armenians, and Chaldeans, and Scythians, and Indians, and if there should be any barbarian nations—how shall we persuade them to abandon their ancestral gods and worship the one Creator of all? Trusting in what power of speech shall we proceed to this? Or what hope will there be for us of succeeding, when we dare to legislate against the laws that have been established from time immemorial by all nations concerning their own gods? And by what strength can we hope to overcome such an undertaking? ^B Had the disciples of Jesus said or even thought these things, as is likely they would have, the Teacher provided them with the solution to their difficulties by the addition of a single phrase, stating that they would accomplish their task "in my name." For he did not command them simply and indefinitely to teach all nations, but with the necessary addition, "in my name." For since the power of his naming was of such a magnitude that the Apostle said, "God hath given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth," ^C he was rightly indicating the excellence of the virtue of his name, which is hidden from the many, when he said to his disciples: "Go, teach all nations in my name." Then he also foretells with great precision what was to come, saying: "For it is necessary that this Gospel be preached in the whole world, for a testimony unto all nations." But the Word had been spoken then in a corner of the earth, and only those present had heard it. How, then, was this trustworthy to them, if they had not received proof of the truth of his words from other divine works performed by him? For that they believed him when he spoke, you must necessarily admit upon reflection. For no one would have obeyed him had he merely commanded; but having obeyed his nod, they discipled every race of men according to his instructions, having set out from their own land to all nations. And in a short time the works were there to see the words fulfilled. The Gospel had been preached in a short time in the whole world for a testimony unto the nations; and both barbarians and Greeks were receiving the writings concerning Jesus in their own characters and native tongue. ^D Yet, who would not reasonably wonder, who then was the

^A method of teaching of the disciples of Jesus? Could it be that they went out into the middle of the city, and then stood in the marketplace, and, using a loud voice, called together the passersby, and then harangued them? And what then was the substance of their harangue, by which it was likely that the hearers were persuaded? And how did men unskilled in rhetoric, and devoid of all learning, harangue them? But indeed they did not speak to the multitude, but conversed with those they happened to meet, group by group. What speech then, and of what kind, did they employ to persuade their hearers? For the struggle was not small for them, since they did not deny the ignominious death of the one they proclaimed. For if they had suppressed this, and had not confessed to all how much and what things he had suffered from the Jews, but had brought forward only the solemn and glorious things—I mean his wonder-working, and his miracles, and his philosophical teachings—not even thus would their speech have been easy, so as to cause those who heard them to easily give their assent, for they were strangers, and just then for the first time hearing strange words from men who offered no credible testimony for what they were saying. Yet, perhaps, the things said would have appeared more ^B plausible. But as it is, at one time they would say that the God who was heralded had come in a human body, and that in nature he was nothing other than the Word of God, wherefore he had performed such wondrous powers as befits God; and at another time, contrary to these things, that he endured insults and humiliations, and finally, the most shameful punishment, usually reserved for the most wicked of all men, that on the cross—who would not rightly have spat upon them as though they were saying contradictory things? Who was so foolish as to easily believe them when they said they had seen him risen from the dead after his death, he who had not even been able to defend himself when he was among the living? And who would have been persuaded by those uneducated and common men to say that it was necessary to despise the gods of their fathers, and to condemn as folly all men from the beginning of time, and to obey ^C only them and the commands of the one who had been crucified? For they said this one was the only beloved and only-begotten Son of the only and supreme God. I for my part, when I examine the argument with myself truthfully, find no persuasive power in it, nor anything solemn, nor credible, nor even plausible enough to convince even one of the foolish. But again, looking at the power of the word, how it has persuaded myriad multitudes, and how "myriandrous" Churches have been established by those very disciples of Jesus, who were most common and unlearned, not in obscure and invisible places, but established in the most distinguished cities—I refer to the imperial city of the Romans itself, and to the cities of the Alexandrians and the Antiochenes, and throughout all of Egypt and Libya, and Europe and Asia, and in both villages and ^D countries and among every nation—I am again compelled by necessity to return to the search for the cause, and to agree that they could not have succeeded in this daring undertaking otherwise than by a power more divine and beyond human, and by the cooperation of the One who said to them: "Make disciples of all the nations in my name." And having said this, he added a promise,

through which they were to receive confidence and readily surrender themselves to the things that had been announced to them; for he said to them: "And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." ^A Indeed, it is said that he breathed the divine Spirit into them, and that he instilled in them a divine and miracle-working power, now by saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit," and at another time by saying: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give."

You see, then, how their argument prevailed: since the very book of the Acts confirms this and bears witness in agreement with it, for it records that they themselves, through the operation of miracles performed by them in the name of Jesus, struck with amazement those who were present and looking on. For it is likely that those who saw were first struck with amazement by the very things and deeds, and thus were then prepared to be eager to inquire who this was, by whose power and name the miracle had been performed. Then by being taught, they were found to have attained by faith to the teaching of those men. For not persuaded by words, but forestalled by things and deeds, they were prepared to be ready for what was to be obtained by words themselves. ^C Hence it is said that some even offered sacrifices and libations to some of the disciples of Jesus as if they were gods, and thought one of them to be Mercury and another Jupiter; so much had the evidence of the miracles struck the minds of those people. And to hearers thus affected, everything which they proclaimed about Jesus was henceforth reasonably believed to be true. And regarding his return to life after death, they testified not with simple and indemonstrable words, but proved it by the very evidence of facts; for they demonstrated the deeds of him while he was alive. But if they had also proclaimed that he was God and the Son of God, existing with the Father before his coming to men, why would they not have assented to this statement all the more readily, considering it reasonable that the contrary was incredible and impossible, and concluding by reason itself that the things taking place could not be thought to be the works of a mortal nature, but of some God, even if no one said it? This, therefore, was what was at issue, and nothing else: by what power the disciples of Jesus became established from the beginning, and how they persuaded both Greeks and barbarians to think of him as the Word of God, and how in the midst of cities and throughout the countryside ^D they established the worship of the one God over all.

^A Furthermore, who would not be struck with wonder, upon reflecting and considering that it was no human work that brought the majority of the nations of the world under one Roman rule, and this at the very time of Jesus? For at the same time that he arrived among men in so paradoxical a manner, it came to pass that the Roman power reached its zenith; for it was at that time, of course, that Augustus became lord of most nations. This occurred when Cleopatra was captured and the succession of the Ptolemies in Egypt was dissolved, and from that time to this, the kingdom of Egypt, which had stood from the beginning of the world and from the very origin of mankind, so to speak, was overthrown. From that time also, the nation of the Jews became subject to the Romans, as did the Syrians, Cappadocians, Macedonians, Bithynians, Greeks, and, in a word, all the rest who yielded to the Roman Empire. And who would not admit that this did not come to pass in the world without God, in conjunction with the teaching concerning our Savior, when they consider that it would not have been easy for the disciples of Jesus to travel through foreign regions if the nations had been divided and discordant among themselves, and if there had been no commerce between them at all due to the numerous independent principalities? But once these principalities were removed, they accomplished the task set before them fearlessly and in peace, since God over all had made their journey easy and smooth for them, and had restrained the fury of the superstitious in every city through the fear of a greater power. ^B Reflect, then, for a moment: if nothing had hindered those who were deluded by the error of polytheism from attacking the teaching of Christ, how many civil seditions would you have seen in cities and throughout the countryside, and how many vexations and wars—and not insignificant ones, at that—would have occurred if those superstitious people had been under their own authority and held the right of supreme rule themselves? But as it is, this too was the work of the supreme God: to have the enemies of his own Word already subdued by a greater fear of a supreme power. For he willed that it should progress daily and grow among all men. On the other hand, so that it might not be thought that it endured only by the concession and permission of those in power, if ever one of them, seized by a certain malice, decided in his heart to fight against the word of Christ, He allowed him to act on this desire—partly as a demonstration of the athletes of piety, but also to make clear to all that the establishment of the Word did not come from human design, ^C but was supported by the power of God. Indeed, who would not immediately be struck with wonder at the things that were accustomed to happen in those times? For the athletes of piety, who were previously known and distinguished to all by human standards, were accounted worthy of kingdoms before God; but the enemies of piety paid the proper penalties, being goaded by divinely-sent scourges and having their whole bodies corrupted by dreadful and painful afflictions, ^D so that they were finally driven to come to a confession of their impiety against Christ. As for all the rest who were considered worthy of the divine calling, against Christ

were gaining rewards before God. But the enemies of piety, divinely smitten and driven, and entangled in and consumed by severe and painful bodily afflictions, were paying the due penalty, ^A to such an extent that they were even forced to confess their profane will against Christ. But all the others who had been found worthy of that holy name, and gloried in being on Christ’s side, when they had been exercised for a brief time by troubles, and had displayed the nobility and sincerity of their souls, were receiving back their own liberty. Meanwhile, the saving Word was shining with greater clarity day by day, and was holding sway in the very midst of enemies; and it was prevailing not only over those visible adversaries who confronted us, ^B but also over those who escape mortal sight—if perchance there were any in that misty air which encompasses the earth, namely, the demons, and the rulers of these, who were commanding those others. For the true disciples of Christ were putting even these to flight, both by the purity of their lives, and by their prayers directed to God, and by the invocation of His holy name, in this also displaying the most certain proofs of the wonderful signs which are recorded to have been wrought by Him, and of the divine power that was in Him. But since we have not until now, for the time being, busied ourselves with these matters, the order itself now requires that we touch upon the more secret theology concerning Him, and contemplate God the Word Himself—what He was, who through that visible man was performing wonders and miracles.

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION BOOK FOUR.

^C

THESE ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

1. On the secret dispensation of God the Father concerning our Savior and Lord, who is Christ. 2. How we say that He existed as the Son of God before all creation. 3. That there are not several sons of the God over all, but that only One is reasonably proclaimed by us as God from God.

Book Four

^A 4. That the pre-existence of the only-begotten Son of God is necessary for the constitution of the universe. 5. That while we acknowledge countless divine powers, we nevertheless demonstrate theologically that only that of the Son is the image of God the Father, by reason of which it is introduced. 6. That from the very first constitution of all things, Christ by some hidden and unknown way presides over those souls who are religious and dear to God. 7. That to the Hebrews alone was the knowledge of the God of all things revealed of old, which would be perceived when Christ manifested Himself. 8. That the rest of the nations worshipped only the heavenly luminaries, which had been assigned to certain angels. 9. Concerning the power which is hostile and opposed to God, and the one who leads it, and how through it the whole human race was led astray. 10. How it was necessary that the only-begotten Son of God should make a passage unto men. 11. How He passed through His life among men. 12. That even those who had long since departed were reached by the laws of His philanthropy. 13. That He remained impassible, unharmed, and incorporeal, even in the time when He became man. 14. That, having renewed man, He provided for us all the hope of eternal blessings. 15. What is the meaning of the presence of Christ, and how He was announced by the prophets of the Hebrews as God, and Lord, and High Priest of the God of all things. 16. Through which prophetic writings Christ was proclaimed by name: From the 2nd Psalm. From the 19th Psalm. From the 27th Psalm. From the 81st Psalm. From the 88th Psalm. From the 131st Psalm. From Amos. From Habakkuk. From the Lamentations of Jeremiah. From the first book of Kings. From the same. From the 44th Psalm. 17. That the name of Jesus was held in honor among those of old who were acquainted with God. From Exodus. From Zechariah.

^A Concerning the more mystical dispensation of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, who is God.

Since the matters pertaining to the incarnation of our Savior have been discussed with sufficient abundance in the book preceding this—the third of the Evangelical Demonstration—it is now time to touch upon the more hidden teaching concerning Him, which pertains to a more mystical theology. The argument concerning the first and everlasting God, who alone is unbegotten and is the cause of all things, the supreme leader and all-sovereign, is common to all men; but the argument concerning Christ is both peculiar and again common to both the Hebrews and to us. This Christ, whom they, even now, like us, confess while following their own scriptures, though at times they fall far short, neither ^{B C D}

^A comprehending his divinity, nor knowing the reasons for his coming, nor indeed grasping the times in which it was foretold that he would come to men. For while they are still expecting him to come even now, we have already shown that he has come once; and we pray to see his second coming, in divine glory, as we are persuaded by the announcements and teachings of the God-bearing prophets. Since there is a double manner of speaking concerning him, the one might be called the more recent, having been introduced to men but yesterday and lately, and the other more ancient than all time and all ages. For God, since he alone is good and the beginning and fountain of every good, wishing to share his riches with many, and being about to bring forth all rational creation into existence, ^B some incorporeal, intellectual, and divine powers, namely angels and archangels, and spirits pure in every way, and furthermore the souls of men, which received a nature loose and free regarding the choice of the good or its opposite, and as many things as were to be instruments of bodies for these, suitable for the conduct of varied lives, and to assign to all these proper regions and places (for the better ones to those who remained good, and, conversely, fitting ones as places of correction for those inclined toward the opposite)—since God, by his foreknowledge, anticipating the future as God, and perceiving all these things, saw that the whole creation would require a head in this great body, he thought it necessary to appoint one as the steward of the entire creation, ^C and as leader and king of all. This is the teaching of the divine oracles as well, which were delivered by the theologians and prophets among the Hebrews of old; from whom one who wishes may learn that there is one beginning of all things, or rather that which is superior to a beginning, and prior to the first, and more ancient than a monad, and surpassing every name—ineffable, unutterable, inconceivable, good, the cause of all things, the creative, the beneficent, the providential, the saving [power], being himself the one and only God, from whom are all things and through whom are all things; for in him we live and move and are. Whatever he wills, this would then also be the sole cause of the subsistence and existence of all generated things; for it is because he wills. And he wills because he happens by nature to be good. But to the good, nothing is ^D more fitting than to will what is good. And willing these things, he also has the power. Wherefore, both willing and being able at once, he set all things—both what is seen and what is unseen—in order for himself, without hindrance and without obstruction, putting forth his own will and power as a kind of matter and essence for the origin and constitution of all things, so that it is no longer reasonable to say that any of the things that exist came from non-being. For there could be nothing that comes from non-being. For how could that which is not be cause for another to exist? But whatever exists, it receives its being from the one who alone is and is before being—he who said, "I am who I am"—because since he alone is, and is always, he became the cause of existence for all who obtained being from him, by willing and by being able; and

he has clearly and abundantly bestowed upon all things out of himself both their essence, and their powers, and their forms. ^A

II. How we say that he was the Son of God before everything created.

And indeed, of all things that exist, he first establishes his own offspring, the first-begotten Wisdom, wholly and entirely intellectual, and rational, and all-wise; or rather, [he establishes] Wisdom itself, and the Word itself, and the Intelligence itself. And if it is permissible to conceive of any "beauty itself" or "goodness itself" among created things, he himself first puts this forth out of himself as the foundation of those things that were to exist afterward—the perfect workmanship of the Perfect One, the wise architectural design of the Wise One, the good offspring of the Good Parent. For what else could it be, but the guardian and warden, the savior and physician, and the governor of the creation of all things, who has grasped the rudders of those things that subsequently received existence through him? ^B Hence, the oracles reasonably speak of him in theological terms as a begotten God, as though he alone carried within himself the image of the ineffable and incomprehensible divinity, by reason of which he is both being and being called God, for the sake of his likeness to the First. And on this account they say that he was appointed by the Father as a good minister, in order that, as if through one all-wise and living instrument, and a technical and scientific canon, all things might be directed by him—both bodies and those that are bodiless, the animate and the inanimate, the rational together with the irrational, mortal together with immortal, and whatever else has been woven and fashioned together with these; and so that, as if by one power of all things, and by one living and animate law and word, ^C existing in all and passing through all, all things might be brought into harmony under one all-wise bond, namely, the word and law of God himself, being brought together and bound fast.

III. That there are not several sons of the God over all, but only one is reasonably declared by us to be God from God.

But since the Father is one, it is necessary that the Son also be one, and not many; and that there be one perfect, only-begotten God from God, and not several. For in many there will be otherness and difference and the introduction of what is inferior. Therefore there is one God, Father of one perfect and only-begotten Son, and not of several gods or sons; since, there being also one essence of light, all necessity compels us to posit as one and the same that perfect essence which is begotten from it. For what other offspring of light could one possibly conceive of, ^D except for the one ray itself that proceeds from it and fills and illuminates all things? For anything alien to this would be darkness and not light. In this way...

^A even for the Father of all, who is the Most High and ineffable Light, there can be no suitable or proper example, save only this one thing—that which we are permitted to say of the Son: for he is the radiance of eternal light, the spotless mirror of God’s activity, and the image of His goodness. Whence it is said: "Who, being the radiance of His glory and the impress of His substance." ^B Furthermore, while the radiance cannot be separated from sensible light, the Son subsists distinctly and independently from the Father. The radiance occupies the place of activity for the light, but the Son is something other than mere activity, having a distinct substantial existence in himself. Moreover, the radiance coexists with the light and in a sense completes it (for light does not exist without radiance), and it subsists both with it and according to it; but the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Father generates Him, yet the Father himself is unbegotten. The Father is perfect and first in himself, as Father, and the cause of the Son's constitution, receiving nothing from the Son to complete His own divinity. But the Son, having come to be from a cause, is a second, and exists as Son, having received from the Father both his existence and his being such as he is. Again, the radiance does not shine forth from the light by choice and will, but as something inseparably associated with its essence; whereas the Son subsisted as the image of the Father by His intent and will. For God, having willed it, became the Father of the Son, and established a second light, in all things like unto Himself. Since, therefore, there is one unbegotten and ^C eternal light, how could its image be anything other than a radiance saving in all respects the likeness of the prototype—a light itself? How could it be an image of the One, unless it were itself one and the same? It must preserve the likeness not only of the essence of the First, but also of that which belongs to numerical quantity, so that there should be one perfect light from the one eternal light, and not diverse or many, as the first and only-begotten offspring—that very thing which is for us the perfect Good, lauded after that essence which lacks principle and birth, as we speak of God. There must, therefore, be one Son of the one Father. ^D For if a single kind of fragrance proceeds from some underlying subject, it is fitting to confess that it is one and the same sweet odor diffused to all, not diverse and many. Since, then, that first and only Good, who is God the ruler of all, has produced a divine and vital fragrance, which can be comprehended only by the mind and intellect, it is right to understand this as one, and wrong to think of it as many. For what could there be that is diverse from this,

^A which is in all respects similar to the Father, that it should not be inferior and worse? This is something we must entirely reject in the theology of the Son; for He is a vapor of the power of God, and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty. For from a sweet-smelling body, for example, from some ointment, or even from flowers and aromatics that grow from the earth, a certain sweet-smelling breath, distinct from that first subject body, is poured into everything that surrounds it externally; and as it spreads more widely, it fills the air itself, certainly not by any deprivation, or diminution, or section, or division of that which is the first subject of the body. But while that remains in its own place, and preserves the same nature with itself, and produces that fragrance: it is none the worse for the former, and this very genus which is produced, being sweet-smelling and fragrant, since it has its own place and nature, by this very fact, as much as possible, imitates that which is as similar as possible to the nature of the one producing it.

^B 149 Verily these things are indeed earthly and mortal, and belong to an inferior nature which has the power of corruption and is earthly, and are but small parts. But those things which pertain to the theology proposed by us, since they surpass all comparison with examples, have nothing of that kind, such as flows from bodies, to show; but they present this to the most subtle contemplation, as if in a mirror, and teach that there is a Son, who was begotten, not indeed one who did not exist at certain times and was born later, but who is before eternal times, and precedes them, and as Son always dwells together with the Father; and yet not one who is unbegotten, but begotten of the unbegotten Father: who is the Only-begotten, who is the Word, who is God from God, not produced from the substance of the Father by any severance, or section, or division, but who from the counsel and power of the Father, surpassing all speech and all thought from eternity, or rather before all eternity, obtained His essence, in a certain manner which can neither be comprehended by words nor grasped by our reason. For if "who shall declare His generation?" and as "no one knows the Father except the Son, so no one knows the Son except the one who begotten Him, the Father."

^C IV. That the pre-existence of the Only-begotten Son of God is assigned as necessary to the constitution of the universe.

Nevertheless, the most good Father judged that the Only-begotten and beloved Son ought to be set over the creation ^D of all things that were to be created, since He was about to produce the one world, as one certain great body made of many and diverse members and parts, and that this head should not indeed preside, suspended from some higher, as if from another greater head, by the divinity of the Father Himself (for the head of Christ is the Father), but that it should precede, and that before all things generated after Him, He might nevertheless be at hand both for the command of the Father and for the creation of those things which were hereafter to be made. Wherefore we have already said that He was produced by the Father, first of all, as a kind of unique instrument of all essence and nature: an instrument, I say, animated and living, and rather divine, and having within Himself a vital power, and most wise; which would beget all good things, which would provide light, which would fashion the heaven, which

^A would create the angels, which would command the spirits: an instrument which would preserve souls, which would augment bodies, which would provide for, govern, and care for all things, which would have the power of reigning, of judging, and of declaring the worship and reverence of the Father.

V.

That we confess indeed that there are innumerable created divine powers, but we show through theology that there is only one of the Son Himself, on account of which He is set forth as the image of God the Father.

Wherefore, over every created work, one must admire the divine power in general, and not imagine several: for there is altogether one creating power of the world, and one Word, the artificer of the universe, who was in the beginning with God. Since, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," which indeed it is necessary in truth not to be ignorant of, but to worship and follow with honor according to its dignity: since all things not only existed through Him from the beginning of all things, but also forever both have been made, and are being made: "and without Him was not anything made." For if there is any life in existing things, that which was made in Him was life. For from Him and through Him all things receive both life and soul. Whether it be number, or beauty, or convenience, or order, or temperament, or essence, or quality, or magnitude: the one Word of all things contains and disposes all, and one divine power, the creator of the world, presides over all. ^B For just as in our body there are many and various differences of parts, but one is the creating power of the whole (for the nature of the head did not arise by one power of God, and that of the eyes by another, and that of the ears by another, and that of the feet by another), so also with the universal world, one single divine virtue presiding over all would be the same both for the heaven and the stars, and for animals, whatsoever live in the air, on earth, or in the sea, and for the elements both all together and each separately; and furthermore, it is the artificer of natures in every way various, as well those that are contained by some genus as those that are distinguished by species. Nor indeed is the creating power of fire one thing, and that of water another, and that of earth again another, and that of air yet another, but one and the same wisdom is the artificer of all things, and that which created the world is this very thing which we speak of as God, the Word of God, the artificer of the universe. The friendship of the elements among themselves gives credence to these things, which, from the fact that they are mingled in certain temperaments, shows the nature of all things to be kindred and brotherly, and as the work of one architect. ^C For the earth, which is a heavy element, being supported by the waters, and not drawn into the depths by the solidity of its nature, but being always carried aloft, and not submerged, gives evidence to the Word of God and the counsel and power of God. And again, the communication of the moist substance with the dry, which shows nothing of corruption, nor suddenly floods the whole, but is held bound by the most hidden nod of God, again demonstrates that this is one and the same Word of God. What furthermore of fire? Which, although it is of a scorching and destructive nature, yet nestling in wood and commingled with the bodies of all kinds of living creatures, and being formed into elements with earth and water and air, and then by word and measure supplying to all things what is necessary, as much as might be to each for the sake of benefit, of its own power

^A oblivious, does it not seem to you to be again serving the Word of God and His power? When you observe the alternating movements of day and night, the increases and decreases of the hours and seasons, the cycles of years and periods of time, the rotations of the stars, the courses of the sun and the turnings of the moon, the sympathies and antipathies of all things, and one world composed of all of them, is it permitted to you to declare that the cause of all these things is irrationality and chance and haphazard occurrence, or [rather] to praise the Word of God as truly the Word, and the wisdom of God, and the power of God, and [to praise] this as one, and not as many? For even in a man there is one soul, and one rational power can be the creator of many things at once; or the same [soul], having learned many things, might set itself to cultivate land, and to build ships, and to steer, and to construct houses; and one intellect and reason in a man might receive the sciences of ten thousand things: the same person will practice geometry and astronomy, and will deliver discourses on grammar and medicine, and will be proficient in the sciences and in works done by the ministry of the hands. And yet no one has ever thought that there are several souls in one body, nor has anyone marveled at many human powers on account of the reception of many learnings. But if anyone, having found an unformed matter of clay, then softens it with his hands and imparts to it the form of a living creature, giving the head one shape, and the hands and feet another, and the eyes in yet another way, and the cheeks likewise, and the ears and mouth and nose, and modeling the chest and shoulders with that plastic art—must one, because many forms and limbs and parts have been produced in one body, therefore believe that there are as many makers? Or should one rather praise the artificer of the whole for having fashioned the entire thing at once with one reasoning and one power? Why then, in regard to the universe, which is one, though it exists from many parts, must one hypothesize many creative powers and name many gods, and not rather confess the one power that is truly God's and the wisdom of God, which by one power and one virtue both produces and gives life to all things at once, and provides to all things the varied abundance from itself? So also the one and same incidence of the sun's light simultaneously and at the same moment illuminates the air, lights up the eyes, warms the sense of touch, makes the earth fertile, increases plants, causes time to exist, leads the stars, revolves around the heaven, gladdens the world, and manifests the power of God that is in the universe; and all these things it accomplishes by one impulse of nature. And the nature of fire cleanses gold, while it melts lead; it loosens wax, but dries up clay, and parches wood, performing these various things by one burning power. In this way, also, the heavenly Word of God, who is the creator of the sun, and the heaven, and the entire world, being present to all things with an active power and extending through all things, pours out light upon the sun, and the moon, and the stars from his own perennial power, and establishes the heaven—a most fitting image of his own greatness—and holds it fast unto eternity; and the powers beyond heaven and the world, of angels and spirits, and of intellectual and rational essences, being at once life, and light, and wisdom, ^B fills with treasures from himself, with one and the same creative art.

^A And he never ceases to provide the substances of the elements, bestowing mixtures and temperaments, and species, and forms, and shapes, and countless qualities, both in animals and in plants, and in souls and in bodies, both in rational beings and in irrational ones, diversifying them in different ways at different times, and providing all things at once to all by a single power; and to all men he grants a mind capable of perceiving and contemplating his wisdom, and standing clearly and manifestly before all, he shows one world to be the work of one creative Word. Such a craftsman, then, the only-begotten Son of his counsel and creator of all things, did the God and Father, who is above all and creator of the creator himself, beget first of all, establishing in him and through him the creative reasons of the things that were to be, and placing in him the seeds of the constitution and governance of all things. Do you not see with your eyes the entire world, which one heaven encompasses, and the countless dances and revolutions of the stars around it? Again, there is one sun, not many, whose abundance of light covers the splendors of all. So truly, since there is one Father, there must also be one Son. If anyone should find fault because he did not beget many, it is time for such a one to be accused of madness, in that he does not also ask why there are not many suns, and moons, and worlds, and countless other things, attempting in a manic fashion to pervert the things of nature that are upright and well-ordered. ^B

VI. That from the first constitution of the universe, by a hidden and unknown reason, Christ presides over the souls of the pious and of those who are dear to God.

For this reason, just as among the things that fall under sight, one sun illuminates this entire sensible world, so too among those things that are grasped by intelligence alone, the one Word of God illuminates the immortal and incorporeal powers, and the intellectual and rational essences, as if they were countless stars and fountains of light. For it was fitting that there should also be one law over all absolutely, and the Word of God penetrating in all and through all, so that in this also the likeness of the image to the Father might be preserved entirely, as much in that which pertains to virtue, and to power, and to essence, as in that which pertains to the number of unity and oneness. But since the multiform and polymorphous nature of the things to be generated would be susceptible to countless and various mutations, one after another, on account of its own weakness, and since it would be unable to attain the unbegotten and incomprehensible ^C

^A nature of the supreme Father, by reason of the transcendence of that nature—which can neither be named and is altogether of infinite magnitude, nor could it ever reach such a capacity as to have its own origin or to become a participant in that divinity which has neither origin nor can be grasped or comprehended, nor could it look upward and fix its gaze against those rays of eternal light which cannot be expressed in words—it was surely necessary, and not unjustly so, that the best Father and Preserver of all, lest the nature of things coming into being should be altogether deprived of the greatest goods if it had no communion with Him, should interpose a certain intermediate ^B divine, all-powerful, and all-virtuous power of His only-begotten and first-born Son, who most accurately and as closely as possible associates with the Father and perhaps enjoys His secrets; and who, descending most gently and in some way conforming Himself to those who are left behind by extreme [remoteness], by reason of their own weakness are in need of improvement and benefit from the second [power], and who [needs] the rays of the sun to descend quietly and gently to us, since we are otherwise unable to enjoy the power of the light, which is unmixed, on account of the weakness of the body. For if, as a mental exercise, we were to imagine the all-radiant sun having let itself down from heaven and living among human beings on ^C earth, would anyone on earth remain unaffected, when all things animate and inanimate alike would be suddenly destroyed by the impact of the light? It would more quickly render the eyes of those who see blind, becoming a cause of harm and destruction to all far more than of benefit—not because it is such in its [own] nature, but because it becomes such to those who are intolerably [affected] by their own weakness so as to enjoy its surpassing [splendor]. Why then, when you hear similar things about God, do you marvel? Him, indeed, of whose ineffable and inexpressible power and essence no one of existing things possesses a share, except for one alone, [that is] the communion which the Father Himself, in His providence for all things, established before all others, so that the nature of created things might not ^D totally fall away on account of its own weakness and inability, being at a distance from the unbegotten and uncontainable Fatherly essence; but that it might remain and grow and be nourished, enjoying the intermediate provision which the only-begotten Word of God never ceases to supply to all things, but, penetrating everywhere and passing through all things, provides for the salvation of all alike, of rational and irrational beings, of mortal and immortal, of heavenly and earthly, of divine and invisible powers, and, in a word, of all things that have received a share of existence through Him; and much more, most specifically, of the intellectual and rational nature, for the sake of which He did not even disregard the human race. He honored it well and took thought for it, for the sake of the familiarity and continuity with Himself, by which it is also said in the holy oracles to have been fashioned after His image. But as the Word of God, He fashions His image, the entire intellectual and rational nature, at the beginning of the creation of the universe, and for this reason He established man as the leading and kingly living being among all those on earth, and [made him] free and self-determined in his tendency toward the good or to the contrary. But he, [original-script column: see facsimile]

not having used his own power well, and departing from the straight path, was carried into the opposite, not considering what God and Lord, what justice and law, what piety demanded, but, like the beasts that are devoid of reason, undertaking all inhuman and immoderate actions. Therefore the Best and Ruler of all, the Highest Himself, the God of the universe, who always does what is becoming to Himself, so that those men who were on earth might not be without certain leaders and governors, like irrational beasts, gave them guardians and curators, as it were, and as leaders of herds and pastors, divine angels, ^B having declared the Prince of all, and over all set His only-begotten and first-born Word. And to Him He assigned as a special portion both the angels themselves and the archangels, and the divine powers, spirits both immaterial and supercelestial, and furthermore, those from among the things on earth, the God-loving souls of men, which are called by the Hebrew names of Jacob and Israel.

VII. That to the Hebrews alone in antiquity was the knowledge of the God of the universe revealed, which is perceived through the manifestation of Christ.

^B [Z'] This greatest of all mysteries, Moses, the first of theologians, initiated the ancient Hebrews into in secret, saying: “Ask thy father, and he will tell thee; thy elders, and they will say to thee: When the Most High divided the nations, when He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the Lord’s portion became His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance, Israel.” By these words, therefore, he names the Most High, he who is above all, the God of the universe; but he names ^C the Lord, His Word, who is for us the second [Person] who is preached after the God of the universe. For to the invisible protectors of the nations, to the angels themselves, he says that all nations and the sons of men, whom he calls the sons of Adam, were distributed by the judgment of the Most High God and by reasons hidden from us; but to the most eminent of all, the Ruler and King of the universe, to Christ Himself, as to the only-begotten Son, was entrusted from among men Jacob and Israel, that is to say, the whole race that is clear-sighted and devout. For he who is still competing and struggling in the gymnasiums of piety, is called by the Hebrew name Jacob; but he who has already been deemed worthy of victory and of the prizes from God, is proclaimed Israel; such as was he himself, the forefather of the whole Hebrew nation, as well as his genuine children and descendants, and they who were forefathers, all of them prophets and men beloved of God.

^A Do not, I pray, think that the assembly of the Jews is signified by this appellation, and that only those who in former times were perfected in virtue and piety are meant: these, therefore, the Guide and Prince of all, the Word of God, taking up, was calling back to the worship of the one Father, Him who is the Most High, who is above all things that fall under sight, and beyond heaven and every created substance, recalling His subjects gently and mildly, and handing down to them that they should worship only the Unbegotten One, and the Most High God, the Creator of all.

VIII. That the rest of the nations worshiped only the stars and lights of heaven, which were assigned to certain angels.

^B The angels and shepherds presiding over other nations, seeing that [their charges] were not able to contemplate with the mind Him who cannot be perceived by mortal sight, nor to ascend so high because of their own frailty, deemed it worthy that they should attend to the things in heaven that are visible—the sun, the moon, and the stars. These indeed, since they shine forth in the visible nature of the universe, and are exalted and as near as possible, as if in the vestibules of the King of all, invited the gaze of those who looked upon them, and from the magnitude and beauty of the visible works, they manifest the contemplation of the Maker of all things in proportion. "For the invisible things of Him," as says the divine Apostle, ^C from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and divinity. And this also the great Moses again initiates. For by exhorting the Lord's portion to desire with a clear mind and a purified soul the things that are grasped by intelligence alone and are devoid of body, he forbids them to admire the things that are looked upon in heaven, adding to the things already mentioned by him, that "these the Lord your God has distributed to all nations." But it is worth the effort to know why he said they were distributed. Since there is a manifold error wandering about, and since a subterranean and demonic nature—unknown and indiscriminate to men—flies invisibly about us in the air that encompasses the earth, and since the nature of the good spirits and powers, and indeed that of the divine angels themselves, ^D is constantly at variance with that which has lapsed into evil, it could not have turned out well for those who had fallen away from the worship of the Supreme King of all, unless they chose the most excellent of those things seen in heaven. For the danger was no trivial one, lest, seeking God and investigating too curiously things that do not come into sight, they might, through the difficulty of those things that are hidden and obscure, be turned toward contrary and demonic powers. It was therefore altogether fitting that the manifest works of God, which are seen, should be given over to those who did not aspire to anything better, since from these He, who cannot be seen by the eyes, appears as if to be contemplated in a certain mirror.

^A IX.

Concerning the hostile power arrayed against God, and the prince thereof, and how by this means the whole human race was seduced.

And matters were disposed in this way. But the faction of the adversarial and apostate power—whether it be of demons or of other more depraved spirits, who possess a greater or lesser degree of malice, and in particular that of a certain terrible and great demon, who holds the primary rule among them, and who were the first to revolt from service to the Divine and for that reason lost their own proper rank—being envious of human salvation, kept drawing them towards the opposite side. And with engines of malice of every kind, it laid snares for all the nations, and even for the very inheritance of the Lord itself, out of envy for goods. Therefore, the prophetic spirit in Isaiah rebukes the godless and impious design of that great demon directed against God, saying: “For he said, ‘In strength I will act, and in the wisdom of understanding I will remove the boundaries of the nations, and I will plunder their might, and I will shake the inhabited cities; and I will seize the whole inhabited world with my hand like a nest, and as eggs that have been left I will take them up, and there shall be no one who will escape me or speak against me.’” ^B These are the words of him who fights against God, boasting in the strength of his malice, and threatening to plunder the boundaries of the nations entrusted by the Most High to the angels, and to throw them into confusion, and to plunder the inhabited world, and to shake the whole human race, and to displace it from its former order. And if you wish to know with what mindset he boasted of these things regarding himself, hear the same prophecy speaking again of him thus: “How did Lucifer, who rose in the morning, fall from heaven? He who sent to all the nations has been crushed to the ground. But you said in your mind, ‘I will ascend into heaven; I will place my throne above the stars of heaven. I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the Most High. But now you shall descend to Hades, and to the foundations of the earth.’” ^C Indeed, the oracle declares very many things at once through these words: for it reveals the madness of the one of whom it speaks, his fall from a better state to a worse one, and the end of that very ruin. And since he had threatened heavy and hateful things to all the nations, he discovered other ways in which men could be captured at the very beginnings of his machinations, inasmuch as they possessed facility and, by their own judgment, a fall into evil due to their freedom of will. Therefore, shaking the cities from their better state and drawing the souls of the many into every kind of wickedness by the allurements of pleasure, and employing all manner of engines, he invented shameful myths and obscene narratives about the gods, and injected into those whom he caught, by the arts and fallacies of demons, everything pleasant and tending toward pleasure. By these methods, he kept the whole world captured and subdued, ^D and thus blotted out and confounded the boundaries of the nations, which he had also threatened to do in these words: “I will remove the boundaries of the nations, and I will plunder their might, and I will shake the inhabited cities, and I will seize the whole inhabited world with my hand like a nest.” From that time forward, he held sway over all mankind by delusion, and wicked demons in

every place, city, and region were disposed and arrayed under a certain prince. Thus, all human life was made subject to earthly powers and evil spirits instead of the former ministers of God, all men suddenly, and with a downward inclination, giving themselves over to the slips of pleasure; so much so that they now even overstepped the bounds of nature, and at one time corrupted one another, at another performed things that should not even be mentioned—deeds that it is not permitted to grasp even with the mind—not only doing these things, but even attributing them to the opinions held concerning their own gods, and furthermore performing every sort of licentiousness with even greater ease as if it were pleasing to the gods. ^B From that point on, according to the holy Apostle, no longer standing even on the bright creative works of God in the heavens, “They became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds and quadrupeds and creeping things.” That in the most ancient times, those on earth looked only to the heavenly luminaries, knowing no idol, nor concerning themselves with the error of demons, the testimony of those who are strangers to our argument—which I set forth in the first book of the *Preparation* before the present treatise—would be sufficient proof; for there I clearly demonstrated that the most ancient of men did not serve hand-wrought images fashioned from inanimate matter, nor even invisible demons, but served only those whom the divine Scriptures testify were allotted to the nations. It is time, therefore, for the Greeks themselves, whose voices I have set forth there, to admit that the superstition of idols, and the curiosity regarding invisible spirits, was introduced to them as something recent, foreign, and alien to the religion of the ancients. ^C All this the aforementioned enemy of God contrived as a plot against all who are on earth. And the whole race of unclean demons collaborated with him. He himself, however, the author of this wickedness, brought these things about, driven by the insanity of an immense pride, fulfilling the threats he had made against all mankind, and intensifying that godless voice, “I will be like the Most High,” through the ministries of unclean and wicked demons, setting before men oracles, healings, and the like, by way of their deceits.

X. How necessarily the only-begotten Son of God made His passage to mankind.

When, therefore, there was such a flood of wickedness, and those who had previously been the angels set over the nations were unable to afford any help to their subjects—but rather, while they cared for the rest of creation and presided over the parts of the cosmos, and in accordance with the command of the God who created all things, they were accustomed...

^A to provide for the fall of mortals, a certain long-standing and incurable disease held sway over all who dwelt upon the earth. Nations were incited by evil spirits, one against another, to frenzy, and they were falling into an abyssal, incurable depravity. Already, in the manner of wild beasts that are accustomed to devour both raw and human flesh, some considered it a fine thing to feed upon the flesh of those dearest to them, and without shame to have intercourse with mothers, sisters, and daughters, and were strangling those who had grown old, and casting the dead to dogs and birds. And what reason have I to mention to you the harsh and monstrous human sacrifices—surely those of the demons themselves, who passed for gods—to which they drove the human race to madness? These points, however, I have already prepared [for discussion] in the preceding parts of the work now in hand. ^B For since so many evils were brought upon them by the baleful and wicked spirits, and by the one among them who had seized the tyranny over the whole world, and since none of the angels set over them was able to bring aid against these evils, it followed that the Word of God Himself, the Savior of all, by the benevolent nod of the Father who is most loving to the human race, in order that the race so dear to Him might not wallow in the abyss of impiety, sent forth for a time certain small and faint rays of His own light through the prophet Moses and through those friends of God who flourished before and after him, propounding a cure for the evils among men in the sacred ^C legislations. The Word Himself speaks plainly to the Hebrew nation, legislating through Moses: “According to the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelt upon it, you shall not do; and according to the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you, you shall not do; and you shall not walk in their laws. You shall perform My judgments, and keep My commandments; I am the Lord your God.” Then, after forbidding every unlawful marriage and every shameful act—not only the intercourse of women with women, but also of men with men—He adds: “Do not defile yourselves in all these things. For in all these things the nations, whom I will cast out before you, were defiled; and the land was defiled, and I rendered recompense for iniquity upon it; ^D and the land became loathsome to those who dwell upon it.” And again He says: “But when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found in you one who purifies his son or his daughter in the fire, one who divines, or one who interprets omens, or a bird-augur, or a sorcerer, or an enchanter, or a ventriloquist, or an observer of portents, or one who inquires of the dead. For every one who does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. For because of these abominations the Lord your God will destroy them from before you. You shall be perfect before the Lord your God.” Such were the countless other pious teachings and commandments which the Word of God legislated for them through Moses, while He was still giving them the elements of a life of piety, as if in an introduction, through symbols and a certain shadow

^A of bodily worship in the circumcision of the flesh, and some other things of this sort being performed upon the earth. But when, as time went on, none even of the prophets who came after him was powerful enough to bring a remedy for the evils of life, because of the superabundance of wickedness, and the power of the demons was driving them daily toward something greater, so that the Hebrew nation itself was also carried away into the same destruction as the impious ^B—then finally the Savior and Physician of all descended to men, both to aid His own angels for the salvation of men, since the Father had previously promised Him that He would grant this to Him, just as He Himself teaches in the Psalms, saying: "The Lord said to Me: You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession."

No longer, then, did He take under His own authority only the righteous and perceptive Israel, or merely His own portion, but all the nations upon the earth, which had formerly been allotted to many angels and had been wallowing in impieties of every kind; He was present to all, proclaiming the knowledge and friendship ^C with His own Father, and promising the release and forgiveness of former ignorances and sins, which He also clearly proclaimed, saying: "Those who are in health have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

And indeed He was present, being observed by His own angels, those very ones who had previously been set over the nations; they, immediately recognizing their own Helper and Lord most accurately, approached with great joy and ministered to Him, just as the holy Scripture of the Gospel teaches, saying, "And angels approached and ministered to Him," when also a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." These, then, as His own angels needing His assistance, He thus embraced ^D; but those who had long been dwelling about the haunts of men, the depraved demons who were secretly and openly exercising tyranny over those upon the earth, and the races of wild and cruel spirits, and the one who is the leader of wickedness among them, that terrible and avenging spirit, He defeated and subdued with great and divine power, so that some of those who felt their presence said: "Ah! What have we to do with You, Son of God? Have You come before the time to torment us?"

And indeed, through what He did and taught, He powerfully tormented the latter; but the whole human race He healed and cured by His mild words and soothing remedies, and by His gentle and persuasive teachings, delivering them from all kinds of diseases and passions no less of souls than of bodies, and from the old superstition and the terrors of the polytheistic deception—from the shameful and licentious life—making all those who approached Him free, and causing those who clung to Him to change and turn from licentiousness to a temperate life, and from impiety to piety.

torquere nos ^A, and these indeed he struck down most powerfully through the things which he did and taught: yet he healed the whole human race with gentle and calm addresses, as if with medicines, and with his own mild exhortations and teachings, and delivered them from all kinds of diseases and disturbances, not less of bodies than of souls: and when he dismissed all those who approached him, freed from ancient superstition and the terrors which the error of a multitude of gods brought, and from base and wanton living, and when he led and changed those who observed him from luxury to modesty, from impiety to piety, from injustice to justice, and furthermore ^B from the power of cruel demons to the divine comprehension of true piety, and finally displayed the gates of celestial life and the teaching of piety opened to the nations throughout the whole world, he humbled himself so much that he not only reached out a saving right hand to those suffering and grievously sick in soul, but even from the very gates of death he loosened the bonds of death for the half-dead, or even for those who had perished completely and had long been buried: for which reason most especially, it was necessary for him to extend the efficacy of his action even to those places, so that he might hold dominion not only over the living, but also over the dead. When, therefore, he is with the Father, and administers the providence of the universe by divine power, he, the Word of God, the Wisdom of God, the Power of God, and the prince and leader and king, guards and cares for heaven itself together with the earth, and the natures contained in them, as well as those divine and incorporeal essences which are understood to exist above heaven. ^C He is also invoked as God and Lord in the divine oracles with praise and glory, and is the illuminator of incorporeal and intelligent natures. He is called the Sun of justice and the true light, who serves and mingles his own operation with the Father’s dispositions, from which he is also termed the minister and creator of the Father. But he alone knows how to worship God according to order, and acts as the mediator between God, who is unbegotten, and those things which have been begotten after him; having assumed the care of the whole, and acting as priest to the Father on behalf of all his subjects, and alone rendering him mild and propitious to all, he is called the eternal Pontiff, and furthermore the Christ of the Father. For so too among the Hebrews of old were they called, who reflected the image of the first through certain signs; and while he rules over the orders of angels and presides over them, he is called the Angel of great counsel, ^D and captain of the host of the Lord. But when he descends to these things of ours, and out of the Father’s goodness assumes our own rational nature for the sake of his image, from which he seems to rule over the small and the foolish, and almost over the beasts, he is called the shepherd of sheep. Insofar as he promises the healing of sick souls, he is deservedly called Savior and physician. This, therefore, is what the name Jesus signifies among the Hebrews. And since it was necessary that he should at some time manifest himself also through a human instrument to men, and teach the true word of the Father’s knowledge and piety, he does not refuse this mode of acting either; but having truly entered into our nature, he comes among men, demonstrating to all a great miracle through man—God: so that he might not only preside from an invisible and hidden incorporeal and as it were formless state, but, appearing to the eyes of the flesh and providing an extraordinary exhibition of wonders to the eyes of men, he might also deliver to the ears of the body the teachings imparted through his tongue and articulate voice.

For this is what the name Jesus signifies among the Hebrews. Moreover, since he needed a human instrument [165 A] whereby he might reveal himself to men and teach them the true method of knowing and worshipping his Father, he did not refuse this means, but most energetically entered into our nature, approached men, and showed himself as God in the appearance of a man. He displayed a vast miracle, that he should not only preside invisibly and latently, without flesh and without body, but also be manifest to our very bodily eyes, and by displaying before the eyes of men miracles beyond human capacity, he might thus perform the duty of the tongue and articulate voice to the ears of the body as well, and provide men with teachings, and reveal himself as a truly divine and admirable spectacle, such as no other is recorded to have been seen, for it was both salutary and a benefit felt by all. And thus God the Word was called the Son of Man, and inasmuch as he had come to men to bring medicine and health to human souls, he was named Jesus; for the name Jesus, among the Hebrews, clearly signifies Savior. Therefore, he did not deem it unworthy of his majesty to dwell with us in the common manner, while at the same time he never ceased to be what he was, but preserved God within the man. Thus, immediately from his first descent to men, he mingled the divine wonder of our birth with God: since he was brought forth in our manner and, like a mortal, put on man, yet not as a man, but as God from a most pure Virgin who had experienced no marriage; nor did he receive the birth of him who appeared, through any coupling or corruption. ^B

XI. How he passed his life among men.

^C Thenceforth, he passed his whole remaining life in the same manner, now manifesting the infirmity similar to our nature, and now presenting the Word of God himself, while performing great and admirable deeds as God, predicting prophecies of what was to come, and visibly demonstrating through his works the Word of God, who is not seen by the many [which things are fitting and similar to the beginnings].

XII. How the laws of humanity called him even to those who had died of old.

And the ends of his departure from among men were also entrusted to him. For the laws of his philanthropy called him even as far as death, and to the dead themselves, so that he might also recall the souls of those who had died of old, because he cared for the salvation of all who had existed from the beginning of time, and so that, through death, he might bring to naught him who held the dominion of death, as the divine oracles teach. And in this, too, he managed the economy in a mixed manner again, inasmuch as, like a man, he committed the body to the customary burial, but as God, he departed from that same body. For having cried out with a loud voice and said to the Father, ^D "Into thy hands I commend my spirit," [*] he departed, released from the body; he by no means waited for death to come upon him, but rather, as if he were delaying and even yielding and avoiding it, he himself pursued and drove it from behind, and the gates of darkness from age-old time...

* Luc. xxiii, 46.

he smashed, and for the dead who were caught there in the chains of death, he opened the way back to life. For this reason, his own dead body was raised, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, entering with him into that saintly and truly heavenly city; so that it is justly said in the divine utterances: "Death has swallowed up and grown strong." And again: "God has wiped away every tear from every face." And the Savior and Lord of all, our Christ of God, who is called the victor, is introduced in the prophetic oracles chiding death and releasing the souls that were held bound there, where he proclaims the hymn of victory, saying these very things: "I will rescue them from the hand of Hades, and I will redeem their souls from death. Where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting, O death? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law."

Such was the dispensation of his even unto death, the cause of which not one alone, but many, one might find if he wished to inquire. ^B For the Word teaches the first, so that he might hold dominion over both the dead and the living; the second, so that he might wash away our sins, having been wounded for us and having become a curse for us; the third, so that he, as a victim of God and a great sacrifice for the entire world, might be offered to the God over all; the fourth, so that he might produce the destruction of the deceitful and demonic operation through ineffable words; the fifth, in addition to these, so that to his own familiars and disciples he might manifest the hope of the life that is to be with God after death, not by discourse, words, or voices, but by deeds and the reality itself; and by placing before their very eyes what he had promised in words, he might render them more confident and ready to proclaim to all—both Greeks and barbarians alike—the godly manner of life instituted by him.

Immediately, therefore, he filled those very familiars and companions, whom he had chosen for himself as the best and declared his own apostles and disciples, with his own divine power, that they might teach every race of men the knowledge of God proclaimed by him, setting forth one manner of religion for all, ^C both Greeks and barbarians alike. And this was that they should withdraw far from demons and flee them, and avoid the deceit of the multitude of gods, and truly acknowledge the one only God who is over all; furthermore, that he promised them deliverance from those things which they had previously committed in ignorance, provided they did not persevere in them, and he promised one hope of salvation for all, through the manner of life which he had most wisely and with all virtue established.

XIII. That he remained impassible, unharmed, and incorporeal, even at the time when he became man.

^D Since these things are so, you must not be disturbed; the

^A truth of the Word of God, though you hear of birth, body, sufferings, and death, about one who is incorporeal and immaterial. For just as the rays of solar light, although they fill all things and touch foul, dead bodies, themselves suffer nothing; so too, and much more, the incorporeal power of God neither receives any injury or harm, nor does it ever become worse than itself, although in an incorporeal manner it touches a body. For why? Was it not the case that even without the body in which he became man, he was always and in every way diffused through the whole of the elements and the very material of bodies, as being the Word of God ^B and the Creator, sealing the reasons of the wisdom that proceeds from him into the very nature of things; imprinting form upon the lifeless, and upon that which is shapeless and without inherent definition, and imprinting his own beauties and the incorporeal ideas upon the qualities of bodies; moving things that are in their own nature lifeless and immovable—earth, water, air, fire—with a most wise and altogether harmonious motion; ordering all things that are disordered, and increasing and perfecting them; and by his own divine and rational power, approaching and penetrating all things and being in contact with all, yet bringing no harm upon himself from any, nor polluting his own nature? Thus, in the same way, while he lived among men, ^C formerly he appeared here and there to a few, computable in number, namely those alone who are recorded as prophets and righteous men, but at the end he offered himself openly to all—the base and the impious, both Hebrews and Greeks together—out of the overflowing goodness and love for mankind of the all-good Father, as a benefit and a savior, loudly proclaiming this: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The Savior of all was calling then, saying: "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He called and healed generously, using that human instrument ^D which he carried about, just as a musician shows his skill by means of a lyre. And to souls that were sick within their bodies, like some great physician, he healed the man himself with a kindred and suitable remedy, while he also set forth himself as an example of a life filled with every wisdom and every virtue, teaching the truth—not that which he had stolen from others, but that which has been from him and the Father, and which had been decreed long ago, from an ancient age, by those who were friends of God from the beginning, to the Hebrews who lived before Moses, as a kind of law—and he took care of bodies no less than of souls; for he made those things which were done by him through the body ready to be seen by the physical eyes of men, and again toward physical ears...

^A sounding forth doctrine, and performing all things through that man whom he had assumed, toward those who could not perceive his divinity in any other way than this. For the Word of God, pursuing the whole human race with every love, administered all these things for the use and benefit of us all according to the Father's counsels, himself meanwhile remaining without matter and incorporeal, such as he was before with the Father, neither changing his essence, nor losing that which was proper to his own nature, nor indeed impeded by the bonds of a body, or cast down from his divinity, and not even losing the domestic power of the Word, but neither was he prevented from being in other parts of the universe, while he lived only there where the human vessel was present. For even then, when he moved among men, he nonetheless filled all things, meanwhile remaining the same with the Father and in the Father, and at the same time he bore concern for all things, as well those in heaven as those on earth; he was never excluded from that presence by which he is present to all things in our manner, nor was he hindered from acting in his divine manner; but he communicated the latter from himself to man, while he himself did not receive the former from the mortal. ^B Likewise, while he supplied divine power to the mortal, he himself was not in turn brought into participation or communion by the mortal. Therefore, neither was he, being incorporeal, defiled by the body at his birth; nor again did he who was devoid of a passible nature suffer anything from the mortal according to his essence. For neither is it probable, for example, when a lyre is struck or the strings are plucked, that he who plays it in that way suffers; nor, when the body of some wise man is tortured, can we rightly say that his wisdom, or the soul which he bears in his body, is struck or burned: by the same reasoning, it is not right to affirm—and far less so—that the nature or power of the Word draws any detriment from the affections of the body. For even the example mentioned above concerning light did not concede that solar rays are polluted while they are sent down from heaven to earth, and touch mud and mire and every species of filth. That these things are illuminated by the rays of that light, nothing surely forbids us to affirm; but that the sun itself is defiled or becomes muddy while its light is mingled with bodies—by no means. Yet those things are not alien to the nature of bodies. But the incorporeal Word of God, who is devoid of all matter, who is life itself and intelligible light itself, and all the other things previously enumerated—whatever he has touched by his divine and incorporeal power, it is necessary that it live and pass its time with rational light. Indeed, by this very same reasoning, whatever body he has touched, it is immediately sanctified and illuminated, and from it all sickness and all infirmity and everything else of the same kind take flight. ^C The privation of him then attains his fullness. Thus, indeed, that dead body of the Word, when it touched that power of the Word even by a very small amount, was then immediately aroused and revived, and death fled from life, and by the light itself darkness was dissolved, and that which was corruptible put on incorruption, and that which was mortal, immortality. ^D

^A XIV. How, having renewed man, he provided for us all the hope of eternal goods.

For what else, indeed, was it, than that the whole of man was absorbed by the divinity, and once again God was the Word of God, even as he was before he became man? And he took up man with himself as the first-fruits of our hope; deeming this very one worthy, even there, of the eternal life that is with him, and of the communion in his divinity and blessedness, and offering this to us all, likewise, as the greatest proof of the immortality and kingdom that is to be with him and in him.

^B XV. What the presence of Christ signifies, and why Christ was announced by the prophets of the Hebrews as God and Lord and High Priest of the God of all.

This was the end of his coming to men: to lead back him who had long ago wandered from the knowledge of the Father, to his own home; to bring back the kinsman and friend—who had been granted his own image—to the possession of his own life; and to show him to be a friend and familiar of the Father, for whose sake the Word of God himself endured to become man. Thus, then, to speak briefly, the subject concerning our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, having a varied economy, shall be proven from the prophetic discourses of the Hebrews, even as the testimonies from them will show a little later, confirming the old by the new writings, and sealing the testimonies of the prophets with the evangelical. ^C But since these things are thus, it is time now to discuss his appellation, by which he was announced as Jesus and Christ, and by how many prophecies he was proclaimed by name.

First, let us consider what the appellation of "Christ" signifies, before we begin the detailed gathering of the prophetic oracles concerning the subject at hand. I think it is fitting to discuss first the name of Christ, and to articulate the understanding of it, so that nothing of what is sought concerning it may escape us. Another, indeed, beginning from things near at hand and from those that pertain to us, would say that Moses was the first of all to legislate that those consecrated to God be anointed with a specially prepared ointment, thinking it necessary that their bodies should be fragrant and breathe forth some goodness; since all that is foul-smelling is friendly to baneful and unclean powers, while the fragrant is friendly to the lovers of goodness. ^D Whence he also legislated that the priests should use in the temple, day by day, an incense composed for the sake of an abundance of fragrance, so that, as the air is mingled and the foul odor is dispelled, some divine influence might be mixed in with those praying. For this very reason also, he decreed that a most fragrant anointing oil should be compounded by the art of the perfumer, so that those who were to be set over the common public affairs might be anointed with it, and that Moses was the first to attach the name of Christ to those being anointed. Now, this anointing was not only for the high...

^A priests, but also for the prophets and kings who were subsequently to arise, for whom alone it was permitted to be anointed with this ointment. These might indeed be the more obvious reasons, yet they remain far removed from the inspired and lofty understanding of the prophet. For that wonderful man, and truly great hierophant, knowing that every earthy and corporeal substance is distinguished only by its qualities, would in no way prefer one over another, since he knew that all things are the offspring of a single substance that is never stationary, possesses nothing stable in its nature, but is always flowing and rushing toward its own corruption. Therefore, he did not choose what was sweet in bodies, nor did he prefer what might in itself soothe the senses; for this would have been a vice of the soul that declines toward the dust and the pleasure of the body. For countless persons, having effeminate bodies and being otherwise subject to vices and intemperance, who are accustomed to use the laborious variety of ointments, meanwhile carry around souls that smell foul with all filth and every defilement; just as, on the contrary, those who are friends of God, breathing forth virtue itself, and exhaling a fragrance from modesty and justice and all piety far superior to that drawn from the aromatics of the earth, hold the scent of bodies that consist of matter in no regard at all. ^B Since the prophet had perceived and understood these things very well, he took no special care for ointments or incense; but he presented images of better and divine things, as far as possible through corporeal means, to those who could only learn divine things in this way and in no other. For that this very thing is what the divine oracle itself also replied is clearly written in these words: "See that you make all things according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain." Therefore, while accomplishing the symbols of other things, which he is accustomed to call "patterns," he established the law of the anointing with ointment.

Yet a more sublime reason for these things, and one usually adduced concerning the mysteries, has, to the best of my ability to speak, the following meaning: that which alone is good and alone truly fragrant and precious, and is the source and fountain of all life, and grants to all, along with their being, also their well-being—this the Hebrew account knew to be the first Author of all, God, who is indeed the Most High and King of all, and Creator of all things. ^C The divine Spirit, therefore, compares and adapts the power of this supreme and unbegotten divine essence—which has authority over all, provides every good thing, and ministers every beauty—to an appropriate and fitting example, and calls His participator "Christ" and "anointed." Understand "oil" in these contexts, not as sorrow or grief at the misfortunes of others, but as that which the fruit of the plant represents: that which is devoid of all liquid matter, is productive of light, is a remedy for pains, a relief from labors, and makes those who are anointed cheerful—gleaming like light in its brilliance, and making the vision of those who use it clear and bright—just as the divine Scripture says: "To make the face cheerful with oil." ^D To this, therefore, the Word, comparing the supreme power of the sovereign and almighty God to the example, acknowledges the first and only one anointed with all of this—the one who has partaken of the divine and, to all others, inaccessible fragrance of the Father, and who is the only God the Word begotten of Him.

^A He calls Him Christ and Anointed. Thus, in the Psalms, he proclaims to this very one, who has been anointed by the Father, the saying which declares: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." For while the essence of oil is one, that of perfume signifies the gathering of many into one. For this reason, the first and unbegotten power of God the King of all, in that it is conceived as simple, incomposite, and unmixed with any other essence, is compared to the simple term "oil." But in that it holds the power to encompass many concepts at once—such as creative, kingly, providential, judicial, philanthropic, saving, and countless others contemplated by the mind—the power that is comprehensive of many good things is reasonably likened to "perfume," with which the divine oracles teach that the true and only high priest of God was anointed. ^B Moses himself, the first to be deemed worthy to behold divine things in secret, and for whom the rites concerning the first and only anointed high priest of God were performed in his own theophanies, was commanded to establish on earth images and symbols of those things understood in the theophanies, so that those deemed worthy of such things might practice with the symbols until the vision of the truth itself. He indeed, having set apart from among men on earth a man suitable to serve as priest to God, was the first to name him "Christ," by reference to the contemplation of things intelligible, and, by declaring him superior to other men through a certain fragrant anointing, he explicitly and clearly proclaimed that the whole nature of the begotten—and much more so human nature, which is destitute of the unbegotten power—stands in need of the fragrance that comes from that which is superior. ^C But it is not permitted for anyone to attain to the highest and first. For this prize was reserved only for the Only-Begotten and Firstborn; and those after Him were only able to partake of it through the simple participation of the second in those good things. Therefore, the symbol in Moses was of the divine Spirit. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit," in which he thought priests, prophets, and kings should strive to share, as those consecrated to God not for their own sake alone, but for the sake of the whole nation. And that the symbols under Moses were of more divine things, and that it was possible for those possessed by the divine Spirit to be called "christs" even without earthly ointment, let us examine more precisely. David, in the 104th Psalm, taking up the ^D histories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, calls those very God-loving patriarchs, who lived even before the time of Moses, "christs," for no other reason than the outpouring of the divine Spirit in which they shared. Having related how they were strangers among foreign peoples,

^A and how, after being plotted against, they obtained the Savior [who is] God, as set forth in the writings of Moses, he calls them both prophets and "christs," although at that time Moses was not yet among men, nor had the ointment prepared by him been ordained by law. Hear, then, what the Psalm says: "Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. O seed of Abraham, his servants, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which he established with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; and he established it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance. And they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not my christs, and do my prophets no harm" (Ps. CIV, 5-15). Thus far David. And Moses also narrates which kings He reproved, saying: "And the Lord plagued Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of Sarai, Abram's wife" (Gen. XII, 17). And again, concerning the king who reigned in Gerar, he writes: ^B "And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken" (this was Abraham's wife). Proceeding further in the account, he says of the same: "Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee" (Gen. XX, 3, 7). You see how in these passages David—or rather the divine Spirit through him—called the ancient friends of God and prophets "christs," not because they were anointed with earthy ointment? For how could they be, since Moses only ordained this in later times? Hear also how Isaiah so clearly prophesied concerning the Christ, as One who would be sent by God to men as a redeemer and savior, and who would come to preach deliverance to the captives in soul, and recovery of sight to the blind in mind. For the prophet teaches that this Christ was not made so by prepared ointment, but by the intelligible and divine-befitting [ointment] of the paternal Godhead, anointed not by men, but by the Father. He says, therefore, from His own person: ^C "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me. He hath sent me to preach good tidings to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." This, then, let be noted first: just as Isaiah, similarly to David, said that He who was to come to men, to preach deliverance to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, would be made Christ not by prepared ointment, but by the power of the unbegotten paternal and all-good [Godhead], so the prophet declares. And according to a certain prophetic custom, the prophet proclaims the future as past, and declares it as if concerning the prophet himself. For the time being, then, [the Scripture refers to] those who were anointed by God—not by men—and by the divine Spirit—not by prepared oil—who are, according to the true word, called christs ^D

For who, indeed, since Moses instituted this in later times? But consider now also Isaiah, who sings most manifestedly about Christ, as of Him who is to be sent by God as Redeemer and Savior to humanity, and who is to come to announce liberation to those who hold captive souls, and sight to minds that are blinded. ^A For the prophet teaches that He exists not by a common unguent, but by that which is proper to the paternal divinity, which is grasped by intelligence alone, and which most befits God Himself—Christ, who was anointed not by men, but by the Father Himself. He speaks, therefore, in His person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind."

Let this, then, be the first point established: that Isaiah, just like David, prophesies that He who is to come to men, and who is to preach deliverance to the captives and sight to the blind, existed as Christ, not through a common unguent, but through that virtue which is proper to the unbegotten and paternal nature, filled with all goodness. By a certain prophetic custom, the prophet speaks of what is future as if it were past, and signifies it as if He were prophesying about Himself. Up to this point, therefore, we have learned that those who were anointed by God Himself—and not by men—and by the divine Spirit—and not by compounded oil—are in truth called Christs.

But now it is time to see how the Hebrew account teaches that the true Christ of God exists by a certain divine power, and one superior to what the nature of man bears. Hear, then, again David, who says that he saw an eternal priest, and whom he calls his Lord, and acknowledges that this same one sits with God the Father, in the one hundred and ninth Psalm, where he says thus: ^C "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."

And indeed, observe how David, who was king of the whole Hebrew nation, and who, besides his royal dignity, was also adorned by the divine Spirit, recognized someone so great and so superlatively wonderful—the one manifested to him, and seen by him in the spirit—that he addressed Him as his own Lord. "For he said," he remarks, "to my Lord." Nay, he even understands Him to be an eternal high priest, and a priest of God Most High, and a co-throned one with the God over all, and His offspring. Yet, among the Hebrews, it was utterly impossible for anyone to be a priest without anointing; for this reason, they were accustomed to call all such persons christs. ^D Therefore, the priest revealed in the Psalm would also be Christ. For how was he testified to be a priest, if he had not first become Christ? But he is also said to be a priest for ever. This would no longer apply to human nature. For it is not the property of a man to exist for ever, since our race is mortal and frail. Therefore, the priest of God revealed in these words was someone greater than a man, who received from God a lasting and infinite priesthood with the confirmation of an oath; for he says, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." For since Moses records that Melchizedek became a priest of God Most High, not anointed with prepared oil, and having become a priest of God Most High long before the legislation associated with him, and far greater in virtue than the renowned Abraham—for he says, "And Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, blessed Abraham," and without all contradiction, as the Apostle says, the less is blessed of the better—since, therefore, Melchizedek, whoever that person was, has been introduced as such, not anointed with prepared oil, but having been made a priest to the most high God, it is logical that the one prophesied through David after the order of Melchizedek has been heralded as someone great, and one who has surpassed all in nature, as being a priest of the God over all, and the co-throned of the unbegotten power, and Lord of the prophet and king; and a priest not simply, but eternally, of the Father. The divine Apostle also speaks, examining these matters in his epistles: "In..."

^C which," he says, "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation; and again: "And they indeed were made priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." By these statements, there was established a certain divine power, existing among things that are, and subsisting in the intelligible realm, which is consecrated to the God of all, according to the oracles of the Hebrews, not with earthly and human ointment, but established to act as priest to the God over all through a certain god-befitting and divine virtue and power. ^D Therefore, he who is prophesied through the Psalm stands forth clearly as a certain eternal priest and Son of the most high God, as having been begotten by him, the most high God himself, and as fellow-throne to his kingdom. And it has been shown also that the Christ of Isaiah was not made by men, but was anointed by the Father himself and through the divine Spirit, and was sent as a redeemer of the captivity of men. Moses, having beheld this with the divine Spirit, established images and symbols of him as among men, anointing and smearing with constructed ointment, in place of the divine Spirit, the leader of the priests among men, and calling him Christ and anointed, for a presentation of the truth. That these things are so, who could be a more credible witness than Moses himself? For in his own writing, he teaches that the God and Lord who spoke to him expressly commanded him, according to the intelligible and heavenly vision of him that was shown to him, to establish a service on earth that was more bodily, containing an image of the intelligible and incorporeal realities. It is said, therefore, that he shadowed forth a certain type of the arrangement of the angels and divine powers in heaven, the oracle having said to him: "Thou shalt make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Did he therefore, like the other things, also bring forth the high priest, anointing him with earthly ointment, and producing him as a shadowy and figurative, but not true, Christ and high priest, as a counter-imitation of the Christ and high priest in heaven?

178 A divine power, which, as we read in the oracles of the Hebrews, is consecrated to the God of the universe, stands established: it is not confirmed by earthly and human ointment, but by virtue and power of another kind, which is befitting to God and divine, for the performance of the priestly office and for the ministry due to God the Father. It appears, therefore, that he of whom the Psalm prophesies is altogether a certain eternal priest and Son of the most high God, being as it were begotten by the most high God himself. And it has been shown, as he who is signified by Isaiah is the Christ, that he was not made by men, but was anointed by the Father himself through the divine Spirit, and sent to redeem those men who were held captive. Moses, therefore, having beheld him with the divine Spirit, while [introducing] images and no-

- ^A less than symbols, anointed the priest, and called him Christ and anointed, in relation to Him who is truly such. Who, however, that has any claim to be believed, could be a more credible witness to these facts than Moses himself? For in the writings left by him, he acknowledges that God and Lord answered him and openly commanded him to perform worship on earth in a corporeal form, according to the intelligible and heavenly vision shown to him, which might embrace the image of intelligible and incorporeal things. And so, he is said to have described the orders of heavenly angels and divine powers by a certain shadowing forth and figure, since the oracle had said to him: "You shall make all things according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain." Just as with the other things, therefore, he also introduced the High Priest, whom he should anoint with earthly oil; and thus he shadowed forth a certain symbolic and mock [priest], yet not the true Christ and high priest, but rather the likeness of that heavenly Christ and high priest.

^A But that Christ in the proper sense was not a man, but a Son of God, adorned with the right hand of the paternal divinity, and far more excellent not only than the mortal and human nature, but also than every intelligible essence in created things, I believe I have clearly demonstrated. However, I consider that there is one thing beyond this which must be added to what has already been said, namely that the same David, in the forty-fourth Psalm, with the preface of the inscription which says "for the beloved and those who shall be changed," proclaims one and the same to be God, and King, and Christ, writing as follows: "My heart has brought forth a good word; I tell my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready-writing scribe. You are fairer in beauty than the sons of men." Following these, he adds: ^B "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the rod of your kingdom is a rod of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." Consider, therefore, more diligently how, according to the inscription of the Psalm, he shows at the very beginning that he is speaking "for the beloved," and also how he stirs the auditor to the understanding of the things that are to be said. Furthermore, he indicates the reason for the ordering of the discourse when he says: "Unto the end, for those who shall be changed, for understanding, for the beloved." For whom else could you say are the "those who shall be changed," for whose sake this Psalm is spoken, except those who are to be changed from their former life and way of being, and to be transferred and transformed ^C through Him who is prophesied? This was the beloved of God, for whom the Psalm instructs us at the beginning that there is need of understanding concerning the prophecy. If, then, you are in perplexity as to who this beloved is, concerning whom it was prophesied in the Psalm, the discourse will show you immediately, beginning at once and saying: "My heart has brought forth a good word." Someone might say that this signifies that Word who was in the beginning with God, concerning whom the great evangelist John, writing theologically, speaks thus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And the phrase "My heart has brought forth a good word," if it be spoken from the person of the Father and God of all, would signify the only-begotten Word of God, as the Son who subsists from the Father; but not by way of projection, or division, or cutting, or ^D diminishment, or by any of those things which are thought of in bodies; for such things are impious, and altogether removed from that ineffable bringing-forth.

^A Since, therefore, we have conceived these things in the foregoing, we must also accept the following, as, for instance, that it was said that he was begotten from the womb of God, and before the Morning Star; for when we hear such things figuratively, we must accept what is similar only according to the contemplation in intelligible things. And in the verse, "My heart hath poured forth a good word," ^B we must accept this only according to the understanding of the Divine Spirit, and in these matters concerning which it also now behoves us to apply the usual remark which we make on each of the points theologically spoken of concerning Him, and that pious saying: "Who shall declare His generation?" Even if the Divine Scriptures are accustomed to using mortal and human voices to explain His origin to us, and employ the word "womb," these things are grasped only by contemplation according to the understanding, and are subject to no other laws than those of allegory, which is called permutation. Just as also the saying, "My heart hath poured forth a good word," one might say is spoken concerning the constitution and subsistence of the first Word; since it is not permitted to take "heart" in the way it is understood among us, nor [to apply it] to the God of all. But indeed someone might say that this [Word] is the one who was in the beginning with God—the Word—rationally called "good," as being the offspring of the all-good Father. We, however, advancing a little further in the psalm, shall find that He who is prophesied—this very beloved of God—was anointed again, not as by Moses, nor as by any of those among men, but by God Himself, the Most High and Father of all. For it proceeds, saying: "Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." ^C And here, being testified to as having been anointed by Him who is God over all, how could one name Him otherwise than Christ? We have, therefore, already even through these words two titles of Him who is foretold: Christ and Beloved, He who is called one and the same, [He] of the anointing. Whence it is said that he who is pointed out has been anointed with the oil of gladness. It teaches the cause, which, to you who run through these things a little, or rather, [to you] who consider the whole meaning of such words, will be clear. The psalm, therefore, addresses the very Christ and Beloved of God who is prophesied, speaking the things set forth a little before, in which it was said: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Consider, therefore, ^D whether these things are not addressed directly to God: "For thou," it says, "O God," which is to say, "O God, thy throne is for ever and ever and a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. And since thou, the same God, hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee, and set thee as Christ above all." The Hebrew text, which Aquila, interpreting for the sake of accuracy, rendered thus, exhibits these things more clearly, saying: "Thy throne,"

O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." ^A Observe, therefore, whether He is addressing God in these words most plainly, or not: "Thou," He says, "O God" (for the phrase "O God, thy throne is for ever and ever," and "the sceptre of thy kingdom") "and because thou thyself, O God, hast loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee, and constituted thee Christ above all." But the Hebrew Scripture demonstrates the same thing far more clearly than this, which Aquila, interpreting most accurately, set forth in these words: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of direction is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved what is just, and hated impiety; upon this, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy friends." ^B Therefore, for the phrase "God, thy God," the Hebrew context itself has "O God, thy God," so that the whole is: "Thou hast loved, O God, what is just, and hast hated impiety; therefore, for this very reason, he hath anointed thee, O God, he who is also thy God, so that both He who is anointed is God, and He who anoints, who is indeed the God of all." This will be perfectly clear to him who has paid closer attention to the Hebrew language. For in the first naming, where Aquila has translated "Thy throne, O God," he has clearly enunciated "O God, O God" for what is "God, God," and it has the Hebrew *Eloim*. Furthermore, here likewise in the phrase "therefore hath anointed thee, O God," the same *Eloim* is understood, which signifies the vocative case, "O God." But for the nominative case of the name, where it is said: "therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee," it has ^C the Hebrew *Eloach*, most accurately and exquisitely; so that the *Eloim* itself, in the vocative case, signifies "O God," and the *Eloach* itself, in the nominative case, signifies "thy God"; so that this is the most exquisite translation, which has: "Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee." Most clearly, therefore, in these words, does the oracle, addressing God, say that He Himself—the one anointed by God—has been anointed with the oil of gladness above all who have ever been sharers with Him in the same appellation. You have, therefore, in these words most plainly, a God who is anointed and becomes Christ, not with a compounded ointment, nor brought to that dignity by men, nor even in the same manner as the rest of men. Moreover, this same one is both the beloved of God, and His offspring, and an eternal priest, and is called one who sits on the throne with the Father. But who, then, could this be, if not the first-begotten Word of God, who in the beginning was with God, and was God? Who is revealed as God throughout the entire divine Scripture, as I shall show at greater length as the discourse proceeds. Since, therefore, these things have been considered by us thus far regarding the propagation of Christ, and regarding the same appellation, come then, let us resume the proposed argument, and let us contemplate in how many prophetic predictions Christ was proclaimed by name. ^D

XVI. From Psalm II. In how many Scriptures is Christ proclaimed by name, who is plotted against by kings and princes and nations and peoples, and is begotten by God Himself, and is called the Son of man, and [is] of the nations and [index: entries preserved]

^A ends of the earth receiving his inheritance from the Father, he was proclaimed beforehand.

"Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ," to which he adds immediately after: "But I am set king by Him upon Sion His holy mountain, declaring the commandment of the Lord. The Lord said unto Me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession." Most clearly does the divine Spirit by these words call Christ [the Son] and name Him the Son of God, according to the things previously proclaimed; and at the same time he signifies that there shall be a certain conspiracy against Him, and foretells the calling of the nations through Him—things which the outcome of events has openly demonstrated in actual fact concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ. For even now, nations and peoples, kings and rulers, do not cease from their conspiring both against Him and against His teaching. ^B If, however, those of the circumcision refer these things to a future time, it would then be time for them to acknowledge that the Christ whom they expect will again be plotted against, in accordance with the present oracle, which says: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ"—a thing which they would surely never grant, since they expect the Christ who is to come to be some great potentate and eternal king and their own Redeemer. For if that one, too, when he comes, should suffer the same things as He who has already come, what reason would there be to believe or not to believe in him rather than in Him? But if, excluded from this, they should refer the oracle to David or to some one of his descendants, a king of the Jewish nation, then it must be demonstrated that neither David, nor any other of those who have ever been renowned among the Hebrews, is mentioned as having been called the Son of God by any oracle, or as having been begotten by God Himself, according to the prophecy in the Psalm, nor as having been plotted against by all the nations and kings, rulers and peoples. If no one of those is shown to be such, but all these things are fulfilled in Him by the very facts—that He, the Christ of God, both long ago endured, and even now and today still, is fought against by kings and rulers, nations and peoples—what is there to prevent Him from being ^C the one of whom the oracle prophesies when it says: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ?" And to Him alone would those things that follow in the same Psalm fitly apply, in which it is said: "The Lord said unto Me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession." For this, too, has received the fulfillment of the prophecy beyond any doubt only in Him, when "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." ^D And the Scripture clearly names Christ—

^A as if speaking from His person, teaching that He is the Son of God—through the passage: "The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." To this you shall add also that which was spoken again in the Proverbs from His own person, following this manner: "Before the mountains were settled, before all the hills, He begets me," and what was spoken to Him by the Father in the 109th Psalm, in the manner: "From the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten thee." But heed, how the sacred Scriptures foretell one and the same Person, by name Christ, and together Son of God, both as one who is to be plotted against by men, and as one who is to receive the nations as His inheritance, and as one who is to take possession of the ends of the earth. They signify His dispensation toward men by two proofs: both by the conspiracy against Him and by the subjection of the nations under Him.

From Psalm XIX. - Christ by name obtaining whatsoever things He may seek from the Father.

"May the Lord fulfill all thy petitions: now I know that the Lord hath saved His Christ; He will hear him from His holy heaven." ^B Since it is our intention now to demonstrate in how many places Christ is named in the prophecies, I rightly add these too, which most clearly proclaim Christ. Now the whole Psalm sends forth requests from the person of holy men into the person of Christ. For since He, becoming man for our sake and on our behalf, accepted every insult, we are taught to pray together with Him, as with One who is supplicating and beseeching the Father on our behalf, as He who repels the wars against us, whether they be visible or invisible. Wherefore we too, taking these words from the Psalm, are accustomed to say to Him, which are thus: "May the Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; may He send thee help from the sanctuary, and support thee out of Zion." ^C Then, since it is proper to Him, as being the great High Priest, to perform the spiritual sacred rites in praises and theology on our behalf, and since as such a priest He offered to God and the Father, both Himself and the man whom He took from the earth, as a perfect and whole burnt offering on our behalf; for this reason we say to Him: "May He be mindful of all thy sacrifices, and make thy burnt offering fat." And since all things that He purposes are saving and beneficial in the world, we rightly cry out to Him, saying: "May the Lord grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfill all thy counsel." To these, we next confessing His resurrection from the dead, say: "We will exult in thy salvation." For what else could the salvation [the saving work] of Christ be understood to be, if not His return from the dead to the living, ^D by which He also raises up all those who had previously fallen? Whence we say: "And in the name of our God we shall be magnified; and may the Lord fulfill all thy petitions." In addition to all these, we are taught to say: "Now have I known that the Lord hath saved His Christ."

that word, and in the name of our God we shall be magnified; and may the Lord fulfill all your petitions.” ^A After all these things, we are taught to say also this: “Now I have known that the Lord has saved his Christ;” in as much as we did not understand this before, until we recognized his salvation and perceived the power of his resurrection.

^A Ps. XXVII. — Christ by name possessing the Father as Lord and protector. “The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his Christ.” ^B This psalm, too, which is now in our hands, is wont to be referred to Christ, seeing that it contains that prayer which Christ prayed at the time when he was about to suffer. Wherefore, at the beginning of the psalm, it says: “To you, O Lord, have I cried; O my God, do not be silent to me, lest I become like those who descend into the pit.” And at the end, he predicts his resurrection from the dead, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my prayer. The Lord is my helper and my protector; my heart has hoped in him, and I have been helped, and my flesh has flourished again; and of my own will I will confess to him.” To which the divine and prophetic Spirit adds: “The Lord is the strength of his people, he is the protector of the salvation of his Christ;” instructing us that indeed all the wonders of Christ recorded in the divine Scriptures, which took place for the salvation of men—whether they be teachings, or writings, or mysteries related to his resurrection ^C from the dead which are now named—have come to pass by the nod and power of the Father, who in all his wondrous and saving words and deeds protects his own Christ.

^A Ps. LXXXIII. — Christ by name calling God his tutor. And one is the day of his resurrection: and one is the house of God, his Church. “Our protector, look, O God, and gaze upon the face of your Christ. Because one day in your courts is better than thousands: I have chosen to be cast away in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners.” Those who know Christ to be the Word of God, and wisdom, and true light, and life, and who afterward understand his becoming man, are amazed at this purpose which exceeds all faith, insomuch that they break out into those words: ^D “And we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty; but his form was without honour, and failing before the sons of men: a man in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity, because he turned away his face, he was despised.” Therefore they rightly entreat God to look upon the face of Christ, which for our sake suffered ignominies and insults, and for his sake to become propitious to us, since he has carried our sins and is in pain for us; these things they entreat as suppliants, almost desiring and having in their prayers to see the face of the glory of Christ, and to behold the day of his light. But this was the day of his res-

- ^A urrection, which, being truly one and uniquely the Lord’s day, they say is better than ten thousand of those days understood in a more common sense, or those legislated by Moses in feasts, new moons, and sabbaths, which the divine Apostle teaches are shadows of days, and not days themselves. Yet it is said that this one day, the Lord’s day of our Savior, does not shine in every place, but only in the courts of the Lord. These courts would be the Churches of Christ throughout the whole world, which occupy the place of the one house of God, in which he who knows such things loves and prefers to be cast aside, declaring a dwelling in them to be far better than in the tabernacles of sinners; indicating the synagogues of the Jews who deny the Christ of God, or those of the godless heterodox, and other faithless nations, of which anyone who chooses the Churches of Christ declares them to be much better.

Psalm LXXXVIII

Psalm CXXXI

He says that he has prepared for him the prophetic word, as is likely, which preceded Christ himself, who alone as solar light has arisen for all men inhabiting the whole world. And David himself was prepared as a lamp for Christ, since, in comparison with the sun and perfect light, he held the rank of a lamp. ^A “There,” he says, “I will make a horn to bud,” indicating the place where he signifies that Christ would be born. For when David had prayed to perceive in spirit the place of the birth of Christ, and had said: “If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob,” the divine Spirit reveals to him the place which is in Bethlehem. ^B And therefore he adds, saying: “Behold, we heard of it in Ephratah” (this is Bethlehem), “we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles, we will adore in the place where his feet stood.” Worthily, therefore, after the manifestation of these things, he adds: “There will I bring forth a horn to David; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.” Perhaps he also signifies, by another understanding of these words, the very body assumed by Christ in Bethlehem; since through the body as an earthen vessel, the divine power dwelling in it, as through a lamp, sent forth the rays of that divine and rational light to all men.

From Amos

^A Jesus Christ. For from that time even to this day, the house of Israel has fallen, and a decree once and for all was brought forth by God, regarding the fall of their house in Jerusalem, and against their entire system, as though they were never again to be raised up, because there is no one to raise them; “there is no one,” he says, “who raises her up.” For since they did not receive the Christ of God who came to them, he left them, as was fitting, and transferred himself to all the nations, after having taught them the cause of their fall, in that he lamented over them, and almost apologized, saying: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate.”

From Habakkuk. — Christ is named by the Lord the Father as being saved, and as saving his own christs. ^B “You went forth for the salvation of your people, to save your christs; you cast death upon the heads of the ungodly.” Aquila: “You went forth for the salvation of your people, for your salvation with your Christ.” Since Aquila published in the singular instead of the plural, by saying “with your Christ,” he declared that God of all had produced salvation for the people through Christ; we have rightly set forth the wording, as it clearly supports the point here proposed. But according to the translation of the Seventy, there would be many who are called christs from him and through him, concerning whom it is said: “Do not touch my christs, and do not deal maliciously with my prophets.” These are they who have believed in him and have been deemed worthy of the holy anointing of regeneration in Christ, and are able to say along with the holy Apostle: ^C “We have become partakers of Christ.”

From the Lamentations of Jeremiah. — Christ is named as being plotted against by the Jews, and recognized by the nations. “The Spirit of our countenance, Christ the Lord, was taken in their corruptions, of whom we said: ‘In his shadow we shall live among the nations.’” Those wonderful prophets of God, seeing with the divine Spirit what was to come, prophesied that they themselves and their words would live—as if they, being alive, would work among the nations, but not in Israel. Again, they spoke of Christ by name, as if Christ himself—from whom the prophetic spirit was granted to them—would be taken in their corruptions. Whose? Clearly, those of the men of the circumcision who plotted against him. Note also here how the oracle predicts that Christ would be taken, which certainly could not be applied to the second coming of Christ, which the prophetic oracles announce will be glorious and with a divine kingdom. ^D Therefore, it is likely that those of the circumcision are wandering into error, in that they receive the things concerning his second appearance as if they were for his first arrival, in no way

^A conceding that it is possible to suppose that he is simultaneously, and in the same respect, both glorious and inglorious; both honorable and a king, and again having no form or beauty, but being despised in the eyes of the sons of men; and again, Savior and Redeemer of Israel, and conversely, encompassed by them and led like a sheep to the slaughter, and delivered to death by those who were of old among them. But as for us, as the evidence of matters shows, since the prophecies concerning Christ are divided into two categories, we acknowledge those things which pertain to his human nature and are more somber to have been fulfilled at his first advent, while those which possess greater glory and are more divine are still expected even now at his second coming. The most evident demonstration of the former is the knowledge of God that has progressed through him to all nations, and which has been realized in fact—a fact which countless prophetic voices sing of in various and diverse ways, just like the one we have very recently cited, in which were contained those words of which we spoke: "In his shadow we shall live among the nations."

From the First Book of Kings.—Christ named by the Lord the Father as being exalted.

"The Lord ascended into the heavens and thundered; he shall judge the ends of the earth, and he will give strength to our kings, and he will exalt the horn of his Christ." ^B By this, the oracle understands both the restoration of Christ or even of God into the heavens, and his doctrine, which is to be heard by all like thunder, and likewise his future judgment against everyone after this. After these things, the Lord himself is said to be about to give strength to our kings. These would be the apostles of Christ, concerning whom you have in the LXVII Psalm that: "The Lord will give the word to those evangelizing with great power." In this, too, he makes mention ^C of Christ by name, that he might be understood as our Savior according to his humanity, whose horn he says will be exalted, signifying the invisible power in him and his kingdom. The divine scriptures are, therefore, accustomed to call the kingdom itself a "horn." The same is also set forth in the LXXXVII Psalm: "And in my name, he says, his horn shall be exalted."

From the First Book of Kings.—Christ, by name, receiving from the Father a faithful house, his Church, and as a faithful priest, presiding genuinely over his Church for all time.

"Behold, days are coming, he says, and I will destroy your seed, and the seed of your father's house; and there shall be no old man in your house." After the oracle spoke these ^D things to Eli, besides many other things, it also adds this, saying: "And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do all things according to my heart and my soul, and I will build for him a faithful house, and he shall walk before my Christ all the days." Having pronounced a change and rejection upon those who do not act according to the right way, the divine

^A oracle promises that He will establish another priest from another line, whom indeed it says will "walk before his Christ," or, as Aquila translated it, or as Symmachus, "will turn before his Christ." Who then might this be? It is, of course, everyone who approaches the priesthood of Christ the God with piety. The Lord of all Himself, like a wise architect and builder, promises to build for Him the house of the Church, meaning by this no other house than that which has been erected in the name of Christ, throughout the whole world, as the Church; where everyone who has been consecrated through Christ the God is said to perform, according to the spiritual ministries, those things that are pleasing and in accordance with the soul of God—those things which, performed by the blood of bulls and goats ^B according to the former typical rule, are confessed through the prophecy of Isaiah to have been set aside by God.

So much for those passages where Christ was explicitly predicted by name. However, since many of the sufferings of Christ are joined to His title, it is necessary to repeat what was said before concerning His divinity, which we previously showed to be expressed in the 44th Psalm, inscribed "For the Beloved," where the passage first reminds us of Him as King, and afterwards adds further things concerning the divinity of Christ: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness ^C above thy fellows." For clearly in these, as we have already shown before, the very One who is designated as God is described as having loved righteousness and hated iniquity. And for this reason, having been anointed by another greater God and Father of His with an oil better and surpassing those of the types, the oil called "of gladness." Now, he who is anointed with such an oil—not by men, nor through men, but by the highest God himself—who else would he deservedly be called but Christ? Therefore, it is established that the same One is also named God, just as has already been shown in its proper place.

We must also remind ourselves of these words again from Isaiah, who said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." We show in these words also that, while the priests who formerly came from among men ^D to the service of divine worship were anointed with a prepared oil, He who is indicated by the prophecy is said to have been anointed with divine power. This whole thing was referred to our Savior Jesus, the only true Christ of God, as He, having once taken the prophecy in the assembly of the Jews and having gone through the passage set forth, taught that the scripture was fulfilled in Himself. For it is written that, having

^A read the book and rolled it up, and given it back to the attendant, He sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears" (Luc. IV, 21). To all these things must be added again what we read regarding Moses, who, when he had established his own brother Aaron as high priest according to the pattern shown to him, in accordance with the oracle that said to him, "You shall do all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain" (Exod. XXV, 40), it is manifest that with the eyes of the intellect and by the divine Spirit he perceived the great High Priest of the universe, the true Christ of God, of whom, while describing His image with other bodily figure and worship, he adorned him, who was shown to him, with the appellation of the other true Christ. The divine Apostle also confirms this, saying concerning those things which are under the law of Moses: "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things" (Hebr. VIII, 5). And again: "For the law having a shadow of good things to come" (Hebr. X, 1). And again: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or the new moon, or a sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come" (Coloss. II, 16). For if the things pertaining to the indifference of foods, and those ordained by law concerning ^B feast days and the sabbath, as being shadowy, preserved a sketch of other true and mystical things, not without reason would you say that the high priest also was taken as a symbol of another high priest, and that he himself was named Christ for the sake of the other, the only and true Christ—so far, indeed, falling short of the true one, inasmuch as the true Christ hears from the God of all: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps. CIX, 1). And: "Rule in the midst of your enemies." And: "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you." And: "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. CIX, 3-4). By which it is clearly manifested that He, being the offspring and Son of God before the morning star and before all creation, is declared the eternal High Priest. But the Christ of Moses, as in a theatrical performance, adorned for a short time and simulated, is reckoned as having been placed among mortals, the truth having been handed over to the other, who alone is true. And the true Christ indeed, needing neither the Mosaic anointing, nor oil artificially prepared, nor any earthly material, yet ^C with His power and appellation filled the whole world, inasmuch as He established from Himself the race of Christians in all nations. But the Christ of Moses was not even known to have ever held the name among men, except insofar as the writings of Moses declared it. And this one indeed, late at length after the exodus from Egypt, being cleansed by certain sprinklings and by sacrifices of blood, had been anointed with prepared oil, Moses having anointed him; but the Archetype and true One, from the beginning and until an infinite age, Himself wholly and entirely like Himself in all things, changing in nothing, was Christ always, both before His sojourn among men ^D and likewise after it, not by man

nor by any matter found among men, but anointed ^A by the supreme God with unbegotten divinity. And since His appellation is currently being examined by us, let that oracle in the most wise Solomon, found in the Song of Songs, serve as a seal upon all that has been said: “Your name is ointment poured forth.” For he, being endowed with divine wisdom and deemed worthy of more secret contemplations concerning Christ ^B and His Church, and having spoken of Him as the heavenly Bridegroom and of her as His bride, when asked what the name of the Bridegroom was, utters a voice as if to Him, saying: “Your name, Bridegroom, is ointment, and not simply ointment, but poured forth.” And what name could be indicative of “ointment poured forth” if not the name of Christ? For in no other way could He be, or be called, Christ, unless it were by the pouring forth of ointment. But what sort of ointment this was, with which the one shown to be Christ was anointed, has been set forth by us in the preceding pages. Since, therefore, we have spoken thus far concerning the appellation of Christ, come, let us also discuss the name of Jesus.

XVII. ^C That the name of Jesus also was held in honor among those formerly intimate with God.

Again, Moses was the first, when using a different appellation for his own successor, to rename him Jesus. For it is written: “These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and Moses renamed Nauses the son of Nave, Jesus, and sent them.” Consider, then, I pray you, for a moment, how the prophet, who was not a little learned in the nature of names, but profoundly so, having philosophized on this point also, as is evident from those holy men whom he himself renamed and from the reasons for which he renamed them—inasmuch as he introduces Abraham receiving from God, as a prize for his virtue, his full appellation of Abraham (the meaning of which it is not now the time to clarify), and for this same reason renames Sara, Sarra; and Isaac, who was called Laughter before he was born; and Jacob, who was adorned with the name Israel as a prize for his wrestling—and having perceived and understood, through divine wisdom and knowledge ^D of a nature more divine than would befit a man, countless other things concerning the power and nature of names, and since no one else from the beginning of time before him had used the name of Jesus, he was the first, directed by the divine Spirit, to take the one he was to declare as his successor in the leadership of the people, who had previously been called by another name, and rename him Jesus; for he did not think the name previously given to him by his ancestors was sufficient. For he had called him Neuses.

^A But the prophet of God, having changed the name from birth, calls the man Jesus according to the divine Spirit, thinking that no other than Jesus, the Christ of God, ought to lead the whole people after his own death, as he foresaw that the laws which he himself had laid down would be changed at some time and come to an end, and would in a way die with Moses himself, and that no other would lead the second and better, far more excellent republic than the former one, than Jesus the Christ of God alone.

Thus Moses, most admirable of all prophets, knowing both the titles of our Saviour Jesus Christ through the instruction of the divine Spirit, adorned those who were most excellent among all the princes of his time with these, as if with royal diadems, worthily bestowing the titles of Christ and Jesus upon two princes and leaders of the people, the high priest himself and his own successor: naming Aaron "Christ," and Neuses ^B "Jesus," as one who was to succeed him after his death. In this way, therefore, the Scripture of Moses himself was marked with the names of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

From Exodus

From Zechariah

^A iniquities, and clothe you him with a long garment, and place a clean turban upon his head; and they clothed him with garments. And next he adds: Hear now, Jesus the high priest, you and your neighbors who sit before your face, for they are men of prodigies; for I bring my servant, the Orient. ^B And after a little while, he adds to these things, saying: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Take those things from the captivity from the princes and from its oracles, and from those who have known it, and you shall enter in that day into the house of Sophonias who came from Babylon, and you shall take silver and gold, and you shall make crowns, and you shall place them upon the head of Jesus son of Josedec the high priest, and you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord Almighty: Behold a man, the Orient is his name, and he shall spring up from beneath him, and he shall build the house of the Lord, and he himself shall take virtue, and shall sit, ^C and shall rule upon his throne; and the priest shall be on his right hand, and a peaceful counsel shall be between them both. And the great high priest in the present prophecy, named Jesus, seems to me to preserve a most luminous image and a manifest symbol of our Savior Jesus Christ, being honored with his name, and having led the return of the people from the Babylonish captivity. Since also our Savior Jesus Christ is said by Isaiah the prophet to have been sent to preach liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to comfort all who mourn, and that there be given to the mourners of Zion a crown instead of ashes, an oil of gladness. You have, therefore, already two great high priests: the one, Christ in Moses; ^D the other, Jesus, who is now being discussed, who have borne in themselves the marks and signs of the truth concerning our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. But indeed Aaron, who is the Christ in Moses, when he delivered the people from the Egyptian servitude, and was their guide unto liberty and to the care of the journey from Egypt, would rightly preserve the image of him who is the true Lord. For he clearly redeemed all of us who have been gathered from the nations from the Egyptian cult of idols. But he who is in the prophet, the high priest Jesus, presided over those returning from Babylon to Jerusalem, himself also bearing a sign of Jesus our Savior, whom we have as a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, through whom we also, having been delivered as if from the Babylon of the confusion and captivity of the present life, have been taught to hasten to the heavenly, truly Jerusalem. And deservedly the Jesus who bore the image of the truth through himself was also clothed in filthy garments, and the devil is said to have stood at his right hand and to have withstood him; since also our truly Savior and Lord Jesus, having descended into our captivity, has taken away our sins, and has wiped away the human filth, and has endured the disgraces concerning the passion on account of his philanthropy toward us. Wherefore Isaiah says: This man takes away our

sins ^A and grieves for us, and we accounted him to be in labor and in plague and in affliction; but he was wounded for our sins, and has been made weak for our iniquities. But also John the Baptist, seeing the Lord, said: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And Paul, writing similar things about him, says: He who knew no sin, he made sin for our sake, that we might become the righteousness of God in him; and, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for our sake. ^B All these things, therefore, the prophecy foretelling, signified through which it says: And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments; nevertheless, having laid these aside at the time of his ascent into heaven, and his return from the captivity which is among us to those things which are his own, then he is indeed crowned with the diadem of paternal divinity, and is clothed in the most radiant garment of paternal light, and is adorned with a divine miter and the other high-priestly ornaments. Nor is it difficult to interpret also those things which concern the devil, who even now, while he opposes the doctrine of Christ and the Church established by him throughout the whole world, continues to withstand our Savior himself, having previously campaigned against him from the opposite side when he was present, delivering us from the captivity which we suffered under him. He tempted him, therefore, both before and a second time, when he concocted the conspiracy against him at the time of the passion. Over all of which having put to flight both the devil and all the invisible enemies and foes under him, he made us who were held captive his own domestics, and from us ourselves, as if from living stones, he built the house of God and the polity of piety, so that the oracle which says: Behold a man, Orient is his name, and underneath him he shall rise, and he shall build the house of the Lord; and he shall receive virtue, and he shall sit, and shall hold sovereignty upon his throne, may justly and deservedly be applied to him. ^C Attend therefore diligently, in what manner he now speaks in a spiritual way concerning the Jesus of old, who bore the image of the true one, saying: Behold a man, Orient is his name; but later, transitioning as if concerning another who is the Orient, to the Jesus then present he is said to have spoken: Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your neighbors, because they are men who are observers of prodigies. Behold, I bring my servant, the Orient. If, therefore, the speech was about another who was to come, and who was to be called Orient more truly than the one who was then before him, that person was surely the image of the Orient who was to come; inasmuch as he was called not only Jesus in the image, but also Orient, if indeed those words, Behold a man, Orient is his name, were said as if to him, being present. ^D Justly, therefore, for the sake of the image, this man also was deemed worthy of the title of the Savior, just as also of the Orient. For indeed, the name of Jesus, when translated into the Greek tongue, signifies the salvation of God.

for the sake of the image, he was also held worthy of our Savior’s appellation, just as we see in the East. For the very name Jesus, when translated into our language, signifies the salvation of God. For Josua among the Hebrews means salvation, and the son of Nave is called Josue among the same people. But Josue is Jao salus, that is, the salvation of God. And so, if the salvation of God is found written in our codices, you may be certain that it signifies nothing other than Jesus in the Hebrew tongue. Since these things have thus far been said by us concerning the name of our Savior, refreshing our discourse from a new beginning, let us pass on to more perfect prophetic demonstrations concerning the same.

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI: GOSPEL DEMONSTRATION, BOOK FIVE

THESE THINGS ARE CONTAINED IN THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE GOSPEL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR

What the mode was by which the prophets among the Hebrews foretold things to come and illuminated the true theology; and how many prophetic voices made mention of the divine pre-existence of our Savior, and of all that came to pass before His appearing.

1. From the Proverbs. 2. From Psalm 44. 3. From Psalm 109. 4. From Isaiah. 5. From Psalm 31. 6. From Isaiah. 7. From Genesis. 8. From the same. 9. From the same. 10. From the same. 11. From the same. 12. From the same. 13. From Exodus. 14. From the same. 15. From the same. 16. From the same. 17. From the same. 18. From Numbers. 19. From Isaiah. 20. From Job. 21. From Psalm 21. 22. From Osee. 23. From Amos.

24. From Abdias. 25. From Zacharias. 26. From the same. 27. From the same. 28. From Malachias. 29. From the same. 30. From Jeremias.

PROEMIUM

Therefore, our discourse will proceed by a straight path and in a correct order, once we are about to set forth the prophetic testimonies concerning him, if now, at the very beginning—as those who ask about the promises demand—we examine what is primary, and confirm from the testimony of the ancient prophets the theology concerning him that exists in the Gospels. But before this, it is necessary to consider what was the mode by which the prophets among the Hebrews were filled with the Spirit of God, from whom we have already been instructed about the things that were predicted.

What was the mode by which the prophets among the Hebrews both sang of future things and illuminated the only true theology.

^C That places where vaticinations and oracles are received have been established everywhere in the world, both Greeks and barbarians acknowledge. Furthermore, they say that these were produced and granted by the providence of the Creator for the use and benefit of men. And so, they maintain that there was nothing superior in the prophets of the Hebrews compared to the oracles of the other nations. For just as to the Hebrews by such prophets, so also to the other nations by local oracles, the supreme God is accustomed to give responses and suggest what is advantageous. For they say that he is not the God of the Jews only, but of all other men as well, and that he does not care more for the former than for the latter, but provides for all equally. For just as he does not begrudge his sun to anyone, but bestows it abundantly upon all, not to the Hebrews alone, and provides annual supplies of necessary things, and constructs a similar body for all, and provides one way of birth for all, and one nature of the rational soul for all—in this ^D same way, they say, he provides the knowledge of future things abundantly to all men: to some through prophetic men, to others through oracles, to others through the flight of birds, or through the inspection of entrails, or through dream-divination, or through chance utterances, or throbs, or other signs.

^A For they claim that these things have been bestowed upon all men by the providence of God, so that the Hebrew prophets appear to have nothing more. Such, then, is their argument; but our response to them will be as follows. If any argument confirms that true gods, or divine powers, or good demons preside over the aforementioned oracles, or auguries, or the other things we have named, one might assign a place to those so-called powers, as if the Supreme God also granted these things to those who use them for their benefit. But if, by perfect proofs and the confessions of the Greeks themselves, we have already ^B previously convicted them of being not good, but rather the authors of every harm and wickedness, how could they be considered prophets of God? Our treatise has already exposed them as being evil through the *Evangelical Preparation*, both from the human sacrifices that were long performed for them in every place, city, and region, and because they deceived those who consulted them through ignorance of the future, and because they were caught in myriad lies, sometimes openly and plainly, and at other times through the ambiguity of their oracles, by which they were convicted of entangling those who fled to them in the most frequent and grievous evils. And since their race was shown beforehand to be foul and unclean, from the fact that they rejoiced in the obscene and licentious songs, hymns, and mythical tales told about them, and in indecent and harmful histories—which they ratified against themselves and confirmed as true—they were clearly exposed. And the final proof of their ^C inert nature of all was the fact that they were extinguished and no longer uttered oracles as they once did; and they were extinguished at no other time than from the age of the manifestation of our Savior Jesus Christ; for from the moment His word of evangelical teaching spread to all nations, from that time the oracles failed, and the deaths of demons are recorded. All these things, and ten thousand others similar to them, were the reasons by which the demons we are discussing were convicted in the *Evangelical Preparation* as being evil. If, then, they are found to be of such a character, what argument can prevail to make us suppose that the oracles of demons are divinations of the Supreme God, or to compare them with the prophets of God? What kind of predictions were they, which, ^D when they seemed to exist, they made to those who consulted them? Were they not about indecent, lowly, and worthless men—boxers, for instance, or some such people—whom they ordered to be honored with sacrifices? And what of their practice regarding human sacrifice? For this is the summary of what has been said. Did they leave any excess of absurdity to any other base matter? If the "saviors of men," those gods and good demons, exhorted their suppliants and pious refugees to slaughter their own most beloved ones, as if they were mere cattle, they stand convicted of thirsting for human blood beyond the nature of any wild beast, and proving themselves to be nothing other than blood-drinkers, man-eaters, and lovers of destruction. Let anyone who wishes say, if he can point out anything noble and worthy of virtue in the matters revealed, or in the prophecies and predictions reaching every race of men, or in the laws and political arrangements according to which all men ought to live—

or the doctrines and teachings of philosophy presented by the gods to the lovers of wisdom. ^A But no one could say that such things ever existed in human life, derived from the famous oracles. For if they had, men who were being legislated for by gods would not have used different and conflicting laws; for being gods and good, how would they not have used the same ordinances? How would they not have used the most temperate and just laws? What need, then, was there of Solon, or Draco, or other lawgivers for Greeks and barbarians, when gods were nearby, prescribing what is necessary through oracles? But if anyone were to say that they themselves—and no others—were the ones who gave laws to men in each nation, let him tell me, I pray, who that god was, and of what sort, who ordained that the Scythians, for example, should eat human beings, or who legislated that men should have intercourse with their own ^B mothers and daughters, or who commanded that the aged should be thrown to the dogs as if it were a good thing, or who allowed sisters to be married and males to have intercourse with males? And why need I recount the lawless accounts among the Greeks and barbarians to prove that they were not gods, but wicked and pernicious demons, those wonderful oracular sources of theirs, who cast the thrice-wretched race of men into abominations contrary to nature? Since not even the gods and seers renowned among the Greeks are shown to have provided anything profitable or useful for the benefit of the soul to those who consulted them. For why, pray, did the Greeks abandon the benefit to be derived from them and go to barbarian lands, ^C gathering merchandise of teachings from elsewhere, when it was possible to use the gods as their teachers? For if gods or even good spirits had been answering—displaying their own power at times through foreknowledge and other miraculous signs, and at other times teaching true wisdom through the infallible truth of their instructions—why on earth would the sons of philosophers not have been tutored by them, instead of others gathering notions from one source or another and thus forming various sects of philosophers from a long-standing disagreement? But if the majority of men did not pay attention to them, the pious at least, who drew near to the gods, ought surely to have obtained the infallible from the benefit provided by the gods. Who, then, are these? For whoever you might name, those of a contrary opinion refute them as being ^D led astray. But it seems the divination of demons went only as far as detecting a theft, or a lost vessel, or some other such thing—matters as to which it was not unlikely that they, passing their time in the air about the earth, had obtained information. But of any good or wise philosophy, or constitution, or law established by right reason, they were entirely incapable; or rather, if one must speak the truth with a free tongue, it must be considered that they have all been the authors of evil. These are the ones who, regarding themselves, are filled with accounts of adultery and male-intercourse, of mother-marriage, and the lawless unions of brothers, and ten thousand other conflicts of gods against gods, of enmities and wars, and of human odes and hymns and stories of mysteries in [secret rites, listening to which...

not one of them ever appeared indignant at the things mentioned, as if they were shameful and not fitting for prudent men even to think or speak of. And why must I argue, when it is possible to perceive the cruel and inhuman, and truly polluted, nature of these things from one great example? I speak of human sacrifice. For the fact that they rejoiced not only in the slaughter of irrational animals, but also in the destruction of human beings, what excess of cruelty did this not surpass? For these were, as I said, the things witnessed through the preparation by the Greek philosophers and historians themselves; by which it is most clearly shown that the demons, being evil, by manifold devices—sometimes through oracles, sometimes through omens or portents, or sacrifices, or the like—distort the human race. Therefore, it must be declared that their oracles did not proceed from the God who is over all. Consequently, it would not be right to compare them with the Hebrew prophets, the first of whom, the hierophant and theologian, was Moses, ^B who became the cause of many good things for his life.

First, he published the true evangelical doctrines concerning the God who is the Maker and Creator of all things, and concerning the second Cause, the author of the rational and intellectual essences after Him, as well as the creation of the world and the birth of mankind, in the holy Scripture. Further, by sketching out as images of virtues the histories of the godly men of old among the Hebrews who were dear to God, he stirred up his hearers to emulate those good men; he inaugurated the beginning of a divinely inspired legislation suited to those who lived at that time, and he proved to be the introducer of godly worship; and above all, he announced the prophecies of things that would happen in times long after, as will be mentioned a little later. Such, then, was he; and likewise, the prophets who came after him, even if they sometimes predicted something of fleeting interest to those who enquired of them—for this was a secondary task—the main point of their prophecy for them [concerned]

greater things. For they did not deem their God-given gift worthy of the divination of daily and present-tensed matters, nor of small and low affairs; but the illumination of the divine Spirit within them embraced as its vast subject the entire human race. It did not proclaim predictions regarding a sick person’s body, nor this temporary and trouble-prone life, nor regarding someone who was lost, nor, indeed, regarding any intermediary and indifferent things which, whether they be present or not, contribute neither to the soul’s progress nor bring about any loss or harm—though, as I have said, there were times when they did predict even these, yet not as their primary aim, but as a consequence of their grasp of greater things.

If one were to investigate the entire scope of the writing of Moses, and of those after him, one would find that it contains nothing else but the exhortation and teaching of piety toward the God of the universe, the very Creator of all things; the knowledge and supreme theology of the second Cause; ^B the rejection of all polytheistic error; and then the remembrance of the God-loving men of old who were the first to initiate the aforementioned piety. It contained prophecies and proclamations concerning the life of those who would live in later times, through the epiphany and presence among men of God—the second Lord himself, and God after the supreme Father—and who himself functions as the teacher of this same piety and as the Savior appearing in the life of men, through whom it was proclaimed that the manner of piety of the God-loving Hebrews of old would be transmitted to all nations, Greeks and barbarians alike.

These things Moses, and the rest of the prophets with him, all proclaimed with one mouth. And this was the cause of the descent of the divine Spirit upon men: to teach men the knowledge of God, ^C the supreme theology concerning the Father and the Son, to instruct them in the manner of true piety, to keep in remembrance those who had achieved excellence of old, to rebuke at length those who had fallen away after them, and to foretell the advent of the Savior and teacher of the whole human race, and to proclaim the future transmission of that ancient Hebrew piety to all nations. These were the things that had been from eternity announced in harmony by the pillars and sacred books of the prophets. These very things, which even we, with our own eyes after the long interval of time, see still being fulfilled today, all these men, possessed by the one and divine Spirit, proclaimed to all mankind as the light of true piety. They preached purity of soul and body, and the complete cleansing of the mind ^D—which they themselves had practiced first—proposing it to their followers, restraining those who approached them from every licentious act, and teaching them not to imitate the lawless practices of polytheistic error, but rather to flee, as a first priority, every demonic undertaking, those once-sought-after human sacrifices, and the shameful and unspeakable tales about the gods, from which they restrained them, [requiring them] to serve only

one Creator of all, God, who acts as the overseer and judge of the things done among men; and not to be ignorant of the coming into the world of the Christ of God, who is to be the Saviour of the whole human race and the appointed teacher of true piety for both barbarians and Greeks.

Such was the difference between those possessed by the divine Spirit and those who pretended to practice divination through demonic activity. For the evil demon, as one akin to darkness, by its indwelling would surround the soul with darkness and mist, and leave the medium as if dead, stripped of their natural power of reason, not even following what was being said or done through them, being completely senseless and out of their mind. Hence, it is with good reason that people have called such a falling-into-trance "divination" ^B, likening it to a kind of madness.

But the truly divine Spirit, being luminous, or rather being light itself, whenever It came upon a soul, would produce in it a new and most brilliant day of light, immediately making it clearer and more capable of contemplation than it was before, so that it might be sober and vigilant, and might be able to see and judge most clearly the things that were being prophesied. Hence I think we are right and true to call such men prophets, because the divine Spirit shining within them illuminates and brings to the light not only present things, but also a true and accurate knowledge of things to come.

Consider whether this is not a much better and truer account, which says that the divine Spirit enters into souls that have been purified ^C and prepared by rational and clear intelligence for the reception of the Divine, rather than the account of those who believe they can enclose the Divine within inanimate matter and dark retreats, or in the impure souls of women and men, or in crows and hawks and other omens, or in goats and other animals, or even in collections of waters, in the examination of entrails, or in the blood of sickly and loathsome creatures, and the bodies of venomous reptiles, such as dragons and weasels, and other such things through which those wondrous people have assumed that they can manifest the foreknowledge of the God over all concerning future events.

This was the way of men who had never contemplated the nature of God, nor had they perceived the power of the divine Spirit, which by no means dwells in inanimate ^D or irrational animals—nor, indeed, in all rational beings, but only in souls that are holy and virtuous, such as the Hebrews' prophets whom the argument just described to us, whom we say were deemed worthy of the divine Spirit for the sake of great matters that contribute to the improvement of all humanity. If ever, like a shadow, there followed them the knowledge of present, mundane, and indifferent matters, and they would predict, when necessary, things unknown to those who were asking, they provided this also to those who approached them in days of old, so that the simple might not seem to wander reasonably toward the divinations of outside, foreign nations for want of their own prophets. But let these things end here, as they are representative of the divine power in the prophets of the Hebrews. It is time, therefore, to address them, as men who are godly and wise, and not humanly...

but moved by the divine Spirit, they have taught what must be believed, and that they should instruct us in their doctrines and in their pious and infallible theologies, no longer containing any ambiguity, lest they introduce anything alien to virtue and truth. Come, then, and let us now resume the argument from the beginning, and confirm by prophetic testimony the theology concerning our Savior Jesus Christ which is contained in the Gospels. The evangelical testimony thus speaks of Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made” ^A. It calls him also the intelligible light, and calls him Lord, just as it calls him God. And the inspired Paul, as a disciple and apostle of Christ, harmonizes with this theology, discourse ^B concerning him in this wise: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for in him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist” ^C. He is also called the power of God and the wisdom of God. These very things are now set before us to be brought forth from the prophetic scriptures of the Hebrews, so that through the agreement in both parts, the demonstration of the truth may be established. Yet it must not be ignored that the divine oracles, containing much that is transcendent both in expression and in thought in the Hebrew tongue, have met with various interpretations in the Greek language, due to the difficulty of contemplation. However, those men who were Hebrews gathered together and translated them all with one and the same voice—those whom we shall mostly follow, since it has also pleased the Church of Christ to use them. But if need should arise, we shall not refuse the editions of the later interpreters, which the Jews even now delight to use, so that the matters of our demonstration may, from every side, obtain a more firm and stable presentation. Having prefaced these things, it remains for us now to apply ourselves to the divine words themselves.

CAPUT I.

^A As among the Hebrews the wisest Solomon in the Proverbs knows of a certain first-born power of God, which he denominates both the wisdom of God and His offspring, just as we also glorify the same.

"I, Wisdom, have dwelt in counsel, and I have invoked knowledge and understanding. The fear of the Lord hates injustice, and arrogance, and pride, and the ways of the wicked. But I have hated the perverse ways of the evil. Mine is counsel and security; mine is prudence, and mine is strength. By me kings reign, and the powerful write justice; by me great men are magnified, and tyrants by me hold the land. I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find grace. Riches and glory belong to me, and the possession of many things and justice. It is better to have the fruit of me than gold and much precious stone; and my offspring are better than chosen silver. I walk in the ways of justice, and I dwell in the ways of truth, that I may divide substance to those who love me, and fill their treasuries with good things. If I declare to you the things that happen day by day, I shall remember to number the things from the age. The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works. Before the age He founded me; in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills, He begets me. The Lord made the regions that are uninhabited and the peaks inhabited under heaven. When He was preparing the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He was marking out His own throne upon the winds; when He was making the upper clouds strong, and when He was setting the fountains under heaven as safe, in the setting for the sea of its limit, and the waters will not pass over His mouth; when He was making strong the foundations of the earth, I was with Him ^B fitting together. I was the one who rejoiced. And every day I was rejoicing in His sight at every time, when He was rejoicing that He had finished the habitable world, and was rejoicing in the sons of men."

The divine and all-virtuous essence within itself, which is in its essence older than all generated things, which is the intelligent and first-born image of the unbegotten nature, the legitimate and only-begotten Son of the God of the universe, being one of many names, and spoken of through many titles as God, has in this place been honored with the dignity and title of Wisdom. But we have learned to call Him the Word of God, and Light, and Life, and Truth, and above all, Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Since, then, He who is now before us speaks concerning Himself, as if He were the living Wisdom of God and existing by Himself, through the most wise Solomon, saying, "I, Wisdom, have dwelt in counsel, and I have invoked knowledge and understanding," and the things that follow these; but also in that He sets forth as one who has undertaken the administration and providence of the universe: "By me kings reign, and the powerful write justice; by me great men are magnified;" then, ^C indeed...

where he says he will recount things that are from the beginning, he adds, saying: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works, before the age he founded me." By which words he teaches us that he himself is begotten in the meantime, and is not the same as the Unbegotten, since he who received existence before every age and was placed as a foundation for all created things is indeed beforehand. From which fact it is credible that the divine Apostle received the argument to say concerning him: ^B "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth." For he is called the firstborn of all creation in that passage: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works." He is rightly understood as the image of God, inasmuch as he is the generation of the unbegotten nature. This, therefore, he confesses in those things which are in our hands, where he says: "Before the mountains were established in their places," and, "Before all the hills he begets me." Hence we call him the only-begotten Son, and the firstborn Word of God, who is the same as that Wisdom of which it was spoken.

But how we are to say that he is the generation of God requires a separate and proper place of inquiry; since we do not conceive his ineffable procreation ^C according to projection, nor according to drawing-out, or division, or diminution, or section, or in any way whatsoever according to those things which are accustomed to be required in mortal generation. For it is not permitted to liken his ineffable and unnameable generation and subsistence to any of the things that are begotten, nor to compare to him any image of things that are temporal and mortal; since we cannot piously say that the Son proceeded from the Father by suffering or dividing, as if essence from essence, partible and separable, after the manner of the generation of animals among us. For the divine is impartible and indivisible; it is not cut, it is not divided, it is not extended, it is not shrunk, it is not diminished; it does not become greater, nor worse, nor better; nor has it within itself something else than itself, ^D so that it could discard it. For whatever is in anything is either as an accident, like white in a body, or as one thing in another, as the fetus that a pregnant woman carries in her womb, or as a part in a whole, as a hand or a foot or a finger in a body—of which, if limbs are parts of the whole, and the bodies suffer any amputation or section or division, the whole itself is left incomplete and mutilated, as if the highest part were amputated. But to employ such an image or likeness concerning the unbegotten nature of the God of all, and concerning the generation of his only-begotten and firstborn, would be the most impious of all impious things. Not therefore, as one thing in another, from infinite and beginningless ages, was the Son unbegotten in the Father, being a part of him, which being changed later and emptied out became outside of him; for this is already characteristic of change; and thus there would be two unbegotten beings, that which has projected and that which has been projected. And what status would be better? Perhaps that before the change of the division according to the projection? Therefore, one cannot conceive the Son from the Father as a part or member unbegottenly united beforehand, and afterwards divided and becoming separate from the whole. For these things are unspeakable and plainly impious.

^A They are proper to bodies, but alien to the incorporeal and immaterial nature. Wherefore, one might at the proper time again utter the words: "Who shall recount his generation?" For it is not without danger to betake oneself to the opposite view, and simply to assert that the Son was begotten out of nothing in the same manner as other created things; for the generation of the Son is one thing, and the creation of other things through the Son is another. But since the divine Scripture sometimes proclaims the Son as the "firstborn of all creation," speaking in his own person: "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways," and at other times says that he is the offspring of the Father, according to the words: "Before all the hills he begets me"; it would be sound for us to follow this, and to confess that he is the Word of God, existing before all ages, the creator, and that he is with the Father, the only-begotten Son of the God of all, having been begotten to be the minister and coworker with the Father in the bringing into existence ^B and arranging of the universe. For if there is left in the nature of the universe any other thing which is beyond speech and comprehension for us—and there are ten thousand such things, such as those promised to those beloved of God, "Which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not ascended into the heart of man," according to the holy Apostle—then the things concerning the first generation of the only-begotten God would be much more beyond all thought, unspeakable, unnameable, inconceivable, and unthinkable, we having nothing more to say or think about him than: "Who shall recount his generation?"

If, however, anyone pushing beyond this should be led by boldness to compare things absolutely inconceivable to visible and bodily examples, he might perhaps say that the Son has existed from infinite ages, or rather before all ages, as a kind of fragrance and radiance of light from the unbegotten nature and ineffable essence of the Father; and that while existing he is always with the Father, just as scent ^C is with the perfume and radiance with the light, yet not in all respects in the same way as in these examples, as has already been said before. For inanimate bodies possess what is attached to them in the form of qualities; for the radiance, being connatural to the nature of light, and substantially co-existing with the light, could not exist outside that in which it is. But the Word of God exists and subsists in himself, and does not coexist with the Father as unbegotten, but as the only-begotten Son alone, begotten of the Father before all ages. And the fragrance, being a certain bodily emanation from the underlying subject, in itself filling the vicinity outside of the first cause, happens to be none the less bodily itself. In this way, therefore, the things concerning the first subsistence of our Savior will not be conceived by us. For he was not brought into subsistence from the unbegotten essence by any passion or division, nor does he coexist with the Father without beginning; since the one is unbegotten, and the other is begotten; and the one is Father, and the other is Son. And every one whatsoever would confess ^D that the Father pre-exists and subsists before the Son. And he would be in this way also the image of God, unspeakably again and

^A without any calculation on our part, as it were a living thing of the living God, and subsisting by itself immaterially and incorporeally, and without mixture of any kind of opposite; yet not like the image among us, which has one thing as its underlying substance and another as its form, but being itself entirely form, and assimilated to the Father in self-existence. And so also the most vital fragrance of the Father happens to be, to us again ineffably and without calculation; since all things whatsoever that are true concerning Him would be ineffable to the voices of men, and incalculable to the reasonings of mortals, according to precise discourse. But indeed, as it is pleasing for us to hear, so also the oracles instruct us. Has not the holy Apostle called Christ himself, and those similar to him, the fragrance of Christ, because he was a partaker of the Spirit of Christ? And is not the heavenly Bridegroom in the Canticles called an empty ointment, by reason of his emptying? Therefore, by his emptying, all things, visible and invisible, corporeal and incorporeal, rational and irrational, having participated, have been deemed worthy in proportion of the sharing and have partaken of the communion of the divine Word. The whole world imparts the perception of this divine breath to those who do not have their rational senses impaired, so much so that even those bodies which are by nature earthy and corruptible exhale the immaterial and uncorrupt fragrant odor; while God of the universe flows down from above as from a fountain, who, being Father of his Only-begotten Word, would himself be the first and sovereign and only truly good, the generative source of good, and the Son is provided as second, and as it were from a first and leading substance, who also alone has been announced to us by the divine oracle instructing concerning him as the fragrance of the Father’s substance, in that ^C he is, "The vapor of the power of God, and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty, and the brightness of everlasting light, and the unspotted mirror of the operation of God, and the image of his goodness." But if one wishes even these words to be taken in this way, let it be set down; but for us it suffices to repeat again that true and pious saying, by which we shall put an end to the things asked for, having often already said: "Who shall declare his generation?" For the generation of the Only-begotten of God is truly inaccessible, and not only to men, but even to the powers beyond every essence, just as also our Saviour and Lord himself says, "No one knows the Father, except the Son," to whom he also adds, "And no one knows the Son, except the Father." Since then the theology concerning the Father and concerning the Son is equally unknown to all, except to them alone, we must hear it as in mysteries in the words brought forward from Solomon, of Wisdom speaking: "Before the mountains were settled and before the earth was formed, before all the hills he begets me." And further he says that he was present with the Father when he was constructing the heaven: "When he was preparing the heaven, I was present with him." And it reveals also the eternity of his dwelling with the Father from infinite ages, with which

it joins: "I was with him, composing, I was he in whom he rejoiced; and I daily delighted in his countenance." Furthermore, as for the abysses and fountains of water, and the mountains and hills, and whatever else is denoted in this place by common terms—whether they ^A should be understood as concerning the constitution of the world, so that the whole is understood from the part, or whether they should be interpreted by some other kind of figure, transferring their significations to intelligible essences and divine powers, all of which the Wisdom and the only-begotten and first-born Word of God, whom we are accustomed to call Christ, preceded in birth, being taught by our master the Apostle who says: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." But he is rightly called here by the name of Wisdom, as the all-wise and scientific contemplations of the universe of the only wise Father... The rest is missing.

CHAPTER II. (Without beginning.)

^B In the second [verse] he honors him with the dignity of a royal scepter; in the third, he bears witness to his perfection according to virtue. Afterward, he teaches that this same one is God and King, anointed by the supreme God, and that for this reason he came to be Christ. For what else would one call him, who was not anointed by men, but by God himself who is over all? Concerning this, therefore, he says, directing his speech to the one who was anointed: "God, you have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you." As if he were saying: God the Father has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. So that neither is this ointment, which is in question, common or earthly, nor is it similar to that which was established by law under Moses and prepared from corruptible matter, with which it was the custom to anoint the ancient priests and kings of the Hebrews. ^C Hence he is rightly proclaimed to us as both God and Christ at once, as one who alone, not through men nor by men, but by the very Author of the universe himself, has been anointed with an incorporeal and God-befitting ointment of divine joy and gladness; wherefore justly he alone, without malice alone, well and properly, above those who are his fellows

^A who are these, I ask, ^A if not those who can say: “For we have been made partakers of Christ 11”? Concerning whom it is said: “Touch not my anointed ones, and do my prophets no ^B harm 10.” And since by these words Christ, the Beloved, and God, and King, has clearly been revealed, it is time for you to inquire how it is that one so great is said to have enemies, and who these are, and for what cause he has sharpened his arrows and his sword against them, and how it is that, without a martial array of arms, but rather for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness, he has subjected to himself countless peoples. ^B Whoever, therefore, inquires into these things with greater diligence, let him transfer them to our Saviour and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, and let him have recourse to the things which have been expounded by us concerning his advent to men: for when he compelled the hostile powers of the wicked and destructive demons, and of the evil and unclean spirits—which hide from our sight—to turn their backs, he thereby gained for himself countless peoples from all nations; whom it is therefore fitting to proclaim the true Christ of God, since he was not anointed with common oil, as was the custom of the ancients (for no such thing is related concerning him), but with a more excellent and divine ointment, concerning which he says through Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me 12.” ^C Whence also, more than all those who at any time were more corporeally anointed among the Hebrews, he alone is celebrated as Christ among all in the whole world, and from him the title of Christians has filled the whole inhabited earth. How we say he was anointed, and what this ointment is, and what the mode of unction is, we have treated with sufficient abundance in the previous book. Furthermore, such grace was poured out upon his lips and in his teaching that, in a short time, the holiness and piety proclaimed by him filled every place. And so, even now, among all the nations who receive his teaching, with the truth of his prophecy—which is now in our hands—confirmed, he has attained the glory of both King and God, and is called Christ among every race of men. His enemies, moreover, are also manifest, not only they who existed in former times, but also those who always oppose his word, whether they be among men or in those powers which flee our sight, whom he, by an invisible and hidden power, ever rooting out from all the nations, has made peoples of every kind obedient to himself. ^D As for the things that follow in the same psalm, “Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia are from your garments 13,” and what follows these, concerning one who is spoken of as a queen and daughter who has left her father’s house and has been betrothed to the aforementioned Christ, and King, and God, and addresses him as Lord: these may be referred to the Church gathered from the nations, having turned away from her paternal and demonic error, and having been purified, and through the communion of the divine Word made whole and composed, once they have found at leisure an interpretation suited to them.

CHAPTER III.

"The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your power out of Zion, and you shall rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of your holy ones. From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord swore, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand." ^B This Savior and our Lord, the Word of God, the firstborn of every creature, the wisdom that is before the age, the beginning of the ways of God, the firstborn and only-begotten offspring of the Father—He who is honored with the title of Christ—the present psalm also calls "Lord," teaching that He is both a consessor and the Son of the supreme God and Lord of all, and the eternal priest of the Father.

First, therefore, consider how this has been named the second offspring of God; and since it is believed that the words of prophecy were spoken to us by the Spirit of God, see whether that very Holy Spirit in the prophet acknowledges as His own Lord the One who is second after Him who is the Lord of all. For He says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand." ^C The first Lord, as the absolute Master of all things, the Hebrews announced by an ineffable utterance compounded of four elements; but the second they did not call so in the same way, but individually called Him Lord. Worthily, therefore, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Himself who is the Christ of God, questioning the Pharisees at one time, "What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?" when they answered, "David’s," He adds, "How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand?"—virtually interpreting the phrase, as calling Him Lord not only of David, but also of the Spirit that was in the prophet.

But if the prophetic spirit—which we believe to be the Holy Spirit—acknowledges Him to be Lord, whom he teaches to be the consessor of the Father, ^D and not absolutely, but His own Lord, then how much more would the rational faculties after the Holy Spirit, and the whole creation that is perceived in bodies and consists in incorporeal beings, rightly declare this One—the sole consessor of the Father, through whom all things were made—to be their Lord? For, according to the marvelous Apostle, "in Him were created all things, both those in the heavens and those on the earth, whether visible or invisible." Only He, then, is likely to have the authority of the Father’s likeness, as the One who alone has been revealed as the Father’s consessor. It is evident, therefore, that it is permitted to none of those who are begotten to obtain the right hand of the Pantocrator.

^A Attend, therefore, to how this same supreme Lord, who holds all things under him, bestows upon him with that voice: "Sit at my right hand," and that: "Before the morning star I have begotten you." Then, with the confirmation of an oath, He grants him the honor of a priesthood that shall remain unshaken and immutable for infinite ages: "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest for ever." But who, pray, is to be understood here? Certainly not any mortal man, nor even anyone of the angelic nature, who may have been created by God, but who was appointed a priest for eternity; rather, it is he alone who said in those oracles we cited earlier: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works. Before the age he founded me, in the beginning before the mountains were established, and before all the hills he begets me." ^B And apply your mind diligently, fixing your attention both on the present psalm and on those voices presented in the one before it. For in this one, the supreme God causes the second [person], who is our Lord, to be a fellow-throne with himself, saying: "Sit at my right hand." But in the one before it, the Word affirmed that the throne remains for age upon age, at the same time proclaiming him God through the words where he says: "Your throne, O God, is for age upon age." Again, in the one now at hand, he says: "A rod ^C of power will the Lord send out to you from Zion"; but in that other, "A rod of uprightness is the rod of your kingdom." And again, this one says: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet, and you shall rule in the midst of your enemies"; while that one says: "Your arrows are sharp, mighty in the heart of the king’s enemies." Therefore, even those things that pertain to the enemies of him of whom we speak correspond in both. Who, then, truly seeing with his own eyes in the midst of cities, and in villages and regions, and throughout the whole inhabited world, the Churches of our Savior flourishing, and the peoples governed by him, and the assemblies filled with a thousand-fold multitude of those devoted to him, surrounded on every side by both the visible enemies among men and the invisible and hidden enemies ^D and adversaries of the teaching of Christ, would not marvel at the present oracle, which is proclaimed to the person of him who is foretold: "Rule in the midst of your enemies"? And since in the preceding one it was said that he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows—and among the Hebrews it was natural for priests to be anointed—it is reasonable that the one now at hand should further proclaim him a priest more clearly, setting forth greater teaching concerning him, by which he instructs that he alone, over all who have ever existed, is an eternal priest, a thing which it is not possible to apply to any human nature. He says he is a priest "according to the order of Melchizedek," in contrast to the priest according to the arrangement of Moses, that is, Aaron, or any of those who came from him, each of whom, not being a priest from the start, was later anointed by a certain manufactured ointment by the hands of men; who, so to speak, in types and symbols, were formed as a shadowy and iconic Christ; but being mortal, they did not hold the priesthood for long.

and the priests, it was a particular custom among the Hebrews that they should be anointed. Deservedly, then, in the one we are now discussing, He consecrates him a priest more clearly and with greater certainty, proposing also more of his doctrine, by which He demonstrates that he alone, beyond all men who ever have been or ever shall be, is an eternal priest—a thing that indeed can nowhere be accommodated to the nature of any man, nor could it ever happen. He says that He is constituted ^A a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, that He might differ from him who was a priest according to the constitution of Moses, who must be understood as either Aaron or any other of those who descended from him; each of whom, not being a priest at first, was later on anointed by men with a certain artfully prepared ointment, and thus, figuratively—if I may say so—and by certain signs, a kind of adumbrated and imaginary Christ was produced. Furthermore, as one who was mortal, he would not long after lay down his priesthood. Add to this that he discharged the priesthood among the one people of the Jews, but not among other nations as well. Nor, indeed, did he approach such a function with an oath of God, but was chosen by the judgment of men. And so, sometimes even one of them was found to be unworthy of such a ministry, such as the one clearly described as Heli. Furthermore, that old priest, who had been instituted by Moses, could be chosen only from the tribe of Levi; and he had to trace his lineage from the succession of Aaron himself, and serve the divine matter with sacrifices of brute animals and bloods, and with bodily worship. ^B But indeed, he who is named Melchizedek—which name, translated into our language, signifies "king of justice"—and who was king of Salem, which likewise is "king of peace," without father, without mother, without genealogy, having in history neither beginning of days nor end of life, does not even report anything in common with the rite of the Aaronite priesthood. For he had neither been chosen by men, nor anointed with compound oil, nor was he born of the lineage of those who had not yet come into being; and, what is most admirable of all, he was not even circumcised in the flesh, and yet he blessed Abraham, as one who is far superior to him. Add that he did not officiate to the most high God with sacrifices and libations, nor indeed did he perform his duty in the temple that was at Jerusalem—for how could he be in that which did not yet exist? And ^C reasonably so, since nothing of what was to happen to our Savior Christ was to be at all like Aaron. For He was not declared a priest later, having not been one before; nor is He one who had been a priest, but one who *is*. For one must carefully attend to that: "You are a priest forever." For He does not say "you will be," as someone who had not been at some former time, nor indeed were you so before but are not now; but by Him who said, "I am who I am," you *are*, and you remain a priest forever. Since, therefore, Christ did not begin his priesthood from a point in time, nor is He from the tribe of the priests, nor was He anointed with prepared and bodily oil, nor was He to have an end of his priesthood, nor was He to be established for the Jews alone, but for all nations—for all these reasons, He reasonably exempts Him from the ministry according to the typological (order of) Aaron, and says that He shall be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. And ^D the result of the oracle is indeed wonderful to one who considers how our Savior Jesus Christ of God still, even now, performs the ministrations among men through his own ministers in the manner of Melchizedek. For just as he, being a priest of the nations, nowhere appears to have used bodily sacrifices, but blessed Abraham with wine and bread alone, in the very same way, first our Savior and Lord Himself, and then all the priests from Him throughout all nations, performing the spiritual ministry according to the ecclesiastical laws, signify the mysteries of his body and saving blood with wine and bread—things which Melchizedek had pre-envisioned in divine spirit, and had used as images of things to come, as the Scripture of Moses bears witness, saying: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread"

and wine. And he was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abraham." ^A With good reason, therefore, and with the addition of an oath, such promises were given to Him alone, of whom we speak: "The Lord swore, and He will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

Hear also what the Apostle says regarding these same things: "In which, God, wishing more abundantly to show to the heirs of the kingdom the immutability of His counsel, interposed an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, we who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us." And he adds, saying: ^B "And those indeed were made many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing; but He, because He remains forever, has an imperishable priesthood. Whence He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, always living to make intercession for them. For such a high priest was fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." And he adds: "Now the main point in the things being said is this: We have such a high priest, who has sat down at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." This, then, is what the Apostle says.

But the Psalm, proceeding further, also clearly signifies the passion of Him who is being prophesied, saying: ^C "He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore He shall lift up His head." By the "brook," another psalm indicates the time of temptations, saying: "Our soul has passed through the brook. Perhaps our soul has passed through the intolerable water." In the brook, then, He drinks—meaning the cup, clearly—which He hinted at during the time of His passion, saying: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." And again: "If it is not possible for it to pass, unless I drink it, Your will be done." Having then drained the cup, He lifted up His head, and according to the Apostle, because ^D "He became obedient to the Father unto death, even the death of the cross, therefore," he says, "God has highly exalted Him, having raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come." And He has put all things, he says, "under His feet," according to the promise made to Him, which he sets forth through the psalm, saying: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool. Rule in the midst of Your enemies." It is evident to everyone that even now the power of our Savior and the word of His teaching rule in the midst of His enemies and foes, and over all who have believed in Him.

CHAPTER IV

^A Israel saving.” Theodotion says: “Therefore the strong, hidden God, saving.” He calls Christ by the name of the hidden God in a very wonderful way; and he clearly teaches the reason for which he calls him God alone—as among those things which are generated after the first and unbegotten One—namely, the indwelling of the Father in him: “For in him,” as the divine Apostle teaches, “it pleased all the fullness of the godhead to dwell.”

Colossians 1, 19.

^A image, assimilated in all things to the Father himself, and one which bears the likeness of the very substance of God. For this reason, then, him too, as the one who alone is the Son and alone the image of God, and as one who has put on the powers of the unbegotten and beginningless essence of the Father according to the standard of the likeness, and fashioned to the exactness of the likeness by the Father—the most skilled and all-knowing designer and author of life—the divine oracles deservedly declare to be God, so that along with other titles, he has been accounted worthy of this one also from the Father, having received it, yet not having possessed it as his own. For the one gives, but the other receives; so that in the proper sense he is the one God, both being so alone and by nature, and not having received it from another; but the Son is accounted worthy of the second place, and has the status of being God because he received it from the Father, as an image of God, with one Godhead being conceived in both according to the standard, and it being one God who exists of himself without beginning and unbegotten, but who is beheld through the Son as through a mirror and image. This is what the spiritual oracle teaches, asserting that the One who is identified is to be worshiped as God not otherwise than because of the Father who dwells in him. ^B "In thee," it says, "they will pray, because God is in thee. And thou thyself, being God, art the Savior of Israel; and for this reason thou art a strong and hidden God, because God is in thee, and there is no more besides him." Instead of "Egypt has labored," the Hebrew, and all the rest of the interpreters, have rendered it "the labor of Egypt," so that what is said may be like this: "To thee they will bow, and to thee they will be servants, the labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans," by which I think are indicated some barbarous and unknown nations, and all those who formerly were worn out by demonic superstition. For since the Egyptians appeared to be the most superstitious of all nations, and the first to initiate the error of idolatry, it is reasonable that he places them first as those to be subjected to Christ, and through them also makes clear the state of the remaining idolaters. And these things have been fulfilled regarding our Savior and Lord, in that myriads of crowds of the nations throughout the inhabited world worship ^C and serve him. And I think that the Ethiopians and Sabeans ^D who are here prophesied to worship Christ are indicated also by the seventy-first Psalm, where it is said: "Before him will fall the Ethiopians, and the kings of the Arabs, and Saba shall bring gifts—and they will worship him." It is clear from the context that they will worship the Christ who is prophesied in those passages as the one who was to come.

CHAPTER V.

^A From Psalm xxxiii. That the Word of God, possessing His own essence by the command of the Father, is known by David, just as by us, to be the Creator of the universe; and that the same prophet testifies that this same Word of God was sent by the Father for the healing of men; and that he prophesies that in a short time He would fill the whole earth with His teaching. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all the power of them by the spirit of His mouth." And in Psalm cvi it is said: "He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." And again in cxlvii: "He sends forth His speech to the earth; His word runs very swiftly." But the sacred Gospel indeed agrees with the psalm now in our hands, which says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens established," plainly saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God; all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made." The Gospel rightly calls Him God; for even through the things previously mentioned, this same One, who is now being celebrated as the Word, and Wisdom, and offspring of God, and Priest, and Christ, and King, and Lord, ^B and God, had been proclaimed the image of God. And that He is indeed someone other than the Father, being His minister, so that He created all things by the command of the greater One, he adds in the present Psalm: "Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world be moved by Him. For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created." For it is manifest that he who speaks, speaks to another; and he who commands, commands someone other than himself. Yet clearly, after the assumption of human nature by our Saviour, countless multitudes from every land—that is, from all the nations that inhabit the earth—no longer feared demons as before, but feared the Lord Jesus Himself; and all the inhabitants of the world were moved by the name of Christ, in accordance with the oracle now saying: "Let all the earth fear the Lord, and let all the inhabitants of the world be moved by Him." So much for what has been taken from the xxxiii ^C Psalm. You will find things similar and consonant to these also in Psalm cxlviii, which teaches that not only things pertaining to the earth, but also those in heaven, and in summary the entire creation, came into existence at the command of the God of all. He says, therefore: "Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest. Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars and light. For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created." For if He commanded, who was so great as to receive the command concerning such great things, except the Word of God? He who is diversely celebrated by us in the present work as God, and is rightly called the Word of God, because indeed, the creative and ^D

^A effective reasons of all things, the Almighty has placed into Him: inasmuch as He has handed over to Him all things to be ordered and governed by [His] reason and [His] arrangement. Let no one, therefore, imagine that the Word of God is similar to the articulate and uttered speech among men, which consists of syllables and is composed of nouns and verbs; for this speech of ours possesses its essence in sounds and syllables and in the things signified by them, being brought forth by the tongue, the arteries, the throat, and the mouth. But the Word of the eternal and incorporeal nature is in every way and entirely different from ours, and would derive nothing from what is human, using only the homonymy of the designation. For neither a voice arising from the percussion of air, nor nouns, nor syllables, nor tongue, nor mouth, nor anything at all of what is human and mortal, should be attributed ^B to God, the Lord of all. For that [human] word would be a word of the soul, which is in no way able to exist or subsist of itself apart from the soul. For such is the word among men, being privately without substance and without hypostasis, but being entirely a motion and energy of the mind. But the Word of God is not like this; rather, He possesses of Himself a proper hypostasis, wholly divine and intellectual, subsisting privately and at the same time working privately, being simple and incorporeal, and in all things assimilated to the nature of the First and Unbegotten and sole God, bearing within Himself the reasons of all begotten things and the incorporeal and invisible ideas of visible things. For this reason the divine oracles call Him both Wisdom and the Word of God.

CHAPTER VI

^A essence, which He attributes to the Father. For that which is first precedes in any greater number, and is accustomed to be preferred in honor and order; which indeed can by no means apply to the Father. For the supreme God is not the first of those things which are begotten, since not even a beginning can be conceived for Him. But He would be beyond and above the first, inasmuch as He Himself both begat and established the first, while only the divine Word is rightfully called the first of all things that are begotten. Since, therefore, it was asked concerning Him, in the words, "He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created," to whom He committed the creation of created things, it has now been clearly demonstrated that it was to Him who said, "My hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has established the heavens ^B,"—who also confesses that He has been sent by the Greater One, saying, "Now the Lord Lord has sent me, and His Spirit." And it would be the God Word who says these things, "since by the Word of the Lord were the heavens established," according to the citation from the Psalm which we adduced above. But yet, even if the God Word Himself is also glorified as being God by the title of Lord, nevertheless He most piously and with the greatest reverence addresses the Father Himself, who is Lord, by twice calling Him Lord, using for this purpose a diversity of terminology. For, He says, "Now the Lord Lord hath sent me," inasmuch as the God over all is truly the first, and is the true Lord both of His own Only-Begotten Word, and of all those begotten after Him, over whom, secondarily, the God Word—having received authority and dominion from the Father as a genuine ^C and only-begotten Son—may also reasonably and piously be called Lord, while assigning the essence above the first to the Father.

CHAPTER VII.

From Genesis.

CHAPTER VIII.

From the same.

we use the same theology for both; yet, reverently employing order, we are taught that the Father is the highest God and Lord, and that the second is also God and Lord. But the Word of God, the second Lord, is indeed ^A Lord of those beneath him, but not in the same way as the Greater One. For the Word of God is not the Lord of the Father, nor the God of the Father, but is His image, Word, Wisdom, and Power, being the Lord and God of those who come after him; but the Father is Father, Lord, and God even of the Son. Whence they fittingly recur to one principle, and the matters of pious theology are established for us in one God. Since these two are one, whatever pertains to religious theology rightfully reduces to one principle and consists in one God.

CAPUT IX.

^B From the same. That the same ministering servant signifies that the Word of God is the second God and Lord—pre-designated—and recounts that he appeared and spoke to the ancients in the form and shape of a man.

«And the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land.» And again: «Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: I am thy God. Be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless, and I will place my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.» And again: «And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. And lifting up his eyes, he saw; and behold, three men stood above him. And when he saw, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and worshipped.» And ^C next, after the vision, he adds: «And the Lord said: Shall I not conceal from Abraham my servant what I do? Abraham shall surely become a great and numerous nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.» And to these he adds again as if regarding another: «For I know that he will instruct his sons and his house after him, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken to him.» These things are recorded as having been spoken by the Lord who appeared to Abraham, confessing another Lord, namely, his own Father and the Creator of all. Yet Abraham, as a prophet having an accurate comprehension of Him who manifested, next implores those previously set forth, saying: «And wilt thou not destroy the just with the impious, and the just shall be as the wicked? If there be fifty just in the city, wilt thou destroy them? Wilt thou not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty just? ^D By no means wilt thou do this word, to kill the just with the impious, so that the just should be as the impious; by no means. Wilt thou, who judgest the whole earth, not do judgment?» Now, I do not think it fitting to suppose that these things are said to angels, or to any of the ministers of God;

^A for it would not be any mere person who could judge the whole earth. Nor is the one whom the preceding Scripture signifies named as an angel, but rather one far superior to an angel, God and Lord indeed, who was seen with two angels in the form of a man by the aforementioned oak. Furthermore, we must not think that this was God the Father, who is indicated by such words: for to say that the Divine Being changes, and is fashioned into the form and likeness of a man, is by no means pious. It remains, therefore, to acknowledge that He was the Word of God, who, in the things written by us before, has been celebrated by the name of God. For this reason, even today, the place is venerated and observed as divine by those dwelling in the vicinity and nearby, in honor of those who appeared there to Abraham; and to this day the terebinth tree is seen remaining, for those who were received as guests by Abraham—as Scripture has it—were two reclining on either side, but the one in the middle was more excellent and surpassing in honor. ^B And the One indicated to us would be the Lord Himself, our Savior, whom even the obstinate and unbelievers venerate, confirming the divine oracles. Therefore, this very Being, casting from that time the seeds of piety toward men, put on human form and likeness, revealed Himself as he was to the God-beloved patriarch Abraham, and delivered the counsel of His Father.

CAPUT X.

«And Jacob went out from Charran, and went toward the place, and slept there, for the sun had set. And he took of the stones of the place, and put them at his head, and slept in that place; and he dreamed, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. ^C And the Lord rested upon it, and said: I am the Lord the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac, fear not: the land on which thou sleepest, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the sand of the sea, and shall be spread abroad to the sea, and toward the east, and toward the north, and toward the south; and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth and in thy seed be blessed. And behold I am with thee, guarding thee in every way whithersoever thou shalt go, and I will bring thee back into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done all things whatsoever I have spoken to thee. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, ^D That the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said: How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up in the morning, and took the stone which he had put at his head, and set it

^A up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it, and called the name of that place, the house of God.” You will find, as you proceed, that this same one who appeared there as Lord and God in so many ways, is subsequently called the angel of God by Jacob himself: “And the angel of God said unto me in a dream, Jacob. And I said, What is it?” And further: “I have seen,” he says, “all that Laban does to you. I am the God who appeared to you in the place where you anointed a pillar for me, and vowed a vow to me.” So then, was he who had said above, “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac,” to whom the friend of God also erected a pillar, was he truly God and Lord (for one must believe him who speaks), yet not he who is over all, and is from none, but rather he who ministers and reveals the things of the Father to men? For this reason, Jacob, in the present instance, calls him an angel: “The angel of God said to me in a dream: I am the God who appeared to you in the place.” Therefore, the very same one is clearly proclaimed by these words to be the angel of the Lord, and God, and Lord. And in the prophet Isaiah, he is called the angel of the great counsel, and at the same time both God and Prince and Potentate, where his birth among men is prophesied by Him who says: “For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called the ^B angel of the great counsel, Prince of peace, the mighty God, having power, the Father of the age to come.”

CHAPTER XI.

That Jacob also beholds him who was pre-announced as both God and Lord, and specifically as an angel, in a human form, just as Abraham did, in the history which is as follows:

“And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of Jacob; and he took them, and sent over all that he had. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the morning. And he saw that he could not prevail against him, and he touched the breadth of his thigh; and the breadth of Jacob's thigh grew stiff, while he wrestled with him. And he said to him, Let me go, for the day breaks. But he said, I will not let you go, unless you bless me. And he said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said to him, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have prevailed with God, and you shall be powerful with men. And Jacob asked, and said, Tell me your name. And he said, Why do you ask my name? And he blessed him there, and Jacob called the name of that place, The appearance of God. For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is preserved. And the sun arose for him when he had passed by the appearance of God.” To Moses it had been said: “No man shall see my face and live”; but here Jacob saw God not simply, but face to face; and when he was ^C saved, it was not in body, but in soul, that he was admitted to the dignity of the name of Israel, which name indeed—

^A if interpreted, signifies "one who sees God." He did not, therefore, see God beyond all, for He is invisible and immutable and could in no way be changed into a man, being of a substance above everything. It was therefore another, for whom the time was not yet ripe for the name to be revealed to Jacob by searching. But if one were to suppose him to be one of the angels, or one of the divine spirits in heaven who ministered the oracles to the saints, he is clearly deceived. This is proved by the very fact that this one of whom we are speaking is addressed by the titles of Lord and God; for the divine Scripture explicitly proclaims Him God, and invokes Him as Lord, honoring Him with that title which among the Hebrews is written with four letters, which the children of the Hebrews were accustomed to reserve for the one ineffable and unutterable ^B title of God alone. This is also proved by the fact that it clearly distinguishes angels when the Word wishes to call them angels, just as in the case of the impious who were in Sodom; for He who had answered Abraham, being God and Lord, did not deem them worthy of His own presence, as again the divine Scripture says: "The Lord went away, as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham; and the two angels went away to Sodom in the evening" (Gen. XVIII, 33; XIX, 1). And, "Angels of God met Jacob, and when he saw them, he said, 'This is a camp of God,' and he called the name of that place Camps" (Gen. XXXII, 1, 2). Thus, the friend of God rightly discerned the visions, so that he now names the place Camps, from the sight of the angelic encampments. But when he converses with God Himself, he calls the name of the place "Form of God," adding, ^C saying, "For I saw God face to face." And in the case of Moses, whenever an angel appears, the divine Scripture signifies this very thing, saying, "And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from a bush" (Exod. III, 2). But when it signifies the Sovereign, the very One who gives the responses, it calls Him God and Lord, but no longer an angel. Similarly, at the Red Sea, it clearly distinguishes the angel and the Lord, where it says: "And the angel of God, who was going before the camp of the sons of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud moved from their face" (Exod. XIV, 19). Just as in the former cases the Lord is introduced responding to the ancients in human form, so here He is introduced by means of a cloud. And it is said, consequently, ^D "And it came to pass in the morning watch, and the Lord looked upon the camp of the Egyptians in a pillar of fire and a cloud, and through the whole desert region in a pillar of a cloud, the God of Moses speaking." Therefore, accurately, whenever the discourse wishes to signify the nature of an angel, it never calls Him God or Lord, but openly names Him an angel; but whenever it recognizes the One who appears as Lord and God, it clearly uses these specific titles. That it does not signify the Father by "Lord and God," the very words of the divine Scripture have obviously demonstrated, by designating as an "angel of God" Him who was previously called Lord and God in the case of Jacob.

It remains, therefore, to ask who, among the things that exist, is God and Lord, besides the Father of all, and the King and God of the universe; and this will be the Word of God who is before the ages, superior indeed to every angelic nature, but proceeding from Him who is the Father. ^A

CHAPTER XII

How the text again clearly sets forth that a second God appeared to Jacob.

"And God said to Jacob: Arise and go up to the place Bethel, and dwell there, and make an altar to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from the face of Esau your brother." And Jacob said to his house and to all who were with him: "Put away the strange gods from among you, and be cleansed, and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and let us make there an altar to the Lord, who answered me in the day of tribulation, who was with me, and saved me in the way that I walked." ^B In this passage, God Himself, the God of all—who alone is neither made nor generated, and is supreme over all—not being seen, but invisibly giving answers to Jacob himself, and moving Himself by an ineffable power, speaks quite plainly of another. Therefore God said to him: "Make an altar to the God who appeared to you." Now, who this is, who as written above appeared to him, we have explained a little earlier, having demonstrated that it is the Word of God.

CHAPTER XIII

From Exodus. That God the Father, when He answered Moses through an angel that He had appeared to the fathers, teaches that He now appears no longer through an angel, but through the Son.

"And Moses was feeding the sheep of Jothor his father-in-law; and he came to the mountain of God in Choreb. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the bush." And after other remarks: "And as he saw that he was approaching to see, He called him from the midst of the bush, saying: Moses, Moses, do not draw near hither. Loose the sandal from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground." And after a few words: "And the Lord said to him: I am He Who Is." And again: "The Lord spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord who appeared to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, being their God, and I did not disclose my name to them, and I established my covenant with them." ^C Just as in the case of the prophets among men—Isaiah, for example, and Jeremiah, and those like them—the one that was seen was a man, but it was God who, through that which appeared as an instrument, was speaking; and it was at one time the person of Christ, at another the Holy Spirit, and at another that of the supreme God, that gave the responses through the prophet; so, indeed, also now to Moses, who is being introduced, the supreme God who is over all things, ^D through the angel who appeared, declares the things proposed. And the meaning of these things would be as follows: To you, O prophet, as one being introduced, and having nothing more than angelic

^A vision, I have deigned—for the meantime—to be seen as my own angel, and I make known to you only my name, teaching you that I am He Who Is, and that my name is Lord. But to your fathers, I not only indicated this, but I also bestowed upon them something greater than this: for I was seen by them. Now, who it is who was seen by the fathers, and that it was not God the Father over all, has been demonstrated beforehand, when we showed that the angel of God is called God and Lord. How then it is here said that He who is beyond all, being Himself the only God over all, was seen by the fathers, one might reasonably inquire. The question might be resolved if we attend to the precision of the divine Scripture. For while it is said among the Seventy, "And I appeared ^B to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, being their God," Aquila says: "And I was seen by Abraham, and by Isaac, and by Jacob in God the Almighty," by which words he clearly shows that it was not the Father Himself, who is over all and the Only-begotten, who appeared by Himself. Nor, as with Moses, did He grant oracles to the fathers through an angel, or through a bush, or through fire, but in the "God the Almighty"—so that through the Son, the Father was seen even by the fathers, according to what was said in the Gospels by Him: "He who has seen me has seen the Father," for in Him and through Him the knowledge of the Father was revealed. But when He appeared as the Savior of men, He was seen through the human form of the Son, bestowing beforehand upon the friends of God, as a pledge and security, the salvation that was to come to all men through Him. But when He was to be the avenger of the wicked and the punisher of the Egyptians, He appeared no longer in the "God the Almighty," but in an angel who was the minister of punishment, and in the appearance of fire and flame, which was soon to consume them like wild and thorny brush. They say, therefore, that the bush signifies the wild, harsh, and untamed wickedness of the Egyptians, and the fire signifies that punishing and chastising power which invaded them.

CHAPTER XIV

"And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I come to you ^D in a pillar of cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to you, and believe you," and what follows: "And God went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light." And again: "And the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud." And again: "And when Moses had entered the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the doors of the tabernacle, and spoke with Moses; and all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the doors of the tabernacle; and all the people stood and worshipped, each from the door of his tent." The people, indeed, saw the pillar of cloud in this place, but He spoke with Moses.

^A And who was it that spoke? It was clearly the pillar of cloud, which had previously appeared to the fathers in the figure of a man. It has already been demonstrated that this was not the God over all, but another, whom we acknowledge to be the Word of God, Christ. Because of the common multitude, he was seen in the pillar of cloud by both Moses and the people, since they were not fit, like the fathers, to behold him in the figure of a man. For it was a mark of the perfect to be able to foresee his coming, which was to take place in time to come in the incarnation among men. Since not even then could the whole people contain him, he was rightly seen by them sometimes through fire, for the sake of fear and awe, and other times through a cloud, as if giving them the law under a veil and in a covered manner—and for their sake, he was seen this way by Moses as well.

CHAPTER XV

That it was not an angelic nature which gave responses to Moses, but one more excellent than to be referred to an angel.

"The Lord said: Behold I send my angel before thy face, that he may keep thee in the way, and that he may bring thee into the land, which I have prepared for thee. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned; for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my name is in him." And in another place: "And the Lord said to Moses: Go, get thee up from hence, thou and thy people, to the place of which I spoke to thee; behold my angel shall go before thee." And again: "And the Lord said to Moses: Depart, and go up from hence, thou and thy people; and the rest." And: "And I will send my angel before thy face." ^B That these are not the words of an angel, but of God alone, is plain to everyone. And of what God, if not of him who was seen by the patriarchs? whom Jacob clearly called the angel of God. And this, for us, is the Word of God, as being the Son of God himself, and God, and named Lord.

CHAPTER XVI

That the same Lord teaches concerning another Lord. From the Decalogue.

"I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and the rest. "For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God." And he adds: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain." Here, too, the Lord himself teaches the things set forth concerning another Lord. For having said, "I am the Lord thy God," he adds, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," explicitly instructing his servant concerning the Father and God of all, the second Lord who is from Him. You might find ten thousand other such things throughout the whole of Holy Scripture, stated in a similar way, through which God, as if speaking of another God, and the Lord himself, as if speaking of another Lord, delivered their oracles.

CHAPTER XVII.

«And the Lord said to Moses: And this word you have spoken, I will do. For you have found grace before me, and I know you above all.» And Moses said: «Show me your glory.» And he said: «I will pass before you in my glory, and I will call in my name, Lord, before you, and I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will pity whom I pity.» And after other things he adds, saying: «And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood there with him, and called in the name of the Lord; and the Lord passed by in his name, and he called: Lord, Lord, God, compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and full of pity, and truthful, and keeping justice, ^B showing mercy to thousands, taking away iniquities and injustices and sins; and with a cleansing he will not cleanse the guilty, bringing the sins of the fathers upon the children, and the children of children, to the third and fourth generation; and Moses making haste, bowing to the earth, worshipped.»

Consider, I pray, in what way even now the Lord himself, who descended in a cloud and stood by Moses in the name of the Lord, called upon another besides himself—who was accustomed by reduplication to be called twice Lord, as if he were being addressed as the master of both himself and all the rest, namely his own Father—and that in these things it is not Moses, as someone might suspect, but the Lord himself who calls his Father another Lord, having taken up, he who was speaking to Moses says: «I will pass ^C before you in my glory, and I will call in the name of the Lord.» Having said this, the Scripture immediately joins this as a narrative: «And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood there with him, and called in the name of the Lord.»

Therefore, the Lord himself descends to perform what he had promised, and, as the word says, he goes before the face of Moses. And the Lord himself calls out, saying: «Lord, Lord, God, compassionate and merciful,» and what follows: by these words, he plainly teaches his servant, initiating him as it were in sacred mysteries, both who he himself was and the knowledge of the unbegotten Lord.

But Moses himself will demonstrate this to you most clearly where, praying for the people, he recalls the aforementioned words of the Lord; for there you will understand that the Lord said these things, not Moses himself, when he says: «And now let your hand be exalted, Lord, just as you said: The Lord is long-suffering and full of mercy, and truthful, taking away iniquities and injustices and sins, and with a cleansing he will not cleanse the guilty, ^D who render the sins of the fathers upon the children, even to the third and fourth generation.»

Observe, however, how in these matters the Lord himself, when he called the Father long-suffering and full of mercy, adds that he is also truthful, in agreement with what is said in the Gospels by one and the same Savior of ours: «That they may know you, the only true God.» But calling him the only true God is a most pious

calls the Father, attributing the honor due to the unbegotten nature, of which the divine oracles teach that he is the image and offspring.

CHAPTER XVIII

In Numbers, Moses, praying, says: "For thou art the Lord in this people, who art seen eye to eye, O Lord;" for which Aquila rendered: "For thou art, O Lord, in the midst of this people, who art seen eye to eye, O Lord," and Symmachus: "For thou art, O Lord." And in Exodus it is said: "And Moses went up, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abiud, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the place where the God of Israel had stood;" for which Aquila said: "And they saw the God of Israel," and Symmachus: "And they saw in a vision the God of Israel." Because of the text, "No man hath seen God at any time," ^B perhaps someone might suspect that the words set down in this place are contrary to the saving Word, inasmuch as they make visible him who is by nature invisible. But if you take these things as referring to the Word of God, who was seen by the fathers in many ways and in many fashions, just as we have accepted in the matters demonstrated above, you will by no means seem to yourself to fall into contradictions. For those who teach that the God of Israel seen here is that very one who was also seen by Israel when he wrestled with a man, and who was the first to change his name from Jacob to Israel, saying, "For thou hast prevailed with God," ^C at which time Jacob, sensing his divine power, called that place the Appearance of God, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul was preserved," ^D this confirms that it is no other than the Word of God, as we have shown in its proper time.

CHAPTER XIX

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was in Jericho, that looking up he sees a man standing over against him, and a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua approaching said: Art thou ours, or of our adversaries? And he said to him: I am prince of the host of the Lord, now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and said to him: Lord, what dost thou command thy servant? And the prince of the host of the Lord said: Joshua, loose the sandal from thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground." These very same things were said to Moses also at the beginning of the vision at the bush by the Lord himself, as the Scripture indicates: "And when the Lord saw that he was drawing near to see, he called him, O Lord..."

^A And he called to him, "Moses, Moses, do not come any closer. Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Therefore, one and the same God was he who gave responses to both, as is manifest from the command itself. But here he gives his oracle through the prince of his host, whereas to Moses he had spoken through the angel who appeared. But who else could be the commander-in-chief of the supercelestial hosts, the superior powers, the invisible spirits, and of the divine angels and archangels who serve the God who is the King of all and the supreme Ruler—as is said by Daniel, "A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him"—who else could this be but the Word of God, the first-begotten Wisdom, and the divine Offspring? Deservedly, therefore, is he called herein the prince of the Lord’s host, inasmuch as he has been demonstrated elsewhere to be the Angel of the Great Counsel, the assessor of the Father, and the eternal and great High Priest. It has already been demonstrated that he is the same Lord, and God, and Christ who was anointed by the Father with the oil of gladness. Thus, at the oak, he appeared to Abraham in the form of a man, showing himself in a quiet and peaceful manner, by which he was making a beginning of his saving presence to men from that time forward. To Jacob, however, he appeared as a man, as if he were an instructor and a champion, since he was about to wrestle and contend against enemies. To Moses and the people, he led them in the form of a cloud ^B and fire, showing himself to be formidable and shrouded. But since Jesus, the successor of Moses, was about to be instructed for the fight against the enemies who had formerly inhabited the land of the Palestinians—foreign and most impious nations—he appeared to him in a fitting manner with his sword drawn and its edge aimed against the enemies, almost demonstrating by this appearance that he himself was about to assail the impious with an invisible sword of divine power, as he campaigned and fought alongside his own people. Therefore, at that opportune time, he declared himself to be the prince of the Lord's host.

CHAPTER XX

"And the Lord spoke to Job from out of a whirlwind and clouds: Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me now if you know the understanding, who laid its measures if you know? and the rest. When the stars were made, he says, all my angels praised me with a loud voice. And I shut up the sea with gates; and what follows: Were you there when I established the morning light? And did Lucifer behold his own order? And again: Or did you, having taken clay from the earth, fashion a living creature, and set it on the earth capable of speech? And did you take away light from the impious? And did you shatter the arm of the proud? Did you come to the source of the sea, and did you walk in the footprints of the abyss?”

^A And at the end of the entire oracle, Job answers the Lord, saying: “Hear me now, Lord, that I too may speak. I will ask you, and you teach me. By the hearing of the ear I heard you before, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I have made myself vile, and have melted away; and I have considered myself earth and ashes.” That the words set forth belong to the Lord the Creator is easy to discern not only from the proposed themes, but also from those which are manifest to you yourself; and that [the text] “Did you come to the source of the sea, and did you walk in the footprints of the abyss?” and [the text] “Do the gates of death open to you for fear? and did the gatekeepers of Hades shrink back upon seeing you?” foretells the descent of our Savior into Hades, we shall demonstrate at the appropriate time; noting for now at least so much, that it is more fitting to attribute what is said in this place to God the Word than to the God of the universe. Job himself, therefore, following the rest of the fathers, testifies that he has beheld face to face this same Lord, who from the beginning answered him through the whirlwind and clouds, saying: “Hear me, Lord, that I too may speak. I will ask you, and you teach me. By the hearing of the ear I heard you before, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I have made myself vile, and have melted away; and I have considered myself earth and ashes.” But how can it be that the most high God, He who is ^B beyond all things, the immutable and unbegotten essence, was beheld by a soul clothed in a body and by the eyes of mortals, unless we clearly demonstrate that here too it was God the Word, who, coming down from His own magnitude, is shown in various ways to be the Lord; and [unless we say] that in this way He showed Himself to be seen? This is something one may learn from the oracles themselves, in which the Lord again persisted in addressing Job concerning the things pertaining to the devil, as if speaking of a dragon: “Do you not fear because he is prepared for me?” For to what Lord is it fitting to think that a dragon is prepared, if not the God the Word and our Savior, who brought down the prince of this age, who had long before been laying siege to the human race, having loosed the pangs of death? And He Himself indicates this by saying, ^C “Did you come to the source of the sea? And did you walk in the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you for fear? And did the gatekeepers of Hades shrink back upon seeing you?” And these things are logically spoken to Job after the great temptation which he endured, and the struggle, teaching him that he had struggled only in part, while the greater and more powerful war and struggle was reserved for the Lord Himself at the time of His advent to death.

CHAPTER XXI

“Because you, Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your refuge. No evil will come toward you, and no scourge will draw near to your tabernacle; because [He has given] to His angels...

charge concerning you, to bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon.” ^A The devil uses these words in the temptation against our Savior. Observe, then, in what manner the psalm speaks to the Lord Himself: “For you, O Lord, are my hope; you have made the Most High your refuge.” For you yourself, He says, O Lord, my hope, have made Him who is above you—God Himself, the Most High and Supreme, and your own Father—your refuge; by whom no evils shall come toward you, toward you, I say, my Lord, and no scourge shall draw near to your tabernacle. For even if impious men attempt to scourge you, having become man, and even if they attempt to deliver you to death, yet in no way will the scourge that is from God draw near to your tabernacle, that is, to your body, with which you have clearly clothed yourself, having been made man for our sake. In the same way you shall apply to Him the things stated throughout the whole psalm, which we shall also examine and contemplate in their own time.

CHAPTER XXII.

“I will not abandon Jacob to be blotted out, for I am God, and not man; the Holy One is in your midst, and I will not enter into the city: I shall walk behind the Lord.” ^B Here also, by these things, God the Word, having become man, speaks to those who acknowledge Him indeed as a holy man, but not as God: “I am God,” He says, “and not man; the Holy One is in your midst.” Then, having called Himself God, He indicates the Lord and God and Father who is over all, adding, “I shall walk behind the Lord.” Now, the [phrase] “I will not enter into the city” would belong to one renouncing the common and popular life of men, from which He also turning away His own disciples, says: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into the city of the Samaritans.”

CHAPTER XXIII.

“I overthrew you, even as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a brand snatched from the fire. And not even so have you turned to me, says the Lord.” ^C Here also the Lord Himself says that a certain God brought about the destruction of Sodom, He being, of course, a different person from Him whom He declares. And in the destruction of Sodom, two Lords appear, when the Lord rained fire from the Lord upon Sodom and Gomorrah. ^D Therefore, He says, what kind of destruction Sodom suffered on account of its monstrous impieties, such things you also shall suffer, and not even so have you turned to me. It is customary for the Scripture to declare the future as though it were the past. So also

^A one must understand the present passage: where "I will overthrow" is said in the future, it is spoken as "I have overthrown" in the past; and instead of "you shall turn," the text says, "you have turned." These things are directed toward the Jewish nation, and they were fulfilled upon them at no other time than after the conspiracy they made against our Savior. For their holy, and formerly sacred, place was brought to such a state that in no respect does it differ from the overthrow of Sodom. Nevertheless, even though they have suffered the things that they see clearly indicated for them in the prophecy, not even to this day have they turned themselves to the Christ of God, on account of whom they have endured such things. Therefore, it is with good reason that it is said by God in the prophecy now before us: ^B "And not even so have you turned to me, says the Lord."

CHAPTER XXIV

"The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord to Idumea: I have heard a report from the Lord, and a message He has sent forth to the nations. The Lord God has heard a report from the Lord." And this report was concerning the calling of the Gentiles.

CHAPTER XXV

"Thus says the Lord Almighty: After the glory, He has sent me to the nations that have despoiled you." Then, after a little, He adds, saying: "And you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me." But if the Lord who sends is the Lord Almighty, and he who says he has been sent is likewise such/the same, then they are two. For indeed he who is sent clearly says: "The Lord Almighty has sent me to the nations."

CHAPTER XXVI

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, because behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to Him a people, and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you," and so forth. To these things, after ^D other words, He adds: "And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and in His name they shall boast, says the Lord." And these things are likewise similar to the former, declaring openly the advent of Christ to men and the saving calling of the Gentiles that was to come through Him: "I, therefore, the Lord Himself will come," He says. "And at my advent, not only the former Israel, nor even one nation on earth, but many nations shall flee for refuge to the more excellent and great Lord, who is the God of me myself and of all, to whom the nations fleeing for refuge shall obtain such a benefit as even to be called and become the people of God, and to dwell in me-

- ^A dius, of that which is called the daughter of Sion." (For thus in the divine Scriptures it is customary to call the Church of God on earth, as being a kind of daughter of the Church which is in heaven.) And this Church the oracle bids to rejoice as if with good tidings, saying: "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion, for behold I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee." For we believe that the God Word dwells in the midst of the Church, just as He Himself promised when He said: "Behold, I am with you all the days, even unto the consummation of the age," and, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." But, says the Lord Himself, "When I have come and will dwell in the midst of thee," you shall then receive a greater knowledge of God Almighty, while I, the Lord, shall attribute the cause of my having been sent to men to the Father who sent me: "But you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." And furthermore, concerning another Lord and God, the Lord Himself speaks thus: "And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and in his name they shall glory, says the Lord." But who, at length, are they who glory in the Lord?

CHAPTER XXVII.

"And the Lord showed me Jesus the high priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil: The Lord rebuke thee, O ^C devil, and the Lord rebuke thee, who has chosen Jerusalem." Again in this passage, the Lord says that another Lord shall rebuke the devil himself; where, indeed, the Lord speaking is not Himself rebuking, but makes mention of another Lord: by which words I think it is clearly established that there is a demonstration of two persons, one the Father, and the other he who has received from the Father power and dominion over all things that have been made.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prospect the way before my face, and suddenly the Lord, whom you seek, shall come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom you desire, behold he comes, says the Lord Almighty, and who shall sustain the day of his coming?" These things also are similar to the previous ones. For the Lord God Almighty Himself says that the Lord will come into His temple, speaking in the meantime of another; and he signifies the God Word, whom he afterwards names the Angel of the Covenant, and whom the Lord Almighty Himself teaches that He is sending before His own face, saying: "Behold, I send my messenger before my face." But this same one, whom He called "my messenger," He again subsequently calls Lord, where he adds that saying: "And suddenly the Lord will come," ^D and adds, "and the angel of the Cov-

Covenant." By these words He signifies His second and glorious advent. But He who proclaims all these things is the Lord Almighty, the God of all. ^A

Chapter XXIX.

That God of all names Christ the Sun of Righteousness.

CHAPTER XXX.

From Jeremiah. How God the Word, being Lord, offers a prayer to the Lord the Father, predicting the conversion of the nations.

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA EVIDENCE OF THE GOSPEL BOOK SIX

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI DEMONSTRATIO EVANGELICA BOOK SIX

^ACONTENTS OF THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE DEMONSTRATIO EVANGELICA CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR. Concerning his sojourn among men, and his way of life with them, from the places of Divine Scripture which are noted below.

1. From Psalm 17. 2. From Psalm 45. 3. From Psalm 48. 4. From Psalm 82. 5. From Psalm 44. 6. From Psalm 16. 7. From Psalm 105. 8. From Psalm 117. 9. From Psalm 146. 10. From 2 Kings. 11. From 3 Kings. 12. From Micah. 13. From Habakkuk. 14. From the same. 15. From Zechariah. 16. From the same. 17. From the same. 18. From Baruch. 19. From Isaiah. 20. From the same. 21. From the same. 22. From the same. 23. From the same. 24. From the same.

PROLOGUE. That which had to be said concerning the Father and the Son was clearly defined already in the fifth volume of the Demonstratio Evangelica: it was established that the Father is the one God who is over all, and there was demonstrated ^C to be another person besides Him and with Him, who precedes all things that have been made. This person—whom the divine words also proclaimed to be the Wisdom of God, the firstborn and only-begotten Son, God from God, the Angel of Great Counsel, the Captain of the heavenly hosts, the minister of the Father, and furthermore the Lord of all, and the Word of God, and ^D

^A of the universe, and the Power of God, the divine oracles previously proclaimed. If, therefore, at the present time, we show that the prophetic testimonies also foretold that God was to come among men, then it will be clear to everyone to whom one must refer what has been signified; especially since, through the preceding points, we have demonstrated that God the Word, in the habit and form of man, but in the name of the Lord and God, showed Himself to those friends of God around Abraham, and to the others who flourished in the time of Abraham. Now, therefore, it is time to see by what reasoning the oracles of the Hebrews so clearly proclaimed beforehand that He would now descend to men as Lord, now as God, and would again ascend, and what were the causes of this descent: although it is to be noted by you that some things are found spoken more obscurely, while others are spoken more openly. For my part, I think that the more hidden things were rendered so involved and implicit on account of the ^B Jews, because, forsooth, certain grievous things were chanted in them against them, on account of which it is likely they would have abolished and destroyed the Scripture if it had openly signified their ultimate ruin. Thus, indeed, it is recorded that they were hostile to the prophets themselves, because they were reproved by them. But those prophecies which speak more openly contain the calling of the nations, wrapped in no obscurities; and they proclaim the same promises of the goods which proceed from piety, not to the one Jewish nation, but to all men throughout the whole world. Since matters stand thus, it is now time to hear the divine oracles.

CHAPTER I.

« And He bowed the heavens, and descended, and darkness was under His feet; and He mounted upon the cherubim, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the winds; and He made darkness His hiding-place, round about Him His tabernacle. » I consider that by these things the descent of God from heaven is directly portrayed. For having previously uttered many theologies, he appends what is set forth. By saying that He bowed the heavens and descended, he signifies the contraction of the divine glory, which the divine Apostle, making clear, said: « Who, existing in the form of God, deemed it not robbery to be equal to ^D God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. » And the phrase, « And He mounted upon the cherubim, and flew, » seems to me to hint at the restoration of the glory that is toward God, which He has made, being escorted by angelic and divine hosts; which also itself seems to me to be signified by the phrase, « He flew upon the wings of the winds. » And that darkness was placed as His hiding-place, and that darkness is said to be under His feet, would be descriptive of the hidden and ineffable dispensation, according to which all these things were accomplished by Him. And as for the words, « Round about Him His tabernacle, » whom is it proper to conceive to be meant but His holy and catholic Church, whether that upon the earth, or that in the heavens? Furthermore, throughout the same psalm, the discourse, concluding, at the same time [calls for] the rejection of the former people, and

predicts the calling of the nations, in these words: “Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people; thou wilt make me the head of the nations. A people which I have not known hath served me; [the] children of strangers have lied to me, [the] children of strangers have grown old, and have halted from their paths.” ^A In what sense these things are to be understood will have to be examined by us at the proper time.

CHAPTER II

^A Ps. XLVI. — The ascension of God who had first descended; and the calling of all the nations, who were to know the one and only God.

“O clap your hands, all ye nations, shout unto God with the voice of joy; for the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth. He hath subdued the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he loved. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing ye, sing to our King, sing ye, for God is the king of all the earth, sing ye wisely. God hath reigned over the nations; God sitteth upon his holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham; for the strong ones of the earth are greatly exalted by God.” ^B And what else does this ascension of the Lord and God, which is set forth in these words, wish to signify, other than that he who now ascends had previously descended? After which ascension, immediately the calling of all the nations is sung, and signs of hilarity and joy, following the expected knowledge of God, are announced to all the nations: since the Lord himself most high, whom he has confessed as the only God and King of all the earth, is said to be about to subject peoples to us. To us, but to whom? Surely to those who have prophesied these very things: which indeed it is allowed even now to see clearly accomplished, when the nations that have come into the faith of Christ have all been rendered obedient to the oracles of the prophets. ^C Yet these same things can also be spoken in the person of the apostles of our Savior, who indeed declare it thus: “He hath chosen for us his inheritance.” But what inheritance, pray, must one understand, if not the calling of all the nations? Which Christ himself, the Son of God, wishing to signify, says thus: “The Lord said to me, Thou art my son; today I have begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession.” This inheritance, therefore, which was given to him by the Father, he subjected to his apostles and prophets, in that all those who believe in him are obedient to the precepts and laws of these men, ^D just as the set-forth prophecies prescribe. And when God the Word, concerning whom we have already treated at length, had accomplished and perfected all these things at his advent to men, then he ascended in jubilee, which indeed when the Apostle interpreted, he said: “Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens.” And he says that he ascended in jubilee because of his...

the divine and sacred voices directed toward him, [which were uttered] by the angels thronging about him as he ascended, who also said: “Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall enter in.” You would not be wrong to call the “voice of the trumpet” the evangelical preaching, which has been heard throughout the whole world. For since the trumpet is more resonant than any other musical instrument, the metaphor is aptly chosen to signify that the doctrine concerning Christ, which has been proclaimed to all men, is more powerful and more resonant than all other [doctrines] that have existed from the beginning of time; through which doctrine, as if by a trumpet, the Holy Spirit cries out and shouts for all men to hear. And it cries out those things which follow in the same Psalm, in which it is said: “Sing praises to our God, sing praises, sing praises to our King, sing praises; for God is King,” he says, “no longer of the Jewish nation alone, but of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.” For no longer, he says, do the former demons, nor the deceitful spirits moving about the earth [reign], but God himself reigns over all the nations; God himself, “who sits upon his holy throne.” We have already, in the book preceding this one, explained to the best of our ability the throne of the Word of God ^B upon which the Father commanded him to sit, saying: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Moreover, the phrase, “The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham,” shows still more clearly that those who have been transferred into the inheritance of the God of the prophets who were long ago beloved of God are the princes of Christ’s Church from among the nations, who, being strengthened by the power of our Savior, were greatly exalted, so that no man could cast them down or humiliate them, because of the right hand of God, which lifts them up and makes them strong. We shall explain these matters more fully at a more appropriate time.

CHAPTER III

Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the Highest; and call upon me in the day of trouble." Here too the divine prophecy clearly foretells that God will manifestly come, clearly indicating none other than the Word of God Himself. It most clearly points out the cause of His advent, and again announces the future calling of the nations that inhabit the whole earth. Therefore, "He has called," it says, "the earth from the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof." But with a certain marvellous order, after His advent and after the calling of the nations, it teaches that the old worship, which was more subject to the body than to the spirit, according to the Law of Moses, was ^A to be rejected, which also itself reached its end after the advent of the Word of God to men. For from that time to this, all men of the whole world have been called, and all nations from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. But the Jewish ritual has ceased and been taken away, according to the New Testament of the evangelical preaching, and not according to the Law of Moses, all men having been admonished and taught to worship God and live in piety. Yet these same things can also be referred to the second and glorious advent of the Saviour.

CHAPTER IV

"God of gods shall be seen in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob. O God, our protector, look upon, behold, and look upon the face of thy Christ." Having foretold that the God of gods was to be seen, he then prays that His advent may be present as quickly as possible, teaching the manner in which He is to be seen in the meantime with those words: "Look upon the face of thy Christ," as if he had said more plainly: "After the face of thy Christ, show Thyself to be seen." For since "he who has seen the Son has seen the Father who sent Him," he rightly pronounces that by the face of Christ, God of gods, who dwells in Christ, is seen.

CHAPTER V

"Sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day; declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples; for ^B the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; he is terrible above all gods." And again: "Bring unto the Lord, ye nations of the earth." And again: "Say among the nations that the Lord has reigned." And at the end he adds: "Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the face of the Lord, for he comes; for he comes

^A to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth." Here again, the Lord is prophesied as coming to men, and a new song is to be sung at his advent—the New Testament, not of the Jewish race, but of all the earth—and it is said that it is no longer Israel, but all the nations, that are to be evangelized, for he says that the coming Lord will be their King. And who could this be but God the Word? He who was to judge the world in righteousness and humanity in truth, deemed all men on the face of the earth, without distinction, worthy of his calling, and after that calling, of salvation to be bestowed by God.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VII.

^Ateritionibus eorum. And after other things: "Let them exalt him in the church of the people, and in the seats of the elders let them praise him, who hath turned rivers into a desert, and the springs of waters into a thirsty ground, a fruitful land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He hath turned the desert into pools of waters, and a land without water into springs of waters, and hath placed there the hungry, and they have built a city of habitation." Clearly, these things also proclaim by name the descent of the Word of God from heaven, and the successes of his advent. "He sent," he says, "his Word, and healed them." And by the Word of God we clearly mean him who was sent by the Father as Savior to all men, whom we have been taught in the holy Gospels to celebrate as God. ^B It signifies, moreover, his descent even unto death, which he undertook for the sake of those who had arrived at this point before him; it also teaches the cause of his coming, namely, that he might liberate those who were to be saved through him. For truly, he alone saved those who, before him, had reached the gates of death, and restoring them to health, he snatched them from their destruction; nor did he accomplish this otherwise than by crushing those gates of death which are called brazen, and breaking in pieces the iron bars. And then, following this in order, he prophesies the reduction into a desert of those who did not receive him when he came. "For he hath turned," he says, "rivers into a desert, and the springs of waters into a thirsty ground, a fruitful land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." You will have a clear understanding of these things if you review that Jerusalem which was renowned in antiquity among the Jewish nation, and its glory, and the produce of divine fruit, namely, those holy men and friends of God who lived in it, all of which you will find in the present time to be deprived and despoiled. For after the advent of Christ, it became truly unfruitful and without water, and utterly a desert, and, as the prophecy says, "into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." ^C Following this, he adds in a very certain order and in the prophetic manner, the change of that which was once desert and thirsty—whether you call this the soul of each individual man, or the Church gathered from the nations—into holy practices, and indeed into a thriving state in divine discourses, which he also signifies more plainly, saying: "He hath turned the desert into pools of waters," and the rest, which intelligence can truly be attained by him alone who is wise before God, as the conclusion which says at the end of the psalm maintains: "Who is wise, and will keep these things?" and the rest.

CHAPTER VIII.

"O praise the Lord, all ye nations, and praise him, all ye people, for his mercy is confirmed upon us," and the rest: "O Lord, save now, O Lord, give prosperity now. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he hath appeared unto us."

The holy Scripture of the Gospel makes mention of this very matter, now that it has reached its end, at the time when our Savior and Lord, Christ himself, was entering Jerusalem, and a great multitude of men and children went before him with joy, crying out: "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." For instead of "O Lord, save now," which is placed in the Psalm, they shouted "Hosanna," expressing it in the Hebrew manner; and this is interpreted in our tongue as "Save now." And that which follows, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," the oracle clarifies further by saying, "The Lord is God, and he hath appeared unto us." Therefore, the one ^B who appeared to us as God and Lord was the very same, namely the Word of God, who is blessed for this very reason: because he made his coming to mankind in the name of the Lord, his Father who sent him. And so, refuting those of the circumcision who did not believe in him, he said to them: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive." With good reason, therefore, the Holy Spirit no longer addresses these things to the Jewish people, but to all the nations, as is stated at the beginning of the Psalm.

CHAPTER IX.

From Psalm CXLIII. — The Lord descending from heaven for the sake of man's salvation, and a new song to be sung regarding this, namely of the New Testament. ^C "Lord, what is man, that thou art made known unto him? Or the son of man, that thou reckonest him? Lord, bow the heavens, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke." And continuing further, he adds: "O God, I will sing a new song unto thee." And I deem these things also to be connected with the proposed argument. For, marveling at the knowledge of the Word of God granted to men, he is utterly amazed at the loving-kindness whereby, having descended from his divinity and diminished himself from his connatural greatness, he deemed the human race worthy of his own knowledge. Here, therefore, he prays, saying: "Lord, bow the heavens and come down." But in the seventeenth Psalm it is said: "And he bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet; and he mounted upon the cherubim, and did fly; he did fly ^D upon the wings of the wind." By which he prophesies the things concerning the ascent which he made from the earth to the heavens. But how it is necessary to understand the descent and ascent of the Word of God—not as taking place by local transitions, but as Scripture calling such dispensations of his by this name—we shall demonstrate in its proper place. But it was necessary to mention in these matters also the New Testament, which the presence of Christ was about to procure for men; and this New Testament is that which, after the Old, was given by Christ to all nations. Therefore, the passage at hand says: "O God, I will sing a new song unto thee." And the phrase, "Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke," I consider to hint at the burning and disappearance of all idolatry, which among the ancients

^A was especially practiced on the mountains; so that even the Jews themselves were rebuked, because upon every high mountain, in imitation of strange nations, they worshipped idols.

CAPUT X.

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Sion." Then, proceeding a little further, he says: "Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth; his word runneth very swiftly." Now it is evident that he who sends is distinct from Him who is sent. You have, therefore, even in this passage, Him who sends, the supreme God, and Him who is sent, the Word: who, having many names, is called now Wisdom, now Word, at other times God, and again Lord, in the divine oracles. And if you consider in what a very short time the word of His teaching has filled the whole inhabited world, you will surely be amazed at the result of the prophecy which says: "His word runneth very swiftly."

CAPUT XI.

"And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song." Then, proceeding, he says thus: "And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet; and he mounted upon cherubim, and flew, yea, he flew upon the wings of the wind: and he made darkness his hiding place." And at the end of the same song: ^C "Deliver me, he says, from the contradictions of the people; thou shalt set me as the head of the nations; a people whom I have not known have served me; at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me; the sons of strangers shall be cast away." He who bowed the heavens and came down is God, who mounted the man He had assumed (which man, the oracle now calls cherubim); He flew up with him, accompanied and guarded by divine spirits, who are now themselves called wings of the wind. ^D That these things were done obscurely and in secret, He intimates by certain hidden and latent words, where He says: "And he made darkness his hiding place." And the things which follow in order are consistent with the human nature assumed by Christ, and they foretell the contradiction that was made against Him by the Jewish people, and that the nations were to listen to the doctrine of Christ: and you would find similar things in the seventeenth Psalm, regarding which we have already said what seemed fit to us.

Chapter XII. From the Third Book of Kings. — God descending from heaven, and dwelling with men upon the earth.

^A “And now, O Lord God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you spoke to your servant David my father: for if God will indeed dwell with men on the earth, if heaven and the heaven of heaven shall not suffice you.” These things are set down in the same words also in Paralipomenon. For God had promised to David that He would raise up a king from his womb, of whom He Himself, God, said He would be the father, so that the one born of the seed of David should be named the Son of God, and should hold the throne of an eternal kingdom.^B Now these things were delivered to David in the second book of Kings through Nathan the prophet in this manner: “And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, and I will raise up your seed after you; who shall be from your womb, and I will prepare his kingdom. He shall build me a house for my name, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son.” And the same things are likewise said in Paralipomenon.

In the eighty-eighth Psalm it is said: “He shall call upon me: You are my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation. And I will make him my first-born, high above the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my testament faithful to him: and I will make his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.” And again: “I have sworn to David my servant: Even to eternity will I prepare thy seed, and I will build thy throne unto generation and generation.” And again: “Once have I sworn in my holy one, if I lie unto David; his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun in my sight, and as the moon perfected for ever.”

^C Furthermore, since the one hundred and thirty-first Psalm also commemorates these same things, it refers the things stated to Christ. Hear, therefore, this one as well: “Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness: as he swore to the Lord, he made a vow to the God of Jacob.” To which, after other things, he adds: “The Lord swore to David the truth, and He will not disappoint him. Of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne.” And proceeding a little further, he points out more plainly the one who is to be raised up from the fruit of the womb of David, saying: ^D “There will I bring forth a horn to David, I have prepared a lamp for my Christ; his enemies I will clothe with confusion: but upon him shall my sanctification flourish.” Therefore, Solomon, the wisest, having understood that the things which had been delivered to his father were not small, but having perceived that they were greater than such as could befit the nature of man, and more becoming to God than to him, even though he was the son of David, and understanding the One named by God the Firstborn, and the One clearly prophesied as the Son of God, he rejoiced exceedingly in the...

such promises: and at the same time he desired that those things which pertained to this prophecy should be confirmed, likewise the one who was to come of whom the prophecy spoke, calling him in the meantime the Firstborn and Son of God. Wherefore he says thus: ^A «And now, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father: for if God will in very deed dwell with men on the earth, if heaven and the heaven of heavens will not contain thee.»

CHAPTER XIII

«Hear, all ye peoples, and let the earth attend, and all who are in it. And the Lord God shall be for a witness among you, the Lord from his holy house: for behold, the Lord is going forth out of his place, and will descend upon the high places of the earth; and the mountains shall be moved underneath him, ^B and the valleys shall melt as wax before the face of the fire, and as water that is poured out in a descent: for all these things, on account of the impiety of Jacob, and for the sin of the house of Israel.» Now also the Lord God, descending openly from heaven and going forth from his place, is announced in the things that are set before us: but this shall be the Word of God, whom in what was said previously—since he is begotten—we have shown to be God and Lord, and holding all things under him. But you would not err if you said his place is the heavenly kingdom and the glorious seat of his divinity, which the Prophet, speaking theologically, once sang and said: ^C «Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever»: upon which the Father commanded him to sit, as an only-begotten Son, saying: «Sit at my right hand.» For we have now already clearly shown that these things are to be referred to our one Savior, the God Word. This present oracle, therefore, sings that he himself is going forth from his place and about to descend upon the high places of the earth. But what would these be, if not, as the words themselves sound, the mountains of Israel and the hills, concerning which numberless prophecies prophesy? and Jerusalem herself, and with her Mount Sion, in which our Savior and Lord spent most of his time? He sings that the destruction and ruin of such high places would be at the very descent of Christ: and it is indeed certain that, after the advent of our Savior and the things which they dared against him, ^D all those things which were just mentioned have been laid waste and brought to extreme desolation. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Jewish nation, too, and the kingdom which previously stood among them, as well as the priesthood and the chief seat of the teachers, which are now figuratively called mountains, may be said to be shaken at the Lord's coming from heaven. And who, after the times of our Savior Jesus Christ, would not finally confess that this also has met its end, when he can see all those things not only shaken but removed from the way?

^A Valleys still melting would be those assemblies of theirs, established throughout every city in place of Jerusalem and Mount Sion, mourning and lamenting, and melting like wax from before the face of fire, by reason of the excess of grief and sorrow, and on account of the desolation of their ancestral seat and their long and many-years-lasting servitude.

But in another way, according to the intellect, the descent of the divine Word can be understood, not as occurring in chasms and hollows, nor in low and groveling minds and thoughts, but as abiding in those who are high in their way of thinking and raised upwards. By such a figure, therefore, it was said that the Lord Himself would descend upon the heights of the earth. And the mountains being shaken from beneath Him were those very ones to which He was led up by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil: "And the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain; and he was with the wild beasts." But mountains could, ^B yet again in a more figurative sense, be the idolatry formerly performed upon mountains, and the invisible and sovereign powers that exercised their activity in them, which the doctrine of our Savior not a little shook and agitated. For His divine power, whether wonder-working or miracle-performing, secretly destroyed the long and ancient dominion they held over men.

Likewise also, the valleys melting like wax from before the face of fire would be the subterranean and worldly demons, against whom He sent forth the cauterizing fire of their wickedness, saying: "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" By which fire being burned, and not being able to bear the torments from the invisible flame, they would depart from human bodies. And that which held and urged them on, they confessed, crying out: "Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? We know ^C thee who thou art; the Holy One of God." He especially scourged these, and removed their leaders, because they, not satisfied with the corruption of the rest of the nations, through which they had cast everyone into the polytheistic delusion, had also plotted against the ancient people of God, those indeed of the circumcision, and leading them away from God, they had entangled them in all manner of impieties. Wherefore the Lord had especially made His descent from the heavens. Whence He says next: "For the impiety of Jacob all these things, and for the sin of the house of Israel."

And furthermore, He clarifies the cause of the descent of the Word from heaven, enumerating on the one hand the impieties of the people of the circumcision and the destruction that overtook them for these things, and on the other hand proclaiming the calling of the nations throughout the whole world. For on account of these things the Word of God came down from the heavens to the earth. ^D And hear, indeed, the words: "For the impiety of the house of Jacob all these things, and for the sin of the house of Israel. What is the impiety of the house of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the sin of the house of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? And I will make Samaria as a storehouse of the field and as a planting of a vineyard, and I will pull down her stones into a chasm, and I will uncover her foundations."

^A And he adds: "Evil has come down from the Lord unto the gates of Jerusalem, a sound of chariots and horsemen." And again: "The glory of the daughter of Jerusalem, shave and cut off thy delicate children, enlarge thy widowhood as an eagle, for they have been taken captive from thee." ^B To these it is added: "Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a garden-watcher’s shed, and the mountain of the house as a thicket of a forest." Now, these—Sion and Jerusalem and what is called the mountain of the house—are the very things that were signified previously by the words: "And the mountains shall be moved under him, and the valleys shall melt as wax before the face of fire, for the impiety of Jacob," and so forth. For on account of the impieties which they committed against Him, immediately and—indeed—not long after, both the mountains and those who dwelt in them were depopulated, and the mountain of Sion endured conflagration and utter desolation: and the mountain of the house of God became as a thicket of a forest. For this prophecy signifies that these things would come upon them at the Lord’s descent from heaven, and they have indeed met with a manifest realization after the arrival of our Savior Jesus Christ. If then our history is worth anything, we have seen with our own eyes in our own times that Sion, so celebrated of old, was plowed with yokes of oxen by Roman men, and Jerusalem itself, just as this oracle says, was left like a garden-watcher’s shed and reduced to total desolation, which happened to them for no other reason than their own impieties, on account of which the heavenly Word also departed from His place.

But it has already been said ^C that there are other reasons why the Word of God came down from heaven and reached the heights of the earth: namely, that the mountains, which were formerly raised up and exalted against the knowledge of God—the opposing powers, that is, which before His arrival had enslaved the Hebrew nation along with the rest of humanity in the activities of impiety and idolatry—might be moved under Him; and that the wicked demons, called "valleys" because they dwell in dark chasms and the cavities of bodies, might melt like wax before the face of fire and flee from men by the power of the divine Word. And there may be another cause, and no common one at that, beyond these, for the Lord’s descent from heaven, which the oracle indicates: so that all the nations upon the earth, with the demons driven off and the spirits who held dominion shaken ^D and breathing easily after the hard and unyielding tyranny they formerly held under them, might receive the knowledge of the God over all. And the very words of the same prophecy, further on, proclaim these matters in this way, indeed, under one connection of meaning: "And it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, prepared on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall hasten unto it, and many nations shall go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and

they shall show us his way, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge between many nations. ^A Such things are said concerning the calling of the nations; and in what sense these are to be understood, and in what manner they reached their fulfillment after the coming of our Saviour, one might learn more freely at leisure. But consistently with these things, the discourse of prophecy, beginning—so as to provide for the salvation not only of the Jewish nation, but of all nations—the descent of the Lord to men which was to come to pass, cries out to all the peoples and to all things that are on the earth, saying: «Hear, all you peoples, and let the earth attend, and all that are therein.» And the testimony also of the Passion of the Lord further signifies that he brings: «And the Lord God shall be in testimony for you.» Then the same prophet, proceeding in his discourse, as one who had already instructed concerning the existence of the Word of God, and his descent from heaven, and as having predicted the causes of his coming to men, proceeds in order to show his future birth among men, and even the place ^B where he was to be born, teaching in this way, saying: «And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be a leader, to be a ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.» And observe carefully in what manner he says that the goings forth of him who was to appear at Bethlehem (for this is a place in Judea) are from above and from eternity, signifying the divine pre-existence and substance of the ruler who was to come forth from Bethlehem. If, therefore, there is someone who can refer the oracle to another, let him point out who this is; but if it is not possible to find anyone other than our Saviour Jesus Christ, who alone is celebrated as having departed from there after the prophecy, what obstacle remains to our acknowledging the truth of the prophecy, which in him alone rests its prediction? For he alone of all who have ever existed, ^C appearing from the aforementioned place of Bethlehem after the times of the prophecy, has come forth having taken upon himself the human form; and immediately upon his coming, what had been foretold was fulfilled. And so indeed, and not long after, to the Jewish nation each of the sad things that had been prophesied happened, but to the nations again, things consistent with the oracles, and this very Saviour and Lord of ours, having departed from Bethlehem, was shown to be the leader of the Israel understood in the mind, as every perceptive and God-fearing people is called. And observe, further, how his goings forth of divine pre-existence are said to be from the beginning and from the days of eternity; which would not be appropriate for the nature of a man. Following these things, the prophetic discourse, having lowered itself a little, now again signifies the revocation and destruction of the ancient legal worship, ^D speaking in the person of the people: «With what shall I take hold of the Lord? Shall I lay hold of my God most high? If I shall lay hold of him in burnt offerings, in yearling calves; if I shall give the firstborn of my womb for the sin of my soul...»

And answering them on behalf of God, he says: «If it has been announced to you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk after the Lord your God?» ^B You have, therefore, here also, in the predicted descent of the Lord from heaven to men, very many things signified at once and in the same place: the rejection of the Jews, the reproofs of their impieties, the destruction of their royal metropolis, and the abolition of the worship formerly performed among them according to Moses; and conversely, regarding the nations, good promises, the knowledge of God, a new way of piety, a new law, and the Word that was to come forth from the region of the Jews and be disseminated among all the nations—which things, as to what end and what outcome of the words they have received after the advent of our Saviour Jesus Christ, I leave for you to contemplate.

CHAPTER XIV.

^A For the words of the prophecy are: «The coming one, he says, will come, and will not delay.» And it adds: «If he should shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him,» which, when joined together, might seem to follow upon the one who is coming and not delaying, which is absurd. For how would it be appropriate for God to say that He has no pleasure in that one? But the arrangement of the punctuation, by altering the syntax of the passage, saved the sense. For after «Yet a little while, the coming one will come, and will not delay,» it continues, «And the just shall live by faith.» Then it puts the part that was first in the prophecy into the second place with, «And if he should shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him.» For once the Word has prophesied through the prophecy that the light promised to all the nations would at some time and at evening rise through the coming of Christ, and would not prove false (for thus, instead of «and not in vain,» did Aquila interpret it); then, because the coming of the one prophesied was to be late and at evening, having called to patience through the words, «If he should tarry, wait for him,» or «If he should delay, await him; for the coming one shall come and shall not delay,» it urges the hearer to faith in the prophecy, saying: That whoever believes these things, having been declared just from this very faith, will live the life according to God; ^B just as on the contrary, the one who does not believe, not having taken courage in those things from which he has shrunk back, nor having trusted the things spoken, «my soul has no pleasure in him.» Therefore, we also, following these things, by changing what was first to the last, and moving what was last to the first, will preserve the sense of the passage, after «For the coming one shall come, and shall not delay,» connecting across the interval, «And my righteous one shall live by faith,» and adding to this, «If he should shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him.» ^C In this point of understanding, Aquila also concurs, saying: «If he should delay, await him, for the coming one shall come, and will not be slow; behold, if he should be sluggish, my soul is not right in him, and the righteous one shall live by his faith.»

CHAPTER XV

^D By the same. — How terrible is the report concerning the descent of the Lord from heaven, and his works with wonder, and that when he has come, the whole earth shall be filled with his praise, and the word of his New Testament shall run through to all men.

«O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid. O Lord, I considered thy works, and was amazed; in the midst of two lives thou shalt be known; when the years draw near, thou shalt be recognized; when the time is present, thou shalt be shown; when my soul is perturbed in wrath, [thou shalt remember mercy].»

you shall be mindful. God shall come from Theman, and the Holy One from the shady, dense mountain. His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise; and his brightness shall be as the light. Horns are in his hands, and he placed a strong love of his power before his face; the Word shall go, and shall go forth into the plains. » ^A For when the holy prophet had heard himself, or rather the divine Spirit which breathed upon him and sang within him, saying concerning Him of whom the prophecy itself speaks, « That he who comes shall come and shall not delay; but the just shall live by my faith, » 76 and having believed Him to be the just One by the oracle, in these words which are now in our hands, he says thus: « Lord, I have heard your report and was afraid, » and what follows; in which he most manifestly announces that God will come to men. Who indeed could this be, who was known of old, and yet was later to be known when the years drew near, and was to be declared during the time of which the prophecy speaks—who, I ask, could this be but He Himself who was previously called the Lord of all? ^B Who also, by this proven prophecy, was announced and preached at the consummation of the ages, so that all men have heard. Therefore, in the holy Gospels, those deeds which were openly described—namely, the generation of the body which He assumed from the Virgin, and also how « when He was in the form of God, He did not count it a prize to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant » 77—furthermore, the miracles which He performed while living among men, as well as all things which the Jewish nation dared against Him—I say, all these things and others similar to them, ^C when he had foreseen with the eyes of his soul, and had perceived with most pure intelligence, under the teaching of the divine Spirit, those things which were expected to happen thereafter—the prophet confesses that he was stunned and afraid at the things heard, saying: « Lord, I have heard your report and I was afraid: Lord, I understood your works and was stunned. »

But our Savior and Lord, this very Word of God Himself, is known in the midst of two lives. For it should not be read "of two animals," but "of two lives." In the midst of two lives, [he says], you shall be known. Since one life is according to God, and the other according to man, and the former is mortal, while the latter is eternal, ^D the Lord, having rightfully experienced both and having come in that manner, is said to be known in the midst of two lives, according to the interpretation which the Seventy published. For according to that which Aquila published, it is not so, but thus: « While the years draw near, revive it. » But what is that, if not what he calls "your work"? Theodotion, however, says thus: « In the midst of the years, revive Him. » And Symmachus has set forth: « Within the years, cause Him to come to life again. » Since, therefore, all have said « revive Him, » they have clearly declared that the discourse is not about certain irrational beings, or even about animals endowed with reason. Wherefore, when in the Seventy it is said, « You shall be known in the midst of two lives, » we have not interpreted it as those before us did, but we have said that two lives of the One being prophesied are indicated: one, the [cont]

^A divine, and the other, human. To these, the prophet adds: « When my soul is troubled in anger, you will remember mercy; » instructing us that, having foreseen in the Spirit the time of the passion of Him about whom the prophecy is woven, he was troubled. Yet he says that in this very time, in which my soul was troubled, because no such wrath had ever before hung over men on account of the impieties committed against the Lord, the Lord Himself, being most philanthropic, remembered mercy instead of anger, as being the Son of a good Father. Thus, His passion became the cause of salvation according to God and of mercy for the whole world. Following this comes: « God shall come from Theman. » The term *Theman*, when translated into Greek, means "consummation"; so that it makes no difference if it were clearly said: "God shall come at the ^B consummation." For it was at the consummation of the age and in these last days that the goodness of the God of all shone upon us through our Savior. He also prophesies in these words His second and glorious arrival; so that, making a new beginning, the words from « God shall come from Theman » may be read as if He were about to come at the consummation of the age from those parts which look toward the southern regions of the sky. For *Theman* is also translated as "the South." On this account, Theodotion interpreted it in this way: « God shall come from the South. » As for what follows, « And the Holy One from the overshadowed, thick mountain, » you will understand it if you place alongside it those words that are in Zechariah, which read thus: « I saw by night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he was standing between the overshadowed mountains. » I believe that he who rode upon the red horse and stood between ^C the overshadowed mountains is the very one revealed in the prophecy now before us, which says that the Holy One will come from the overshadowed, thick mountain. In both cases, "overshadowed mountains" are mentioned, and I believe these to be the paradise of God, which He planted in Eden toward the East, or perhaps the heavenly Jerusalem; for mountains are round about it, and the Lord is round about His people. These mountains, therefore, are called "overshadowed" (or "shaded") because they are full of divine powers and holy spirits, as if planted and thick with foliage. But in Zechariah, a man is clearly seen by him riding on a red horse, signifying the incarnation of our Savior and the flesh in which He rode. Here, however, He is named "Lord" and "Holy One." For just as if He had made His arrival from God to men, and ^D had descended from more divine regions, it is said: « God shall come from Theman, and the Holy One from the overshadowed, thick mountain. » Then He next adds: « His virtue has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise, and His brightness shall be as the light. » By these, both His glorious kingdom in the heavens is represented, and the praise, which has come to pass after this and will come to pass even more abundantly, of the teaching concerning Him throughout the whole earth. And the phrase, « Horns in His hands, » signifies the symbols of His kingdom; by which horns He...

repels the invisible and opposing powers, and having conquered them, drives them away. Successively to these he subjoins: « And He set a strong love of His strength. » And indeed, the greatest proof of His powerful disposition and love towards men was that the Word went forth before His face—that is to say, the saving and evangelical [teaching]—and that it went forth and ran through the fields, so that in a short time it might fill the whole world with the salvation procured by Him for all men, in accordance with the prophecy which saith: « The Word shall go forth before His face, and shall go out into the fields. » But at His second coming, the Word of God shall still more, and in a more proper sense, bring a completion both to what has been said and to what follows thereafter, which this is not the time to explore and investigate. ^B

CHAPTER XVI.

« Thus saith the Lord Almighty: After the glory He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you, is as he that toucheth the apple of His eye: for behold I bring my hand upon them, and they shall be spoils to those who served them, and ye shall know that the Lord Almighty hath sent me. » The Lord Almighty Himself in these words says that He has been sent, and teaches who He is who has sent Him, where He saith: « And ye shall know that the Lord Almighty hath sent me. » Therefore, even in this place, you have two clearly ^C using the same appellation: the one, the Lord Almighty who sent, and the other, He who is sent, being of the same name as He who sent. Who else, moreover, could you say that He who is sent is, but Him whom we have often previously called the Word of God, who confesses that He has been sent by the Father, and who manifestly said: « After the glory He sent me, » meaning meanwhile that He who formerly was in glory with the Father was afterwards sent unto the nations which spoiled you? For when the Word of God was sent unto those nations which were formerly adverse and hostile to the people of God, He subjected these same ones to Himself, having despoiled them ^D through His own disciples, who were a part of that people which pertains to the circumcision, whom the nations formerly brought into servitude, having despoiled them by their own worship of idols. Therefore, He says the nations will suffer the things which they have inflicted. For just as they, by turning the people of God away from their ancestral piety and religion, were made spoils for their own demons, so at some point shall they themselves be despoiled of their ancestral idolatry by those who formerly were enslaved to them, and shall be transferred under the yoke of the piety of the Hebrews. This, He says, shall come to pass, the

Lord Himself being sent by the Father for such an achievement. ^A Someone might also say that certain intelligible and invisible powers are here called "nations," which have spoiled and taken captive the souls of men—souls for which the merciful Word of God says He cares as if they were the apple of His eye. And a proof of this His care for the human race is that He, being the Word of God and remaining in glory with the Father, did not shrink from undertaking His sojourn among men and His dispensation.

CHAPTER XVII.

283 ^B "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion, for behold I come, and will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord; and many nations shall flee to the Lord in that day, and shall be to Him for a people, and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." ^C Since it is proposed now to demonstrate from the prophets the reason for the Son, the Author of all things, being about to dwell among men on earth, I believe that the present prophecy is an effective demonstration of this, so much so, that due to the clarity of the matter itself, there is no need for further explanation; and you will also observe that he again indicates the cause of His advent where he says: "And many nations shall flee to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to Him for a people." Now the oracle announces this to the daughter of Sion herself, thus in the meantime addressing the Church of God, for the reason that she is seen to be the daughter of the heavenly Jerusalem, which, as the holy Apostle says, is the mother of the saints. ^D Or the Church of Christ might be called the daughter of Sion in another way, as having originated from the former congregation of those of the circumcision through apostolic men and evangelists, who were themselves the offspring of that mother who was cast away because of her own impiety, and became a widow because she had driven away her husband, who complained against her through the prophets and said: "Did you not call me as your husband, and father, and guide of your virginity?" He, also reproaching and blaming the character of the mother to those who were born of her, says: "What is this bill of divorce of your mother, in which I sent her away?" And again: "Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband." Naturally, then, as if the Lord had disavowed the mother, the present prophecy announces the coming of the Lord Himself to the daughter. And this Church from the Gentiles, in place of the former daughter, has been accounted such by the apostles of our Savior.

CHAPTER XVIII

"Behold, the days of the Lord are coming, and your spoils shall be divided in your midst; and I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, but the rest of my people shall not perish; and the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against those nations, as the day of His fighting in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem on the East; and the Mount of Olives shall be cleft, half of it toward the East, and half of it toward the sea; a very great chasm, and half of the mountain shall incline toward the North, and half of it toward the South. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, and the glen of the mountains shall be joined as far as Asael; and it shall be stopped up as it was stopped up from the face of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. [And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Him;] and it shall be in that day, there shall be no light, but cold and frost; it shall be one day, and that day is known to the Lord; and it shall not be day, nor night, and toward evening there shall be light. And it shall be in that day, living water shall go forth from Jerusalem; half of it to the first sea, and half of it to the last sea; in summer and in spring it shall be so. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be one, and His name one, encompassing all the earth and the wilderness."

^BAfter the first siege of Jerusalem and its utter ruin and desolation, which happened under the Babylonians, and after the return from the hostile land to the fatherland, which occurred under Cyrus, king of the Persians, when Jerusalem had shortly before been restored and the sanctuary and the altar that was by it had been renewed under Darius the Persian, the present prophet sings, and thereafter signifies a second siege of Jerusalem that was to happen—which it suffered from the Romans at no other time than after the crimes which its inhabitants dared to commit against our Savior Jesus Christ. Most clearly, therefore, even in this place, the coming of our Savior, who is the Word of God, and the things that happened in His time are signified; these are, in part, the things that were done at the time He suffered, ^C and in part the siege that immediately oppressed the Hebrew nation, and the conquest of Jerusalem itself, and after these very things, the calling of the nations and the knowledge of the one and only God among every race of men. But the prophet, inspired by the Divine Spirit, with a certain compassion, as one who laments those belonging to the circumcision, begins his prophecy with an exclamation against them: he names, therefore, the days of the Lord, as in other places, so also in this place, so that he might signify the time of Christ, [and His] coming to men; ^D and he shows in the same way, just as...

the Lord Himself, being the true light, ^A shall one day become the author of days, and shall shine forth to all men upon the earth, at which time all nations shall receive both Him and the rays of His light. While they are being enlightened, according to the saying: "I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth," meanwhile the Jewish nation, on account of their unbelief toward Him, shall fall into extreme misfortunes. Such, therefore, is the saying: "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee; and I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity."

^B After the siege of Jerusalem and the servitude of the Jewish nation that immediately followed, he adds what comes next, promising blessings to all, thus singing: "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth." And again: "The Lord shall be one, and His name one, encompassing all the earth and the wilderness." But since the prophecy declares that the Jewish nation would suffer such things in the days of the Lord, who would not marvel at the fulfillment of the prophecy? For as soon as Jesus, our Savior and Lord, was present, and those of the circumcision committed wicked deeds against Him, all those things which had been predicted for them came to pass all at once, fifty years after the prediction itself, and reached their end; for from Pilate himself, even up to Nero, Titus, and Vespasian, who besieged the city, calamities of every kind, one after another, never ceased to assault them, as it is easy to gather from the history which Flavius Josephus wrote.

At that time, therefore, it is credible that half of the city perished in the siege, as the prophecy says. But not long after, in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, when a Jewish uprising occurred again, the remaining half part of the city was besieged and driven out once more, to such an extent that from that time to this present day, the place is rendered completely inaccessible to them. ^C If anyone says that these things were fulfilled under Antiochus Epiphanes, let him consider again and again whether he is able to account for the remaining parts of the prophecy according to the times of Antiochus; for instance, that the people suffered captivity, and that the feet of the Lord stood upon the Mount of Olives, and if the Lord had become King over all the earth on that day, and if the name of the Lord had encompassed all the earth and the wilderness, at the time when Antiochus held Syria. And as for the rest of the prophecy, what end did it attain when Antiochus was reigning? How can anyone account for it?

But according to us, these things are fulfilled both to the letter and according to another sense. For after the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, their city, this very Jerusalem, and the whole system and polity of the religion according to the law of Moses, were brought to an end. ^D Immediately, they also suffered a mental captivity alongside their physical one, having [rejected] the Savior and Redeemer

^A of human souls, who had come to preach release to those held captive by evil demons, and recovery of sight to those blind in their understanding. And when those people had suffered these things on account of their unbelief, all others who recognized their Liberator and became his familiar household—the disciples, certainly, and apostles, and evangelists, and very many others from the circumcision who believed in him (of whom the Apostle says, "So too at the present time a remnant, chosen by grace, has come to be," and that, "If the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us offspring, we would have become as Sodom and been made like Gomorrah"), were kept safe, free and immune not only from that siege which we refer to the understanding, but also from the one understood according to the letter. For the apostles and disciples of our Savior, and all who from among the Jews had come to believe in him, being far from the land of Judea and interspersed with the rest of the nations, were easily able at that time to escape the utter destruction and perdition of those who lived in the city. ^B And the prophecy had anticipated this very thing, foretelling it through the words, "But the remnant of my people shall not perish," to which it adds immediately: "And the Lord shall go forth, and shall be armed for battle against those nations, as the day of his battle in the day of war." But in what nations will the Lord be armed for battle, if not in those that were to besiege Jerusalem? The oracle indicates that the Lord himself will lend aid to the besiegers, being in their midst and taking up his battle formation with them, like a certain commander and champion on their behalf, warring against Jerusalem. For the text does not say the Lord will battle against the nations. By whom, then, and against whom? Manifestly against Jerusalem and its inhabitants, of whom the discourse was speaking. ^C And that phrase, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem toward the East," what else does it signify but the stationing and establishment of the Lord God—the very Word of God himself—in his Church, which he here calls symbolicly and by way of allegory the Mount of Olives? For just as the house of Israel was, allegorically, a vineyard for the beloved, and a vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, and the vine of Judah was a beloved new plant; so too, by the same logic, you might say that the Church gathered from the nations became an olive grove for the Master. Having formerly been a wild olive tree, it was planted by the Lord, who later—following the excision of the former branches—grafted it into the apostolic roots of the good olive tree, just as the Apostle teaches. ^D "And the Lord planted it for himself," as if saying through the prophecy, "The Lord called thy name a fair, shady olive tree." For since the first vineyard, when it ought to have produced grapes, produced thorns, and not righteousness but a cry, God quite naturally, as if tearing down the hedge and wall of an unfruitful vineyard and handing it over to its enemies for plunder and trampling according to the prophecy of Isaiah, established for himself another field—the one called in the present time an olive grove, inasmuch as the...

one who has obtained mercy from God and has been planted by Christ with ever-flourishing shoots, that is, holy souls who are nourished by light, of such sort as he says: “I am like a fruit-bearing olive tree in the house of God.” And this mount of Olives is said to be opposite Jerusalem, since in place of the old earthly Jerusalem and the religion preserved in it, a new one was established by God after the destruction of Jerusalem. Since, therefore, the argument said above concerning Jerusalem that “the city will be captured, and hostile and warring nations shall be gathered against it, and its spoils shall be divided,” it reasonably says that the feet of the Lord will not stand in Jerusalem. For how would it be possible, once it was destroyed? But it teaches that they will stand on the mount called of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem, when they move from her. This the prophet Ezekiel, having been forewarned by the divine Spirit, also contemplates. He says then: “And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them, above them; and the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which was opposite the city.” ^B This is also otherwise to be seen fulfilled to the letter even today, as all who have believed in Christ come together from every part of the earth, not for the sake of a certain festive joy as formerly, which was celebrated in Jerusalem, nor in order to worship in the sanctuary that was once established in Jerusalem, but they stay in order both to inquire into the conquest and desolation of Jerusalem, which the prophecy had predicted, and to worship on the mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem, where the glory of the Lord moved, having left the former city. Moreover, the feet of the Lord and Savior—he himself, the Word, through whom he assumed a human body—truly stood, according to the literal and obvious narrative, on the mount of Olives, by the cave commonly shown there, and he prayed and delivered to his own disciples on the summit of the mount of Olives the mysteries concerning the consummation; and from there he made his ascent into the heavens, as Luke teaches in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: ^C “As they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their eyes. And as they were gazing into heaven as he was going, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in the same way as you saw him going into heaven.’” To which he adds, saying: “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is opposite Jerusalem.” It is therefore both according to the letter opposite Jerusalem and to its east, as the mount of Olives is denoted. Furthermore, according to the inner sense, the holy Church of Christ is the mount also, upon which it has been founded, concerning which the Savior teaches, saying: “A city cannot be hidden when set upon a mountain,” in place of

that Jerusalem which fell and did not rise again, whereas this [Church], having been raised up and deemed worthy of the Lord’s feet, is not only opposite Jerusalem, but also to the east of it, having received the rays of the light of godliness; and having become far superior to Jerusalem, and having drawn near to that Sun of righteousness of whom it is said, “But to you who fear me, the sun of righteousness shall rise.” ^B Now what he says next, “And the mount of Olives shall be split, half of it toward the east and toward the sea, a very great chasm, and half of it shall incline toward the north, and half of it toward the south,” may indeed signify the expansion of the Church over the whole inhabited world of men, having filled the eastern and sunrise nations. Yet it extends even to the western sea and the islands therein. Moreover, it reaches to the south and the meridian, and to the north and the septentrion; for in every direction and everywhere among the nations, the Lord’s olive grove—which is His Church—has been planted. It may also, in a spiritual sense, signify the schisms and sects that have occurred and still occur today in the Church of Christ, and the moral lapses in conduct. For he says the mount will be split, half of it toward the east and half of it toward the sea, a very great chasm, and half of the mountain will incline toward the north, and half of it toward the south, so as to be divided into four parts: two being the more venerable and better, and two being the opposites. And look closely lest perhaps these signify, by the parts toward the east and the south, two orders of those who have attained progress according to God: one order, of those being perfected in knowledge and word and in the other gifts of the Divine Spirit; the other, of those achieving through their conduct, yet remaining in their elected spheres. ^C But the other two parts, divided from the former—those toward the sea and toward the north—would both be designations for wickedness. “For from the face of the north,” it says, “evils shall be kindled upon all who dwell upon the earth,” and the dragon is said to make his abode upon the sea. Consequently, it is reasonable that here, too, two ways in which those who fall away from the Church fail are indicated—the one sinning in knowledge and the other in character—so that these are the cleavages of the aforementioned mount of Olives indicated by the prophecy. Following these things, it is added: “And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, and the chasm of the mountains shall be joined even to Asael. And it shall be stopped up, just as it was stopped up from the face of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.” What, in this, would the valley of the mountains of God be, if not the physical and Jewish religion formerly consummated in Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses? The present discourse prophesies that this will be closed off, as if blocked up, saying, “And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, and the chasm of the mountains shall be joined even to Asael, and

it shall be stopped up.” ^A For which reason ^B Symmachus has rendered it: “And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up,” and further, “the chasm of the mountains shall draw near to that which lies beside it, and it shall be stopped up”; by which he sets forth the cause of the valley having been stopped up. And what was this, but its drawing near and approaching that which lay beside it? Now this was the mount of the Lord, the one previously called the Mount of Olives, which is named Asael by the Seventy. According to the Hebrew tongue, ^C this signifies “the work of God.” Thus, he says, the ancient chasm, having approached the mountain and Christ’s Church—the work of God—it shall be stopped up and closed off, in the same way as it was stopped up from the face of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.

Seeking within myself, and traversing the divine Scriptures, to see if at any time in the days of Uzziah the chasm mentioned here was stopped up on account of an earthquake, in the histories of the Reigns I found nothing, nor is it recorded in them that an earthquake physically occurred in his time, nor anything of the sort regarding a chasm. It is recorded, however, that Uzziah was righteous in the beginning, but was then denounced as having been puffed up in his mind, and having dared ^D to offer sacrifice to God himself, for which reason leprosy blossomed upon his face. This, indeed, the book of the Reigns sets forth. But Josephus, having scrutinized the external Jewish traditions as well, being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, hear what he declares to have happened in his time, saying: “As the priests were urging Uzziah to go out of the temple and not to transgress against God, he was enraged and threatened them with death if they did not keep quiet. Meanwhile, an earthquake shook the earth; and as the temple split, a bright light shone forth and flashed upon the face of the king, so that leprosy immediately spread over him; and before the city, at the place called Eroge, the western half of the mountain was torn away, and having rolled for four stadia, it came to a stop at the eastern mountain, so that the thoroughfares and the royal gardens were stopped up.” Let this serve me from the text of Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities. And in the prophet Amos also, I found at the beginning of his prophecy that he began to prophesy in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, two years before the earthquake. But which earthquake, he does not further specify. I believe, however, that the same prophet is describing that earthquake in the places where he says: “I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and He said: ‘Strike the altar, and the gateways shall be shaken; and cut them into the heads of all, and those who remain of them I will slay with the sword.’” By which I believe to be prophesied the earthquake, and the destruction of the once-venerable things of the Jewish nation, and of the worship performed by them in Jerusalem, and the ruin that came upon them after the presence of our Savior, when, having rejected the Christ of God,

who is the true high priest, leprosy broke out against their souls, just as it had also done in the time of Uzziah. ^A For when the Lord himself, by an invisible power, stood over their altar, he gave the authority to the smiter, saying: «Smite the altar.» By this power he indicated, saying: «Your house is left unto you desolate.» Immediately, therefore, at the time of his passion, the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom, even as Josephus records it to have happened in the times of King Uzziah. Then, first, the vestibules were shaken, for the earth was shaken at the time of his passion; and not long after, it suffered its final fall. And the smiter, having received the authority, struck at the heads of all. At this time, therefore, the valley of the mountains of God was blocked up, just as occurred in the time of Uzziah; ^B both according to the literal word, during the Roman siege, during which I believe some such things happened; and according to the meaning, when the bodily and humbler worship of the Mosaic law was excluded, so that it might no longer be practiced, because of the earthquake which, as predicted by the prophecy, fell upon the Jewish nation from that time, and because of the other things which have been openly recorded.

After this, the oracle, returning to the Lord's coming, proclaims it more clearly, saying: «And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with him.» Whether he is calling his apostles and disciples his saints, or certain invisible powers and ministering spirits, concerning whom it is said: «Angels came and ministered to him.» ^C Then, concerning the presence of the Lord, he says: «It shall be a day, and there shall not be light, and it shall be cold and ice for one day.» Symmachus interpreted this as: «And in that day there shall be no light, but cold and ice shall be for one day, which is known to the Lord; it shall not be day nor night, but there shall be light toward evening.» And consider whether by these things he does not clearly indicate the day of the passion of our Savior, in which day the phrase «There shall not be light» was fulfilled, when from the sixth hour darkness was upon all the land until the ninth hour; and the phrase «But cold and ice,» when, according to Luke, having taken Jesus, they led him into the house of the high priest; and Peter followed from afar; and when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard, he sat down, according to Mark, with the rest, warming himself. ^D And John expressly mentioned the cold, saying: «The slaves and the attendants stood there, having made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were warming themselves.» «This day,» he says, «was known to the Lord, and it was not day and it was not night.» It was not day because of what is said before: «There shall not be light,» and it was fulfilled when from the sixth hour darkness was upon all the land until the ninth hour; and it was «not night» because of what follows: «Toward evening there shall be light.» And this arrived at its end when, after the ninth hour, the day again received its accustomed light; and according to the [spiritual] meaning, these things were fulfilled. Generally, then, with regard to the Jewish nation, after the act against Christ,

^A a state of darkness, frost, and cold occurred, as their understanding was darkened so as not to let the light of the Gospel shine into their hearts, and their love toward God grew cold. But, on the other hand, toward evening the light of the knowledge of Christ has risen, so that those who formerly sat in darkness and the shadow of death might see a great light, according to the voice of Isaiah: "In that very day of the Lord, shall go forth," he says, "living water from Jerusalem." This was the rational, drinkable, life-giving, and saving beverage of Christ's teaching, concerning which He Himself, in the Gospel according to John, instructing the Samaritan woman, was saying: "If you knew who it is that says to you, 'Give me to drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." This very saving beverage, therefore, went forth from Jerusalem itself; from there, indeed, His Gospel had its starting point, and its heralds filled the whole world, which is also indicated by what is said: "Into the first sea, and into the last sea, the living water shall go forth." By these, the ends of the whole earth are marked out—both those toward the eastern ^B Ocean, which are called the first sea, and those toward the setting sun, which are signified by the last sea; and this living water of the saving and evangelic teaching has filled them, concerning which He again instructed, saying: "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst into eternity." And again: "Rivers," He says, "out of his belly shall flow of living water, leaping up into eternal life." And again: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink." After, then, there had rained down from Jerusalem upon every race of men a saving and rational stream—which is more clearly indicated in another place by: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge between the nations"—"He shall be," he says, "the Lord as King." And He shall not be in Jerusalem, nor over the nation of the Jews, but "over all the earth in that day. And there shall be one Lord, and His name one, encircling the whole earth." These things also harmonize with those brought forward from the Psalms, by which it was said: "God reigned over the nations," and again, "Say among the nations, The Lord has reigned." ^C These things are all together prophesied to come to pass in the days of the Lord. At the beginning, then, of the whole prophecy, "Behold days," he says, "are coming of the Lord, and these things shall be." What are these things, if not the siege of Jerusalem, and the Lord's withdrawal to the Mount of Olives, and the statement, "The Lord shall be present," and what befell around the day of His passion; and the living water, which flowed upon the whole inhabited world; and above all these, the kingdom ruling over all the nations, and His name one, filling the whole earth? What manner of end these attained, we have discussed in brief. It is also evident how, from the naming of Christ as God, the Christian [name]

has filled the whole earth; which thing indeed the oracle also declares when it says: "And his name one, surrounding the whole earth and the wilderness." As for you, it will be possible for you at your leisure, when you have examined every word, to contemplate more broadly what you have understood.

CHAPTER XIX

^BFrom Baruch. — How God Himself, the God of the prophets, when He had ordered every way of knowledge through that Law which was given by Moses to those who pertain to the circumcision, is prophesied to be seen hereafter upon the earth, and to converse among men.

"Who ascended into heaven, and took her (he means Wisdom), and brought her down from the clouds? Who crossed over the sea, and found her, and will bring her upon choice gold? There is no one who knows her way, nor who thinks upon her path. But He who knows all things knows her, and has found her by His own understanding; He who prepared her for everlasting time, and filled her with four-footed beasts; He who sends forth the light, and it goes, called it, and it obeyed Him with trembling; and the stars shone in their watches and were glad; He called them, and they said: 'Here we are.' They shone with gladness to Him that made them. This is our God: none other shall be accounted besides Him. He has found out every way of knowledge, and has given it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel who is beloved by Him. After these things, He appeared upon the earth and conversed with men."

It is necessary to add nothing to these divine voices, which most clearly confirm our proposition.

CHAPTER XX

^DFrom Isaiah. — How Christ was sung of as about to come into Egypt, and whatever things were to happen at His coming.

The Vision of Egypt.

"Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the things made by hands in Egypt shall be moved from His face, and their heart shall be overcome within them, and

^A the Egyptians shall be aroused against the Egyptians, and man shall wage war against his brother, and man against his neighbor. City against city, and law against law; and the spirit of the Egyptians shall be confounded within them. And I will scatter their counsel. And they shall ask their gods, and their images, and those who utter voices from the earth, and those who speak from their belly, and I will deliver Egypt into the hands of ^B cruel masters, and cruel kings shall rule over them, and the rest that follows.

And now, this present prophecy signifies that the One who is second after the God and Lord of all, the Word of God Himself, shall come into Egypt, and that He shall come not obscurely or invisibly, nor without some corporeal covering, but borne upon a light cloud, or rather upon a light "crassitude." For thus they say the Hebrew word expresses it. Let the children of the Hebrews say, then, when after the times of Isaiah the Lord has resided among the Egyptians, and what Lord this is—for there is one God over all—and how He is said to be carried upon a light crassitude, and figuratively to ascend into a certain part of the earth. Moreover, let them interpret what this light crassitude might be, and why it is said that the Lord does not reside in Egypt without it. And when is it recorded that those things contained in this prophecy have reached their fulfillment? I mean the moving of the idols made by hands in Egypt, and the Egyptians warring against Egyptians because of the Lord’s advent to men, and the fact that their gods—the demons, obviously, who were of great power in the olden days—are no longer able to do anything, nor to answer those who inquire of them, on account of the fear of the Lord. And under the hands of what cruel masters, and of what kings, was Egypt delivered after the prophesied advent of the Lord? And why, when the Lord was present, were they delivered to cruel princes? Let him who wishes interpret the rest in a similar manner.

For we maintain that these things have not been fulfilled in any other way than solely through the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ to men. For He, being the Word of God and the Power of God, both in sense and in the letter, residing in the region of the Egyptians through a light cloud, ^C fulfilled what had been predicted. And by a light cloud, it figuratively names His sojourn among men, which He accomplished by means of the body He assumed from the Virgin and the Holy Spirit, just as the Hebrew scripture has it. And Aquila hinted more clearly, saying: "Behold, the Lord ascends upon a light crassitude, and comes into Egypt," calling "light crassitude" the body conceived of the Holy Spirit. And this part of the prophecy, therefore, obtained its literal fulfillment at the time when the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: "Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you." ^D Then, therefore, the Lord God, the Word Himself, having entered into the age of a child, and in His constitution from the holy Virgin, being indeed in a dense flesh on account of the imprint of bodily matter, yet again being light on account of

its being superior to us. And ^A by the name of a 'light cloud'—because it was not constituted from voluptuous corruption, but from the Holy Spirit—it dwells in the land of the Egyptians.

The reason for His sojourning there is as follows. Since it is recorded that the practices of idolatrous error first began in Egypt, and the Egyptians seemed to be the most superstitious of all men, and were enemies and foes of the people of God, being in the greatest degree removed from the prophets, it was fitting that the power of God should first dwell among them. Therefore, the word of His evangelical teaching prevailed among the Egyptians more than among all other men. Whence the present prophecy foretells that the Lord Himself would journey to them, but not that the Egyptians would come into the land of the Jews, nor that they would worship Him in Jerusalem, nor again that they would there become proselytes to the Jews according to the customs ordained by Moses, nor that they would offer sacrifices at the altar which is in Jerusalem. But it affirms that none of these things would happen; rather, the Lord Himself would visit the Egyptians, and would deem those men worthy of His presence, and would become the author of great good things for them.

His sojourn among them would indeed bring to fulfillment those things which, even in reality, are seen to be completed after the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us observe what these things were. The ^B vicious and wicked demons who formerly inhabited Egypt, lurking for a long age in their idols and enslaving the souls of the Egyptians to every error of superstition, when they perceived that a new and divine power had drawn near to them, were immediately stirred and suffered a tossing and trembling within themselves. Their heart and their intellectual faculty were conquered within them, yielding and overcome by that power which invisibly pressed upon them and, like fire, scorched them with an ineffable word. And then, indeed, the demons suffered these things invisibly when our Savior Jesus Christ arrived in Egypt with a visible body.

But afterwards, when His Gospel had now been plainly preached to the Egyptians, just as to the remaining nations, and His invisible power was present with His apostles, invisibly co-operating with them, helping them, and proclaiming through them His pious teaching—exhorting them to worship only the one and only true God, and turning them away from the demons by whom they had previously been deceived—thenceforth, among the Egyptians, just as among the rest of the nations, a sedition and civil war arose. For some, withdrawing from the error of polytheism, were running toward the Word of God, Christ; but others, on the contrary, were attacking these very people ^C and were being goaded by their own demons into a certain fury to commit such an outrage, so that brothers were being separated from brothers, and those most dear were resorting to the sword for the sake of the teaching of Christ. The oracle says: "And the Egyptians shall be stirred up against the Egyptians, and brother shall fight against brother, and man against his neighbor." The prophetic prediction is confirmed also

by our Savior himself in the Gospels, saying: "Brother shall deliver brother to death, and father his child, and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall kill them." And again: "Do not ^A think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I tell you, no, but division; for from now on there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. Father shall be divided against son, and son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." For how would these things differ from the prophetic voice, which says that, upon the Lord's arrival in Egypt, Egyptians would be raised against Egyptians, and man would fight against his brother?

Furthermore, the law of the New Testament of Christ was raised against the law of polytheistic superstition, at the time when the law of the idol-worshipping nations was fighting against the teaching of Christ, and the city and state ^B of the Church which is in Christ was standing up against the political systems of the unbelieving nations. Hence it has been said: "City against city, and law against law."

It is possible, moreover, to see on these points all the Egyptians who are idol-worshippers, and the spirit of idolatry that works within them, being even now troubled, and devising many things against the teaching of Christ, so as to extinguish it, and to wipe it out from among men, but being scattered by God, who says in the prophecy: "And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be confounded within them, and I will bring their counsel to nothing." And although they inquire and ask ten thousand things against us in oracles and divinations, consulting their gods ^C and the demons lurking in the statues, and those ventriloquists who of old could do much among them, they gain nothing more from them. Hence the Word says: "And they shall inquire of their gods, and their statues, and the ventriloquists." But, it says, they will obtain no help, those who flee for refuge to those deemed by them to be gods, who have deceived them previously, especially when the Lord delivers them over to harsh masters and kings, at the time when, obeying their demons and energized by them, they stir up persecutions against the Church of God.

Here I would have you apply your mind diligently, as to how, up until the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ, the whole of Egypt used its own kings, separately and by itself, and the Egyptians lived in autonomy ^D and freedom, and their power was renowned for a long and great age; and how from the time that Augustus, the first of the Romans—in whose reign our Lord was born—conquered Egypt, and Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies, perished, they have come under the power of the Romans, and under their laws and commands, having been deprived of their former autonomy and freedom; just as in this, too, the prophetic oracle is verified, concerning those who are sent into the regions as governors and rulers, and concerning the rest in part

when the first Augustus of the Romans, in whose times our Lord was born, had conquered Egypt, and most recently Cleopatra of the Ptolemies had been captured, they fell under the power of the Romans and were placed under their laws and edicts, deprived of their own proper ^A rights and their own liberty—so that the prophetic oracle clearly demonstrates its truth even in this regard—which speaks thus of those who were to be sent to those regions for the sake of administration, and of the praetors and other magistrates throughout the individual provinces: "And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of cruel lords." ^B Regarding those, however, who governed the entire empire and held supreme authority, that which follows is said, for which Aquila says: "And the king, having become strong, will have power over them." Symmachus, however: "And a strong king will have legal authority over them." Thus, I believe the empire of the Romans is designated, by which, as if by a bridle and a bond, being restrained, not only the Egyptians, who of all men are the most superstitious, but also the rest of all mankind, are now unable and dare not speak against the Church of our Saviour. After these things, there follow in order in the same prophecy certain more obscure things, implicated in knots and difficulties, which require a longer and deeper interpretation on account of the figure in which they are phrased, to which we shall not be loath to apply the proper light of exposition when at leisure, as time permits, when, God willing, we have completed the account of the divine promises.

CHAPTER XXI

By the same. — A promise of good things to the Church gathered from the nations, which previously was a desert, and a manifest advent of God to afflicted and vexed souls, and the saving displays of miracles and prodigies.

^C "Rejoice, thirsty desert; let the desert exult, and let it bloom as the lily: and the deserts of the Jordan will blossom and exult. And the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and ^D the honor of Carmel, and my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the height of God. Be strengthened, ye relaxed hands, and ye dissolute knees: be comforted, ye faint-hearted in intellect, be strengthened, fear not. Behold, our God renders judgment, and will render it: he himself will come, and he will save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear: then the lame will leap as a deer, and the tongue of the muted will be plain. For water has broken forth in the desert, and a valley in a thirsty land: and that which lacks water will be into pools, and into the thirsty land there will be a fountain of water." In this place also the saving advent of God is openly sung, which is about to bring many good things; for to the deaf he predicts the return of hearing, and to the blind sight, and furthermore to the lame and to those having an impeded tongue, he predicts that he will render a cure: all of which found their outcome in no other way than after our Saviour Jesus Christ arrived, by whom both the eyes of the blind were opened and the deaf received hearing; and what need is there to say how many, through his disciples, both those having solved limbs, and the mute and the lame, recovered natural healings? And how many other innumerable people, who were vexed by various kinds of sicknesses and languors, were deemed worthy of healing and salvation by him, according to the divine prophecy

^A and according to the most truthful testimony of the holy Gospels. By the “desert” in these passages, the Word indicates the Church from the Gentiles, which, being formerly destitute of God, receives the Gospel through those of whom we are presently speaking. And the Word further says to this desert that the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. It is customary to call Jerusalem “Lebanon” allegorically, as we shall prove in due time by demonstrations from the divine Scripture. Therefore, the prophecy before us teaches that upon the advent of God to men, the glory of Lebanon shall be given to the aforementioned desert—that is, to the Church of the Gentiles. Instead of “and the honor of Carmel,” Aquila says: “The splendor of Carmel and of Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord.” Symmachus says: “The beauty of Carmel and of the plain, they shall see the glory of the Lord.” And Theodotion says: ^B “The comeliness of Carmel and of Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord.” By these words, I believe the prophecy signifies not Jerusalem itself, nor Judaea, but the very land of the Gentiles, which was to be deemed worthy of the knowledge of God. For Carmel and the place called Sharon were regions of the alien Gentiles. This, then, according to the letter. But according to the spiritual sense, it must be said that those who were previously blinded in their souls, to the extent of worshipping wood and stones and the rest of inanimate matter, and terrestrial demons and evil spirits, instead of the God of the all, and [those] whose ears of understanding had grown ^C deaf, and who were limping and paralyzed in their whole life—these are now being delivered from all these and other passions and sicknesses through the teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ, being deemed worthy of a healing and benefit much better than that which pertains to the body, and demonstrating the divine and superhuman power of the coming of the Word of God to men.

CHAPTER XXII

CHAPTER XXIII

of your mother, whom I sent away? Or to whom among my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your sins, and for your iniquities I sent away your mother; for I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to listen. Is my hand unable to deliver? Or do I lack the power to save?” ^A Then, proceeding a little further in the same prophecy: “But I,” he says, “am not disobedient, nor do I gainsay. I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn my face from the shame of spitting.” ^B By these words the Lord himself, while acknowledging his own coming to men, reproves the people of the Jews, because they will not receive him when he comes, nor will they listen to him when he calls; and he teaches that this was, as it were, defending himself, the cause of their own rejection. For, “Because I came,” he says, “and there was no man among you, and I called, and there was no one to listen; for this reason,” he says, “you were sold for your sins,” inasmuch as you yourselves became deserters from my calling by your own act, and it is not that I gave you a bill of divorce. These words are clearly directed to the people who belong to the circumcision. And at the same time he indicates those things which were dared by them against him in his passion, saying: “I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows,” and what follows. These things also will, at the proper leisure, receive their just explanation.

CHAPTER XXIV.

“Thus says the Lord: Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations; for this reason my people shall know in that day that I am he, the very one who speaks, I am present; as beauty upon the mountains, as the feet of one bringing tidings of peace, as one announcing good things, because he will make your salvation heard, saying: Zion, your God shall be king. The voice of those who guard you is raised, and with the voice together they shall rejoice, because they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall have mercy on Zion. Let the deserts of Jerusalem break forth into joy together, because the Lord has had mercy on her and ^D delivered Jerusalem, and will reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation from our God.” Joined immediately to these, under one and the same context, is the prophecy concerning the passion of Christ, which I shall also set forth at a later time. Yet this is the one and the same Lord who, in the passage just before this one, said to the Jewish people themselves: “You were sold for your sins, and for your iniquities I sent away your mother; for I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to listen”; and in the words with which we are now dealing, he says to the same people: “Because of you my name is blasphemed in

the nations.” ^A Then, as if he had another people besides them, he adds: “Therefore my people shall know my name.” He then teaches that it is not another, but the Lord himself who spoke in the prophets, who will one day dwell in this life, saying: “I am, he who speaks, I am here.” But the passage, “As it were upon the mountains, as the feet of one evangelizing the hearing of peace, as one evangelizing good things, I will make your salvation heard, saying: Sion, your God shall reign,” the other interpreters have rendered more clearly. For Aquila says: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of one evangelizing, of one proclaiming peace, of one evangelizing good, of one proclaiming salvation, saying to Sion: Your God has reigned!” And Symmachus says: “How comely upon the mountains are the feet of one evangelizing, of one making heard peace, of one evangelizing good things, of one making heard salvation, saying to Sion: Your God has reigned!” And for the words, “The voice of those who guard you was lifted up, and with the voice they shall rejoice together; for they shall see eye to eye,” Symmachus translated it thus: “The voice of your watchmen, they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together; for they shall see plainly with their eyes.” ^B By these watchers, the holy apostles of our Savior are meant, who, having seen with their own eyes him who was prophesied, lifted up their voice, preaching to the whole world. And the Apostle recognizes the Sion and Jerusalem which is evangelized in those places as heavenly, by the words he uses: “But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother,” and, “You have come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the gathering of many thousands of angels.” Sion might also be called the Church founded everywhere on earth through Christ, just as Jerusalem denotes every pious and religious civil institution, which, though it formerly existed only among the ancient Jews, was turned into a wilderness because of their impieties, and then again obtained a renewal for the better through the coming of our Savior. ^C Wherefore the prophecy says: “Let the deserts of Jerusalem break forth into joy, for the Lord has had mercy on her, and has delivered Jerusalem.” Nor would you be mistaken if you called the soul of every holy and God-loving man Sion (for it is interpreted as “watchtower”), insofar as it is raised above this life, since it has its right of citizenship in heaven and contemplates those things that are higher than the world itself; and insofar as it is established in the stability and peace of the passions, you may call the same Jerusalem, for that name, being interpreted, signifies “vision of peace.” Accordingly, the calling of the nations to the true religion of God is most clearly declared by the words: “And the Lord God will reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation from our God.” ^D Consider the arm of God to be none other than the Word, and the Wisdom, and the Lord himself, who is the Christ of God. Indeed, it is easy to demonstrate this from many things. You have also in Exodus Israel having been saved by the arm of God from those in Egyp-

the arm of God, which brought salvation most clearly to the ancient people, is to be revealed and opened to all nations, as being that which was previously hidden, the present prophecy signifies. ^A And know that the salvation which he says "all the ends of the earth shall see," and which he indicated above when he said, "I will make your salvation heard," is called by the Hebrew name, Jesus.

CHAPTER XXV

From the same. — That the Lord, the very Word of God himself, is again prophesied to come and to gather the nations.

"Behold, the Lord will come as fire, and his chariots as a storm," ^B and what follows. "The Lord said: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory. And I will leave a sign upon them, and I will send those of them who have been saved to the nations, to Tharsis, and Phud, and Lud, and Mosoch, and Thobel, and to Greece, and to the islands afar off, which have not heard my name, nor seen my glory, and they shall declare my works among the nations." Most plainly, also, the coming of the Lord to men is indicated in these words; and since it is said here that he will come as fire, our Savior rightly says: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I if it is already kindled?" ^C And you could fittingly call his chariots the divine powers that attend him and the holy angels serving him, of whom it was said: "And the angels came and ministered to him," as well as his holy apostles and disciples, borne by whom, the Word of God, through divine and invisible power, traversed the whole world. It may also be said otherwise regarding the literal sense: that the fire and the chariots are proclaimed along with his coming because of the siege that oppressed Jerusalem after the arrival of our Savior, after which, not long later, the temple itself was consumed by fire and suffered the uttermost devastation. The city was surrounded by chariots and hostile armies; ^D after which event those things that had been foretold concerning all the nations also obtained a fulfillment consonant with this prophecy. Finally, who would not marvel, hearing the Lord saying through the prophet: "I come to gather all nations and tongues," when he sees in every land that is inhabited by men, through the coming and calling of our Savior Jesus Christ, assemblies of nations gathered together in the name of Christ; and the tongues of all nations in every kind of speech invoking the one God and Lord? And furthermore, after all these things, who, observing all those who have come to the faith of Christ using the saving sign [of the cross] as a seal, would not justly be struck with wonder if he heard the Lord long before having said: "And they shall come and see my glory,"

^A and I will leave a sign upon them." We may see, then, even now, at least in part, the fulfillment of the divine oracles with our own eyes, according to our Savior’s first advent to men. Yet these same things will be more fully accomplished at his second and glorious advent, when all the nations shall see his glory, and he himself comes from the heavens with power and great glory. The remaining things declared in the same oracle may also be referred to that time, just as we shall demonstrate in the work properly dedicated to this subject. Since, therefore, we have gathered so many things up to this point concerning the advent of God to men which was formerly prophesied, it follows that we must append to these what manner of arrival was predicted in the same oracles to occur for his first coming into human life.

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA EPISTLE OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION BOOK SEVEN.

^B WHAT IS CONTAINED IN THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

I. What was the manner of God’s dwelling among men, from the noted Scriptures. 1. From Isaiah. 2. From the same. 3. From the same. II. Where upon earth Christ was prophesied to be born. 4. From Micah. 5. From Psalm [131]. III. Of what descent he was proclaimed to come. 6. From II Chronicles. 7. From Psalm [110]. 8. From Isaiah. 9. From Jeremiah. 10. From Genesis.

PROOEMIUM.

That God would arrive unto men, and would live upon the earth among men, these two greatest proofs

^A of His coming—the calling of the nations throughout the whole world to receive the true knowledge of God, and the ruin and desolation of the Jewish nation on account of its disbelief in Him—we have learned from the prophetic voices, and therein have we inspected the outcome that those things which were foretold have finally reached. Consequently, I myself shall now endeavor in order, in this seventh volume of the Evangelical Demonstration, to contemplate the manner according to which He says He has migrated unto men. Let us then, from this point forward, consider what manner of approach of God unto men was prophesied, and where among the nations it was predicted that He would arise, and from what lineage it was proclaimed by the voices of holy men that He would proceed.

CHAPTER 1.

Prediction of the disbelief of the Jewish nation toward Christ, and the sign given to them by the Lord. And this was: A Virgin bearing God; under whose generation the universal purgation of the Jewish nation was proclaimed. And just as foreigners and enemies will occupy their land, so that which was formerly a desert, having obtained divine tillage, will be fruitful—the Church gathered from the nations demonstrating this state of things. Just as the marvelous evangelist John, speaking with a voice more than human concerning our Savior and Lord—concerning the Word of God Himself, that is—commencing his holy Scripture and narration, sets forth together with that theology ^B His approach unto men through an assumed body, saying thus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God; all things were made by Him." And adding thereafter: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

In the same manner, the divinely inspired prophet also, being about to announce that God is to be born of a Virgin, first contemplates a certain vision of His glory, and describes such theology, saying: "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the house was full of His glory; and the seraphim stood round about Him: six wings to the one, and six wings to the other; and with two they covered His face, and with two they covered His feet, and with two they flew. And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of His glory." ^C And he adds thereafter: "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Behold, I am here; send me. And He said to me: Go, and tell this people: You shall hear with your hearing, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has been made gross, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." And I said: "How long, O Lord, ^D

^A and He said: 'Until the cities be desolate, for lack of inhabitants, and the houses because there is no one left, and the land shall be left desolate.'" But what Lord is it permissible to say the prophet saw, if not the one whom we proved in the preceding books to have been seen by and to have conversed with our forefathers, including Abraham and those like Abraham? For we have previously learned that He is both God and Lord, and indeed the Angel, and the Commander-in-chief of the Lord's host. Since the present passage is about to prophesy His advent among men, it first contemplates His divine kingdom, where he says he saw Him sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. This throne of His must be the same one manifested in the Psalm concerning the Beloved, according to the words: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever," upon which God ^B the Father, the Creator of all and the Most High, bade Him sit as His only-begotten and beloved Son, saying: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet." This interpretation of ours regarding these passages is confirmed by John the Evangelist, who, after citing the aforementioned words of Isaiah, in which it is said: "For the heart of this people has been hardened, and they heard heavily with their ears, and they closed their eyes," adds regarding Christ and says: "These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him." Since, then, the prophet had seen the installation of our Savior upon the paternal throne of divine glory and kingship, and being himself inspired by the Holy Spirit, ^C and being about to describe thereafter His advent among men and His birth from the Virgin, he first attests to the knowledge and glorification that was to come upon all the earth, introducing the seraphim surrounding Him and saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His glory." But what might these seraphim be, who attend Christ the Son of God? Might they perhaps be choirs of angels and divine powers, or rather prophets and apostles? For "seraphim" is interpreted as "the beginning of their mouth." Such were the prophets and apostles, through whose mouths the first fruits of the saving proclamation were made; because of this they received ^D this name. Their powers, which are of the Holy Spirit and are called wings, veil the first and the last parts of the knowledge of God the Word, as being by nature ineffable and incomprehensible, but they reveal the intermediate parts of His dispensation, as these alone are knowable to human nature, while that which is beyond and after these remains silent in hidden mysteries. They might also be divine and heavenly powers, since "seraphim" is interpreted as "burnings"; for it is said: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." These cry out and shout one to another according to their own power, revealing the holiness of Him who is being glorified, and—most paradoxical of all—theology itself. For not only are the things in heaven full of His glorification,

^A but the whole earth also partook of that same power, on account of His predicted descent from heaven to men, which the Word, proceeding in order, prophesies, proclaiming His birth from a Virgin and the glorification of Him that was spread through her over all the earth.

"Lord Sabaoth" is interpreted as "Lord of hosts." He would be the supreme commander of the Lord's hosts, whom the divine powers again call "Lord Sabaoth" in the twenty-third Psalm, prophesying His ascent from earth to heaven, through the words they say: "Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." ^B Indeed, the Hebrew context again calls Him "Lord Sabaoth" in this place; and because He is the King of glory, and because through His coming all the earth was to be filled with His glory, what was to come to pass is rightly mentioned both in the prophet and in the psalm. In the prophet, it is mentioned with the words: "The whole earth is full of His glory"; but in the psalm, at the very beginning, where it says: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and all that dwell therein."

These things having been prophesied, the prophet proceeds to testify that, although the whole earth shall be full of His glory, yet the Jewish nation will not receive Him. Therefore he says: "And the Lord said"—that is, the very Lord Sabaoth who had been seen—"Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Behold, I am here; send me. And He said: Go, and say to this people: Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; ^C and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has become fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." By these words, He clearly predicts the future opposition of the Jewish people against Him, and that while they shall indeed see Him, they will not perceive who He is; and they shall hear Him speaking and teaching among them, yet they will not understand who it is that talks with them, nor what the precepts of the new doctrine are which He will deliver to them.

The evangelist John confirms the outcome of this oracle concerning our Savior, saying: ^D "But though He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him." Indisputably, therefore, he referred to Christ the theophany interpreted by the evangelist, and upon the Jewish people who did not accept the

evangelist, referring the vision of God to Christ, and to the Jewish people, who did not receive the Lord they had seen through the prophet, according to the prophecy concerning Him. ^A For the oracle says that the prophet who had seen the Lord Sabaoth spoke to the Jewish nation, that they themselves would one day see the same One, but would not understand who He was, and would hear Him speaking among them and teaching, but would not perceive it, because their heart had been hardened. These things, therefore, having been prophesied by Isaiah in the words we have set forth, he describes in a narrative of history the onset of enemies against Ahaz, who at that time held the kingdom of the Jewish people, and indicates that the destruction of the visible enemies would happen immediately and not long hence. But he signifies that the symbols of which he bore record were of intelligible and invisible enemies, certain demons and unseen powers, ^B concerning which we have discoursed at the beginning of our entire work, showing that they had driven not only the Jewish nation, but the entire human race into every kind of wickedness, and indeed into the very godless worship of idols; and he shows that their defeat could not be brought about in any other way than through the sole coming of the Word of God, who was foretold to come to men, being about to take on a human body from an undefiled Virgin. But as to what use this was to Him, it is now time to inquire further.

Concerning the coming of our Savior.

^C "Since by man death entered into the world," says the Apostle, "it was necessary, I presume, that by the same man victory over death be obtained, and that the body of death be revealed as the body of life, and that the kingdom of sin, which previously exerted its power in the mortal body, be destroyed, so that sin might no longer rule over it, but righteousness; and since through the sins of the flesh the fall had formerly come to all men, justly, in turn, were trophies to be erected against the enemies by a body free of all sin and untouched by any evil at all. But what enemies, if not those who once laid low the human race through the pleasures of the flesh? Furthermore, since the Word of God was about to converse with men, ^D and to deliver the precepts of piety to physical ears, and to demonstrate to the eyes of men wonders and miracles, and clearly and openly show the power of God, it was necessary that He should do this by no other means than the instrument familiar and accustomed to us. For it was not possible for the eyes of men to see anything more than bodies, nor for the ears to hear anything more than the sound produced by the tongue. In order, therefore, that we might lay hold of the concepts of intelligible and incorporeal realities even through the perception of bodies, the Word of God Himself took on a nature akin and familiar to us, and through it He presented all the saving truths to those who heard and saw Him

And these things He performed while not in any way being held captive by the needs of the body, as we are, nor suffering anything inferior or greater than His own divinity. Nor was the Word of God—being who He is and filling all things and passing through all things—made to be present in the body in the same way as a human soul is, nor was He hindered ^A by such a body in such a way that He could not meanwhile discharge His divine duties or be everywhere present. Nor was He stained by any filth, corruption, or defilement from that body which He assumed. Since He is by nature devoid of body, flesh, and all matter, being the Word of God, He conducted the entire dispensation by divine power and ineffable reasons, sharing His own things while not taking on anything foreign. Why, then, is there need to fear this dispensation of His in the body, since He who cannot be defiled is not defiled, and He who cannot be stained is not stained by the assumed flesh, nor is the impassible Word of God corrupted by the nature of the body—since He is the Word of God, totally alien to any nature capable of suffering? ^B For when the rays of the sun touch corpses and bodies of every kind, are they said to suffer anything at all? Conversely, by the divine Word Himself, that which was corruptible was changed for the better, and became holy and immortal, just as was His own will; furthermore, He was meanwhile serving the divine counsels and actions of His Father. Therefore, the most man-loving God and Word of God accomplished this whole work for the healing and salvation of all men, acting in accordance with the voices of the prophets, who indeed had testified long before, from ancient times, to His wondrous birth from a Virgin. ^C And it is very necessary that the prophet place before the birth of Christ from the Virgin that which makes his hearers attentive, crying out directly to those who listen to these things: "If you will not believe, you shall not understand," to which he subsequently adds those things which are in this manner: "If you will not believe, you shall not understand. And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, either in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And He said: Hear now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to strive with men, and how do you strive with the Lord? Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel. Butter and honey he shall eat, before he knows or chooses evil, he shall choose the good; because before the child knows good or evil, he disobeys wickedness to choose the good. And the land, which you fear, shall be abandoned from the face of the two kings." And the things of the prophecy were indeed in this state; ^D but it is worthy to dwell upon the preamble of the discourse, which bears witness to those who come across it, that if they do not believe, they shall not understand. And it was necessary to mark this, showing that those who encounter it require not only understanding but also faith, and not only faith but also understanding. Whence those of the circumcision who did not believe in the Christ of God, even now, while hearing these things, have not yet understood that which is prophesied, so that in them is fulfilled the prediction first of all: for hearing the prophecies concerning Christ, they hear them every day, yet they do not hear with the ears of the mind. And the cause of their ignorance is nothing other than

unbelief, and this exactly as the prophecy declared concerning them and to them. For, it says, "If you do not believe, you shall not understand." ^A But if they were to say that it is not "Virgin" but "young woman" that is named in the Scripture (for so they say it is written among them), we shall ask, what sort of sign worthy of a divine promise would that be, if a young woman, having conceived from the intercourse of a man in the customary way, just like all other women, were about to give birth? And how would the One born from her be God? And not simply God, but "God with us"? For this is what the name "Emmanuel" wishes to signify, which he says the child being born ought to be called. "For behold," he says, "the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call His name Emmanuel," which is interpreted, "God with us." And what sort of struggle or what labor and toil for God would there be in a woman giving birth in the customary way? ^B For in our own copies, which were translated by seventy men, who were of Hebrew descent by birth and were approved for the precision of their ancestral training, it is written essentially thus: "Is it a small thing for you to cause struggle to men? And how do you cause struggle to the Lord? Therefore the Lord Himself will give to you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, who shall be called God with us." For this is what I said the name "Emmanuel" wishes to indicate. But in the copies of the Jews themselves, which are current according to the translation of Aquila (now Aquila was a proselyte, not a Jew by nature), nevertheless, even according to him, it is said in this way: "Hear now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to weary men, that you weary also the Lord my God? Therefore He Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman is conceiving in the womb, and bears a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel." And in Symmachus these things are thus: (And Symmachus is said to have been an Ebionite; this was a sect of certain Jews who were said to believe in Christ, from whom Symmachus was.) With him also these things stand thus: "Hear, O house of David; is it not enough for you to weary men, that you weary my God? Therefore He Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman is conceiving, and bears a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel." For because the stubborn nature of the Jewish nation, which is hard to yield to piety, ^C provided no ordinary sweat and toil, and weariness, and struggle to the prophets who were formerly beloved of God, for this reason he says, "Is it not enough for you to weary the prophets of God, and to cause struggle to men? But now you also weary my God, and you also cause struggle to my God?" For so also Theodotion rendered it. The prophet, then, spoke of the one who was being wearied and pressed into the struggle as "my God" in a unique sense, ^D and not "my God" also of those to whom his speech was directed, as if he were saying "my God" to refer to the God over all among the Jews, among whom, from their fathers, the worship of the God who is the Creator of all was preserved. But what would be the struggle and the toil,

^A or the labor of the God who is foretold, or His coming into the generation of men? According to us and the interpretation of the Seventy, He is born of a Virgin; but according to that which is currently circulated among the Jews, He is born of a young woman. Yet you may find even in Moses that one who is confessedly a Virgin is called a "young woman" (neanis). In any case, he has used this term for one who was betrothed to another, but had suffered violence from another. ^B Moreover, the Emmanuel who is to be born from the one indicated possesses a power greater than that of a common man, choosing the good before knowing evils, and disobeying wickedness in order to choose the good; and this not at the age of a man, but in that of a child. Wherefore it is said: "Before the child knows good or evil, he disobeys wickedness in order to choose the good." By these words, the fact that he who is spoken of is entirely untainted by wickedness is clearly shown. ^C But the one who is "God with us" also receives a title higher than any that can be used for a man; wherefore the sign given concerning Him is also said to contain both depth and height—depth because of the descent to men, or even the approach unto death; and height because of the restoration from the depths by the divine power, or because of the theology of His divine pre-existence. Who, then, could be the "God with us," if not the God and Lord who has been demonstrated through the previous arguments? He who appeared to Abraham in no other way than in the form of a man? But if those who are of the circumcision refer these things to Hezekiah—the son of Ahaz—asserting that he is the one promised by the oracle to his father, let them see how Hezekiah was "God with us," or what sign worthy of His majesty God displayed in him. But neither any struggle nor toil was offered to God in his birth; moreover, he is clearly excluded by the timing of the prophecy. For these things were heralded while his father Ahaz himself was reigning regarding future events; but Hezekiah is established to have been born before Ahaz reigned. ^D If the account of the present prophecy is not to be referred to him, it is far from fitting any other of those who appeared among the Jews after the times of the prophecy. Yet in the case of the birth of the true Emmanuel, that is, of the God who has come to be with us, and in the case of the sojourn of our Savior, the Word of God, alone among men—for when the two kings were overthrown, the land of the Jews was left desolate, just as the oracle says, declaring: "The land shall be left desolate before the two kings." This is how it may be rendered literally and word for word. For in the time of king Ahaz, and of Isaiah the son of Amoz, and in the times of the prophecy, the king of Syria in Damascus, and the king of Israel in Samaria—not the one in Jerusalem, but the one of the multitude of the Jews who had apostatized from the divine law—having made treaties with one another, were besieging those who were being reigned over by the successors of David. The prophecy, therefore, foretelling the overthrow of both of these, signifies that those Jews and foreigners of that time, who had given their right hands to one another against the people of God, would immediately be dissolved and would withdraw from the war

but it also predicts that that kingdom and their succession would be utterly dissolved and extinguished upon the birth of Him of whom the prophecy speaks—God with us. Note, therefore, ^A diligently at what time the kingdom of the Damascenes and the Jews was dissolved, and when at length the ^B land of the Jews was left without a king, and likewise that region of the Damascenes which was formerly so powerful, commanding with a great hand in times past all of Syria. For it is reasonable that the Emmanuel, who was prophesied, would certainly be born upon the destruction of these, and that He who was to be prophesied had come. If, then, it were possible to see the kingdoms mentioned standing, there would be no need to search further, but only to continue to hang our hopes on a future time. But if the destruction of the aforementioned is manifest in deed, so that neither in Damascus nor in Judæa does a king appear in our own times, it is evident that the oracle, which says: “And the land shall be left from the face of the two kings, whom you fear, from their face,” has reached its end (where kings are named instead of kingdoms). Symmachus therefore says: ^C “The land shall be left, from which you suffer ills, from the face of its two kings.” And Aquila: “The land, which you loathe, shall be left from the face of its two kings.” And Theodotion also interpreted it in this way: “The land, which you abhor, shall be left from the face of its two kings.” Do you see how it predicts that the land will be left without a king? And what land, if not that of the Damascenes and of Israel? For these were the two kings of whom the discourse treats; whose land Ahaz loathed or abhorred, being weary or vexed by it. When, then, did this happen? For these things having been brought to an end, it was absolutely necessary that the aforementioned part of the prophecy also had proceeded to its fulfillment; and this was that the Virgin should bear the God who is with us. And it is indeed clear to those who examine the histories that up to the time of the epiphany of our Savior ^D Jesus the Christ, a kingdom of ancestral succession had persisted even in Damascus. At any rate, the holy apostle mentions Aretas the king of the Damascenes; and the disordered kingdom of the Jews, not according to the law, still continued even then. For Herod—and those who came after him at the time of our Savior—did not derive the succession of authority from the lineage of David. But after His epiphany, and the evangelical proclamation to all men of the Child from the Virgin, the land was immediately left without the two kings. For from that time, when the monarchy of the Romans began to hold sway over the nations, every ethnarchy and polyarchy in those places was dissolved; and finally, along with the other things, the things of the prophecy currently in hand also found their completion. Such are the words. But according to the deeper meaning, the discourse of the prophecy signifies to every soul that is stable, calm, and peaceful—that soul which has received God Himself, the Emmanuel who was born—the state of

^A a soul over which a King reigns, and from which the enemies who formerly harassed it have fled. There are two modes of impiety: one which suggests to men the worship of idols and heterodox opinions in a variety of forms, and the other which works perversion in the realm of character. The kings who were spoken of in ancient times, in a bodily sense, bore the symbols of these two: the one was the image of the Damascus-led error of the nations regarding idols, and the other was of those who had apostatized from Jerusalem, namely, those who had fallen away from the worship according to the law of God.

That these things ought to be understood in an allegorical sense, one may learn from what follows—where the word prophesies that in the day of Emmanuel, certain flies and bees will come upon the Jewish nation, some from Egypt and others from Assyria—and that He will shave the head, the feet, and the beard; and that a man will nurture a heifer of the herds and two sheep; and that other things ^B will occur at one and the same time, which in no way can be understood according to the letter, but are to be contemplated only by the intellect.

These things, then, are of such a nature. But regarding how the present scripture pre-signified the manner of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, the evangelist will testify, writing in this way: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: for when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make a public example of her, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.’ Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.’” ^C

Thus, indeed, in our view, the things of divine foreknowledge are confirmed by the outcome of events, for otherwise the prophecy would not appear to bear the truth on its own. ^D

^A As to what and how many things are said to come to pass in that day—and it is clear that this is in the time of the manifestation of Emmanuel—let us consider them. “He will whistle,” it says, “for the flies, which rule over part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee, which is in the land of the Assyrians; and they shall come and rest in the ravines of the country, and in the holes of the rocks, and into the caves, and into every fissure, and on every tree. And in that day, the Lord shall shave with the great razor, which is hired from beyond the river, the king of the Assyrians, the head, and the hair of the feet, and the beard shall he take away. And it shall be in that day, a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, and it shall be that from the abundance of making milk, he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat who is left upon the earth. And it shall be in that day, every place, wherever there were a thousand vines of a thousand shekels, shall be for desolation and for ^B thorns; with arrows and bows they shall enter there, because all the land shall be desolation and thorns, and every mountain which is cultivated shall be cultivated [no more]. Fear shall not come there, for it shall be from your wasteland and thorns into pasture for sheep, and the treading-ground of an ox.”

This prophecy sets forth many things that are to be in the day of Emmanuel; it is now time to test with what contemplation these matters are to be searched out, dividing the meaning in the meantime: “He will whistle,” it says, “for the flies in that day, which rule over part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee, which is in the land of the Assyrians.” ^C Where, by “flies,” I think are meant the souls of men who formerly worshipped idols, or certain impure and infested powers, and “Egyptian flies,” which delight in the sacrifices and blood of idols. But the “bee” is an animal armed with a sting, which has the knowledge of how to rule and live under a king, of how to wage war, and how to defend itself and wound those who oppose it. These, therefore, coming together into one place—some from the land of those who worship idols, others from the land of the “governors” (for the Assyrians are interpreted as “governors”)—at the command and, as it were, the whistling of the Lord and God of all, will rule over all of Judea, on account of their unbelief in Christ, in the day of Emmanuel, he says. By these words he signifies that foreign and military nations shall inhabit Jerusalem and the land of Judea—which our Savior himself predicted in clearer language, saying, “And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles.” This oracle found its fulfillment not long after these words of our Savior, when the Romans captured the city and settled men of a foreign race there and established them in that place. Again, the same Lord is said to shave with the “razor of the king of Assyria,” that is, by the chastening power of the prince of this present world, the head, and the feet, and the beard—of none other than, once again, the Jewish nation—that is, he shall remove their adornment and glory through the rule of those who govern the universe. By these, he hints at no others than the Romans. For by the name of the Assyrians...

I believe the empire of the nations ^A that holds sway in each successive age is signified, because those who interpret from the Hebrew tongue indicate that the "Assyrians" are the "governors." Thus, the ones who govern now are the Romans. For indeed, the God of all removed all the glory of the Jewish nation, in which it formerly vaunted itself, and all their strength—signified by the beard, the hair, and the feet—by the razor of the Romans, that is to say, by their political and military power. And surely, at no other time before—neither from the beginning of from the age—did God remove from them their entire adornment ^B through the Roman empire, except after the birth of our Savior, Emmanuel Himself. But in place of "the king of the Assyrians," Aquila indeed has rendered it "in the kingdom of the Assyrians," while Theodotion has "in the king of the Assyrians," and likewise Symmachus; they make it clear that the oracle does not threaten to shave the head of the king of the Assyrians, but that the Jewish nation is to be affected by his razor, and in that very king of the Assyrians—that is, in those who govern—the things prophesied in this scripture are to be brought to pass. ^C The outcome of these words bears witness to this. Anyone at leisure, if he observes, would find many other things in the prophets said as if concerning the person of the Assyrians, which in no way can be adapted to the Assyrians, but only to the empire that generally dominates the various nations at any given time. We have even found Persians called Assyrians by the Hebrews. For this reason, we have supposed that the Logos here also hints at the Roman empire; for we see it both governing and being governed by God after the advent of our Savior. Let no one, however, suspect that we say everything which is read in the divine scriptures about the Assyrians ^D is to be referred to the Romans (for that would be foolish and shameless), but that some prophetic utterances are interwoven with the testimonies concerning Christ, which we say hint at the Romans through the designation "Assyrians," derived from the interpretation of the name that always identifies the empire prevailing over the nations at any given time, as we will show at the appropriate moment. And for my part, as I reflect within myself upon the rationale of this explanation, I believe the prophetic oracles make no mention of the Romans by name for no other reason than that under the reign of the Romans, the doctrine of our Savior was to shed its light upon all men, and the prophetic scriptures were to be published not only in the city of the Romans itself but in all nations subject to the Roman empire. So, lest any offense should arise among those who held the empire if it were written about them most openly, an obscurity of language was employed in the oracles, as indeed in many other places, but especially in the visions of Daniel, just as also in the prophecy now in hand, in which it names them "those who govern" while calling them "Assyrians." Through the razor of these, then, he prophesies that the entire adornment of the Jewish nation would be shaved off—that is, abolished—after the birth of Emmanuel. Furthermore, on that declared day (which is clearly the day of Emmanuel, that is to say, the epiphany of Christ...

^A in the time of the rising of the rational light which beamed forth to all men through our Saviour), He says ^B: “A man shall nourish a heifer of oxen and two sheep; and it shall be from the abundance of milk which it produces, that everyone who is left upon the earth shall eat butter and honey.” By these words, someone might say that the famine and immense poverty of the people from the circumcision are being hinted at, for they will not have an abundance of natural food from grain, nor will they plow land, nor sow, nor reap, nor will they possess flocks of sheep or herds of cattle, but they will possess only two sheep and one heifer, obtaining milk from these.

Alternatively, by way of moral interpretation, one might say that the one left upon the earth hints at the choir of apostles and evangelists from the circumcision who believed in our Saviour and Lord; each of whom, having become a remnant according to the election of grace and therefore named as being "left upon the earth," is said to nourish a heifer of oxen and two sheep—that is, three ranks in every Church: one of those who lead, and two of those who are subject, since the people of the Church of Christ are divided into two ranks: those of the faithful, and those who have not yet been deemed worthy of the regeneration through the washing, to whom also the divine Apostle says: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.” He reasonably calls those who have already attained to a more perfect state a “heifer of oxen,” as they are the offspring of more perfect oxen, such as the Apostle himself was, who speaks regarding himself and those who labor in a manner similar to him, saying: ^C “Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does He speak entirely for our sake?”

Every rank of those who preside over the Church, to whom the care of plowing and cultivating the souls of men has been entrusted, might also be signified by the name “heifer of oxen,” as they are the offspring of apostolic ways and teachings, and it is said that they will increase in virtue to such a degree that, through their great procreation, they will yield so much fruitful and rational milk through introductory doctrines that countless others will be nourished by them.

Once these things have come to pass concerning those who are left upon the earth, He ^D further announces what will happen on that day (it is clear that this is in the time of the presence of Emmanuel). And what is this? “Every place,” it says, “of the people from the circumcision, where there were a thousand vines for a thousand shekels, shall be for desolation and for thorn. For they shall enter there with arrow and bow” (it is clear that these are the enemies), “because all the land shall be desolation and thorn.” And look, indeed, at how many things the oracle prophesies will happen to the Jewish nation on the day of Emmanuel—I mean, at the time when the rational light is to rise, which shone forth to all men through our Saviour—that unclean and hostile powers, which formerly exercised their efficacy among the nations and in Egypt and in the land of the Assyrians, will, with the Lord hissing at them and, as it were, urging them on and commanding them, invade their land, for the reason that it has become worthy of such things; and He says that these mentioned powers will rest in the ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in the caves, and in every crag of them,

^A in a spiritual sense, within their souls and the senses of their body, in their reasonings and their fractured minds; but in the literal sense, throughout their entire land. And who would not marvel, seeing with his own eyes that their enemies have occupied every place in Judea, and that foreigners and idol-worshipping men have rested in all their cities and regions? But the Word says that He will not only cause these things to happen to them, but that with the razor of the King of Assyria, whom we understand to be Him, He will shave their head, the hair of their feet, and their beard—everything, that is, of the adornment which they formerly possessed. Indeed, on that very day and at that same time, He threatens that they will be reduced to the extreme poverty of the wealth of God, to such a degree that they will be deprived of rational bread and solid spiritual food, and will have enough if they are fed with milk, that is, with childish and introductory teaching. ^B In addition to this, their vines will become barren land. For since, as the same prophet says, "The husbandman, who is also its Lord, waited for the vineyard to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns, and a cry, and not justice (for which reason He also declares that by removing its hedge and tearing down the wall, He will reduce the vineyard to barren land and will deliver it to enemies, who, He says, will enter there with bow and arrow, having received power from God, who delivered them not unjustly but with the best of right, because their land has been made entirely barren and thorny, because, I say, they have reduced themselves to barren land and thorns), 'They shall enter,' He says, 'there with bow and arrow, those who have received the power over them.'"

^C Do not, I pray, marvel if these things also are set forth under shadow and through most obscure figures. For the reason for such a dispensation of the Word has already been stated: that the oracle wished to conceal the extreme destruction of the Jewish nation, so that the Scripture might be preserved among them for the progress and benefit of us, the Gentiles. For if the prophecies had openly proclaimed destruction to them, but good things to the Gentiles, no one among those of the circumcision would have been studious of them; rather, as being contrary and hostile to themselves, they would have destroyed them, and thus it would not have been possible for us, who have come from the Gentiles, to make use of the testimonies of the prophets regarding our Savior and regarding ourselves. But since so many things were to happen to the Jewish nation in the day of Emmanuel, according to the other interpretation, a certain few are said to be left from among them, of whom the Apostle says: "There has been a remnant according to the election of grace." And he who is of this fewness, he says, "shall feed a heifer of kine, and two sheep, and from the fact that it will produce much milk, he shall eat butter and honey." Such, then, was shown to us, according to the second interpretation, to be all the apostolic choir of the disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ.

but just as he who is left is declared by the prophecy to be of such a nature, so also after the entire region of the Jewish nation and their vineyard has been changed into wasteland and thorn, and on account of these things has been delivered to the enemy, it is conversely foretold from the other side that every mountain that is plowed shall be plowed. I consider the Church of our Savior Jesus Christ to be signified in this way, concerning which He Himself also says: "A city cannot be hidden, standing upon a mountain." For I consider that the elevated and high and heaven-reaching mountain of the polity of the Church is proclaimed through these words. This mountain, then, He says, which is plowed, shall be plowed; so that fear shall not come upon it, but that it shall be changed to such a degree from its former desolation, and wasteland, and thorn, as to become suitable for the pasture of a sheep, and the treading of an ox. And it is possible to calculate how the Church of Christ, having formerly been wasteland and thorn, has through His grace reached such a change, so that it has brought forth grass and herb suited for rational fruit-bearing to such an extent that those who are sheep-like and simpler can enjoy it, and those who have advanced to a more perfect state, who are called oxen, can plow and cultivate it, just as we have set forth that the divine ^B Apostle taught when he said: "Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does He speak entirely for your sake? For your sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher in hope of participating." Thus the desert and wasteland of old has been changed at the appearance of Christ, so that it is aptly suited for the appropriate cultivation of those who are understood as oxen in this way. Pay attention, however, to how under one and the same meaning the birth from a Virgin is prophesied, and how the word says at the same time that the land which was formerly fruitful, which was before of a thousand sicels, shall be for wasteland and for thorn, and all their land, because it shall become thorn and wasteland, shall be delivered to those who will come with arrows and bow. But every mountain shall experience the opposite: for it shall be changed from the former wasteland and thorn into the pasture of a sheep and the treading of an ox, so that it shall indeed, being plowed, be plowed, and fear shall not come upon it. Through ^C which words I consider it to be clearly signified that the birth of our Savior from a Virgin, and the things that were to happen after it, both to the Jews and to the remaining nations, at once and all together — in short, the change of each of the two orders to the opposite, that of the former from better to worse, and that of the Church from the nations from its former desolation to fruitfulness according to God — these things, having been prophesied to be accomplished at one and the same time of the appearance of Emmanuel, are shown to have received their fulfillment, consistently with the predictions, at no other time than after the appearance of our Savior, both through the things expressly mentioned regarding the Jews, and through the Church from the nations. For if, according to the ^D

after the appearance of our Savior, I mean Jesus Christ himself, the kingdom and principality among the Jews and the Damascenes had not ceased; and if it were not permitted to us to observe before our own eyes the land left by them ^A and inhabited by foreign and idolatrous nations; and besides this, if all that was once most venerable, the very beauty of their holy sanctuary, had not been turned into wasteland and thorns; and if the idolaters, those most impure men, their enemies who attacked with bow and arrow, having been impelled by the Lord himself, had not come from foreign lands and rested in their territories, having taken possession of every place and every city of theirs; and again, if the nations that believed in him, transformed—through the teaching of our Savior—from that wasteland and thorns and from the neglect of cultivation that existed before—had not received religious and godly, rational fruitfulness; and in addition to these things, if they had not believed upon seeing Christ with their eyes, and had not—upon hearing him teach—refused to disobey, and if the remainder of the prophecy were not shown to have attained its clear fulfillment after the times of Jesus our Savior, he would not be the one ^B prophesied.

But if, as they say, the results of the oracles are clear even to a blind man, having been fulfilled at no other time than from the days of his appearance, what further need is there to be in doubt concerning his birth from the Virgin, and not rather, by a generous reasoning, to establish faith in the beginning of these things from what is still seen even now? And what are these things that are still seen, if not the Jews' unbelief in him (which is clearly being fulfilled according to the oracle that says: «By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown gross»), their siege of Jerusalem, the utter desolation of their ancient sanctuary, the settlement of foreign nations in their land—who reduce them to servitude by goads, that is, by harsh commands (for this was signified by the examples of the flies and the bees)—and, above all, the transformation of the nations from their former desolation to the cultivation that is according to God?

Who, then, observing these things with his own eyes, would not be struck with wonder? And who would not admit that the prophecy is truly divine, hearing that these things have been kept and studied in their books for a full thousand years from long ago, yet never reached their fulfillment until after the coming of our Savior? If, therefore, the prediction is marvelous, and the outcome of the prediction is ^C even more marvelous and beyond all reason, what need is there to doubt whether his first approach, of which the prophets speak, was marvelous and beyond ^D all human nature in its manner of birth, especially since the clear sight of the other miracles—since it is not of a lower order—compels one to accept the testimony of the rest of the things done by him? But indeed, next to these things, after the words «for a pasture of a sheep and a trampling of an ox,» there is linked a second prophecy related to the one set forth, beginning from the words: «And the Lord said to me: Take...»

tibi librum,» which we have already set forth—come, let us examine it.

^A Ab eodem.—In the New Scripture, that is to say, the New Testament, a prophetess is said to conceive of the Holy Spirit and to bear a Son, who, having vanquished his enemies and foes, shall indeed not be believed by the Jews, but shall be a Savior unto the nations; and of what nature the Jewish nation shall suffer after their unbelief in him is likewise declared by the same.

«And the Lord said unto me: Take thee a great, new roll, and write in it with a man’s pen, to make haste to plunder the spoil, for it is near; and take unto me faithful men as witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Berechiah. And ^B I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name ‘Make haste to plunder, speed the spoil,’ because before the child knows how to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.» This prophecy is connected with the one previously cited. For the Virgin who was there said to bear the God-with-us is here named a prophetess. But when the question arose as to how she, being a stranger to marriage, would conceive, the passage itself now teaches this, declaring: «And I went,» it says, «unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son.» These things ^C must be understood as being from the Holy Spirit, by whom the prophet was inspired as he prophesied. This very Holy Spirit confesses that He Himself came into the prophetess; and this was clearly fulfilled in the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, at the time when the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house and family of David, to whom he said: «Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.» And again: «Fear not; for thou hast found grace with God; and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.» And when Mary ^D said: «How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?» he answered: «The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. Therefore also the holy thing which is to be born shall be called the Son of God.» And in the prophecy before this one, it was said that at the birth of Emmanuel, before the child should know good or evil, the land would be left by the two kings who were besieging it, one of Samaria and the other of Damascus; but in the present one it is stated that before the child knows how to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria—of which kingdoms he had already prophesied at the birth of Emmanuel that their kings would be destroyed.

^A Now, according to the literal sense, in the days of Ahaz king of Judah and at the time of the prophet Isaiah himself, two kings from a conspiracy were besieging those who were under the succession of David, as has already been shown: the one king of Damascus from the nations who worship idols, and the other king of the multitude of the Jews in the city of Palestine then called Samaria, which those of our time call Sebaste. Regarding them, God said through the prophet to Ahaz: “Do not fear, nor let your soul grow weak on account of these two sticks, these smoking firebrands.” And having said that the destruction of those men would happen straightaway and before long, he proceeds to prophesy that upon the birth of God who is with us, the kingdom of both will be entirely extinguished and dissolved. ^B We demonstrate from history that the kingdom both of the Jews and of the Damascenes remained until the times of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. But after his appearance to all men, they ceased in accordance with the prediction, as the Roman empire prevailed along with the proclamation of our Savior.

The Word, having predicted these things to the letter, passes on to the meaning and to a more universal, spiritual exposition in his contemplations. Having posited two ranks of invisible enemies and hostile, wicked demons who attack the entire human race in various ways—one of those who always and at all times generate and create among men the worship of idols and false opinions, and the other of those who work at the corruption and destruction of souls in their conduct—he showed that he who ruled in Damascus bears the image of the error of idol worship, and that he who [ruled] in Samaria is the type of those in a state of falling away from a temperate and healthy life. ^C He says that the land (thus calling those dwelling upon the earth) will not be liberated from these before the appearance of the God Emmanuel upon the earth. But when he has shone forth and reigned in the human soul, none of those who formerly possessed it will remain. So, too, you should understand what is said here, “He shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria,” as the power of our Savior Jesus Christ suddenly destroying all our invisible enemies, who long before were besieging all men with the aforementioned godless and harmful operations. ^D Again, if you interpret it literally, you can see how, at the birth and appearing of our Savior, the power of Damascus was overthrown and the spoils of Samaria were taken away—that is, their kingdoms, which had endured until the times spoken of, ceased from that time down to this day, as foretold by the oracles.

Some also say it another way, that the Magi who came from the East and worshipped Christ while he was still a child are the “power of Damascus.” You might say, in a more general sense, that all those who have turned away from godless and polytheistic idol worship and have been enslaved to the Word of Christ—especially if any might be powerful in the word and wisdom of this age—are those who are named the “power of Damascus.” According to these...

same terms, you shall also understand the “spoils of Samaria” to be the disciples and apostles of our Savior taken from the Jewish nation, whom He took under Himself as though they were spoils taken from the enemies of [the circumcision] who had warred against Him, and He armed them against the king of the Assyrians—by which, in turn, the prince of this age is figuratively signified. ^A Since, however, Aquila has rendered the phrase “in the face of the king of the Assyrians” more clearly, you should consider whether this might perhaps signify the Roman Empire in these passages, inasmuch as, according to what we set forth a little while ago, the “Assyrians” in our language are commonly understood to be both those who rule and those who are ruled. Since, therefore, the king of the Assyrians is also implicated in the oracle now given regarding our Savior, it is reasonable that the Roman Empire should be understood here as well, because it is directed by God Himself for the subjugation of the nations.

Therefore, it is prophesied that the child who is to be born will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria and will deliver them into the face of the Assyrians, and [this will happen] in the eyes of those who are being guided by God. And He will do these things at the very time of His birth, by an ineffable and divine power, while He is still in a childish body, accomplishing such great things among men by His dispensation. The prophet is ordered to deliver all these things in a new and great book, in the writing and pen of a man; by this expression, the New Testament is signified. He takes as witnesses of what has been spoken a priest and a prophet, as the Word instructs that there will be a need in the demonstrations regarding Christ to receive testimonies both from the priesthood contained in the Law and from the prophets who came after. He desires that there be faithful witnesses as well, namely those who are to observe the birth of the child being spoken of, so that they may be able to understand what is prophesied. For, “If you do not believe, neither shall you understand,” ^B as was said previously. And the one who has the light of God (for this is what Urias is interpreted to mean), and the other who, being a son of blessing, bears the memory of God within himself—for this is what Zacharias, son of Barachias, signifies—these are the figures we have applied to these passages.

If anyone from the circumcision does not wish for these things to be so, it is time for us to challenge him to demonstrate who among them has ever been Immanuel, and how the prophet approached the prophetess, and who this woman was, and how she conceived immediately, and who this son born of the prophetess was, to whom the Lord Himself gave the name “Make haste to take the spoils,” and what the reason is for such a designation of the one born. Let them also demonstrate what is meant by, “Before the child knows to call father and mother,” ^C he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of the Assyrians. For we, having taken these things both literally and figuratively, demonstrate that they have been fulfilled in the birth of our Savior, showing them at times according to the obvious meaning, and at other times symbolically, as they should be applied.

^A And immediately after the words previously spoken, through riddles it is added again: "And the Lord spoke to me again, because this people does not desire the water of Siloam which goes in silence, but desires to have Rhaasim and the son of Romelia. Therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and many, the king of the Assyrians and his glory; and it will ascend over all your ravines, and will walk upon every wall of yours, and will take away from Judea a man who is able to lift his head or is capable of accomplishing anything; and his camp shall be so as to fill the breadth of your land; God is with us. Know, O nations, and be defeated, listen even to the end of the earth."

For clearly, these things preserve their meaning in no other way than through figure, change, and turning of speech. For by the water of Siloam which goes in silence, they signify the evangelical doctrine of the saving Word; for Siloam is translated "sent." And who else could this be but the God Word sent to us from the Father? Concerning Whom Moses also says: ^B "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until He comes for whom it is reserved, and He Himself shall be the expectation of the nations." For instead of "for whom it is reserved," the Hebrew contains "Siloam," signifying in that passage also the same one, that is, "the sent one," as the passage denotes here.

Now Rhaasim was king of those nations which worshipped the idols of Damascus, just as the son of Romelia was of those in Samaria who had apostatized from the faith of the Jewish people and the ancestral religion. Therefore, God threatens those who did not receive Siloam—that is, the sent Emmanuel—and the son born of the prophetess, his most precious and fruitful Word; but though it was carried meekly and in silence, they refused it, and against themselves chose either the ruler of the idol-worshipping nations or the leader of the apostasy of the people of God, ^C that He would bring upon them the water of the river, strong and many. The prophecy itself interprets this water, saying it is the king of the Assyrians. Thus, again, according to the inner meaning, it signifies either the prince of this world or the now-prevailing Roman empire, to which they were handed over, having refused the aforementioned water of Siloam that goes in silence, and having subjected themselves to the dogmas of the adversaries and enemies of right reason.

Immediately, therefore, and before long, because they had not received the Gospel of our Savior and had refused the drink of Siloam which flows in silence, the Roman army, directed by God, came up against them, ascended over every ravine of theirs, walked upon every wall of theirs, and took away from Judea a man who was able to lift his head or was capable of accomplishing anything; and

^A his camps became so great that they filled the breadth of all Judea. And that this is indeed fulfilled to the letter against them, if you wish to learn, hear now: because that God Emmanuel, who was born of the Virgin, was with us, and not with them; for if they had had Him, they would not have suffered these things. Wherefore the passage now cries out henceforth to the nations concerning Emmanuel Himself, saying: “God is with us; recognize, O nations, and be overcome.” And these things are interpreted by us in this way, to show how it is necessary to understand most of the prophecies, sometimes according to the letter, and sometimes through more obscure symbols; setting out from this, it is fitting to contemplate in like manner what remains of the prophecy at hand.

But if even now they who are of the circumcision would say that these things are to come to pass at some future time, concerning the Christ who is awaited by them, expecting them to come to pass strictly and to the letter, they must be asked immediately: how will he who is to come, according to them, receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians, when ^B Samaria has already been taken at the present time, and no longer exists, and that which is named the power of Damascus in no way exists, nor the dominion of the Assyrians—which the Medes and Persians, having overthrown it long ago, succeeded? Since, as all these things do not even exist at all in the present time, how is it possible to expect their destruction in a future time? But it is not possible to say that what was prophesied has ever happened at any other time long before. For no one among the Hebrews is recorded as having ever been born of a prophetess mother and Isaiah the prophet, and having gathered an army against the king of the Assyrians to take the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus, as one might assume, taking it according to the literal meaning. So that one must by all means admit that these things have been fulfilled solely according to the meaning we have set forth—not at any other time, clearly, than during the advent of Jesus our Saviour, in whose time, as we have demonstrated, the things foretold received their end. For indeed, according to the prophecy, the new scroll was written at the time of His advent—the account of the New Testament containing the birth of the son of the prophetess, who both to the letter and in truth delivered the royal power of Damascus and of all Syria, and what we have interpreted as the spoils of Samaria, to the hands of the Roman empire by an ineffable and divine power. ^C But not only that; for, according to the deeper meaning, having acquired His disciples from among the Jews as a kind of spoil, and having fortified them with intelligible and rational weapons, He set them in the face of the aforementioned king of the Assyrians, and prepared them as His own soldiers; those, however, who refused the life-giving and vital water of His teaching, which proceeds quietly—choosing instead the warlike things and things hostile to God—He delivered to that king of the Assyrians, to whom even now they are found to be enslaved. He, therefore, ^D ascended upon every ravine of theirs, and upon every wall of theirs, and took away from Judea all

^A the princes and the king—who in this place is called the "head"—and every powerful man who could accomplish anything. Therefore, from that time until today, they have neither had a head nor anyone powerful in divine matters, such as the one who formerly excelled among them—whether a prophet or some other just man and friend of God. It is evident, furthermore, how their whole country has remained subject to their enemies and adversaries even until now, and how all these things were fulfilled at the presence of Emmanuel. Thus, indeed, the Hebrew writing contains it, signifying almost clearly that Emmanuel himself—whom the Jews refused to believe, and who became to them the cause of so many calamities—brought to us Gentiles who have believed in him both salvation and the knowledge of God, as has already been demonstrated. Wherefore it is added in succession: "God is with us; recognize, O nations, and be defeated." For we from the nations have truly been defeated, having been overcome by the truth and the power of God who has become with us; and having been defeated, we have all obeyed him—we who inhabit the ends of the earth, according to the prophecy which says: "Hearken even to the extremity of the earth." ^B We, then, have both been defeated and have obeyed him who calls; but to those among the nations who still refuse to believe, he directs the following, saying: "Though ye be strong, be defeated. For if ye should again be strong, ye shall again be defeated; and whatever counsel ye shall take, it shall not stand among you, because God is with us." Thus saith the Lord to those who do not believe in his strong hand; by these words, the Word clearly prophesies to those who throw off the yoke, who resist the teaching of Christ, and who do not believe in his powerful hand, what is to come: that they shall not even be able to fight against the God who is with us, however much they may attempt it, and that whatever they may devise against us shall not stand for them, because Emmanuel is with us. ^C And it is easy for those who attend to this conclusion and assent to it to observe the threats against us and the insolence and assaults of rulers through various times, and how the outcome of all their threats invariably proved vain for them on account of the God who is with us.

^D From the same. How the Son to be born of the predicted virgin, or prophetess, is proclaimed both God and the Angel of Great Counsel, and by other wondrous titles; and how his birth is established as the cause of the light of piety for the nations.

"Do this first, drink, make haste, O region of Zabulon, and land of Nephthalim, and the rest who inhabit the seacoast beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations; the people sitting in darkness, see a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned upon them," and what follows; to which he adds, "that

^A every garment gathered with deceit, and a cloak with reconciliation, they shall pay for, and they shall wish if they had been burned with fire: for a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Angel of Great Counsel, ^B Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come. I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him. Great shall be his government, and of his peace there is no end, upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to order it and to support it in judgment and justice from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Sabaoth will do these things."

Now for the third time the prophecy commemorates this child, signifying the same thing in various ways. Since, therefore, it is now our purpose to show the manner of God's coming (o) to men, see, I pray, in how many ways this is demonstrated here. First, he was pointed out as the one called Emmanuel, God born of a Virgin; second, the child from the prophetess and the Holy Spirit, who is none other than he of whom we have already spoken; third, the one currently before us, who is one and the same with the former ones. For this one, then, a name is said to exist, according to the Seventy, "Angel of Great Counsel," and as some copies have it, "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come." But according to the Hebrew, as Aquila says: "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and a measure came upon his shoulder. And his name was called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty, Powerful, Father, also Prince of Peace, and of his peace there is no end." ^C And as Symmachus says: "For a youth is given to us, a son is given to us. And his discipline shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Paradox, Counselor, Mighty, Powerful, Father of the age, Prince of Peace, and of his peace there is no end." Therefore, it was not simply an angel according to the Seventy, but the "Angel of Great Counsel," and "Wonderful Counselor," and "Mighty God," and "Potentate," and "Prince of Peace," and "Father of the age to come," that was prophesied to be born and to be a child.

You have already, in what was said before, the Word of God, and God, and Lord, addressed in various ways, and at the same time the same one named Angel of the Father, and Commander-in-Chief of the Lord's host. Who then could he be, according to Aquila and the testimonies still current among the Hebrews, born among men, and becoming a "child," the "Wonderful Counselor," and "Mighty, Powerful," and "Father," and also "Prince of Peace," of which he says there will never be an end? According to Symmachus, he is "Paradox, Counselor, Mighty, Powerful, Father of the age, Prince of Peace," and of this peace being infinite and interminable. And according to Theodotion, "Wonderfully counseling, Mighty, Potentate, Father, Prince of Peace, in increasing the education, of whose ^D peace there is no end." And I leave it to you to observe what follows.

^B I am content to note only this one thing: that he himself, who is called "Father of the age" and "Prince of infinite peace" and "Angel of Great Counsel," is declared by prophecy to be about to arise at some time and become a young child, and that at his birth among men he will desire that those who are envious of the salvation of the nations which occurs through him—whether they be evil demons or indeed impious men—be burned by fire, concerning whom he says: "Because they will pay for every garment gathered by deceit, and a garment with reconciliation." And who, pray, could these be, if not those concerning whom it is spoken elsewhere in the person of our Savior himself: "They divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots," and whoever were partakers of the same impiety and wickedness? And these, indeed, when they see themselves condemned in the end, will wish that they had been burned by fire before such impiety, rather than that the Angel of Great Counsel had been violated by them.

But do you yourself consider whether it transcends all human nature that his peace is said to have no end, and that he is named "Father of the age"; furthermore, that he is not called simply "angel," but "Angel of Great Counsel" and "Mighty God," and whatever else is enumerated along with these. Moreover, he says that the kingdom of David is to be set right through him, which you will understand in this manner. Most numerous are the promises God made to David himself, among which are also these: "And I will place his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the floods; he shall call upon me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the supporter of my salvation.' And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for eternity, and my covenant shall be faithful to him; and I will place his seed for an eternity of eternity, and his throne as the days of heaven." And again: "Once I have sworn by my holy one, if I should lie to David, his seed shall remain for eternity, and his throne shall be as the sun before me, ^C and as the moon established for eternity."

Although God promised so many things to David himself in the Psalms, it is clear that events contrary to the promises occurred for his successors on account of their own impieties. For although kings from the seed of David remained as far as Jechonias and the siege of the temple under the Babylonians, when this very thing happened, then the kingdom was indeed dissolved, to such an extent that from that time forth the throne of David no longer existed, nor did anyone from his seed reign over the Jewish nation. And concerning this very loss of the promise made to David, according to the aforementioned citation of the psalm, the Divine Spirit prophesies in this way: "But you have rejected and despised; you have delayed your Christ; you have overturned the covenant of your servant; you have profaned his sanctuary on the earth; you have destroyed all his fences," and after a few words: "You have torn down his throne to the ground; you have shortened the days of his time; you have poured shame upon him." And these things, having clearly begun to reach their completion from the captivity of the people in Babylon, were extended as far as the kingdom of the Romans and Tiberius. For no one from the Davidic succession in the intervening

^A time appears to have sat on the royal throne of the Hebrew nation until the coming of Christ. But when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who was born from the seed of David, was proclaimed king over the whole world, that very throne of David, as if raised up from the earth and from its ruin, was established through our Savior's divine kingship, and it shall remain for ever, and even more, like the sun before God, illuminating the whole world with the rays of the light of his teaching, in accordance with the testimony of the psalm and of the prophet at hand, who says concerning the child about to be born, that he shall sit on the throne of David—that is, the eternal and lasting throne, which was indeed promised to David—to seat him upon his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with judgment and justice from this time forth and forever.

How these things were fulfilled, the angel Gabriel can be a reliable teacher, saying in his salutation to the Virgin: "Do not fear, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ^B and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Looking forward to this birth of Christ in the aforementioned psalm, and perceiving its delay and suspension as the cause of the downfall of the throne of David, the prophet is troubled and says: "But you have pushed away and disdained, you have delayed your Christ." He prays, as if pleading with the Divinity, that the things of the promise might be fulfilled with speed, saying: "Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?" And these very things, I say, it is prophesied will be most clearly fulfilled at the birth of the Angel of the Great Counsel: for whom, he says, those previously mentioned would have wished if they had been consumed by fire: "For a child has been born to us, and a son has been given to us, the Angel of the Great Counsel." But to whom, if not to us who have believed in him, who are in the Galilee of the Gentiles, to whom he has become the cause of light and gladness, and of the new and fresh drink of the mystery of the New Testament, according to the prophecy that states: "This first, drink, do it quickly, land of Zabulon, and land of Nephthalim, and the rest living by the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people sitting in darkness, see a great light; and to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, a light has risen upon them"? ^C By these things, those from the nations who have believed in the Christ of God are signified, as well as the disciples and apostles of our Savior, whom he called forth from the land of Zabulon and Nephthalim and chose as heralds of the Gospel. To these, then, the Angel of the Great Counsel was given as a son, the cause of salvation; but to those who have disbelieved in him, he was indeed given for fire and burning. But as for the whole... ^D

cause of this dispensation, he says it was the zeal of the Lord, speaking thus: "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform these things." But what zeal? It is that which Moses mentions, saying: "They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have provoked me to anger with their idols; and I will provoke them with those who are not a nation, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." But since, with God’s help, the matters regarding the coming of the one prophesied into the world, and likewise the manner of his epiphany, have been demonstrated through the prophetic testimonies, it is time to consider in what part of the earth he was to rise, from what lineage he was to come, and from which tribe of the Hebrews he was to be proclaimed, which things, if it pleases you, come, let us investigate. ^A

Chapter II. From Micah. On the place where that God, whom the prophets announced, was to rise: and how from Bethlehem, a region of Palestine, a Prince of the people of the pious, existing from ages past, shall come forth, and how that Lord is foretold to shepherd those who have believed in him even unto the ends of the earth.

"And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art little that thou shouldst be among the thousands of Judah; out of thee shall come forth to me one who is to be ruler in Israel, and his goings forth were from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore he will give them up until the time when she who travails has brought forth; and the remnant of their brethren shall return to the children of Israel; and he shall stand, and shall see, and shall shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, and in the glory of the name of the Lord their God they shall exist, because now they shall be magnified unto the ends of the earth, and this man shall be peace." That Emmanuel himself, who by interpretation is God with us, is born of a Virgin, and that the child is the Angel of the Great Counsel, has been most clearly demonstrated by those things which have been set forth above. ^C But it was also necessary that the place be indicated where he was to arise. It is therefore divinely foretold that a certain ruler is to come forth from Bethlehem in Israel, having his goings forth from the beginning, from the days of eternity. But this could never be applied to human nature, but only to Emmanuel and the Angel of the Great Counsel. For to whom, after all, could existing from eternity be applied if not to God alone? Therefore, it is said that someone existing from eternity is to come forth from Bethlehem (and this is a place in Judea, situated not far from Jerusalem itself). We find no one else who from thence became illustrious and famous except David alone, and after that David, only one other, our Savior Jesus Christ of God; and besides these, absolutely no one else. ^D But David himself, having preceded the times of the prophecy, had died many years before the prediction; nor, moreover, did he make his goings forth from the days of eternity.

^A It remains, therefore, that in Him who thereafter proceeds from Bethlehem, the true Emmanuel—who, indeed, precedes all things that are created, and is called the Word of God, and God with us—the things that are written here should be fulfilled; since His very birth in Bethlehem openly signified the presence of God through the marvelous events which occurred at that very place.

Luke, indeed, narrates these events in the following manner: ^B “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” ^C Such, then, is the account of Luke.

But Matthew also, when he records the things pertaining to the birth of our Saviour, writes in this manner: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least ^D among the princes of Juda: for out of thee

^A shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

I have set forth all these things to demonstrate that those events which occurred at the birth of our Saviour in Bethlehem provide most certain proofs that He is the one of whom the prophecy speaks. Even today, those who inhabit that place, as if by a memory handed down from their fathers, bear witness to those who are accustomed to travel to Bethlehem for the sake of visiting the site, confirming the truth of the account by pointing out the very field where the Virgin, having brought forth, laid the infant; concerning which the prophecy says: ^B “Therefore shall he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return.”

Consistently, it is understood here that the one bringing forth is she who was named in the foregoing oracles as the Virgin, the prophetic woman who was to bring forth Emmanuel himself and the Angel of the great counsel. For until the times of her, and of Him who was to rise from her, the things pertaining to the former people stood, since a limit of time had been given to them "until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth," that is, until the wondrous birth of Him who would be born of the Virgin, after which their kingdom was indeed taken away.

But those who are called the "remnant of his brethren" are to be understood as those who believed in the Christ of God—the apostles, and disciples, and evangelists of our Saviour, whom the Lord Himself is said to pasture after their conversion, not as before through angels or through human ministers, but through Himself, so that because of this they were magnified even unto ^C the ends of the earth. For they were magnified at the time when "their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

It is also manifest how great a flock was collected for the Lord Himself throughout the whole earth, composed of rational and human sheep, through His apostles. This flock, which the Lord Himself—being at once its Shepherd and its Lord—is said to look upon and will pasture in strength, is such that by the strong hand and the high arm of the Lord and Shepherd, the sheep are kept and suffer no evil from the wild and savage beasts that lie in wait for them. And these things concerning the birth in Bethlehem, and the departure from that place of the God who was proclaimed, have this manner of the Lord's coming ^D from the heavens to men, and of the Lord and Shepherd already...

^A previously set forth by the prophet now in our hands, where he said: “Hear, all you peoples, and let the earth attend, and all who are in it; and the Lord will be for a testimony to you, the Lord from his holy house; for behold, the Lord God goes forth from his place, and will descend,” and the rest; to which he adds, saying: “For the impiety of Jacob all this, and for the sin of the house of Israel.” But it is clear also from what follows in the same prophet, that it was not only for the impieties of the Jewish nation that the Lord made the descent from heaven, but also for the salvation and calling of all the nations. He adds, therefore, next: “And it will be at the end of the days that the mountain of the Lord will be manifest, and many peoples will hasten to it, and many nations will go, and will say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” ^B Wherefore, having after this proclaimed that he who is before the ages would go forth from Bethlehem, he says that he will rule no longer over Israel alone, but at once over all men even to the ends of the earth. He says, therefore: “And he shall stand, and shall see, and the Lord shall shepherd his flock in strength, and they shall exist in the glory of the name of the Lord their God; for now they shall be magnified even to the ends of the earth; and this shall be peace.” To whom will this peace be, if not to the earth in which the flocks of the Lord will be magnified? And this, as to what kind of end it met with after ^C the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ, is manifest to everyone. For, since there was much multiplicity of rule before this, and all nations were ruled by tyrants or by popular governments, so that men had no intercourse with one another, but—to mention it specifically—the Egyptians were ruled by their own prince, and the Arabs likewise, and the Idumaeans, Phoenicians, and Syrians, and the other nations, and nation rose against nation and city against city, and countless sieges and captivities were perpetrated in every place and region—when the Saviour and Lord was present, along with his advent to men, and with Augustus of the Romans, for the first time, holding sway over the nations, that greatest multiplicity of rule was dissolved, ^D and peace shone upon the whole earth, in accordance with the prophecy now in our hands, which says expressly concerning the disciples of Christ: “For now they shall be magnified even to the end of the earth; and this shall be peace.” In harmony with this is the oracle in the Psalms speaking concerning Christ: “Righteousness shall arise in his days, and an abundance of peace.” Wherefore, it seems to me that he is called the Prince of Peace in the prophecy previously set forth. Observe, however, in what way the prophet now in our hands, while beginning by saying that the Lord would go forth from the heavens, yet states that he would not shepherd mankind before he was born, and was proclaimed in Bethlehem; as to how these things were fulfilled in our Saviour and Lord, the Evangelist bore witness, through the words of his which I have set forth before. But Christ is revealed as Shepherd and Leader...

of this very Israel, since it is the custom of the sacred Scriptures, even when following [other] themes, to designate as the true Israel every man who can easily contemplate God and follows a life pleasing to Him: just as, conversely, it is their custom, when the Jews sin, to call them Canaanites and the seed of Canaan—not of Judah—and to call them rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, alluding to their ways. Otherwise, according to the literal sense, the whole life of our Saviour was passed among the Jewish nation, and He became the leader of many of Israel; that is to say, of those who acknowledged Him and believed in Him from the circumcision. And this is the outcome that the interpretation of the prophecy set forth has received.

But what follows must be read starting from a different point, and they are as follows: "The Assyrian, when he comes into your land, and when he steps upon your country, there shall be raised up against him seven shepherds and eight attacks of men," and what follows these; as to what meaning they hold, this is not the time to explain. Someone might ^B say that after the arrival of the Assyrians in Judea, by which they captured the Jewish nation, as many rebellions occurred against them as are signified by the seven shepherds and the eight attacks. And those who have recorded the history of the Assyrians might be able to know these things; at the end of which [period] the One prophesied to be from Bethlehem appeared, after the seven shepherds and the eight attacks that assaulted the Assyrians, in the times that followed their entry into Judea. But as these matters require the greatest investigation, this is no time for such curious inquiry.

From Psalm cxxxi.

^C To David, who was asking what place was Ephrata, in which God was announced by the prophets to be born—which is itself Bethlehem—this is revealed through the Holy Spirit:

"Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness: how he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the God of Jacob: If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall go up into the bed of my couch: if I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Behold, we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: we will adore in the place where his feet stood."

Then he adds next: "For the sake of David your servant, turn not away the face of your Christ. The Lord swore to David a truth, and he will not make it void: Of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne." And he adds to these, saying: "There will I bring forth a horn to David: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. His enemies I will clothe with confusion: but upon him shall my sanctification flourish."

^D This prophecy also agrees with the former one, which from Bethlehem proclaims...

that God, who is announced as coming, will go forth. David himself, while at first ignorant of this, desires to learn it from God himself, and then, having prayed, he is instructed. For since he had received an oracle directed to him in the Psalm saying, "Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy throne," ^A and again, "There will I make to sprout a horn for David, I have prepared a lamp for my Christ," he rightly falls before God, and falling upon the ground, he makes supplication. And becoming more persistent in prayer, he swears to God that he will not go into the tabernacle of his house, nor give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, nor go up onto the bed of his couch, but that he will lie upon the ground, worshipping and making supplication, until he finds a place for the Lord and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob—that is, until he learns, by the Lord revealing it to him, the birth of Christ. And having prayed and desired to know such things, not long after he contemplates by the divine Spirit the things that were to be, since God had promised to hear those who speak to him even yet. Having been heard, he is then deemed worthy of an oracle declaring Bethlehem to him, as if this were the place where the Lord and the tabernacle of the God of Jacob would be established. These things, therefore, having been prophesied within him by the divine Spirit, he himself, having been heard, adds: "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha." Now Ephratha is the same as Bethlehem, as is evident from Genesis, where it is said concerning Rachel: ^B "They buried her in the hippodrome of Ephratha, this is Bethlehem." And the prophecy before this contained: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha." "Lo," he says, "we heard of it"—it is clear that he means the birth of Christ, and the dwelling of the God of Jacob. For what could the tabernacle of the God of Jacob be, if not the body of Christ, which was born in the place of Bethlehem? In which, as in a tabernacle, the divinity of the Only-Begotten dwelt. And it is not called simply the tabernacle of God, but with the addition "of the God of Jacob," because there is nothing else that dwells in it than that God who appeared to Jacob himself in the form and figure of a man, for which reason he was also deemed worthy of the name "Israel." For this name is interpreted as "seeing God," and he was addressed by it. That it was none other than the Word of God who appeared to Jacob, we have demonstrated in the first parts of the treatise at hand. ^C David, therefore, having prayed and desiring to find the place and tabernacle of the Lord and God of Jacob, the place of Bethlehem was shown to him; wherefore, having said, "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha," he proceeds, saying: "Let us worship in the place where his feet have stood." Clearly, therefore, in these words also, in Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, the Lord himself and God of Jacob is prophesied to establish a place and tabernacle for himself, in harmony with the prophecy of Micah, which says: ^D "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, out of thee shall come forth to me a ruler, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." Such things, indeed, as those which he who has seen God would have; for if you interpret that name, you will have "one who sees God." That he is none other than God the Word who was seen by Jacob, we have demonstrated in the beginnings of this work. David therefore, praying and desiring to see the place and tabernacle of the Lord and God of Jacob, the very place of Bethlehem was shown; wherefore, when he had said, "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha," he adds, saying, "Let us worship in the place where his feet have stood." Very plainly, therefore, in these words also, in Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, the Lord himself

and the God of Jacob for himself a tabernacle, which itself accords with the prophecy of Micah, saying: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha. Out of thee shall come forth unto me a leader; and his going forth from the beginning, from the days of eternity." When we examined this recently, we showed that it was to be referred to no other than our one Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, and who was born in Bethlehem as the prophecies had foretold. For no one will ever be able to point to any other who has come forth from there with glory after the times of that prophecy; for neither king, nor prophet, nor any other of those who were friends of God among the Hebrews, other than our one Savior and Lord who is the Christ of God, is shown to have possessed both marks: that he was of the seed of David, and that he was born in that place. It is time, therefore, to confess that it is he—and no other—who is signified in these prophetic words, and—evidently in the verses that follow in the same psalm—where it calls him by name Christ, this very thing is shown where it says: "For the sake of David thy servant, turn not away the face of thy Christ," ^B and again: "There will I bring forth a horn for David; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him shall my sanctification flourish." But where, pray, does it say that he will bring forth a horn for David, if not in Bethlehem of Ephratha? For from there the horn of David, the Christ according to the flesh, shone forth like some great light, and there was prepared by God of all the lamp of Christ. And his lamp would be, as it were, of intelligible light, the human tabernacle, through which, as through an earthenware vessel—like a lamp—he shone forth the rays of his own light to all who were crushed by the ignorance of God and in deep darkness. But I believe it has been clearly demonstrated in these passages that the God of Jacob, who exists from the beginning and from the days of eternity, was to come among men, and to be born not elsewhere in the world than in the place called Bethlehem, in the region near Jerusalem, which is also still shown today, where indeed no one else after the times of the prophets—nor any other personage renowned and celebrated among all men—is testified to by all the inhabitants of the place (who indeed thus accord with the evangelical utterances) as having been born, save only Jesus ^C the Christ. Bethlehem is interpreted as "house of bread," which is thus of the same name as our Savior who came forth from it, who, being the Word and Reason of God, is the nourishment of rational creatures. As he himself also demonstrates, where he says: "I am the bread which came down from heaven." But since this was also the fatherland of David, naturally he who according to the flesh became the Son of David made his coming forth from it, in accordance with the prophetic oracles; so that the reason why he chose Bethlehem as his fatherland is not obscure. Furthermore, he is also said to have been reared in Nazareth, and that he would be called a Nazarene. One must know, therefore, that the name Nazarene also happens to be Hebrew, used in Leviticus ^D regarding the anointing of the Christ among them. And this leader was according to the image of the great and true High Priest, the Christ of God, bearing with him a certain shadowy and typical Christ. Wherefore it is said according to the Seventy regarding the High Priest: "And he shall not profane him who has been sanctified of his God; for the holy oil of the Christ of his God is upon him." The Hebrew, indeed, contains "For Nazer is the oil," while Aquila says: "For an un..."

^Atact oil of the anointing of his God is upon him." And Theodotion: "That the Nazer oil, the anointed one from his God, is upon him." So that the "Nazer," according to the Septuagint, is "holy," according to Aquila, "a separation," and according to Symmachus, "intact." Thus, from this, the name "Nazarene" signifies either the holy one, or the separated one, or the intact one.

Now, the ancient priests, when they were anointed with the prepared oil which is called "Nazer" by Moses, were, by derivation from "Nazer," called "Nazarenes." But our Savior and Lord, having holiness, and intactness, and separation by nature, and not needing any human anointing, nevertheless obtained the appellation of "Nazarene" among men—not because he became a Nazarene from the oil called "Nazer," but being such by nature, he was called "Nazarene" by men from Nazareth, where he received his childhood rearing with parents according to the flesh. Whence it is said in Matthew: "And being warned in a dream (namely, Joseph), he withdrew into the parts of Galilee; and coming, he dwelt in a city called Nazara, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, that he shall be called a Nazarene." For it was necessary that he, who was by all means a Nazarene in nature and in truth—that is, holy and intact and separated—should be called by this appellation by men. But since he did not obtain this appellation from the "Nazer" oil, having no need of human anointing, he received the denomination from the place, Nazareth.

These things ^B having been thus demonstrated, it is time to examine from what stock and from what tribe of the Hebrews our Savior Christ, the Savior of our souls, was prophesied to emerge. But first I shall set forth the evangelic words concerning this, and then, as if with harmonious seals, I shall set upon them the prophetic testimonies.

Matthew, therefore, genealogizes Christ according to the flesh in this way: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judas," and what follows. ^C The Apostle also agrees with him, saying that he was "separated unto the Gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning his Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." May these things be in agreement with the oracles that be thus disposed. ^D

CHAPTER III. From the second book of Chronicles—Of the race and tribe of the Jews from which Christ was to come.

^A The Lord by Nathan the prophet foretells these things to David in the second [first] book of Chronicles: "And it shall be, when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy body, and I will prepare his kingdom. He shall build me a house in my name, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son." And in the eighty-eighth Psalm, likewise concerning the same, as if concerning David, these things are said: "He shall call upon me: Thou art my father, my God, and the protector of my salvation. And I will make him my firstborn, high among the kings of the earth; I will keep my mercy for him for evermore, and my covenant shall be faithful to him." And again: "I have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I prepare for ever, and I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation." And again: "Once have I sworn by my holy one, I will not lie unto David; his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon perfected for ever." And again: "And I will set his seed for ever and ever." ^B There may be things similar to these in those where it is said: "The Lord hath sworn truth unto David, and he will not frustrate him: of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." Solomon, indeed, as he was the son of David, manifestly succeeded him in the kingdom: he was also the first to build a temple to God in Jerusalem. It is likely, therefore, that the Jews suspect this man to be he of whom the prophecies speak; whom it is well, if possible, to confront concerning the oracle which says: "And I will establish his throne for ever," and again that God has promised with an oath in his holy one that the throne of the one prophesied of shall be as the sun and as the days of heaven. For if anyone examines the times of the kingdom of Solomon, he will find no more than forty years; and if he adds together the years of those who succeeded him, he will not find that they all reigned for five hundred years in total. ^C But even let us concede that they remained kingdom until the last siege of the Jewish nation, by which the Romans conquered them—what then of the prophecy which says "for ever," and which sings that his throne shall remain like the sun and like the days of heaven? Moreover, that word, "And I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son," how can it agree with Solomon, when the history that exists concerning him openly declares matters that are foreign and most remote from any adoption of him by God? Hear, therefore, how it constitutes an accusation against him: "And

^A Salomon was a lover of women, and he took many foreign women, and the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites and Amorites, from the nations of which the Lord God said to the sons of Israel, you shall not enter unto them." And he adds to these: "And his heart was not upright with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father; and Salomon went after Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians, and after the king of them, the idol of the sons of Ammon; and Salomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." And again in what follows he adds: "And the Lord raised up a Satan to Salomon, Ader the Edomite." ^B Who then could any account of reason constrain to write down as father to him who is accused in such and so many ways, God, and to proclaim this man as the firstborn Son of the supreme God Himself? But for what reason are these things sometimes said as if concerning David himself, and at other times as if concerning his seed? Yet these things could never be applied to David himself, as will be clear to you if you observe diligently; it is necessary, therefore, to seek another who is to rise from the seed of David, of whom these oracles speak. But indeed, no other such person has come from him, as it is recorded, except for one, our Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, who alone of all who have ever reigned from the seed of David is proclaimed throughout the whole world as the Son of David, ^C being acknowledged according to his incarnate birth, and his kingdom remains and shall remain for infinite time, extending onwards, although myriad snares have been laid against it; yet by his divine and superhuman power, the godlike and invincible nature of the prophecy concerning him, as it stands, will openly demonstrate it for all time. But when you hear God swearing by His Holy One, understand the Father as swearing by God the Word, who precedes all ages, His holy and only-begotten Child, concerning whom the previous statements set forth by us have variously theologized, by whom God and His Father swears, as by His beloved, that He will glorify him who springs from the seed of David unto the infinite age; which also came to pass when the Word, having become flesh, took up and deified him who was from the seed of David. ^D Wherefore He also proclaims him Son, saying: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son," and again, "And I will make him my firstborn." Clear then it is from these things that the Son of God is foretold to be the firstborn from the seed of David, so that one and the same is the son of David and the Son of God, and the Son of God is the son of David; through whom it was evidently prophesied that the Firstborn of all creation, he himself the Son of God, would become the son of man. And this oracle the writing of the Gospel seals, through what it says that Gabriel, standing by the holy Virgin, declared concerning our Savior: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob unto the ages, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." And after a little, in the

^A same Gospel, Zacharias, the father of John, prophesies these things concerning Christ: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." Now that it is our Savior and Lord, Jesus, the Christ of God, and no other man, who has received the eternal throne promised to David, the testimonies set forth above are sufficient to prove, as well as those of Gabriel and Zacharias, in which it is also confirmed that, insofar as regards his human nature, he was born of the seed of David. But as to the reason why the holy evangelists describe the genealogy of Joseph, even though our Savior was not born of him, but of the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin, and likewise how this mother of the Lord is shown to be of the race and seed of David—we have already explained this in the first of the questions and solutions concerning the series and exposition of our Savior’s genealogy. Therefore, we refer those who desire to learn to those works, as the present time calls and impels us to another subject of writing.

From Psalm LXXI.—Concerning Solomon and him who shall proceed from his seed.

^B "Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son," and he adds ^C thereafter: "And he shall continue with the sun and before the moon, throughout all generations; he shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and as showers that water the earth. In his days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endures. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the world." And after a little, he says: "His fruit shall be exalted above Libanus; his name shall be blessed for ever; his name shall continue before the sun, and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed."

Since the Psalm is written with respect to Solomon, the first verse of the Psalm may be referred to him, but all the things that follow refer to the Son of Solomon—not Rehoboam, who reigned after him ^D in Jerusalem, but Him who, according to human nature, was born of his seed, the Christ of God. For that the things contained in the Psalm cannot be referred either to Solomon or to his successor is something that anyone not unlearned in the divine Scriptures will readily confess, in view of what is known concerning him. For how can those things which are recounted through the whole Psalm be understood as applying to Solomon or to his son Rehoboam, such as: "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the world"; and: "He shall continue with the sun and before the moon throughout all generations," and whatever others

^A of a like nature are appended to these. Wherefore, one might assign without much examination the words which are at the beginning of the psalm—"O God, give thy judgment to the king"—to Solomon himself; but as for him who adds, "And thy righteousness unto the king's son," one would assign this to the son of Solomon—not that first-born who succeeded him in the kingdom (for he, having presided over the Jewish nation alone for not even seventeen full years, used his rule most poorly), nor yet to any other of those who succeeded to the throne of Solomon's kingdom after Rehoboam, but only to him who was of the seed of David, who is called the son of Solomon just as he is called the son of David. This was our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. For of Him alone, and of no other of those who have ever lived, shall the throne of the divine kingdom remain with the sun; and He alone, and no other of the human race, existed before the moon and before the foundation of the world, ^B as being the Word of God from the beginning, and He alone shed, like dew from heaven upon all the earth. It is also said that He has sprung up for all men, according to what we explained just a little while ago, and that righteousness remains until the completion of the life, which has been called the removal of the moon. And clearly, the power of our Saviour dominates and rules from the sea even unto the setting sun, having begun to manifest its works from the river—that is, from the mystery of the bath, or from where, having first appeared at the Jordan, He began His work of beneficence toward men. Since that time, then, His kingdom among men has traversed the entire inhabited world; and since by "Lebanon" Jerusalem is understood, as is apparent from very many prophecies, on account of ^C the sanctuary that was once there, and the altar, and the things offered upon it to God as incense in honor of Him, the fruit of Christ, which is the Church from the Gentiles, is prophesied to be exalted above Lebanon. But a person who is eager for learning, if he were at his leisure to examine the psalm word for word by himself, would easily acknowledge that what is contained therein is fitting for our Lord alone, and by no means for the ancient Solomon, nor for any other of the kings who reigned after Solomon over one nation of the Jews, and over no more than a few nations, and over no other land than that of Judea alone. ^D

From Isaiah.—Concerning Jesse, and Him who shall be born of his seed.

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of the root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; the spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him. He shall not judge according to glory, nor shall He reprove according to speech, but He shall judge the case of the humble, and shall reprove the humble of the earth. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the garment of His sides. And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion shall feed together. And it shall be

^A in that day that the root of Jesse and he who arises to rule over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope, and His rest shall be honor. Now the Jesse who is indicated here was the father of David. Just as, therefore, in the prophecies preceding this one, it was said that someone would come forth from the fruit and seed of David, and again from the seed of Solomon, in the same way here also, many years after the death not only of David but even of Solomon, someone is predicted to come forth from the root of Jesse—that is, from the root of David. The present argument will dissolve the opinion held previously among the Jews regarding the time of Solomon’s death, since the time of his death is established, and Isaiah is prophesying these same things about someone else who was to appear from the root of Jesse and the seed of David. ^B That the things signified must be referred to no one else but to our Savior, the Christ of God, who arose from the root of David and Jesse, I think no one, having attended to the promise of the prophecy which says, "And there shall be a root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope," and to the actual events demonstrated in our Savior, would doubt. For He alone, after having risen from the dead—for which reason I also think He is called "the One arising"—ruled not over the Jewish people alone, but over all the Gentiles, to such a degree that the oracle seems to require no interpretation at all, being clearly manifest how in Him, along with other things, the phrase, "In Him shall the Gentiles hope," has attained its fulfillment. ^C But the things said as if concerning animals and wild beasts being tamed at His coming, of which the prophecy speaks, may be referred figuratively to savage and wild manners, and to the bestial habits of men, which, through the teaching of Christ, would be changed from their irrationality and savagery. These things would be clearly allegorized in this way, if one were to interpret tropologically the root of Jesse, and the rod, and the flower mentioned in the prophecy, just as one might conceive of justice girding his sides, and truth having clothed his loins. For as it is impossible to interpret these otherwise than by an allegorical explanation alone, in the same way it follows that we must likewise understand the things which are mentioned in various places under the names of animals.

From Jeremiah. A righteous Branch arising from the seed of David, and this same one as King of men, and a new title to be established for those who will be ruled under Him, and the dissolution of former sins.

^D Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign and shall understand, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is the name which the Lord shall call Him: Josedecim among the prophets. In that day, said the Lord, I will break the yoke from off their neck, and will break their bonds, and they shall no longer serve

^A other gods, but they shall work for the Lord their God, and I will raise up to them David their king.” A long time after the death not only of David, but also of Solomon, these things does Jeremiah prophesy concerning the king who was to arise from the seed of David: whom first indeed he calls a Branch, and not simply a Branch, but a righteous one, as if he were to be constituted from the Sun of Righteousness, concerning whom we have discoursed in the proofs regarding the second Cause, in which we demonstrated that the Word of God, who formerly was called by innumerable names, is also called the Sun of Righteousness, where we cited the prophecy which thus says: “But to them that fear Me, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise.” As therefore the Sun of Righteousness, so also the righteous Branch does the present oracle prophesy will arise for David himself. Furthermore, it declares this same king to be intelligent and doing judgment and justice in the earth. Afterward it calls the same king by one and the same name with him who died long before, namely, David. Attend therefore diligently both to that aforementioned statement: “And I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,” and at the end to that which is added: “And I will raise up David their king to ^B him.” But to whom to him, if not to David himself? For to him He said He would raise up the righteous Branch. Zechariah likewise prophesying concerning the same calls Him a Branch, saying: “Behold a man, whose name is Branch, and under Him shall righteousness spring up.” And again: “I will call My servant the Branch.” But indeed no one after the times of Jeremiah, nor even after the times of Zechariah, arose among the Jews such that he was called “the righteous Branch,” or an “intelligent king, and doing judgment and justice in the earth.” And if anyone should say that by these things Jesus the son of Josedec is signified, it must be said that this argument cannot hold for him. For he was neither of the lineage of David, nor did he reign as a king. How then can that saying be accommodated to him, “And I will raise up David their king to him,” since he was of the tribe of Levi and of the priestly order, and of a lineage different from David, and is not recorded to have existed as a king in any way? Wherefore, if no other such person is found, it is now time to confess that He who is prophesied and is spoken of through these things is none other than our Savior and Lord, who is also called elsewhere “the light of the world” and “the light of the nations.” He Himself therefore would be the One here also of whom the prophet speaks, and the prediction stands true and without falsehood. ^C For only He [exists] from the seed of David, named identically with his ancient forefather according to the meaning—since it is interpreted as “mighty in hand”—who, having been designated, proclaimed “judgment and justice” to all those on earth through His own teaching, and He alone of all who have ever been did not reign over a part of the habitable world, but over the whole earth, and He alone was the author that righteousness might spring forth, just as it is said of Him in the psalm: “Righteousness shall spring up in His days, and abundance of peace.” Moreover, Judah and Israel who are to be saved in His days are all those who have drawn near through His piety and worship from the Jewish people ^D

^A from the circumcision of the people, His apostles and disciples and ^B evangelists, and indeed all who preserve the hidden Jew and the true Israel who sees God according to the mind. “For not he who is a Jew in appearance is one,” says the Apostle, “nor is circumcision that which is in appearance in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God.” Therefore, he says that these who, by the calling of Christ, carry the hidden Jew and the true Israel, shall be called by another name—not the name of Jew, nor that of Israel, but by a certain name strange to these. For this, he says, is the name by which the Lord shall call them: *Josedecim*, which is interpreted as “the just ones of God.”

I observe, however, whether perhaps the name is fashioned from *Josue* (Jesus), and the disciples of Jesus are called *Josedecim* before God, while among men they are called by a more Greek term, derived from the title of Christ, but in the Hebrew tongue—and indeed among the prophets themselves—they are called *Josedecim* from *Jesus*, as if they were saved through Him. ^C Whence it is said, “And this is the name by which the Lord shall call them: *Josedecim* among the prophets.” For the people who are to be, he says, through Him who is prophesied—being Judah and Israel according to the mind—shall be named *Josedecim* from *Josue*; and by this name, he says, they shall be called not before men, but before God Himself and His prophets. For attend diligently to the oracle as it speaks: “And this is the name by which the Lord shall call them: *Josedecim* among the prophets”—which name, as I have said, when translated into our language signifies “the just ones of God.”

But since these are to be saved in this way, God promises that He will shatter the old and heavy yoke of the most bitter demons and break the bonds of impiety by which they were formerly held, so that they might no longer serve alien gods, but bring forth fruit only to Him, in a manner pleasing to Him. ^D Add to this the oracle in the second Psalm concerning the advent of Christ and the calling of the nations, which says: “Let us break their bonds in sunder, and cast away their yoke from us.” I consider that which is now in hand to be akin and similar to this, saying: “In that day, says the Lord, I will shatter the yoke from off their neck, and I will break their bonds, and they shall no longer serve alien gods, but they shall serve the Lord their God.”

Furthermore, that Christ of God was foretold to arise from the fruit of David’s loins, and from the seed of Solomon, and from the root of Jesse—which indeed has come to pass—the divine oracles, which call Him David along with countless other titles, have sufficiently and abundantly proven by what has already been said. But that He is also said to be about to spring from the tribe of Judah, this would not even need to be questioned, since David himself was born from no other tribe than this very one. Moreover, for the sake of a more complete assurance, that oracle which is with Moses, which holds in this manner, will also demonstrate this.

^A *From Genesis.— How he will be born from the tribe of Judah, and how Christ will be established as the expectation of the nations of God.* "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. A lion's cub, Judah, you have ascended from my sprout. You lay down and slept as a lion, and as a cub; who shall rouse him? A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations." Since there were twelve tribes among the Hebrews, from which the entire nation was composed, Judah became the forefather and chief of one of these, to whom the aforementioned things were prophesied, signifying that Christ would proceed from him. If, therefore, you were to gather these together in one place, and set alongside the one at hand the prophecies placed in the preceding sections, you would find that by a similar logic they all proclaim the same person with reference to a certain common sign. For the one said concerning him who was to rise from the root of Jesse, "And it shall be that he who rises shall rule the nations, and in him the nations shall hope." The other, concerning the son of Solomon, said, "He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, and all the nations shall be blessed in him." And the one at hand likewise says, "Until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations." If, then, the oracles concerning the nations agree with one another, and it has been demonstrated that those before them were looking to our Savior, there would be no obstacle preventing us from seeing the same Savior in the present one as well, if they are admitted to prophesy in agreement with one another; especially since, down to the times of the appearing of our Savior, the rulers and leaders of the Jewish nation existed by a succession of ancestors, but with his appearing they ceased, and at the same time the expectation of the nations brought the prophecy of Jacob to its end. Therefore, here too, Christ—and no other—is revealed as being about to proceed from the tribe of Judah. And when he was revealed as being from David and Solomon, and from the root of Jesse, he was shown to be from the same tribe. For David was the son of Jesse, and Solomon of David, and they were established from the tribe of Judah. So, therefore, our Savior and Lord would be from that same tribe, just as the admirable evangelist Matthew relates his genealogy, saying, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. Isaac begot Isaac; and Isaac begot Jacob; and Jacob begot Judah," and so forth. But since we have already received the appropriate demonstration of these things, it is time to look at the times in which the things the prophets had predicted were fulfilled.

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL, BOOK EIGHT

^A CONTENTS OF THE EIGHTH BOOK OF THE PROOF OF THE GOSPEL CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR. Concerning the times of His advent to men, from the noted places of Divine Scripture. 1. From Genesis. 2. From Daniel. 3. From Micah. 4. From Zechariah. 5. From Isaiah.

PROOEMIUM

[the] turning away from the polytheistic and demonic worship of idols; and the recognition of piety toward the one God, the Creator of all. Now the divine oracles had foretold that all these things—which did not exist of old in the days of the prophets—would come to pass at the presence of Christ; and these things, having come to their fulfillment in accordance with the prophecies, will be shown to be as near as can be. ^A Now, the reasons why Christ did not appear to the life [of men] earlier, but now in these last times after a long and vast age, have been spoken of before, but they shall nevertheless be mentioned again briefly here.

There was long ago a great drought of folly and impiety that overshadowed the souls of men, and a terrible atheism had laid hold of the entire life of men, to such an extent that they seemed to differ in nothing from wild and untamed beasts. For they knew neither cities, nor constitutions, nor laws, nor any noble and life-benefiting thing, nor did they hold in their minds any sciences or arts; ^B and not even having come to a notion of virtue and philosophy, they passed their time only in deserts, and in mountains, and caves, and villages, setting upon those who came near more like brigands, providing for their sustenance from nowhere else but from the oppression of those they found to be weaker. Moreover, they did not even know God, the Lord of all, nor the manner of true piety; but being moved by natural notions, they agreed by an innate teaching that a certain divine power exists in existing things, and that it is and is called God, and they perceived the name to be saving and beneficent. But to think of nothing else other than Him who is beyond all visible substance—they were no longer able to accept this. Wherefore, ^C "some of them worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator; and others became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened, so as to exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed animals, and of creeping things." And so, having made images of certain dead men of power, or of tyrants who had lived long ago, and attaching divine worship to these, they were accustomed to celebrate their strange and licentious deeds as if they were the achievements of gods.

How then could the all-wise and all-virtuous Word of Christ, proclaiming the highest philosophy, be fitting for those who are in such a state of life, and who wallow in such a depth of wickedness? For this reason, then, divine justice, which keeps watch over all, as if cutting away wild and most harmful matter, would at one time visit them with floods, at another with conflagrations; ^D and at another time it would deliver them over to one another in wars, and slaughters, and sieges, as they were goaded on to war against one another by the very demons whom they supposed to be gods—so that the life of men at that time was inaccessible, unsociable, and uncommunicative to those living in nearby regions. But a few, as was possible in such a state and countable in number, whose [records] among the Hebrews...

^A oracles remember, having been found to be studious of God and his friends, He both addressed with responses and admitted to divine visions, and in the meantime, caring for them as if taking them by the hand, He rendered them more civilized through the laws which Moses had established. But when at last, from the laws which had been given to these same men, and from the prophetic disciplines that thereafter were poured out upon all men like a fragrance, the minds of many had already turned more gentle, and constitutions and legal institutions were established for many nations, and the name of virtue and philosophy was heard among many, as if that ancient savagery were ceasing and the wild and brutal manner of life had already been changed into a milder one, then at the appropriate time He Himself—the perfect and heavenly teacher of perfect and heavenly doctrines and instructions, the introducer of true knowledge of God, God the Word—made Himself manifest, according to the time prescribed for His incarnation, ^B beginning to herald to all nations, to Greeks and barbarians, and to the whole race of mankind, the benevolence of His Father, and urging all, without exception, toward the one salvation in God, and Himself being the first to promise and prepare for all men the truth itself, the light of true religion, the kingdom of heaven, and the promise of eternal life. Let these things, then, be said concerning the times, and for what reason it was not long ago, but only now, that the Christ of God shed His light upon all men.

But let us return to what was said before and consider in detail the signs of the time of His advent, ^C noting first of all the evangelical utterances concerning His birth. Matthew, therefore, narrates the time when He began to be seen in human form in this manner, saying: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.” And a little later he says: “But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in place of his father Herod.” And Luke shows the time of His teaching and public appearance, saying: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being procurator of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, ^D under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas.”

It is well, therefore, to add to these the prophecy of Jacob which is in Moses, which is in this manner.

^A From Genesis. — Concerning the times of his appearance to men. Just as the time when the kingdom among the Hebrews will fail is the same time when the expectation of the nations will be established; which indeed has also come to pass at the time of the appearance of our Savior.

“And Jacob called his sons and said: Gather yourselves together that I may declare to you what shall befall you in the last days; gather yourselves and hear, O sons of Jacob, hear Israel, your father.” ^A Then, following this, he reproaches some of the former sons, as having become unworthy of the prophecy that was about to be spoken because of certain transgressions of their own, and to the fourth, as having shown himself superior in his life to the rest of the brothers, he prophesies these things: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you: your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies; the sons of your father shall worship you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the shoot, my son, you have ascended; lying down you slept as a lion and as a whelp. Who shall arouse him? A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until the things reserved for him come; and he is the expectation of the nations.” ^B Consider, I pray, first what he says are the things reserved for him; and see if they are not the same things which God had previously spoken and prophesied to the forefathers around Abraham regarding the calling of the nations. It is written, therefore, that God said to Abraham: “And you shall be blessed, and I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed.” And again: “Abraham, indeed,” he says, “shall be a great and numerous nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” ^C The oracle also answers Isaac in a similar manner: “And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed.” Further, also to Jacob such things have been spoken: “I am the Lord the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; do not fear,” and what follows: “and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in you.” And at another time God said to him: “I am your God; increase and multiply; nations and assemblies of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your loins.” Having previously learned from God so many prophecies regarding the calling of the nations, Jacob, when twelve male children had been born to him, summoned them all at the end of his life, and looked about to see from which of them, in his succession, the things pertaining to the prophecies of God would reach their completion. Then, having leveled charges against the first three sons born to him for the offenses they had committed, he proceeds to teach that, on account of the crimes they had dared to commit, the fulfillment of what was contained in the prior oracles would not come to pass in them; but upon coming to the fourth, who was Judah, he foretells most clearly that the oracle which had once been spoken to him, ^D “Kings shall come from his loins,” would receive its end through his succession; for it is evident how that the royal [lineage] from the tribe of Judah...

has stood firm, manifesting at once both the prophecies of God and the promises concerning the nations—at what times these were to occur—and teaching that from him would come forth the one who was to be the agent of deliverance for all nations and for all the tribes of the earth, just like the blessing of Abraham. All these things, then, were what was reserved for Judah, clearly those things long foretold concerning the nations, and the saying, “Kings shall come from your loins”; wherefore, being preferred before his other brothers, he was deemed worthy of the royal tribe, which was more distinguished than the rest. Immediately, at the ordering of the whole people in the times of Moses, God commanded this tribe to lead the others. For it is written, “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: Let the children of Israel encamp each by his own company, with the signs and the standards of their fathers' houses, round about the tabernacle of testimony; and those encamping first to the east shall be the company of the camp of the sons of Judah, with their forces.” ^B And next, concerning those things that relate to the dedication of the tabernacle: “The Lord said to Moses: One prince shall offer his gifts day by day; and he who was offering his gift on the first day was Naasson, son of Aminadab, prince of the tribe of Judah.” And in the book of Joshua, when the land of promise was distributed by lot to the other tribes, the tribe of Judah, without a lot and first of all, received its own portion of land. But even after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up before us against the Canaanite, and be the leader of the war against him?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hands.” Plainly, therefore, God commands the tribe of Judah in these words to lead all Israel. ^C Wherefore it is written thereafter: “And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite and the Pherezite into his hand.” And again: “And the sons of Judah fought in Jerusalem, and took it, and the sons of Judah went down to make war against the Canaanite.” And again: “And Judah went with Symeon his brother.” And next: “And the Lord was with Judah, and he possessed the mountain.” And after these things: “And the sons of Joseph went up, they also, to Bethel, and Judah with them.” And in the book of Judges, while judges of different tribes seemed to preside over the people at different times, yet in general, the tribe of Judah was the leader of the whole ^D nation; and this was so indeed much more in the times of David and his successors, who were clearly of the tribe of Judah, and who extended their kingdom until their destruction in Babylon, after which destruction, for those who returned from that servitude to their native land, Zorobabel, son of Salathiel from the tribe of Judah, again presided, he who also built the temple. Hence also the Scripture which is called of the Chronicles, while narrating the genealogy of the twelve tribes of Israel, makes its beginning from that of Judah; therefore, by the order itself, it follows that we must acknowledge that this same tribe presided over the others in later times as well, just as…

in part, different ones had previously stood at the head of the people. It is not possible for us to examine these lineages in detail, since no further sacred book is extant that continues the narrative from that time down to the times of our Savior. ^A Nevertheless, both tradition and reason will dictate that the tribe of Judah lasted for as long as the whole nation lived in freedom, using its own laws and being governed by domestic princes and leaders. Moreover, this condition existed for them from the beginning down to the times of Augustus, in which, when our Savior Jesus appeared to men, the entire nation fell into servitude to the Romans, and instead of their native and legal leaders, Herod, a foreigner, first ruled over them, and Augustus was king. So long, therefore, as a prince from Judah had not failed, nor a leader from his loins, the times of the prophecies were noted by the appended names of the princes of the nation; for thus Isaiah wove his prophecy under kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who reigned in Judea; similarly Hosea. Amos, indeed, [prophesied] in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel; and Zephaniah in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah. Likewise also Jeremiah. ^B But when the prince from Judah and the leader from his loins had failed, since the expectation of the nations, of which the prophets had spoken, was already about to illuminate life through Christ, no longer were kings of Judah or leaders of Israel so designated; but when these very people had failed at their own fixed and finite time, just as the prophecies had indicated, Augustus first, and then Tiberius, were proclaimed kings both of other nations and of the Jewish nation, and along with them, the procurators and tetrarchs of Judea, to whom is added Herod, who, as I have said already, was alien to the Jewish race, and who himself received his principate over the Jews from the Romans.

Having observed these things thus far, the time has now arrived to enter upon the contemplation of the prophecy itself: "Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise." Since there were twelve sons of Jacob in all, Judah was the fourth, as we have already said, himself also one of the tribal heads of the Hebrew nation. ^C But that the things said by the father as if to him did not refer to that man himself, would become most clear to those who have attended to the words of Divine Scripture, primarily those that are contained in the address of Jacob to his sons, saying: "And Jacob called his sons and said: 'Gather together, and I will declare to you what shall befall you in the last days; gather together and hear, ye sons of Jacob, hear Israel your father.'" For he clearly promises to prophesy to them the things that will befall them in long-subsequent times, and, as he himself says, "in the last days." Moreover, those things which are said as if to Judah could by no means be applied to that first man; for his brethren had not praised that Judah, for what famous deeds after all ought they to have done so? Nor indeed did the sons of his father adore him. Truly, however, the oracle is far more fitting- ^D

^A if it were said of Joseph, since Joseph is seen to have been adored by Judah himself, along with the rest of the brothers, although this happened before the words of this prophecy; for after these, history shows nothing of the sort taking place, neither concerning Joseph, nor much less concerning Judah himself. And the passage, «But lying down thou hast slept like a lion and as a whelp,» would indeed require a deeper contemplation than that which concerns Judah.

Moreover, that which is said after these things, «A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until the things reserved for him come, and he himself be the expectation of the nations,» seems to me to signify the times of the advent of him of whom the prophecy speaks. For he says ^B this shall not be until that happens; for princes and leaders shall not cease in the Jewish nation before the expectation of the nations arrives and the things reserved for him of whom the prophet speaks. Theodotion, interpreting these things, does not differ from the Seventy themselves. But Aquila expounded it in this way: «A scepter shall not be raised from Judah, and he who is carefully known from between his feet, until the gathering of the peoples comes to him.»

Where it is said, «A prince shall not fail from Judah,» one must not understand this of that first man Judah himself, just as that which says, «Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee,» and what follows, cannot be referred to him alone. For there existed for many centuries ^C princes and leaders in the Jewish nation who did not come from the lineage of that man. For the first to lead the people was Moses himself, who was born not of Judah, but of Levi. Then Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim; after whom ruled Deborah of the tribe of Ephraim, and Barak of the tribe of Naphtali, after whom came Gideon of the tribe of Manasseh; then the son of Gideon, and after him Thola of the same tribe; then Esebon of Bethlehem; and after him Ailon of the tribe of Zebulun; him followed Labdon of the tribe of Ephraim; then Samson of the tribe of Dan; afterwards, when they were without a prince, Heli the priest of the tribe of Levi ruled over them. All these judges who judged Israel were not of the lineage of Judah himself, but ^D originated from different tribes, one from one and another from another; and the first who after them received kingly dignity among them was Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin.

How then, as one might perhaps have thought, would that which says, «A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs,» be referred to princes and leaders of the tribe of Judah, when it is seen that from the time Jacob died, for almost a full thousand years, they did not originate from the single tribe of Judah, but now from one and now from another, until the times of David? Even if after so many years David and those who succeeded David in the kingdom among the Jewish nation were born of the tribe of Judah, you must nevertheless know that these very men could not hold the kingdom of the whole nation for even five hundred years, but only of three tribes, and not even these entirely; for at the same times others reigned over a larger part of the nation, and over a full nine tribes. For after the death of Solomon, when the whole nation was divided from Judah

and from the ^A successors of David, as I said, they were not kings even of entire tribes in Jerusalem until the Babylonian captivity. But at these same times, in the city which is called Samaria, leaders of the nine tribes were not from the tribe of Judah, but were others from other tribes, the first of whom was Jeroboam, of the tribe of Ephraim, and those who followed him; so that not even in the intervening times from David to the time when they were led captive into Babylon did any from the tribe of Judah rule over the whole nation. What must be said, moreover, as to how, after the return from Babylon, they lived for more than five hundred years until the birth of Christ using a ^B form of government that was aristocratic, with priests ruling the nation from time to time, and no one from the tribe of Judah? So that from all these things it may be manifest that this oracle—saying, "A ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor a leader from his loins"—is not to be referred to that first man, Judah, nor to his successors; and that the statement regarding this place can only hold together if we understand these things to be said about the whole tribe, according to the points previously set forth by us. For this tribe was the leader of the whole nation from the beginning, even from the times of Moses himself; and therefore, according to the dominion of this tribe—as having been appointed by God to lead from the beginning—the region is even now called Judea from that very tribe, and their whole body is called Jews. ^C Thus, therefore, let us understand what was said, as if it had spoken more clearly: "The tribe of Judah shall not cease to rule the whole nation." Symmachus, at any rate, says, "Authority shall not be taken away from Judah," indicating the authoritative and princely dignity of the tribe of Judah that existed thereafter. He prophesies that neither its scepter, as Aquila says (for this was a symbol of royal authority), nor its authority, according to Symmachus, will be taken away, "until he comes to whom it is reserved," and he shall be the expectation of the nations. And what is this expectation, if not that which was long ago announced to Abraham and the fathers after him? First, ^D therefore, it is worth wondering why, when there were twelve tribes among the Hebrews, the name of the nation is still proclaimed to this day from no other than from the single tribe of Judah; it is for no other reason than for the oracle of the prophecy, which attached the princely dignity to the tribe of Judah. But it also happens that their ancestral land is called Judea for the same cause. For why, I ask, when there were twelve, was their nation not named from their first, I mean from Reuben? Even though the firstborn were honored in the divine law? And why not from the tribe of Levi, which surpassed Judah both in time and in the honor of the priesthood? And why did it not happen that the whole nation and the land were named rather from Joseph, because he had long ago obtained power over not only all of Egypt, but also his own kindred, and those who descended from him in long ages afterward for a very long time over a *full nine tribes of the*

nation, by whom it would have been even more likely for the whole nation and the land to be named after their own progenitor? And who would not admit that it is more reasonable that all of them should have taken their name from Benjamin, since their renowned royal metropolis fell to the lot of his tribe, as did the most holy temple of God ^B which was erected there? Nevertheless, not even from these, nor from any other than the tribe of Judah alone, has the naming of the country and the whole nation been distinguished, in accordance with the prophecy. Thus, in this way, the saying, "A ruler shall not fail from Judah," is referred by us to the tribe, and only in this way is the prediction truly fulfilled. For from the times of Moses onward, there were never lacking some individual ^C rulers from among them who, as I have said, presided from various tribes, but the tribe of Judah in general presided over the whole nation. You will perceive what has been said by an example. For even in the Roman Empire, the procurators, governors, prefects, and commanders of the camps of individual nations, and those who outrank all others, the kings, are not all taken from the city of Rome itself, nor from the lineage of Remus or Romulus, but from countless nations, one from one place and another from another; yet all the kings, and the subordinate rulers and governors, are noted by the appellation of Romans, and the empire is named of the Romans, and all the magistrates in general reach that appellation; so also in the affairs of the Hebrews, one ought to determine and understand that just as the tribe of Judah in general rendered the whole nation illustrious by its own name, individual leaders and kings arose from different tribes, who nevertheless received honor by that common appellation of Judah. Let that which was said by the prophet, therefore, be referred to the whole tribe: ^D "Judah, your brothers shall praise you." For he knew that it, having been deemed worthy of a prerogative, was to be preferred in honor to the other tribes; and since it was the leader in wars, and it alone presided over the whole nation in the battle lines against the enemies, it is reasonably added to it: "Your hands are on the back of your enemies." Then, because of the principate and the royal dignity, it is called a "lion’s whelp." And the progenitor, being also a prophet, glorying in the dignity of the tribe, adds and says: "From the shoot, my son, you have ascended." And the saying, "Resting, you slept as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp," displays its proud and courageous spirit, and its fearlessness towards those attacking from without, and its being dauntless and disdainful of its enemies. But being such, or rather the tribe being such, he says, "Who shall arouse him?" hinting that he who was to arise from the throne, and who was to translate the indicated tribe from the princely dignity, would be something great and wonderful, rare and difficult to discern. And who this was, he next causes us to realize, teaching that this is he who was to be the expectation of the nations, who (he prophesies) would not appear among men before a ruler and leader should fail and the tribe of Judah should be removed from the principate. And who was this but our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, at whose birth, in accordance with the pro

- ^A phecy just set forth, the princes and leaders who presided over the nation failed among the Jews, while the tribe of Judah itself, along with the whole nation, was despoiled of the principate and kingdom which it had held from the beginning, and serves even now under the Romans, who from that time to this very day have kept them in subjection, having brought the Jewish nation, along with the rest of the nations, into their power? From whom Herod, the first to be a king of their nation, though being of a foreign race, was declared king by Augustus and the Roman senatorial body. Now this Herod was the son of Antipater. But Antipater was an Ascalonite, from one of those called in the temple of Apollo—the sacred slaves—who, having taken a wife named Cypris, of Arabian stock, produced Herod. He, therefore, being the first to originate from such a lineage, removed from the way by killing Hyrcanus, the last who ruled in the succession of high priests, under whom the affairs of the indigenous principate of the Jewish nation came to an end; and he was, as I said, the first of a foreign race to be proclaimed king of the Jews. At whose time, when Jesus Christ was born, the dignity of the tribe of Judah was at once brought to an end, the rule and kingdom of the Jews was brought to an end, and the previously mentioned prophecy was fulfilled: ^B "There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a leader from his loins," it says, "until there come the things stored up for him"; whom it also says shall be not the expectation of the Jewish nation, but of the nations. Since, therefore, the removal of the rulers and leaders of the Jewish nation, which was promised of old to Abraham, was being reserved for the time of the Romans, and for the aforementioned Herod from (other) nations, rightly then the evangelist Luke, marking the times of the failure of the Jewish rulers, records that the beginning of the teaching of Christ took place in the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judæa; and Matthew also indicates this same thing. For having inscribed the birth of our Lord and Savior, he adds: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to ^C Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews?'" By these words he clearly demonstrates both the rule of the foreigner over them and the calling from God of the foreign nations from the east. For at the same time foreigners were ruling over the Jews, and foreigners, coming from the east, were recognizing and worshipping the Christ of God who had been prophesied of old. Therefore, the prophecy of Jacob is clearly shown through these things to have reached its goal, being accomplished at the final stage of the constitution of the Jewish nation, just as he himself prophesied to his own children, saying, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days," with us understanding the "last days" as the final stage of the constitution of the Jewish nation. What then ^D

was to befall it? Surely the failing of the honor of Judah, and the total subversion of its people, the cessation and end of its leaders, the dissipation of the principality and royal dignity of its tribe, and the rule and kingdom of Christ—a kingdom not over Israel, but one that would hold sway over all the nations, according to the verse: "And he is the expectation of the nations." ^B But who would not plainly confess that all these things were fulfilled so clearly at the appearing of our Savior? For at a time when, long before the birth of Christ, they were distinguished by their own rulers and leaders, and were intelligent listeners to the divine readings, and were honored by their own kings and high priests and prophets, and when the tribe of Judah itself was royal, prevailing over its enemies and foes, and was the leader and guide of the entire nation—the very ones who were once preeminent among them have, from that time even to the present, been made tributary to the Romans and are subject to them.

For the Christ of God clearly appeared, and from that time the so-called expectation of the nations has been proclaimed to all nations. Or let anyone tell me if, at the coming of Jesus our Savior, the things which were held in reverence among the Hebrews—their capital city along with the temple, and the worship performed therein—have not, together with their own leaders and rulers, passed away? And from that time have not those things of hope, and the expectation of the nations throughout the whole world, been revealed, when those things which were laid up for the Lord have also come?

And what are these things to be held to be, if not those which that oracle contains? "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the sprout, my son, you have ascended. You have lain down and slept as a lion, and as a lion's whelp; who shall rouse him?" For these things possess for him another meaning, which it is time that we contemplate, if we first diligently observe that ^C the divine oracles are accustomed to call Christ by various and diverse names. For at one time they call him Jacob: "Jacob is my child, I will take hold of him; Israel is my elect, my soul has accepted him; he shall bring forth judgment to the nations," and that which follows, to which is added: "Until he shall set judgment upon the earth, and in his name the nations shall hope." At another time they name him Solomon and David: Solomon, as in the 71st Psalm, which is inscribed "For Solomon," but which clearly contains the things concerning Christ; for the passage, "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth, and all nations shall serve him," and all the things the Psalm contains following these, could harmonize with Christ alone. And again in the 88th Psalm, Christ is proclaimed as David; ^D for since these things said therein would not harmonize with David alone, but with him alone in correspondence, such as the passage: "He shall call upon me, You are my Father, and I will make him my firstborn, high among the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him for ever," and again: "His seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon established for ever."

^A Thus, then, with myriads of other appellations for Christ, through which the divine scriptures designate Him, Judas also, in the same way, can be said to be intended by the aforementioned, because He was born of the tribe of Judah. For it is manifest according to the Apostle that our Savior and Lord has sprung from the tribe of Judah. Therefore, in this sense, the things prophesied were stored up for Judas. But what were these things? First, that he should be praised by his brothers; ^B second, that he should lay his hands upon the back of his enemies; third, that he should be worshipped by the sons of his father. And these things reached their fulfillment when, while He was still at that time being admired for performing miraculous powers and wondrous signs, He was praised and worshipped by His disciples and apostles, whom He did not disdain to call brothers, saying through the Psalm: "I will declare thy name unto my brothers, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee," and by commanding those about Mary to announce ^C to them as brothers: "Go, tell," He says, "my brothers, that I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." Thus, indeed, the brothers first praised Him for those wondrous things as merely a marvelous man, having supposed Him to be, as was likely, one of the prophets; but when, in the meantime, they beheld His wondrous miracle-working, and how He had brought down the enemy and avenger, namely, death, the ruler of this age, together with the other invisible and hostile powers, then at that time, believing Him to be God, they worshipped Him. And the hands of our Savior were upon the back of His enemies when He performed all His actions, and powers, and wonder-workings, for the destruction of demons and evil spirits. ^D But also when He stretched out His hands upon the cross, and thus His hands, as the enemies fled and turned their backs to Him, were upon the back of His enemies—and more so when, having surrendered His spirit to the Father, bodiless and stripped of the body He had assumed, He descended into the region of the enemies, being Himself Life, to abolish death and the powers rising up against Him, which had naturally supposed at the beginning that He was a common man and like the multitude, and thus had surrounded Him and attacked Him as if He were just anyone; but when they knew Him to be of a nature superior to man and more divine, they turned and gave their backs to Him, against whom, having let loose His hands, He pursued them as they fled with His divine and sharpened arrows, wherefore it was said: "Thy hands shall be upon the back of thine enemies." And if even now myriads of enemies of our Savior still attempt to war against His Church from time to time, yet He routs even these with an invisible hand and divine power, as it was said also concerning them: "Thy hands shall be upon the back of thine enemies." And since He had by now finally received the victories over His enemies, then that also was fulfilled: "Thy father's children shall worship thee."

^B All, that is to say, the angels in heaven, and the ministering spirits, and the divine powers, and thereafter the apostles and evangelists on earth, and after these all those from the nations who through Him have inscribed themselves to the one and only true Father, God—who, having learned that Christ is God the Word, confess that they worship Him as God. ^C But since it was necessary that the mysteries of His birth and of His death should also be included in the prophecy concerning Him, Jacob, having spoken of the aforementioned things, reasonably adds: "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the shoot, my son, thou hast ascended; lying down, thou didst sleep as a lion, and as a whelp: who shall rouse him?" He calls Him a lion's whelp because He was born of a royal tribe; for He was of the seed of David according to the flesh. "From the shoot, my son, thou hast ascended," he says, because He sprang from the seed and root of Jacob, who was uttering these things—being first God the Word, but subsequently having become Son of man, because of the dispensation He undertook for our sake. ^D That which says, "Lying down, thou didst sleep as a lion, and as a whelp," could also be a sign of His death, according to the custom of Scripture, which, through its own peculiar perspective, calls death "sleeping" and "slumber" in a thousand other places. And the phrase, "Who shall rouse him?" is spoken with wonder concerning His resurrection from the dead. For he who asks, "Who shall rouse him?" clearly knows that He is to be raised; but he adds the words with wonder, as if asking who is to do this and raise Him up, inciting us to seek who this might be that is to raise our Lord from the dead after He had undertaken death for our sake. And who else could it be than the God of all and His Father, to whom alone the resurrection of our Savior is to be attributed, as the Scripture testifies, which says, "Whom God raised from the dead"? Instead of "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the shoot, my son, thou hast ascended; lying down, thou didst sleep," Aquila says most emphatically: "Lion's whelp of Judah, from devouring, my son, thou hast ascended, having bent down, thou didst lie down." Symmachus says: "Lion's whelp of Judah, from a wild beast's lair, my son, thou hast ascended, having crouched, thou didst stand firm." By these it is clearly represented that the resurrection from the dead, and the escape of our Savior from Hades (as if from some wild beast's lair), is clearly marked. And the word "crouched" and "stood firm," instead of "fallen," indicated both His death through the "crouching," and the fact that He was not carried away like the souls of other men, through the "standing firm." All these things then were laid up for Christ; yet so long as it had not yet reached its end, the nation of the Jews stood firm, and the rulers and leaders among them, and those who carefully examined the divine prophecies concerning Christ, were distinguished among them. But when the things laid up for Judah had come, and He who was prophesied as having come from the seed and shoot of him who had uttered these things appeared on earth, and having lain down and slept—or, according to Symmachus, having crouched—He stood firm and was raised, having laid His hands upon the backs of the invisible and intelligible enemies; and His brethren and disciples, who formerly praised and marveled at Him, later confessed Him to be God,

and indeed worshiped Him as God, then were fulfilled those things which were laid up for Him, as it was for this reason that it was said, “Until the things that are laid up for Him should come.” For from that time until now, when the things laid up for Him have reached their end, the rulers and leaders of the Jewish nation have ceased, and they have appointed over their heads the rulers of the nations, while conversely the nations, having recognized the Christ of God, have inscribed Him as Savior and Expectation. After all these things it is added: “Binding his foal to the vine, and to the tendril of his ass’s colt, he shall wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are gladsome from wine, and his teeth are white as milk.” ^A I think that by these things is signified, on the one hand, the foal itself—the choir of the apostles and disciples of our Savior—and on the other, the vine to which He bound the foal, namely His divine and invisible power, which He Himself, setting it forth, taught, saying: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.” And the tendril of the vine which has been assigned would be the teaching of the Word of God, to which He bound the foal of the ass, the new people from the nations, being an offspring of His apostles. ^B And one might also say that these things attained their end literally when, according to Matthew, the Lord said to His own disciples: “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you shall find an ass bound, and a foal with her; loose them and bring them to Me.” And it is truly possible for one who applies himself to the Word to marvel at the prophet’s prediction, since he perceived by the divine Spirit that he who was to be prophesied would not ride upon chariots and horses like some glorious king among men, but upon an ass and a foal, like some common man of the multitude and a poor man. For this, another prophet also marveled at, saying: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek, and riding upon an ass and a young foal.” ^C But as for the words, “He shall wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes,” consider also whether, as in mysteries, he signifies His secret passion, in which He washed His garment and cloak in a bath, by which it is signified that He washes away the ancient filth of those who have believed in Him. For through the wine, which was a symbol of His blood, He cleanses from their ancient evils those who are baptized into His death and who have believed in His blood, cleaning and wiping away their old garment and cloak; so that, having been redeemed by the precious blood of the divine and spiritual grape and by the wine from the assigned vine, they might put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, who is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. ^D And the words, “His eyes are gladsome from wine,” and “His teeth are white as milk,” again mysteriously signify the mysteries of the New Testament of our Savior, as the choir of the apostles and disciples of our Savior is signified by the foal, and by the vine to which the foal is bound, His divine and invisible power, which He, while manifesting, taught with these words: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.” Furthermore, the tendril of this same vine would be the doctrine of the Word of God, to which He bound the foal of His ass, which foal signifies the new people from the nations, as a kind of offspring of His apostles and their progeny. We can also say that these things reached their end at the time when, as is read in Matthew, the Lord said to His disciples: “Go into the village which is opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass

and a colt with her; loose them and bring them to me.” And truly, if any one should diligently attend to these words, he could not help but admire the prophet’s prediction, who, inspired by the divine Spirit, knew so long before that He of whom he prophesied was to ride not as some illustrious king among men on chariots and horses, but sitting upon an ass and a colt, as one of the many, a common and indigent man. Another prophet also marveled at this very thing, where he says: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Sion; behold, your king comes to you, meek, sitting upon a beast and a young colt.” But as for the passage, “He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape,” ^B consider, I pray, lest perchance, as in mysteries, it signifies His mystical passion, in which He washed His robe and garment, as in a laver: where, indeed, it is declared that He has washed away the ancient filth of those who have believed in Him. For by wine, which is the mark of His blood, He purges those who are baptized into His death, and who believe in His blood, from their ancient evils, inasmuch as He washes and wipes away their ancient robe and garment. Therefore, redeemed by the precious blood of that vine which was born of the Spirit, and by the wine of that vine of which it was said above, they have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, renewed unto the knowledge according to the image of Him who created ^C him. But that passage, “His eyes are bright from wine,” and that, “His teeth are white as milk,” I consider, again, as if set in mysteries, to comprehend the mysteries of the New Testament, namely, the joy of that mystical wine which the Savior Himself offered to His own disciples, when He said: “Take, drink; this is my blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. Do this in my commemoration.” For that passage, “His eyes are bright from wine,” and “His teeth are white as milk,” seems to me to signify the splendor and purity of that mystical nourishment. For again, He Himself delivered the marks of the divine dispensation to His disciples, while He exhorts them to represent the image of His own body. For since He was no longer to have regard for bloody sacrifices, nor for those things which were ordained in the Law of Moses regarding the slaughter of different animals, but was to institute that they should use the bread as a mark of His own body, the Prophet rightly signified the splendor and purity of that nourishment when he said: “And his teeth are white as milk.” Another prophet also makes mention of this thing in these words: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me.” However, since these things stand in need of greater investigation and a longer interpretation, someone might explore them more diligently at leisure; since the present time does not demand that more be said, so that it might plainly appear that, along with other things, the times also of the coming of our Savior were known of old by the former prophets, and were evidently commended to the divine Scripture. ^D

From Daniel

Just as after the space of seventy weeks of years, which amounts to four hundred and ninety years, when Christ presented Himself to be seen by men, the prophecies which existed among the Jews, and the priesthood which was formerly celebrated and famous among them, were to be dissolved, and they themselves, like a flood, were to be taken captive by constant sieges, and their holy temple was to suffer total devastation.

“And while I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people Israel, and pouring out my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, and while I was still speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in a vision at the beginning, flying, touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice, and instructed me, and spoke to me.”

and said: “Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the word came forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art a man of desires: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” ^A Seventy weeks are appointed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to wipe away iniquities, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks; and the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Christ be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. ^B When the seventy years of captivity of the Jewish nation in Babylon were already drawing to an end, as Daniel was praying, one of the holy ministers of God, the archangel Gabriel, appeared to him and prophesied that the restoration of Jerusalem would happen immediately and without delay; and he limited the time until that restoration to a specific number of years. He also predicted that, after the appointed deadline, it would be destroyed again; and that, after undergoing a second capture and siege, it would no longer enjoy God as its guardian, but would remain desolate, and together with it the worship according to the Law of Moses would be abolished, since in place of its rites, another Testament, which is called the New, was to be introduced into the life of mankind. ^C And Gabriel confesses that he is revealing these things to the prophet in an obscure manner, as is the custom in oracles. He says, therefore, to Daniel: “Now I am come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the word came forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art a man of desires: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” By these words he plainly encourages him to observe more deeply and to understand more profoundly those things which, in the words uttered by him, are worthy of contemplation. For he calls it a vision, because they attain to a certain deeper meaning and do not require ordinary intelligence. Wherefore, let us also, calling upon Him who gives wisdom to men, and asking that He enlighten the eyes of our minds, confidently approach those things that pertain to the interpretation of these passages: “Seventy weeks,” he says, “are appointed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to wipe away iniquities, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal ^D

weeks have received a summary over thy people and over thy holy city, to finish the sin, and as if by a ring have sins been sealed: and iniquities may be blotted out, and injustices may be atoned for, and eternal justice may be brought in, and as if by an impressed seal, vision and prophecy may be closed, and the Holy of Holies may be anointed.^A That the span of seventy weeks, therefore, if resolved into years, produces a sum of four hundred and ninety, is, I imagine, doubtful to no one. So great a summary of time, then, has been received over thy people, where indeed he concludes the entire termination of the Jewish nation: yet he no longer calls them in these words the people of God, but addressing Daniel himself, "Thy people," he says: for even on other occasions, just as when that people had acted impiously and had given themselves over to idols, God no longer called them His own people, but instead Moses', saying: "Go, descend; for thy people has sinned." Now, therefore, in the same manner he teaches the reason why he fixed that span of time against them: and this is, that they are no longer worthy to be called the people of God. Then he adds that, "And over the holy city"; where again we are to understand "thy" from the preceding part: so that it appears to have been said thus, "Over thy people and over thy holy city," not otherwise than if he had said: Which is considered holy by thee. For both the Hebrew text and the remaining interpreters with one voice add that "thy" not only to the people, but also to the city. Aquila, therefore, says: "Over thy people, and over thy sanctified city"; but Symmachus: "Against thy people, and thy holy city." Wherefore in the good codices of the Seventy Interpreters, that "thy" is added with an asterisk placed beside it: for when Daniel in those words of his supplication was praying, he had often called the people, the people of God, and the place of the city, the holy place of God; but the One who replied, turning it to the contrary, confesses that it is neither the holy city of God, nor the people of God, but "thy" [people and city], he says, O thou who prayest, and who hast said such things concerning the people and the place of the city. The words of Daniel himself are in this manner: "Let thy fury and thy wrath be turned away from thy city Jerusalem and thy holy mountain," and: "Thy people has become a reproach to all those around us," and again: "Show thy face over thy sanctuary which is deserted," and again: "See the destruction of thy city over which thy name has been invoked," and further on: "Because thy name has been invoked over thy city, and over thy people." Having prayed with such words, he added: "And while I was still speaking and praying, behold Gabriel, whom I had seen in my vision, flying, touched me, and said those things which thou hast surely described above." Plainly, therefore, in these words the prophet does not simply [call it] the city, ^B but the city of God, and the sanctuary the sanctuary of God, and the people the people of God, with a disposition toward the people. But Gabriel does not call the things that are being indicated in the same way as him, but on the contrary, "Over thy people," he says, "and over thy holy city," declaring, as it were, that both the city, and the people, and the sanctuary are unworthy of the appellation of God. Such a time, then, he teaches, was marked off first against the people, and then also against the city; and such is it shown to be from the ^{C D}

renewal of Jerusalem. This period is further comprised from Darius, king of the Persians, down to the dominion of Augustus over the Romans, and Herod, king of the Jews, who was born into a foreign race; at which times those events pertaining to the birth of our Saviour are recounted, as the discourse advancing further will demonstrate. ^B Next in order follows: “To consummate the sin, and to seal up sins as with a ring, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for injustices, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.”

For in place of “to consummate the sin, and to seal up sins,” Aquila has written: “To consummate the apostasy, and to bring sin to an end.” For that saying, “Fill ye up the measure of your fathers” (Matt. xxiii. 32), which was spoken by our Saviour to those of the circumcision, is exactly what I believe is intended and signified here. For in the conspiracy which the Jewish nation dared against Him, they consummated their sin, and their apostasy—according to Aquila—towards God reached its end. For long before, the long-suffering of God had borne with them, though they committed myriads of transgressions before the coming of our Saviour, just as is demonstrated through the prophetic oracles; yet, just as it was said to Abraham concerning the foreigners who dwelt of old in the land of promise: “For the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up” (Gen. xv. 16), and as long as they were not yet filled up, the Amorites were not yet driven out of their ancestral land. But when their sins were filled up, at that time they all were blotted out during the days of Jesus, the successor of Moses; so also will you understand this of the former people. For as long as their sins were not being filled up, the forbearance and long-suffering of God bore them, daily calling them to repentance through the prophets. But since, upon hearing the word of salvation, they filled up the measure of their fathers, in this way everything gathered together resulted in their final destruction, just as our Lord Himself teaches, saying: “Every drop of blood shed from the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zacharias, ^C shall come upon this generation.” Therefore, by daring at last of all to lay hands upon the Son of God, they completed the apostasy and finished their own sin, according to the interpretation of Aquila; but according to the Seventy, their sin was bound and sealed. But since He came not only for the fall, but also for the rising of many in Israel, as it is written concerning Him: “Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel” (Luke ii. 34), it is logically that Daniel next adds: “And to blot out sins, and to make atonement for injustices.” For because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, and because the whole human race stood in need of a living and true atonement (of which the mercy-seat constructed by Moses bore the type), and this was our Saviour and Lord, the Lamb of God, of whom it has been said: “Behold the Lamb of God, who

^A takes away the sin of the world,” and again, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world,” he himself being also redemption, according to Paul, who says: “Who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Thus, it is fitting that it teaches his coming to be at once the completion and fulfillment of sin for those who have transgressed against him, and at the same time the erasure and cleansing of sins, and an atonement for the injustices of those who have believed in him. And Aquila also, having said, “To finish the apostasy, and to fulfill the sin,” added, “To make atonement for iniquity,” clearly proposing that he is an atonement for all iniquity that had been committed in ignorance in the past. After these things it is said: “To bring in everlasting righteousness.” Now the Word of God himself is everlasting righteousness, “who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” according to the Apostle. But yet, with his own coming he procured righteousness for all men, showing by his works that “God is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” Since ^B God is one, who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. Whence Peter, marveling at those with Cornelius who were counted worthy of the Holy Spirit, said: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” And Paul also says the Gospel is of righteousness, saying: “For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek; for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.” And in the Psalms it is said concerning Christ, “Righteousness shall spring up in his days, and abundance of peace.” And his work indeed demonstrated the righteousness of God in truth, inasmuch as it made the whole human race worthy of the calling from God on equal terms. But those things which were ordained through Moses were not such, ^C but were granted to the single nation of the Jews alone; for this reason, having appeared for a time, they have passed away. But the righteousness proclaimed through our Saviour, remaining forever, is fittingly called everlasting righteousness, according to the words of Gabriel: “And to bring in everlasting righteousness.” But as for “And to seal the vision and the prophet,” it seems to me that Aquila has done it more accurately, saying: “And to finish the vision and the prophet.” For the Saviour and our Lord did not come to close up and, as it were, seal the prophetic visions; because he has indeed removed the seals as if they were laid upon them, from those which were of old obscure and sealed, and opened and unfolded them, delivering to his own disciples the meaning of the divine scriptures. Whence, he says: “Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah has prevailed,” and he himself opened the seals that were laid upon the book, according to the Revelation of John. And what seals are these, if not the obscurities ^D of the prophets?

Since Isaiah clearly perceived these things, he said, “And these words shall be as the words of the book that is sealed.” Therefore, the Christ of God did not come to close up vision and prophet, but rather to throw them open and bring them to light. Whence it seems to me that Aquila spoke more aptly: “To complete the vision and the prophet,” which also chimes with that saying of the Savior himself: “I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them” (Matt. v, 17). For Christ is the end of the law, and all the prophecies concerning him remained unfulfilled and incomplete until he, appearing, placed an end to all things that had been foretold concerning him.

But according to the translation of the Seventy, that saying, “to seal vision and prophet,” may have this meaning: since the law and the prophets lasted until John, and from that time those who had formerly been inspired by the Spirit among the Jewish nation—those who proclaimed the prophecies concerning Christ and who rightly beheld the visions in the sacred writings—ceased, for the reason that divine grace itself had been closed off and, as it were, bound with seals; hence it came about that from that time there was no longer a prophet acting, nor one calling out among them, with all these things having ceased from those times onwards even unto us. ^B To these he adds, “And to anoint the holy of holies.” And this also is evident from the fact itself, that up to the times of our Savior, the high priests among the Hebrews, the holy of holies, were anointed according to the sanctification performed in accordance with the law of Moses; but from that time, these too have ceased, in accordance with the prophecy. Now, the proclamation of Jacob to Judah signifying the failure of the leaders and rulers of the Jewish nation, according to what has been set forth before; since the protection of the people had long before depended upon prophets and priests, consequently, the Word, having predicted through the aforementioned prophecy the destruction of the rulers and leaders of the Jewish nation at the presence of Christ, proclaims through the prophecy at hand the failure of the prophets and priests who had long excelled among them, as these also failed at the appearance of Christ; which event the presence of our Savior confirmed by its deeds.

But since Aquila handed down, “to anoint the most holy of the most holy,” one might think that this indicates the high priest of old among the Jews, since many priests below him were called holy, but the high priest alone was called the holy of holies above all others. Since this is also readily understood to be true. For until the times of our Savior, the high priests from of old, by succession, ruled at once the whole people and performed the matters of the service of God, consistently with the worship legislated by Moses. ^C But from the times of our Savior, first the order regarding them was thrown into confusion, and a little later it was utterly extinguished. But as for me, having nowhere found in the divine Scripture...

the Jewish high priest designated as the "Holy of Holies," I consider that this term points solely to the only-begotten Son of God, the Word, and that he is truly and properly worthy of this title. For as for those who have gone forth from among men, and have attained to that degree of virtue which mortal nature can reach, it is enough and more than enough if, at some time, by participation and communion with Him who said, "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy" [Lev. 19:2], they should be called holy. But who among men could properly be called the "Holy of Holies," except solely the Holy One's beloved Son, who, just as He is called the King of kings and Lord of lords, is likewise proclaimed the Holy ^B of holies? To Him alone, as having been anointed in a more pre-eminent manner than all those who were ever anointed with that earthly and prepared oil of Moses, was this said: "You loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions" [Ps. 44:8]. Being anointed with this oil, He Himself says in His own person in Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me" [Isa. 61:1]. Since, therefore, our Savior alone is testified to have been anointed with a superior and spiritual—or rather, a divine—anointing, beyond all who have ever existed, He is deservedly named the "Holy of Holies," just as if one were to say "High Priest of high priests," or even, according to Gabriel's oracle, "Sanctified of the sanctified." And all these things, when the seventy weeks were completed, attained their end ^C at no other time than during the manifestation of our Savior. Since, therefore, the aforementioned angel was prophesying in summary fashion to the prophet that these things would come to pass in such a way, he again takes up the discourse concerning the seventy weeks, teaching each thing precisely in detail—whence the numbering of the times should begin, and what things will occur at the indicated times. He says, then: "And you shall know and understand from the issuing of the word, to answer and to build Jerusalem; seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, and it shall return, and the square and the wall shall be built" [Dan. 9:25]. In this matter, it seems to me to be well to not hide the interpretation of him who preceded us in these places, but to set it forth as appropriate for those who will read it. For common, as it is well said, are the things of friends; and since it is fitting to acknowledge in gratitude the things well-said by others, without depriving the fathers of their descendants, or the first planters of their own seeds, I shall set forth his own words. These are ^D contained in the fifth book of the Chronographies of Africanus, and are in this manner: "The passage, then, being thus, signifies many and marvelous things; but now we shall treat of those matters that are necessary concerning the times and what relates to them. That these things are said concerning the advent of Christ, who was to appear after seventy weeks, is clear. For in the time of the Savior, or from Him, transgressions are made old, and sins are brought to an end. For through the forgiveness of sins, iniquities are wiped out by expiation, along with the unjust..."

and everlasting righteousness is announced, beyond that which was acquired by the law. Moreover, ^A visions and prophecies continue until John, and the Holy of Holies is anointed: for since these things did not exist before the advent of our Savior, they were nonetheless expected. The angel directs that the beginning of the numbers—that is, of the seventy weeks, which are four hundred and ninety years—should be reckoned from the going forth of the command to answer and to build Jerusalem. Now these things happened in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, ^B who was reigning over the Persians; for Nehemiah, his cupbearer, having made his petition, obtained the answer that Jerusalem should be built, and a command went forth ordering these things. For up to that time, the city had lain desolate. For after the seventy years of the captivity, when Cyrus had sent away each of those who were willing of their own accord, those who went down with Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel, and those who were with Ezra following them, were at first prevented from building the temple and from surrounding the city with a wall, as if this had not been ordered. It remained, therefore, until Nehemiah and the reign of Artaxerxes, in the one hundred and fifteenth year of the Persian dominion; and from the capture of Jerusalem, one hundred and eighty-five years had passed. And then King Artaxerxes commanded the city to be built. Nehemiah, having been sent on his way, presided over the work, ^C and the broad street and the outer wall were built, as it had been prophesied. And from that point they reckon for us that the seventy weeks are fulfilled unto Christ; for if we were to begin to count from elsewhere, and not from thence, neither will the time coincide, and very many absurdities will occur. For if we make the beginning of the counting of the seventy weeks from Cyrus and the first return, it exceeds one hundred years, and even more time if we begin from the day on which the angel prophesied to Daniel, and by far more if from the start of the captivity. For we find the kingdom of the Persians described in two hundred and thirty years, ^D and that of the Macedonians extending for three hundred and seventy years, and from there to the sixteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, sixty years. But from Artaxerxes, the seventy weeks are brought to an end at the time of Christ, according to the Hebrew numbering. For from Nehemiah, who was sent by Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem in the one hundred and fifteenth year of the Persian empire—which was the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes himself, and the fourth year of the eighty-third Olympiad—to this time, which was the second year of the two hundred and second Olympiad, and the sixteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, there are gathered four hundred and seventy-five years, which become four hundred and ninety Hebrew years, when the years of those people are reckoned according to the lunar course, as it is simple to say, of three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days. For the lunar twelve…

of a day. From this it appears that twelve lunar courses are exceeded by one solar course by eleven days and a quarter of a day. Therefore, both the Greeks and the Jews add three intercalary months to every eighth year. For if you repeat eleven and a quarter eight times, you will complete a space of three months. Four hundred and seventy-five years, therefore, produce fifty-nine octennia and three years beyond. But when three intercalary months are inserted into every eighth year, the sum of fifteen years is completed, with a few days deducted. If you add these to the four hundred and seventy-five, you will complete seventy hebdomads. ^D Thus far, Africanus.

But if we also ought to bring forward our own contribution regarding such passages, I say that the division made by the oracle of the seventy hebdomads was not done in vain or rashly. For when he divided them into the first seven, and then into another sixty-two, and after many things that are inserted in the middle, added the one that remained, in this way he completed the number of seventy hebdomads. He says therefore: “And you shall know and understand from the going forth of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader, seven hebdomads, and sixty-two hebdomads.” Then having inserted some other things in between, he adds the last one, saying: “And he shall confirm a covenant with many, one hebdomad.” That these things were not said in vain, nor without divine inspiration, I believe that anyone who pays attention to them as the very sayings of God will admit. This, then, is the first thing that we have well noted, leaving to those who encounter it the precise solution of the question.

But if we must also not hide that which occurs to us, I say that according to a different way of thinking, or rather an interpretation, one might hold that the Christ indicated in the proposed scripture, according to the words, “From the going forth of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader,” is not someone else than the catalogue of the high priests of the people who assumed office after the prophecy and the return from Babylon, whom it is the custom of Scripture to call Christs. For we have received that these alone led the nation, beginning from Joshua son of Jozadak, the great priest, after the return from Babylon, and down to the times of the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ. I think, then, that the time in between ^A of these men's leadership, during which they ruled, is indicated by the words, “From the going forth of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader, seven hebdomads, and sixty-two hebdomads”; and that the hebdomads of years, gathered into four hundred and eighty-three years, extend from the kingdom of Cyrus to the beginning of the Roman rule ^B, during which the Roman general Pompey, having settled in Jerusalem, took the city by siege and established the whole nation as subject to the Romans, so that from that time they paid tribute and obeyed the commands of the Romans. To this time, then, the number of four hundred and eighty-three years is limited, at which also ended those who, according to ^C the law of Moses, had held the leadership of the nation from the succession of ancestors, and the priesth^D...

priesthood; those whom I suppose the Scripture designates as "Christ the leader" for the present time. If it is necessary also to set forth the catalog of the succession of high priests, those who lived in the indicated intervening period, no one would disapprove of doing so for the demonstration of the truth of the things mentioned.

^B First, therefore, after the prophecy of Daniel, in the time of Cyrus, king of the Persians, after the return from Babylon, Jesus the son of Josedec, who was called the high priest, along with Zorobabel, returns from the captivity and lays the foundations of the temple. But because the work was hindered by the neighboring peoples, the first seven weeks of years, which are indicated by the prophet, are fulfilled, during which the work of the building of the temple remained incomplete. Therefore, the divine word, by way of connection with the remaining weeks, separates the first seven, saying, "Seven weeks," and then subsequently adds with a distinction, "And sixty-two weeks." Seven weeks of years, then, are found from Cyrus until the completion of the building of the temple. Starting from this, the Jews said to our Savior: "Forty-six years was this temple in building, and you will raise it up in three days?" But they said that the temple was built in forty-six years; for so many years are collected from the first year of the reign of Cyrus, who first permitted those of the Jews who wished to return to their own land from Babylon, until the sixth year of the reign of Darius, in which the whole work of the building received its end; and Josephus, the Hebrew author, stated that another three-year period was added for the completion of the external adornments of the temple, so that reasonably, because of these things, the first seven weeks, extending to forty-nine years, were set apart according to the word of the prophecy; and the remaining sixty-two

^A weeks, extending to four hundred thirty-four years, were completed until the coming of Christ. And it comes to pass that [the years] are to be reckoned from the kingdom of Darius, during which time Jesus, son of Josedec, and Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, both still living, presided over the restoration of the Temple, while Haggai and Zechariah exercised the office of prophecy. After them, Ezra and Nehemiah, having likewise returned from Babylon, built the wall for the city, while Joachim administered the high priesthood. He was the son of Jesus, son of Josedec, after whom Eliasib succeeded to the high priesthood; then Jodae, after whom Jonathan, and after him Jaddus. The writing of Ezra also makes mention of these, saying: "And Jesus begat Joachim, and Joachim begat Eliasib, and Eliasib begat Jodae, and Jodae begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddus." ^B In the time of this Jaddus, Alexander the Macedonian founded Alexandria, as Josephus records, and having come to Jerusalem, he worshipped God. Alexander ended his life at the beginning of the one hundred and fourteenth Olympiad, two hundred and thirty-six years after Cyrus, who began to reign over the Persians at the beginning of the fifty-fifth Olympiad.

After the death of Alexander the Macedonian, and after the aforementioned high priest, Onias presided over the nation, he himself having also assumed the honor of the high priesthood. In his time, when Seleucus had seized Babylon, he assumed the diadem of Asia in the twelfth year after the death of Alexander; up to whom, beginning from Cyrus, the entire sum of time is calculated at two hundred and forty-eight years. From this very time, the history of the Maccabees begins to reckon the ^C kingdom of the Greeks.

After Onias, the high priest Eleazarus assumed the leadership of the Jews, under whom the seventy men translated the divine Scriptures and dedicated them to the libraries at Alexandria. After him followed another Onias, to whom succeeded Simon, in whose time Jesus, son of Sirach, was famous, he who composed the work entitled the Wisdom that professes every kind of virtue. After him, another named Onias, the same as the former, was in charge. In the time of this priest, Antiochus, having harassed the Jews with a siege, compelled them to adopt Greek rites. Following him, Judas, surnamed Maccabaeus, while presiding over the affairs of the Jews, purified the country and liberated it from the impious and profane. To him succeeds his brother Jonathan, then Simon; at whose death the year of the kingdom that flourished among the Syrians is numbered as the one hundred and ^D seventy-seventh, to which time indeed the first book, which is called of the Maccabees, leads the history and leaves it thus concluded.

Thus, from the first year of Cyrus and the kingdom of the Persians to the end of the writing of the Maccabees, and to the death of the high priest Simon, four hundred and twenty-five years are gathered. After this, indeed, Jonathan, as Josephus writes, administers the high priesthood which he received for twenty-nine years. Following him, Aristobulus presides for one year. He was the first after the return from Babylon to add to the high priesthood the greater kingly diadem. To him succeeds Alexander, king and high priest at the same time, who himself also presided for twenty-seven years.

^A From the first year of the reign of Cyrus and the return of the Jewish nation from Babylon, the total sum of years is calculated at four hundred and eighty-two, during which time the high priests presided, whom I consider to be designated by the prophecy under the title of "Christ the leader." After them, upon the death of the last of these high priests, Alexander, the affairs of the Jewish nation were left without a ruler or leader, having no one to preside over them, so that their kingdom eventually devolved upon a woman.

As the two sons, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, were contending with each other for the principate, Pompeius meanwhile, the Roman general, having attacked Jerusalem, captured the city by siege and proceeded even to the inner sanctuaries of the temple, which were called the Holy of Holies, and profaned them. And these things happened in the first year of the one hundred and seventy-ninth Olympiad, which was the four hundred and ninety-fifth year from the reign of Cyrus, the beginning of which occurred in the fifty-fifth Olympiad. ^B At that time, therefore, Pompeius, having captured Jerusalem by force, sent the aforementioned Aristobulus bound to Rome, and bestowed the high priesthood upon his brother Hyrcanus, and from that time on the whole Jewish nation became tributary to the Romans. After Hyrcanus, Herod, the son of Antipater, having killed Hyrcanus, obtained the kingdom of the Jews through the favor of the Roman Senate. He was the first of a foreign race to reign over that nation, having disrupted the order of the high priests that had been established by the Mosaic Law. For the divine law commanded that the high priest should perform his sacred duties to God for life; but Herod did not bestow this office upon those who were of the right lineage, nor upon those who had the legal right to it, but upon certain supposititious persons who were strangers to the succession of the high priests, and not even to them permanently, but for a short and limited time, bestowing the honor now upon one and now upon another at different times. ^C Thus, the first seven weeks are confined to the period from Cyrus to Darius, and the remaining sixty-two to the period from Darius to the Roman general Pompeius.

You might also find, by a third method of contemplation, that the times of the seven and sixty-two weeks, which amount to four hundred and eighty-three years, are calculated differently, reaching down to Augustus and Herod, who were the first of a foreign race to reign, in whose times the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ is recorded to have taken place, if one calculates the aforementioned number starting from Darius and the completion of the temple. For in the second year of Darius, the prophet Zacharias indicates that the seventy-year period of the desolation of Jerusalem had come to an end, saying: ^D "On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is Sabat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came unto Zacharias the son of Barachias." And he continues thereafter: "And the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord Almighty, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which thou hast despised these seventy years?" This very period, then, by the Holy Spirit...

^A Daniel seeing, he marked it, saying: "I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishment of the desolation of Jerusalem, seventy years; and I set my face unto the Lord my God to seek by prayer and supplication." Then, after the prayer, the angel appearing to him predicts the things concerning the seventy weeks, and signifies the time from which it is necessary to begin the counting, saying: "And thou shalt know and understand, from the going forth of the word to answer and to build Jerusalem, unto Christ the leader." Now, the first response was to Cyrus, that Jerusalem should be built, but it did not reach the stage of the work, because the neighboring peoples had hindered it. But after Darius later commanded it, and the building of the temple was completed in his time, the prophecy of Daniel takes from this point its beginning of fulfillment, ^B both the saying, "From the going forth of the word, to answer and to build Jerusalem," and that through which it is said: "I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishment of the desolation of Jerusalem, seventy years." According, then, to the second year of Darius, the fulfillment of the seventy-year period is shown to have been completed; so that by all means we must begin the seventy weeks from the sixty-sixth Olympiad and from the second year of Darius, in which the building works are completed. From there, then, if you count the following times, you would find, down to Herod himself and the Roman monarch Augustus, under whom the birth of our Savior appeared to mortal life, four hundred eighty-three years are contained, which constitute the sum of sixty-nine weeks ^C according to the prophecy of Daniel itself. For from the sixty-sixth Olympiad to the one hundred eighty-sixth, there are one hundred twenty-one Olympiads intervening, being four hundred eighty-four years, with each Olympiad containing four years. At this time, Augustus, king of the Romans, passing the fifteenth year of his reign, possessed Egypt and the rest of the world; under whom Herod, the first of foreign stock, received the kingdom of the Jews. Our Savior and Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, is born, the times of his birth coinciding with the completion of the seven and sixty-two weeks mentioned by Daniel; after which, when that one remaining week has been set apart and pushed far away, following the very many things prophesied in the interval, all the other things that were spoken of in the midst of the oracle's prediction are fulfilled, ^D and they have this manner: "After the seven and sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall be destroyed, and judgment shall not be in it; and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that shall come, and they shall be cut off in a flood, and unto the end of the war which is cut short

^A by slaughters. And these things indeed received a clear fulfillment in the time of Augustus and Herod, in whom we say the aforesaid seven weeks are summed up. By the manner and order, then, of the anointing according to the priesthood, which lasted until the times of Herod and Augustus, and with the succession of the old high priests having been circumscribed at Alexander, the father of Hyrcanus, Herod, having killed Hyrcanus, is said no longer to have entrusted the ministry to the successors from the fathers, but to certain obscure and ignoble men. This, indeed, the oracle had also foretold in advance, saying: "And after the seven and sixty-two weeks the anointing shall be destroyed, and judgment is not in it," which the other interpreters have also clearly set forth. For Aquila says: “And after the seven weeks and sixty-two, the anointed shall be destroyed, and it is not for him.” And Symmachus: “And after the seven weeks and sixty-two, Christ shall be cut off, and shall not exist for him.”

^B Whence it seems to me most of all that the Christ who is being judged to be the one signified according to our interpretation is demonstrated. For after the completion of the said weeks, "Christ shall be destroyed," he says. Who is this, if not the leader, and the one who, according to succession, was of the priestly race, and who presided over the nation? This person remained for as long as the weeks were being fulfilled; but when these received their end, the one who presided over the nation by succession of race was cut off, consistently with the prophecy. Now this was Hyrcanus, whom Herod himself killed, and snatched away the kingship over the nation, which in no way pertained to him, and he was the first of another race to lead them. ^C Nor was Hyrcanus alone, as Christ and the last of the high priests of old, cut off, but also the succession that came down from above from the high priests of old, and the very anointing according to the laws, no longer occurring by judgment, but disorderly and confusedly, and not according to the things legislated by Moses; all these things concurred together consistently with the prophecy which said: "The anointing shall be destroyed, and judgment is not in it." A worthy witness of these things is Josephus, who is himself of the Hebrews, thus reporting the events of those times in the eighteenth book of his *Jewish Antiquities*: “Herod, having received the kingdom from the Romans, no longer appointed as high priests those of the Asamonean race (these were those called Maccabees), ^D but certain obscure men, and only from among the Hebrews, except for one, Aristobulus, whom, when he had made him high priest, he married to his sister Mariamme, coveting the goodwill of the multitude toward himself on account of the memory of Hyrcanus. Then, fearing lest all should incline toward Aristobulus, he killed him in Jericho, having contrived that he should be drowned while swimming, as we have already declared. After him he no longer entrusted the high priesthood to the descendants of the Asamonean children. And Archelaus, his son, did the same as Herod regarding the appointment of the high priests, and after him the Romans, who had taken over the kingship of the Jews.” Again, in other places, these things...

are said: “Herod ^A the king, having built this tower in a suitable place at great expense, named it Antonia; and he took the high-priestly vestment, and kept it in the place where it was deposited, believing that the people would attempt no revolution on account of it.” Archelaus his son, who was declared king by him, did similar things, and after him the Romans, having received the sovereignty, kept possession of the high priest's vestment, which was deposited under seal in a house built of stone. Through these things, I think the outcome of the prophecy that said, “And after the seven and sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in it,” ^B has become manifest to everyone. You will see even more clearly how the statement, “And there is no judgment in it,” is to be understood, if you consider the lack of judgment in the appointment of the high priests who followed Herod and who lived in the times of our Savior. For since, according to the divine law, the high priest was commanded to perform the ministry for his whole life and to hand it over to his legitimate son as successor, during the times we were just examining, after the destruction of the sacred anointing, just as the prophecy had signified, ^C first Herod, and then the Romans after him, without judgment and in violation of the law, began to appoint as high priests whomever they pleased, bestowing the honor upon certain vulgar and undistinguished men, and selling and hawking the name, granting the office to one person and then another on an annual basis. Therefore, it seems to me that the holy evangelist Luke, in describing the time of the preaching of our Savior, wishes to note this very fact when he says: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch, and Philip and Lysanias, ^D under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas.” For how could these two have been high priests at the same time, unless the law that had been ordained regarding the high priests had been violated? Josephus also testifies to these same things, writing thus: “Valerius Gratus, a Roman commander, having revoked the sacred office from Annas the high priest, appointed Ismael, the son of Phabi, as high priest; and having not long after taken this honor from him, he created Eleazar, the son of Annas the high priest, as high priest. Having let a year pass, he removed him also, and handed the high priesthood over to Simon, the son of Camithus. But not even he held the honor for more than a year’s time, and Joseph, who is also called Caiaphas, was substituted in his place.” I have necessarily cited these things on account of the passage, “The anointing shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in it,” which I believe to have an indubitable demonstration. Following these, the prophecy says, “And he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, with the coming governor.” Here again, I consider that Herod himself, and those who ruled after him from a foreign race, are being signified; for just as above he called the high priests “anointed governors,” saying, “until the anointed governor,” in the same way after them, and after their downfall, no other governor is coming, but the one who has been indicated as being from a foreign race, and the rest who in sequence with

them, and with whom—using them as it were as collaborators—the hater of good and the destroyer of all things good, is said to destroy both the city and the sanctuary. ^A For he truly destroyed the entire nation, at one time by driving the order of the priesthood into lawlessness, and at another by subverting the whole people, and by calling upon the city—for so the citizens are figuratively named—to impiety and wickedness. Aquila also agrees with our interpretation, having translated it in this manner: “And the city and the sanctuary will destroy the people of the coming leader.” For it was not only the coming leader, whom we identified in the previous exposition, who destroyed the city and the sanctuary, but also his people. Moreover, one would not be far from the mark to say that the Roman leader and his people are also indicated by the words set before us, by whom I think the camps of the Roman commanders are signaled, who, having taken control of the nation from that time, destroyed the city of Jerusalem itself, and the venerable and holy temple that was formerly in it. ^B By these indeed they were also cut down as in a flood, and right up to the end of the shortened war they reached such desolation that, according to the prophecy, they suffered total abandonment because of their conspiracy against our Savior, after which they also endured the final siege. You have these things accurately in the histories written by Josephus.

But after these events concerning what befell the Jewish nation in the intervening time of the seven and sixty-two weeks that were prophesied, the declaration of the New Covenant announced by our Savior is subsequently sung. For after such things have been said about the intervening time of the seven and sixty-two weeks, it is added: “And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and upon the temple there shall be an abomination of desolations, and until the end of time a conclusion shall be given upon the desolation.” ^C Let us consider how these things were also fulfilled. It is recorded that the time of the teaching and the wonder-working of our Savior together was three and a half years, which is half a week. John the evangelist, in his Gospel, will present this accurately to those who are attentive. Therefore, the whole time of His living together with His apostles, both before the passion and after His resurrection from the dead, would be one week of years. For before the passion, He is recorded as offering Himself for three and a half years to all, both to the disciples and to those who were not such; during which, through teachings and miraculous healings, He offered the powers of His divinity to everyone simply, both Greeks and Jews. ^D And after the resurrection from the dead, He was with His own disciples and apostles for an equal time, as is plausible, appearing to them for forty days, and dwelling with them, and speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God, as indeed the Acts of the Apostles contain; so that this is the week of years of the prophecy, during which He strengthened a covenant with many, that is to say, the New Covenant, strengthening the evangelical preaching. To whom then

did He strengthen this, if not to His own disciples and apostles, and to all those from among the Hebrews who believed in Him? But ^A in the middle of this one week, during which He strengthened the aforementioned Covenant for the many, the sacrifice and libation were taken away, and the abomination of desolation began; since in the midst of this week, after the three and a half years of His teaching, at the time He suffered, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom; so that from that time forward, the libation and sacrifice were taken away by His power, and the abomination of desolation arrived at the temple, leaving them destitute of the power that, from of old until that time, had watched over and overseen that place. Up to the time of the saving passion, it is proper to believe that a certain divine power oversaw the temple and the holy of holies. For otherwise He Himself would not have sat with the many in the temple celebrating the feasts according to the Law, had He not known that the place still stood and was worthy of God. There were, therefore, in the temple some who prophesied for that time, just as Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, and Simeon, who received Him into his arms while He was yet an infant, who both prophesied the things that are recorded; nor would our Lord Himself have said to the leper, "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifice which Moses commanded as a testimony to them," had He not deemed that the things pertaining to the rites and laws ought still to be celebrated there, as in a holy place worthy of God; nor would He have cast out those buying and selling, saying, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers," and again, "Take these things away, and do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise," had He not still judged that the place ought to be considered ^B honorable. But, as their ultimate impiety approached, after all these things He declared, saying, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate," which was fulfilled when, after He had suffered, the veil of the temple was torn asunder from top to bottom, and from that moment the sacrifice and libation, which were agreeable to God according to the ordinance of the Law, were taken away by His power; and once they were removed, the abomination of desolation, according to the prophecy in our hands, followed upon the place. And if for a time the liturgies in that place appeared to continue, they were no longer pleasing to God, being performed without discernment and contrary to the Law. For just as long ago, when the anointing was destroyed and the legal high priests in succession were ceased, since the death of Hyrcanus, those who came after them, acting disorderly and unlawfully, seemed indeed to be doing something, but did not perform it according to the fitting ordinances—wherefore the prophecy also said, "The anointing shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in it," exposing their indiscriminate and unlawful conduct—so too you shall say that it has happened with the sacrifice and the libation, that though rightly and according to the Law they were performed ^C before the passion of the Savior...

by reason of the power that still looked upon the holy places at that time, they were removed immediately after His perfect and God-befitting sacrifice, which He offered of Himself for our sins, He being Himself the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. ^A Since this sacrifice was delivered to all men according to the new mysteries of the New Covenant, those of the Old were taken away. For at the same time as the fulfillment of the saying, "And he shall strengthen a covenant with many for one week," the things of the Old Covenant were taken away. And when were the things of the New Covenant strengthened, if not when our Savior and Lord, being about to accomplish the great mystery of His coming to death, on the night He was betrayed, handed down to His own disciples the symbols of the secret words of the New Covenant? ^B For at the same time these things were accomplished, and the old covenant according to Moses was taken away, which was signified by the veil of the temple being rent at that very same time. Once it was removed from that point on, the sacrifice and libation having been dissolved in power and in truth, the sacrifices that were thought to be performed there after these events were performed without libation and profanely in a profane place and by profane and unholy men. Receive also the testimonies of Josephus concerning these matters: "On the day of Pentecost, at night, the priests who entered the temple, as was their custom, for the ministrations, said that they first perceived a certain motion and noise; and after that a sudden voice saying: 'Let us depart hence.' " ^C He records that these things happened after the passion of our Savior. And again the same author says, "Pilate the procurator," that selfsame one who was present at the time of our Savior, "brought the images of Caesar into the temple by night, which was not lawful, and caused great confusion, noise, and sedition among the Jews." And Philo also confirms these same things, stating "that Pilate set up the royal standards by night in the temple, and that this was the beginning of seditions and successive calamities for the Jews from that time." ^D From then on, therefore, the whole nation and their metropolis did not cease to experience uprisings of all sorts of evils until the final war against them, and the last siege, during which—as if a flood of destruction similar to the ruin brought upon them had flowed in, by means of famine and pestilence and the sword—all those who had set themselves against our Savior were cut off in the prime of life; at which time also the abomination of desolation stood upon the temple, and has remained until now, moving day by day toward a worse desolation. It is likely that it will continue until the end of the age, according to the term declared by the prophecy, which says: "And even unto the end of the time, an end shall be given upon the desolation." This utterance our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ confirmed, saying: "But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then know that its desolation has drawn near." But if you disbelievingly...

believe these things, they must be refuted as people who not only impudently resist things that are true and manifest, but who also, as much as in them lies, slander their own prophecies as false—if indeed those prophecies include the entire time within seventy weeks of years, while foretelling what would happen in the intervening period. For when almost a thousandth year is now passing since the prophecy, they show that nothing of what was written has come to pass, even though their anointing has been destroyed ^A according to the divine oracle, and their sanctuary has been destroyed, and their former inhabitants have perished and been cut off by the deluge of a war that brought about their utter extinction. And what is most paradoxical of all, ^B even now it is seen on the spot: I mean the abomination of desolation standing to this day in the place that was formerly holy, regarding which our Savior and Lord also uttered the words mentioned above. Seeing it now so clearly with our own eyes, one must marvel at those of the circumcision—not so much because they dare to look against things so evident, as because they are blind and their understanding is darkened, so that they do not see the accomplishments of the divine Scriptures, which are so clear and manifest. This is what has happened to them, in accordance with the voice of Isaiah fulfilled in them, in which he prophesied to them, saying: "With the hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: for the heart of this people has waxed gross, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." ^C But since it had also been said long beforehand concerning the nations who believed in the Christ of God: "They to whom it was not announced concerning him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand, by his grace and the grace of the Father who sent him," we, to the best of our ability, have spoken of the things that have appeared in these places, and we have gratefully set forth the opinions which appeared to Africanus—a man of an earlier age—before us, for those also contain accuracy; whence we ought to make use of them as well-conceived.

^A

From Micah.

“Hear, all you peoples, and let the earth give heed, and all who are in it; and the Lord shall be for a testimony among you, the Lord from his holy house; for behold, the Lord shall go forth from his place, and shall descend, and shall stand upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be shaken beneath him, and the valleys shall melt as wax before the fire, and as water poured down a steep place. For the impiety of Jacob all these things, and for the sin of the house of Israel.” Then, after many other things intervening, he adds, saying: “Hear now these things, you rulers of the house of Jacob, and you survivors of the house of Israel, who abhor judgment, and pervert all that is right, who build ^B Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquities. Her rulers judged for gifts, and her priests gave answer for hire, and her prophets divined for silver, and they rested upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No evils shall come upon us. Therefore for your sake Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become an orchard, and the mountain of the Lord's house as a thicket of the woods; and it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, established upon the tops of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall hasten to it, and many nations shall go and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and they shall show us his way, and we will walk in his paths; for from Sion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge between many nations, and shall rebuke strong nations even unto a far country. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not take up sword against nation, and they shall not learn any more to make war. And each shall rest under his vine, and under his fig tree. And there shall be none to make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord Almighty has spoken these things.”

We have already contemplated these things in their proper place before; it has been shown how ^C it was only after the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ men, that the things which formerly had dignity and veneration among the Jews—the mountains called Sion and Jerusalem, and the buildings upon them, namely the temple, and the Holy of Holies, and the altar, and whatever other things were dedicated there to the honor of God—were removed from the midst and shaken, in accordance with the Word that said: “Behold, the Lord Lord goes forth from his place, and shall descend upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be shaken beneath him.” By these shaken things, the souls of those of the circumcision, which are called valleys on account of their lowliness, when compared to the ancient heights, ^D lamenting the destruction of those things just spoken of “as wax before the face [of the fire].”

and as water carried down a slope, on account of the multitude of those in them falling daily from better things to worse. ^A All these things, he says, will come to pass on account of the impiety of the house of Jacob and the sin of the house of Israel. And what was this impiety and sin? He adds, going forward: “You who abhor judgment and pervert all straight things; you who build Zion in blood, and Jerusalem in injustices,” in which blood was also that which became the cause of the final evils for them, for which they brought down upon themselves that impious cry, saying: “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Therefore, he says, for these very reasons, “Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a fruit-keeper’s lodge,” which things, indeed, at no other time than after the things dared against our Savior, received their true fulfillment. ^B For from that time even to this day, as those places were seized by the utmost desolation, the mount of Zion, which was formerly most celebrated among them, in place of that ancient study and exercise of prophetic and divine oracles which flourished within it—which once the children of the Hebrews and God-beloved prophets, priests, and teachers of the whole nation pursued with great zeal—is now, by the hands of Roman men, in no way differing from the rest of the region, plowed and cultivated, so that we ourselves have seen with our own eyes the work of oxen both plowing and sowing the place. Jerusalem itself, as a fruit-keeper’s lodge, since the ancient fruit that was in it has decayed, has become rather a collection of stones, just as it is read in the Hebrew context. For thus Aquila translates: “Therefore on your account, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be gathered of stones.” ^C For being inhabited by alien men, even to this day it is being gathered of stones, as all who dwell in the city in our times collect the stones from its ruin for private, common, and public buildings; and it is possible to behold with the eyes a most sorrowful spectacle: stones from the temple itself and from the very ancient inner sanctuaries and holy places, being taken to be used for the foundations of idols and for the construction of theaters, to which all peoples flock. Since these things are thus clearly seen by all, it is manifest that the new law and the word of the New Testament of our Savior Jesus Christ proceeded entirely from that place. ^D For which reason, countless multitudes of peoples and tribes of every kind, having abandoned their ancestral gods and the ancient error of superstition, call upon the one supreme God; wherefore they have also been deemed worthy of the deepest peace, so that there is no longer a multiplicity of rulers, nor kingdoms according to places, nor nation taking up the sword against nation, nor as before, being zealous in mutual wars against one another, but every farmer rests under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to frighten them, according to the prophecy. Which things, thus, never before from the beginning of time, or according to the Roman rule from the times of the manifestation of the Savior

^A until the present day, having come to pass, I consider that I have obtained an indubitable demonstration of the time of the manifestation of the Lord to men, which the prophets foretold.

From Zechariah. The signs of the times of the manifestation of God the Word to men, the calling of the nations, and the final destruction of Jerusalem.

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, because behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall flee to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to Him for a people, and they ^B shall dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord Almighty hath sent me to thee." And after many other things which he puts in between, he adds: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, preach, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh to thee, just and a Savior, He Himself is meek and mounted upon a beast of burden and a young foal. And He shall destroy the chariots from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be destroyed, and a multitude of peace from the nations. And He shall have dominion from sea unto sea, and from the rivers to the extremities of the earth." After the word has thus prophesied these things concerning the manifestation of our Savior, further on, concerning the final desolation of Jerusalem, it speaks now ^C secretly and through dark sayings, now clearly and openly. By dark sayings, indeed, in those things where it says: "Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let fire consume thy cedars. Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen, because the great ones have been greatly afflicted. Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, because the planted forest is torn up; a voice of wailing shepherds, because their magnificence has been afflicted; a voice of roaring lions, because the pride of Jordan has been afflicted." Although these things are by dark sayings, the same prophet reveals their interpretation, opening it and saying: "Behold, I make Jerusalem like vestibules shaken for all peoples round about, and in Judea; and there shall be a siege against Jerusalem. And it shall be in that day, I will place Jerusalem ^D a stone trodden under foot by all the nations. Every one who treads upon it, mocking, shall be mocked, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it." And after a little he adds: "And they shall look upon Me, because they have insulted; and they shall mourn for Him with a mourning as for a beloved one, and a sorrow as for a firstborn. In that day the mourning of Jerusalem shall be magnified, like the mourning of Rhoonos in the plain that is being cut down. And the land shall mourn, family by family; the family of the house of David by itself, and their women by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their women by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their women by themselves; the family of Simeon by itself, and their women by themselves; all the remaining families, family by family, and their women by themselves." And again, after other things, he proclaims the final siege of Jerusalem more clearly, saying: "Behold, the days of the Lord come, and they shall be divided"

and your spoils shall be divided within you, and I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity. But the survivors of my people shall not perish out of the city. And the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle; and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem." ^A Then, after other things that he puts between, he says: "And the Lord shall be one, and his name one, surrounding all the land and the wilderness." And again, after other things, describing the book of prophecy, he foretells the calling of the nations through these words: "And it shall be, that whoever shall have been left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall even go up year by year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoever of all the tribes of the earth shall not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, even they shall be added to them. But if the tribe of Egypt shall not go up, nor come there, then upon these also there shall be the ruin, with which the Lord will smite all the nations of the earth, as many as shall not go up to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of ^B all the nations, as many as shall not go up to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles."

These things indeed Zechariah prophesies after the return from Babylon, when Darius was reigning over the Persians, at which time the city of Jerusalem had but recently been raised up from its former desolation, which devastation had been brought upon it by the Babylonians. The entire time, from Darius the Persian, under whom Zechariah exercises the office of prophecy, to Augustus, the Roman emperor, counts to seven and sixty-two weeks of years, which are mentioned in Daniel; which sum of years amounts to four hundred and eighty-three, as we have shown in what has been discussed by us a little while ago. ^C But after the empire of the Macedonians, from Alexander down to Augustus, even if you include the reign of Augustus himself, you will find absolutely nothing that is completed that corresponds or is similar to the words of the prophet. For when, during those times, did that Lord, whom the prophets celebrate as God, associate with men? And did many nations acknowledge him, and confess him alone to be God, and flee to him and become his people? Or when, at length, during the whole time of the Persians or Macedonians, did that King of whom the Prophet speaks come, "mounted upon a beast of burden and a young colt"? ^D And coming, did he destroy the royal army of the Jewish nation—which is called Ephraim in this place—and of Jerusalem itself, which is denoted by the title of chariots and horse, and did he wipe out the armed force of the Jewish nation? For this is what that oracle signified, saying: "Behold, your King comes to you, righteous and a Savior, himself meek, and mounted upon a beast of burden and a young colt."

And the bow of war shall be destroyed. ^A For these things were predicted concerning the destruction of the royal dignity of the Jewish nation, after which those things that pertain to the peace of the nations, consonant with what was previously set forth, are added in this way: "And an abundance of peace from the nations," for which Aquila and the remaining translators have rendered: "And he shall speak peace to the nations," which is acknowledged to have been fulfilled especially from the reign of Augustus, and to have been completed in word, since from that time on every multitude of princes has perished, and peace has embraced the majority of the nations of the world. For who, before the Roman times, under the Persian or Macedonian empires, was such a king of the Jews that he ruled from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the world? ^B Therefore, the other translators indicated this. For Aquila says: "And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his authority shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the world." With this also agrees what is sung in the seventy-first psalm concerning Christ, who was to arise from the seed of Solomon, which in fact holds in this manner: "Righteousness shall arise in his days, and abundance of peace, until the moon be taken away, and he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the world." For these things were said concerning the son of Solomon, which in no way differ from those which are read in the Prophet. When, therefore, these things happened, and how, or in what times they came to pass, let him who wishes interpret. Or at what other time after the Babylonian siege did Jerusalem undergo a second burning, and the temple within it be cast down? ^C Which thing itself also brings great wonder, as the prophet signified it, saying: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let fire consume your cedars." For in these words, according to his custom, he calls the temple itself Lebanon; since it has been shown through other prophecies that the temple itself is called Lebanon. And this the children of the Jews themselves even now acknowledge; since Isaiah also, singing things similar to this prophet who is now being treated, said: "Behold, the Lord Sabaoth shall disturb the glorious ones with power, and the high ones shall be humbled with contumely. And Lebanon shall fall with the high ones, and a rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from the root, and the spirit of God shall rest upon him"; ^D to which he adds: "And it shall be the root of Jesse, and he who rises to rule the nations, in him shall the nations hope." For here too, together with the birth of Christ from the seed of Jesse and David, the destruction of Lebanon and the calling of the nations are joined. And that Lebanon signifies Jerusalem is plainly indicated by Ezekiel, who says: "A great eagle, with great wings, which has authority to enter into Lebanon, and plucked the tender shoots of the cedar." These things, therefore, the same prophet explains further, adding: "When Nabuchodonosor shall come upon Jerusalem, and take her princes," and so forth. But these things Ezekiel declared concerning the first siege, after which Zechariah prophesies concerning the second. When, after the times of Zechariah, under the Macedonian reign, did Jerusalem endure a burning…

of its temple? It is impossible to say. For after the burning by the Babylonians, never at any other time did the city suffer destruction by fire, except under the Roman emperors Titus and Vespasian. Concerning this destruction, the oracle—speaking again through a riddle—invites those who formerly ruled over the nation to lamentations and wailings, saying, ^A "Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the magnificent have been greatly afflicted. Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been torn down. A voice of shepherds wailing, for their magnificence has been ruined."

Then, indeed, Jerusalem did become as thresholds shaken by all the nations round about, and a surrounding fortress was established in Judea; and the place deemed holy and sacred by them remains even ^B unto this day a stone trampled upon by all the nations, and everyone who tramples it, mocking, is mocked in turn, according to the prophecy. Moreover, because they insulted the Lord who had prophesied these things, there has not ceased for them wailing, mourning, and lamentation. Never at any other time, except after the coming of our Savior and down to our own ^C day, have all the tribes of the Jewish nation suffered things worthy of lamentation and wailing because of the blow that overtook them from God, by which also their mother city was delivered to foreign nations, their temple was razed and undermined, and they themselves were driven from their own land, serving their enemies in a hostile country. For these reasons, their whole house and every soul amongst them remains afflicted ^D with lamentations to this day. Therefore the prophecy says: "And the tribe of the house of David shall mourn by itself, and their wives by themselves," and what follows.

But what days followed after the times of Zechariah, in which the spoils of Jerusalem were divided, and all the nations were gathered against it for war, and the city was taken, and the houses were plundered, and the women were defiled and led into captivity, and at the same time the Lord, coming to the aid of the nations warring against Jerusalem, set himself in battle against them? Or when did his feet stand upon the Mount of Olives? Or when did the Lord become king over all the earth, and the Lord himself one over all men, and his name encompassing all the earth and the wilderness? For no one could demonstrate that these things were brought to their fulfillment at any time before, except in the times of the Romans, under which, after the Babylonian burning, their temple suffered a second burning, and the city has been shown to be inhabited by foreign nations from then until this day. At which time our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, held his own conversations on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem, fulfilling the scripture that says: "And his feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem." That is, of the God-fearing polity built up throughout the whole inhabited world of men, all the nations, according to...

the prophecy, shall celebrate the feast of Tabernacles to the God of the prophets, and the Egyptians, having from that time recognized the God of all, shall set up their tabernacles in every city and region. These, moreover, are the Churches of Christ built up in every place. For the power of our Savior Jesus Christ has set these up, far better than the tabernacles of Moses, throughout the whole inhabited world of men, for every race of men and all nations, to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles to the God over all. Since, therefore, we see that these things, which were loudly proclaimed of old to the nations, have in our own times received their fulfillment—and the things foretold to the tribes of the Jewish nation concerning lamentation and wailing, and the things concerning the burning of the temple and their utter desolation, are likewise seen by the eyes even to this day, in no way differing from the oracles—what remains, in addition to these things, but to confess that the King whom the prophets speak of, who is the Christ of God, has come? Seeing that we have already demonstrated that the signs of his advent, in every particular that was spoken of him, have received a manifest fulfillment. ^A

From Isaiah. Signs of the times of the Lord’s advent: the recognition of the Lord of the prophets by the Egyptians.

"Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the handiwork of Egypt shall be shaken before his face, and their heart shall be vanquished within them, and the Egyptians shall be stirred up against the Egyptians, and man shall fight against his brother, and man against his neighbor: city shall be stirred up against city, and law against law; and the spirit of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them, and I will bring their counsel to nothing; and they shall ask their gods, and their idols, and the ventriloquists, and those who speak from the earth." And next, after much that is spoken in riddles, it is added: "In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt, and a pillar by its border to the Lord: and it shall be for a sign forever to the Lord in the land of Egypt, because they shall cry to the Lord because of those who afflict them, and the Lord shall send them a man, who shall save them; judging he shall save them, and the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord God in that day, and shall offer sacrifices, and shall pray vows to the Lord, and shall pay them." And we have previously explained these things in part. For if the Egyptians did not, having left their ancestral gods, appear in our own day calling upon the God of the prophets; and if throughout the whole of Egypt, in every place and city and region, an altar had not been raised to that God who is praised only among the Hebrews ^B—if the handiwork of Egypt had not been shaken, and the demonic power which dwelt around them, ^{C D}

^A and the ancient superstition had not been removed from the soul of the Egyptians; and furthermore, if civil war were not rising among the Egyptians in every city and every house, with those who have accepted the Lord and the worship of the God of the prophets turning away from the polytheistic error of the ages, while those who—because they are still attached to the evils of their fathers—oppose those who have accepted the Lord; if even now, while they try to consult their own gods, their statues, those who utter voices from the earth, and the ventriloquists, they did not find this refuge to be idle and ineffective, because the demons cannot act as they did before; if all these things were not shown to have reached their end in the deeds themselves, one might not yet think that the prophetic oracle had been fulfilled, nor that the Lord who is proclaimed had come into the life of men.

But if, by the deeds themselves, which are far clearer than words, those who inhabit Egypt are still observed—some having recognized the God of the prophets and, on His account, having abandoned their ancestral gods, while others are at variance with them—and the former, still invoking their gods, their statues, and those who utter voices from the earth, are able to accomplish nothing, while the latter have erected an altar to the Lord of the prophets in every church throughout the whole region of Egypt, and in their afflictions and the persecutions against them, no longer invoke the beasts, the reptiles of the earth, as gods, nor the ^B wild beasts and brute animals, as their parents did, but call upon the God over all, and cherish Him alone and the fear of Him in their minds, offering prayers to Him, and no longer to the demons, and rendering the promises that befit God, how does it not follow that we must admit that even those things which preceded the events themselves have already passed into reality, and are no longer in the future, but have passed into the past?

These things, moreover, are the Lord’s own coming into Egypt, which was to take place in the future, not in a way bodiless, but by means of a light cloud, or rather, a swift chariot. For thus does the Hebrew text hold, signifying in an obscure way His bodily presence. Consequently, the discourse, proceeding further, called Him a man and Savior, saying: “And the Lord shall send to them a man who will save them.” Again, at least in this place, the Hebrew has: ^C “And the Lord shall send to them a Savior, who will save them.”

Since these things provide such a clear demonstration, I believe that the times have also become clear, during which those things that pertained to the Lord’s coming to men were prophesied. These things have been gathered by us in few words concerning the times when the Lord was to come to men. Anyone might find more at their leisure, if they were to go through the remaining Scriptures. We, however, being content with what has been said thus far, will now proceed to the remaining prophecies, from which we shall collect those things that were administered by Him among men in due order, from the divine oracles. ^D

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI: EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION, BOOK NINE

THESE ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE NINTH BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

Concerning those things which were to be performed according to his incarnation: from the subjoined passages of divine Scripture. 1. From Numbers. 2. From Isaiah. 3. From Numbers. 4. From Hosea. 5. From Isaiah. 6. From the same. 7. From Psalm 90. 8. From Isaiah. 9. From Psalm 67. 10. From Isaiah. 11. From Deuteronomy. 12. From Job. 13. From Isaiah. 14. From the same. 15. From the same. 16. From the same. 17. From Zechariah. 18. From Psalm 117.

PREFACE

What remains after this, but to follow through in accordance with our promises upon the dispensational acts performed during the incarnation of the Word of God Himself? Concerning Him, we have already set forth in the eight preceding books the material we previously labored upon, ^B at times investigating the theology concerning Him, and at times examining His descent from heaven to us, together with the manner, the name, and the time of His advent. Now that these matters have been demonstrated, it is high time to examine those things which relate to His manifestation, and to show how each of these things had also been proclaimed beforehand among the Hebrews. The fulfillment of the prophecy, however, shall be confirmed by the testimony of the holy evangelists, and by the outcome of the events as recorded by them. First of all, then, since the matters concerning ^C

his birth, his lineage, his tribe, and his seed have been demonstrated, let us now examine what is to be said regarding that star, which, new and strange, shone forth at his birth beyond the stars that are familiar and known to us. For even this was long ago, from ancient and primordial times, proclaimed in this manner by Moses.

From the Book of Numbers.—Concerning the events that would occur during his incarnation, and concerning the star that appeared at the birth of our Savior.

Moses, in the Book of Numbers, says regarding the star that was seen at the birth of our Savior: ^A "Balaam the son of Beor said, the man who truly sees, said, who hears the words of God, who knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who saw the vision of God, in sleep his eyes were opened: I will show him, but not now: I call him blessed, but he does not draw near: a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel, and he shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall take captive all the sons of Seth. And Edom shall be an inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an inheritance, and Israel acted in strength, and one shall arise from Jacob, and shall destroy the survivor from the city." ^B Being moved by this prophecy, the successors of Balaam (for it is likely that it remained intact among them) made haste to arrive in the land of Palestine when they perceived in the heavens a certain star, strange beyond those familiar and known to us, standing, so to speak, above the zenith and fixed perpendicularly over the land of Judea, so that they might make inquiry about the king who was signified by that star they had seen. The evangelist Matthew confirms this, with these words: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him,' at which time, being sent to Bethlehem, they went on; and lo, again, the same star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and entering the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and falling down they worshipped him." So much for the holy Gospel. But as for the oracle of the prophecy itself, what does it claim will happen at the eruption of that new star, or at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, that is worthy of being known? It is, specifically, the crushing of the princes of Moab, and the plunder of the sons of Seth, and furthermore the ^C inheritance of the remaining enemies of the Jewish nation—and these enemies were Edom and Esau. But what else did he signify by these words than, through the "princes of Moab," the overthrow of the invisible enemies—the demons themselves, I say, who were once honored as gods among the Moabites? Yet he did not mention others because of the idolatry of Israel, which occurred ^D upon the desert, when the people were finished off at the

initiated into Beelphegor. Now this was a demon who was worshipped as a god by Balac, the king of Moab. Since, therefore, Israel had been overcome at that time by the unseen rulers of Moab—I mean those held to be gods among the Moabites—and consequently had practiced idolatry and worshipped carved images, as Scripture says: "And they were initiated into Beelphegor," (and Beelphegor was a demon of the Moabites, at the time they committed fornication with the women of Moab,) rightly does Balaam divine the change of events which was to take place in the future, saying: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel; and he shall break the ^B princes of Moab." It is as if he were saying more clearly that the demons of the Moabites, who now boasted against Israel, would at the rising of Him about whom he prophesies, eventually undergo breaking and ruin. And when these had been broken, the sons of Seth, and Edom, and Esau, and the rest of the nations (which I believe are signified by these names), who had formerly been enslaved to demoniacal deceit, having cast off that superstition, would become the kin of Him who is sung of as coming. "And Edom," he says, "shall be an inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an inheritance"; the ancient, he says, enemies of God and of Israel shall be the inheritance of Him who is sung of as coming. For He is the One to whom it was said by God and His Father: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance." And when these have passed into the lot of the saints, he prophesies that things contrary to Israel itself will come to pass. He says, therefore: "And Israel acted in strength." But "he acted in strength" in the greatest impiety of all; therefore, He who is from them shall be roused and shall arise. Who then is this, if not the Word of God who is sung of by the prophets, who also destroyed him who is saved out of the city? By these words, I believe that Jerusalem itself is signified, out of which perished every one who remained, or indeed the entire civil structure of their nation. That these things have met with such an outcome, at once upon the shining forth of our Saviour among men, whereby the nations, formerly idolaters, passed over into His lot, while the Jewish nation and their mother-city suffered things such as they had never suffered before, I believe requires no long discourse to demonstrate more clearly. But let the things pertaining to the consistency of the prophetic prediction and the evangelic fulfillment have this end. But what indeed was the cause for which the star that was seen at that time shone forth—a cause which is worthy of contemplation? Moses says that all the stars were placed by God in the firmament for signs and for seasons; but this was strange and unusual, not one of the many known stars, but some new and recent star which shone upon the life of man, indicating a sign of a new luminary which was to illuminate the whole world; which luminary was the Christ of God, that great and new star, whose image He who then appeared bore to the Magi. For since the scope of the whole of the sacred and divinely inspired Scripture, for those ^D who wish to learn more mystical and divine things, while also preserving the primary sense in the strictly historical events, is thus, the matter now in hand...

the prophecy foretelling ^A the star that appeared at the birth of our Savior, was fulfilled to the letter. Now, it happens that at the birth of other illustrious and famous men, strange stars appear and shine forth—such as those commonly called comets, or those resembling beams or beards, or others of a similar nature—which are accustomed to appear when great events are impending. But what, in truth, could be greater or more excellent for the whole world than the appearance of that intellectual light which arose through the Savior’s advent, provided for all men, and which is deemed a comprehension of piety and of true knowledge of God for rational souls? On account of this, the great sign—the star which appeared—signified this, hinting to all that a great and new light had shone upon the whole world, namely, Christ, the ^B Word of God. In the same place, the prophecy predicts both a man and a star, in these words: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel,” calling the heavenly light the Word of God, while naming the same being a man. In various other places, the prophecy calls Him, at the same time, the Dawn, the Light, and the Sun of Justice, as we demonstrated in the former books. Furthermore, regarding that which is more divine in Him—in that He is the light that illumines every man coming into this world—the prophecy celebrates Him in this manner: “A star shall rise out of Jacob.” But it predicts that this same man, because of the suffering and death He endured, would arise—as if he had fallen—similar to what Isaiah sings of Him: “And there shall be the root of Jesse, and He who rises to rule over the nations; in Him shall the nations hope.” And it is clear in what way the Light of ^C our Savior rose up from Jacob, that is, from the people of the circumcision, and shone upon all nations, but not upon Jacob himself from whom He had proceeded. This may be gathered from many other prophecies as well, which speak of Christ Himself: “Behold, I have set Thee as a covenant of the race, as a light to the nations,” and also from the words of Balaam, which go thus: “A man shall come forth from his seed, and he shall rule over many nations.” And of whose seed other than Israel's, as the context indicates? Indeed, having received dominion over the nations, the Word of our Savior, in accordance with the prophecy, destroyed all those invisible and pernicious powers that once ruled over them, as well as the spiritual hosts of wickedness and the demonic troop, which are figuratively ^D named in the present passage as the leaders of Moab, and Seth, and Edom, and Esau. Moreover, whereas the statement “I will show it to him, but not now; I call him blessed, but he does not draw near” is set down somewhat obscurely among the Septuagint, Aquila rendered it more clearly: “I shall see Him, but not now; I look out for Him, but He is not near.” Symmachus expressed it more transparently, saying: “I see Him, but He is not near.” These things may be said by Balaam as though they were to be fulfilled long ages after him; for indeed, two thousand years passed from the prophecy before these things were fulfilled at the manifestation of our Savior among men.

From Isaiah.

Yet also, when our Savior had been brought in the flesh to the region of the Egyptians—when, according to the oracle, Joseph arose, took the Virgin and the Child, and came to Egypt—it is to be expected that the evil powers that previously dwelt there were not a little agitated by [His] hidden power and efficacy, and especially when, through His subsequent teaching, countless multitudes of those who inhabit Egypt, having escaped the deception of the demons, even now profess to know the one only God of all. As for the things that follow, since they are implicit in obscure figures and require greater study, we shall interpret them separately when ^A leisure permits.

From Numbers

"Balaam the son of Beor says: the man who truly sees says, he who hears the oracles of the Mighty One, who saw a vision of God in sleep, his eyes disclosed, how beautiful are your houses, O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel, as shady glens and as a garden beside rivers, and as tents which the Lord pitched, as cedars beside the waters. A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted as Gog, and his kingdom shall be increased. God led him out of Egypt, as the glory of a unicorn to him. He shall devour the nations of his enemies, and shall strip bare their fatness, and shall shoot the enemy with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a young lion; who shall rouse him? They that bless you are blessed, and they that curse you are cursed."

Above, through the aforementioned prophecy, when the oracle affirmed that the Lord would come into Egypt, it indicated the migration ^C of our Savior Jesus Christ, which would happen to Him along with His parents into Egypt. In these words, however, it sings of the return from Egypt in order, just as is required, by which he returned with his parents to the land of Israel, saying: "God led him out of Egypt." But our Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, was the only one—and no one else besides—who, having come forth from the seed of Israel and the Jewish nation, ruled over many nations, so that one must, without hesitation, admit that the present prediction found its fulfillment in Him, as it openly declares that a certain man would come forth from the Jewish nation and would rule over many nations. ^D Or let anyone who wishes tell me if he has another to offer from among those who were ever famous among the Hebrews who has received the rule of many nations. But no one would ever have said such a thing, since it has not even happened. Yet in the case of our Savior, even if we should say nothing, the truth itself will cry out and loudly shout, openly demonstrating how His divine power, through the seed of Israel which He assumed according to

^A His body, has ruled over many nations and even now continues to rule over them. He, therefore, was that very person, and no other, whom the prophecy foretold, in whose time also the kingdom of Gog was raised to a height, growing together with the power and might of Christ. In this way, they say, the Roman empire is signified according to the Hebrews, with which the teaching of Christ also received strength and increase. The prophet Ezekiel also makes mention of Gog, naming the prince of Ros, Mosoch, and Thobel; by "Ros," as is fitting, he signifies the Roman city, since "principality" and "head" are signified by that word in the Hebrew tongue; by "Mosoch," Mysia and the nations surrounding it, which are now subject to the Roman empire; and by "Thobel," Iberia, as Josephus understands it, stating that the Thobeelians, who are called Iberians, were descended from Thobel. It is over all these that he says Gog will be exalted at the time of the predicted coming of Christ, whom God led out of Egypt, at which time, as we read in Matthew, while Herod was still plotting against Him as a child, Joseph received an oracle, took the child and His mother, and returned to the land of Israel. The glory of the unicorn rested upon Christ Himself, because it pleased Him that all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell in Him, as the holy Apostle says. Wherefore, as one who ascribes to Himself the God and Father of all as a horn, He was also named a unicorn in certain other Scriptures. The same Word of God also struck the devil, His enemy and adversary, and all the invisible and wicked powers around him with His intelligible and rational arrows, by means of a superior and invincible power, ^C and even now He rules over many nations, refining the thickness and pride of their flesh and making them fit to enter upon the narrow way of eternal life.

But also, having lain down, this same man who came from Israel, who ruled over many nations, "rested," he says, "as a lion," using these words to signify the dispensation which He assumed, according to which, like some royal and rather bold beast, He rested, while there is no one who can move His principality and kingdom from its place. And all who favor and bless Christ, and by both word and life offer worship and reverence to the virtue of the Teacher, having become in turn sharers in the divine favor and blessing, increase daily and multiply, inasmuch as the divine voice is being fulfilled in them more truly and in a manner more fitting to God: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 1, 28). Just as, on the contrary, those who from the first conspiracy against Him continue even now to curse Him in their councils, have called down upon themselves from that time until now the curse of God ^D from Him. Wherefore they do not cease, even now, to be witnesses with their own eyes to the ultimate desolation and ruin, not only of their kingdom, but also of that former most venerable sanctuary of theirs. It is worth setting before those who have this work in hand the prophecy of Jacob regarding Judah, which we have previously shown also applies most clearly to our Savior, so that they may perceive the harmony in both. For as it is said there: "A man shall come forth out of his seed, oh my son, you have ascended," which was said by Jacob himself to him who was being prophesied.

And as it is said in the present instance, "And he shall have dominion over many nations," so likewise in those texts: "And he shall be the expectation of the nations." And again, here it says: "He shall devour," he says, "the nations of his enemies, and with his darts he shall shoot down the enemy." And likewise in those texts it was said: "Your hands are upon the back of your enemies." And the [passage], "A lion’s whelp is Judah," and that [other], "He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall rouse him up?"—all these being said in ^A those texts, seem to me to differ in no way from the passage now in our hands, which says: "He couched, he rested as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall rouse him up?" We have brought these together into one place for this reason, so that, as if from the mouth of two witnesses, the demonstration concerning our Savior might receive a firmer confirmation of the harmony observed in the prophets. And all the things considered in the prophecy of Jacob might also apply to that of Balaam, because of the resemblance of what was said. If, then, those things were shown by much proof to have been fulfilled in our Savior, it would follow that we must admit these present things as well.

From Hosea. Also concerning that which is said: "Out of Egypt I have called my Son," and concerning Herod the king, and the destruction of the kingdom of the Jews.

"And destruction shall arise among your people, and all your fortified places shall perish, as the prince Salman from the house of Jeroboam. In the days of war they dashed the mother against the children. Thus will I do unto you, O house of Israel, because of the face of your injuries. In the morning they were cast out: the king of Israel was cast out, because Israel is a child. And I loved him, and out of Egypt I called his children." ^B But Aquila, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, translated it: "Out of Egypt I have called my son." I have necessarily noted the passage word for word, since Matthew also set down the prophecy when he indicated that Jesus had migrated into Egypt and returned from thence to the land of Israel. But if anyone should find fault with the departure of our Savior into Egypt, let him know that it happened with the greatest of reasons. For it was not fitting to restrain the self-willed malice of Herod, nor for the Savior, while still a boy, to initiate wonders and display divine power before the proper time; for that would indeed have happened if, by some miraculous means, He had punished Herod who was lying in wait for Him, instead of in any way enduring that withdrawal into Egypt together with His parents. But for ^C the sake of a better economy, it was appropriate to begin the wonders of His divinity at the proper time, which...

for One to Whom, throughout His whole life, testimony was borne of gentleness and long-suffering, Who was always ready for kindnesses and public services, and who never took vengeance on those who would not listen, nor even when He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer was speechless. How, then, was it to be expected that such a One, while yet a child, should not yield to the malice of Herod, to Whom even as a man it is attested that He was accustomed to withdraw and avoid wicked men, and to conceal Himself and evade the praise that accompanied His miracles? At any rate, He used to exhort those healed by Him to tell no one.

But if anyone should refer the prophecy to the people, saying it was spoken of the people who are of the seed of Israel, let him ^B attend to the sequence of the discourse, which says these things would come to pass after saying to Jerusalem herself: "And destruction shall arise in thy people, and all thy walled places shall be destroyed." And what, it says, that ruler suffered in the war that came upon him, in which they dashed mothers to the ground over their children, the same things I will do to you yourselves because of your wickedness. To whom else, then, but you who are called Israelites, and who have been rejected together with your king, indicating Herod obscurely? And you have suffered all these things because, He says, "Israel is a child, and I loved him, and I called My Son out of Egypt." For how is it possible, in the same place and in the same context, to reproach the same people and again to praise them? ^C But the true meaning is this: Israel is Christ, and He is proclaimed as such in other prophecies, just as in the one we are now considering. Since, therefore, He says, this One, having become obedient to Me, has taken the form of a servant, and has become a child beloved to Me, having fulfilled all My will, for this reason I called Him out of Egypt—into which He descended having become man, the earthly place being thus indicated—or also from that more common one, as a legitimate and beloved Son; but you, to whom the discourse is directed, together with your kingdom, will be overtaken by destruction and ruin. ^D This is the prophecy indeed; but it is manifest how, after the times of our Savior, when Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed, the autonomy and authority of the Jewish nation, which had stood until then, was taken away and utterly cast aside.

Nevertheless, here is a third point: the things concerning Egypt and His going down thither have already been prophesied. And if anyone should say that these things in no way apply to our Savior, yet at least let him not deny those things which are taken from the testimony of Moses, as Matthew provides it, which we have just discussed—"God led him out of Egypt"—since not even the evangelist himself said that he had taken the oracle from the prophecy of Hosea, in such a way that those who might search where it is located would be able to find it, whence it is reasonable that the evangelist made his exposition.

^A *The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth ways; and the glory of the Lord shall be seen. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken.* It was necessary that this prophecy should also reach its fulfillment in the times of our Savior. Therefore, according to the evangelist Luke, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,” and the others who are numbered with him, “the word of God came upon John the son of Zacharias in the desert.” And coming into all the country round about Jordan, he “preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” To these things, then, the evangelist adds his testimony, saying: “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” and what follows. What else, then, was that voice crying through John in the desert, preaching to the crowds going out to be baptized by him—as if they were the reptiles of the desert—than the appropriate and fitting saying: ^B “Ye brood of vipers, who hath showed you to flee from the wrath to come?” And again, while he was reforming crooked souls into straight ones, and rough ways into smooth paths, he said to them: “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance.” And these things were assuredly being accomplished, while John was preparing those who were to see the glory of the Lord and what is called the salvation of God—which is nothing other than Christ, as he testifies with these words: “I indeed baptize you with water; but there cometh a mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” He, too, when he saw Jesus coming, exclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said: After me cometh a man, which is preferred before me.” That it was the same being who is the salvation of God, Simeon also testified, who, having received the child Jesus in his arms, said: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles.” ^C To this the prophet also agrees, saying: “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” For “all flesh” is said in place of all the Gentiles. But that these things attained their end, and the Gentiles recognized the Christ of God, there is no need for many words; indeed, the matters that are accustomed to be considered literally were fulfilled in this way. Moreover, what, I ask, was the cause that John chose for himself to preach, not in the cities nor in Jerusalem itself, but in the desert? One might say it was for the fulfillment of the prophecy ^D

^A but he who inquires more precisely and diligently will immediately ask: what, in the end, did this prophecy mean by speaking of the desert and things related to it? To whom we shall respond that this, too, was a sign of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and of the altar within it, and of the rites which were observed according to the Mosaic Law, at the time when the remission of sins was no longer procured for them through the legal sacrifices, but was delivered through the purification of the laver in what was formerly the thirsty and desert land—I mean the Church gathered from the nations. In it, the prophetic voice that came to pass commands to prepare the way of the Lord: it predicts that souls lying somewhat below in the depth of wickedness, as if in a valley, were to be raised up, and that the former heights of Jerusalem, and of the princes and kings who ruled in it—who are called mountains and hills—were to be humbled. When these things were accomplished, it says, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." It is clear that "all flesh" means every soul living in a body upon the earth, both of Greeks and of barbarians, and of all nations entirely without exception; which things are shown to have finished their course in accordance with the prophecy. ^B I ask myself, then, what indeed was it that astonished the multitude in John, so that they marveled at the man and had faith in him as he preached a baptism of repentance, and why all, leaving their own affairs from every quarter, flocked into the desert, especially since the accounts do not record any act of his? For it is not written that he raised the dead or performed other miracles. What then was it that made everyone marvel? Might it perhaps be his strange and widely differing manner of life? For he came forth from the desert wearing an unusual garment, and turning away from all common human intercourse; for he did not go into any village, ^C nor into any city, nor join in any general gathering of men. But he did not even partake of common food; for it is written that from childhood he was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel. But also his clothing was made from camel’s hair, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Could it be, therefore, that when they saw the man—a Nazirite of God indeed in his hair, and one showing a face befitting God, wearing a strange manner of clothing, suddenly appearing from the hidden desert, and after his preaching retreating again into the desert and into the hidden places, without drink, without food, and avoiding the crowd—they were deservedly astonished, and did not even suppose him to be a man? For how could they think ^D him a man, when he appeared to be in no need of food? For this reason they also believed him to be that very angel of whom the prophet speaks, when he says: "Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." The evangelist Mark has used the citation of this Scripture as well. And the Savior

^A himself bears witness to this matter, saying: "John came to you neither eating nor drinking, and you say, 'He has a demon.'" For it was natural that those who were unbelieving and difficult and stubborn against the truth, on account of the manner of life that John lived, would cast such reproaches upon him, just as, conversely, those who were touched by the sense of his virtue took him for an angel. I think, therefore, that this brought wonder and astonishment toward the man in those who saw John; and for this reason they ran together from everywhere for the purification of the soul that was preached through him. Josephus also mentions the history concerning him in the eighteenth book of his *Jewish Antiquities*, writing in this manner: "However, it seemed to some of the Jews that the destruction of the Jewish army came from God, and very justly, as a penalty for what was done to John, who was called the Baptist. For Herod killed him, a good man, and one who urged the Jews to exercise virtue, and to use justice toward one another, and piety toward God, and thus to come to baptism; for so indeed did the ablution appear acceptable to him." ^B

*From the same.* — Also regarding the wilderness, and the Jordan river itself by name, at which John baptized.

"Rejoice, O thirsty wilderness: let the desert exult and bloom as a lily, and the deserts of the Jordan will blossom and exult, and the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel, and my people shall see the glory of the Lord." To which he adds: "Be strengthened, O weakened hands, and slackened knees: take courage, ye faint of heart in understanding: be strong, fear not. Behold, our God renders judgment, and ^C he will render it. He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame man shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear: because water has gushed forth in the wilderness, and a ravine in a thirsty land." These things were clearly fulfilled by the truly miraculous deeds of our Savior after the preaching of John. Observe, therefore, how he proclaims the wilderness, not simply, nor any wilderness at all, but specifically and exclusively that one which is by the Jordan river; since it was by this that John resided and baptized, as the Scripture itself confirms, saying: "John was baptizing in the wilderness, and all the region of Judea ^D and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him, and were baptized by him in the Jordan." I think, then, that the wilderness contains a symbol of that which was formerly deserted of all good things—I mean, the Church gathered from the Gentiles—and that the river in the wilderness, purifying all who were washed in it, bears the image of a certain purification, which is to be understood according to the sense of the words, concerning which the Scriptures speak, saying:

^A “The streams of the river make glad the city of God.” This signifies the perpetual influx of the divine Spirit, which inundates from above and irrigates the city of God—for so is the life lived according to God named. This river of God, therefore, has come down even to the desert, that is, to the Church gathered from the nations, and even now it abundantly bestows upon her the life-giving waters which it possesses in itself. Furthermore, the same prophecy sings that the glory of Lebanon and the honor of Carmel will be given to the same desert. But what is the glory of Carmel, if not that rite which was celebrated through sacrifices according to the law of Moses? When God rejected this through that prophecy which says, “Why do you bring me incense from Sheba? And why do you bring me a multitude of your sacrifices?” He transferred the glory of Jerusalem to the desert of the Jordan, after the way of living piously and religiously began to be fulfilled, not in Jerusalem, but in the desert, which indeed happened after the times of John. In like manner, the honor of the law and of those things which were ordained in it more corporeally has been given to the desert of the Jordan for the same reason, because those who were in need of the healing that pertains to the soul no longer fled to Jerusalem, but to that which is called the desert, on account of the remission of sins preached therein. ^B I think also that the coming of our Savior to baptism is signified by those words: “And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the highness of God.” For then the glory of our Savior was indeed seen, when, having been baptized, “he went up from the water, and the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and remaining upon him,” at which time also a voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” But every one who approaches the mystery of the bath legitimately, having received the theology concerning Christ, shall behold his glory, being able to say with Paul: “Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.” ^C

From Psalm XC. ^D — Concerning the temptation of Christ after his baptism.

“He that dwells in the help of the Most High shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord, You are my protector and my refuge: my God, my helper, and I will hope in him. For he shall deliver me from the snare of the hunters, and from the turbulent word. He will overshadow you with his shoulders, and under his wings you shall hope. His truth shall encompass you with a shield; you shall not fear from the terror of the night, from the arrow that flies by day, from the thing that walks in darkness, from the assault and the noonday demon. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you. Nevertheless, you shall consider with your eyes, and the reward

^A of the wicked you shall see. Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you made the Most High your refuge. No evils shall approach you, and no scourge shall draw near your tabernacle; because He has commanded His angels concerning you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon.

The Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Christ of God, in so far as He is considered as having been made man, is said to dwell in the help of the Most High, inasmuch as He abides in the protection of God and the Father. ^B Therefore, having obtained no one as a refuge except the one Father when He was tempted by the devil, he was delivered from the snares of the opposing powers—who are here called hunters—when, like some common man, He was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil; and he was in the desert forty days and forty nights, tempted by Satan; and He was, as the evangelist bears witness, "with the beasts." But what, pray, are these beasts if not those which the psalm presently under discussion commemorates toward him who dwells in the help of the Most High, where it says: "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon"? But he says he is to be delivered not only from these, but also from the troublesome utterance. ^C But what, pray, was this utterance, if not that which the tempter cast before Him, as is written in the holy Gospel? It is worth while to contemplate what was the cause that our Savior, who is such and so great, underwent temptation.

Since, therefore, He was about to drive out from men every sickness and every infirmity, and the harassing spirits, and the unclean demons who for many ages had subjected all who dwelt on the earth by that superstition which worships many gods, He did not approach the things mentioned as if lurking from a hidden place. But, on the contrary, having set out in the manner of those waging war through the man whom He assumed, He went toward the hostile and invisible princes, and into the very midst of the devil and his whole ^D demonic troop; and where He walked upon the asp and the basilisk, and trampled the lion and the dragon—having long before overthrown thousands and myriads of the hostile rulers, both those fighting from the right and those from the left, and the principalities and powers, and indeed those who are called the world-rulers of this darkness, and the spiritualities of wickedness—when He had proven that all these could do nothing, and finally by the word of His mouth had driven far away the devil himself, the prince of evils, and had traversed and walked through all the opposing power, and had presented Himself to those desiring to approach and tempt Him (though no one was able to stand against Him at all), only then did He proceed to the salvation of men. Wherefore, seeing Him, the demons recognized Him, because of this [previous] dwelling in the desert of which it was spoken, saying to Him, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God?"

These things, then, concerning these matters. But the following words of the psalm are spoken directly to Him, the Christ, beginning from, "He shall overshadow you with his shoulders," clearly the Most High, "and under His wings"

you shall find hope. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield." And since He was tempted for forty days and as many nights, regarding those who assaulted Him at night, it is said to Him, "You shall not fear from terror by night"; and regarding those who warred against Him by day, "From the arrow that flies by day"; and again, regarding night, "From a thing walking in darkness"; and regarding those by day, "From a mishap and a demon of noontide." Then, since during the temptation wicked powers surrounded Him, and some held His right side, but many more were on His left—for the sides on the right are stronger—it is ^A fittingly added to Him, "A thousand shall fall from your side, and ten thousand from your right hand, but it shall not come near you." By "side" is understood the left, the name of the "left" being fittingly passed over in silence, for no perverse or left-handed thing is found in Him. And since a whole ten thousand, and at the same time a thousand, are said to fall from His side and from His right, it is fittingly said immediately after these things, "Only with your eyes shall you observe, and you shall see the retribution of sinners."

And these things, he says, shall be about you, O Christ of God, "since you, O Lord, who happen to be my hope, have made the Most High your refuge." ^B Here you shall also note in what way the prophet says to the Lord Himself, "Since you, O Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your refuge," accurately distinguishing another who is privately the Lord, and His Father, God the Most High. Therefore, because Christ has made Him, as Father and God Most High, His own refuge, it is said to Him, "Evils shall not come to you, and a scourge shall not draw near your tabernacle. For He shall give charge to His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they shall bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." And observe diligently how, in the passage, "For you, O Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your refuge," the word "Lord" is borne ^C in the Hebrew by the four-letter name, which the children of the Hebrews, saying it is unutterable, are accustomed to use only for God; but we have shown beforehand in many Scriptures that this same name is also placed regarding the divinity of the Word, just as also in the psalm now in our hands, which speaks in the person of the Lord Himself: "For you, O Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your refuge." It is as if he were saying: Because you yourself, O Lord, who happen to be the hope of me who prophesies these things, knowing Him who is greater than yourself—God the Most High—have made Him your refuge. Whence it was said at the beginning of the psalm regarding Him: "He who dwells in the help of the Most High ^D shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord, 'My protector you are, and my refuge, my God, my helper, and I will hope in Him.'" Since, therefore, you, O Lord, have made the Most High your refuge, for this reason the Most High Himself, he says, "will rescue"

you from the snare of the hunters and from a troublesome report, and He will overshadow you with His shoulders." Therefore, being sustained by such paternal help of the Most High, you shall not fear the terror of the night, nor indeed any of the things that have been enumerated before, nor even from those that are brought on thereafter. ^B Since, therefore, you, O Lord, have made the Most High your refuge, for this reason "no evil shall come upon you, and no scourge shall approach your tabernacle." Furthermore, you will find that the scourges of the demons themselves are mentioned in the Gospels; these, he says, were not even able to dare to approach the tabernacle of Christ, that is, His body. For how could they have done so, when He cast them out of men by a word alone? Regarding this tabernacle, David also said in a certain place: "He swore to the Lord, and vowed to the God of Jacob," saying: "If I shall climb upon the bed of my couch, if I give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob."

For the sake of this tabernacle, then, it was said: "You shall not fear the terror of the night," and the statement, "He Himself will rescue you from the snare of the hunters and from a troublesome report," and the statement, "No evil shall come upon you, and no scourge shall approach your tabernacle," and whatever else was said ^C more humanly concerning Him, such as: "He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you," and "In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." For such things would never be fitting to say to God; but to His tabernacle, which He assumed for our sake at the time when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," they are fitting.

But it does not seem to me to be out of place if, so that the things which have been said may be confirmed more exquisitely and stably, I should also place here the sentiments and editions of the other interpreters, one of whom, Aquila, rendered it in this way: "Because you, O Lord, are my hope, you have made the Most High your dwelling place. No evil shall be brought upon you, and no touch shall approach your protection: because He has commanded His angels, that they might guard you in all your ways." But Symmachus says: "For you, O Lord, are my security; you have made the Most High your habitation. Evil shall not prevail against you, nor shall any touch approach your tent: because He will command His angels regarding you, that they might guard you in all your ways." ^D Therefore, through these very same words, it is said to the Lord as if to another, greater being: "He will command His angels regarding you, that they might guard you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up," that is, you, the Lord, lest you, the Lord, strike your foot against a stone. The devil also used these very words in the temptation against our Savior, when, "taking Him into the holy city, he set Him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: 'If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here. For it is written that He will command His angels regarding you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" To whom our Lord, answering, said: "It is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

hands. Therefore, by these very authorities, it is said to our Lord, as if of the Lord: "He hath given His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up,"—namely, thee, O Lord—"lest thou, O Lord, dash thy foot against a stone" (Ps. XC, 11-12). Indeed, even the devil, in the temptation against our Savior, used the same words when he "took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." To whom our Lord, answering, said: "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matt. IV, 5-7). ^B Furthermore, since the evangelist himself is the authority that He was tempted in the company of wild beasts—though he does not explicitly describe which ones—the prophecy of the Psalm, while enumerating the kinds of wild beasts, speaks more plainly of this matter in these words: "Thou shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon" (Ps. XC, 13). Wherein He affirms that He will trample upon the asp and the basilisk—that is, the devil himself—and those who follow him, the principalities and wicked powers. But to those who have acquired a virtue similar to His own, namely His disciples and apostles, He gave the power to walk upon serpents and scorpions, not permitting them to be tempted beyond what they could bear. For it belonged to Him alone, by His divine power, to overthrow the powers that are worse in wickedness, and indeed the prince of all and the tyrant of this age himself.

From Isaiah.—Concerning the Galilee of the Gentiles, in which our Savior performed the greatest part of His miracles, and concerning the calling of His apostles.

"This first drink, make haste, land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest living by the sea, and across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people walking in darkness, see a great light; and to you who dwell in the region and shadow of death, light shall shine upon you. Most of the people whom Thou hast brought down in Thy gladness, they shall rejoice before Thee as they that rejoice in the harvest, and as they that divide the spoils. For the yoke that was laid upon them shall be removed, and the rod that was upon their neck. For the Lord hath broken the rod of those who exact, ^C as in the day that was upon Madian. For they shall repay every garment gathered with deceit, and a vestment with a change, and they shall wish if they had been burned with fire. For a child is born unto us, and a son is given unto us, whose government was upon his shoulder. And His name shall be called the Angel of Great Counsel, Prince of Peace, Ruler, Mighty God, Father of the age to come" (Isa. IX, 1-6).

In addition to all other things, these too were fulfilled in our Savior and Lord Jesus, who is the Christ of God, at the time when, as the divine evangelist is the authority, "Hearing that John had been delivered up, He departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow ^D of death light is sprung up."

^B From that time, therefore, Jesus began to preach and to say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he saith to them: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately, leaving their nets, followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately, leaving the boat and their father, followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all sickness and all disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them, and there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee.

I have set forth all these things for the sake of the prophecy, which promises that a great light shall be in Galilee and in the region of Zabulon and Nephthalim, although neither is the Galilee of the Gentiles. But why did he dwell for the most part in the Galilee of the Gentiles? Doubtless so that he might establish the beginnings of the calling of all nations; for he summoned his disciples, who had set out from there. Therefore, a little later in the same Gospel, you will find Matthew was called from Galilee, and in another place, Levi again. Moreover, Philip, as is read in John, set out from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter; and this also was of Galilee. Indeed, even in the same evangelist, it is recorded that a marriage took place in Cana of Galilee, where, when the Lord had miraculously changed water into wine, he made the beginning of his miracles there, at which time he ^C declared his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Consider now whether this very first miracle of our Saviour, which was performed in Cana of Galilee, while water is changed into wine, is not what the present discourse intends, while prophesying in the very beginning of the prophecy with those words: "Drink this first, make haste, O region of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, Galilee of the Gentiles." If that miracle was a certain sign of a more secret mixture, changed from that which pertains more to the body into the intelligible and spiritual joy of the mixture that pertains to the faith of the New Testament, see whether this also did not signify, in an accommodated sense, those things said concerning Galilee, singing how, under the advent of Christ, the inhabitants of Zabulon and Nephthalim—and not those in Judæa and Jerusalem—would be the first of all to be partakers of the draught of the evangelical preaching. He says, furthermore, that the cause of this joy for them was the illumination of a vast light, for those who indeed before his advent were sitting in darkness, sitting in the region and shadow of death. But with the saving light having risen upon them, thus ^D the great light’s shining forth, they who before the advent were sitting in darkness, in the region...

^B and shadow of death, will now rejoice just as those who rejoice in the harvest, and in the way that those who divide spoil do. Now these things were fulfilled in deed when, our Savior and Lord calling the apostles from Galilee, He showed forth to them the paradoxical nature of His works and His teaching; and prophecy foretells that they would rejoice before Him, in the manner of those rejoicing in the harvest. In what harvest, or concerning what was He speaking when He taught, saying: "Lift up your eyes and look at the regions, for they are white for harvest already"? By these words He signified the gathering-in of the nations; and concerning these same it is said that "they will rejoice, in the way that those who divide the spoil do." Therefore, when the disciples and evangelists of our Savior had divided among themselves the regions of the nations and the whole earth under the sun, they despoiled countless rulers of this age, those who formerly held power over the nations. Moreover, He mentions another reason for why they are to be filled with joy, namely that the physical yoke of the Law was to be taken away from them, which had been imposed long since, and which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. And not only was the yoke removed from them, but also the staff of the taskmasters which formerly lay upon their neck. He declares elsewhere who these taskmasters are, saying: "My people, your exactors glean your ears of corn, and the taskmasters rule over you." But these, truly, who are from Zabulon and Nephthalim, having beheld the great light, will rejoice because of the things already mentioned; but as for those who formerly exacted from them, it will be exacted back from them even to the last farthing, and when they have rendered every garment and every cloak, they will be burned with fire in the time of the exaction; and He says they will suffer all these things because "a child was born to us, and a son was given to us, the angel of the great counsel." To whom, then, "to us," if not to those who have believed in Him, and clearly to all the Galilee of the nations, to whom the great light has risen? And what indeed was this, if not the child that has been born, and the son given by God, the angel of the great counsel, and the prince of peace, and the one having power, and the Mighty God, and the Father of the age to come who has been named? That these things, indeed, refer solely to our Savior and Lord, we have already demonstrated in its proper time.

From Psalm LXVII. Concerning the Calling of the Apostles.

^D "Thy goings have been seen, O God, the goings of my God the King, who is in the holy place. The princes went before, joined with those who sing, in the midst of the damsels playing the timbrel. In the churches bless ye God the Lord from the fountains of Israel. There is Benjamin the younger in an ecstasy, the princes of Juda, their leaders, the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthalim." And here, those called the princes of Nephthalim...

^A I consider to be others than the apostles; for from there our Savior and Lord chose them, as it is written by Matthew. But the Scripture, prophesying the ingress of the Word of God to men and His bodily advent, says: "Your goings, O God, have been seen," and the rest. And those old friends of God, the prophets, having become as it were the forerunners of this manifestation, singing with the psaltery and choirs and all kinds of spiritual instruments, came before Him, in the midst of the damsels playing the timbrel. For everywhere, the divine prophets, going into the midst of the assemblies of the Jews, predicted long before the advent of Christ; nay, the same ones, inspired by the divine Spirit, addressed the disciples of our Savior, saying: "In the churches bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel." Now the fountains of Israel are the words that were delivered to Israel itself, for to them first were the oracles of God entrusted, from which we also must draw and irrigate the churches of Christ. ^B By damsels and timbrel-players, He meant the souls of old who directed their life according to the Law of Moses and lived for the most part according to the body; in calling them "damsels," He notes the simplicity and imperfection of their purpose, and by "timbrel-players," He wishes the use of their bodily worship to be understood.

From Isaiah. — Concerning the prophetic reading, which our Lord Himself delivered in the assembly of the Jews.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me; He hath sent me to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to call the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of requital." ^C This prophecy our Lord Himself confirms to have been fulfilled in His own person, at the time when, having come to Nazareth, where He had been reared, He entered, as was his custom, into the assembly on a Sabbath day; and as He stood up, the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and having opened the scroll, He read what was written therein: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me; He hath sent me to evangelize the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away the crushed in forgiveness, to call the acceptable year of the Lord." And having folded the book and handed it to the attendant, He sat down; ^D and the eyes of all in the assembly were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, that "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Therefore, our Savior and Lord is seen through this passage of Scripture to have been anointed far more excellently and nobly than those priests of old who were anointed with bodily oil—not with oil prepared by men, nor in the same manner as the others, but anointed with the divine Spirit of God His Father Himself; from whom having also partaken of the unbegotten divinity, He is proclaimed in the holy Scriptures as God and Lord. Following upon the prophecy now under consideration, similar...

^A Matthew writes, where he introduces Him instructing, at the time when "seeing the multitudes He went up into the mount, and when He had sat down, His disciples came to Him, and opening His mouth He taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." For it is also recorded that He restored sight to not a few blind men; for He bestowed sight not only upon those who were deprived of the sight of their eyes, but he also showed Himself the author of understanding to those who were previously blinded in their soul, so that they might behold and recognize the God of the universe in their mind. And in another way, to those who were prisoners and carried off as captives by invisible and demonic power, and bound in the chains of wickedness, He proclaimed freedom and release from those things by which they were held, if only they too, placing faith in His preaching, would run to Him as their Redeemer and Savior and obey His commands. But the rest of the discourse will be examined in due course in the section concerning the promises.

From Deuteronomy. — On the sanctioning of the new law in the Gospel of Christ.

"A prophet from thy brothers will the Lord thy God raise up for thee like me; him you shall hear in all things, whatever you asked of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly," saying: "We shall not again hear the voice of the Lord our God, and we shall not see this great fire any more, lest we die." And the Lord said to me: "They have spoken all things well. I will raise up for them a prophet from their brothers like thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them according to everything that I shall command Him; and the man who does not hear all things that the prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance on him." ^B Observe diligently that no prophet like Moses has arisen among the Hebrews, that is to say, a lawgiver and an introducer of piety to men, except only our Savior, the Christ of God; for at the end of Deuteronomy it is said: "There has not arisen a prophet again in Israel like Moses." And yet countless prophets have existed after him, but none like him. But the whole of this is promised by the promise of God, in that He promises to raise up one—and not many—who is similar to him. He signifies that this one—the future lawgiver and teacher of piety among men—is such as our ^C one Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and no other besides him has been shown to be the lawgiver and prophet of the God of the universe and His Father. But while Moses led one nation, and was shown to give laws in his writings that were fit only for that one, but not for other nations, the Christ of God, having received this promise from the Father: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance," is set forth having been established by the Father as a new lawgiver of piety not only for the Jews, but for the entire race of men, ^D with the calling of all nations being possible and appropriate.

^A With a power, therefore, more divine than that of Moses, He ordained His sacred laws for the whole world through His evangelists, as a lawgiver with authority greater than human, saying: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not kill'; but I say to you, not even to be angry without cause," and all the things that follow these which are set forth in his recorded teachings, regarding which the evangelist testifies, saying that all were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Having discussed in the beginning of the present work the manner of our Savior’s teaching and legislation, when we brought into the open what Christianity is, we refer the reader back to those points now. But it seems a matter worthy of more diligent observation, why the Lord promised that He would raise up a prophet for them. For since the Lord Himself had ordered Moses to purify the whole people for three days, so that they might be at once spectators and hearers of the divine appearance, but they were too weak for the grace of God, so that when they had begun to see and hear, they refused the experience, saying to Moses: "Speak you to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die." ^B Deservedly, on account of this, the Lord accepts their piety and reverence, but says: "They have spoken well all that they have said: I will raise up for them a prophet from the midst of their brethren, like you." Thus, therefore, He taught the reason why He was to make His appearance to men in the fashion of a prophet: this was the weakness of men, and their refusal of the superior vision. You have, therefore, the reason for the incarnation of the prophesied prophet. ^C It is reasonable, then, that those of the circumcision, awaiting Him, asked John the Baptist, saying: "Are you the prophet?" And he said, "No." But John, confessing the truth, did not deny that he was a prophet—for he was one—but [denied that he was] that very prophet who had been foretold by Moses; and he taught that he had been sent before that prophet. And because the word proclaimed to them, those of the circumcision, that the prophet was to be raised up, reasonably our Savior and Lord, inasmuch as He Himself was the one foretold, says: "I have not come except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And He instructed His apostles, saying: ^D "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," clearly teaching that it was to them that He had been sent primarily, in accordance with the prophecy. But since they did not receive the grace, He rebukes them in other places, saying: "Because I came, and there was no man, I called, and there was no one to listen." And He says to them: "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation producing its fruits." And to His own disciples, after their refusal, He commands: "Go, make disciples of all nations in my name." Thus, indeed, we are the nations.

^A We have known and accepted that prophet who was foretold and sent by the Father, as he who became the legislator of piety towards the God of all for all men, through his saving and evangelical teaching; and in this was also fulfilled another prophecy, through which it is said: "Appoint, O Lord, a legislator over them, that the nations may know that they are men." The Jewish nation, however, not having received him who was prophesied, paid the due penalty according to the divine prophecy which said: "And the man who will not listen to all that the prophet will speak in my name, I will take vengeance upon him." Indeed, vengeance has been taken upon that people for all the blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, and finally above all for that of Christ, whose blood, having invoked it upon themselves and upon their own children, they have paid and to this very day pay the penalty for the impiety they dared to commit.

From Job. — Concerning the walking of Christ upon the sea.

^B "He who says to the sun, and it does not rise, and seals it as with a sign among the stars, he who alone stretched out heaven, and walks upon the sea as upon dry land." And these things could fitly be applied to our Savior and Lord alone, as He is the Word of God and the Creator of all things; for He alone of all who have ever existed, at the time when He became man and assumed a human body and form, is said to have walked upon the surface of the sea, when He compelled His own disciples to embark into a boat and to precede Him across the strait, until He should dismiss the crowds; and having dismissed the crowds, He went up into the mountain to pray by Himself. When evening had come, He was there alone. But the boat was already in the middle of the sea. ^C Seeing Him upon the sea, they were troubled, saying that it was a phantom, and they cried out for fear. But immediately He spoke to them, saying: "Take courage, it is I, do not fear." Otherwise, it would not seem to contain theology worthy of God if one were to understand this oracle as referring to the supreme God and Father of all. For what solemnity or significance is there in the God of all being said to walk upon the sea? And how could a walk upon the sea be conceived of Him who contains all things, and fills both heaven and earth? Who, as it were, says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet," and: "Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." ^D But our Savior and Lord, having emptied Himself and taken the form of a servant, and being found in habit as a man, while offering a sign of His divine power—which was hidden from the many—to be seen by His own disciples, walks upon the sea waves...

^A, trampling the waves and rebuking the surge and the winds as is recorded; at which time those who were looking on were amazed, saying: "Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" But this was also a symbol of another, greater sea being understood, in which it is said a certain dragon exists, fashioned to be sported with by the angels of God, upon which sea our Savior and Lord also walked, and is said to have crushed the head of the dragon that was there, and of the rest of the dragons that had followed it, according to the words: "You crushed the heads of the dragons upon the water, and You crushed the heads of the dragon." By this, clearly, another sea is meant, concerning which He says again in the Psalm: "I came into the depths of the sea." And speaking to Job of Himself: "Have you reached the fountain of the sea, and walked in the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to you from fear, and do the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, shudder?" Deservedly, therefore, also in the life that pertains to us, while He enters the sea and rebukes the winds and the surge, He meanwhile performs the signs of those things that are laid up in the mysteries.

From Isaiah. Concerning the wondrous deeds performed by Him.

"Strengthen, O relaxed hands and loosened knees; take courage, you who are faint-hearted in soul, be strong, do not fear: behold our God renders and will render judgment; He Himself will ^B come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then the lame man shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear." And you have the results of these things in the Gospels; firstly, indeed, when they brought to our Savior and Lord a paralytic lying on a bed, whom He restored to his former health with a single word; and then, when countless blind men and those possessed by demons, and furthermore those afflicted with various illnesses and languors, were delivered from all their diseases by the benefit of His saving power. Moreover, even now in those events which He manifests throughout the whole world, while He heals and cures the countless multitudes bound by various kinds of wickedness and having their souls filled with ignorance of the God over all, ^C miraculously and beyond all reason by the medicines of His doctrine, and yet that He is also called God in these matters at the proper time, as being the One who performs such things, has already been demonstrated by us long ago, where we brought forth testimonies concerning His divinity. And it was altogether fitting now, if not at other times, for Him to be confessed as God, because He gave evidence of works of divine and truly godlike power. For it was the task of God alone, and of no other, to strengthen the relaxed, to bring the dead back to life, to provide salvation to the sick, to open the eyes of the blind, to likewise heal the hearing of the deaf, to set the lame upright, and to restore those whose tongues were bound to speak clearly—all of which have been performed by our Savior Jesus Christ, as by God, and have been witnessed to by ^D

^A many who preached Him throughout the whole world. The honesty and truth of their testimony is confirmed by the test of tortures, and by their perseverance even unto death, which they demonstrated before kings, princes, governors, and entire nations, bearing witness to the truth of what was preached by them.

I believe that it is to these very men, His evangelists and apostles, that the prophetic Spirit calls out in the words that follow after that passage: "Strengthen, ye weak hands and feeble knees." For since they had grown faint in their hands and active powers, and in their footsteps and walking, after the long period of worship according to the Law of Moses, and had become quite slack, He therefore rouses them to the manner of life according to the Gospel: "Strengthen," He says, "ye weak hands and feeble knees," ^B meaning for the preparation of the race according to the Gospel. And strengthen yourselves also to exhort and urge others to lay hold of the salvation of the Gospel, you, I say, who were previously faint-hearted, and let no fear of those outside, who resist the preaching of the Gospel, take hold of you; but rather, take strength against them as well, and do not be afraid. For He was God and the Word of God, and not someone similar to Moses, nor is any of the prophets to be compared to Him; He is not only a worker of wondrous miracles, but He has also become the author of strength to you yourselves.

What could be the most evident proof of the divine power of our Savior, who was prophesied to come, by which in truth He once healed the lame, the blind, the lepers, and the paralyzed by His word—as the scriptures that exist concerning Him guarantee—other than the virtue which even now ^C exercises its efficacy from His divinity throughout the whole world inhabited by men, through which it is shown to those who are able to perceive it what He was like then, by means of the facts themselves? For when, after so many years, it remains for so long, unconquered and truly shown to be the Word of God that was announced by Him, surpassing all those who from the beginning and until now have prepared themselves to wage war against His teaching, and bringing to Himself countless multitudes from the whole inhabited world, and delivering those who approach Him from every sin and from the passions and diseases of the soul, and calling every race of Greeks and barbarians to His pious teaching, and leading countless numbers to the knowledge of the one true God, and to the sound and sober life which would indeed be the proper profession of the religion of the God over all—this ^D same God of ours, as He is the Word of God, says, "He renders judgment, and will render it; He Himself will come and save us."

For according to the Psalm that says, "O God, give Thy judgment to the king," and according to the teaching of the Gospel, by which it is said, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son," having received from the Father the authority to judge, He judges with righteousness. He has rendered the appropriate retribution to the people of the circumcision for the things they dared to do against Him and His prophets, and He has saved, on equal terms and in accordance with justice, all mankind without distinction who approach Him, whose ears of the mind and eyes He has opened.

^A Hence the divine Word calls the time of His advent the time of retribution, saying in other places: "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution." This was indeed the time of retribution, in which vengeance for all the blood shed from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, and of that of the most precious blood of Jesus itself, was taken from the generation of those who had offended against Him, so that from that time they endured their final destruction and their utmost desolation. And the judgment concerning them did indeed effect such a retribution upon them; wherefore the prophecy says: "Behold, our God gives judgment, and He shall recompense." ^B But the part concerning those who are to be saved is indicated in what follows by the words: "He Himself shall come, and shall save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear," and what follows. Another prophecy also promises that Christ shall bring forth this saving judgment, saying: "Behold my servant, I will uphold Him; my elect, my soul has accepted Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Therefore it is also said concerning the message of the New Testament: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge between the nations." For by divine judgment and by reasons hidden and ineffable to us, it is fitting that He should administer the things that pertain to the calling of those who turn to Him. Furthermore, while He teaches us the divine judgment, and instructs us to do all things with judgment, He is said to be about to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

From the same. Concerning the signs and prodigies which He wrought. ^C

"Then they shall be manifest, who seal the law, so that they may not learn. And he shall say: I will wait for God, who turns away His face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in Him. Behold I, and the children whom God has given me. And there shall be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Sabaoth, who dwells in Mount Zion : and if they shall say to you, Seek the soothsayers, and them that speak from the earth, who speak vain things, who utter voices from the belly. Shall not a nation seek unto its God? Why do they seek from the dead concerning the living? For He has given the law for a help." The apostle Paul indeed, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, citing those words of this passage: ^D "Behold I, and the children whom God has given me," unfolds an explanation concerning Christ, saying: "Forasmuch then as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death." He names his apostles as his children in this place, through whom the Lord Sabaoth who dwells

^A in Mount Sion indicates that He will work signs and wonders in the house of Israel, and that these same men will be manifest, while they bear upon their faces the imprint and seal of Christ according to our custom, and are instructed no longer to study the law of Moses, since it no longer stands, as that which is called the house of Jacob has been forsaken by God. But since the saying in the Septuagint is somewhat obscure: "Then they shall be manifest who seal the law so that it may not be learned. And He will say: I will wait for the God who has turned His face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in Him." Symmachus rendered the same more clearly in these words: "Bind the testimony, seal the law in my ordinances. And I will wait for the Lord who has hidden His face from the house of Jacob, and I will wait for Him." Aquila also translated it in this way: "Bind the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, and I will wait for the God who has hidden His face from the house of Jacob, and I will wait for Him."

These, then, are the things the disciples of our Savior are taught to do, after which He subjoins: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me. And they shall be for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Sabaoth, who dwells in Mount Sion." Now, the Word of God Himself, after He had ^B dwelt in that man whom He assumed and had walked upon Mount Sion and wrought signs and wonders, gave instructions to His own disciples and to all who—having previously been idolaters—had come to faith in Him, no longer to fear in any way the superstitious error; but even if those who among the Gentiles worshipped idols should stir them up or even compel them to seek out the pythons and oracles of demons, as if they were wonderful and in no part inferior to the prophetic conduct of godly and God-beloved men, He teaches them that they must answer and say: "Why seek ye from the dead concerning the living? For He has given the law for aid," and what follows thereafter. For it is superfluous and useless for those who have once received the law and saving precepts for the help and healing of their own lives to investigate further things produced by demonic deceit.

^D

From the same. On the proclaiming or indicating of Christ while He was working miracles.

"Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; Israel is my elect, my soul has received him. He shall bring forth judgment to the nations; he shall not cry out, nor shall he lift up his voice, nor shall it be heard abroad. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, but he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall shine forth and shall not be broken, until he shall set judgment on the earth, and in his name the nations shall hope." Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven and stretched it out, who established the earth and the things in it, and who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it. "I, the Lord God, have called thee in righteousness, and I will take hold of thy hand, and I will strengthen thee, and I have given thee for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to open

^A eyes of the blind, and to bring out of bonds those who are bound, and from the house of prison them that sit in darkness. [Isa. xlii, 6, 7] And the evangelist makes mention of this statement when the Pharisees went out and took counsel against our Saviour, that they might destroy Him, because He healed the sick on the Sabbath. "For then," he says, "Jesus having known the conspiracy against Him, withdrew from there, and many crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, and charged them that they should not make Him known." [Matt. xii, 15, 16] To which he adds saying: "And all these things have come to pass," that is, His withdrawing, and His avoiding those who were lying in wait, and His striving to remain hidden in the miracles He performed, and His charging those who were healed not to make Him known, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying: Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall announce judgment to the nations. He shall not contend nor cry out, ^B nor shall anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, until he shall send forth judgment unto victory, and in his name the nations shall hope." [Matt. xii, 17-21]

Observe diligently in what manner Matthew, when he said: "Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased," made mention of neither Jacob nor Israel. For he did not say: "Jacob my servant, Israel my elect," but spoke indefinitely, saying: "Behold my servant, and my beloved." Wherefore, as if that prophecy were not in the Hebrew, among the Seventy the name of Jacob and Israel is marked with an obelus; and among the other translators it is passed over in silence, because it is not found even in the Hebrew. ^C Hence it is reasonable that it was not spoken by the evangelist, who was a Hebrew, and who followed the Hebrew scriptures in the setting forth of the prophecy. Therefore, the things prophesied do not fit the people of the circumcision even if you look at the meaning; rather, they apply only to the Christ of God, to whom the very evidence and the outcome of events give indubitable confirmation. For He alone publicly announced the coming judgment to the nations, while He silently insinuated Himself into the life of men, and set judgment upon the earth; and not only did He not break a bruised reed, but, if it is permitted to say, He bound it up, having raised up and made strong the weak and those who were broken in heart. Just as He did not despise the weak and the infirm, and those in need of His healing, nor did He condemn or crush those who, having repented of their former life, ^D were converted, so neither did He quench those who persisted in evil or those who were kindled by depraved affections of the soul, preventing them from acting according to their own purpose and their own whim; nor indeed did He ever punish any of them before the time, since He deferred the punishment due to their merits until the time of the universal judgment. Wherefore it is said: "And smoking flax he shall not quench." And the saying, "And in his name shall the nations hope," received its fulfillment directly. At least, in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ alone the nations of the Christians have hoped

^A marked by the name of Him who is, as it were, their parent, from the religion which they received. For it had been said long before that He would be given as a light to none other than the nations; and through Him—just as the oracle itself had signified—the eyes of the blind, at least of those who had once been blinded in their minds, were opened, and not only their eyes, but also of those who had lost the very body. For they who had previously wallowed in the darkness and ignorance of true piety, bound by the chains and fetters of sins, through Him, having been loosed from their sins, have been deemed worthy of the light of knowledge and liberty before God. And if you yourself, at your leisure, examine the word in accordance with what has been set forth, you would find each one of the things contained in it to be absolutely fulfilled in our Lord and Saviour alone.

From the same. — Concerning the fact that the Jewish people would not believe in Him.

^B "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the seraphim stood round about Him." Then, proceeding a little further, He says: "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, Behold, I am here, send me. And He said, Go, and say to this people, Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has been hardened, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, ^C and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

You have the outcome of these things also in our Saviour, according to the words of John, who says: "But though He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him." And according to Matthew, when His disciples came and said to Him, ^D "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He replied, saying to them: "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it is not given; therefore I speak to them in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear, lest at any time they should be converted, and I should heal them." Then was fulfilled concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah which says: "Go, and say to this people: Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand," and the things that follow these. Observe, however, in what manner John adds, saying: "These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him," as though the prophet saw Christ and the glory of Christ in that vision in which he said:

^A "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting upon a throne high and lifted up," and the rest. Who would not be struck with wonder at the prophecy, seeing so clearly even now the disbelief of those of the circumcision toward Christ? For of old, when they beheld Him becoming man and working wonders among them, they could not perceive Him with the eyes of the soul and the mind; nor was there any vision of intellectual thought in them, so as to understand what that power was which was performing such and so many miracles among them. But even though they were deemed worthy to receive with their ears the words of eternal life, and were listening to the voice of divine wisdom, they did not hear with the ears of the mind, so as to bring an evident fulfillment to the prophecy. And even to this day, seeing that divine power of Christ so clearly shining forth, by which He has delivered every race of mankind from ancestral superstition and brought them into submission to the religion of Himself, they do not turn their minds to it in any way, nor do they grasp how that which could not be achieved by Moses, nor by the prophets after Moses, among themselves alone—namely, that they should not be addicted to idols, nor adhere to the error of many gods—this very thing the divine virtue of our Savior has established among all nations. Furthermore, while they are constantly occupying themselves with the prophetic testimonies concerning Him, they hear with their hearing but do not understand, inasmuch as the prophecy which is now in our hands is even now being truly fulfilled against them.

^B

From Zechariah. — How it is prophesied that He will ride into Jerusalem upon a foal.

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; preach, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King comes to thee, just and saving; He is meek, and riding upon a beast of burden and a young foal. And He shall destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be destroyed, and fullness of peace from the nations; and He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth." Since Zechariah sang these things after the return from Babylon, in the latest times of the prophets, no king is recorded to have existed among the Jews after the time of this prophecy, such as the prophecy describes, save only our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ of God, in whose time this vaticination also reached its end, when He said those words to His disciples: "Go into the village over against you, and you will find an ass and a foal tied; loose them and bring them. And if anyone says to you, 'What are you doing?' say to him, 'The Lord has need of them.' And going away, they did as Jesus had commanded them."

^{C D} Such, then, is the manner of the prophecy and its fulfillment. And what, after all, did His riding upon an ass signify but His humble and obscure advent, during which He accomplished His first arrival? For there is another, also, which is glorious, concerning which Daniel sets forth the vision more clearly

^A *I beheld till the thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days did sit; whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.* ^B *I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.* [Dan. VII, 9-14.]

The details of His first, more incarnate and humble advent, have this also as a great sign and proof among the rest, that He is said to be gentle and quiet, and prophesied to come riding upon a beast of burden; for this would be a proof of a common and human life. But the details of His second and divine advent are most clearly shown by His arrival on the clouds of heaven and the eternal kingdom over all nations. It would be appropriate to set both these before those of the circumcision, and to demand an account from them how they can reconcile their prophecies if they expect only one advent of Christ. Since they themselves admit that both the prophecies presented pertain to Christ, let them say, I pray you, and answer us who enquire of them, how it is possible that at one and the same time, and under one and the same advent, the same person could be carried on the clouds of heaven and at the same time ride upon a beast of burden and a young colt? ^C For these differ from one another by a great deal.

If you were to collect and compare ten thousand such other prophecies concerning Christ and set side-by-side their different meanings, you would most clearly discern that some contain declarations of His first advent, which were fulfilled at His first manifestation, while others are to be referred to His second and glorious arrival. For the divine power of our Savior secretly cast away and destroyed chariots, and horses, and every warlike bow at the time of His first advent, regarding that Jerusalem which pertained to the body and the shadow, and that people who are called Ephraim. Hence, from that time to this, their kingdom has no longer stood, nor has their equipment and military force, which once thrived in wars.

Wisely, indeed, in these passages did He name the whole Jewish people Ephraim, and not Israel or Judah, so as not to defame the more honorable titles. You will find in other prophecies, too, ^D the whole nation called Ephraim with much reproach and accusation, just as it is here. Since, therefore, after the return from Babylon, the people was no longer divided into tribes as it was before, whom could you reasonably understand to be signified by Ephraim except those who inhabited Jerusalem itself? Their excellent virtue in wars and in arms, which was vigorous until Roman times, the arrival of our Savior destroyed by divine and ineffable power, in accordance with the prophecy. The Word proclaims these things to the Church from the Gentiles, exhorting her not merely to rejoice, but to rejoice exceedingly because of the presence of the Word of God among her, whom He also calls daughter

^A of the heavenly Sion, or indeed of the former congregation, calling her this because we all who have come from the Gentiles and believed in the Christ of God are offspring and children of Christ and of His apostles, having come forth as from a mother, namely the synagogue of the Jews. And that which follows was being fulfilled at the time of the advent of our Savior: for peace arose from the Gentiles from the time of His arrival, such as had never before occurred. For no longer do cities war against cities, as formerly, ^B nor do nations clash with nations, nor is the life of men restless and unstable as it was in the past; nor do the Athenians wage war against the Lacedaemonians, nor the Syrians against the Phoenicians, nor the Arabs against the Palestinians, nor the Egyptians against their neighbors. Rather, everything has been united from that time forth by God, and truly a multitude of peace has existed from the Gentiles from that time until now, in accordance with the prophecy. And Jesus alone, and the word of evangelical teaching proclaimed through Him, began from sea to sea, from the rising sun to the setting sun, and from the rivers to the extremities of the earth, ^C in accordance with what had been predicted by the prophet. Even Aquila interpreted it in this way, saying: «And He will speak peace to the nations, and His authority shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth.» Compare these things to that which is contained in the psalm inscribed to Solomon regarding the son of the king, that is, him who was to come from the seed of Solomon, concerning whom the psalm says: «And He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the inhabited world.» The same psalm also signifies the peace indicated here, declaring: «In His days righteousness shall arise, ^D and an abundance of peace.» Isaiah also harmonizes with these things where he says: «And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. And nation shall no longer take up sword against nation, and they shall not learn to make war any more.» You may also find Micah saying things in agreement with these, and many others of the prophets. If you observe the times carefully, as I said elsewhere, you will be able to perceive how, from the times of Augustus and the appearance of our Savior that shone forth during those times, when the Roman Empire had been brought under one authority and had mastered all things, the old contentions of the nations and the competing principalities were abolished, and from that time in this manner the things regarding the prophesied peace began to attain their fulfillment. But while it has begun thus far, the time will come when the prophecy will be most fully consummated, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have entered in, as declared by the holy Apostle.

From Psalm CXVII. – Concerning the exclamation, Hosanna to the Son of David.

^A “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save now, O Lord, send now prosperity. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. God is the Lord, and he hath appeared unto us.” When our Saviour Jesus Christ once entered into Jerusalem, at which time He fulfilled, as the divine evangelist recounts, the prophecy we have just set forth by riding upon an ass, the multitudes going before Him and following after shouted, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.” When He had thus entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” and the multitudes said, “This is ^B Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Since, therefore, it is said in the psalm before us, “Hosanna,” which, when interpreted, signifies “Save now,” and the Hebrew context contains, *Anna Adonai hosanna*, as well as the words, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” which is also taken from the same psalm; and since it is evident that these things refer clearly to Christ the God, it is logical that we have taken the remainder of the prophecy to apply to Him as well. For He indeed happens to be the Blessed One, the one named by another prophet as “the one coming,” where he says: “Yet a little while, and he that comes shall come and shall not tarry,” who also came in the name of the Lord God and of His own Father. ^C And He would also be “the Lord God who hath appeared unto us.”

He confesses that He came in the name of His Father, saying to the Jews: “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” This same Lord God, then, who has appeared to us, who is blessed, who came in the name of the Lord, was that very stone which those who previously built up the people of the circumcision through the Mosaic teaching rejected. But, having been rejected by them, He was placed as the head of another corner, that is, of the Church gathered from the Gentiles. ^D The Word says this Church is “marvellous” — not as something visible to all, but as seen only by prophetic eyes — where it says: “And it is marvellous in our eyes.” And He calls His appearance again the “day which the Lord hath made,” since He Himself was also the true light, the sun of righteousness, and the day of the Lord, in which may it be granted to us also to say: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Now that these things have been briefly summarized by us in this manner, it is time to pass on to the prophecies which speak of His passion.

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA EUPHEMISM FOR EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION BOOK TEN

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION BOOK TEN

THESE THINGS ARE CONTAINED IN THE TENTH BOOK OF THE EVANGELICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING OUR SAVIOR.

Of Judas the traitor, and the conspiracy formed with him against Christ, from the noted places of Divine Scripture. 1. From Psalm XL. 2. From Psalm LIV. 3. From Psalm CVIII. 4. From Zechariah. 5. From Jeremiah. ^A Of things that happened about the time of His passion. 6. From Amos. 7. From Zechariah. 8. From Psalm XXI.

PROLOGUE

After the oracles set forth regarding the advent of the proclaimed God to men, which was announced beforehand as about to come to pass, the time now invites us to discuss those things which must be considered during his departure from human life, and to see carefully again what those things were which were prophesied as about to happen to Him from the beginning and from prophetic times. And first we think we must treat of those things which pertain to them that plotted death and slaughter against Him, which indeed claim for themselves no small portion of the matters proposed in this place: ^B but before we come to this, those things which we have mostly said concerning the dispensation, which has embraced all the reasons of Him, must be firmly held by us, in which it is customary to consider that some things pertain to His divinity, and others to the humanity assumed. For He is wont sometimes to be introduced as the Word of God, and the Virtue of God, and the Wisdom of God: also the Angel of the great counsel, and the great and eternal High Priest, who, in order that all things whatsoever that are generated both may be and may be that which they are, and in this ^C He may be the purifier, reconciling the Father; and sometimes the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, and a sheep led to the slaughter. And this was the human tabernacle, which, like a lamb and [a] sheep from our flock, as a certain high priest, having taken up,

and having performed the office with an auspicious and happy outcome for the firstfruits of the human race, he brought as an offering to the Father, through which he also had communion with human nature—which otherwise could neither have heard or perceived the Word of God and his incorporeal and intelligent power, nor have looked upon anything beyond flesh and body with the eyes of the body. Whatever, therefore, shall appear to be spoken of him in the present context in a lower and humbler manner, it must be remembered that these refer to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the human tabernacle. For he was the Lamb ^B taking away the sin of the world, according to John the Baptist who says, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"; and he was also a lamb led to the slaughter, according to the oracle of Isaiah which says, "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before the shearer he is dumb." And concerning the same person, as concerning a lamb, it was also said, "For the sins of my people he was led to death." For it was necessary that the Lamb of God, who had been assumed by the great high priest for the sake of the remaining kindred lambs and for the whole human flock, should be offered as a sacrifice to God. For since "by man came death, and by man came also the resurrection of the dead," as the Apostle says, and "as by one offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by one righteousness the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life," ^C on this account he himself taught his disciples that he was life and light and truth, and pointed out the rest of the theological notions concerning him; but to those uninitiated in his mysteries he said, "Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth?" Just as, therefore, the characteristics of his theology have been set forth in the preceding books, in the same way here too the human sufferings of the Lamb will be set forth, belonging to the things that occurred before his passion, which embraced both together—both what pertains to God and what pertains to the man that he was. ^D Since these things have been useful for us to observe and retain, it seems to be time now to approach the oracles themselves, which signified Judas the traitor, and the conspiracy formed with him against Christ, and the events that were to come to pass at the very time of his passion.

From Psalm XL. Concerning Judas the traitor, and those who along with him conspired against our Savior.

"Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive, and make him blessed in the land, and will not deliver him into the hands of his enemies. The Lord will help him upon the bed of his pain; you have turned all his couch in his sickness. I said, O Lord, have mercy upon me, heal my soul,"

for I have sinned against you. My enemies have spoken evil against me: When will he die, and his name perish? And if he came in to see me, his heart spoke vanities: he gathered iniquity to himself; he went out, and spoke to the same effect. All my enemies whispered against me; against me they devised evil for me. Shall the one who sleeps not again arise? For even the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate of my bread, has greatly supplanted me. But you, O Lord, have mercy upon me, and raise me up, and I will repay them. By this I knew that you were well pleased with me, because my enemy shall not rejoice over me. But as for me, because of my innocence you took hold of me, and confirmed me before your face forever. ^B

On the Prophetic Content of the Psalms

Since some have supposed that the Book of Psalms contains only hymns to God and theological songs, and not predictions or prophecies about future events, this first observation must be made: that there are countless things sung of in them that are future—things which it would be a long task to collect at present; however, it will suffice for the confirmation of this proposition to use two psalms right now, which are inscribed as being of Asaph, yet were spoken in the times of David himself. For at that time, Asaph, being one of those holy men who sang the psalms, as it is written in the book inscribed as Paralipomenon, proclaimed the psalms that are attributed to him, having been moved by the divine Spirit. What, then, do psalms of this kind contain? They contain predictions of the siege of the royal city of the Jewish nation, which occurred approximately five hundred years after the prediction.

Therefore, the seventy-third psalm, which is inscribed as "of Asaph, for understanding," says: “O God, why have you cast us off to the end? Is your anger kindled against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you purchased from the beginning; you have redeemed the rod of your inheritance. This Mount Zion, wherein you have dwelt, lift up your hands upon their pride to the end. How many evil things the enemy has done in your holy places, and they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your solemnity. They have set their signs for signs, and they knew not as in the exit above. As in a forest of trees, they have cut down the gates thereof with axes, in one and the same place; they have broken it down with the hatchet and the axe. They have set fire to your sanctuary, they have defiled the tabernacle of your name to the ground.” ^C

This acts as the seventy-third psalm. The seventy-eighth, which is also of Asaph, contains these things: “O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple. They have made Jerusalem as a fruit-keeper's hut; they have put the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the heaven, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.” Now, the former of these—I mean the things taken from the seventy-third psalm—were spoken while David was still reigning, before the temple was constructed by Solomon; yet they reached their fulfillment in no other time than, first, at the siege by the Babylonians, and second, at the war of the Romans against the Jews; for each of the things mentioned was fulfilled both at the first and at the second

destruction of the temple, which were foreseen and proclaimed in the aforementioned Psalms by Asaph. The second things, from the seventy-eighth Psalm ^A, were fulfilled during the times of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, who, having reigned in Syria, invaded Jerusalem, defiled the temple, and destroyed the altar. Then, forcing the Jews to live according to Greek customs, he killed a great number of men and women who refused to abandon their own laws and ancestral piety, having first tormented them with various punishments. To that time, therefore, and to those who later did the same as Antiochus, Asaph proclaims the events from the seventy-eighth Psalm. The scripture of the so-called Maccabees testifies to this word, having it in this manner: “And a gathering of scribes came together to Alcimus and Bacchides, seeking what is just.” And it adds thereafter: “And he swore to them, saying: We will do no harm to you or your friends; and they trusted him; and he seized sixty men of them and killed them in one day, according to the word of Asaph ^B which he wrote: ‘They gave the dead bodies of thy servants as food for the birds of the heaven, the flesh of thy holy ones to the beasts of the earth, their blood they poured out around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.’” Since these things have thus been foretold and fulfilled, it is not to be wondered at if, in the same way, the oracles from the fortieth Psalm, recently taken up, signify what was to be at the time when the Jews conspired against our Savior, which, as all men did not understand, how He who is the Word of God, and wisdom, and life, and true light, and possessing all wealth of good things, for our sake became poor and took on flesh, and having been made like to men mortal and poor by nature, He put on the form of a servant and a poor man, and especially at the time when He was fulfilling the prophecy from the Psalm, ^C justifiably in the beginning of the Psalm he is called blessed who understands these things about Him, obtaining the promise that has been written. And thereafter, from the person of the poor and needy one—clearly of our Savior Himself, who for our sake assumed a destitute life—it is added: “I said: Lord, have mercy on me.” That the things in the Psalm are indeed prophesied from the person of the Savior, the evangelist John is a sufficient witness. For he relates that Jesus, having once taken a towel, girded Himself, and having washed the feet of His disciples, said: “I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture might be fulfilled: He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.” For what Scripture did He indicate was being fulfilled in these words, if not the one in the Psalm at hand, in which it is said: “For the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has magnified his heel against me”? He says, therefore, beginning: “I said: Lord, have mercy upon me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee,” and through the whole Psalm—things which Symmachus ^D rendered more clearly in this manner: “As I was saying: Lord, have pity...

on me, heal my soul, and if I have sinned against Thee, my enemies were speaking evil of me: When will he die, and his name perish? And when he entered to see, his heart spoke empty things, he gathered iniquity to himself. Coming out, he spoke against me. All those who hated me whispered together against me, thinking evil things of me. A lawless word was poured out within them, and he who fell shall rise no more. But even a man with whom I was at peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread with me, grew great against me. But do Thou, O Lord, have pity on me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I shall know that Thou willest it, if my enemy shall not speak against me. But me, because of my simplicity, Thou didst uphold, and Thou wilt set me before Thy face forever.” The readings of Aquila ^B also correspond to those of Symmachus, and they have the same meaning. First, therefore, regarding that which seems to be spoken in the person of our Savior, namely the words: “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee,” observe, I pray, that in Symmachus this does not stand in the same way, but thus: “Heal my soul, and if I have sinned against Thee.” He says this in this manner because He makes our sins His own. Hence it is said: “And the Lord delivered Him over to our sins,” and, “He bears our sins.” Thus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, became a curse for us; He who knew no sin, God made sin for us, setting Him forth as a ransom for us all, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. But since He also, having been made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, condemned sin in the flesh, the things already set forth are deservedly adduced. That, however, He speaks these things—making our sins His own out of His love and benevolence towards us—He demonstrates as he proceeds in the same Psalm, saying: ^C “But me, because of mine innocence, Thou didst uphold.” By which words he shows most clearly that the Lamb of God is devoid of all evil and innocent. But how, then, did He make our sins His own, and how likewise did He bear our iniquities? Is it because we are said to be His body, as the Apostle says: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members in part,” and because when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it? So while the many members are suffering and sinning, He too, according to the laws of sympathy (since He, being the Word of God, deigned to take the form of a servant and be joined to the common dwelling-place of us all), takes upon Himself the pains of the suffering members, and makes our diseases His own, and suffers and feels the pain for us all, according to the laws of philanthropy. Nor did the Lamb of God only do these things, but, having also been punished on our behalf and having ^D undergone a penalty—which He Himself did not owe, but we did, on account of the multitude of our transgressions—He became for us the cause of the remission of sins, inasmuch as He took upon Himself the death due to us, and the scourges and insults and dishonors due to us, and transferred them to Himself, and the curse that was valued against us

^A, He became a curse for us. For what else is He but a substitute for our souls? Therefore, the oracle says from our own person: "By His stripes we were healed; and the Lord delivered Him up to our sins." Since, then, He reasonably unites Himself to us, and us to Himself, and adopts our sufferings as His own, He says: "I said: Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." Seeing correctly that those who were plotting against Him—not only men ^B but also invisible powers—believed that they could extinguish the immense power of His divine appellation and name, with which He would fill the whole world with Christians a little later, if they plotted the things that lead to death against Him, He refutes this very thing, saying: "My enemies have spoken evil to me: When shall he die, and his name perish?" And since they approached Him, feigning and tempting Him in order to trap Him—as the divine Scripture testifies, recording that they prepared different pretexts and accusations against Him at different times—He adds on this account: "And if he went in to see, his heart spoke empty things, ^C he gathered iniquity to himself. He went out, and spoke in the same way against me."

Next, after these things, it clearly indicates that most impious traitor himself; for it happened that, after the agreements he made with the rulers of the Jews concerning the betrayal of his teacher, he no longer came to hear the divine teachings as he was accustomed, nor did he attend as one before his master, nor did he frequent the Savior's company like the others, but only to spy and hunt for the right moment when it was necessary to seize Him. This is what also is laid to his charge by the holy evangelists, of whom Matthew says: "Then one of the twelve, ^D who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said to them: What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him to you? And they set for him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he sought an opportunity that he might deliver Him to them." And Mark says: "And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests in order to deliver Him to them. And they, when they heard it, rejoiced and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might deliver Him opportunely." And Luke writes, saying: "Then Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went away and talked with the chief priests and magistrates of the temple, in order to deliver Him to them. And they rejoiced and agreed to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to deliver Him to them without a crowd." The prophecy now before us, declaring these things themselves, adds: "And if he went in to see, his heart spoke empty things, he gathered iniquity to himself. He went out, and spoke in the same way. All my enemies whispered against me." Symmachus, at any rate, says: "Coming in to spy, his heart spoke vain things; he gathered injustice to himself. And going out,"

he spoke against me. All who hated me whispered against me with one mind." ^B Being alone, therefore, as an intimate and disciple entering into the presence of his teacher, he observed and studied, hiding the treachery within his own heart. But going out, he whispered with a greater number, with one mind and to the same end, betraying the Saviour to his enemies, and secretly aligning himself with the rulers of the Jews, not only regarding other matters, but also regarding the money for which he promised to deliver him up, concerning which he whispered with those very men. Wherefore he says: "He went out, and spoke to the same end. All my enemies whispered against me; against me they devised evil for me. They laid an iniquitous word against me." It seems that by the phrase "iniquitous word" the prophecy designates the contract concerning the silver; or it may also mean that they were planning impious and unlawful acts against him, as if he were to be extinguished and destroyed after his death, and would no longer be examined by the living. For such is the meaning of: "Shall he who sleeps not continue to rise?" which Symmachus explained more clearly by saying: ^C "And he who falls, shall he not rise again?" and Aquila says: "And whoever shall sleep, shall he not continue to rise?" And these things are still spoken commonly of all those who at the time of the passion laid snares for him. But separately again, concerning the traitor, as one who had been a disciple to him, he proceeds to add, saying: "For even the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me," for which Symmachus again says: "And the man, he says, who lived at peace with me, in whom I trusted, eating my bread with me, has been exalted against me." For he is truly the worst of all and the most wicked, who after the common table and the food received in the words of the teacher, turned to the worse and requited the benefactor with the opposite. But since the enemies, while plotting, said: "When will he die, and his name perish?"—thinking that once ^D he had fallen asleep he would no longer rise—for this reason the Saviour and our Lord himself, praying for the opposite and asking the Father that he might without hindrance attain the resurrection, says: "But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up, and I will requite them. In this I have known that you have willed me, because my enemy shall not rejoice over me." And it is evident in what way, after his resurrection from the dead, retribution overtook those who had plotted against him, so that his enemy, while he lived on, was put to shame by his death, so that those who taunted him could say: "O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?" Anyone encountering the histories written by Josephus concerning the affairs after the resurrection of our Saviour will know the calamities that befell the Jewish nation and their rulers, which they have reasonably incurred, receiving the wages of what they did against him. And these things were all being fulfilled upon them, according to

^A what was foretold. Now, the resurrection of our Savior from the dead demonstrated to all how the Father was well-pleased in Him. He Himself also teaches this, saying: "Have mercy on me, and raise me up, and I will repay them. By this I know that you have delighted in me, because my enemy will not rejoice over me." To these things He adds: "But me, because of my innocence, you have upheld." And observe how, while sending up prayer to God and His Father, He uses such confident boldness as to testify to His own innocence, even though He previously said: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you." But the expression, "I have sinned against you," we have already explained in what sense it is to be understood. Symmachus set this forth more clearly by saying: "Heal my soul, even if I have sinned against you"—which itself may be spoken regarding our own sins, which our Savior and Lord took upon Himself. But the phrase, "But me, because of my innocence, you have upheld," demonstrates the purity of His own nature, which He possessed entirely; from which purity, exposing also the stable and unshaken life and salvation after His resurrection, He adds: "And you have established me before you forever," or, according to Symmachus: "And you will set me before you for an age."

^B From Psalm LIV. Still regarding Judas, and those with him who made the conspiracy against Christ.

"Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not despise my supplication. Attend to me, and hear me. I was sorrowful in my meditation, and I was troubled at the voice of the enemy, and from the tribulation of the sinner: because they turned iniquity upon me, and in anger they were troublesome to me. My heart was troubled within me, and the fear of death fell upon me. Fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me," and the rest; to which He adds: "Cast them down, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city. Day and night it will encompass it upon its walls, and iniquity and labor in the midst of it, and injustice; and usury and deceit have not departed from its streets. For if an enemy had reproached me, I would have endured it. If he who hated me had spoken boastfully against me, I would have hidden myself from him" ^{C D}

^A "But you, O man of one soul, my leader and my acquaintance, you who drew sweet food together with me; in the house of God we walked in agreement." Then, "If an enemy had reproached me, I would have endured it," and "If he who hated me had spoken boastfully against me, I would have hidden myself from him." "But you, O man of one soul, my leader and my acquaintance, you who drew sweet food together with me," is similar to that: "For the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me," which is written concerning Judas in the prophecy preceding this one. As, therefore, in that passage he was shown to be a man of peace at one time, when he was being taught by the Savior, being numbered as one of the apostles, so also in the present passage he is addressed as one of one soul, a leader, and an acquaintance to Him. And again, as in that passage it was said of him: "He who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me," in the same manner it is said also in the present instance toward his person: "You who drew sweet food together with me." For indeed, he too was one of those who had been deemed worthy of the secret conversation and spiritual food of our Savior with His disciples; for to the multitudes outside and the crowds He spoke in parables, but to His disciples alone, among whom Judas was also reckoned, He explained ^B everything. Wherefore it has been said: "He who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me," and "You who drew sweet food together with me," which Aquila explained more clearly saying: "We who together drew sweet things secretly," and Symmachus: "Who shared a sweet conversation." But in place of "But you, O man of one soul, my leader and my acquaintance," Symmachus says: "But you, O man of the same habit of life as me, and my leader, and my acquaintance." Since he was a friend deemed worthy of such things, and was in the highest degree a friend of the Savior, He rightly says concerning him, "For if an enemy had reproached me, I would have endured it," and the following. Having prophesied these things concerning Judas, He consistently foreteaches His own salvation and escape from death, saying: "I cried out to God, and the Lord saved me. Evening and morning and at noon I will declare and announce, and He will hear my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace," as in a prayer signifying the time before death, at which time Judas also was preparing for the betrayal against Him. Then, therefore, our Savior and Lord, as if grieving over the ruin and destruction ^C of His acquaintance, and even more at the loss of the whole Jewish nation—suffering as if for his own kin gone mad, and as if for his dearest ones—calls all His conversation and teaching addressed to them "idle talk," because it had benefited them nothing, saying: "I was pained in my idle talk, and was troubled by the voice of the enemy, and because of the affliction of the sinner: for they turned," He says, "lawlessness upon me, and in wrath they set upon me." These things can indeed be referred to the leaders of the circumcision, who were plotting against Him with hatred and treachery. ^D

They can also be understood as referring to the invisible powers which were attacking Him from the outside and contriving such things against Him through men. Thus, the same things seem to me to correspond to what was said by Him in the Gospel at the time of His passion, when He says to His disciples: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death; remain here and watch with Me," and again: "Now is My soul troubled." Similar to these are the things which this psalm also contains, where it says: "My heart is troubled within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me. Fear and trembling have come upon me, and darkness has covered me"—by which He signifies the impulses of the opposing powers against Himself. Just as in the prophecies a "spirit of fornication" is named, according to the text, "They have gone astray with a spirit of fornication," and another "spirit of error in the desert," in the same way there could also be a spirit of death productive of cowardice, just as there is a spirit of strength, power, and courage productive of what is according to God. Thus also might be mentioned a spirit of fear and trembling, and again another besides these, a spirit of fear and confusion. These are wont to set upon almost all, to speak as I do, who undertake death for the sake of true religion by way of witness, but they attacked Him who endured death for the sake of all much more and far more vehemently. But ^B whether it were a spirit of cowardice and death, or of fear and trembling, or any other such power that fell upon Him, it did not break Him; for, like a noble athlete, He cast far away and shook off the cowardice of death by the confidence of life (for He Himself is life). Likewise, He also drove far away with a spirit of confidence, power, and strength the spirit of fear or trembling productive of such things that had come upon Him; since, according to Isaiah, "there rested upon Him, along with the other spirits, a spirit of counsel and strength." Thus also He dispersed the spirit of darkness by the power of His own light, since "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." You would also find things similar to these in the twenty-first psalm, in which it is again said from the same person: "Many calves have surrounded me, fat bulls have beset me round. They have opened their mouth against me, as a lion ravening and roaring," and again: "For many dogs have surrounded me, a council of evil-doers has beset me round," and again: "Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, and my humiliation from the horns of unicorns." For clearly in these He calls evil powers "bulls," "calves," "lions," "dogs," and "unicorns," which ^C indeed beset and surrounded Him at the time of His passion, yet they were not able to accomplish anything against Him. And these things, if these parts of the psalm also be referred to our Saviour and Lord; but if not to Him, but to another person, you yourself will consider how the things concerning the place might be smoothed out. However, also concerning the...

city of the Jews itself—concerning Jerusalem itself, I say—in orderly succession after the prophecy regarding those who laid traps for Him, he adds in this manner: "I saw iniquity and contradiction in the city," and the things which follow; there is no time now to narrate in what sense these are to be understood.

From Psalm CVIII. Also concerning Judas, and the apostle elected in his place, and concerning the Jewish nation.

^A that which was to happen to Him. He says, therefore: “O God, do not keep silent regarding my praise,” exhorting that the teaching which He Himself delivered to His own disciples, and the praise of the New Testament, should not be stifled by silence, but should remain for all future ages for the benefit of human life. “The mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one,” one might properly identify as the mouth of Judas himself, who, having gone to the chief priests, said to them: “What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him to you?” And they set for him thirty pieces of silver. “And from that time he sought opportunity to deliver Him.” Having conspired such things against Him, he was nonetheless one of those who afterward reclined with Him at the Paschal feast, at which time our Saviour and Lord Himself also reclined with the twelve, and while they were eating, He said: “Amen, amen I say to you, that one of you will deliver me.” And being greatly grieved, each of them began to say: “Is it I, Lord?” Among them was also Judas, who, having opened a mouth full of every deceit and hypocrisy, answered and said: “Is it I, Rabbi?” A deceitful mouth, by which he pointed out the sign to the conspirators against our Saviour, saying: “Whomever I shall kiss, that is He; seize Him.” And having said this, he completed the deceit by the deed itself, when, having approached Jesus, he said to Him: “Hail, Rabbi,” and kissed Him. But Jesus said to him: “Friend, for what have you come?” And again: ^B “Judas, do you deliver the Son of Man with a kiss?” On account of these things, then, anticipating them through the psalm, He says: “For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one was opened against me. They spoke against me with a deceitful tongue, and with words of hatred they surrounded me and fought against me without cause.” In this place He remembers, along with Judas, the others who conspired against Him. The Gospel therefore says that, while our Saviour was still speaking to His own disciples, “Behold, Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people,” to whom the Lord also said: “As against a robber have you come out with swords and clubs to seize me? Daily I sat among you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Furthermore, He says in the psalm: “Instead of loving me, they undermined me; but I was praying.” This, too, reached its fulfillment when, while our Saviour was praying in the place called Gethsemani with the eleven apostles, and having withdrawn a little from them, and having fallen before the Father, and prayed a second and a third time, ^C Judas, with the rulers of the Jews, arranged against Him the work of the conspiracy, gathering and providing for the multitude prepared with swords and clubs to seize Him. But they rendered evil to Him instead of good, and hatred instead of His love, when they were evilly disposed toward the Saviour, the benefactor, and the teacher, who had bestowed upon them myriads of healings and cures, and ^D

^A documents of discourses, and benefits of every kind. Wherefore, since they set evils against Him in place of good things, and hatred in place of His love, He rightly adds: “Set a sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him go forth condemned, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office.” The holy apostle Peter, taking this up, explained what outcome these things indeed attained, by applying the Scripture to the traitor himself. And indeed, for your own part, you may meanwhile observe whether a sinful prince and leader has not been set over the Jewish nation—to whom, after the crimes they most audaciously committed against our Saviour, they were delivered, being compelled ^B to serve foreigners and idolaters instead of the leaders of old who were their own kinsmen and friends of God. But who, moreover, would not stand astonished at the outcome of this prophecy? For since the oracle said, “Let his days be few,” it is clearly evident how short was the entire time that remained after the plotting they engaged in against our Saviour, during which they seemed to remain; after which they suffered the final devastation and utter destruction, from which time also another—the one gathered together through Christ—took their office, having been established as a new people. Furthermore, you will understand all the rest of this psalm according to the example of these same people (for what follows, and seems to be spoken of certain sons of Judah, with the words: “Let his children be orphans,” and whatever other things are similar to these, will be referred first of all to Judas himself, and after him also to all those like him who ^C betray the saving word). By the same reasoning, you will also understand his wife, and the sins of his father and of her who is called his mother—namely, the congregation of the Jewish nation. For I think it is of her that it is said: “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.” However, just as in the prophecy that immediately preceded this, our Saviour and Lord was named “destitute and poor,” as we demonstrated in the passage: “Blessed is he who considers the destitute and poor,” in the same way He is called by these names in the present psalm as well. For He says that such and such things shall happen to Judas, and to those who have emulated him in things similar to his, because of the things he dared to do. And what these things are, he adds, saying: “Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted a man who was poor and destitute and broken in heart, to slay him. And he loved cursing, and it shall come to him; and he did not desire blessing, and it shall be removed ^D far from him.” After which words, having descended further, he again calls Himself poor and destitute, saying: “But You, O Lord, O Lord, deal with me for the sake of Your name, because Your mercy is good. Deliver me, because I am poor and destitute.” To which, after other things, he adds: “My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my flesh was changed because of the oil; and I became a reproach to them. They saw me, and shook their heads.” And these things also were reaching their end when those who were passing by

^A were blaspheming him, shaking their heads and saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” ^B Since even now those of the circumcision, drawing upon themselves the curse of their fathers, are accustomed with blasphemous and impious words to curse our Saviour and Lord, and all those who have believed in him, for this reason he adds immediately: “They shall curse, but thou shalt bless. Let them that rise up against me be ashamed; but thy servant shall rejoice. Let them that revile me be clothed with shame, and let them be covered with their own confusion as with a mantle. But I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in the midst of many will I praise him. For he stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from those who persecute it.” And it is obvious what evils those who still today utter curses against him in their synagogues are struggling with, being unable to recover at all from the same times, and how he himself prepares praise to the Father in the midst of many nations through his New Covenant, having claimed the Father as his helper and the assessor of his right hand; therefore he says, “In the midst of many will I praise him, because he stood at the right hand of the poor.” And he teaches the salvation that followed his death, saying: “To save my soul from those who persecute it.” For having said above, “He persecuted the poor and needy man, and one pricked in heart to put him to death,” and having clearly revealed his own death, ^C he indicated the prophecy of the salvation which followed his death by saying: “Because he stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from those who persecute it.” From Zechariah.— Again concerning Judas and the silver for which he betrayed the Lord, and concerning the rejection among the Jews of both those who ruled and those who were ruled.

“And I will take unto me two rods, the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Cord; and I will feed my sheep, and I will take away the three shepherds in one month, and my soul will be weighed ^D down upon them. And indeed their souls groaned against me, and I said: I will not feed you: that which dies, let it die, and that which fails, let it fail, and let the rest eat, each the flesh of his neighbor. And I will take the fair rod, and I will cast it away to break my covenant, which I made with all the nations. And it shall be broken in that day, and the Canaanites, the sheep that are guarded for me, shall know that it is the Word of the Lord. And I will say unto them, If it is good in your sight, give my wages, or refuse; and they appointed my wages, thirty pieces of silver,

and the Lord said unto me, Cast them into the furnace, and see if it be genuine, in the way in which I was tested for them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of the Lord, into the furnace, and I cast away the second rod, the cord, to break the covenant between Judah and Israel. ^A These things, therefore, reached their conclusion at the time when, according to Luke, “Judas went away and conferred with the chief priests and the officers of the temple, how he might betray Him to them; and they were glad, and agreed to give him money.” And as we read in Mark, when he went “to the chief priests to betray Him, they rejoiced and promised to give him money.” In these, indeed, the money is mentioned simply; but in Matthew the number is also indicated, which certainly does not differ from that which Zechariah set down. Matthew therefore says: “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, going to the chief priests, said to them: What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him to you? And they appointed for him thirty pieces of silver.” These things, therefore, correspond to what is said in the prophecy by the Lord: “And they appointed my wages, thirty pieces of silver.” ^B Regarding which, Symmachus says: “And they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver.” But Aquila says: “And they appointed my wages, thirty pieces of silver,” to which is added: “And the Lord said to me: Cast them into the furnace, and see if it be genuine, in the way in which I was tested for them.” Regarding which, Aquila again says: “And the Lord said to me: Cast them into the furnace, cast them to the potter, the immense price at which I was valued for them.” And note indeed in what manner the Lord Himself acknowledges that the thirty pieces of silver were given as His price. Indeed, the meaning of the statement seems to signify some such idea: I, the Lord, beginning from the first day, have never ceased to bestow tokens of My kindness upon you Jews, and to entice you with innumerable benefits, not only while I sent prophets to you from the beginning, but also while I showed Myself present to you, both in admonitions and teachings and rational precepts, and in signs and wonders and other kinds of miracles, and also in healings and remedies; and you, therefore, who have been held worthy of such great beneficence, give my wages, or refuse—thus indeed, as is right, demanding from them the fruits of piety and evidence of faith towards Himself. ^C But they (as was said in the prophecy we placed just before this), “in return for my love, they slandered me; and they set against me evil for good, and hatred for my love,” and when they appointed thirty pieces of silver, they valued Him as if He were one sold for so much. But since the fire will test what the work of each one is, He rightly commands that they be cast into the furnace, adding: “In the way in which I was tested for them.” ^D

And he seems to name the very house of the Lord as the furnace in this place. For when the Lord said, as it is among the Seventy: “Deliver them into the furnace,” He adds, “And I cast them into the house of the Lord, into the furnace.” And according to Aquila, when the Lord said: “Cast it”—meaning the silver— “to the potter,” He adds: “And I cast it into the house of the Lord to the potter.” And according to Symmachus, when the Lord said: “Cast it into the furnace,” He adds the words: “And I cast it into the house of the Lord, into the furnace.”

Perhaps this was fulfilled at the time when Judas, who betrayed the Lord, seeing that He had been condemned, being moved by repentance, returned the silver to the high priests and elders, saying: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said to him: “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And having cast down the silver ^B into the temple, he departed and, going away, hanged himself. But the high priests, having taken the silver, said: “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury [corban], because it is the price of blood.” Having taken counsel, they bought with them the potter’s field for the burial of strangers. Therefore that field was called the field of blood, even to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him who was valued, whom they valued from the sons of Israel; and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Here you should note—since these words are not found in the prophecy of Jeremiah—whether we ought to suspect that they were removed from it through some kind of malpractice, or that it was the result of a scribal error, where someone who was more careless in making copies of the holy Gospels made a mistake and, ^C instead of Zechariah, placed Jeremiah, when it ought to have been written as follows: “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Zechariah the prophet”; and instead of “I cast them into the house of the Lord, into the furnace,” he had incorrectly written “And they gave them for the potter’s field.” For it is clearly stated through the prophecy that the silver was cast into the temple of the Lord, and through the Gospel itself it is likewise stated that it was into the temple: “And having cast,” he says, “Judas the silver into the temple, he departed.” And it is likely that from that silver the temple became profane, and that it was fulfilled: “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.”

And see whether the house of the Lord is called a furnace for this reason: because, just as in a smelting-furnace, the transformation of souls happens in the house ^D of God through the burning of the divine words; or, otherwise, that those who are not pure are exposed as they are burned and tested in a furnace. Which Aquila, by saying, “I cast the silver into the house of the Lord to the potter,” clearly teaches, as the divine Word, like a potter, dwells in the house of the Lord and molds and renews the souls of those who come to Him. But since the price of Him who was valued, being transformed within that house, rendered it profane, he rightly adds immediately: “And I cast down the staff…”

that the souls might be informed and renewed. Nevertheless, when they had appraised the price and cast it away in that house, rendering it profane, the prophet rightfully adds: "And I cast away the second rod, which is called the line, to dissipate the testament between Judah and Israel." For from that time forward, that multitude of the people was cast away far from the ancient protection of God, which formerly preserved them. I consider that the second rod should here be taken to represent the entire Jewish nation together. For this reason he also calls it the "line," saying: "I called the one beauty, and the other I called the line." Then ^D clearly concerning the second he adds: "And I cast away the second rod, the line, to dissipate the testament between Judah and Israel." For these were the line and the second rod. The former, named beauty, would be nothing other than Jerusalem itself, and the Mosaic worship, and the entire ancient testament; and this is clearly proven by the prophecy itself, which says: "And I shall take my rod, the beautiful one, and I shall cast it away to dissipate my testament." You see how he declared that his testament was the first rod, and the "line" was the second rod, yet he threatens to cast away both ^B rods, although he had said earlier: "And I shall take to myself two rods; the one I called beauty, and the second I called the line." Aquila translates this as: "The one I called comeliness, and the other I called the line," and Symmachus: "The one I called comeliness, and indeed the other I called the line." Therefore, by the name of beauty and comeliness for the entire nation, he rightly names the divine law and the testament contained within it. For the venerability of the city of Jerusalem, and what pertained to the office of the pontiffs and priests, and all things which formerly were administered among them according to the divine laws and the ancient testament by custom, were a comely ornament for those who were adorned by such things. But the "line" is the very multitude ^C of the people, as also called by Moses in those words: "The Lord's portion became his people Jacob, the line of his inheritance Israel." But he prophesies that a transformation of both these rods would occur with great momentum in those times of which it was spoken, inasmuch as both the ancient testament that was once in it, and the beauty that was once seen in it, were to be destroyed and brought to nothing, as soon as they appraised the price of him who was valued at thirty pieces of silver, and were rendered liable to the ignominy fitting for their own impiety. He says, therefore: "And I shall take my rod, the beautiful one, and I shall cast it away to dissipate my testament"; and again, "And I cast away the second rod, the line." Following these, when the prophecy says: "And I shall remove the three shepherds in one month," I consider that he signifies the three orders of those who formerly presided over the people of God: kings, high priests, and prophets; since through these three shepherds all things concerning those of old were formerly ordered. But because these three shepherds also suffered a corruption, at the one time that was in the days of our Savior—for both their king ruled unlawfully, being some foreigner and not of the nation; and also...

their high priest, having come by way of the Romans to the ministry, did not attain to that honor by succession of family, nor according to the legal institutions. And the prophet, having paused at John, no longer worked among them; but instead of this, some impious false prophet, deceiving the people, ^A threatened, with good reason, that he would take away at one time the three gifts which formerly, above all ornaments and beauty, adorned that whole nation, saying: "And I will remove the three shepherds in one month, and my soul shall be grieved over them." Regarding this, Aquila says: "And my soul was shortened in them"; Symmachus says: "And I was discouraged in them"; and Theodotion says: "And my soul was discouraged over them." And he shows the cause of the discouragement, adding: "For their souls roared against me," regarding which again Aquila translated it in this way: "For their soul matured in me," and Symmachus: "And their soul prevailed in me." And similar to what is said among the Seventy, "For their souls roared against me," there is a passage among Jeremiah, set forth from the person of the Lord, saying: "I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage, I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies... my heritage became to me as a lion in the forest; it gave its voice against me. Is my heritage to me a den of a hyena?" ^B Reasonably, therefore, because of these things, he proceeds to say: "And I said, I will not shepherd you; what is dying, let it die, and what is failing, let it fail, and let the rest devour, each one the flesh of his neighbor." After which he adds: "And I will take my rod, the beautiful one, and I will cast it away," for which Aquila says: "And I took," he says, "my rod, the beauty, and I cut it off," clearly meaning the worship according to Moses. Therefore, the first rod—the first one at the beginning of the discourse—is said to be broken and cast away. But when the price of the one who was valued, and the silver given for his sake to the traitor, was cast into the house of the Lord as into a furnace, then indeed also the things concerning the second rod—that is, the whole nation—are prophetically declared as to what it shall suffer in the words: "And I cast away the second rod, the cord, to disband the covenant between Judah and between Israel." And because the Word clearly indicated their rejection through these things, ^C he reasonably says hereafter that they would no longer understand the power of the things being prophesied, but the Canaanites would, saying: "And the Canaanites shall know the sheep that are kept for me, because it is the word of the Lord." And who would the Canaanites be if not us, who were formerly foreigners and strangers, who from all the formerly godless and impious nations have been kept as sheep for Christ? We who, through his grace, have been transformed, and having understood the things prophesied, have received the true knowledge of the word of the Lord. And we, the Canaanites, have known and have understood the things indicated; but those who are of Israel did not know nor understand, being puffed up and boasting in the seed of Abraham. ^D

From Jeremiah — Also concerning Judas by name.

^A “The sin of Judah is written with a stylus of iron, with an adamant claw; it is engraved upon the tablet of his heart, and upon the horns of your altars. When their children shall remember their altars and their groves by the thick tree and upon the high hills, I will give your strength and all your treasures for a spoil, and your high places for sin in all your borders. And you shall be disenfranchised and humbled from the inheritance which I gave to you, and I will transfer you to your enemies in a land which you have not known; for a fire has been kindled in my wrath, it shall burn for ever.” Although these things are not among the Seventy, yet finding them in the Hebrew and in the editions of the other interpreters, and furthermore with the addition of the asterisks also in the more accurate of the copies of the Seventy, we have necessarily set them forth, inasmuch as they indicate by name Judas the betrayer himself, and teach that the sin which was committed by him cannot ever be blotted out. For this is what seems to me to be signified by that: “The sin of Judah is written with a stylus of iron, with an adamant claw.” They can also be referred to the whole Jewish nation, to whom in turn, following right after their indelible crime, He threatens the final perdition which is to punish them, which it is not the time to interpret word for word in detail for the present. But since we have set forth thus far so many things divinely predicted concerning him who was to betray our Saviour and Lord, and the others who were to plot against Him: it will now be time to examine those things that were to happen at the very time of His passion, as they were also divinely announced through the prophets.

From Amos — Concerning the eclipse of the sun which happened at the very time of the passion of our Saviour, and concerning the final destruction of the Jewish nation.

^C “The Lord swears by the pride of Jacob, if all your works shall be forgotten unto victory, and the earth shall not be troubled over these things, and everyone who dwells in it shall mourn, and the consummation shall rise like a river, and flow down like the river of Egypt. And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, the sun shall set at noon, and it shall grow dark upon the earth in the day of light. And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon every loin, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for a beloved one, and those with him as a day of grief: behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the earth, not a famine of bread, nor

a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. And the waters shall be stirred from sea to sea, and from the north to the east they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. ^A This prophecy, foretelling the insult, pride, and insurrection that the Jews of the circumcision directed against our Savior, says that the Lord swears against the pride of Jacob, as if to say that there would be no forgetting of what they dared against Him, and that their land, along with its inhabitants, would suffer evils worthy of mourning; and that they would not, as before, be restored after having been chastened for a short time, but that their affairs would reach an end. ^B "Their end," it says, "shall ascend as a river," signifying the wrath which came upon them under no other rule than that of the Romans, which would rise over them like a river, as if they were those who had previously been in a high place. And indeed, after the wrath from God directed against them had been manifested, he continues to follow the affairs that regard them: "as the river of Egypt it shall descend." By these words I think it is indicated that the things which were formerly high and held in honor by God, and which were in a manner situated in a high place as the advantages of the Jewish nation, were to be established as similar to things that are fleeting and flow by like a river in the affairs of the faithless nations, and were to be cast down from a high place to a low one. ^C Then, following these things, he reveals the events that happened around the time of the saving passion: "In that day," he says, "says the Lord, the sun shall set at noon, and the light shall darken upon the earth by day," which indeed obtained a clear outcome, when, as the Savior was lifted up, according to the evangelist, "From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani." When these things had come to their end in this manner, he next adds: "And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon every loin, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of a beloved one, and those with him as a day of grief. Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord," and what follows. All these things, having been prophesied to come about because of their pride which was directed against Christ, demonstrated the clear outcome of the oracle after their plot against our Savior. For not before that time, but from that time until today, God turned their feasts into mourning and their songs into lamentation; since He deprived them of their most famous city, and destroyed that venerable sanctuary which was in it, while Titus and Vespasian were emperors of the Romans, ^D to such a degree that they could no longer come to it to perform the lawful feasts and assemblies. What need is there to say that the famine of hearing the word of the Lord overtook them all, in exchange for having cast out from themselves the Word of God, unanimously denying Him, and being denied by Him?

^A

From Zechariah. — Also concerning the eclipse of the sun, and the time of the saving Passion.

«And the Lord my God shall come, and all the holy ones with Him. And in that day there shall be no light; and it shall be cold and frost for one day. And that day shall be known to the Lord; and it shall not be day nor night, and at evening there shall be light. And in that day living water shall go out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the former sea, and half of it toward the hinder sea; in summer and in spring shall it be so. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one, encompassing all the earth and the wilderness.» ^B These things also were fulfilled at the coming [a] of our Savior, which He made either with His holy apostles and disciples, or with His saints, certain divine powers and incorporeal spirits, and angels and ministers of His, concerning whom it is said in the holy Gospels that angels “came to Him and ministered to Him.” But on that day (for so the Holy Scripture is accustomed to call the whole time during which He lived among men), together with other predictions, this which is now under discussion was also fulfilled, when specifically at the time of His passion, from the sixth hour, darkness occurred over all the earth until the ninth hour. Wherefore the prophecy says: «In that day there shall be no light.» And again: «And it shall not be day nor night, and at evening there shall be light.» By these words I think the condition of that time is clearly indicated, when our Savior was raised aloft in the very light of day, and night occupied the region around the earth from the sixth hour until the ninth. After which, the darkness ceasing, day and light returned; after ^C which the customary night followed again. All these things the prophetic word hinted at, saying: «And that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall not be day nor night, and at evening there shall be light.» For it was not day, on account of the midday darkness, but neither was it night, on account of the returning day, which it indicated by signifying through those words, «at evening there shall be light.» Who, moreover, would not wonder at the mention of the winter season? Which the oracle itself also predicted when it said: «And there shall be cold and frost.» The testimony of the Gospel also confirms this same thing, when Peter, following Jesus, warmed himself along with others after a fire had been kindled in the courtyard of Caiaphas. Consequently, John explicitly mentions the cold as well, saying: «The servants and the ministers stood by the coals, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.» And while these things which were predicted in this way reached such a fulfillment ^D according to the letter, yet as to their inner meaning, when the saving light shone upon the Jews themselves, the entire Jewish nation, by...

choosing darkness rather than light, brought upon themselves exactly what they had chosen; for the light withdrew from them, and a lightless night took hold of them, their understanding being darkened, so that the illumination of the Gospel might not shine in their hearts. ^A But also, as their love for God grew cold, the symbols of these things were fittingly fulfilled, and the words of the prophecy were subsequently brought to completion, according to that day of the saving manifestation when living water went forth from Jerusalem, and the fertile and life-giving message of the evangelical teaching went forth to all the nations, beginning from Judæa and from Jerusalem itself, and being spread abroad into all the earth and to the very ends of the world. Our Saviour and Lord himself makes mention of this water, when speaking to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew who it is that asks you to drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." ^B How great, moreover, is the benefit waiting for those who have tasted the living and rational stream, He next sets forth, teaching how those who have drunk of it, having denied the many wicked demons who formerly reigned over them, will confess the one Lord and King of themselves; and how the Lord, who formerly was known only to the Hebrews, will become king of all the nations that have believed in him from the whole earth; and his name will be one, encircling the whole earth and the wilderness. And who, seeing this, would not be struck with amazement? For from the appellation of Christ—and Christ himself is the Lord—the name of Christians has gone around every place and city and country, and even the nations dwelling in the deserts and the remotest bounds of the earth, in this way fulfilling and confirming the vaticination of the prophecy. ^C

From Psalm XXI. — Concerning those things which were accomplished at the time of the saving passion. For the end, for the morning reception.

"O God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me? The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation. O my God, I will cry by day to you, and you will not hear; and by night, and it shall not be reckoned as foolishness in me. But you dwell in the holy place, O praise of Israel. ^D In you have our fathers hoped; they hoped, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they hoped, and were not confounded. But I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All who saw me mocked me, they spoke with their lips, they wagged their head: He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him, because he desires him. For you are he who drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother's breasts. Upon you I was cast from the womb; from my mother's belly you are my God, do not depart from me, because tri-

- ^A bulation is near, for there is no one to help. Many bulls have surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They opened their mouth against me, as a lion that rapes and roars. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are scattered. My heart has become like wax melting in the midst of my belly. My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat, and you have brought me down into the dust of death; for many dogs have surrounded me, a congregation of evildoers has beset me. They have bored my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones. They have looked and stared at me; they divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not remove your help far from me; look to my protection. Deliver my soul from the sword, and protect my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of unicorns. I will declare your name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him; for he has not despised nor disdained the supplication of the poor, nor has he turned his face from me; and when I cried out to him, he heard me. From you is my praise in the great Church. I will pay my vows in the sight of those who fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and they shall praise the Lord who seek him; their hearts shall live for ever and ever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he dominates the nations. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and worshipped; all those who go down into the earth shall fall before him, and my soul lives for him, and my seed shall serve him. A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord, and they shall announce his justice to a people that shall be born, whom the Lord has made. ^C That saying, "My God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me?" which is spoken at the beginning of the psalm, is mentioned according to Matthew by our Savior at the time of his passion in this manner: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour; and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani, which is, being interpreted: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And the Hebrew word is taken from the prophecy now in our hands. For in the very same syllables the beginning of the psalm contains "Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani," which Aquila interpreted in this manner: "My strong one, my strong one, why have you forsaken me?" That these have the same force as those spoken by our Savior at the time of his passion, no one would certainly deny. The time, therefore, has now arrived to refer the psalm itself, without controversy, to none other than him, since it is suited to him alone and to no one else, as contained ^D

^A in him. It is therefore most clearly evident that not only are the other things that are read in this psalm fulfilled in him, but also that which says: "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots." He also expresses plainly the piercing of the nails which were driven into his hands and feet upon the cross, saying: "They pierced my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones." And the remaining parts could only apply to him, as the argument will demonstrate as it proceeds. If anyone wishes to shift it to another person—whether a king, or a prophet, or any of those who were at one time friends and familiars of God among the Jews—let him demonstrate, if he can, that the things which are described in this way apply to him. For to whom of those who have ever lived on earth was there such a store of virtue and power, that with a settled reasoning and an imperturbable soul, and with a sober and erect mind, he could acquire the knowledge of God, and hang all his hope upon God, so as to be able to say: "For thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; my hope from my mother's breasts. ^B I was cast upon thee from the womb: from my mother's belly thou art my God." And who, having been an object of such care to God, has ever become "a reproach of men and outcast of the people"? By whom, and by what kind of calves and bulls, are we to understand that this person was surrounded? And what suffering befell him who is signified, such that he was "poured out like water"? And how were his bones dispersed? And in what way was he brought down to the dust of death? And yet, once he has been brought down into the dust of death, he still speaks such things, and lives, and shows himself to have a voice? And who are the other dogs that surrounded him, distinct from those mentioned as bulls and calves? And what is the synagogue of evildoers that pierced not only the hands, but also the feet of one so great, and stripping him, divided some of his garments, while others they took by casting lots? ^C And what is the sword, and the dog, and the lion? And who are those called the unicorns, who encompass him of whom the discourse treats? And how, after such a struggle against so many, and after being brought down to the dust of death, does he promise to tell of the name of the Father, not to all, but only to his own brethren? And who are these brethren, and what is the Church concerning which he who underwent such things says: "In the midst of the Church will I praise thee," to which he also adds that it is not one Jewish race, but that "all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him"? And do you, having examined ^D for yourself every word of the psalm, see if it is possible to refer the things prophesied to anyone you happen to choose. But you would not find that they apply to any other than our Savior, who would be the most faithful and most true of all, having taken upon his own person the voice from the psalm, as the evangelists have testified: Matthew through the words we have set forth, and Mark through those which he himself also records in this way, saying: "And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' which is, being interpreted, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' And some of them that heard said,"

^A 'He calleth Elias.' Come then, let us see in sequence with these things how the things declared in the Psalm will be attributed to Him. And let us first discuss the inscription that says, 'unto the end,' or, according to Aquila, 'to the victory-maker,' or, according to Symmachus, 'a song of victory concerning the succor.' These things come into our mind because that saving passion, as the words of the evangelists have shown, was completed at about the ninth hour, when there was darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, at which time He also uttered the great cry, having spoken those things declared a moment before, so that it is to be clearly acknowledged that His passion occurred around evening as the night was coming on. But the events of the resurrection from the dead, which was the succor of the Father, who was succoring Him and drawing Him to Himself from the regions of death and taking Him up, occurred around the dawn, as is further shown by the testimony of the evangelists. For Luke says, 'And upon the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher very early in the morning, bringing ^B the spices which they had prepared, those women, to wit, and certain others with them; and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and entering in, they found not the body,' because our Savior had already been raised from the dead. And Mark declares this very same thing, saying, 'And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they come unto the sepulcher, with the sun already risen, and they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? for it was very great. They come, and find it rolled away.' He was already raised. You have also the same testimony in John, who says: 'And on the first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.' And Matthew also, even if he said 'in the end of the Sabbath,' yet adds, saying: 'As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was ^C a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulcher.' I have necessarily added these things to demonstrate what that succor in the morning is which is foretold in the Psalm. For since it signifies the things concerning the passion of our Savior, yet the dispensation concerning Him did not end in the passion, but the end of the passion was the resurrection from the dead and the morning succor, the Word reasonably attributes the Scripture to this paradoxical end, as if the whole subject, and the sufferings before the end, took place for the sake of the resurrection from the dead and the morning succor. Therefore, after our Savior and Lord had said, 'O God, my God, attend to me, why hast thou forsaken me?' and following that, had added, 'But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people,' and further added, 'Many calves have compassed me; fat bulls have ^D beset me round,' and was clearly bearing witness in advance to His own death through that...

^B 'Thou hast brought me into the dust of death,' followed by 'For many dogs have compassed me; the congregation of the wicked hath enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and my feet.' Having foretold these things and those similar to them regarding His own passion, He does not stop there, but adds, 'Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him, for He hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, neither hath He hid His face from me; and when I cried unto Him, He heard me.'

How could He say that He had been heard, if He had not fully obtained His prayers and that for which He had previously petitioned when He said, 'Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog'? For having prayed these things and petitioned to be delivered and saved from them, and having obtained what He had prayed for, He adds, 'He hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, neither hath He hid His face from me; and when I cried unto Him, He heard me,' clearly indicating His revival after death, which occurred according to the morning reception, which the psalm sets forth as it proceeds, saying, 'But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from me; look to my reception.' What reception, indeed, if not the one the inscription of the psalm hinted at? But let these things be said by us regarding the inscription of the psalm.

As for the 'Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani,' which was spoken by our Savior in the Hebrew words themselves at the time of the passion, and which is also set in the psalm, consider whether there may not be a deeper contemplation among the Hebrews. For ^C God is called 'Eloim,' and you would find this throughout almost all of Scripture, since it is even now called thus by the Seventy by the Hebrew term. Yet there are current among them for the divine designation other pronunciations also, such as 'Saddai,' and 'Jao,' and 'El,' and others similar to these. The psalm which is now in hand contains 'Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani'—which our Lord also used—but not [the one] from 'Eloim.' Now Aquila, knowing the difference of the divine designation among the Hebrews from the meaning of 'Eloim,' did not deign to translate what is now expressed in 'Eli, Eli' as 'My God, my God,' like the others, but [rendered it as] 'My strong one, my strong one.' The precise meaning is 'My strength, my strength.' So, according to this sense, when the Lamb of God, our Savior, says 'Eli, Eli' to the Father, He is saying, 'My Strong One, my Strong One, why hast Thou forsaken me?' And perhaps because His Strong One forsook Him, for this reason He was crucified, as the Apostle says, 'For He was crucified out of weakness, but He liveth by the power of God,' as if He would not have been crucified had His Strong One not left Him. And see if it were not fitting for the Lamb of God, who was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, to attribute His own powers to God, and to consider that He possessed nothing of His own ^D that pertains to the passion of our Savior, and that the dispensation which pertains to Him did not cease even in the passion, but the end of the passion was precisely the restoration from death to life, and the morning reception—it is fitting that the oracle should dedicate the scripture to this wondrous end, just as if the whole argument of this kind, and of those vexations which preceded that very end (the return, that is, from death to life) and the cause of the morning reception, had been brought in. Wherefore, when the Savior and Lord said, 'O God, my God, look upon me; why hast Thou forsaken me?' and added thereto, 'But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people,' and further added, 'Many calves have compassed me; fat bulls have beset me round,' He evidently predicted His own death thereby, 'Thou hast brought me into the dust of death: for many dogs have compassed me; the congregation of the wicked hath besieged me; they pierced my hands and my feet.' Furthermore, where He also indicated the things that happened to Him during the passion itself, with the words: 'They divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.' When He had foretold these and similar things, He did not stop here, but added: 'Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him, for He hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, neither hath He hid His face from me, and when I cried unto Him, He heard me.' But on what grounds could He say that He had been heard, if He had not obtained what He had desired and what He had prayed for above, when He said, 'Thou hast brought me into the dust of death, deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog'? For when He had prayed these things, and had asked to be delivered and freed from them, He then obtained what He had prayed for, and adds: 'He hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, neither hath He hid His face from me, and when I cried unto Him, He heard me,' where He evidently signifies his return from death to life, which came to pass by the morning reception, which the psalm indicated as it went on, where it said: 'But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from me; look to my reception.' But what other reception indeed could it be, except that which the inscription of the psalm signified? But let these things be said by us concerning the inscription of the psalm itself; but in the phrase, 'Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani,' which, since it was spoken by our Savior in the very Hebrew names at the time of the passion, has been set at the beginning of the psalm—see, I pray you, if there be not some deeper contemplation among the Hebrews. For God is named 'Eloim,' and this you will find throughout almost all of Scripture, when it is specifically named even now among the Seventy by the Hebrew word. Nevertheless, among the Hebrews themselves, there are other appellations current to signify the Divine nature, such as 'Saddai,' 'Jao,' 'El,' and others like them. Therefore, the psalm which is now in hand, [contains] 'Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani,' and

has its beginning with what our Savior Himself also used, yet not that which says 'Eloim.' Now Aquila, when he had observed the diversity in the appellation of God which is signified by the term 'Eloim' itself among the Hebrews, did not think that the expression we are currently dealing with—'Eli, Eli'—should be rendered in the same way as the others when he translated it, but rather [rendered it] as: 'My strong one, my strong one, why have you forsaken me?' which, if one wished to express it more precisely, would be 'My robustness, my robustness.' Thus, from this interpretation, the Lamb of God, who is our Savior, while saying that 'Eli, Eli' to the Father, is saying this: 'My Strong One, my Strong One, why have you forsaken me?' And perhaps it was because His 'Strong One' had forsaken Him that He was crucified, as the Apostle says: ^A 'For He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God'; and indeed, He would never have been affixed to the cross had not His 'Strong One' forsaken Him. And truly, consider how well it fits that the Lamb of God—who was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and who, like a lamb before its shearer, was dumb—should refer His strengths to God Himself, and consider nothing as His own except the Father alone. Therefore, He even calls the Father Himself His 'Strong One,' just as in the seventeenth psalm He names Him his robustness, his firmament, and his refuge, when he says: 'I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my firmament, and my refuge, and my deliverer. My God, my helper, and I will hope in Him. My protector and the horn of my salvation, and my receiver.' His 'Strong One' therefore forsook Him when He willed that He should descend even to death, and the death of the cross, and should be offered as a ransom for the whole world by which souls might be redeemed, and become the expiation for the life of those who would come to believe in Him. He, however, immediately perceiving and recognizing, as no one else ever did, the Divine and paternal decree concerning the reasons for which He was to be forsaken by the Father, humbled Himself even much more, and with great readiness clothed Himself in the death for our sake, 'and the all-holy and blessed One became a curse for us,' and 'He who knew no sin, [became] sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.' And furthermore, having taken upon Himself our sins, He was crucified; that which we, who were formerly ungodly, ought to have suffered, He has undergone, having become our ransom and our redemption, so that we may reasonably say the prophetic [word]: 'He Himself bears our sins and suffers for us, and He Himself was wounded for our sins, and became weak for our iniquities, that by His stripe we might be healed. For the Lord delivered Him up to our sins.' ^B Therefore, as one delivered up by the Father, and made weak, and having taken upon Himself our iniquities, 'He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.' The Apostle agrees with this, saying: 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.' Yet, moving us to seek the reason why the Father forsook Him, He says: 'Why have you forsaken me?' The reason for this was the redemption of the entire race of men, bought back with precious blood from the former grievous slavery by which they had been enslaved to invisible masters, to unclean and wicked demons, to rulers and spirits. And in another way the Father forsook Him, desiring that the disposition of Christ Himself towards men should be demonstrated. Therefore, having no one with authority over His soul, He willingly laid it down for men, just as He teaches, saying: 'No one takes my soul from me; I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back again.' Following these things, He says: 'Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions.' Instead of this, Aquila published: 'Far from my salvation are the words of my roaring,' and Symmachus: 'The words of my lamentations have stood far from my salvation,' and according to another fifth translation that is circulated, it is said: 'Far from my salvation are the words of my supplications.' See accordingly, therefore, that in neither of these is 'my transgressions' ^C mentioned. ^D

^A Moreover, it should be understood from the interpretation of the majority—unless, indeed, one says that even here he spoke these things, taking upon himself our transgressions. Following these, he adds: 'My God, I will cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear; and by night, and not for lack of understanding on my part'; instead of which Symmachus again says: 'My God, he says, I will cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear; and by night, and there is no silence.' He marvels, then, in these words, that the Father does not hear Him, viewing this as something strange and contrary to custom. But He was preserving for Him an audience for the suitable time of being heard. And this was the time of the morning reception and the resurrection from the dead, according to which, if to any other, it might justly have been said to Him also: 'In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' ^B These things might also be said in another sense by our Savior, as one accustomed always and at all times to be heard by the Father, but now believing that He would be heard, as if He were saying more clearly: 'Is it possible, O Father, that I, Thy only-begotten and beloved Son, should not be heard, while crying and shouting to Thee, my own Father?' He teaches this very thing in the Gospel according to John concerning Lazarus, when, after saying, 'Take away the stone from the tomb,' He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said: 'Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always.' If, therefore, He always hears Him, then, not doubting, but knowing accurately that even now He would hear Him, as it being impossible that He should not be heard, He says interrogatively: 'My God, I will cry by day, and wilt Thou not hear?'—we placing a punctuation mark at 'wilt Thou not hear,' and ^C assuming the contrary to the question. This He teaches a little later, proceeding in the Psalm, saying: 'He did not despise nor abhor the supplication of the poor, nor did He turn His face from me, and when I cried to Him, He heard me.' How then could He say in the negative, 'My God, I will cry by day, and wilt Thou not hear,' except according to the theory we have provided? Which I think He Himself also hints at, saying: 'My God, I will cry by day, and wilt Thou not hear, and by night, and not for lack of understanding on my part.' For, He says, 'It is not said to me as a lack of understanding' that 'Thou wilt not hear.' For I know myself how I say this, being persuaded that it is Thy nature not only to lay hold of and hear me, but also all Thy saints. ^D For Thou dwellest always and at all times in Thy saints, and Thou art the praise of every God-loving man, called Israel; for because of Thee, not just anyone, but a distinct praise comes to everyone who honors Thee. And in Thee our fathers hoped, and hoping, they were delivered from those who rose up against them; and they cried to Thee and were saved; and in Thee they hoped, and were not put to shame.

^A Since, therefore, all the saints attained these things from You, and crying out were heard and were not put to shame, how much more shall You hear me, Your beloved Son, when I cry out more and more readily than all? And if I speak in a spirit of wonder, "I shall cry, and will You not hear?" the words are not spoken by me in foolishness. For I know how to offer my prayer, not priding myself or boasting, but as one who thinks humbly. For since I am meek and humble of heart, I speak humbly of myself in a manner appropriate to my own meekness. Thus, I even call myself a worm; for what could be lower than a worm? Because of this, I would not even call myself a man, having descended from my own greatness to such a degree of humility that I seemed to differ in nothing from a worm, because I even reached the point of death and the corruption of the body. For whence else could a worm be generated if not from the corruption of bodies? To which, because I have myself descended, I rightly acknowledge myself a worm and not a man; wherefore I have also ^B "become the reproach of men, and the rejection of the people," not having become a reproach of men or an outcast had I not reached the state of a worm at the time of the passion. When, therefore, they saw me hanging upon the cross, "they mocked me, and spoke with their lips, and shook their head, saying: 'He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, because He delights in Him.'" These things were all clearly prophesied through the Psalm regarding the things that were about to take place long ages afterward, but they attained their end when, according to Matthew, with the two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left of the Savior, those who were passing by "blasphemed Him, shaking their heads and saying: 'Woe, You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself; if You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.'" Likewise also the chief priests, mocking with the elders ^C and scribes, were saying: "He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now if He desires Him. For He said: 'I am the Son of God.'" And according to Luke: "The people stood looking on, and the rulers with them mocked Him, saying: 'He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the Elect of God.'" And according to Mark: "And those who passed by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads, and saying: 'Woe, You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross.' Likewise also the chief priests, mocking among themselves with the scribes, were saying: 'He saved others, but He cannot save Himself; let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe in Him.'" For how would these things differ from those predicted in the Psalm, in the passage: "But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men and rejection of the people. All who see ^D me mocked me, they spoke with their lips, they shook their head, saying..."

He trusted in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him, because he desires him." These things, then, are clearly all ^A predicted in the psalm concerning those things which were to happen so long a time after, and they reached their fulfillment at the time when, as is written in Matthew, with two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right and the other on the left, those who were passing by heaped evils upon Him, shaking their heads and saying: "Vah, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." Similarly, the chief priests, mocking Him with the elders and scribes, said: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he wants him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God'." As, however, it is in Luke: "The people stood looking on, and even the rulers mocked him with them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ, the chosen Son of God." And according to Mark: "Those who were passing by blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying: Vah, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. Similarly, the chief priests, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said: He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Let Christ the King ^B of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe in him." And how do these things differ at all from what was predicted in the psalm with these words: "But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men and rejection of the people. All who see me mocked me, they spoke with their lips, and shook their head: He trusted in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him, because he desires him." Do not be surprised ^C if these things were both spoken and fulfilled at the very time of our Savior's passion, since even today among all men, whoever has not yet come into faith in Him, He is held as the reproach of men. For what is more shameful and baser than any reproach than to be fixed to a cross? But is He not also the rejection of the Jewish people? Since that entire nation even now and to this very day is accustomed to mock, neglect, and spit upon Him. Hence the Apostle with merit says: "But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, but to the nations foolishness." But you will find no less easily that the things which follow in the psalm are also currently said by many concerning Him. These things, then, He was praying ^D regarding the affliction that seized Him even then. But since He understood that the first assumption of corporeal nature, and that birth from a woman and a virgin, was not at all less base than the very calamity of death, not inappropriately does He also recall in those things that pertain to death those things that pertain to birth, saying thus to the Father: "For you are he who drew me out of the womb, my hope from the breasts of my mother: I was cast upon you from the womb, from my mother's belly you are my God."

^A Merely for this reason he recalls these things, so that he may console himself and turn away from present evils. For, he says, you who were my helper when I assumed a human body, at which time you yourself, my God and my Father, performing the office of a midwife, drew me forth — for the sake of the flesh that had been prepared for me by the Holy Spirit — with your outstretched power, give me safety even now, so that no fraud or snares from the opposing powers and malignant spirits, who envied me even in my approach to men, may take place; since in that first conception you again kept shaded what was in the womb, so that the very conception from the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin might remain hidden from the princes of this world. This indeed is a great mystery, which your archangel Gabriel indicated to Mary, saying: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." ^B Just as your power, therefore, O Most High, overshadowed me at the time of my conception, and as you drew me forth from the womb of my mother at the time of my birth, so too, there is no small consolation present to me, because you will draw me forth from death all the more. And indeed, hoping for this, I have trusted in you, who are my God and Lord and Father; and I have trusted, not beginning to hope in you now for the first time, but also at that time while I was receiving infantile nourishment from my mother's breasts, and was deemed, like the rest of human infants, to be imperfect and without the use of reason. For I was not such, although I had a body similar to other men. But ^C neither in strength nor in substance was I similar to most, but rather free and unencumbered like your lamb, O you who are God, even from that age when I was nourished with milk, I mean from the breasts of my mother. But no one will yet consider this a great thing, if he understands how I was previously "cast upon you from the womb, and from my mother's belly you are my God." For when I was still hidden within the cell of the one carrying me in her womb, I nevertheless beheld you my God, as one who had remained unconfused and imperturbable in such a great communion of a bodily burden, and rather remained even then incorporeal, and free from all bonds. Furthermore, I was "cast upon you from the womb, and from my mother's belly you are my God," ^D in such a way that my power, while I was still being carried in the womb of the holy Virgin, was even then felt by my forerunner John, who was himself being carried in the womb of Elizabeth, to such a degree that, stirred by my divinity, he leaped for joy and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Recalling all these things, therefore, and at all times setting God and my Father before my eyes, and rightly at the very time of the imminent passion that was seizing me, when, having become obedient to you the Father, I willingly and freely became "a worm, and not a man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people," and now when all those who see my body pinned to the cross, considering it a thing to be averted, mocked me, pouring out such great ridicule and scorn upon me, so that they not only thought and pondered impious things about me in their minds, but also spoke them fearlessly and said them openly: They spoke with their lips, they moved their heads, saying: "He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him." And now, since such things surround me, I implore and beseech you, O my Father, who drew me forth from my mother's womb, upon whom I was cast from the womb, in whom I hoped from the breasts, who are known and recognized by me even from my mother's womb, do not depart from me, "for tribulation is near." For he says that [the cloud] is about to come, and is all but present, and approaches, already pressing upon me, the very last and greatest cloud of my overpowering tribulation. For I do not yet call this tribulation that now surrounds me, either the cross, or the reproaches of men, or the mockery, or indeed the things that occurred before the cross—the scourges, the insults, and all other things that the sons of men heaped upon me; but rather I see the descent into Hades approaching, and the uprising of the powers that are opposed and hostile to God. Therefore he says: "For tribulation is near, for there is no one to help." For how could that which was and is the greatest tribulation not be that in which there is no one to help? For He was passing through for the salvation of the souls in Hades, which had been awaiting His arrival for long ages, and He was indeed descending to shatter bronze gates and crush iron bars, and to set free those who were previously prisoners of Hades; which also happened, when many bodies of the fallen-asleep saints rose and entered with Him into the truly holy city of God. But the opposing powers were warring against Him in addition to the evils of men, providing Him with no small grief and tribulation, as He wept over them out of the excess of His goodness. But observe in what manner all these things have been said, as if from the mouth of Him who was carried in the womb and from the mother's belly.

^A seeing the fixed body, while they thought they saw a thing both to be fled from and ominous, mocked me, casting so much derision and so much detraction against me, that they not only thought and pondered within themselves of wicked things, but also spoke them fearlessly and openly declared, "since they spoke with their lips and shook their head, saying: He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver him." And now, therefore, as I was saying, when such things surrounded me, I, Thy Son, who drew me from my mother's womb, in whom I was cast since I was in the womb, in whom I hoped from my mother's breasts, who likewise wast known to me from my mother's womb, and in the meantime art known as God, I pray and beseech Thee as a suppliant, "Depart not from me, for affliction is near." For it comes, he says, even to such a degree as never before; it is here and draws near, which now encompasses me, and the extreme cloud of all my immeasurable affliction threatens me. For I do not understand by this affliction which now surrounds me the cross itself, nor the insults from men, nor the mockeries, nor indeed the scourges, ignominies, and everything else that the children of men raged against me before the cross, but I see, after the dissolution of the body in death itself and the descent into the underworld, the insolent assault of the adversarial powers inimical to God approaching. Wherefore I say that the affliction is near, "since there is no one to help." For how can it be otherwise than that that affliction ^B was immeasureable and the greatest of all, in which there was not one to help? For He was approaching for the salvation of those souls who had been awaiting His arrival in the underworld for a very long time, and He was descending to shatter the brazen doors and break the iron bars, and to bring into liberty those who had previously been bound in the underworld, which is exactly what was done when many bodies of those saints who had fallen asleep arose and entered with Him into the truly holy city of God; but the opposing powers, as if to harm men, came against Him as in battle, bringing to Him no small sorrow and affliction, inasmuch as He even lamented them out of exceeding goodness. But observe how all these things were said, as if from the person of Him who was carried in the womb, and born from the mother's belly, and whom we have called the Lamb of God. For to this very one happened those things which pertain to the passion, just as those which pertained to the birth in the body were appropriate: for what is born, the same also dies; and what dies, does not attain death in any other way than if it had first entered through birth. These things, therefore, our Savior and Lord sets forth, not insofar as He was of a nature void of flesh and body, nor insofar as He is understood as the Word of God and God Himself, but insofar as He was suited in prayer to say to the Father: ^D "For Thou art He who drew me from the womb, my hope from my mother's breasts. On Thee I was cast from the womb. From my mother's womb Thou art my God."

Hic igitur dum in ipsa passione est, supplex ad Patrem suum ea dicit, qui jam exposita sunt. ^A And since, he says, so many hosts are about to surround me—hostile forces, and impure demons, and spiritual wickedness, and finally he who is the worst of all, the prince of this world himself (whom, on account of their malice, it is fitting to call malignant beasts, whether wild bulls, or calves, or lions, or dogs), and since I must stand against them all, and cannot contribute any good to them, because through their supreme state of malice they are not capable of my goods, and I have no helper or ally among those who are called to the struggle for the salvation of souls, which are in the underworld—why, then, should I not deservedly say: "That affliction is near, and that there is no one to help?"

As to the fact that the malignant and adversarial powers were not of assistance to him, nor succored him as he hastened toward the good, there is no need to be amazed; but the thing that is of all the greatest, concerning the affliction which pressed upon him most heavily, was this: not even one of the favoring and propitious angels, nor any of the divine powers at all, dared to invade the royal houses of death and offer themselves as an ally to the aid of the souls that were there. For this remained unalterable for him alone, since for him alone the gates of death were opened, and the gatekeepers of Hades feared when they beheld him; and he who has the power of death, withdrawing from his royal seats, inasmuch as he recognized him as his only Lord, spoke to him in the manner of those entreating and supplicating, no less earnestly than what is written in the book of Job concerning these very things. ^B Yet, seeing that the nefarious impotence of that tyrant had prevailed to such an extent that no other of the heavenly beings dared to be present with him in such places, or to offer himself as an ally for the salvation of the souls that were detained there, he deservedly says that affliction is near, because there is no one to help, since he alone who could have assisted him even in such places had left him, so that, evidently, that illustrious and exceptional undertaking, and that singular victory against all, might be proclaimed among all as his own. And so, when he who alone could be of assistance to him was not his helper at that time, he deservedly says at the very beginning: "Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani," that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

For when he was conceived, and was carried in the womb by the holy Virgin, at that time the paternal power was indeed with him, at the time when the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her; and the Father himself brought forth from the mother's womb him who was being born, as the oracle indicated. ^C But when, at the very time of his passion, he was stripped for the struggle against death, he was not the same helper to him then.

For I, ^D beholding with divine eyes, while his body was still suspended upon the wood, the powers outside, around this air, bodiless and invisible to men, lurking around him like ravenous birds and savage beasts, and, for the sake of his body that would be dead in a short while, the principalities and powers of the air everywhere streaming together—the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience—and also the demons flying around the earth throughout the whole world of men; it is likely that he caught sight of the underworld beings, and the savage and terrible beasts in the depths of Tartarus, concerning whom Isaiah, speaking against the Morning Star who had fallen from heaven, said: "Hades from below was provoked to meet you; all the giants were raised up with you." Seeing all these things surrounding the crucified body from without, and preparing themselves against him, he describes their gathering, saying: "Many calves have encompassed me, fat bulls have surrounded me. They have opened their mouth against me, as a lion ravening and roaring." For, as is to be expected, considering his soul to be human and similar to the many—and thinking it to be nothing more than that which dwelt within the body of Jesus—they, the aforementioned, opened their mouth, as if they were going to swallow it up just like the other souls of men; for which reason he says: "They opened their mouth against me as a lion ravening and roaring." To which he adds in sequence: "I was poured out like water; which one might say to have been fulfilled sensibly and according to history, when one of the soldiers, according to the evangelist John, pierced the side of the Lamb of God with a spear, and immediately there came out water and blood. But he also seems to signify the entire death of the spiritual nature, when he says: "I was poured out like water, and all my bones were scattered. My heart became like wax melting in the midst of my belly. My strength was dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat." For what else could all these things signify but the dissolution of a dead body? He therefore immediately adds, saying: "And you have brought me down into the dust of death." These things, not yet having come to pass—

^A in the time when they were spoken, but seeing them as if they were already present and standing near, and encompassing him, he spoke them. Furthermore, in taking up again those things that had already been accomplished for the comfort of the events which were to follow, *i.e.*, the things he suffered when he was plotted against, he instructs us, saying: "For many dogs have surrounded me; a gathering of those who do evil has encompassed me." By these, as is likely, indicating at once both the soldiers and those of the circumcision who rose up against him.

"For the soldiers of Pilate, having taken Jesus into the praetorium, gathered the whole cohort against him. And having stripped him, they clothed him with a scarlet cloak. And having plaited a crown of thorns, they placed it upon his head, and a reed in his hand. And falling on their knees before him, they mocked him, saying: 'Hail, King of the Jews.' And having spat upon him, they took the reed and struck him on his head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak and put his own garments on him; and they led him away to crucify him."

They were fulfilling in act, so to speak, what was written: "For many dogs have surrounded me; a gathering of those who do evil has encompassed me," but also the words, "They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones," and further, "They indeed observed and watched me," and "They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." This was again fulfilled when they pierced his hands and feet upon the cross, and when, having taken his garments, they divided them among themselves. John, at any rate, records it, saying: "The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part. But the tunic, because it was seamless, woven from the top throughout, they said to one another: 'Let us not tear it, but let us draw lots for it, to see whose it shall be,' in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: 'They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.' The soldiers, therefore, did these things." ^B And Matthew also testifies to what occurred in this way, saying: "And they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots, that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: 'They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.' And sitting down, they watched him."

Now the dogs that were surrounding him, and the gathering of those who do evil, were the rulers of the Jews from the circumcision, both the scribes and the chief priests, and the Pharisees, who also stirred up the entire multitude to demand his blood upon themselves and upon their own children. Isaiah clearly calls them dogs, saying: "All are dumb dogs, unable to bark." For it was their duty, even if they had not assumed the manner of shepherds, to at least bark as good dogs should, protecting the rational flock of the Master and the sheep of the house of Israel, barking intelligently—both fawning upon and acknowledging ^C their own master and chief shepherd—but instead they… ^D

^B kept watch over the flock entrusted to them, and barked, as it were, at those who were plotting against the flock from without. The former, however, behaved like dogs that have truly gone mad, bearing their barks, driving the sheep of the shepherd to savagery, so that it is fitting that the words apply to them: “Many dogs have surrounded me; a gathering of evildoers has beset me.” And all those who to this day act in the same manner as they did, by blaspheming and barking at the Christ of God, would not be considered unlike them. But even those who, like the soldiers of that time who acted impiously, crucify the Son of God and put him to an open shame, would not be far from that same disposition.

Therefore, even now, all who mistreat the body of Christ—that is, the Church—by tearing at his hands and feet, and furthermore his bones, as we are all one body in Christ, and each one members of one another—and the head could not say to the feet: “I have no need of you,” nor the eyes to the hands—in the times of persecution, if ever any action should be taken by enemies and foes against the members of Christ, one might not inappropriately say of them also: “They pierced my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. But they gazed and looked upon me.”

And then also “they divide my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots,” when each person, in another time and in another way, corrupts and draws to himself the ornament of the Word, that is, the words of the divine Scriptures, and when they receive opinions about him with perverse teachings, such as it is customary for godless heretics to do.

Upon all these things, having stretched forth his prayer to his own God and Lord and Father, he adds, saying: “But do you, O Lord, do not remove your help from me.” For having been left for a short time for the demonstration of the struggle, and having stripped for death alone without a helper, well knowing that the help from the Father would not come to him in any other way than through the resurrection from the dead, he rightly prays at the present moment to obtain an exit from the battle line of his adversaries. Wherefore he says: “But do you, O Lord, do not remove your help from me; attend to my aid.” For through your help, my aid will come to pass, for which aid the entire psalm is rightly written beforehand for the help of the morning. Therefore, “attend to my aid,” bestowing upon me the help—which is almost here at the dawn—of the resurrection from the dead, which I hope to attain, when, not having removed your help from me, “you deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; when you save me from the lion’s mouth, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns.” By these I believe he hints at the subterranean powers, regarding which it would not be for us to distinguish and divide specifically, so that one of them, being a sword, was stretched out

^A against the soul of our Savior; and a certain dog, being death, extended its death-dealing hand, in order to seize it. Therefore he says: "Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only begotten from the hand of the dog." And another evil power, which leads the beasts that are there, called a lion, having opened the wide and vast mouth of death, together with the others who are descending into Hades, was eager to swallow up His soul, just as death, having gained strength in former times, had swallowed them up, being no different from the lion here, which opened its mouth against our Savior, from whom He also beseeches the Father to be saved, saying: "Save me from the mouth of the lion." There might also be other evil and God-opposing powers, contending against the unicorn of God and attempting to draw up in battle array against Him, from which even the unicorn of God Himself, our Lord ^B, having only the Father as His horn, deems Himself worthy to be delivered from His humiliation, saying: "And from the horns of the unicorns my humiliation." And what is this humiliation, if not this very thing, according to which, being in the form of God, He humbled Himself and emptied Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross? But having descended thus far, and having reached this point—I mean, the sword in Hades and the hand of the dog spoken of there (whence, indeed, it is likely that the Greeks, having heard of such a dog of death, also painted it as three-headed), and having reached as far as the gullets of the aforementioned lion, and having laid His humiliation under the opposing and God-fighting unicorns, and having reached ^C this goal, the entire economy of His emptying and humiliation, and then having prayed that He might now obtain help and the assistance from the Father, He adds: "But You, O Lord, do not remove Your help far from me, pay attention to my assistance." And having said this, He does not wait long to be heard by the Father, who did not move far away, nor did He delay in the slightest, but by His very deeds, He all but said to Him: "While you are yet speaking, I will say: Behold, I am present." And indeed, perceiving this, and having obtained the Father's help, just as He had prayed, from that point on He goes forth, composing the psalm of victory for the sake of the morning assistance, in which He says: "I will tell of Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to You." For indeed, He promises first to His own disciples and apostles that He will proclaim the things of joy and exultation concerning Him, naming them brothers; to whom the things that follow are also taught by Matthew, saying: ^D "And behold, Jesus met them," clearly those around Mary Magdalene, saying: "Rejoice." And they, approaching, took hold of His feet, and worshipped Him. Then Jesus says to them: "Do not be afraid. Go, tell My brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they shall see Me." And John, after the resurrection from the dead, also introduces Jesus

saying to Mary: "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brothers, and say to them: I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God." To His apostles first, therefore, whom He calls His own brothers, He says that he will declare the name of the Father; and after them, He promises to teach the ^B patristic hymn to the Church, which was established in His name throughout the whole world in order and succession. For just as if a teacher, distinguished for his wisdom, should discourse in the midst of his disciples, in order that they too, having heard, might consent; in the same way He also, "in the midst of the Church," He says, "I will praise You," so that the Church, having learned and having heard from Him as it is fitting—no longer, as before, being led by demons, but by the one who proclaimed Him—might praise the one God of all. Having promised to do these things, from this point on He consistently commands the Church and His brothers to praise the Father. Therefore He says: "You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify Him"; and, "Let all the seed of Israel fear Him, for He has not despised, nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, nor has He turned His face from Me; and when I cried out to Him, He heard Me." Through these words, He clearly designates the deliverance from the aforementioned evils. For if He heard Him when He cried out to Him, and He prayed to be delivered from the sword his soul, and from the dog his only-begotten, and further from the mouth of the lion, ^C and from the horns of unicorn his humility, it is logical to understand that the one who said, "God has not abhorred His prayer, nor turned His face from Him, but when He cried out, He heard Him," had found deliverance from these things. Therefore, having been delivered from such things, and having escaped death, it came about that He would spend time with His own disciples and brothers, and praise the Father in the midst of the Church. He observes, however, how He again calls Himself "poor," in accordance with the previously cited prophecies, through which He was called a beggar and poor. But since He also displayed His resurrection through these things, again turning the word toward the Father: "From You," He says, "is My praise in the great Church," mentioning the Church established in His name from the nations throughout the whole world, in which the praise concerning our Savior is sung at all times, by the ^D impulse and cooperation of His Father. Therefore He says: "From You is My praise in the great Church." For this Church is truly great, gathered together from every race of people, and not to be compared, because of the solemn and supernatural quality of its life, and because of the greatness of its doctrines, being worthy in comparison to the Jewish nation and the synagogue of the circumcision, with its complete poverty of word and life, and of mind, and of other things concerning God.

^A “My vows I will pay to the Lord in the presence of all those who fear him,” calling those who fear him the great Church previously named, to whom he said: “You who fear the Lord, praise him.” And what vows does he say he will pay, if not those which he promised? And what did he promise, if not those things through which he said: “I will relate your name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise you”? For the promises are vows, which he promised to give in the midst of the Church and confirmed. Following these, he adds: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts shall live for ever and ever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before him; for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he himself rules over the nations.” Through these things, he quite consistently proclaims the accomplishments after his resurrection, which have indeed been fulfilled through the call of all the nations and the selection of men in the ends of the earth, the results of which, being seen with the eyes, would be proofs to all of the things spoken of through the psalm. We, however, are again the poor, whom the saving Word, nourishing us as we are impoverished according to God with the intellectual and rational bread and with the life-giving foods of the souls, provides with eternal life. Therefore the psalm says: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts shall live for ever and ever.” ^B And the epilogue of the entire prophecy, after everything, adds: “A coming generation will be told of the Lord, and they will declare his righteousness to the people who will be born, whom the Lord has made.” He openly predicts the people from the nations and the generation established on earth through our Saviour Jesus Christ. For who might be the people said to be born for God after these things, who previously were not, nor existed among men, but were born later? And who might this be—the generation not existing then, but said to be coming—if not this Church established throughout the whole world through our Saviour? And the new people from the nations, for whom also the Holy Spirit through Isaiah spoke wonderfully, saying: “Who has heard such things, and who has seen thus? If a land has travailed in one day, and if a nation has been born at once.” We, constrained by time, have passed through these things cursorily, but whoever concerns himself with the instruction of our Saviour [who said: “Search the Scriptures; in them you think you have eternal life, and they are the things that bear witness to me”], by deepening his mind in each word of the psalm, might hunt out the precise meaning of the truth in what has been said.]

^C “I will praise you in the great Church.” For to his own first disciples and apostles who pertain to his own joy and exultation, he promises that he will announce [the name of the Father], calling them meanwhile brethren: to which things Matthew also gives a corresponding explanation, when he says: “And behold, Jesus met them,”—where he understands those who were with Mary Magdalene— “saying: Hail. But they approached and held his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them: Be not afraid. Go, announce to my brethren, that they may depart into Galilee, and there they will see me.” But John, after the return from the dead, himself also introduces Jesus saying to Mary herself: “Do not touch me; for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” Therefore, to his first apostles, whom he calls his own brethren, he says that he will declare the name of his Father. But after them, by that very order and method of succession of the Church, which has been founded in his name throughout the whole world, he promises that he will set forth the paternal hymn. For just as if a teacher excellent in wisdom should run through words in the midst of his disciples, so that they too might listen while hearing, even so he also, “in the midst of the Church,” he says, “I will praise you,” so that when the Church has learned this, hearing it from him, it may no longer, as before, celebrate demons with hymns, but, as is right, the God of the universe himself through him who proclaims him, in hymns. Having promised that he would do these things, then very conveniently and suitably he now commands the Church and his own brethren thenceforth to celebrate the Father with hymns, where he says: “You who fear the Lord, praise him. All the seed of Jacob, glorify him. And let all the seed of Israel fear him, because he has not despised, nor taken amiss the supplication of the poor, nor turned away his face ^D from me, and when I cried to him, he heard me.” By which words he plainly shows that he has been freed from those evils which were mentioned above. For if when he cried to him, he was heard by him, and crying he prayed that he might rescue his soul from the sword, and his only one from the dog, and not only from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of the unicorns his humility, it follows that we understand him to have obtained deliverance from such evils, in that he said that God had not taken amiss his supplication, nor turned his face away from him, but had heard him as he cried. Wherefore, having been delivered from such great evils, and having himself escaped from death, it abundantly falls to his lot to dwell and live with his own disciples and brethren, and in the midst of the Church to praise the Father. But attend again to how he calls himself poor again, in this agreeing with the prophecies previously set forth, in which he is named poor and needy; but because he has indicated his return to life in these, again turning his discourse to the Father, “from you,” he says, “is my praise in the great Church,” in which words indeed [he signifies] the Church gathered from the nations in his name.